#learning from DS9

[deliciousdietdrpepper]

It’s been so long since I did a genuine watchthough of ds9 that I forgot garak having a tail was a fanon thing. Like, sir, why are you naked?

[spocks-kaathyra]

thoughts about the Cardassian writing system

I've thinking about the Cardassian script as shown on screen and in beta canon and such and like. Is it just me or would it be very difficult to write by hand?? Like.

I traced some of this image for a recent drawing I did and like. The varying line thicknesses?? The little rectangular holes?? It's not at all intuitive to write by hand. Even if you imagine, like, a different writing implement—I suppose a chisel-tip pen would work better—it still seems like it wasn't meant to be handwritten. Which has a few possible explanations.

Like, maybe it's just a fancy font for computers, and handwritten text looks a little different. Times New Roman isn't very easily written by hand either, right? Maybe the line thickness differences are just decorative, and it's totally possible to convey the same orthographic information with the two line thicknesses of a chisel-tip pen, or with no variation in line thickness at all.

A more interesting explanation, though, and the one I thought of first, is that this writing system was never designed to be handwritten. This is a writing system developed in Cardassia's digital age. Maybe the original Cardassian script didn’t digitize well, so they invented a new one specifically for digital use? Like, when they invented coding, they realized that their writing system didn’t work very well for that purpose. I know next to nothing about coding, but I cannot imagine doing it using Chinese characters. So maybe they came up with a new writing system that worked well for that purpose, and when computer use became widespread, they stuck with it. 

Or maybe the script was invented for political reasons! Maybe Cardassia was already fairly technologically advanced when the Cardassian Union was formed, and, to reinforce a cohesive national identity, they developed a new standardized national writing system. Like, y'know, the First Emperor of Qin standardizing hanzi when he unified China, or that Korean king inventing hangul. Except that at this point in Cardassian history, all official records were digital and typing was a lot more common than handwriting, so the new script was designed to be typed and not written. Of course, this reform would be slower to reach the more rural parts of Cardassia, and even in a technologically advanced society, there are people who don't have access to that technology. But I imagine the government would be big on infrastructure and education, and would make sure all good Cardassian citizens become literate. And old regional scripts would stop being taught in schools and be phased out of digital use and all the kids would grow up learning the digital script.

Which is good for the totalitarian government! Imagine you can only write digitally. On computers. That the government can monitor. If you, like, write a physical letter and send it to someone, then it's possible for the contents to stay totally private. But if you send an email, it can be very easily intercepted. Especially if the government is controlling which computers can be manufactured and sold, and what software is in widespread use, etc. 

AND. Historical documents are now only readable for scholars. Remember that Korean king that invented hangul? Before him, Korea used to use Chinese characters too. And don't get me wrong, hangul is a genius writing system! It fits the Korean language so much better than Chinese characters did! It increased literacy at incredible rates! But by switching writing systems, they broke that historical link. The average literate Chinese person can read texts that are thousands of years old. The average literate Korean person can't. They'd have to specifically study that field, learn a whole new writing system. So with the new generation of Cardassian youths unable to read historical texts, it's much easier for the government to revise history. The primary source documents are in a script that most people can't read. You just trust the translation they teach you in school. In ASIT it's literally a crucial plot point that the Cardassian government revised history! Wouldn't it make it soooo much easier for them if only very few people can actually read the historical accounts of what happened.

I guess I am thinking of this like Chinese characters. Like, all the different Chinese "dialects" being written with hanzi, even though otherwise they could barely be considered the same language. And even non-Sinitic languages that historically adopted hanzi, like Japanese and Korean and Vietnamese. Which worked because hanzi is a logography—it encodes meaning, not sound, so the same word in different languages can be written the same. It didn’t work well! Nowadays, Japanese has made significant modifications and Korean has invented a new writing system entirely and Vietnamese has adapted a different foreign writing system, because while hanzi could write their languages, it didn’t do a very good job at it. But the Cardassian government probably cares more about assimilation and national unity than making things easier for speakers of minority languages. So, Cardassia used to have different cultures with different languages, like the Hebitians, and maybe instead of the Union forcing everyone to start speaking the same language, they just made everyone use the same writing system. Though that does seem less likely than them enforcing a standard language like the Federation does. Maybe they enforce a standard language, and invent the new writing system to increase literacy for people who are newly learning it.

