#tng The Wounded

[filmjunky-99]

s t a r t r e k t h e n e x t g e n e r a t i o n created by gene roddenberry [the wounded, s4ep12]

'I was on Setlik three with Captain Maxwell the morning after the massacre. We were too late, of course. Almost everyone was dead.

The only people left alive were in an outlying district of the settlement. I was sent there with a squad to reinforce them. Cardassians were advancing on us, moving through the streets, destroying, and killing.

I was with a group of women and children when two Cardassian soldiers burst in. I stunned one of them. The other jumped me. We struggled. One of the women threw me a phaser, and I fired. The phaser was set at maximum. The man just incinerated, there before my eyes. I'd never killed anything before. When I was a kid, I'd worry about swatting a mosquito.

It's not you I hate, Cardassian. I hate what I have become because of you.' - miles o'brien

[walkingstackofbooks]

TNG 4x12 The Wounded, and 5x03 Ensign Ro thoughts (rewatching, so possible future spoilers for DS9 too)

I’ve temporarily paused my DS9 re-watch after 2x20 Maquis Part 1 to go through all the Cardassian episodes in TNG to get a better picture of the build up. Honestly they're so spread out, I'm not surprised I can't remember much of it!

4x12 The Wounded

"They're our allies now"??? Not really, Troi, you're just at peace, you're not even going to have a treaty for the next three years!

KEIKO :D

It's like they've never eaten together before???

I know it's a throwaway line, but Miles' mum not believing in replicators and being "like a master chef" feels like something that should have come up in DS9, with Sisko's cooking habits. At the least, it would have prepared him for his time in Alixus' cult in Paradise

Their smiles and laughter together is cute :3

I like the Cardassian trying to make friends. <3 He really picked the wrong person though 😅

Miles pretending he's good with Cardassians - no, your wife knows you better thank that XD

I do like miles when I tried to better himself. You go have a friendlyish conversation with a Cardassian

"It's not you I hate, Cardassian. I hate what I became because of you." It's interesting when Miles gets self aware; it's a shame it doesn't always stick and he has to keep relearning these things

This Gul Macet is pretty damn decent, that was a good job done there

"I consider the matter closed." - Picard is a good captain

I like this burgeoning trust between the two captains :3

Picard calm questioning of Maxwell is so well done, I do like him

"I'll accept the judgement of history."

"When you've been through what we have, you tend to get inside someone." 👀 Okay Miles...

Of course there's a Star Trek episode where they win through the power of friendship and song :P

"Take this message to your leaders, Gul Macet. We'll be watching." THE STEEL

Really glad I re-watched, I'd forgotten how much I enjoy Picard, and it was a great Miles episode. Also interesting that our very first view of Cardassians are of some good ones.

5x03 Ensign Ro

It's so, so weird watching this after ds9 - knowing loads about Bajorans rather than this being our first one

Ro!

No, that earring is just rude

Interesting, "The Bajoran custom has the family name first, the individual's second... It's an old custom. Most Bajora these days accept the distortion of their names in order to assimilate." That isn't very DS9, but I get the feeling Ro is from the Bajora disapora, and not Bajor? Maybe tradition stayed stronger there.

Also interesting for the people to be Bajora and not Bajorans.

Damn but I love her

She reminds me a lot of Kira actaully, and now I want them to meet

"You were innocent bystanders for decades as the Cardassians took our homes, as they violated and tortured our people in the most hideous ways imaginable, as we were forced to flee." "We were saddened by those events but they occurred within the designated borders of the Cardassian Empire."

^> How long have the Federation been at war with Cardassia. *googles* 20 years, okay. Because they were fighting a war, and that's hardly standing by? But I guess they weren't when the Cardassians originally occupied Bajor. We don't actually know why or when the border wars started, but memory-beta attributes some distrust due to the Bajor occupation.

GUINAN! I'd forgotten how incredible she is. "Sounds like someone is like to know." Perfection.

Of course she's angry, she did well even if it was against the rules

I'm glad Guinan exists <3

Yes, he's listening to her. And she has a hell of an explanation.

Oooh, I had guessed that no-one was on board, but I assumed a last-minute transport - clever to have guessed this from the start and left them planetside!

Love a happy ending with a corrupt official probably going to prison :D

"That's an interesting challenge. And I rarely refuse an interesting challenge."

The earring shouldn't have to be a condition! It should be accepted as standard! I get that it's supposed to be a cute ending but it's wrong

I love Ro a lot :3 This episode is so interesting to re-watch after DS9, it's super interesting to get more Bajoran points of view.

[spockvarietyhour]

Star Trek: The Next Generation "The Wounded" & Star Trek: Picard "Imposters"

[40cleverways]

Tasha Yar Sketch

[abitunexpected]

Setlik 2: ooooooo exciting time portal shenanigans

Setlik 3: cardassian boarder wars massacre, lots of death

[crowfootwrites]

Devotion & Diplomacy

I am nothing if not an impatient b, so I'm moving forward with posting! Tagging a few who asked/I think might be interested! This story is currently standing at 10 parts, so if you wanna be added to a tag list, lemme know! @horta-in-charge @deepspacedukat @bigblissandlove1 You can also read on AO3!

