#tbh i lost track of how this would work with canon halfway and it shows

[melatien]

i need to share my twitter AU rambles here more often, heres my most recent one

[kingjamesonfawkes]

Oh defo defo!! I plan on making a page for them later because stuff with my ocs gives me life & I have a few interactions written between them and canon characters that are just.. chillin on my computer.

So more info about OCs under the cut if you want to read about them! 

Azalea and Sullivan are the most fleshed out but I have a lot of ideas for all 5 of my babies.. Feel free to send me asks about my ocs~! I love talking about them I’m a huge nerd haha. 

If y’all are REALLY interested, like i said I have a lot of interactions written for most of them saved on my computer. ((mostly with Sullivan but I have some of all the others as well))

________________________ Azalea

Azalea is the first overwatch OC I made! She started as just like “this is me, but in overwatch” and since I made her she’s grown into her own character. There is still a lot of me in her personality but her background and some parts of her personality are completely different now.

Azalea is a 35 year old who lives in Las Vegas. She’s a magician by trade. She’s very very flirty and one-night stands are abundant. She has problems with getting close with people, it gives her anxiety and stress, and this leads to commitment issues.  She’s originally from a small town in the southwest where, when she was 8, she saw her first magic act and she was like “magic is cooool” and she started teaching herself party tricks.  Over her life & during the time of the uprising she studied technomancy because she wanted to be the World’s Greatest Magician. This got her her show in Las Vegas. (Her stage name is the Mistress of Mysticism) Her show in Las Vegas led to a party lifestyle, and she got into heavy drugs which fucked up a lot of her personal contacts. She hit rock bottom and almost lost her magic show, which is the only thing she really cares about, so she went to rehab and got clean. She’s really careful now but certain situations trigger her urge to use again.  Her manager and closest friend is an omnic named “Edie,” and she commonly is seen supporting omnic rights and protecting them from assaults.  At the time of the recall she is recruited by Winston for Overwatch because he thinks she would be an asset to the team. 

She’s 5′4′‘ with wavy dark brown hair and green eyes. She wears glasses. She has pale skin with freckles on her body. Her outfit is a black and white tuxedo dress with lime green details. She has both of her arms covered in sleeve tattoos of florals in black lineart.  Her weapon (& key item in her shows) is gold with green and purple gems on it.  [The first thing i drew of her] [Here’s a ref] But i forgot her tattoos [Heres a page of doodles] (spoiler i ship her with Hanzo)

“In Game” (support hero) >Creates ‘orbs’ from her staff. (Works similar to Zen’s harmony & discord orbs) She has to aim them and shoot them, they do small amounts of poison damage when hitting an enemy, and heal when they hit a teammate. Hitting the same target more than once builds the effect.  >Smoke Bombs for quick getaways. Enemies in the smokebomb area show up red like with hanzo’s sonar or widow’s ult. Smoke lasts for only a few seconds.  >(I dont have a secondary ability for her whoops) >>ultimate: “Grand Finale” : heals nearby teammates and poisons enemys in the radius, Azalea disappears for a quick getaway (invisible like sombra)  She passively heals her shields but not her health. 

Voiceline ideas: Her ult “GET READY FOR THE GRANDE FINALE!”  Elimination “Easy as pulling a rabbit from a hat” “That’s the trick!” “It’s all in the cards” (dorky magic stuff tbh)

Sullivan

Sullivan is my first junker oc, I have 2 of them. I ship her with Jamie or sometimes poly with Mako too depending on mood. 

Miley “Hot Rod” Sullivan is a 24 year old from Junkertown. She’s eccentric and high energy, determined and quick witted, very very skilled in mechanics and machinery. She has severe mental health issues that put her at risk from herself and cause large periods of depression and anxiety. (this stuff is based on my own experiences with mental health issues & not from the web tbh)  When she was 13 or 14 she lost her family and both of her legs in an explosion that also left her homeless. She almost died, and had to cauterize her own legs in order to try not to get infections, it mostly worked. The amputated parts of her legs are messy and awful looking but she doesn’t really care anymore, not like she did when it happened, plus everyone in the outback is at least a little roughed up. ((Another thing is that she can’t have children, radiation sickness fucked that up for her.)) Instead of prosthetics, she built herself a wheelchair & souped it up. It’s her prized and only possession. 

