#it’s better than what they did to the poor Ferengi

[that-glitter-chick]

Hmmm… DS9 was my Soap Opera as a child, ever since I was a little girl of eight, and I loved the Cardassian characters. I loved to hate Dukat who was a deep and layered villain, was happy for Damar’s change of heart and though he would’ve been good for Cardassia’s future had he only lived, felt bad for Broca and Ziyal who had been innocent victims and little more than children themselves, Ghemor that sweet old man who was a surrogate father to Kira, and of course…

Elim Garak, the pinnacle of a Cardassian. I adore him, I grew up to be a lot like him, as odd as that sounds, and entirely not on purpose lol. I am a seamstress, I make my own costumes and clothing, I’m good with plants, I had the exact same reaction to my first time hearing ‘The boy who cried wolf’, I adore my mother and have a good relationship with her and though I deeply respect my father I have some trauma from trying to live up to his expectations and all that, and he and I are very practical and sarcastic.

We also both find Alexander Siddig/Dr. Bashir very attractive. 😜😁

I want to see Gul Dukat and Elim Garak in this new style. Just for shits and giggles 💩 🤭

A Discovery season 4 Cardassian up-close. They've taken the spoonhead thing and made it look a bit more like... something else👀

[walkingstackofbooks]

DS9 4x15 Bar Association thoughts (I’m re-watching, so beware spoilers for future episodes!) [5 July ‘23]

So hype for episode. I love Rom to bits.

"Mister Worf, you're in love. With the Defiant." "You exaggerate, as usual." But he huffed in amusement and that was almost a smile, he doesn't do that with anyone else

Julian is so disgruntled about this outfit, aww :3

Leeta is awesome, advocating for Rom like that <3 I look forward to seeing more of her!

"It's all part of our generous employee compensation package. No sick days, no vacations, no paid overtime." Such sarcasm, Rom, I wasn't expecting that!

"I don't think Julian would approve." "We could ask him." ...I do actually like Rom, Leeta and Julian as a ship tbh

"Isn't this your tooth sharpener?" xD how proud was Worf of that purchase, that Jadzia knows what it is?

"They did not happen on the Enterprise." "Really?" Odo's grin - he's been waiting for an opportunity to reel off the Enterprise's biggest security breaches, right? XD

"We're going to form a... a..." Oh Rom, you're being super brave, I believe you can say it!

Miles perking up at the mention of Rom's union and being super supportive... And then telling Rom about how his ancestor died

It's always fun seeing iconic lines in action. "He was more than a hero, he was a union man."

"After that, it'll work like a charm." "Until the next time it breaks down." "That's the problem when you combine Cardassian, Bajoran and Federation technology." Love Miles being sarcastic at Worf, and Worf being so put out at the idea of things breaking down - poor guy, it's a good job he's not an engineer!

"It's a lot easier than working on the Enterprise." Worf's so confused by this XD

Quark's laughter before realising Rom actually means it

Hologram Quark!

Quark trying to call the cops on the strikers is so very him :/

And Odo agreeing! - never has he felt more police-like.

"But I have strict orders from Captain Sisko not to impinge on your employees' freedom of expression," he sighs, disdainfully. COP

"Wait a minute. I can't believe it! He's an enter." "Not for long!" I'm so here for O'Brien going after Worf

The three of them disgruntled in a holding cell is hilarious

Julian looks like a nervous school boy

"Captain? Can we leave now?" "I'll tell Constable Odo to let you go... in the morning." I love Sisko's "sense of humour".

Quark does not understand Rom's position at *all*, expecting an offer of private Latinum to sway him.

"Workers of the world, unite!" ❤❤

Oh Brunt's looking forward to this, isn't he? UGH

Love seeing the other ferengi getting involved and speaking up

"Spare me. I'm old, I'm fragile. I'll push the rest of them off myself." Classic.

"Don't let him intimidate you." ROM <3

The venom with which Brunt looks at Leeta, as he says "living on this station has... corrupted you."

"Standing tall like Sean O'Brien!" it's so cute how that story has inspired Rom

O'Brien's little thumbs up at Rom :3

"But you'll be living out there all by yourself!" "I know." Oh, Worf. smh

"What you were trying to do was make yourself feel important. Making me feel dumb made you feel smart. But I'm not dumb and you're not half as smart as you think you are." YES ROM

"If brunt gets rid of me, all your problems will be solved." This has really been the making of Rom

"You're here to help me, right?" "Wrong." Hah! Really, Quark?

"Let's see. Who else does Rom care about...?" Quark.

"If Odo hadn't come along when he did... "

"You have to dissolve the union... At least officially..." Yeah, an idea's coming

"Six months!" "It's the best I can do." "No, it's not. All you have to do is make up one of your fake business ledgers for the FCA. They'll never know the difference." "Shush! All right, you'll get your raises by the end of the week." End of the week?! Good negotiation, Rom, I love how well you know your brother - but also Quark was uncharacteristically generous with that haggling?

I'm sad the union couldn't last

"Better?" Hehe, Worf is so annoyed that even here, someone has found him to interrupt his peace XD At least it's Jadzia, am I right?

"Sooner or later, you're going to have to adapt." I guess he does when he moves in with Jadzia? I can't imagine she moves to the Defiant...

"You're quitting?" "Effective immediately." "I gave you everything you wanted." "I know. But if the strike taught me anything, it's that I do a lot better when you're not around." Quark is so nonplussed XD But I love this for Rom

"Think about it from my point of view. If I keep working for you, all I have to look forward to is waiting for you to die so I can inherit the bar." Yep, that's sure a take to have

"Now get me my snail juice! ...Brother." Aww, he's so pleased with himself - and well he should be!

[sammysdewysensitiveeyes]

Having now seen the last season of DS9, I can blab about it, in no particular order: 

Take me out to the Holosuite - this was just stupid fun.  Sometimes you need stupid fun episodes, and this was delightful.  Really loved Worf yelling “Death to the opposition” while everyone else was shit-talking the batter.  Also, somehow Quark is a better baseball player than Rom, and that’s hilarious.

Chrysalis - I made a joke halfway through the episode that Sarina was going mute again to avoid Bashir’s flirting, but that’s exactly what happened? What the absolute hell is Bashir doing trying to date a patient who has been in a cataonic state most of her life?  And he’s moving so fast?  Suddenly he’s in love and he’s talking about taking her to Risa, what the hell?  I’ll give him credit - when he realized what he was doing, he backed off immediately and felt bad about it.  I can understand him being attracted and feeling a kinship to the only other genetically engineered person he knows who seems moderately “normal,” but he went so far overboard here.  They had to downplay Ezri in this episode, otherwise the actual trained counselor would have come in with a sanity check and possibly a slap in the face for Julian.

Faith, Treachery, and the Great River - I love Nog.  I love how he fits into Starfleet as a Ferengi who has chosen to embrace Starfleet ideals, but is still a Ferengi and will sometimes do things the Ferengi way.  I love how Sisko will sometimes quote the Rules of Acquisition to him, because he’s studied up and he respects that it’s part of Nog’s culture.  Also, alas, poor Weyoun.  The Vorta really are quite interesting.  They do horrific things with no remorse, but they are literally bred to obey the Founders without question.  They are kind of tragic figures.

Also really love how we have the “Klingons die with honor!” rah-rah battle episode right before the “War is hell, Starfleet officers die and Nog gets maimed for no good reason” episode.  It’s a nice juxtaposition.  Suddenly, we’re reminded that a LOT of people are dying horribly in the Dominion War, and sometimes it all seems pointless.

(Why did Quark not immediately get beamed out when Sisko decided they would stay to help defend the outpost?  I know he was there to be part of the story, and give commentary on human behavior, and kill a Jem Hadar for the very first time, but logically, the non-combatant civilian should not have been there.)

Covenant - Gul Dukat leading a Bajoran cult worshiping the Pah Wraiths was already hilarious, but then that woman gives birth to an obviously half-Cardassian baby and he tries to spin it as a “miracle.”  God, what a sleazy asshole, I love to hate him.

It’s Only a Paper Moon - okay show, I like Vic now.  He’s okay.  Another episode where O’Brien needs to be sidelined, because O’Brien, who lived on the Enterprise during “Hollow Pursuits” would hear about someone literally living in a holosuite and be like, “Uh, guys?  That’s....not gonna work out very well.”  It actually does eventually work out for Nog, because Vic is aware enough to help him, and Ezri steps in to give advice where needed.  Nog mostly just needed a break from Starfleet life, and a distraction.  Not a “perfect holosuite fantasy” distraction, but a challenge completely unrelated to Starfleet to pull Nog out of his own head and get him going again.  Then, of course, he needed to leave the holosuite and come back into the real world.

Prodigal Daughter - nice to know more about Ezri and her family.  My favorite part was O’Brien and Ezri constantly interrupting each other’s storylines until the two storylines intersected.

Mirror episode - Holy shit, Mirror Ezri kissed Mirror Kira, why can’t we have this in the Prime universe?  Why are characters only allowed to be gay in the “evil” universe?  I somehow blame Rick Berman.

Field of Fire - unfortunately, this episode was just bad, and didn’t do Ezri any favors.  The actors did their best, but it was just corny and badly written.  From the first Joran episode, I got the impression that he killed mostly out of anger or hatred (he killed the doctor that recommended he be removed from the program), but now he’s some Hannibal Lecter type, talking about the mind of the killer and selecting prey, etc.  Also, the killer is a traumatized Vulcan who can’t stand the sight of people smiling?  Give me a fucking break.  An interesting idea that should have been better written.

Holosuite heist episode - they wanted a heist episode, and by god they found an excuse to have a heist episode!  Another fun one, and even Cassidy got in on the act.  I liked Sisko getting to say his piece about how Vic’s program is a romanticized version of this time period on Earth, completely removing the racism that existed back then, and that he would not have been welcome in nightclubs as a black man back then.

The rest of it:

That one episode with O’Brien and Bashir going into Sloan’s mind was like the last buddy episode for them, and an absolute gift to shippers.  Personally, I don’t ship it, but these two guys both admitted that they like each other “just a little bit better” than the women that they love?  Yeah, I see it.  I love their friendship.  And also, fuck Sloan.

Don’t really care about Ezri’s romances, but it was nice to see her and Worf bury the hatchet and make peace with each other.  And if she wants Bashir, why not?  Ezri can have a little sexy doctor, as a treat.  Wish we’d gotten more than one season of Ezri, to get to know her better. 

Loved Kira and Garak helping liberate Cardassia.  I still hate Damar for Ziyal, but he had an understandable semi-redemption, fighting for Cardassia against the Dominion.  It worked for him.

Speaking of redemption, I’m glad Gul Dukat didn’t get one.  He didn’t seem like a character who should get a redemption.  That may be hypocritical of me, as there are other horrible dictator characters whose redemption I fully support, like the Diamonds in Steven Universe.  (Although I would also argue that Steven Universe is a kids show, I’m not expecting the Diamonds to burn with the Pah Wraiths.)  But Dukat was just not a character I could ever like, despite the actor doing an excellent job making him nuanced and complex.  He’s just so slimy and smug - if anything, he’s the villain I love to hate.  He never showed any actual remorse for his actions, just kept pushing Kira (who grew up in Cardassian labor camps and lost both parents to the occupation) to not only accept, but exonerate him.  He wanted her to “admit” that his actions running the occupation where millions of Bajorans died were somehow “not that bad” because he occasionally tried to be kind.  Even understanding that his hands may have been tied in some matters, other Cardassians who weren’t responsible for atrocities showed far greater remorse for the occupation.  I can see Dukat as an aborted redemption - he started to show a better side of himself with Ziyal, but losing her drove him back into selfish destructiveness.  He’s a piece of shit, and the actor did a fantastic job portraying him as such.  I understand, though, if people who liked Dukat, or saw more potential in him, were disappointed and wanted his redemption to continue.  Personally, though, I’m glad he went down hard.

Kai Winn was also completely awful, but I felt worse for her than for Dukat.  Imagine constantly praying to your gods and never getting a response, even though other people do.  And then when she finally gets a vision, it’s the wrong gods.  Even when she starts to realize her error and turns to Kira for guidance, the prophets won’t speak to her.  She’s a horrible woman, but slightly better than Dukat, in my opinion.

Loved that Kira and Quark were the ones who got the last goodbyes to Odo.  “That man loves me.  It’s written all over his back.”

Kira and Odo - I could never fully get behind them as a couple, but I still love their relationship, and hope that they see each other again.

O’Brien finally does right by his family and goes back to Earth.

Sisko goes to live with the Prophets, and that’s a bold choice that comes right up to killing him off without actually killing him off.  I can’t say it comes out of nowhere, though, his connection to the wormhole aliens has been a thing through the whole series.  I’m glad that he claims he’ll be back at some point, given that he’s leaving a son and pregnant wife behind.

Overall, a good ending for my favorite Trek series.

[calliecat93]

ST: TNG S5 Watchthrough Episodes 18-21

Cause and Effect: Who’s ready for the ST equivalent of Groundhog Day? Yep, we have a time loop episode. This is actually my mom’s favorite episode so I’ve been waiting for this one XD.So the episode opens with the Enterprise blown up… and after the titles we have a poker game as though nothing happened. But Crusher begins to have deja vu and as the loops continue, so do the others. So... If you’ve seen time loop stories you more or less know how this goes. Though unlike most of the oens I’ve seen where just one person becomes aware of it, while Crusheris the first the others also begin to take notice. The don’t remember everything, but they start picking up on it and figuring out that something’s up. Again, I appreciate the cast being written as competent and not stupid cause it’s very easy to do with this kind of plot. Not sure I at all understand Data’s explanation on how he figured out how to end the loop... but hey, it ended. So it was good. Nothing mind-blowing but very much enjoyable. Any time that Crusher gets prominent screentime I’m happy, but again I just appreciate the cast being intelligent. Also the Kelsey Grammer cameo at the end, Hell yes~! 3.5/5.