Daro doesn't make his first appearance until Part II because this first part is a lot of setting things up and getting to know our daring OC. We do, however, see some other familiar faces!

For some background, the Federation-Cardassian Armistice was signed in 2367; the Phoenix Incident occurred this same year, which helped settle the formation of the Demilitarized Zone. The Occupation of Bajor ended in 2369, at which time Cardassia withdrew from Terok Nor. There is a 3 year gap between when the armistice occurred and when the Federation-Cardassian Treaty was finalized in 2370 – this story will take place in 2367, with the understanding that our OC is basically traveling to and from Cardassia Prime frequently in order to broker peaceful relations and encourage the signing of the treaty.

Warnings: none really in this part; Jellico being a dick (canon-compliant) | Words: ~2,450

Anyway, without further ado:

Emrys sighed quietly and pinched the bridge of her nose as the voices of the men down the table from her increased in volume, desperate to be heard over one another. She’d been sitting at this table far too long for her own liking and it still felt as though everyone was talking in circles. It’d be a miracle if they accomplished anything today.

A familiar voice began climbing, adding to the chaos. Without looking, Emrys could identify it as her one-time communications partner, Varsek – a hulking Aenar with limited patience. How he’d managed a career in communications, Emrys would never know.

As had been the case over the two weeks, Emrys knew that once most of the Cardassians and Federation members present, Starfleet officers included, had descended into a rage-fueled argument, there’d be no progress for the remainder of the day. Out of the corner of her eye, Emrys spied the only person she could count on to always remain calm - another Federation delegate, the Vulcan, Romar - but even he was sporting a raised eyebrow. As the highest ranking Starfleet officer and only woman present, Emrys was disinterested in the prospect of another pointless day and opted, yet again, to put her foot down.

Placing her finger and thumb between her lips, she let out a short, shrill whistle. The yelling halted immediately, with all eyes suddenly on Emrys as she rose from her chair and planted the palms of both her hands on the long conference table before her.

“Gentlemen,” she began, before anyone could interrupt. “We are getting nowhere, and quickly.” She made eye contact with each participant around the table in turn, recognizing the importance of acknowledging everyone present, if only to soothe their pride. She found in the responding gazes of the Cardassians genuine frustration and hostility, but perhaps also some desperation there. And in her fellow Starfleet officers, exasperation and some retrospective shame.

“We’ve agreed that shouting will not solve the issues we’ve come together to discuss, but we seem to end up engaging in this behavior with every meeting,” Emrys continued. “It is unbecoming of us all.”

In her momentary pause, she was interrupted by the Cardassian Gul-Tar Ziven, who also rose from his seat. She met his gaze with a calm confidence that she hoped belied the feeling of overwhelm that had been slowly settling in her stomach. Failing in this mission could mean losing the peaceful relations between Cardassia and the Federation that had only so recently been won. And given everything that Emrys had lost in the Federation-Cardassian War, she couldn’t allow that to happen.

Stoic as ever, Ziven’s expression gave nothing away as he addressed the men and women, so recently enemies, gathered around. “Lieutenant Commander Beck makes a fine point,” he declared, his voice a peal of thunder across the table’s expanse. The lighting deepened the shadows beneath his eye ridges, his face a series of sharp planes in black and gray. He made for an imposing figure among the brutal Cardassian architecture of the room and clad in solid brown armor, and Emrys took a deep breath to try and remind herself that this head of the Cardassian Union was no longer her enemy.

“Perhaps it would be best,” he suggested, planting his clenched fists on the table before him, his widening stance reinforcing the power he commanded over the room, “if we took a recess.”

As Emrys opened her mouth to respond, Ziven held up a hand to silence her. “The short breaks we’ve been taking have clearly not had a lasting effect. I suggest that we adjourn for a few weeks, giving us all time to review proposals and consider our options individually. Perhaps when we reconvene afterward, we will all be more amenable to compromises.”

Emrys’ lips pursed into a frown as she exhaled hard through her nose. Although she agreed that a longer break might be more effective, she was loath to leave Cardassia Prime without anything set in stone. Peace was too tenuous at this point to feel confident that it would continue, especially without near-constant Starfleet presence to remind the Cardassians of what they’d lost in the war and why they had signed the armistice in the first place. The prospect of having to report yet another extended recess back to Captain Jellico and Vice Admiral Nechayev, without any results, also sat heavy on Emrys’ mind. They were sure to be displeased, and neither were known for mincing their words.

“I propose that we reconvene in three weeks time, so that our… esteemed guests,” he added with a hint of sneer that Emrys wondered if anyone else caught, “will have adequate time for travel in addition to this little hiatus.” Emrys glanced around at the various Federation members present, recognizing that some of them genuinely looked like they needed a visit to their homes. They had already been on Cardassia for two weeks, and for some, like Emrys, this was only the most recent in a long string of visits designed to soothe tensions with the Cardassian Central Command as they collaborated on developing a more formal treaty. 