She has firey natural red hair with golden undertones, shaved into a mohawk with dangling "sideburns". [styled like this] On top of her hair, she wears a brown pilots cap that isnt properly fitted to her head, so it's pushed back and her hair  comes out the front and back of the cap. on the cap she has big black goggles that she uses during her mechanical work. these DO fit and she DOES wear them occasionally. She has deep set eyes and her eyes are brown. Her "make up" leaves one wondering, IS that make up, or is that dirt & soot??? the world will never know. She has dark circles because she stays up too long working on projects and hyper fixates on things she wants to do when shes set on a task, she could work on something for 2 days and forget to sleep and eat until she finishes or Mako (or less likely, Jamison) makes her stop. She's very frequently smeared with grease esp on her hands, face, and arms. She wears a denim jacket, littered with patches, studs and safety pins. it's pretty old and belonged to her father and before that her grandfather, who was obsessed with "old" (but not so old to him lmao) punk bands (ramones, the clash, ect) it's kind of falling apart but she stitches it back together when she needs too because its her favorite possession other than her chair. under that she wears a black form fitting crop top. she doesnt wear a bra bc fuck bras and also she has like b cups ("more than a handful is wasted" she tells people who tease her about small boobs.) She wears really short jean shorts  that are black and stitched together with gromets on the sides like a corset and they also have studs on them (these are VERY SHORT! VERY SHORT!! like basically underwear. and probably no underwear bc thats who she is) [reference] and under her jean shorts there is a high-waisted band of fishnet [example]. around her waist she has two bandoleers of bullets for her turret that she wears like a belt. they sit just a little under the top of her shorts. Her legs end about halfway down her thighs and the amputations are naturally scarred. She also has burn scars on other parts of her body, but not very extensively. She also has a few tattoos, [on her left leg above the scars] [on her right wrist] [across her sternum] 

“In game” (offense hero) Her wheelchair is equipped with her primary fire which is a scavenged and repurposed bastion turret. (since she is more mobile, it would not be as powerful or a fast) The turret sets over her shoulder while shes using it and folds back to behind her when not in battle. See [a really old ref i drew] to show this.  >Grenades, simple & basic grenades >speed boost, souped up wheelchair has an engine in the undercarriage and she flips a level to “overclock” it and speed up for a short period of time. >>ultimate: makes her more mobile/faster and powers up her gun, giving it faster speed and higher damage. 

Zed

Zed is my 2nd junker babe! He is a good boy and i would die for him. 

Zed is a mecha fighter from Junkertown.  His full name is Ezekiel, he goes by Zed to his friends, and does not like being called Zeke. He's mixed, mostly black and maori but he doesn't know exactly what else since heritage is hard to track in Junkertown. He's 19 years old and since he was very very young he's been building. His pride and joy is his Mech that he uses in battles. He's a small town hero bc he fights until he literally can't anymore and puts his whole heart into his mech. His father was the reigning mech battle champion for a long time before he died, and he wants to win back the title and keep it in the family. he's never known his mother. He literally built his mech from nothing and has been working on it for years. He changed his mech's name to Manaaki after his father's death. Manaaki basically means protector and to look after someone, which resonated strongly with him as someone that he wanted to become 

[a ref i made on a dress up maker] [a better ref that i doodled]

about his mech: It's shaped pretty much like a large bird that he can climb inside. (it's based on the australian raven) and its painted black with like oil slick. its a junker mech so its not perfect and its in battles so it gets scuffed and dented. it also has patches of metal where its been repaired with scrap paneling.