The First Duty: Okay Wesley, second guest star appearance. Let’s see how it goes. Which, haha... it’s not a happy episode for him. There’s been an accident at the Academy and while thankfully Wesley is alright aside from an injured arm, one of his classmates has died. Well… that’s sad. That n and of itself could fuel a story all its own. But as a hearing is held, it becomes clear that something more is going on. As it turns out, Wesley’s teammate died because the entire squadron not only performed an illegal flight procedure… but lied about it. First that it was an accident, then that the accident and his own demise was his own fault. Why? To save their own skins. Now to be fair it’s clear that they’re scared, but it doesn’t change the fact that they’re essentially lying/disgracing a dead person to save themselves. Even the kid’s own father gets convinced of this, which only adds to Wesley’s guilt. I actually felt really bad for Wesley and I kinda feel like Picard, upon confronting him, was… pretty harsh. Wesley’s actions were wrong, but again he was clearly scared and felt guilty for it. Thankfully he does ultimately do the right thing, accepting the consequences. Hopefully, Wesley can push through it and grow from it if he shows up again. My mom doesn’t like this episode I guess because of how it portrayed Wesley, but honestly? I like it for that exact reason. Welsey isn’t portrayed necessarily as bad, he’s reacting like… well… a scared nineteen-year-old. He made a major mistake, and he paid the price for it, though it certainly wasn’t the worst punishment that he could have received. While Picard was rather harsh when confronting him, it was the push that Wesley needed to do the right thing. I think that this was the kind of episode that Wesley needed, where he commits a huge screw-up and unlike when he was a regular, pays the consequences for it… it’s just a shame that they did it after he stopped being a regular. I can see why some may dislike this one because of Wesley’s portrayal, but I think it was good and was long overdue for the character without villainizing him. He’s intelligent and capable of greatness, but he’s got a lot to learn, especially after this. Let’s hope that he does. 3.5/5.

Cost of Living: It’s another Lwaxana episode folks… yay. Okay despite my complaints about her episodes, the last one’s issues I had was more due to the subject matter than the character. If anything, she was the best part of it. So maybe this time things will be better. So this time, Worf is having parenting problems with Troi trying to help him and Alexander make it work. Lwaxana is on the Enterprise as she’s getting married, to Troi’s exasperation and Picard’s utter relief, and ends up butting in. Oh and the ship malfunctions because it’s Star Trek. So… it was okay I guess? The Holodeck scene was just utterly bizzare and I’m still trying to wrap my brain around WTF just happened. To be honest, Troi is the best part of this episode. She’s trying to reasonable help Worf with his parenting issues, Alexander with his lack of discepline/responsibility, her mother marrying a guy she never met and bending agains the Betazoid traditions that she usually follows, and she’s clearly just fed up with everyone especially her mother. It makes her such a joy to watch, haha! Lwaxana was… alrigh. On the one hand, it ws not at all her place to butt into the whole Alexander situation especially since Troi was handling it. On the other hand, the episode does go more into how lonely Lwaxana is and make her manhunting/desire tog et married more sympathetic. Te previous episodes always played it mainly as a joke/a condition of her species at her age, but it never allowed her to actually delve into why she’s so desperate. How she’s fears rowing older and being all alone without someone to love her… and gosh I’ve absoluteley seen this before and it’s just sad. Consideirng that this came out the same year that Gene Roddenberry, majel Barret’s husband and of course as we know the franchise creator, has passed… I can only imagine how rough this had to be for the poor woman. But if she wad channeling that into her performance, she did a fantastic job. Also Lwaxana’s fiance? He was played by freakin’ Tony Jay. The man is a freakin’ legend the voice acting world (probably best known as Frollo in Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, by far his darkest performance yet probably his best) and it’s the first time I’ve seen him in a live aciton role. He plays a snobish asshole and obviousy the marriage falls through in the end, but he made the episode worth it! So yeah, I’m still not a big Lwaxana fan but they are trying to add more to her and overall it was fine. It’s not great, for example the Enterprise’s plot felt tacked on to fill in the runtime, the pacing was rouh, and the storylines were not at all balanced out well. But it was overall fine, though i think Half a Life did her better. Troi, some legit Lwaxana development, and getting an appearance by Tony Jay made it worth it XD 2/5.

The Perfect Mate: While preparing for a peace treaty, the Enterprise picks up two Ferengi, one of which messes with the cargo, and releases a young woman named Kamala, a mutant amongst her kind whose abilities let her become the perfect mate for any man, from suspended animation. She was meant to stay that way until the ceremony... and was meant to be a ‘gift’ to one of the sides. Yeah... that’s not at all messed up. Due to the Prime Directive, the crew can’t interfere... and we find out that there was a more complicated reason as to why Kamala was as she was. This is pretty much the TNG version of Elaan of Troyius from TOS. Kamala is completely different from Elaan, more composed and well-mannered while Elaan was more aggressive and upfront. Looking back I do feel I was too harsh in calling Elaan a brat considering the conditions she was under, but the episode certainly didn’t give he much sympathy from anyone (aside from Kirk) while they do better calling out the arrangement here. Then again it’s been months since I watched the episode so I may be remembering wrong. But it does ultimately end with Kamala entering an unhappy marriage, but she bonds with Picard and ends up acting as his perfect mate, so... hope that goes well. The whole empath/metamorph thing felt necessary as well, you didn’t need a reason to make men attracted to her for this episode to work. Which yes it only works on men, remember this is the 90’s folks. I’m kind of baffled as to why Troi wasn’t in this one considering we have another empath, that could have added a more interesting layer and justified that part. But I shall repeat what I said in Elaan when they put Kirk under that tear-induced love spell: you don’t need those elements to keep a plot spicy. The Ferengi we're also utterly pointless. While I feel that the subject is better done than in TOS and it felt more evenly paced... I’m still not a fan of it. It has more of the nuanced debate on the arranged marriage plot that I was annoyed that Elaan didn’t have... but I’m still pretty meh about it overall. it’s alright, but just that: alright. 2.5/5.

Okay folks, we’re five episodes away from finishing S5. So far... it’s only been alright. There’s been a couple of strong episodes, but overall it’s remained firmly in the average range. Maybe S4 hyped me up too much, IDK. I’m still having fun, but maybe I’m just starting to get fatigued from TNG. But we don’t have much more to go, and there’s still plenty of time for S6 to change my mind, so we’ll see how things go from here.

[rotationalsymmetry]

One more thing about the Ferengi on Deep Space Nine and the idea of tolerance.

(Good morning, world.)

This is the so-called paradox of tolerance, ie, do you tolerate intolerance?

As far as we can tell, the main issue Sisko has with the Ferengi at the start of the show, is not anything relatively superficial like them eating slugs or what have you. It’s that he’s uncomfortable with his son making friends with Nog, because he’s worried that the values he wants his son to grow up with like respecting women and valuing education, will be eroded because the Ferengi as a whole do not value those things.

In point of fact this doesn’t seem to happen — Jake rubs off on Nog a lot more than Nog rubs off on Jake. Much to Quark’s frustration. And Sisko relaxing and letting 14 year old Jake make his own decisions was unambiguously the right call, even if it hadn’t gone that way. And it grows into a lovely friendship that is the heart of the show in many ways. But the show was presenting Sisko’s reluctance to let Jake get close to Nog as being equivalent to say white parents not wanting their kids to play with black kids just because of racism, and it really wasn’t that at all.

(And possibly reassuring white people that having some racism to get over isn’t that bad because here look, a black parent struggling in the exact same way. “We’re all a little bit racist”, right?)

That story would have worked a lot better if we’d seen Sisko having stereotypes and assumptions about the Ferengi that turned out to not be true. But...the Ferengi do actually have an incredibly sexist society, the Ferengi men do constantly insult the intelligence of women and largely see women as possible sex partners rather than whole people, they are actually exploitative and money-obsessed, Quark is a smuggler who frequently breaks the law and his brother is a weapons dealer, etc. While the show is weirdly sympathetic to Quark, to the point that you realize he does have an odd sort of integrity, and Ferengi are shown as being capable of embracing Federation values, Quark is actually everything Sisko thinks he is. It didn’t have to be — either Ferengi culture could have been retconned to not actually be as awful as it was shown as being in TNG, or we could have had a new species and entirely new stereotypes that turned out to be not entirely accurate.

In particular, there are many cultures that have different roles for men and women that also basically respect women and don’t give the men all the power, and which frequently have culturally established ways for people who don’t fit their culture’s default gender roles to do things differently. Treating men and women as much the same as possible is not the only way to seek gender justice. Nor is it without problems — for instance, when women get stuck with the double shift of a full time job and the lion’s share of the housework and child care as well.

I don’t think the Ferengi should have been brought back for DS9 at all, let alone had their role in the show expanded so much, but perhaps another culture could have been introduced that had gender roles that the Federation doesn’t or different sexual mores or what have you, Sisko might initially assume that means that the men don’t value women, and that might have turned out to be incorrect. That would have been somewhat difficult to handle well I think, without making it sound like “hey, women’s rights progress is totally unnecessary”, but if it was done well it might have worked, and actually made the point that Quark was supposedly trying to make about tolerance and hypocrisy.

(Which, goodness knows Western liberals do actually frequently make false assumptions about the backwardness of other cultures and the superiority of Western culture. So it is a good point. It just doesn’t make sense in context because the Ferengi as written actually do have an unrealistically awful culture.)

What does work with the Ferengi in the show as it is, is one episode where we see a female Ferengi who disguises herself as a man (so that we finally see a female Ferengi character and so that we’re shown that not all Ferengi embrace gender restrictions) and then later we get several episodes with Quark and Ron’s mother “Moogie”, who also has her own way of interacting with and rebelling against Ferengi gender-based restrictions. And again, we do have individual Ferengi assimilating into the Federation. These episodes make individual Ferengis less of a caricature, but don’t actually support the idea that maybe Ferengi culture is not so bad. And this is a problem: Ferengi culture shouldn’t be that bad compared to the Federation, it’s artificial and stereotypical and wrong that an alien culture just happens to be worse than the Federation in nearly every conceivable way.

I suppose it could have been worse. There could have been a whole movement (in the show) to forcibly “liberate” Ferengi women from their oppression, one that paid no attention to the women themselves and assumed they were helpless victims and ...

And you’ll note that tolerance isn’t a value of Quark’s or Ferengis in general. Quark is repeatedly contemptuous of the Federation and the “hu-mons.” Narratively, that speech is equivalent to a villain poking at the hero for (supposed or actual) hypocrisy.

In this past election season in the United States we also had a lot of “paradox of tolerance” handwringing. A lot of concern about how maybe the Democratic Party wasn’t thinking enough about poor or rural white people. Except oddly, the concerns were never things like, “hey, you can’t get work in lots of rural areas so they’re losing all their young people to the cities, what can we do about it?” or, “hey, real minimum wage has been going down because it’s not tied to inflation, let’s fix that.” No, it was “maybe we should forget about this LGBT stuff and Black Lives Matter, because, you know, that’s threatening to these people.” Which I’m pretty sure always meant “that’s threatening to me, or at least not something I care about at all, but I don’t want to look racist or homophobic so I’ll pretend it’s about practical electability concerns and not my own lack of compassion.”

Lack of...what’s that word again? Ah right. Tolerance.

If your “tolerance” or understanding or compassion for one group of people means less compassion for another group, you’re doing it wrong.

And in case I didn’t spell this out clearly enough in all the words I’ve written: you often get a lot farther examining the choices the writers (directors, etc) make, than examining the choices that characters made within the framing that the writers created. Sisko’s attitudes towards the Ferengi are far less interesting and worthy of comment than the writers’ attitudes towards the Ferengi.

“Why did this character choose to make a false accusation of rape” is always less relevant from a social justice perspective than “why is this writer telling a story about false accusations of rape?” “Does it make sense in story that this character is wearing a chainmail bikini” is less relevant than “wow, that author sure made a choice to put that female character in a chainmail bikini.” Luanne in the eponymous comic strip noticing that fashion magazines offer contradictory advice is less significant than looking over a comics page of two dozen strips and noticing only two female names in the author byline, and only one that isn’t co-writing with a male author — even comics that center female characters (which are very much in the minority) are often written by men. Notice the man (sic) behind the curtain.

“How does a representative of an idealized Western-coded future spacefaring society, see people who are outside of that society” is less significant than “how do the writers depict Western-coded societies vs other societies?”

[carrietrekkie]

Firelight - Part III: A planet the sun forgot.

I wish you all a lovely evening! Here comes part 3/4.

Warnings: Fear, some kind of torture, violence. At all, not the happiest part of this story.

Part 1: Fire and Ice.

Part 2: Let´s try Starfleet.

And if you don´t mind, leave me a little Feedback!

The next few hours, maybe even days, I didn´t really know, felt like something was trying to pull my thoughts out of my body, but my body did not give in and that made someone pretty angry. I was pretty sure I was aboard a shuttle, at least that told me the dull feeling in my stomach. Something rough hit me on my shoulder, pierced my brain and forced me to open my eyes. A throbbing pain shot through my jaw and made me moan. "Enough sleep sweetheart." "What the hell?" I grabbed my head to keep from falling, then sank back against a metallic wall. "Oh, get a little hard on yourself." Someone pushed into my field of vision. "Who are you?" I grimaced when I realized who my host was, it was the agent who had been with Leland, her name was Prescot or something. "I already told Leland everything I know and Cornwell.”

"Psst." She put a finger on my lips. Shocked, I broke off. "I know, and it was pretty poor." It was probably supposed to look cute when she slightly tilted her head and blinked at me. "Well, I decided, I take that in my tender hands." "Let me guess." It was burning on my lip, where her finger had been, so I fumbled around on it myself. My lower lip was torn open, that was it. "Leland doesn´t know about it." "Of course not." She smiled again her witch smile. "Leland is a wimp, ridiculously easy to control and has not had a long time to report." "Ah ha." I closed my eyes and moved my jaw slightly, it hurts too. Not as much as what she did next. "Shit, what's that?" I winced as she removed a hypospray from my neck.

"That will help you to remember." She looked at me. "Did you even listen? I can´t remember, the little bit I know came from coincidences and situations. Any attempt to access it, has been a complete flop. " "That's why we're trying this now." The agent lifted the hypospray. "We didn´t get that far with Spock, but I was very curious how that might work." I did not have time to analyze the implications of her words, and before my eyes everything began to turn, my brain seemed to defend itself against what she had given me, with everything it could find in its arsenal. Pain, pictures, every feeling that I had at some point collapsed on me and let me tip forward on the floor. I felt something paralyzing me, it even prevented me from closing my eyes, so all I could do was stare at the ceiling of the shuttle until Prescot leaned close to me.

"Mmh, the dose was probably too high." I saw her shrug a thousand times. "Anyway." Then she dropped to her knees in front of me. "So Cathrin, let's hear, how the hell did you get here?" "What?" I tried to fight the nausea down. "I don´t know that!" "Just don´t come up with the idea of claiming these strange signals are responsible for it." She pushed me back as I tried to straighten up. "Lie down!" I growled as I hit the ground again. "I wouldn´t like to ask again." "I don´t know!" The cold metal on my cheek was doing well. "Burnham has not figured it out yet." "Oh, she will." Prescot's smile looked like a snake's. That made me choke again. "But that takes me too long." She grabbed my braid and pulled me up. "Let's try something different." She pushed me away and I couldn´t catch myself, as my head unrestrained hit the ground, I had to throw up. With a groan I rolled onto my back, still unable to close my eyes or move in coordination. Gradually, I saw her walk past me, sit down in the cockpit of the shuttle and enter a course. No sooner had she entered her coordinator than an alarm rang.