And I can imagine it being a kind of purely digital language for some people? Like if you’re living on a colonized planet lightyears away from Cardassia Prime and you never have to speak Cardassian, but your computer’s interface is in Cardassian and if you go online then everyone there uses Cardassian. Like people irl who participate in the anglophone internet but don’t really use English in person because they don’t live in an anglophone country. Except if English were a logographic writing system that you could use to write your own language. And you can’t handwrite it, if for whatever reason you wanted to. Almost a similar idea to a liturgical language? Like, it’s only used in specific contexts and not really in daily life. In daily life you’d still speak your own language, and maybe even handwrite it when needed. I think old writing systems would survive even closer to the imperial core (does it make sense to call it that?), though the government would discourage it. I imagine there’d be a revival movement after the Fire, not only because of the cultural shift away from the old totalitarian Cardassia, but because people realize the importance of having a written communication system that doesn’t rely on everyone having a padd and electricity and wifi.

[wizard-dax]

TIL: The original prop designer on Worf's mek'leth, Dan Curry, did too good of a job making the plastic sharp and menacing. The hook at the end of the mek'leth ended up slashing through a stunt actor's mask temporarily blinding him for 20 minutes!!!!

(Picture of Worf and Jadzia fighting with a mek'leth because I love them <3 also you can totally see how even if it's plastic that hook could totally do some damage)

[dreamerdrop]

Voyager AU with EMH!Bashir and Seska!Garak…

That is, the EMH is based on Bashir instead of Zimmerman, and Garak, rather than being exiled, has instead been reassigned to oblivion after being made to look like a Bajoran to infiltrate the Maquis, etc. etc.

Except Garak ends up bonding with the EMH and vice versa, and even after being surgically altered to return to his original looks, remains a staunch (albeit very unsettling, it’s still Garak) ally, and they fall in love and all that.

… and then Garak dies before they make it back anyway, and in the attempt to save him, Bashir accidentally ends up in an alternate universe, and eventually finds his way to the Lower Decks AU Crew.

[opens-up-4-nobody]

I'm trying to think of like in a vacuume what is the most well written, compelling episode of star trek? Across all of star trek. Outside of nostalgia or shipping stuff or how iconic some of the episodes became. What is the best Star Trek episode?

[youngpettyqueen]

“I was in a dangerous mood. Ever since that ridiculous holosuite program, I thought. The spy game. Well of course it’s a game. It’s all a game. But it’s not a holosuite program. And yet, the moment Julian wounded me with his ridiculous weapon, everything changed. I thought it was a magnificent moment. He showed me that he had the spine to play the game as it ought to be played. But why then did he back off? Why couldn’t he go beyond that moment? Why did our relationship end?”

im gonna scream my fucking lungs out Andrew Robinson when I get you

[captainjimothy]

weyoun mentioned

[bagheerita]

When you get past the fact that it's part of the O'Brien suffering canon, "Tribunal" is kind of a hilarious episode.

I know this is Star Trek, so this is a feature and not a bug, and one that goes all the way back to TOS, but when you can make literally anyone look exactly like literally anyone else, how is literally anything kept secure in this universe? The Federation really operates on a lot of faith in the inherent honesty of the majority of people. How were they even surprised when they met changelings? Like, yeah we're not as quick about it but we've been able to change people's faces and species since tribbles existed and we've been doing it at least once a show since, we can give you some pointers. How are there not more checks for things like this?? Boone apparently somehow avoided getting any kind of medical exam during the entire time he served with Miles on the Rutledge. How are people still so sloppy about it too?? Like, Boone's transformation was so ahem thorough, his wife (and parents) didn't notice outside of a personality change... but the Cardassians didn't bother to get him dental implants or otherwise disguise that he was missing one significant tooth??

Also, is it just because the Archon in this case is completely corrupt, or does the Cardassian justice system make about as much sense as one designed by Alice in Wonderland's Queen of Hearts?