In Game: (Tank hero) Zed relies on his mech to fight, so if you destroyed it he would go with it, unlike D. Va. The mech is piloted similar to a jaeger from pacific rim, but on a much smaller scale, about the size of D. Va’s meka.  >Primary fire is the rifle on the head of the mech, where the beak would be on a bird.  >Primary ability is flight, it  would work as like a mix between pharah and d va but without as strong as a boost, and when in the air has a passive glide ability like mercy, but this is disrupted when hit or hacked and he must land. >Secondary ability would be shielding himself and teammates with the wings of the mecha, teammates must be close to be  shielded.  >ultimate:  an air strike, in a straight line roughly the range of the "point" square (maybe a little larger) and when he uses his ult you hear a great roaring caw and see the shadow of the mecha over where the drop is

proposed interaction between D. Va and Zed: Zed: D. Va! Yer mechs looking betta than eva! How 'bouta rematch sometime? D. Va:  Sure, If you think you  can keep up this time! (playful laugh)

Vivian

Viv is my brothers fav oc of mine haha other than maybe Sully. She’s a bitch and I love her. I don’t have AS MUCH figured out about her as I do my other characters.

Vivian is a movie star "by day", big fancy life in the limelight, but "by night" she's a talon agent and a spy. The only people who know she's a secret agent are other high ranked Talon agents, and she has infiltrated Helix to gain information from them for Talon, and because of her status as a celebrity she talks to organizations she infiltrates like "hey can we keep this on the downlow bc like i know im a good agent but the paparazzi would have a field day with me if they found out about this, and acting is my first love i cant give it up" she acts like a huge bitch but she is pretty sensitive about a lot of things, she just doesnt let people in. 

[a ref i made from a dress up maker]

In Game: (offense i think) >Primary weapon is a handgun  >Primary ability is “infiltration” that makes it look like shes on the enemy team to that team. >secondary ability “paparazzi” is a flashbang that looks like flashing camera lights and stuns the enemy.  >>ultimate ability is basically a guise that anyone in the effect radius on the enemy team sees their teammates as enemies as well and can deal friendly fire to them. lasts for only a brief period. 

My last oc I just made this week so I haven’t figured out a lot about her, she doesn’t even have a name yet lmao but here’s a copy/paste from my groupchat where i talked about her concept

Support hero. She's based on valentines day/cupid/eros

 she has a bow and arrow, like ana's gun they heal her teammates and damage enemies. her powers are ""divine"" is what she tells everyone but its really technology lmao. it fools no one except gullible people like junkrat

>her primary ability is "true loves kiss" and she blows kisses at her teammates and gives them small amounts of shield (shield that works like doomfist's shield and lucio's soundbarrier) and she can stack this ability >idk what her other ability is, probably a glide or low-air flight  >her ultimate stuns and confuses the enemy, knocking them prone, and gives teammates in her radius a larger amount of shield

shes a gossip and shes petty and she sticks her nose in EVERYONES business and she would try to get people to date each other and theyre like "No" and shes like "but youd be so cuuuuute"

her color scheme is white and pink (& a little red), she's from greece, and she has brown eyes and really long magenta hair

[sleepymarmot]

DS9 season 4 liveblog

[Season index: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 PS]

The Way of the Warrior

they changed the music! I liked the original arrangement better. I guess they decided that if they have to change the opening titles, better redo them from scratch?

I love how the Klingon general dramatically cuts his hand. It's like looking at the origins of an ancient ritual which real and very important meaning has long been forgotten. Tbh I thought the crew would do the same in the previous episode, but they went for the less dramatic blood tests :D

How was the Obsidian Order destroyed? The Dominion destroyed the fleet that the Order wasn't even supposed to have. What about all of their normal agents, infrastructure, gathered intelligence? 