"The Federation with its narrow-minded policies." She switched off the warning tone, then gave me a look that made me shudder down into my confused innermost. "I'm sure that will be a charming excursion." Then she activated the warp drive. "Could only be that it doesn´t go out well for everyone." The picture in front of my eyes blurred, but the last thing I saw, let all hope in me collapsed. The computer displayed our new course on the screen.

Talos IV.

"No, please don´t." I fought against the wave of unconsciousness that just moved over me. "Please..." Then I felt my body tension get lost, my head rolled over and my eyes closed.

*****

At some point I came back to myself, the drugs that she had given me were still burning in my bloodstream, their effect did not seem to end. My fear paralyzed me, the images in my head drove me to the brink of madness. I felt tears rolling down my face, they burned like fire on my skin. Any nerve phage that was not completely overloaded, seemed to consist only of pain. Cold crawled through my fingers, making them stiff and I was sure that would spread into my body soon. I winced as my numb fingertips hit something metallic. It had rounded edges, its surface both smooth and rough, traversed by lines or symbols, and above a curve were elevations. Eager to finally have found something that didn´t seem to come from the arsenal of Dante's Inferno, my brain plunged onto this piece of metal in my hand. Trembling, I stroked it, groped it and counted the small round sublimities.

One, two, three, four.

I exhaled slightly, closing my eyelids over my exhausted eyes. It was his badge, I still had it in my pocket, I closed my fingers tightly, holding it tight and crafting myself a mantra that would hopefully keep me sane. That's real, you can hold on to it while it's there, you have something that they can´t take you. That will protect you. He will protect you.

++++++++

"Can you hear me? What did you do with her? " "I tried to help her memory on the jumps." Two women argued together, one voice I knew, unfortunately, but the second?

"Stop looking at me so horrified, I know what your, let's call it hosts, do here." "It will be hard to help her." The other woman spoke again, but it sounded strange. "Her thoughts must first come to rest, her body must regenerate." "I don´t want you to help her, I want you to use her memories for me." "That's not how it works."

+++++++

I felt that I was lying on a comfortable surface, I was not covered, but I was not cold or otherwise uncomfortable. However, someone stopped me when I wanted to sit up.

"No, not." A few hands landed on my shoulders, pushing me back. "You really shouldn´t get up yet." That was the woman from earlier, she smiled mildly at me and then let go of me. "Who are you?" She was beautiful, but somehow scary. Blonde long hair fell over her shoulders and I guess that her dress was too short and her shoes were totally inappropriate for this environment.

"I'm Vina." She looked at me. "You are on Talos and safe for now." "Vina?" I squinted, why did I know that name? I didn´t say anything, the thoughts in my head still felt like they were being jumbled up in a washing machine.

"We will try to help you." "Do you read my thoughts?" "Not me." She stepped aside for a moment, I following her gaze and finding three weird figures standing at the end of the room. They had huge heads, a slight green cast and looked at me like I was a lab rat.

"Oh, yes, right." I closed my eyes again. "Talos, there was something." "It's one of the few memories that clearly exists in your mind right now." "Okay, that makes sense and that's the way it used to be." I just assumed they knew what was wrong with me or Prescot had told them. "Where?" "Here. Did you think you were going to get rid of me? " "It will probably still be allowed to hope." I pinched my thumb and forefinger against my nose root. "These headaches are killing me." I blinked hard. "We couldn´t help you, your body needs to break down the chemical first." Vina now put her hand behind my back and helped me sit up. "Slowly." Immediately, everything turned and I held onto her a little. "Phew okay." I put a hand on my stomach. "Maybe that was not the best idea." I made her understand that I wanted to lie down again and she also helped me. "Thank you." "You should try to gain something." "The last thing in there came out very effectively." Now Prescot was standing by my bedside. "Maybe it's better she leaves that." "A glass of water would be nice." I tried to ignore her and looked at Vina instead. "If it doesn´t mind."

She smiled, then almost floated away. Man, how I missed to wear high heels. I took the opportunity and glared at Prescot.

"Hey, what's your problem?" "My problem is you." She leaned against the couch and leaned over to me. "In your lovely head are a few things on which Starfleet is almost as keen as on Spock's, but while they would only read it and stow away somewhere, there is something more substantial in them." "I'm reluctant to bring bad news, but they don´t have it here with profit and trade." I took a breath. "Unless you hug the Ferengi, then you might be lucky." I raised my eyebrows. "Okay, that was new."

"Ah, see." She put her hand to my chin and turned me roughly in her direction. "You just have to drill long enough." "Long is the keyword." I tried to look at her as evil as possible. "It takes time, if I should remember." "Yes, maybe." She pointed in the direction in which just the Talosians have disappeared. "But they certainly have ways to speed things up." "They will not do that!" Vina was back, a vessel in her hand. "It's not their style. They read thoughts to learn so."

"So, if they don´t learn anything from her, then I don´t know." Prescot turned and walked towards the Talosians. "She´s from the past, from another time and reality." I felt bad again as she spokes on. "Supposedly she knows things, up to hundreds of years into the future. Wouldn´t it be tempting to see that? " "Here, then you feel better." Vina helped me put something on, then she held the bottle to my lips and I drank the liquid. Immediately I wanted to vomit again. "Try to keep it to yourself." I choked it down again and slid out of her arms back onto the small pillow. I closed my eyes and in front of them pictures flashed, that I couldn´t initially assign. But I knew the blue eyes that looked at me. "Chris."

But he looked strange, as if someone had put on a costume that looked like Chris but not really fit, as if he would play the role but go his own way. I took a deep breath, then jerked off again. I tried to hold on to this look, but slipped away and tore everything that was just so clear together with me, back into the vortex, from which I still couldn´t free myself. "Cathrin, don´t try to fight it." Her melodic voice sneaked back into my mind. "We want to help you." Given Prescot's attempt to promote me like an entertainment program, I could hardly believe her. It felt like I was pulling in a thousand directions at the same time. I saw the Enterprise with all its commanders, the Borg, the Romulans, the Dominion, but as soon as I saw anything clear, it was torn from me as if someone wanted to prevent me from remembering later. Then it became too much for me and I gave up and let myself be carried away by whom or whatever.

+++++++

Something familiar crawled through my nose into my brain, it took a moment to assign it. "Chris?"

I whispered softly, just so I could be sure my thoughts wouldn´t play a trick on me again. Once again, I closed my fingers around the badge in my pocket, still hoping that it would be my anchor in reality. "I'm here." "No, no."

I shook my head, I didn´t dare to open my eyes. "Please don´t, you will be executed or you…"

Now I felt a hand on my arm. Instead of calming me, it made me nervous. I felt my heart start beating faster, adrenaline rushing back through my veins.

"That will not happen." Then he paused. "What about her?" "Agent Prescot has given her a remedy to make her memories accessible, but instead she just buried her deeper inside. Not even for the Talosians was it possible to get them out. " I heard him sigh, which somehow made me cramp myself even more. "No, this is not possible." "Cathrin." Pike pulled away from Vina, leaned toward me, then gently put his hand on my cheek. "Open your eyes, look at me!" It sounded like a command, and the part of me that slowly began to feel comfortable in Starfleet came to grips with it. I opened my eyes, looked into Christopher Pike's face and instantly felt my eyes grow to twice their size. My battered body tried to get away from him. It just didn´t get too far.

I rolled to the side of the couch and could barely put my legs down, before I would have slammed like a wet sack to the ground. Instead, I fell into his outstretched arms and was pulled back. "Let me go." I squirmed with all the strength I had left, it was not much anymore. "That's not real!" My legs slid away, then I slid down on him, feeling his knees fall and lift me up.

"It's real!" He looked at Vina, she came before his question. "There is a memory in her mind that relates to this place and she doesn´t seem to get away from it." She looked at him. "It includes you." My head rolled against his chest and he turned his attention to me. He felt the tension drain from my body, my hand just resting on his shoulder, slipping slowly down his chest. "I can´t stay here any longer, she needs a doctor and." "I understand." She smiled sadly. "It was clear from the first second when I saw how you looked at her. You love her." "Vina." Pike took a deep breath.  "You never looked at me like that." "I am so sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" This on seemed a little easier to her. "That you have found someone to give you what you need?" She took a step towards him and put a hand to his cheek. "I have decided to stay here, not you and it would be unfair for you to stop living your life." "I..." "Don´t wait too long." Then she stepped back from him. "In my experience, that's not the right way. Don´t worry, I'm fine. " "I wish you all the best." "I wish you the same." Pike pulled his communicator from his belt and snapped it open. "Pike to Tyler, two to beam." Then the transporter beam enveloped them and carried Pike away from Vina one last time, and although it took a few more days for him to admit that, he really could let her go this time.

****

As soon as the transporter dropped him off in the shuttle, he could feel a huge tension fell from him. Not that he felt directly threatened, but it was better to know that they would leave this planet in a few minutes.

"Finally." Ash Tyler jumped up and came to him. His eyes fell on Cathrin. She lay unconscious in the captain's arms, was incredibly pale, trembling and you could see in her face that a battle had rage in her head. "Oh, that doesn´t look good." Carefully, he put his hands around Cathrin's head as Pike went to his knees to lay her on the floor.

"It is not." Chris reached for the Med-Kit he had received from Dr. Culber. "OK." He pulled out one of the neural emitters and tried to activate it, but his trembling fingers thwarted him. "Damn it."

"I can do that." Tyler took the device from him, activated it and put it to her temple, then repeated the process on the other side. He allowed himself to watch the captain briefly as he prepared the hypospray, as Culber had shown them. During the entire flight Pike had been unusually quiet, nervous and very distracted for his circumstances. He seemed to have pulled himself together for the mission, but now he also noticed how this day claimed its toll. The slight head injury of this morning would do the rest. "Okay, that seems to work." Ash grabbed the hypospray, put it on Cathrin's neck, and injected the drug cocktail. Almost immediately, she seemed to relax, she started to breathe more regularly and the flashing lights on the emitters were less hectic. "We should be frowned upon from here, I'm not at all anxious to find out what surprises Prescot still has in store." Pike just wanted to get up from the floor, when he felt Tyler's hand on his shoulder. The agent smiled slightly at him, then looked at Cathrin. "Stay with her, I'll do it." "Thanks, Tyler." Ash's answer was a small nod, then he hurried forward into the cockpit and shortly thereafter the shuttle took off and left Talos IV. Chris sank to the floor beside Cathrin, throwing a blanket over her and then looking at her. Was that his fault? Should he have clarified his point of view to Leland?

In front of him, he could see the shuttle plunge into space and sink into the warp seconds later. "I'll contact Discovery as soon as we've passed Star Base 11." Tyler got up, rummaged in one of the equipment rucksacks, and came to him. "Here, you should have a drink." "Thank you." Pike accepted the bottle and took a long sip. Tyler sat down opposite him, drank too, then looked at the captain.

"It's not your fault Sir." Ash briefly checked the settings of the medical devices. "Captain Leland has some agents who would like to dispute his position." "You too?" "No." "I had to ask that." Pike's mouth twitched briefly. "I know." Tyler did the same. "She's also my friend, if I had known, I would have warned you. I know she means a lot to you."

Pike took a deep breath. He was probably a worse actor than he had thought. "We should be in radio range in thirty minutes." He got up and went back into the cockpit. Ash was fine, Pike and he were far from being friends, but the captain looked as if he could use some encouraging words, even though he was not the best officer for the job. "No persecutors or other anomalies." "OK." Chris stroked his face. That was at least halfway good news. He hesitated for a moment, then reached out and grabbed her hand. They almost disappeared in his and was cold. Tyler took care of everything, so he admitted he just didn´t have to be the captain. His head sank against his hand, which he had laid around hers, then he closed his eyes. He had no idea what he meant to call what bound them, but right now it felt like it ran through his fingers even before he could name it. He raised his head and looked at her.

"Cathrin." In front of his eyes he could see her looking at him with her green eyes.

"Hold on, please." He stroked a strand from her face.

"Do not give up."

[randomnessunicorn-imagine]

I hope this is okay to ask, some headcanons for a reader who becomes good friends with Jake and Nog?

{ Oh, god. They are awesome XD 

More asks with Jake and Nog! }

🌠 JAKE & NOG 🌠

Jake, Nog and you are the Three Musketeers of Deep Space Nine, thetroublemakers of the station and now Odo should put a third eye behind his headto check your moves. The three public enemies, three real brats.

There are zero boring moments with them because they always have a newidea. Especially Nog, as a Ferengi, knows every trick and game you three canplay to others, of course. It’s always funny and hilarious. The time you spendwith these two silly boys are the best moments ever.

Even Benjamin is happy his son has found a new friend since this stationis quite boring sometimes, it’s not the proper place for teenagers and sohaving so many friends is the right solution to feel better in this lonelyplace.

Jake often invites you to have dinner with him and Benjamin and you areimpressed by his cooking skills, you did not imagine Jake’s father was such agreat cook and you always love eating his delicious dishes.

Sometimes, you also play baseball together and you feel like Benjamin isyour father and Jake is the brother you never had.

When you confess this thought to Jake, he feels s flattered, his smilegoes wide and he almost cries with excitement, it makes him very happy and he likesyou a lot too.

There is a chance that he will start considering you more like his crushthan a friend even if he pretends it’s not true and it’s impossible, you arehis friend and nothing more… Maybe, he’s not so sure anymore.

When you don’t spend your days with Jake, you often see the weird butlovely Nog, the funniest Ferengi you could ever meet. He is such a particularguy but you know he is not like the other Ferengis, he’s got something specialand you can’t explain what but you appreciate his company.

Nog teaches you all the Ferengi acquisition’s rules and now you knoweverything about profit and gold.

One day, you also tell to Nog that for you, his friendship is moreprecious than gold and the poor Nog just blushes and says that anything is moreprecius than gold is but he truly feels embarrassed and content for yourcomment. He also considers your friendship very important but he’s too silly tosay it aloud, poor clumsy child.

He also teaches you something about engineering and you did not expect Nogto be a great engineer, he’s very talented and you are sure he will be a verygood element in the Starfleet. Nog is impressed and he’s glad you believe inhim because no other people did, you and Jake are the first people who havesupported him and believed in his dream and Nog is not going to disappoint you.