“We are in agreement, Gul-Tar.” With a conciliatory nod, Emrys took her leave. She wound her way through the broad, windowless halls of the Central Command building lost in thought, and made for her temporary quarters. She hated the gloom of the capital buildings on this planet - it was much more pleasant outside, in the bright and balmy sunshine. But inside, surrounded by intense and inhospitable architecture, with dark halls and rooms bearing strange combinations of outdated construction and modern technology, she felt out of place and unwelcome. Like many of her fellow Federation members, she was eager to get off-world, although she would not have time to go home.

Not that she had a home to go to. 

In her quarters, she contacted Captain Jellico, trying to maintain composure despite her frustration as his face appeared on the viewscreen. 

He gave her a tense smile. “Beck. The negotiations?”

Emrys sighed. “Ziven has called for a three-week recess.”

“Three weeks?” His clasped hands on the desk before him tightened.

“Aye, sir. As I’ve mentioned, there has been significant opposition to the points presented in the last couple of weeks, and today’s session was devolving into absolute chaos, frankly. I will have to rethink our approach for when we reconvene. I believe we can still make progress, but there are some items that I don’t believe the Cardassians are willing to compromise on, such as their continued contact with the Xepol-”

“Commander, it sounds as though you might be losing some control here,” he cut in, sounding aggravated.

Emrys opened her mouth to object, but he continued on. “If you cannot bring the Cardassians to compromise on the Federation’s priority points, we will need to bring someone else in. This peace was too hard-won and is too precarious for us to allow the Cardassians to continue drawing this process out.” The edge in his voice had Emrys’ hackles up and she took a deep, discreet breath to calm herself. Jellico might be her superior, and one of the people who had helped initiate the truce in the first place, but he could still be an ass. Emrys knew from experience.

“Sir, with all due respect, you say that as if we have the power to pressure the Cardassians into meeting our demands.” She hinted at what she knew the captain wouldn’t say out loud, wouldn’t confirm, not to her anyway. “We don’t have that kind of power right now and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Cardassians knew as much.”

“Enough,” he snapped. “That is beyond the scope of your rank. Your job is to follow orders and they have already been given to you.” Emrys sat back in her chair, aware of the ticking in her jaw. 

“You were selected for this position for a reason, Lieutenant Commander. Arbitrate, make them settle. Preferably in short order,” he demanded, glancing away from his screen for a moment, as though someone had come into his office.

Given a direct order from her superior officer, there was little she could say or do next.

“Aye, sir,” she replied through clenched teeth.

She watched as Jellico was handed a PADD by someone off screen. He reviewed it for a moment, then turned back to Emrys.

“The USS Enterprise is currently passing near the Cardassian border on a mapping survey before returning to cross Federation space. I am arranging transport aboard for you - their findings may be useful in nailing down some coordinates on the Demilitarized Zone,” he said almost dismissively. “They’ll be in touch to pick you up.”

Emrys sighed, barely managing to suppress the desire to roll her eyes. “Thank you, sir.”

Jellico ended the transmission without another word and Emrys tossed her head back against the top of her chair, heat rushing to her face as Emrys vacillated between wanting to scream and wanting to cry. She settled for neither, instead hanging her back over the deeply uncomfortable chair and gazing around at the temporary quarters she’d been assigned - a room that reminded her a little of a prison cell.     

— — —

Emrys clasped her hands tightly behind her back, her shoulders drawing upwards instinctively as she rematerialized aboard the Enterprise – transporting always made her stomach turn. With a deep exhale, she glanced around at the familiar faces gathered in the transporter room and smiled. 

“Welcome back aboard the Enterprise, Lieutenant Commander,” Captain Picard announced, and Emrys stepped eagerly off the pad to shake his hand. 

“It’s been a long time, Captain,” she replied. “It’s wonderful to see you again.” Without waiting for a reply, Emrys glanced to the Captain’s side and her smile grew into a grin as she launched herself into the waiting embrace of Counselor Troi. 

“Deanna!” she exclaimed, pressing her face into her friend’s shoulder, letting her excitement run rampant, knowing that Deanna would feel the wave of it and realize just how much she’d been missed.

“It’s so good to see you, Emrys,” the counselor murmured, squeezing her tightly. The two women had attended the academy together and been fast friends ever since – but their veering career paths had led them away from each other for far too long. 

As Emrys withdrew, she noticed Captain Picard tempering a grin of his own as he cleared his throat and moved to introduce the other crewman present. He motioned to the handsome human man with striking blue eyes standing beside him. “You know my first officer, Commander William Riker, I presume?”

“Of course!” Emrys exclaimed with a firm shake to Will’s hand. “Good to see you again, Will.”

“Good to see you, Emrys. Glad to have you on board,” he said with a wink. 

Deanna ushered Emrys into the hall, the captain and Will lingering back in the transporter room. “I’ll show you to your quarters, and then perhaps we can grab some dinner and catch up,” she offered. Although she and Deanna corresponded regularly, Emrys was excited for the chance to catch up in person, and eagerly agreed.

After tossing her bag atop the bunk in her quarters, she and Deanna headed for Ten Forward, grabbing a table near one of the large glass windows. Emrys’ shoulders relaxed at the sight, glad to be back in space and off Cardassia Prime for a while.