"Not like you? Impossible" (note: as I prepare to publish this post, having just finished season 5, it seems this line was the last time they ever shared a flirty moment... rip garashir 1993-1995)

finally!

please stop reminding me about that awful movie thanks

Poor Worf is so awkward as usual

"And I find you offensive. Now hold up your arm, or I'll have the security do it for you"

"Captain Sisko bet me that you would thank him for the rescue before you started complaining." "I lost."

The Visitor

I have a hard time becoming invested in stories like this, when I know that the entire timeline would be undone by the end. The final scene did manage to make me tear up a bit, but overall I'm not impressed. At least it's not outright terrible like The Inner Light...

Hippocratic Oath

Wait, did Bashir get promoted between seasons?

I don't think that joke about Keiko was very good :\ But this is the second time Miles comes really close to confessing his love for Julian... what's up with that

seriously, why does the new theme have such a messy rhythm? it's as if the beat is out of sync with the melody

Odo is such an unusual security officer, of course there's conflict between him and Worf. I'm glad they're addressing this!

of course O'Brien does a transporter trick

oh come oooon O'Brien do you really need to be such a jerk this week

Sisko is nicer to Worf than I expected

the last scene between Bashir and O'Brien is very poignant

Indiscretion

The runabout scene with Kira and Dukat is unsettling because this rhetoric is too real...

The Worst Field Trip(tm)

Julian & Jadzia's Judging Corner: priceless

honestly the absolute last thing i expected was for Dukat's butt to get so much attention...

Ziyal looks much younger than someone who was 13yo six years ago

halfway through the episode I thought Ziyal would be that Cardassian girl from season 2, I mean there was a reason for that scene, right? right?

great episode

Rejoined

Oh, Dax got promoted too

Trill society sounds dumber and dumber with each episode

Kahn is so beautiful, charming and well-dressed. damn

how did my mom manage to walk into the room just as they kissed? is that a special parent talent

;_;

"your work produced the first artificially created wormhole in history" not counting, you know, THE wormhole

welp. a romance episode finally made me cry :(

Starship Down

Wait, is the alien played by Odo's actor? 

this is like a really boring version of "Disaster"...

Dax knows Bashir now better than a year ago? He hasn't changed much over the past year, the difference is rather between seasons 1-2 and later ones, plus they seemed pretty good friends in season 1 already, not like "she was avoiding him" -- in fact, I thought she was his only friend at the time. Their body language is cute as hell though.

Damn, I could hardly keep track of the plot in this one... or why the characters were saying what they were saying... how dull

you know what was the selling point of The Disaster? characters in unusual combinations and roles! I see none of this here...

Little Green Men

ew using someone else's tooth sharpener

omg Odo! :D

what, Klingons and Vulcans didn't have warp drive by 20th century?

The Sword of Kahless

what, this was the little boy we saw in TNG? Klingon children sure grow fast...

is this sword telepathically infected or something?

So, when Worf was acting OOC he wasn't under outside influence? okay... I enjoyed this episode, but under the assumption that Worf's dishonorable actions would be explained

Our Man Bashir

Bashir's taste is about as lame as Picard's...

"I think I joined the wrong intelligence service"

"This is more than I ever wanted to know about your fantasy life" same tbh... it's enough to remember these gross tropes exist somewhere out there, I don't need them in Star Trek reenacted by my faves

This just made me remember how much I dislike James Bond... We just had a cheesy 20th century pastiche two episodes ago, but at least I don't have anything against that genre. Not to judge what people do behind the holosuite's closed doors, but it's pretty offputting to see a 24 century man so enamored with this sexist fiction. And I have pretty much the same reaction to kisses with not-Kira and not-Dax as in the Mirror Universe episode, though to a lesser degree; that was pretty gross and exploitative. It's as if someone decided that the show wasn't straight enough after Rejoined and decided to compensate...

Also I think this was the first time ever that Bashir wasn't happy to see Garak. It feels strange and sad...

I expected Garak to spend all episode making fun of silly tropes, but the little he said was pretty weak. Though I liked the confrontation in the end and the way Bashir repeated Garak's speech.