At a certain point, he could even ask you to come with him in theStarfleet and start this fantastic dream together. It would be great, wouldn’tit be?

We can say that Jake is yourguardian angel and Nog is your little devil. Do you know when in cartoonsappear the little devils and angels in front of the protagonist? Well, let’simagine something like this, but here we have Jake and Nog, the same roles butwith different people. Jake is the nice and good friend who never causes youtroubles and Nog is the irreverent and odd friend who always gets you introubles but you love them in the same way.

[phantom-le6]

Episode Reviews - Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5 (2 of 6)

Later than planned due to the Snooker World Championship final, here’s my second round of reviews for season 5 of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Episode 6: The Game

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Commander Riker visits Risa and is introduced to a video game by Etana Jol, a Ktarian woman with whom he has become sexually involved during his vacation on the pleasure planet. Riker, upon his return to the��Enterprise, distributes replicated copies of the game to the crew of the starship.

 Cadet Wesley Crusher, on vacation from Starfleet Academy, is visiting the Enterprise and notices everyone playing the game (and trying to convince him to play as well). Doctor Beverly Crusher, Wesley's mother, secretly switches off Lt. Commander Data and sabotages his circuits, because he would be immune to the game's addictive properties. The game addicts people who play it by stimulating the pleasure centres of their brains when they successfully complete each level.

 Wesley reports to Captain Picard his suspicions that the game is dangerous. However, Picard is already addicted. Eventually, Wesley and his new girlfriend, Ensign Robin Lefler, are the only people on the ship who have yet to become addicted to the game. Wesley and Robin discover that Data's injuries were in fact sabotage, and begin working on a plan to stop the spread of the game. Wesley meets Robin in engineering, where he learns that she has come under the influence of the game, presumably having been captured by the crew and forced to play. Riker and Worf pursue Wesley, as he is the last non-addicted person on the ship. Wesley evades them for a time, but they eventually trap him in an access tunnel and take him to the bridge, where he is restrained and forced to play the game.

 Data, having been examined and repaired by Wesley before he was forced to submit to the game, frees the rest of the crew from their mind-controlled state by flashing pulses of light in their faces from a handheld lamp known as a palm beacon. The crew is then able to discern the purpose of the game: It rendered them extremely susceptible to the power of suggestion, compelling them to aid the games' creators, the Ktarians, in an attempt to take control of the Enterprise and eventually the Federation. Picard captures the Ktarian vessel, captained by Etana Jol, responsible for distributing the games and has it towed to the nearest spacedock. Wesley and Lefler bid each other a reluctant farewell as he returns to Starfleet Academy.

Review:

Following Wesley’s departure from the show’s main ensemble of characters in season 4, Wil Wheaton reprised the role for three episodes and a single cinematic cameo, and this episode is the first of those reprisal moments.  Now on the plus side, we get to see Wesley get a girlfriend in the form of young Ensign Robin Lefler, played by guest actress Ashley Judd, and he proves fairly adept as the lead protagonist in the episode.  However, he’s unfortunately landed as the lead protagonist in an episode that’s a total bloody howler in terms of its plot.  First of all, the concept of an addictive video game?  Red Dwarf beat Star Trek to this with Better Than Life in the novel adaptation of their series, and did a far better job on the concept.  Also, I’ve gone off anything using anything even remotely linked to hypnosis in a negative light where fiction is concerned, and the design of the game’s ‘discs’ being a spiral pattern is a clear visual nod to visual-based hypnotic inductions if I ever saw one.

 However, the real problem is that this is Trek trying to hammer out a ‘video games are addictive’ message, and frankly it’s right up there with anytime someone rails against violence and anything else in video games as something to piss me off.  Why? Because the world was full of things that people could get addicted to or that were violent well before computer games existed.  Drugs, including alcohol and nicotine, are addictive.  Gambling is addictive.  Sex is addictive, but guess what?  Not everyone is walking around with a constant need to down a ton of pills with half a liquor store and a pack of cigarettes, buy a hundred lottery tickets and then boink everyone on their street.  Likewise, the violence in video games is nothing compared to all the other violence in human history.  Two World Wars, the Crusades, dozens of other wars and skirmishes the world over and goodness knows how many murders, honour duels and the like all before we got anywhere near a home computer game of even the most basic variety.

 The reality is that addiction to anything is a serious issue, and frankly the anti-drugs episode back in season 1 of this series did better addressing it than this episode does.  It’s a near-total train-wreck, ironically saved by the one character many people often found most irksome in the show’s early years. For me, it’s only worth 4 out of 10. Oh, and Will?  There are some women you need to say no to, so maybe adding that word to your vocabulary next time you’re on Risa.

Episode 7: Unification (Part 1)

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Starfleet Admiral Brackett informs Captain Picard that Ambassador Spock is missing and an intelligence scan has placed him on Romulus, raising fears that he may have defected. Picard orders the Enterprise to Vulcan to speak to Spock's ailing father, Sarek, with whom Picard shares a close bond. Sarek mentions Pardek, a Romulan Senator with whom Spock had been maintaining a dialogue for several decades. Lt. Commander Data discovers a visual record of Pardek from a trade conference and confirms that he is the other figure seen on the intelligence scan of Spock on Romulus. The Enterprise crew find the remains of a decommissioned Vulcan ship, the T'Pau, in the debris of a Ferengi ship which crashed in the Hanolin asteroid belt.

 Picard calls in a favour from Klingon Chancellor Gowron, speaking to one of his aides and convincing him to lend them a Klingon ship that could take them to Romulus while cloaked. Picard and Data board the ship, with Picard ordering Riker to investigate the T'Pau and try to find a link to the Romulans. En route, the Klingons inform Picard that they intercepted a message of interest to him: Sarek has died.

 On Romulus, Picard and Data (disguised as Romulans) locate the spot where the picture of Pardek and Spock was taken, which Data determines is a legal office. They wait until Pardek arrives, but when they approach him, they find themselves met by soldiers and taken to a cavern. Pardek arrives, explaining that Romulan security knew they were on-planet and they've been brought underground for their safety. Picard states that he is looking for Ambassador Spock, who emerges from a nearby tunnel.

Review:

Although Star Trek’s creator Gene Roddenberry died a few days the previous episode aired, it is the Unification 2-parter episode that bears a memorial tribute to him at the beginning of each of his segments, and rightly so.  This two-part arc was meant not only as part of a cross-promotion between the Next Generation and Star Trek VI, but also as a way to mark the 25th anniversary of the original series first airing.  Frankly, there’s little I can think of that would be more apt in that regard than to have Spock guest-star in a special instalment of TNG, though admittedly part 1 sees very little Spock.  However, to my mind, this is actually a good thing.

 As cool as it is having an original series character guest-star on TNG is, the show has worked hard to be its own thing and not be simply a direct continuation or a poor rip-off of the original show.  Because of that, delaying Spock’s entry helps TNG retain its own identity; a rush to have Spock on screen could have undermined any sense of TNG as its own show. Moreover, some characters have a certain ‘larger than life’ reputation among fan-bases, and good writers will understand this and build them up as an idea, a symbol of themselves in the minds of an audience before the character really appears.  A key example of this approach in other media is how writer Brad Meltzer tackles the introduction of DC Comics’ ‘big three’ into the events of the mini-series/graphic novel Identity Crisis.

 Overall, part 1 of Unification is very good at building us up to moment of meeting Spock, as well as putting us on Romulus for the first time in Trek history and just generally telling a good story, one which also echoed real-life issues like the re-unification of Germany after the collapse of the Berlin Wall.  In fact, I would say all that robs this episode of top marks is that the remaining Enterprise crew doesn’t have the greatest of B-plots to deal with once Picard and Data head for Romulus.  Granted, it pays off in part 2, but somehow I feel it could have been better, though for the life of me I can’t think of how.  End score for this one is 9 out of 10.

Episode 8: Unification (Part 2)

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Spock demands that Picard leave Romulus. Picard informs him of the Federation's concern over his "cowboy diplomacy" and tells him that Sarek has died. Spock takes the news of his father's death stoically. He explains to Picard that during the peace negotiations with the Klingons decades earlier, he felt responsible for putting Captain Kirk and his crew at risk, and so is now working alone on a "personal mission of peace" to re-unify the Vulcan and Romulan people. He is working with an underground movement to achieve that aim. Pardek has asked Spock to come to Romulus to meet with the new Proconsul of the Romulan Senate, a young idealist who has promised reforms. Picard expresses concern that the willingness of the Romulans may be part of a larger ploy; Spock agrees but points out that if a larger plot is at work, it is best they play out their roles within it to uncover it.

 Picard, Data, and Spock are soon captured by Commander Sela, who is planning a Romulan conquest of Vulcan. The stolen Vulcan ship and two others are carrying a Romulan invasion force, under the guise of escorting a peace envoy. Spock refuses to deceive his people by announcing the false news, even after Sela threatens to kill him, and she locks the three in her office and leaves to order the ships on their way. By the time she returns, Data has hacked into the Romulan computer system and created a holographic simulation that distracts her long enough for the three captives to incapacitate her and her officers.

 Meanwhile, the Enterprise arrives at Galorndon Core following their investigation into one of the missing Vulcan ships. They detect the three Vulcan ships and moves to intercept them as they cross the Neutral Zone. A medical distress signal comes in, but as Riker orders the ship toward its source, they receive a broadcast from Romulus in which Spock reveals the true nature of the Vulcan ships, and Riker orders Dr Crusher to check the source of the medical distress call, suspecting it to be a Romulan ruse. A Romulan Warbird uncloaks, destroys the ships, and recloaks, killing the troops instead of allowing them to be captured.

 On Romulus, Data and Picard bid farewell to Spock. The Ambassador is intent upon his goal, realizing that it cannot be achieved through diplomacy or politics. Picard offers Spock a chance to touch what Sarek shared with him, and the two mind-meld.

Review:

Discounting the various alien bar scenes that factor into the Enterprise’s B-plot (for goodness sake, TNG, you’re not supposed to be Star Wars and that is certainly not Mos Eisley Cantina), the second part of Unification is about as good as the first part.  According to Memory Alpha, the writers felt like this episode was a bit too talky and wanted more action in retrospect, but with respect I disagree. Trek is made for being talky at times, and anything involving Leonard Nimoy and Patrick Stewart working together as Spock and Picard more or less demands it.  Had it been Riker and Kirk, then I could understand the action impulse. Moreover, as I just noted a moment ago, this is Star Trek and not Star Wars.  Trek is about issue and character exploration, about delving into matters of substance, not shallow action scenes and plots with little to no issue exploration or substance.  If action isn’t going to serve something deeper on Trek, then it’s best left to one side.

 The A-Plot works to a nice conclusion, and it’s cool to see Commander Sela back, even if you still have the issue that she looks like a Romulan clone of Tasha Yar and not her daughter.  It’s the character’s last appearance, which in some ways is a shame considering the later Romulan stories in this show and in Deep Space Nine.  The Enterprise also gets at least a decent, albeit slightly anti-climactic, conclusion to its b-plot.  Nothing more to really say; just going to hand down a score of 9 out of 10 and warp over to the next episode in this run.

Episode 9: A Matter of Time

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

En route to Penthara IV to assist its population in combating the effects of reduced temperatures created by a dust cloud from a recent asteroid impact, the Enterprise encounters a nearby temporal distortion, and finds a small pod containing a single human occupant. Beaming aboard the Enterpise, the human introduces himself as Professor Berlinghoff Rasmussen, a historian from the 26th century who has time-travelled to witness the Enterprise complete this "historic" mission at Penthara IV. He requests that the crew complete questionnaires for him, but reveals little about himself as he does not wish to alter history. Rasmussen's investigations are somewhat annoying to the crew but they entertain him.

 At Penthara IV, the Enterprise uses its phasers to drill into the planet to release carbon dioxide, creating a greenhouse effect to warm the planet, but this creates a side effect of increasing seismic activity and causing volcanoes to erupt, threatening to worsen the impact winter they were trying to end to ice age proportions. Chief Engineer La Forge and Lt. Commander Data offer a solution of ionizing the upper atmosphere, but the manoeuvre must be done precisely or they could risk burning off the entire atmosphere and killing all 20 million on the surface. With the severity of the decision, Captain Picard attempts to gain Rasmussen's help, claiming this is a scenario where any possible temporal equivalent of the Prime Directive can be overridden, but Rasmussen refuses to offer advice, noting by his era, the fate of all those on Penthara IV has already been decided. Picard decides to allow La Forge and Data to go through with the plan, which is successful and returns the planet to its normal climate.

 Rasmussen prepares to leave with his research done, but is met by a security team at his pod. Picard informs him several items have gone missing and requests to see the inside of his pod. Rasmussen reminds him again of the possible temporal prime directive, and asks if only Data goes in to look for their missing equipment, as Data can be ordered not to reveal anything about the future to the crew. Picard agrees. Inside, Data finds the missing items but discovers Rasmussen has him at phaser-point. Rasmussen explains he is really a disgruntled inventor from the 22nd century New Jersey that stole this pod from a 26th-century traveller, and intended to return to his time and profit by selling the Enterprise equipment as his inventions, and now that he has Data, he plans to take him back as well. However, Rasmussen finds his phaser does not work, as once he opened the pod, the ship's sensors were able to disable it. Data forces an anxious Rasmussen outside along with the stolen equipment, and Rasmussen tries to apologize and asks to be allowed to depart. Picard instead has Rasmussen placed under arrest, and the pod automatically disappears, leaving him stranded in the 24th century.

Review:

Before I get into the review itself, a bit of house-keeping I had to bring up.  Prior to this episode, Trek had been steadfastly anti-time travel for much of its history due to it being one of Gene Roddenberry’s ‘rules’ that Trek avoided this sometimes-overused sci-fi trope.  As a result, Trek did not have a temporal version of the Prime Directive, which is why when Picard discusses this at one point with Rasmussen, he wonders if the supposed historian is following a temporal equivalent.  As such, all references to the temporal prime directive being cited in this episode on any form of wiki sight are wrong and premature; you can’t reference a temporal prime directive that has yet to exist because there’s previously been no reason to even have one.