“So, how have you been?” Deanna asked eagerly, a spoonful of chocolate ice cream halfway to her mouth.

Emrys groaned. “I’m better now,” she muttered. “But long stretches on Cardassia listening to men argue about exact coordinates of the Demilitarized Zone hasn’t exactly been pleasant.”

“I take it the peace talks aren’t going well?” she murmured, glancing to make sure no one could overhear her. Emrys appreciated her consideration. The last thing the Federation needed was more worried citizens.

Emrys shook her head behind her glass of Alvanian brandy. “We’re a little… stuck,” she said quietly. “I think it will turn out alright, I mean, negotiation is an art, you know? We have to cycle between slow and quick progress. If everything happens too quickly, or we push too hard, the Cardassians may find themselves having misgivings. We could wind up right back where we started. But my superiors don’t seem to agree - it’s like they expect progress at warp nine.” 

Deanna patted her hand empathetically. “Yours is a difficult spot to be in. I certainly wouldn’t want to do your job.”

Emrys snorted. “They’d shit themselves if you offered. They’d consider your abilities to be giving them the upper hand.”

Deanna smiled around a spoon full of ice cream. “That’s why I’d never offer,” she muttered. She paused thoughtfully before pinning Emrys with a meaningful stare.

“Have you been home recently?”

Emrys sank back into her seat. A pang of guilt settled below her heart. “I haven’t had a lot of time to make it all the way back to Earth,” she muttered, not meeting her friend’s eyes. “And… with Silas gone, there’s really no reason to.” She shook her head slowly, trying to clear the dull ache that was forming behind her eyes as she thought about her brother. 

Deanna, perhaps sensing Emrys’ discomfort, changed the subject. With a sly grin, she sat back and crossed her legs. “And have you been… seeing anybody lately?”

Emrys laughed harshly, the sound carrying in the mostly unoccupied Ten Forward. “Yeah, a whole bunch of angry Cardassians.”

Deanna snickered, but doubled down, wanting an actual answer. She waited, gazing at Emrys with a raised brow.

With a sigh, Emrys shook her head. “This post has been taking all my time and energy. I go where they tell me, leave when they tell me - I’m always working or on my way to work, essentially.”

“What about that Vulcan on your team? What was his name? R-”

“Romar,” Emrys groaned after another pull of brandy.

“Romar!” Deanna repeated excitedly. “What about him?”

Emrys shrugged, trying not to call to mind her efforts to become closer to Romar, only to be brutally (for a Vulcan) rebuffed. “He wasn’t interested.”

With a frown, Deanna grasped one of Emrys’ hands. “I’m sorry, my friend. It seems like you don’t have a lot of time for yourself right now, and I can’t imagine how difficult that must be,” she fretted. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Emrys pulled her hand from under Deanna’s, only to place hers on top and pat Deanna’s hand softly. “Let’s just talk about you, hmm?” She gave her friend a small smile. “I’ve missed you, you know?”

With a hum and smile tinged with heartache for Emrys, she nodded. “I’ve missed you too.”

[ireallyamabear]

yeah yeah O'Brien must suffer and everything but really, the real tragedy here is that when we meet him and Keiko he thought he put the war against the Cardassians so far behind him that he hadn't even talked to his new wife about his experiences at all. And then he makes a career move to develop the only positive thing he took away from that war and Setlik 3 - his love for engineering - and gets thrown back into that same conflict with the Cardassians, that actually never really ended, and that will overshadow his relationship with his wife and whole family forever now. Poor guy.

[metronn]

if you don't like the next generation you have bad taste and also go fuck yourself

[startrekplotnthemes]

Season 4 Episode 12 The Wounded

Picard and the Enterprise are seeking to meet up with the Cardassian when they are fired upon by the very group they were supposed to have an alliance with. It is revealed that another ship of the Federation attacked a science station. Picard responds immediately, taking the Cardassians aboard the Enterprise after getting in contact with command and getting orders to contact the offending vessel that threatens the peace between the Federation and Cardassians.

They hail The Phoenix attempting to reach it's captain Benjamin Maxwell, yet he ignores all hailing attempts. Gul Macet, the Cardassian leader demands Maxwell's location and sends more ships at Maxwell's ship but after a short engagement more Cardassians are killed. Maxwell beams aboard the Enterprise vehemently insisting that the Cardassians are up to shaft business. Picard reins him in, demanding him to take The Phoenix in and resign his position. He foolishly let's Maxwell back onto his own ship where he immediately goes after a Cardassian freighter and the Enterprise and Phoenix are caught in a stalemate.

In the B plot of the episode Chief O'Brien has been interacting with the Cardassians aboard the Enterprise, confronting his own prejudices from being at war with them aboard Maxwell's old vessel. He breaks out of his unacknowledged cycle of biases to realize his own guilt and feelings hold his opinion of the Cardassians stagnant and unable to change. It is why he beams aboard The Phoenix in order to confront Maxwell. He sings an old song reminiscing with Maxwell and having him confront his own pain and reasons for still hating the Cardassians. He convinced him to return to the Enterprise. Rounding out the episode Picard confronts Macet revealing he knew Maxwell was right about his suspicions of subterfuge, but that he wanted to avoid a war. He tells them the Federation will be keeping a close eye on them going forward.