And I don't think they even took advantage of the J. B. initials. Come on! :D

Homefront

"I prefer Klingon beliefs. Our gods are dead. Ancient Klingon warriors slew them a millennia ago. They were more trouble than they were worth." I think I prefer Klingon beliefs too...

Why did Sisko put on TNG-type uniform?

Is that Leah Brahms?

Very relevant story about security vs civil rights, and it's very fitting for Odo to be here -- not just because of the plot. I really like the thematic unity between the changeling storyline and Odo's personal issues as a character.

Come on, it's so easy to deprive the entire planet of power?

Paradise Lost

This title is very ominous...

Cadet Shepard haha

I think I've heard this boast... "We have five million Cybermen. How many are you?" "Four." "You would destroy the Cybermen with four Daleks?" "We would destroy the Cybermen with one Dalek!"

So, Earth and DS9 can communicate in real time? But in the previous episode, DS9 "received a recording of a high level diplomatic conference that took place on Earth a few days ago". I assumed the delay was due to the distance, but apparently not -- was the recording just classified before someone decided to send it to Sisko?

Wait, what President's speech? Did I miss something?

I liked the first part better. So, the changeling terrorist attack on the same week was just a coincidence? Everyone seemed to forget about that...

Crossfire

Odo/Kira scene is cute instead of irritating for once

"You could hear that?" "*points to lobes* Hello?"

"I have reason to believe someone is planning to assassinate First Minister Shakaar" and by someone you mean Winn?

Odo and Worf discussing security and order! 

are they replacing Odo/Kira/Bareil with Odo/Kira/Shakaar? How many nice but bland Bajoran dudes can be in love with her?

"Frankly, I don't care whether you and Major Kira end up living happily ever after or not. I just want to see the situation resolved" same

ok, I get it, falling in love makes you very upset, bad at your job, and is sad and frustrating to watch on tv screen. nothing new here

Return to Grace

"Is that what you kept track of during the occupation? No wonder you lost"

"It bothers him, you know. Very much. He talks about it sometimes" crocodile tears... literally

some men just won't take a hint...

wait, since it was previously mentioned that Cardassian flirting is bickering, does Dukat genuinely misinterpret Kira and think he's got a chance here??

so much for keeping Klingon secrets from the Cardassians...

There's something about this dynamic I really appreciate, but I can't yet articulate it. The way Kira confidently and unflinchingly deflects all the bullshit he sends her way? How she is allowed to be right in her unforgiving stance? That being civil and working together with someone and seeing their better side does not mean all their past (and present) misdeeds are forgotten and they're suddenly your friend? Maybe this is the infamous "grey morality" done right -- not the indiscriminate tolerance and moral relativism, but allowing the other side to plead their case without losing sight of what made them "the other side" in the first place.

Sons of Mogh

Jadzia has a great "I'm gonna fuck that" face

"Charged with murder?" Have these people never heard of assisted suicide?

"I don't give a damn about Klingon beliefs, rituals or custom" ohhh so when we talk about Bajoran religion we all have to be tolerant and culturally sensitive and understanding, but Klingons are not allowed to perform their own rituals among themselves?

Wait, did Kurn consent to this or?...

A second good Klingon episode in the season that is tainted by the heroes' inexplicable immoral decisions. Last time Mr. Honor attemped murder in the most dishonorable day possible; this time ritual assisted suicide was deemed outrageous but likely nonconsensual mindwipe is an acceptable solution. The former can be headcanoned away with the assumption that the sword had some curse on it. My headcanon for the latter: people other than Sisko wouldn't have objected to the ritual (Dax canonically, O'Brien was implied to), so they accepted Worf's other solution on the same grounds.

Bar Association

Haha, Odo brings up Rascals, one of TNG's most ridiculous security failures :D

"Have you have any idea how bored I used to get sitting in the Transporter room waiting for something to break down? Here, I've a half dozen new problems every day. This station needs me" Damn, I hoped he got to do something interesting that we just weren't shown...