[droctarine]

bizarre that Bourbons and Hapsburgs are still around to have twitter accounts. thankfully the Red Army spared us from having to live in a world where Romanovs plagued us similarly

[isthereintruthnobeauty1968]

vaguest idea of a story in my head from kira's deal about having no experience with/'being no good at' art (sculpture specifically in rapture) + jadzia probably having Weird feelings for a while about developing musical skills overnight after remembering/reincorporating joran

[1960z]

a criticism I’ve often seen of ds9’s handling of odo’s character specifically is that the show never explores that he previously worked for a fascist government and try to paint over it by saying he was “fair to both cardassians and bajorans” which… I’ve personally never understood because from my view they definitely do explore that, in fact it’s literally the entire premise of things past.

that whole episode is literally dedicated to deconstructing the idea that odo treated “both sides” fairly during the occupation and showing that he does in fact have blood on his hands (to the point where there is a scene where he hallucinates literally having blood on his hands). and though the episode only shows one specific instance of him siding with the cardassians out of convenience and his desire for order it deliberately ends on the question if this was the only time it happened or whether things like that were a common occurrence with him.

idk maybe people wanted a full arc dedicated to it instead of a singular episode but even then I still feel like odo’s tendency to fall into or sympathise with fascist ways of thinking is shown as one of his biggest overarching character flaws. when the dominion occupies the station, he almost sides with them not just because he craves the companionship of other changelings but also because they sooth his desire for order and (negative) peace. and those desires are often things he actively has to fight against to also fight against the fascism of the dominion.

and I think that’s actually a really interesting conflict for his character. having to learn to control those impulses from influencing his worldview too much lest it hurt the people he cares about most. especially because I think it’s a heightened version of patterns that often play out in real life — a lot of people have unexamined biases and beliefs that often make them susceptible to fascist ways of thinking even if they don’t want to be.

obviously odo has done things that would very much complicate his moral standing in real life, I’m not denying that at all but the same can be said for a lot of the ds9 cast. I just think it’s odd to single him out specifically and act like the show gave him some massive pass when I really don’t think it did.

[kiranerysismyhero]

imagine a bajoran teenager living on ds9 who's trying to decide what to do with her life and feels compelled to get closer to the Emissary, but gets the sense that Sisko is a little uncomfortable with being approached in that way, and she's a little young to join the bajoran military and try to get stationed under him, so she looks for another pretense to like have a conversation with him or something

and she overhears Jake talking about playing baseball with his dad, and maybe at the temple she overhears Kira talking about going to the holosuites with them for a baseball game, and she gets the sense that baseball is Important

so she gets up her courage and approaches him on the promenade some time when he doesn't seem too busy, like "excuse me Emissary, I wonder if you would allow me to ask a favor of you."

and Sisko tries not to look like he's steeling himself

"I would like to learn about Baseball."

and he gets this big grin. and tells her what day and time to show up to Quark's for the next time he and Jake are gonna play (and ngl maybe part of him is thinking she's closer to Jake's age than Mardah is...)

and like as they're doing warmups, and she's taking things Very Seriously trying to learn the ropes, Sisko makes an offhanded comment about how Cestus III would be the place to be if you really wanted to get immersed in the sport. and of course she takes this a lot more seriously than he meant it. like a direction in life given to her from the Prophets, directly from their Emissary.

so after all of one (1) time playing baseball in a holosuite she approaches Kassidy to learn more about Cestus III and works like a short internship under her to earn passage there. and shows up in like Pike City or someplace like "hi, does anyone around here hire non-federation citizens? i don't care what type of job. also when are baseball tryouts?"

and like after several years spent getting good, bc she approaches the sport with y'know religious devotion, she returns to her people. and starts a training camp on Bajor that's like basically a monastery. like teenagers who want to pursue religious studies but can't sit still long enough to have hope of becoming a ranjen, they get sent to her to learn to practice Baseball

like imagine a young adult with a really elaborate earring and also like the baseball shoes and the short pants tucked into tall socks going "you know, waiting for a sign from the Prophets is a lot like playing left field..."