This episode introduces O'Brien as a more prominent cast member before, serving as the protagonist alongside Picard as well as introducing the Cardassians all in an interesting way. Focusing on cycles of vengeance and finding ways going forward. I almost feel that the message of wanton violence and moving forward is somewhat undercut by the reveal that the Cardassians were guilty of subterfuge as Maxwell suggested. It undercuts messages of peace positioning them as exactly the type of people that Maxwell and O'Brien thought of them as. It is much more ambiguous and poignant if Maxwell has been in the wrong, focusing on his past trauma to essentially attack and kill innocent people, exposing flaws in some of the Federation's trained Captains.

[wheelybard]

The "Saint in Paradise" speech really puts the TNG episode "The Wounded" in perspective.

O'Brien's former captain was merely a scared person with PTSD that thought he was right.

[quasi-normalcy]

Best "Cardassian" Episodes by Series:

TNG: "The Wounded"; "Chain of Command"

DS9: "Duet"; "The Wire"; "Second Skin"; "Civil Defense"; "Improbable Cause"; "The Die is Cast"; "Return to Grace"; "In Purgatory's Shadow"; "By Inferno's Light"; "Call to Arms"; "A Time to Stand"; "Rocks and Shoals"; "Favor the Bold"; "The Sacrifice of Angels"; "Waltz"; "When it Rains"; "Tacking into the Wind"; "The Dogs of War"

VOY: "State of Flux"

[aprofessionalwithoutstandards]

hey it’s me again. i’ve been looking into wireplay stuff on tumblr and im crazy about it. i’m objectum as hell and the idea of that kind of pleasure interests me greatly. anyway i remembered the robot tf2 characters (like mann vs machine i think it’s called) and i think they’d dig around in each other’s wires.

I often see ‘maintenance’ as a more intimate thing for robots rather than like, gory stuff bcs it’s not my thing but you can take it as such if you want. shrug.

also i once read a fic wherein one of the characters got sexual pleasure from the other messing around a little in his cybernetic arm. that would be a bit more like surgery i bet, because, yknow, the prosthetic would be like a part of one’s body. anyway engineer would probably be into that

ok bye ^_^

YESSSS YES! I don't allot a lot of mental energy to the MvM robots but I am constantly plagued by unstoppable sexual thoughts about Glados + all of my partners are into some kind of robotfuckery or cybernetics or etc so I most certainly understand. I think very direct "wireplay" is intimate BECAUSE it is surgical or at least borderline surgical, if not in a gorekink sort of way (which I know is like my main freak flag on here lmao) then at the very least in a "homoerotic wound tending" sort of way. I think it can feel more medical with androids - I recently watched a few episodes of Star Trek: TNG (see? I can be down with the nerds too) and the way Geordi performs maintenance on Data definitely tickled my medfet sensibilities. However with a very nonhuman robot character like Glados, it's more difficult to see it that way. I think she would consider anything involving her wires to be borderline surgical, but a human engaging in wireplay with her is less likely to think of it as such, because she's so physically nonhuman. I don't categorize my attraction to Glados as "objectum" - I do have desires I classify as objectum, I want to fuck cars, including multiple specific cars in pop culture, I would jerk off to a Rothko painting stone cold sober, I need bottom surgery so I can shred my dick to ribbons with piano wire - but Glados is, yknow, sentient. She's not human, but she is "a person" in her own way. I think climbing around in Glados's wiring would be like foreplay, heavy petting, perhaps even like sexual stimulation. Hell, even just walking in the Aperture facility is intimate for her. I really don't know where I'm going with this LMAO I'm sorry for turning ur tf2 ask into a Portal post but I am as they say "insane"

[fast-moon]

DS9 Season 3 Thoughts

On to Season 3! Last time, the crew made contact with members of the Dominion who told them to stay off their lawn in the Gamma Quadrant. Will Sisko comply?

Probably not, so here we go.

1-2. The Search: Sisko gets a new ship to play with that's better than those wimpy runabouts. All simulations show them losing if the Dominion attacks them, so Sisko figures they can't fare any worse if he just takes the entire senior staff with him to go face the Dominion on their own turf. They all promptly get captured, while Odo has some slime time with his own people, only to discover that they're the Dominion's founders.

3. The House of Quark: Quark kills a guy, is sentenced to marriage.

4. Equilibrium: Dax gets a song stuck in her head, but unfortunately the Shazam servers in the future take a week to return a result. Also, when did they get the Defiant back? Two episodes ago it was trashed and adrift in the Gamma Quadrant. Did the Dominion really let them go back to get it?

5. Second Skin: Kira gets gaslit like a pilot light, ends up with a Car-dad-ssian.

6. The Abandoned: Odo adopts a baby Jem'Hadar, who quickly becomes a violent, angsty teenage Jem'Hadar with an enzyme addiction who runs off to join a gang. Also, is the series trying to set up an Odo/Kira relationship? Almost every episode this season has given them a "moment", and now she's bringing him flowers. Like, it's cute, but I'm still all for Ace Odo and the ability for a female and male-identifying character to have a platonic friendship (I don't count Sisko/Dax because Sisko has made clear that Dax being Curzon is all that's keeping him from hitting on her).