Wait, O'Brien got into a physical fight with Worf of all people?!

"If this was Ferenginar, I'd have you all taken to the Spire of the Tower of Commerce, displayed to the crowds in the Great Marketplace below, then shoved off, one by one. Small children would bet on where you would land, and your spattered remains would be sold as feed mulch for gree-worms" lol remember Quark's little speech about Ferengi not being barbaric?

I really care about this messed up family...

Yaaaaay I'm so happy for Rom! :D

Ferenginar sounds no less oppressive than Cardassia. I want a revolution! You know what, now that the Dominion has kindly disposed of the Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order, can it take the FCA next? I, for one, would welcome our new gelatinous overlords in this case...

(I'm not a fan of that Leeta/Bashir background noise, thank you very much.)

Accession

"Quark, did you hear? Chief O'Brien is having a baby!" "I thought your females carried your young."

people from the past should stay in the past... apparently only 50 years ago Bajor was a pretty oppressive place too... 

"Maybe you never realised this, Captain, but we would've tried to do whatever you asked of us when you were Emissary, no matter how difficult it seemed" well that's creepy

oh come on Kira, don't follow your religion so blindly...

O'Brien and Bashir is the real love story of this show istg

oh god they have an untouchable caste too

and of course the aliens can't tell which is the true Emissary because the word "first" isn't in their vocabulary lol

The aliens say "First. Later. They have no meaning to us." -- and in the same conversation use grammatical tense to indicate the order of events: "This IS the one that WAS injured." "He WAS injured" "We KEPT him with us" "The Sisko TAUGHT us" -- so they must have some perception of time

"We are of Bajor" oh? since when do you even know that word? did the poet teach you?

these two are so awkward that poor Keiko has to play matchmaker for her own husband :D bless her

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the direction of this story... Sisko was completely right to feel uncomfortable as a saint for a religion he doesn't believe in of planet he's not from, but it turned out he's so awesome that the Prophets chose him over the man from this culture who fits the descriptions in the sacred texts. Because only an enlightened human can lead the silly natives -- by following one of their own they'd go back to the dark ages! Yuck.

I've seen more than half of the show now... time flies fast.

Rules of Engagement

Courtroom episode!

I like the clever cinematography & editing

Hard Time

Poor O'Brien...

Well. This was really upsetting. I've been crying for several minutes now.

TNG repeatedly failed to show the recovery after a character's traumatic experience -- specifically, Picard's loss of time in The Inner Light and imprisonment and torture in Chain of Command. DS9 finally delivers an episode just about that -- even if the next week the status quo will be restored and I'll have the same complaint. 

What Miles goes through is completely horrific -- so much that I can't imagine how one can survive that. Even as a viewer I want to wipe this from my memory and pretend it didn't happen... For my own peace of mind I'm gonna pretend O'Brien's friend was a part of the simulation, and later he managed to erase it all from his mind somehow.

Now I kinda want a story where the characters become self-aware and O'Brien decides to get away from his sadistic writers (and Bashir helps him, sacrificing their friendship for O'Brien's well-being).

Shattered Mirror

Always nice to see Worf's hair loose

Well, at least Dax is angry at Sisko for the rape by deception...

Why is Kira still wearing that shit...

at this rate you won't have any characters left for the next episode

The Muse

will this adult woman leave Jake alone

poor Sisko

Odo: "Actually, I have some free time and I was wondering if you wanted to take a walk." Worf: "I would." Odo: "I meant Lwaxana."

"Well, just don't go do what I did. Look for someone to fix your broken heart then end up pregnant and on the run." "I don't think there's too much danger of that happening."

aah Odo makes her a blanket! (well, I guess he owed her a night of sleep on his lap...) this entire scene was so sweet

eww not the pedo woman again

why must I watch this

Odo and Lwaxana playing hide-and-seek!!! this is the best thing ever

oh my god this is such a fanfic trope

ew can I just fast-forward through this?