[aceofwands]

1000% and it's especially egregious in the modern shows imo because like, in Sisko's case it was a symptom of their overall "oh no this is our first concurrent spin-off we HAVE to differentiate it from TNG!!" panic - which also led to them doing stupid shit like forcing Avery to grow his hair out even though he was far more comfortable with his later look because heaven forbid they have two bald leads!!! hence them quickly and unceremoniously promoting him at the end of the third season when Ira was like ffs why exactly is he a Commander?? cause he also thought it was dumb as fuck (and wasn't in charge until season 3 lol)

but what is the excuse for the new stuff??? Disco especially pissed me the fuck off when they not only killed off Captain Georgiou and robbed us of the incredible opportunity to have our first Trek show where the Captain and First Officer duo are both women - but then to pour salt into the wound there was season after season of white dude Captains!!

I'm not saying I dislike the "having to wait for and earn the captaincy" storyline. There's obviously a lot of really interesting stories there and great character beats that have resulted in some of my favorite Trek characters. But there is an extremely noticeable pattern in which show leads need character development to move up the ranks

And who is presented as inherently qualified from the beginning

And before anyone mentions her, yes, I know we have Captain Freeman, but she's not the lead of her show

[milfleeta]

.

[emporium]

How did you find tumblr?

I really enjoy talking with tumblr users so I thought I'd try posting more prompts to get some conversations started.

I was in a nostalgic mood this week and was trying to remember how I first came to tumblr. It got me thinking that it would be cool to learn other's origin stories. I'll go first.

Even though I'm a big nerd who loves Star Trek (DS9 4 life) and Anime (Fairy Tail forever) it was WordPress that brought me to tumblr. Back in 2010 while in college I worked part time for a WordPress theme shop called Obox Themes. They were looking for new markets and decided that tumblr themes would be a good area to get into. I fell in love with how easy it was to modify my digital home and how there was a whole community of people hacking and releasing themes. Creating a WordPress theme from scratch would have been impossible with my skillset then but with tumblr I could do anything with my handy CSS guide and a few energy drinks.

Over the years what kept bringing me back was the themes. They were funky, weird and sometimes a little broken but who cares. It seemed like the entire web was trying to be grown up but tumblr was Toys R Us, they said it’s ok to be a kid. I loved that. Whenever I felt like I didn’t belong anywhere else I’d come back to tumblr and make a new theme (https://www.tumblr.com/themes/by/nick). I use to love clicking on the installs and seeing what kind of fun folks were using my stuff. What kind of people liked the weird stuff I did. It's your turn. What brought you to tumblr?

[writergeekrhw]

In the special features for Star Trek, the producers and writers often refer to Trek as a "period piece" in the same vein as Jane Austen or Bonanza, just set in the future instead of the past.

With this in mind, 90's Trek had very distinctive language usage. It is formal, even stilted at times, but it comes off as erudite and evolved. Even Patrick Stewart has commented how he could always tell when Star Trek was on TV because he'd hear the dialogue and recognize that distinctive formalness.

From a narrative perspective, this choice falls in line with the whole "humanity has evolved" theme. But from a technical writing standpoint, it seems to have served a much more important purpose of setting the time period by scrubbing the dialogue of any time-stamped, current slang.

So in this future universe setting, casual, current language (such as F bombs) would be akin to one of us using slang from the 1600's. It's jarring not because it's crass (for some it is), but because it cracks the suspension of disbelief that what we are watching is set in different time period because they are using our language, not theirs.

I apologize for the massive run up to this question (maybe I've completely missed the mark with my musings) but what were the instructions you were given that gave DS9's dialogue that "period piece" feel?

Good observations regarding language use in Star Trek.

There were no specific instructions on how to write "proper" Star Trek dialogue. It was mostly learning by doing. But we adhered to the same unwritten rules as TNG, and that could be gleaned from reading scripts and watching episodes. Once I started on the job, a few things became quickly apparent to me:

Avoid slang.

Avoid religious expressions.

Generally, dialogue between Starfleet characters should be respectful (or even warm), slightly formal, and thoughtful.

Playful is fine, but not too goofy.

Use metric units.

Most aliens don't use contractions or use them minimally.

There are probably plenty more that I learned (and adhered to) unconsciously, but those were the ones that jump out in memory.