 Now, all that said, I think this episode was ok, but a bit all over the place.  Is it about suggesting that deliberately creating a greenhouse effect could be a possible solution to impact winters?  Is it about using that as an excuse to explore the nature of causality and the potential ramifications of time travel?  Frankly, for me time-travel is all too often a confusing thing because it invites paradox and gives you a headache in doing so.  For this reason alone, the multiverse concept of time-travel used more recently in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is better.  Also, all that talk about avoiding contamination of the time-line and then you let a guy from your past remain in your present, knowing that by Trek standards that could alter history?  Pretty sloppy, but as I’ve noted, Trek was still new at time-travel at this stage.  Overall, I give this episode about 7 out of 10; some of the acting, especially from Patrick Stewart, helps compensate for some of the confusion factor.

Episode 10: New Ground

Plot (as given by me):

While Lt. Commander La Forge is getting excited about a test of soliton wave technology, which could enable ships to travel at warp speeds without a warp drive or engines, Lt. Worf learns his human mother and Alexander have come to visit him via the transport ship Milan. When they beam aboard, however, Alexander claims he won’t be returning.  It turns out Worf’s human parents feel that they are too old to act as parents anymore, and they have seen Alexander show troubling behaviours that they feel only the guidance of his father can help him through.

 Worf attempts to incorporate being a parent into his life on board the Enterprise, but faces numerous challenges.  In addition to trying to tackle the minutia of enrolling Alexander at school and registering him with sickbay, Worf also struggles to deal with Alexander’s problem behaviours, which include lying and stealing.  When the behaviours continue despite Worf teaching Alexander about honour and making him promise not to lie anymore, he decides to send Alexander to a Klingon school instead.

 Matters are complicated when the Enterprise is damaged during the soliton wave test, and the wave itself begins to exponentially gain in speed and power as it heads for a colony on Lemma II.  The decision is made to chase the wave, travel through it and then dissipate it using photon torpedoes.  However, the ship’s shields are not at full strength, and travelling through the wave leaves certain sections exposed to possible ion radiation when the wave is dissipated.  One section is bio-lab 4, which Alexander runs away to following another argument with his father; the trip through the wave causes a major fire in the lab and traps Alexander under debris.

 When the bridge crew learns of Alexander’s plight, Worf and Commander Riker race to Alexander’s aid, narrowly saving him and some endangered animals that were being transported in the bio-lab before the soliton wave had to be dissipated.  While Alexander recovers in sick bay, Worf offers Alexander a choice; to face the rigours of Klingon school, or face the potentially greater challenge of remaining on board the Enterprise.  Alexander chooses the latter option.

Review:

This is an episode that, much like the soliton wave from its B-plot, starts out weak and builds to strength at the climax.  At first, it’s almost cringe-worthy watching Worf try to play single parent and assume what he thinks a parent should be, not for a moment factoring in how Alexander has been raised up to now or how being sent to Earth after his mother’s death affected him.  You can see Worf’s discomfort with the whole situation is making him try to more or less duck the situation, which I can understand to a degree.  After all, no one likes being chucked in at the proverbial deep end of any scenario, and as an autistic person I absolutely hate it when that happens, so I can empathise with the whole set-up.

 However, Worf is not autistic, and he’s been around a crew that includes families for his entire stint on the Enterprise, so you’d think he’d adapt a bit quicker.  As it is, the A-plot is saved when the conflict puts Alexander in a position where the B-plot can endanger him, and for that final act of the episode, you get a great bit of dramatic television.  There’s nothing that can get you on the edge of your seat more than a child being in danger and their parent having to race to the rescue.  The fear and the worry of that situation charges everything with urgency and commands audience attention, which is a key reason why I think when Marvel put the Fantastic Four on the big screen for themselves, they have to include Reed and Sue’s son Franklin and put him in peril; otherwise, the F4 can’t distinguish themselves as they did in the comics.

 For me, it’s very much that final act that really makes this episode worth a watch, but only just.  Overall, I give this episode 6 out of 10.

[autieami-blog]

Matters of Faith: Chapter 1 (a DS9 fic)

Yoooo I’m posting the first chapter (1,700 words) of a new fic below--

It takes place during the Dominion occupation of DS9. It follows a Vorta who comes to Bajor as a Dominion representative. Themes are religion, free will, ethics, found families, Kira being sarcastic, Odo being grumpy, the Vorta being very confused, cute little kids, and emotional turmoil.

Chapter 1 of like, 5 or 6 total probably?

Matters of Faith, chapter 1: The Dominion Walks Into a Bar

The bar was dimly lit. It always was, these days. Supposedly to save money on lighting costs, but Kira suspected that the real reason Quark kept the place so dark was so that he didn’t have to see the bragging, swaggering Cardassians and the sulking Jem’Hadar littering the tables that had been so recently filled by laughing Bajorans, talkative Humans, Andorians and Bolians trading jokes and playing Dabbo.

Or perhaps she was injecting too much of her own mood into it, and Quark was just staying true to his miserly ways. Either way, she didn’t mind the shadows obscuring the ugly faces of the occupying force.

 “Something on your mind, Major?” a gravelly voice said, interrupting her thoughts. She turned to smile at Odo, sitting next to her at the bar.

 “I’ll give you three guesses what,” she said, taking a sip of her drink.

 “Mmm. The color of the decorations for next year’s Gratitude Festival on Bajor?” he deadpanned.

 Kira snorted with laughter. A Jem’Hadar at a nearby table gave her a disapproving glare, and her smile faded.

“I wonder if we’ll have one,” she said quietly.

 Odo wrinkled his brow. “Why wouldn’t there be one? Has the Dominion shown any sign of opposing it? I can talk to Weyoun if so.”

 “Not yet,” she shook her head, earring jangling. “But you know how it is with takeovers. The Cardassians made sure one of their top priorities was cutting down on religious observances. You can’t have a slave thinking anything more than the day’s labor exists. They might start thinking there are more important things than bowing down to their scaly masters,” she replied bitterly.

 Odo grunted and turned to look at the entrance.

 A Vorta stood in the doorway, tailed by a group of hulking Jem’Hadar. The Vorta, who looked ludicrously small next to the soldiers, looked around the room until her gaze fell on Odo and Kira with a benevolent smile.

 “Oh, joy. Another visitor come to lick your boots,” Kira said, rolling her eyes. “I think an important duty has just come up for me on the other side of the station.”

 Odo raised an eyebrow. “I thought you found watching it amusing.”

 “Oh, I do, but the entertainment value doesn’t make up for the sickening factor.”

 Kira started to push back her chair and leave, but the Vorta had already waved her attendant Jem’Hadar off to another table and was approaching them, hands clasped behind her back.

 Odo cast a beseeching glance at Kira, who sighed in defeat and remained sitting, as the Vorta bowed her head in greeting.

 “Hello Constable, Major. Might I have the honor of joining you?”

 “Pull up a chair and join the party,” Kira said in a tone that sounded like an invitation to a funeral.

 “Thank you so much,” the Vorta said, seating herself carefully on a stool beside them.

 A low growl came from the table where the newly arrived Jem’Hadar sat. A stocky soldier glared at the three of them, before turning his head away with a sneer.

 The Vorta gave a tinkling laugh. “I do apologize for Lorin’Lar. I’m afraid he disapproves of my talking to the False Founder. He disapproves of most things, though, so it’s nothing personal.”

 “How reassuring,” Kira said sarcastically.

 The Vorta smiled beatifically. Kira wondered if oblivion to insult was programmed into the Vortan genetic code, or if it was just a cultivated talent.

 Odo steepled his fingers and gave the Vorta the sternly unamused look he reserved for suspects and people he disliked. “Who are you, and why are you here?”

 “What can I get you?” Quark interrupted as he came up to them and leaned on the bar with an elbow.

 The Vorta tilted her head in thought. “Hmm. Do you have anything with a good texture?” she asked.

 Quark grinned, showing off a row of crooked, pointy teeth.  “I have just the thing. Renarian whisky. As smooth on the tongue as a lie.” He filled a glass from behind the counter with a bottle of treacly greenish liquid, and set in on the bar with a flourish before moving off to serve another group of customers.

 “Vorta can’t taste much, so we mainly go in for interesting textures,” the Vorta said by way of explanation as she took a careful sip. “You should try Icthian Swampbrew sometime. It feels just like you’re drinking fur.”

 Kira suppressed a shudder.

 The Vorta took another sip of her glass, then placed it on the bar and clapped her hands together. “So! Who I am and why I’m here.”

 Odo crossed his arms “I’m waiting.”

 “My name is Dorriv. I have the honor to be a Dominion Representative to the wonderful planet of Bajor. After a brief stop at this station, I’ll be heading planetside to greet our new allies, and to oversee some minor technological manufacturing issues that have arisen because of the Federation’s lack of support. While I’m on the station, I could hardly pass up the opportunity to meet you, Odo.”

 “What a surprise,” Kira muttered under her breath.

 “Sarcasm, I assume, Major.” Dorriv chuckled. “You forget that we Vorta have even better hearing than your Ferengi.”

 “They’re not ‘our’ Ferengi” Odo said with irritation.

 “And thank goodness for that!” Quark called from the other side of the room where he was polishing a tabletop.

 Kira wondered, silently this time, why two of the most annoying species had been given such good hearing.

 “Anyway, as I was saying,” Dorriv continued. “I’ve never had the opportunity to meet a Founder, having been cloned in the Alpha Quadrant, so I’m not going to miss the opportunity to meet one now, even if he is misguided.”

 “You’ve met him. Congratulation,” Odo said.

 “Thank you!” Dorriv beamed. “I wanted to ask you about your side of the story. I’m trying to learn more about my faith and deepen my understanding of the Founders, so I thought that perhaps you could explain why you’ve decided to forsake the truth.”

 “What, the Dominion hasn’t come up with some propaganda-soaked explanation for that yet?” Kira said with a laugh as Odo snorted.

 “Of course they have,” Dorriv said. “You’ve been sadly led astray by the devious and hurtful solids, and it’s proof of just how amoral and wicked the enemies of the Dominion are that they could corrupt even a lonely Founder. But you will in time, inevitably, come to see the goodness and superiority of the Dominion and rejoin the fold.”

 Kira grinned wickedly. “Poor Odo. I never knew how much we evil solids had corrupted you.”

 “I’ve hardly been brainwashed,” Odo growled.

 “Of course not, of course not” Dorriv said, sounding like she was reassuring a child. “And so I would like to hear your side of the story.”

 “So you can better understand what went wrong?” Kira asked innocently.

 “Exactly,” Dorriv replied.

Odo gave the jerk of his head that was his equivalent of rolling his eyes. “Do you believe the Founders always speak the truth?”

 “Of course,” she nodded immediately.

 “Did the Founders tell you that all Founders were infallible?” he continued.

 Dorriv was slower to reply this time.

“Founders may, on rare occasion, be misled. That has been proven by yourself.” she finally said.

 “Did they tell you all Founders were infallible?” he pressed.

 The Vorta twisted her glass nervously in her hands. “I was cloned in this quadrant. I only know the new rules,” she said defensively.

 Odo slammed his hands on the bar. Kira blinked and Dorriv jumped in her seat. At the tables around them, startled patrons looked up briefly, then slowly returned to their drinks and conversations.

 “Did the Founders,” Odo growled, his voice filled with contempt as he leaned forward and stared at the Vorta, a single strand of hair falling in front of the dark shadows around his unblinking eyes, “ever tell the Vorta that all Founders were infallible.”

 Dorriv squirmed in her seat like a fugitive being grilled. Kira almost—almost—felt sorry for her.

 “Yes,” Dorriv finally whispered.

 “So they lied to you,” Odo said.

 Dorriv started to protest, to make excuses, but Odo cut her off.

 “So they lied,” he said.

 Dorriv closed her eyes.

 “Yes,” she said flatly.

 Odo started to speak, when a heavy hand clamped on his shoulder. Turning, he stared into the craggy face of a Jem’Hadar.

 “You will leave the Vorta alone, false god,” Lorin’Lar snarled.

 “I thought you jarheads were supposed to worship the Founders,” Kira snapped, dark eyes flashing.

 “It’s quite alright, Lorin’Lar,” Dorriv spoke up. “You may leave us.”

 The Jem’Hadar still glared at Odo, without moving.

 “Lorin’Lar!” Dorriv said, frowning sternly. “You will leave.”

 The soldier turned and stomped off, heavy feet banging against the floor.

 Dorriv sighed. “My apologies. I’m still trying to housetrain that one.” Her hands trembled ever so slightly as she took another sip from her glass, but her gaze was steady again.

 Odo grunted. “This conversation has gone on long enough. I have duties to return to. Good day, Major. Dorriv,” he said, saying the Vorta’s name like an insult.

 Kira lingered behind as she watched him leave step into the light of the Promenade and walk out of sight.

 She turned to Dorriv with an incredulous smile. “You sure don’t act as worshipful as the other Vorta.”

 Dorriv frowned. “I know. I’ve been watching the Founder when the others talk to him, and he always seems so uncomfortable. I thought addressing him more casually might make him feel more comfortable. Do you think I went too far? I hope I didn’t offend him. Should I apologize?” she said, wringing her fingers and looking at Kira with confused eyes. “Should I-“

 Kira held up her hands to cut the Vorta off and shook her head, laughing. “I’m sure Odo preferred it.”

 Dorriv sighed in relief.

 “But,” Kira continued, her smile hardening, “you’re still a sycophantic little toady who would burn an orphanage if told to. You’re just trying to pretend you’re not. Cut the crap and think about what he said. Do you want to unflinchingly serve gods that lied to you?” Kira pushed her stool back and walked out without looking back.

 The Vorta stared after her for a minute with thoughtful eyes. Finally, she picked up her drink, swirled it lazily, and finished it.

[ramajmedia]

10 Things From Star Trek: Deep Space Nine That Haven't Aged Well

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was a monumental show for all the right reasons. The characters were well drawn out, a willingness to go against the grain of what made Star Trek special and were arguably the alternative for Star Trek fans. It also marked the first time that the lead was an African-American with a far more diverse cast than previous iterations.

RELATED: Star Trek TNG: 5 Relationships Fans Were Behind (& 5 They Rejected)

Despite the accolades the show received for its story arc, there will still some glaring things that have not stood the test of time. This might be nitpicking but it still has to be brought up in the conversation. Here are 10 things from the Star Trek: DSN that haven't aged well.

10 THE SPECIAL EFFECTS

Is this a fair call? In all honesty, it is. The effects were pretty good for the 1990s but pales in comparison to the effects of Star Trek films and even Star Trek: Discovery. Perhaps, the best effects were the character of Odo whose shapeshifting abilities were a highlight of the show. Due to their TV budgets, there was also so much that they could do. Thus, the focus was more on character and storytelling.

Were the effects better than the original TV show? By a huge margin. But like much of the special effects of the era, it was bound to not age well over time.