"If you don't mind, this is a very special moment for me"

"You know, for a minute there, I really believed you wanted to marry me" ahh poor Odo's face :( even when he literally declares he wants someone in his life, that person thinks he didn't mean it...

aaaaaah! the goodbye scene!!! Lwaxana is so good! this is so significant and beautiful, this is Lwaxana recognizing and preventing her biggest negative trait/habit (pursiung and harassing disinterested men) with one of her more rarely shown positive traits (compassion and emotional intelligence)

i don’t know what to say about an episode where the main story is 0/10 but the side story is 10/10

For the Cause

Finally, some info on replicator sharing policy! "The Federation only gave Bajor two CFI [industrial] replicators” 

"If she's really a Maquis, then she's no longer a Federation citizen" wait what?! I thought this was the entire reason Starfleet had to keep them in check -- because they were Federation outlaws! have they proclaimed their own state while I wasn't looking?

have they recast Ziyal? she looks different

I don't appreciate all this UST

"I would not become a terrorist. It would be dishonourable" "I wouldn't say that around Major Kira if I were you"

she... invites him... to a SAUNA??! ohhh my god whyyyyyy who wrote this

You go Kira!

okaaay I definitely missed something major about the Maquis formally leaving the Federation

well at least Cardassians enjoy their saunas fully dressed, that's a relief. the idea of lizard people lying around on heated rocks for relaxation is actually really cute, though

To be honest, I was dreading Garak's scenes in this episode. It seems that the writers ran out of Mysterious Past and Unclear Motivations to hint at, and stripped of that he's just... not particularly interesting. Plus, this episode confirmed my unpleasant impression that starting with this season, the producers/writers decided to forcibly drag Garak and Bashir away from each other and throw girls at them no matter how random and/or inappropriate it looks. At least they recast Ziyal so now she actually looks 19 instead of 13! (The problem is, in the previous episode she acted like a child, too, and you can't forget that she's a generation younger, so it's still pretty gross.)

Eddington's point about assimilation would have worked better without the rest of that inane speech. "Why is the Federation so obsessed with the Maquis? We've never harmed you" -- They're obsessed because you're a threat to their foreign relations, what's so hard to understand about that? "We've left the Federation" -- When? When?! Left Starfleet, sure, but the Federation?! Isn’t that the entire reason Starfleet is pursuing them -- because the Federation is responsible for handling its citizens and stopping them from committing crimes against its neighbor!?

To the Death

Iconians -- that's from "Contagion", right?

I like this guy...

"What is the point of doing battle if you cannot enjoy the fruits of victory?" "You mean sleep?" :D

I love how Whatshisname casually gives out the white, rolling his eyes and barely moving attention from his plate -- so different from the Jem'Hadar perspective we saw in Hippocratic Oath!

"I didn't know that was public knowledge." "You told Commander Dax." "Well, that explains it."

O'Brien's answer to the Jem'Hadar! "I am Chief Miles Edward O'Brien. I'm very much alive and I intend to stay that way"

The Quickening

bwahaha

whoa, a city? if it the first one we've seen in the Gamma Quadrant? lovely matte painting

of course they make everything worse. Because being Culturally Advanced and Civilized won't always instantly solve any problem, and hospices and euthanasia aren't evil.

"I was so arrogant I thought I could find one in a week." "Maybe it was arrogant to think that. But it's even more arrogant to think there isn't a cure just because you couldn't find it." Good one, Dax! We're really going back to the pivotal traits of his character in this episode. (Someone on the writing staff: "Hmm, we haven't mentioned Julian's arrogance and hero/savior complex for a couple of months...")

He swallows his pride and decides to stay! I'm proud

I did have a suspicion that the pregnancy would solve everything...

I'm really glad the local doctor wasn't villainized! When Bashir was setting up his clinic I was afraid that he'd raise the townspeople to destroy it or something.