7. Civil Defense: O'Brien decides he wants to try out that "killing everyone by accidentally tripping a hidden deadly security protocol" bit from "Armageddon Game" for real. Gul Dukat tries to gloat, but ends up getting stuck there with them. We still cool, guys?

8. Meridian: An extremely creepy guy pursues Kira in order to make the moderately creepy guy pursuing Dax come across as less creepy by comparison.

9. Defiant: Holy crap, it's Riker! But not that Riker, the cheap transporter accident knockoff Riker from TNG. He's still got a complex about that and thinks stealing the Defiant and blowing up some Cardassians will make everything better.

10. Fascination: This season's bout of crazypox breaks out around the station, this time making everyone fall madly in love with each other. Odo is once again immune, but they seem to be setting up a love triangle between Odo, Kira, and Bareil, which is a damn shame because love triangle stories tend to be terrible and make me hate every character involved, which is extra sucky because Odo and Kira are my two favorites (just not together).

11-12. Past Tense: Sisko, Bashir, and Dax accidentally get transported to... (checks calendar) ... three weeks ago, and are forced to participate in a homeless riot in order to maintain the timeline. Unfortunately, someone had already messed up the timeline, which resulted in there being bulky CRT monitor computers, giant bricks of flip-phones, and shotguns being the terrorist weapon of choice in 2024 (though, to be fair, if they can just keep that last change and stop the proliferation of military-grade semi-automatic rifles to civilians, that would be great).

13. Life Support: Winn wanted to be Kai for the perks, not the responsibility, and literally works a mortally wounded Bareil to death in order to get a peace treaty she can take credit for. Otherwise a fairly poignant episode about when to stop treatment and just let someone go.

14. Heart of Stone: After the death of the hypotenuse of their love triangle last episode, Odo and Kira confess their feelings for each other. But, of course, since Odo is never allowed to have nice things, Kira turns out to be a Changeling who's just here to troll him. #JusticeForOdo.

15. Destiny: Goddamn I hate "prophecy" stories that end with, "Well, if you redefine the meaning of literally every word in that word salad, it ends up vaguely resembling what happened, therefore there must be something to it." No, it was not as the prophecy foretold. Shit just happens and you just twist your vague predictions to accommodate it and then give yourself a pat on the back and demand people take you seriously. Go away.

16. Prophet Motive: The wormhole entities turn the Grand Nagus into a communist, so Quark threatens to annoy them for eternity unless they turn him back.

17. Visionary: O'Brien starts jumping through time, and they figure out every component of his time-skips to the point they can trigger them at will and see the future. And then will likely never utilize this knowledge again. Though the episode really should have ended on O'Brien going to bed, yet another O'Brien popping up, and him just lamenting, "Oh god, NOW what?"

18. Distant Voices: Deep Space Nine presents Inside Out, starring Bashir as Sadness, Dax as Joy, O'Brien as Fear, Kira as Anger, Odo as Disgust, and Garak as Bing-Bong.

19. Through the Looking Glass: Mirror!O'Brien shows up and kidnaps Sisko and takes him back to the universe where everyone is horny all the time. Really hope this doesn't become a recurring thing, since "multiverse" stories that are merely "it's the same people, but they're different!" are rarely compelling.

20. Improbable Cause: Bashir's boyfriend is in trouble again, and this time it's Odo to the rescue. They track down Garak's old boss who offers to let them join a war against the Dominion, and Garak... accepts?

21. The Die is Cast: The Cardassians and Romulans launch an attack on the Dominion, but it was all a trap thanks to a Changeling replacing the Romulan commander. Makes me wonder how many other characters have or will become replaced by Changelings, or if they're going to even bother trying to come up with a way to detect it, since even Odo can't tell and has been fooled twice now.

22. Explorers: A pleasantly low-stakes episode in which Sisko can somehow build an entire functioning spaceship by hand in only three weeks, the flies it to Cardassia just to prove that he can.

23. Family Business: Quark goes home to teach us that the only thing a Ferengi values more than profit is oppressing women, even if doing so causes a massive loss of profit. Also, glad they finally gave a shout-out to how many runabouts they've trashed and the need to get new ones.

24: Shakaar: Winn continues to fail upwards by becoming the presumptive next president due to having no viable opponents and the Bajoran populace getting all their information from BOX News and not realizing she's a piece of shit. So Kira nominates a popular upstart last minute to run against her and actually make her work for it, and Winn cries "coup" and "rigged election" and good fucking god this episode is too prescient. They may have gotten the state of affairs of 2024 wrong in the episode that was literally about 2024, but then accurately predicted them in pretty much all of their Winn episodes.

25. Facets: Dax asks the people closest to her to host her previous lives so that she can talk to them. Including... random girl who had two lines a couple episodes ago who's now acting like she's part of the inner circle. And Odo, who has historically been immune to psychic shenanigans. But the episode continues to exemplify that Curzon was a piece of shit, and that Dax-centric episodes still manage to have nothing to do with Dax herself, but rather her previous incarnations or Trill customs, leaving Dax with still no solid personality or motives three seasons in.