9 THE UNIFORM

This was another example of what limited budgets can do to a television show. Sure, it makes sense in a military outfit to have the same uniforms every day. But the distracting grey on the inside shirt, with the uniform on the outside just felt lazy. Possibly, this was done to make it seem different from Star Trek: TNG but it didn't go far enough.

RELATED: Star Trek: 10 Hidden Details About The Main Characters of DS9

By today's standards, the uniform feels like another bad example of 90's fashion trends. Towards the end of the show, the grey became the standard color for all of the whole fleet with the corresponding rank colors on the inside. If anything, this just confused viewers further.

8 CORNY FILLER STORIES

One of the issues with having a show that is 26 episodes per season is that writers run out of ideas. The show stood as a testament to other Star Trek shows due to its serious storylines and willingness to go deep into drama. But there were moments when Star Trek made poor choices with certain episodes. A big culprit of this trope was the Season seven episode, "Take Me Out to the Holosuite."

This took place after Sisko had returned to the space station dramatically and the federation was in the midst of a war. Going from that to silly comedy on the holosuite just didn't seem right in the grand scheme of things.

7 RELIGIOUS THEMES

When Gene Roddenberry envisioned Star Trek, it was meant to be an era that was devoid of religion. While religion could be used as a plot point, Star Trek DSN took it further with a willingness to explore supernatural concepts and using the Bajorans as a conduit for expressing issues with religions. They even made Sisko "an emissary" who eventually joined "the prophets" inside the wormhole.

This went against the grain of Star Trek. It's fair to say that while not all of the religious arc didn't make for good drama, it just doesn't hold up against current television shows exploring the same concepts.

6 MAKE-UP

Yes, the make-up doesn't hold up to today's standards. A character that is the best example of this is Odo. His face resembles a Mr. Potato Head, who forgot his nose in the toy rack. Some didn't have much going for it. Lt. Jadzia Dax just had spots across her temples and her neck.

RELATED: The 10 Biggest Deep Space Nine Twists and Reveals, Ranked

Sure, at the time, it was fine. But it doesn't come close to the sheer amazing work and detail viewers are treated in shows like Game of Thrones or The Umbrella Academy. It may have been praised but like everything else, they have become relics over the years.

5 THE SETTING

If anything about the show that didn't feel right, it was the setting. Most of Star Trek DSN was set on a space station and was the main plot of the show. But that made for a dreary landscape. There were episodes that the writers which forced Sisko and his crew to go on secret missions that broke the monotony of the background. But that just means that the writers knew they were handicapped by having the main setting be a space station.

Other Star Trek shows had the advantage of traveling to other worlds but this show was set on a space station. It's revealing that some of the better episodes of DSN took place off the space station.

4  A VAUDEVILLE VILLAIN

Like Batman and Robin, this show had too many villains. Who was the main baddie of the show? Gul Dukat, The Dominion, The Founders, etc. It's hard to figure out who the actual main villain of the show was. The show played fast and loose with the concept as The Founders who were Changelings became the official main villains.

Related: Star Trek: 10 DS9 Storylines That Were Never Resolved

Gul Dukat, who becomes the champion of the Pah-wraiths might as well been twirling his mustache at the end of all of it. Perhaps, the writers thought they were creating a layered three-dimensional villain but it came across as a character who would have better success in a silent film.

3 STEREOTYPICAL KLINGONS

Other than Worf, every Klingon who came on the show came across as one-note, brutish and non-existent. Granted, these were characters who were brought in for an episode but seemed to have only one mode of acting. Worf had the privilege of being a Star Trek: TNG original character and had years of writers contributing significantly to his character, allowing him to be more.

On the other hand, guest characters like Gowron seemed to be stuck in an angry and conniving mode the whole time. Even Martok seemed to suffer from not being to emote anything beyond brutish anger. Perhaps, this was the issue of writers devoting more time to central characters than the guest cast.

2 STANDALONE EPISODES IN PLACE OF STORY ARC

One of the hallmarks of Star Trek DSN was that it was telling an evolving serialized storyline over many seasons and episodes. This was very different from its sister TNG which had a static episodic format. But the problem was having an episode in the middle of an overarching story takes the viewer out.

For example, take the episode "Little Green Men." While the episode is hilarious with Ferengi being thrown back in time to clash with 1947 Roswell, it still takes away from the DSN structure that was established. It didn't move any character forward but was a sideshow. It lacks the ability to tell isolated stories within the framework of a larger storyline. A show that did this well was Breaking Bad, which moved the characters forward in a story that seemed separate from the rest of the show.

1  THE BABYLON 5 COMPARISON

This is the big elephant in the room. Science fiction fans have argued for many years that Deep Space Nine was a ripoff of Babylon 5. Both shows had the space station as the main backdrop to the story and it had a similar overarching storyline that developed over many episodes and seasons.

It's very possible that the idea for the original premise may have been taken from Babylon 5, the story structures, characters, and situations are still vastly different. But fans will never let this go. And it is this glaring fact that hasn't served the show well in subsequent years.

NEXT: 10 Things From The Original Star Trek TNG That Haven't Aged Well

source https://screenrant.com/star-trek-deep-space-nine-havent-aged-well/

[heroesandvillainsofmbti]

ISTJ: Martok, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”

ISTJ – the Inspector, the Trustee, the Steward

When typing the Vulcans of The Original Series, I observed that most of them are ISTJs. The orderliness, logic, and composure commonly associated with the type just suits them. Turns out our two favorite Klingons are also Si-doms, and Worf and Martok find ways to tear apart their types’ expectations with a fury.

Dominant Function: (Si) Introverted Sensing, “The Study”

Martok has worked long and hard to get where he is. He comes from a lower-class, “commoner” background, and never forgets it. He was the first in his family to apply for officer training, but he was rejected thanks to a negative vote from the legendary Kor, who believed that those without noble blood should not be allowed in the ranks of officers. Martok holds this against Kor for the rest of his life, and refuses to speak to the man when he joins his crew for one last mission.

Martok had to work as a common day laborer due to his rejection, but he never gave up his original plan to become an officer. He served as an orderly on a Klingon warship and finally earned a field commission from his General when they fought invading Romulans. Sadly, Martok’s father had died by the time he accomplished this, and Martok carried that sore spot with him as well, nursing his grudge against Kor.

Over the years, Martok became an experienced and skilled strategist. He rose through the ranks and attained the position of right-hand man to the Chancellor himself, Gowron. He was briefly replaced by a Changeling, and spent at least a year in a Dominion internment camp.

During this imprisonment, Martok loses an eye in one of his daily sparring matches with the Jem’Hadar. He also loses his edge, and worries that he’ll never set foot on a Klingon ship again. Once he’s free, he feels that his captivity has dulled his senses.

It takes a while for Martok to get his footing and his old instincts back. He decides not to replace his missing eye, keeping the scar as a badge of honor, to remember what the Jem’Hadar did to him. He also keeps his fear—very un-Klingon of him—believing that due to his past experiences, only he truly understands and appreciates the danger that the Jem’Hadar represent.

He takes command of an old Bird-of-Prey called the Rotarran, whose crew is beat up and defeated, and can’t shake off his own malaise. He’s looping a bit, afraid of facing his fears by encountering the Jem’Hadar again. It takes a butt-kicking from Worf and a few successful battles under his belt for Martok to feel like his old warrior self again.

Even as Martok gains status in the Klingon Defense Force during the war, he keeps the Rotarran as his flagship based on the memorable victories he won with it and its crew.

At the end of the war, Worf deposes the reckless Gowron and installs Martok as the new Chancellor, based on his years of experience and service. Martok balks at taking the mantle, as he’s never forgotten the humble roots he came from. He’s a common Klingon warrior. To Worf, that makes him the perfect leader.

Auxiliary Function: (Te) Extraverted Thinking, “The Workshop”

When Martok first takes command of the Rotarran, he’s looping, and out of touch with his Te. He uses it ineffectively and bluntly, much like someone in an inferior Te-grip, demanding compliance with unclear orders, bullying and berating his crew, and threatening them with charges of treason if they question him. He’s deeply disappointed at the poor service record of the ship and crew, as they have grown incapable and defeated after months of losing battles.

Worf challenges Martok’s command competency, and the two of them duel on the bridge. Worf almost bests him, but he sees the fire return in Martok, and he lets him win. Now Martok feels like a commander again, and he pulls the crew together for a victorious fight.

Martok’s still a strict disciplinarian, though. He throws a subordinate off the upper level of the Promenade just to teach him a lesson, and almost gets locked up in the station’s brig for it. Worf argues to Odo and Sisko that the General is perfectly within keeping of Klingon disciplinary structures, and they let him off with a warning.

When Nog stands up to Martok and his unruly men, Martok marvels in the little Ferengi’s show of confidence, and gives him respect—and space—from thereon.

While still a traditional Klingon, Martok isn’t as caught up in the formality of ritual like the ISFJ Worf. They’re both Si-dom, but with different Extraverted Judging functions in the auxiliary position. Martok lets Worf go through the motions of the chants and songs as the Rotarran launches, but he really just wants to get on with the job.

Once Martok becomes the liaison between the Klingon forces and Starfleet on DS9, he finds to his dismay that his job involves a lot of paperwork. How’s that for a non-stereotypical ISTJ? Martok prefers direct action, not busywork behind a desk.

When they make it to Cardassia in the final push against the Dominion, Martok’s Starfleet and Romulan comrades stand dismayed at the destruction. Martok, however, wishes to celebrate the victory with bloodwine. This is satisfaction for a job well done.

Tertiary Function: (Fi) Introverted Feeling, “The Deep Well”

Martok discovers a special bond with Worf during their imprisonment. It’s a moment Worf describes as tova’dok, a kind of spark of understanding between warriors. Martok coaches Worf to keep fighting during their imprisonment, and later appoints him his first officer on the Rotarran based on the trust they’ve built.

Eventually, Martok adopts Worf into his house, letting him take the name of Martok and regain his social standing in the Empire.

Martok has a fiery relationship with his wife Sirella, a majestic, formidable ESTJ. No one can quite understand how they work, not even Martok himself. He only knows that as tough a warrior as he tries to be, his honor leaves him lonely without someone to share his victories with.

Martok won’t let go of his grudge against Kor, and initially refuses to explain his emotional reaction to the Dahar Master’s presence on his ship. It is a matter of personal honor (whereas Worf, the Fe-user, is typically concerned with the honor that others will see). Even seeing Kor lose his honor as his mind deteriorates doesn’t satisfy him. After Kor goes out in a blaze of glory, Martok salutes his victory, but will not sing along with the other warriors in his honor.

Inferior Function: (Ne) Extraverted Intuition, “The Hiking Trails”

As a young warrior, Martok hoped for a better position in life than what he was born into, and fought to attain the rank of officer, which by all past tradition should have been out of his reach.

When he returns to command after his imprisonment, Martok has developed fearful and paranoid anxieties about the enemy he faces. Overcautious, he repeatedly orders the ship away from possible confrontation, citing various negative outcomes if they try to engage the Jem’Hadar. He grows pessimistic about the possibility of success, deciding without evidence that there can be no survivors on the ship they’ve come to find. He’s distrustful of his crew, and most of all himself.

To be a warrior again, he has to embrace the unknown possibilities of striking out into battle. Afterwards, he offers Worf a new beginning by becoming his brother.

When he’s being tended to by Doctor Bashir for battle training injuries, he gets fed up with Bashir’s worry. An inch or two this way or that, and Martok could have lost another eye or severed an artery. The old Klingon grumbles: “The human fascination with what might have been grows tiresome. The artery is not severed, and I am not dead.”

Martok is very much alive, despite everything, at the end of the saga. In fact, he’s wearing the robes of Chancellor of the Klingon Empire. It was not an outcome he expected, but it is a chance for the Empire to renew itself after generations of corruption.

[jazzypizzaz]

HEY for the writing meme: the, uh, heartrending chunk of stuff after this sentence in "The Case of The Caged Heart"? “Why are you gone? It’s inconsiderate and very frustrating,” Odo grumbles to the disc before turning back to his work. (actually any commentary you have on any part of that fic would be good, it's still one of my favs because I LOVE TO FEEL PAIN)

(fic link)

MWAHAHA okay so it’s under a cut because there’s *a lot* of heartrending (literally) stuff after that sentence and I got self-indulgent.  BUT IM SUPER PROUD OF CAUSING YOU PAIN wait that didn’t come out right uhh…. anyway….

“Why are you gone?  It’s inconsiderate and very frustrating,” Odo grumbles to the disc before turning back to his work. [the bits with him talking to the disc was meant to be a running theme, but I added most of them in afterwards, to make the build up to him smashing it more effective]

Odo has reread the same sentence about a petty theft on the third floor habitat ring several times without noticing when Dr. Bashir pokes his head in.

“I ah didn’t want to interrupt, but you said you wanted the results as soon as possible.” [poor Bashir is treading on eggshells.  he’s in Doctor mode, which is when he has better social instincts because he knows his role in the interaction, but still, he knows this is tough for Odo and doesn’t want to make it worse.]

“Yes?” Odo says eagerly, standing up.

“Well… I did all the tests I could think of– Quark had been into the infirmary quite a few times in his life, so I have a complete set of his biostats for a baseline comparison–” [Quark really does get hurt a lot doesn’t he.  why aren’t there more medical Quashir fics?  a checkup leads to ~more~] [who said that??? not me] [unethical but look at the characters it involves][um… moving on]

“And?”

“And my research came back positive.  The tissue in the disc is definitively Quark.  It’s conclusive.”

“But we don’t know about the other discs– this one could be a vestigial organ he removed beforehand or–” [I would hate to be a detective.  So much of this fic was me thinking up a) what actually happened vs b) what I wanted the characters to think happened, and thus c) how to make a) look like b)… but then stupid Odo the detective has to pick apart every tedious detail, and I have to address them somehow in the fic to make it plausible.]

“No, Odo… It’s cardiac tissue.  You have Quark’s heart.” [THIS WAS NEVER PART OF THE ORIGINAL PLAN  I was like halfway through writing this fic when it occurred to me and…. that was a sit down and think about what I’ve done type moment.  Like an “oh fuck…. can’t wait for this fic to be done and to make everyone CRY” type of moment.  Very exciting.]

“Oh.”  Odo stares blankly at Bashir, then down at the disc in his hand, not larger than a bar of latinum. “It’s so small.” [how big are those discs, how big are ferengi hearts? who knows, just go with it.] [this was another moment, in conjunction with teh one above, where I had that sit-down-and-think-about-the-delicious-angst Moment] [and anyway, why does it matter how big it is?  most people consider the brain to contain more of what makes a person a person, and would Odo who has no organs really place that much emotional importance on a blood pumper?  see this is the train of thought I chose to ignore for the greater goal of Feels.]