Bashir has more luck with medical episodes than Crusher and Pulaski...

Body Parts

Jadzia's female solidarity!

Alright, how is this one episode going to fit in Keiko's pregnancy (and presumably childbirth?), Quark's condition, Brunt, and Garak? 

Federation technology is amazing...

Second time someone calls DS9 a "Cardassian monstrosity". That would make a good tumblr url... Wait, it's not even taken -- I'm very tempted...

of course Brunt bought him, why else would he be in the opening credits? :D this is so beautifully malicious

finally an episode that makes Quark look like a good person

Garak's face says "Killing you sounds like a great idea" :D :D

This is the most delightfully bizarre way to handle an actress' pregnancy :D

QUARK SHOPPING FOR MURDER-SUICIDE OPTIONS WITH GARAK =  AMAZING

(not to mention very relatable...)

This is Garak's best outing in the entire season, tbh :D

Don't forget to undo your contract with Garak...

aww

This was a blast! This is a huge step in Quark's character development: following Nog and Rom, now he decides to break his society's rules. I'm very happy. ...But what about Garak, though?

Broken Link

Poor Odo...

aw encouraging Quark

"I'm thinking of asking Julian to come live with us. Even things up a little" Is that the only reason? ;)

"Captain, I want to be judged. I'm the only changeling who's ever harmed another. I've spent most of my life bringing people to justice. Now that it's my turn, how can I run away?"

"Don't tell me you'd object to a little genocide in the name of self-defence?" This is such a Cardassian line...

Why human and not Bajoran?

Oh Odo, just as he got comfortable with his identity as a shape-shifter... :/

General impressions:

Bashir in season 4, a summary: "Friendship ended with Garak, now Miles O'Brien is my best friend" Seriously, though... O'Brien and Bashir's relationship has become one of my favourite parts of the show. They got lots of good content this season: countless casual/humorous scenes, conflict in Hippocratic Oath, need for each other's company in Accession, talking down from suicide in Hard Time... And Garak was the most underwhelming part of the season for me, both himself and his relationship with Bashir -- or lack of it. I'm not even asking for shippy stuff, I know it's not going to be canon, but can't they just share screentime and enjoy each other's company, like they did before and Bashir does with O'Brien now?

And while the writers seem unsure what to do with Garak now, Dukat continues to be incredibly entertaining. Need a personification of Cardassian oppression? An unwanted ally the protagonist(s) would barely tolerate? A pompous prick to make fun of? A dangerously charismatic speaker -- or a windbag who thinks himself much cooler than he is? A relatively sympathetic opponent to provide "grey morality"? Well, here's all of that in one character! And my favourite thing is that despite being so immoral, he's not actually an enemy plot-wise (at least so far), so instead of fighting, defeating, and getting him out of the picture, the heroes just keep telling him how much he sucks. An interesting antagonist with a decent amount of screentime -- the dream. But all of that was about the character in general, and my favourite thing about his two episodes in this season is that he's self-aware of his status as a Complex Antagonist and completely overestimates the "complex and sympathetic" part, and (mis)casts himself as some kind of sexy byronic antihero whose deep and rich inner world will eventually win over the feisty heroine. Meanwhile, Kira is really not into villain/protagonist pairings and just wants the creepy guy responsible for genocide against her people to leave her alone. This was filmed twenty years ago but looks like a parody/deconstruction of currently popular ships like reylo or solavellan -- I find it really hilarious. (Maybe I’d feel more grossed out than amused if his behavior disturbed Kira more -- but she seems so gloriously unimpressed!)

I generally like Klingons and was glad to see Worf again, all of his episodes had something that stopped me from fully enjoying them.

It was my impression that Kira’s screetime got reduced because of Nana Visitor’s pregnancy -- and it was actually a good thing for the show! I feel bad saying this about one of the only two main female characters, but Kira is obviously the writers’ favorite, and got the most attention over the past seasons, so stepping back a bit let other characters shine more.