26: The Adversary: Sisko gets promoted to Captain and decides to celebrate by almost starting a war and blowing up the entire senior staff due to bad intel from a Changeling imposter.

Three seasons down, four to go! Bashir is doing a lot better this season, since his womanizing and bragging have been toned way down and he can actually focus on being a doctor. Dax is still just a cardboard cutout there to remind people of the opinions and actions of her previous incarnations, but still have no identity of her own.

And then towards the end of the season they just awkwardly brought in a couple of women simply to be love interests to our crew members who are still lacking a heterosexual partner. At least, I'm assuming what's-her-face who had two lines and hit on Bashir at the beginning of one episode and then was suddenly chummy enough with the senior staff to participate in Dax's memory roulette ritual a few episodes later is supposed to be a love interest for Bashir. Go away, random lady, he already has Garak.

The choice of crew of the Defiant also reminds me of a really, really old Star Trek joke I read as a kid about the "Kirk Maneuver", which is "Kirk knows this is the most dangerous planet in the universe so takes his entire senior staff with him when he beams down". Like, shouldn't there be a separate operations crew for the Defiant so that you don't suddenly lose your entire station leadership if something were to go wrong? But, nope, The Main Characters Do Everything.

[sh1n0buloverrr]

THEY DIED?… || BLLK X STARTREK: TNG AU

@the-rini-rush I wanted to show you this since I saw you like Blue Lock

Explaination: In this AU, Zarabeth (White hair girl with blue uniform), Evie (Black hair girl in red uniform), Zar (Black hair boy in blue uniform), are the older sibling to Rin and Sae who are in Starfleet. They use their free time to visit Rin and Sae. And regularly it’s Zarabeth who sends him letters. One day, they went to war with the Kavims, an evil alien planet who waged war on Starfleet. And Rin received a letter from their captain named ‘Jenna T. Kirk’….

The note said “Rin Itoshi, the war between the Kavims are over, but, this isn’t Zarabeth. It’s Jenna, her captain. I wrote you this letter to give you the news that, Zar Itoshi, Evie Itoshi, Zarabeth Itoshi, have passed away. We found their bodies near fallen rocks with some of their limbs torn off and bloodied up. We concluded they died from wounds. I hope my best wishes in mourning to you.”

— Captain Jenna T. Kirk

They were found smiling. Smiling. It was like they were in comfort that they were with each other even in death. They were nicknamed the ‘Cadets Who Smiled In Death’.

[thegeminisage]

STAR TREK UPDATE TIME I'M SO FUCKING BEHINDDD ok ok monday we did ds9's "trials and tribble-ations" and "let he who is without sin..." then tuesday we did voy's "future's end parts i & ii," and finally wednesday we did voy's "warlord" and ds9's "things past."

trials and tribble-ations (ds9):

ohhh i wish i'd had time to write about this when it was fresher on my mind. what a wonderful experience and episode. i feel like i got spoiled for the concept of it but it was still so amazing because i just genuinely COULD NOT BELIEVE they could do that. like, the entire thing felt like magic to me. it's not as if they could ask william shatner to reshoot - they could only used what they had from back then. and they made it work and they made it look SO GOD, like, not just for the 90s, but for today. the lighting, the resolution, the colors...everything was flawless. o'brien and bashir in that lineup??? like i wouldn't have known if i didn't know. jesus christ

did i spend a lot of time crying because i was so overwhelmed with my deep adoration for spock? yes. maybe i screamed aloud when he came on my screen. who can say. dax being a spock girlie is so fucking correct by the way i bet william shatner wanted to kermit when that aired. also good on her for bagging mccoy although i think it would have been funnier if she hadn't said which body she was in so we could have fun speculating about bones having sex with men <3

THEM THROWING THE TRIBBLES THAT WOUND UP IN KIRK'S CLEAVAGE...............iconique

odo baby talking the tribbles. incredible. also, worf and the klingon head ridge lore which shall never be explained

and of course let's NOT forget kirk making the sex eyes at sisko. they took that footage from the mirrorverse ep when he was ogling our universe's version of marlena. KIRK CANONICALLY DTF SISKO. CANONICALLY INTO MEN. DIE MAD ABOUT IT. it was so cool and heartwarming but also INCREDIBLY fucking funny

also. ABSOLUTELY gratified they brought some back to ds9 and got away with it. sisko is so fucking cool i love when he rule breaks

just an absolutely magical experience. like, it really blew my mind because i didn't think it was something that could be done. one of the greatest examples of trek pushing the limits of possibility

let he who is without sin... (ds9):

man i wanna like worf in ds9 so bad but like...does he feel off to anyone else? from how he was in tng? don't get me wrong i love ds9 and hated tng and worf in ds9 is Fine the way he was also Fine in tng but i just cant see tng worf cooperating with extremists who are also doing a bit of light terrorism. he'd call them dishonorable and send them packing even if he did agree

also, like, he killed a kid in soccer? by headbutting him? that's tragic backstory but like also kind of ridiculous and funny? i can't believe they played that totally straight. he soccered a kid to death.