Bashir continues talking about all the ways the tissue sample could only have come from a dead Quark, and his calm technical monologue washes over Odo from a distance. [Bashir in doctor mode is really the best person to confront Odo with this, because any emotional or subjective data, however compelling, he’d throw out immediately]  Odo may pride himself on his persistence, but this last piece of physical evidence clicks like a key into his mind, unlocking every way he had been deluding himself from the moment Kira told him the news.  He has exhausted all possible alternatives.  

He failed.  

He failed his job, and he failed Quark. [THIS IS LIKE 90% OF WHO ODO IS!!! his job, and his weird thing with Quark.  FUCK]

“Anyway, if I were you I’d follow Kira’s, ahh, ‘advice’ and go see Ezri.” [how does bashir know about this?  who knows.  I assume the senior staff talks together in hushed whispers at how Odo is going off the rails, and what to do about it. idk]

Dr. Bashir waits for a response, but Odo doesn’t say a word, so the doctor nods as if to confirm his role is done and leaves. [I think now I would add in Bashir giving him an awkward pat on the shoulder or something.]  Odo doesn’t look up, just continues staring at Quark’s heart tissue, still and unbeating in the palm of his hand, as if willing it to shift into the full person. [i really like this line] [see…… I relate to Odo in this way, and in Jack’s fic haha, in that I don’t understand Death as a thing that happens to people??  conceptually.  like, that deep denial, and trying to convince yourself that a physical inanimate object you can hold was once an important piece of a Person…. sounds fake…. but science says it’s true??] [i don’t understand how souls take physical form, why am I encased in meat flesh who knows] [also… that whole thing about pretending you don’t have emotions, until eventually some tiny thing makes everything flood out… i know I’m pretty emotional on this website, but this is High Key Relatable irl lol]

[walkingstackofbooks]

DS9 4x10 Homefront and 4x11 Paradise Lost thoughts (I’m re-watching, so beware spoilers for future episodes!) [2 July '23]

"Dax is the most humanoid person I know." XD

The Siskos' relationship is so important to me :3

Not vegetables wait takes hee hee

Miles' and Julian's attempted London accents XD Miles' is better than Julian's though which is hilarious given Julian's dad had that accent

Quark was a ship's cook once? interesting

Quark's "Humans. All you care about is yourselves." is kind of true though - yes, Ferengi values are different, but that doesn't mean Quark's feelings weren't similar

Anyone I can look up for you "Uh no.. No." That's the perfect response, given what we learn about Julian's family later on.

"I don't believe in luck... but I appreciate the sentiment." Odo <3 That's quite sweet

I love the Klingon beliefs - killing their pwn gods is the most Klingon thing

Acting head of security! :O Is Layton a changeling?; Who wants to get Sisko off DS9? I cannot rememner!

"When are you gonna stop growing?" Not yet, Joseph, Jake's still shooting up!

"Nathan, the usual." This is so cute that Nog is already part of the extended family <3

"They call it the academy but what it really is is school." Nog!!! You knew this?!!!

"I am a good guy to be around, aren't I?" Jake and Nog are the cutest friendship, I love how easily he restored Nog's confidence <3

Nog just being like "I can just ask Captain Sisko for a favour, why not?" - he's really good at going after what he wants unapologetically.

The fact Sisko just tenderly kisses his dad is very sweet, I love how gentle all the Sisko men are

"I had a talk with your doctor." That's a violation of doctor-patient confidentiality, surely?

"They don't all share Odo's lack of skill when it comes to mimicking humans." Ouch

"This business has got you so twisted around you can't think straight." Well, yes... shapeshifters are tricky.

"If I was a smart shape-shifter, a really good one, the first thing I would do would be to grab some poor soul off the street, absorb every ounce of his blood, and let it out on cue whenever someone like you tried to test me." Joseph is serving the real facts - this has already, presumably, been done by the Martok-changeling.

"It's like he's carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders." "He is." Jake knows what's up, bless him. 4x11 Paradise Lost

"I'd hate to see the members of Red Squad get into any trouble." Sisko can just be so cool under pressure.

"I'm not lying to you, sir." This cadet has balls - it cannot be easy to stick to your guns when Sisko's laying into you like that!

It's weird seeing a changeling so open about what they are, taking the form of O'Brien just because they can, but not actually pretending to be him.

Hah, Sisko has the same laugh as Jake! "And dated her for three years" haha

"I never knew it was so easy to break into classified Starfleet files." "Everything I know I learnt from Quark." I'm.. really not sure what to make of that admission. Makes sense though - Quark's presumably been doing it for far longer than Odo? Hmmmm

How did they change Sisko's blood for a changeling's?! Is Benteen a shapeshifter?

Uggh, Sisko, why tell Layton your plan? That's always a bad idea! Unless you're recording this to use against him?

"They've been told everyone on the Defiant has been replaced by shape-shifters." - You're willing to risk the lives of so many Starfleet officers, Layton?! That's when you know you're the bad guy!!

 "I only wish I'd taught you more about the importance of loyalty." "You want to talk to me about loyalty? After you broke your oath with the Federation, lied to the people of Earth, ordered one of our own starships to fire on another! You don't have the right." Sisko!!! ❤️

"I hope you're not the one making the mistake." For once, I agree with Layton - God, I hope you're not the one making the mistake here, Sisko. I don't like Layton... but he was fighting so hard for earth in his own way, he's so sure this will end badly. I just don't know.

[chishionotenshi]

A gleam of metal, thought Ro Laren. The woman had a weapon, she was sure of it. But the scanner called Ro's eyes a pair of fools. Not a trace. She did not want to alert this newcomer to the fact that she had been caught, but scanners could be fooled. Although, clothed in a short skirt and cropped top with loosely woven mesh covering little between, she hardly had anywhere to hide anything, or even to hide the fact that she was hiding something. Unlike her companion. "Name?" asked the officer for the third time. The figure, in a heavy dark cloak with a deep hood, and long dark dress, failed to reply. Ro could not be certain of the gender. Despite the elegant bronze scrollwork and unusual makeup that made Ro lean toward female, it was still only supposition. Considering the downcast eyes that never left the floor and lightly clasped hands that did not touch anything else, Ro supposed they could be under some kind of restriction, religious or cultural. Still, they had get through the entry process like everyone else. "My ward will not answer you," the newcomer said haughtily, when the officer made another attempt to elicit a response. "It is forbidden." "Then-" "You may mark her as my companion," she coolly dismissed. "Her person is too precious for your records." If only Colonel Kira was here to put this upstart in her place. As if this station was not fit for this pair! Interstellar junkheap Deep Space Nine might be, but there was no way this useless lump was much better. She was not making a case for herself, unresponsive and apparently unaware of the confrontation literally in front of her face. "Ah, maybe I can help," offered the sheepish captain of the small cargo carrier that had brought them all. This was getting absurd. Time for the Chief Constable to step in. "Sir, your assistance, while appreciated is not necessary. They need only provide their names and identification for entry." Ro looked the older woman in the eye, trying to get her to back down. "As I have said, you are not permitted to have her name. Mine, and my identification, have already been given to you." Maybe that flash of metal had been her soul: it was definitely made of pure iron. "Each individual must provide identification," Ro tried, but there was no budging the woman. "My ward does not and will not provide her identity for anyone to see. It is forbidden." "Then it will be forbidden for her to enter," snapped Ro, and instantly regretted it. She was supposed to handle this diplomatically. The woman smiled slightly. "I doubt that you intended to say that. Especially when it is not truthful." "It is-" Raising a finger, the woman produced a personal padd and turned it so that Ro could see the Bajoran Constitution. A quick scroll to a highlighted section "...shall deny entry to no individual on the basis of the culture, creed, religion, species, planet of origin..." and Ro knew she had lost. This one had done her research and there was no getting out of it. Irritated, Ro stamped their pass and waved them on. Before she could say anything, the older woman nodded at her and said, "I will be keeping an eye on you, Chief Constable Laren." Ro thought she might burst with indignation. What right did that- that woman have to suggest Ro was the one who needed watching? After she had purposefully set up this encounter to make Laren look bad? People were staring, damn it! Still looking embarrassed, the captain offered, "Sorry about her. She's a character. The kid is all right, though. Quiet, but nice." "She brought weapons." "Weapons? No, she doesn't have any. Doesn't need them." He added, more quietly, "I wouldn't want to be the idiot who put one in her face, either." Before Ro could ask what that meant, he had taken his pack and set off for the Promenade. No matter his reassurances, Ro had only one fact in mind. That woman was going to make trouble. In a very dark corner of her soul, the constable rejoiced. It had been ages since there had been anyone other than Quark misbehaving on the station. After the agreement with the Dominion, and once Cardassia had settled to sullen resignation, the station had been so quiet that Ro was considering asking for another assignment. Four years was long enough to be bored of being bored. Not that the station was anything but welcoming to a misfit person like herself. Between the Federation and Bajor, Ro was not exactly getting handshakes whereever she went. She had been Maquis- double traitor. But it was Bajor who had called her to their side, and Bajor who had assigned her to the station. The Federation was roiling from the toll of the Dominion War and too many betrayals had sparked a conservative wave that was in danger of destroying alliances older than the Federation itself. Offers beyond the humanitarian were being rejected outright, and somehow five years had not yet been enough to help heal the wounds. Bajor, therefore, had determined not to enter the Federation yet. Neither side was more ready than they had been before the war, and only the timely intervention of Sisko's mad prophecy had saved Bajor then. Besides, Bajor had more pressing missions. Or thought it did. Ro was reminded of this as she headed back to her office to log her suspicions on those newcomers. A line had formed in front of the temple. A line populated by Cardassian refugees. The temple provided clothes, credits for hours worked around the station in various small jobs, and a safe space to meet as a group to discuss their plans for the future. It also served as a place where Cardassians and Bajorans could meet and talk. Or, at least, their children talked and played, while parents on both sides looked on in quiet alertness. It mostly worked for the children well enough, and adults found ways to be civil. Ro had never been called in in any official capacity, at least. Not that she, or any other Maquis or Resistance fighter, would have been a keynote speaker. Having experienced death squads quashed the smug aloof aura Cardassians had always exuded, at least in Ro's experience. Someone who had killed Cardassians, no matter the reason, was tacitly uninvited to any and every gathering meant to teach the Cardassians that they could trust Bajorans. Maybe it was the muderous stares. Or the murders that had happened, before and after. Maquis and Resistance members were simply not trustworthy. Unlike the notable exception of Colonel Kira, who was something like a hero to most Cardassians. She accepted the role with grace, attributing nearly every accomplishment to Damar and Garak, and their devotion and care for the people of Cardassia. She always swore it was their motivation that had guided her into coming to understand and care for the plight of the Cardassian people. Her talks were attended by nearly anyone who was around, and hardly ever failed to get people motivated. At least, so Ro had heard. She had not worked up the hutzpah to go, not once in all four years. She went to the temple a few times, early on. As much as she felt lost, however, she had never gone back to the religion of her people. Too much time in the relentlessly secular Federation had made Ro too skeptical, despite her secret yearning to belong. The truth was, everything had a sense of freefall about it, for the constable at least. She suspected other members of the crew felt the same. It was as if they were all waiting for a beginning that might never appear. Dax, Bashir, Kira- they all firmly believed that one day Sisko would return. And, somehow, this would start their lives anew. They had been. . . paused since he left. If anything would set things right again, for them it was his return. Ro was less credulous. If the Proph- the wormhole aliens had taken him, why give him back? Why not at least let him see his family? Jake, poor Jake, thought Ro. She had never spoken directly to him, just listened to others talk with him. But he had been determined to build a life without his father, doggedly pursuing his writing career and any humanitarian effort that came to his attention. Anything, it was painfully obvious, to escape thinking hopefully of a moment that was never coming. He could not, so Kassidy had told Ezri, stand hearing her talk about Benjamin in front of his baby sister. The baby, who was no longer a baby, was. . . odd. At first Ro thought it was all the attention well-intentioned people gave her as the Emissary's daughter. But there was something almost eerie about her, and had been since Ro had first seen her. She was precocious, certainly, but every now and then, the constable found the little girl looking straight through her. Not in the "I know you have cookies you could be giving me" way, either. Despite that, nothing much happened on the station. Those nine tumultuous years before Ro had arrived had seemed to have sucked up all the excitement from this region of space. The wormhole was quiet, Bajor was quiet, and Ro was so bored she kept flirting with Quark of all things. Those newcomers had to make life interesting before Ro did something actually stupid, like agree to dinner with a Ferengi smuggler. *** Mintara clicked her tongue at the accomodations. Cardassians had never believed in sumptuous quarters for their military, but this was a tight space for two to share even then. At least she rarely had to rest, so one bed could remain folded most of the time. Hopefully they would soon find passage through this anomaly. This place was one of the more dangerous stops they had to make, more especially for her ward. She turned to watch the girl, who was already glued to the viewport. Scenery had not featured heavily in their travels, so anything to look at that was not a bulkhead had always been appreciated. That, and this portion of space held something much more entrancing. Lightly, she tapped her companion's shoulder. "You have done very well so far. Would you prefer to stay here tonight?" An instant shake of the head, a trait learned from humans. Their travels through this "Alpha Quadrant" had taught her many unusual behaviors. But then, much in her would be forgiven. "Then you remain interested in the temple? No matter if you are scrutinized? I will not remove you from every situation, you remember." She simply smiled. There was a trust in her that Mintara had rarely understood. Of course, they each had their own awareness of the living. Still, this place had the potential to be quite safe. It clearly had been quiescent for some time to make the head of security so eager to create something from nothing. Then again, such stillness could hardly last forever, and they could prove to be the catalyst for the change. It would suit everyone for them to leave as soon as possible. For the moment, here they must remain. As a waypoint, the station seemed well enough, despite the anticipation felt by most. Their recent war left long scars across the pysche, but such wounds as did not kill would always heal in time. Most who had made this place their home were eager to recover, and welcoming of the new. It was those who struggled to remain wounded that would be the most dangerous, especially to themselves. The child tapped her arm, anxious to explore. No sense of danger yet had held back her desire to experience all. In her kind, that was natural enough, in spite of the headaches this had made for Mintara as her guardian. Knowledge helped the child more than the pursuit of it hindered Mintara's enjoyment of peaceful living. "Very well, little one. Let us see what there is to see." Mintara smiled slightly. "And behave yourself."

[calliecat93]

ST: The Next Generation S3 Watchthrough Episodes 18-21

Allegiance: So we have Picard whisked away while minding his own business and ends up somewhere with three other people while a copy of him is hanging out on the Enterprise. Don’t you just hate when that happens? It was alright. The concept is an interesting one, a race of hive0mind aliens kidnap people to see how they interact in a bubble while they leave a fake on the Enterprise to see if the crew will keep following Picard. Naturally the crew turns on the fake when he gets out of hand and Riker taking a stand was freakin’ badass, so glad that no one’s a mindless officer who will follow blindly. While the aliens don’t hurt anyone, they DID still kidnap and endanger a lot of people, so Picard telling them offat the end is justified. The whole episode hinges on Patrick Stewart’s acting ability as both the real and fake Picard, and to the shock of no one, he knocks it out of the park. They could make him act as a tree and he’d somehow make it into a worthwhile performance. Picard’s certainly not my favorite character, while S3 has had him grow on me the rest of the cast are more appealing to me and as far as overall captians go, TOS Kirk just had a better balance of serious and laid-back for me… he’s topping AOS Kirk though. Also… I know it was witht he fake Picard, but why are we starting the Picard/Crusher ship tease again? They had dropped it since Crusher came back and Picard seems even more married to his job than Kirk was, so… why are we doing this? But ah well. Still, it’s a strong episode for Picard as he shows his natural leadership and Patrick Stewart is having fun as the fake especially when we get to the song number XD It’s a nice episode about authority and when to follow (regular Picard is a reasonable leader who knows how to deal with various individuals to get the job done with the least amount of damage possible) and when to not (when the authority is outright leading you and others to certain death with no regard for those lives). In other words, don’t live in a hive mind. and don’t imprison people no matter if you intend no harm 3/5.

Captain’s Holiday: And speaking of Picard! I guess a requirement for Starfleet Captian is ‘be an utter workaholic who cannot and will not understand the concept of taking a Shore Leave’ and that hasn’t changed since Kirk’s time. Hell, Crusher pulls the same trick Spock did to get Kirk to take one… albeit Picard picks up on it much quicker than Kirk did and he doens’t end up on a planet that causes illusions that involve an annoying classmate, an old crush, and believing that his CMO/best friend got killed via a knight lance… boy Shore Leave was a trip, huh? I love how the entire ship was in on the scheme to get Picard to take the vacation, Riker’s smugness over it is freakin’ amazing. So Picard goes to Risa… and ends up tangled in utter insanity involving a weapon hidden on the planet, the Ferengi, two beings from the future, and a pretty woman adventurer. Guess the other Starfleet Captin requirement is ‘be prepared for your vacation to be derailed even when it doens’t involve Starfleet business because you’re just cursed now, sorry!’ This was fun! I like seeing Picard get to break from his stuffy Captain persona and get to go full-on adventurer and clearly having the time of his life doing so, it fits him really well~! Vash was also really fun and why we haven’t gotten an ST spinoff that would essentially be Indiana Jones in Space after this I’ll never know. It’s kinda nice to just have an episode like this with no complex morality or political/social themes, it’s just a fun adventure to let Picard let loose and the setting is a nice change of pace from the Enterprise. 3/5.

Tin Man: Tam’s inability to stop hearing most everyone’s thoughts which leaves him unhinged gives me major Mao from Code Geass vibes… well, except less sociopathic/stalkerish. I mean imagine being born a telepath/empath with all those senses turned on and being unable to shut them off and thus are overwhelmed by everyone’s thoughts/emotions all around you… yeah I think that the man has every reason to be out of it. I almost wanna say this kinda feels like an allegory for mental illness/schizophrenia, but given that this was in the 90’s when we weren’t that great at understanding that and my own lack of knowledge on those topics, I’m reluctant to say that with certainty. So we have him an an intelligent ship (the tititular Tin Man) drven to despair due to it’s fallen crew and in the end they essentially merge into one being… yeah it’s as wild as it sounds. Oh and they have to deal with Romulans… again. Also not quite sure what happened at the end, but hey it’s an ending. So it was fine. Not really anything else to say on this one. 3/5.

Hollow Pursuits: So we meet Lieutenant Barclay, a nervous, timid man who is constantly late, frustrates his superiors due to his demeanor/insufficiency, isn’t really fitting in, and he vents it out via living out his fantasies on the Holodeck. It’s… oddly relatable. Now mind you I’d probably be as squicked out as Troi was if someone had a hologram of me acting all intimate with them, but hey it’s not like he’s forcing it on the actual Troi. Riker comes off as an asshole though… though him, Troi, and Geordi seeing themselves in the holodeck was funny XD. It’s understandable why Geordi and the others are frustrated with him.. but like Data points out, name-calling behind his back is pretty mean and maybe if they tried to be more understanding and reached out, maybe it would help Barclay. As someone with major social anxiety and poor social skills in general, I could relate to how Barclay felt and it was nice to see an episode focusing on what would otherwise be a nameless nobody in the background. There are more people on the ship than the main group, several of whom they’re the superiors over, so it’s nice to also see Geordi struggling as a superior to a subordinate that he’s having issues with. When Guinan pointed out that maybe Barclay’s late and nervous because everyone acts like they don’t want to be around him or talk to him… damn, that articulates exactly what I felt. Also, you’d think that the Holodeck would… you know, make it so one can’t walk in on someone’s privacy unless it’s an emergency. Just saying. But yeah for an episode in the ’90s, while it doens’t specifically bring up social anxiety or mental illness that one could associate with Barclay and the Holodeck sequences might be more… concerning in a modern light, it does have the message on treating those feeling withdrawn, nervous, and struggling with those kinds of things respectfully and to reach out to them with understanding and openness, not to dismiss or demean them. It’s a lesson I wish that was more clear in the ’90s, it might have helped me with my problems… ah well! 3.5/5.

Alright, we’ve got five episodes of the season left. So here’s how we’re going to go from here. Tomorrow will be 22-25, which I read the title for one and it’s gotten me super excited~! Then we have the finale… which is one part of a two-parter with Part 2 being the beginning of S4. I’ve been thinking of how to deal with this in the watchthrough since I consider parter episodes essentialy the same episode but divided up. What I decided is that on the wtchthrough post I’ll review both parts in one post, give the rating for both as seperate episodes, and then give a rating for them together. When I do the Top 5 Favorite/Least Favorite Episodes of S3 post, it will be counted as one episode if it makes the list and this will be the same for all the other two-part episodes at least for now. After I do the S3 finale/S4 premiere I’m gonna take a break until Monday, and then I hope to go through S4-7 without any stops. So here’s hoping that all goes according to plan.

[mustinvestigate]

stream of consciousness headcanon…ish…thing…

...which owes entire countries’ national debts to @niceteeth-nastysmile‘s health & food canon post and @adistraughtthought‘s on MacCready’s teeth and why Lucy was just beyond brilliant.

And this is all fic-related ponderings of general standards of personal upkeep in post-apocalyptia and their divergence from vault or pre-war sensibilities and how exactly romance could surmount this, which doesn’t really earn “above the fold” status, so…

So it’s generally held in fandom lore that folk are too busy surviving to truck much with hygiene, a thought which derails the sexiness of many T+ fics before they start. Like, “We’ve been trekking across the desert nurturing a deadly two-person epidemic of UST and, oops, convenient cave-in, we’re trapped together…carrying several days’ worth of sweat and battle muck in non-breathable armor we seemingly never change, without water to drink or freshen up with, and, y’know, let’s just sit in opposite cave chambers and breathe through our mouths until rescue comes, ok?”

And a vault dweller or pre-war person would live in suspended state of horror at the miasma of human funk and yellowed snaggleteeth when they have any at all, unable to hold a civil conversation no matter how high their charisma stat. As for romancing, well…nope. Nope nope nope.

Except, in settlements at least, with more pooled resources and storage space and security to allow people to spend time on less essential tasks like making tallow soap and extra under-clothing to change regularly and water to wash clothing and bodies, they’d totally raise standards to at least those of a modern week-long camping trip, right? Being clean and in fresh clothing is one of those small achievable luxuries, on the level of toys and games or cards for communal entertainment, that makes a huuuuge difference in feeling like you’re living, not just surviving. And with teeth, well, humans have been cleaning their teeth (albeit sometimes in ways that could not have been kind to gums or enamel) since we’ve been human. Morning breath and stuck-in food bits have apparently always been pretty high on the short list of activities worth spending limited energy on fixing.

Also often found in human settlements? Doctors, or at least some form of medical-type professionals to push for improved sanitation and enough cleanliness to minimise the spread of disease, not to mention heal injuries or perform simple dentistry or help prevent/treat substance abuse and all sorts of other ailments that lead to one being unable to maintain a comfortable-ish body.

(Aside for ghouls: although they’re described in-game as smelling like rotting flesh, I call bullshit. The smell of rot comes from decay, and by definition, things which are decaying are in the process of existing increasingly…uh…less so. [I don’t know, I can’t word good today, ok? Ahem.] And since ghouls are canonically unplagued by senescence [see? Fancy words!], there’s no decay beyond a certain level of damage that would produce that particular offensive smell. And further still since the skin damage would probably render most of their sweat glands gone or non-functional anyway, they’d possibly even lack the traditional human eau du ew at the end of a hard day’s farming. Y’all just decided they smell bad because you don’t like how they look – real nice, post-apocalyptic humans. Real. Nice.)

People living outside of settlements, though…they might be a different story. Like, raiders? Forget it. You’d smell ‘em coming a mile away, where they may be gasping their last due to catastrophic bacterial infection from what started as a wee molar cavity. They’re not expending energy on small personal-upkeep luxuries, or value stealing them from those who do.

Non-sociopathic nomadic types, like traders or mercenaries or people who don’t have useful skills or can’t afford to buy into a settlement (however it works when there’s no pre-war savior throwing away land for free), where carrying space is very limited and they likely don’t have much time or energy for non-essential luxuries…yeah, they might be closer to what we picture as a standard post-apocalyptic citizen. Like…in today’s terms…your stereotypical European gap-year backpacker. You’d certainly bathe and wash clothes when the opportunity and supplies came to hand, but wouldn’t go out of your way unless your red and orange Maslows were all in the black, and if your yellow, green, and blue were already in the pink, why bother?

(Is that a coherent joke? Probably not. Requires googling. But we strike on!)

Hence, in a slightly roundabout way, we come to MacCready’s teeth, and, further, the impact therein on writing a romance with a pre-war character. Or, really, any of the romanceable companion options, but fanon, and Bethesda going out of their way to make him the only one with bad teeth, seem to hold that MacCready’s a special case. He grew up LARPing Lord of The Flies, defiantly proud that there were no adults to make them clean anything they didn’t want to, and he married a girl (brilliant doctor or not) who was part of the same culture and tolerant of near-toxic personal hygiene or at the very least, since they seemed to be on the road when she tragically died, was biding her time until they settled down to enforce better standards.

(And, seriously, Bethesda, just admit it’s the same character as the Lucy he was best buddies with instead of someone who just happened to have the same name…except that does mean that sweet girl died terribly…and now I no longer know what I want to believe. Huh.)

And a pre-war professional lady, one who’d’ve had to maintain a polished image as a non-negotiable element of her career, she’d get past this…how?

Actually…even writing this out, it still doesn’t seem insurmountable. For years, I shared a very small office with a large, manly fellow who didn’t wear deodorant, worked out before work, and ate a lot of fish-heavy lunches. It’s amazing how quickly the human nose shrugs and moves the goal-posts, particularly for lovely people you get on with, or when everyone around you’s more or less at the same level of smell, or when you’re also working out and coming in kinda sweaty and, you know, we’re all human here, right, why are we so dang picky?

And my version of Nora, for all she prefers pretty dresses and parties, isn’t averse to dirty fingernails. She was in the military, had all her hair shaved off and slogged through muddy obstacle courses and dug latrines and everything; she went hunting with her father and helped out in his plumbing shop, getting elbow-deep in animal viscera and worse. A filthy soldier-type would definitely be on her experience spectrum with probably no more judgement than welp, try to stay upwind when possible, even that forgotten after she’s been in the same outfit herself for a couple of weeks.

But the teeth, man, there’s something moreish about bad teeth, right? There’s not just the aesthetics of non-white, non-straight teeth (trust me…having moved to a country [unfairly] famous for poor-quality dentistry, I can report that uniformly white, straight chompers quickly become the weird-looking alternative) but the visceral reaction to class comma lack of, to an indicator not just of “poor” but “poor and not trying to do better.”

Like, I grew up what’s politely called white working class (in a family that mostly passes leisure time with drinking, Fox News, and stockpiling weapons of dubious origins, so, y’know, shruggy-emoticon), and you bet all of us cousins had braces. We were going to get good grades and have office jobs. Our parents were real touchy about terms like “redneck” or “okie” and wouldn’t admit to liking country music. There was something different about the kids who lived in the same area but didn’t get braces. We weren’t encouraged to make friends of them, and as for dating…well…the bad teeth on a significant other brought home would carefully, one could say pointedly, not be mentioned, but every other possible flaw would be.

In college, I dated a mysterious guy I met on Match.com, who wasn’t white and who had the worst teeth I’d ever seen in real life. They were somewhere between ferengi and pirate and I’m sad to say they were the first thing anyone would notice about him. We ended up dating for two bloody years, even talked about marriage, and the funny thing? I never found out what the deal was with those awful, awful teeth.

At first, I didn’t bring it up because, well…how bad did his childhood have to be, that no one made him brush, no one took out a loan to get him in braces? Like, bad teeth were so intrinsically linked with lower-class deprivation in my mind that I just could not even broach the topic with someone of a different ethnic background. And, anyway, he turned out to be solidly middle-class from birth, held two degrees and a software engineering cubicle job that required a tie, even on Fridays. And by that point, well…if the teeth were the first thing you noticed, the second was that he was bubbly and goofy and sweet, and when months later someone looked at a photo of us and asked, “Oh dear, what happened to that poor boy’s teeth?”, it genuinely took me a minute to figure out what she was talking about.

So, my conclusion: even when one’s brought up to see poor hygiene and bad teeth as viscerally, mockably horrifying…as romantic obstacles, they’re quite surmountable. Like, there’d be some half-hearted stocking up of new brushes and mouthwash, nagging to go see the dentist no I don’t care that your childhood dentist looked like Ted Bundy, and probably a collateral raising of their bathing frequency through shared living routines, and it’d be fine, you guys. Totally fine.

Anyway.

This is what happens after a few months without drinking, y’all. These are the brain cells that’d usually get culled off by the friendly gin hammer.