anyway, everybody's outfits were very good. i loved dax's mermaid look

also SOOO glad leeta and julian are breaking up so she can get with ROM!!!!!!!! my best friend rom...he deserves so much happiness and i hope they stay together forever and ever amen

anyway like it was Fine im glad dax and worf are back on track but also what the hell...it was very baffling to me as well

future's end parts i & ii (voy):

this one was also Fine. like, the plot didn't make a bit of sense - i thought the 90s in trek were supposed to be some kind of hell hole but after watching space seed they may have just barely gotten by - the eugenics wars ended in 96. still, LA did not look like an area recently decimated by eugenics wars. i'm really interested in that era of trek history, where it veers off from our own history, but so much of it seems muddy and in conflict with itself, which is a bummer

that said, i did have fun watching janeway and chakotay have like a little earth date together. also good for the doc for getting to run around freely now, and sarah silverman was v fun even if she could totally do better than tom paris. everybody's outfits were extremely fun even though tuvok's was uh. well.

HOWEVER. the limited amount of fun i was having was kind of uhhh canceled out by the. random white supremacists??? especially wild choice considering the eugenics wars didn't involve white supremacy because their number one guy was KHAN like what the hell???

i wish i had more to say about it but it was just a genuinely baffling experience. mostly fun, but baffling. the plot was like swiss cheese

warlord (voy):

OKAY THIS ONE WAS FUN. we got off to an extremely rough start (neelix foot massage complete with sex noises) and there was that neelix and kes fight post possession that i hated because it sort of shouted out to my least favorite arc in all of voyager, but AFTER we got into man

man are you ever so tiny and helpless and nice and then you get to go ape shit. good for HER

like yeah fine she was possessed but she got to menace him herself in the end too

her body language was so incredible. she's like so tiny and yet she owned the entire room when she was strutting around like that. i loved her guy voice. i loved watching her murder people in cold blood. i loved whatever lgbt thing they almost did and then pussied out of doing

AND I LOVED. THE SCENE WITH TUVOK. man that dude can ACT. it was so tense and so good and technically he's kissed a man on screen now. i did go back and rewatch that several times because tuvok is my best friend and it was so evil and horrid >:)

anyway absolutely banger of an ep. could ahve stood less neelix but this is true of most voyager episodes

things past (ds9):

OOOOOOH MY BEST FRIEND ODO HAS DONE SOME CRIMES

i really went into this thinking garak was gonna like Learn A Lesson about the occupation because he was gonna be in it without his status as a cardassian to protect him but instead we outed odo as a fuck-up. and you know? good for him

like i felt a little defensive about it at first because it almost seemed like we were just trying to knock odo down a peg when he's already Suffering but the more i think about it the more sense it makes. like, his desire for order is intrinsic to his species, but that desire for order led to something terrible happening, and then by the time he's met kira he has enough self doubt and worry about the consequences of false accusations that he LETS HER GO despite having actually found the correct murderer. it's so delicious

and then the scene at the end where she's like horrified. the way he was horrified when he found out she lied. AUGHGHGHG parallels i can't wait until 1000 years from now when they get together

also, hi, dukat??? like i knew he was a bad person but i thought he was a bad person in like a fun way. sisko's gay little friend who sent him fireworks for his road trip and sat on one of those little spines for kira. but he's like a bAD bad person. was that leeta dax was supposed to have been, in his office? leeta deserves to kill him actually. and like, WHTY is he so into bajoran women. i think we know. like sure siyal's mom was "in love with him" like ok dude. of course he tried to kill ziyal. of COURSE kira was like no she can stay on the station far away from you :)

idk it's like a great reminder that even people who are funny and seem nice and harmless are capable of absolutely unforgiveable acts and all people are layered. everyone is human and everyone has the capacity for being inhumane. etcetc. very good. every time dukat is on screen he gets more interesting

i do kind of wish we had gotten more from garak though...? it feels like he's just There some episodes. i miss when he had more content with bashir go back to queerbaiting us!!!

TONIGHT: voy's "q and the grey" (GROSS) and ds9's "the ascent," or possibly "first contact," or possibly star wars, who knows

[sparkleplatypuswriter]

Seven Sentence Sunday

Ok, well, I got tagged by lovely Voyager folks (double tagged even!), so I feel it's fair to post another seven sentences.

Thanks to @coffee-in-that-nebula (whose snippet you can read here) and @go-tell-the-bees (whose snippet you can read here)! :) This is from the only VOY fic I have on the go rn, though 'on the go' is being quite generous, as I haven't touched it in quite some time. I don't want to give away the premise, but uh, let's say it combines some TNG lore into it.

“Commander, stay with me. That’s an order.” Her voice is firm but it is starting to sound distant in his ears. He feels her applying pressure to his wound and groans as a bolt of pain shoots through him.  “Ensign Kim, that transporter, now!” he hears her yell over the comm badge.  “We’re trying, Captain. There’s still too much atmospheric interference this close to the gate.” “Well try harder!” she snarls. She rips more of her jacket to strips and applies them to his gaping wound, determinedly. He feels himself slipping out. The pain is blinding.