#happy 1 year anniversary to me naming a character something stupid and then becoming incredibly attached to him

[jbeansdraws]

Redraw that sad birthday cat meme because it's my SWTOR son's birthday!

[captainderyn]

On Wulfwryn

Thank you for indulging me and my LOTR feels @lumielles lmao. I really hope you weren’t looking for a nuanced character. 

So three things about Wulf...

1) She was my second big step into fanfiction and OCs (the first being Percy Jackson) back in middle school/freshman year of high school. By the former she was shifting to the Wren we know today--with Wren as she is now shifting in full around last year. (oh god that’s a long time ago it’s been like four years yike). 

2) As such it’s rather cringey. Bear with me. 

3) Just as Wulfwryn is the original Wren--who isn’t similar by any means--the original Baraneth also finds her roots in LOTR. 

Okay, here we go. I’m doing this from memory since a lot of Wulfwryn’s bio is in the notes of an old, broken phone. 

Wulfwryn Gavardis was originally from Rohan, born to a farming family. For really stereotypical reasons she left when she was oh..18 (an incredibly mature age to my middle school self. Well...) because she thought there was something more to life than what their position in Rohan would offer her. So she took her horse (and closest companion) Aodhan and struck out on her own. 

It went as well as you’d imagine. She had no idea what she was doing, she was armed only with a bow, a sword, and a cloak. Following maps she had pilfered off her father’s desk she found her way to Bree. In Bree she met Aragorn and he ended up taking her under his wing after seeing she was a complete and utter dumbass. 

(If you’re imaging Wren but in ranger clothing with a horse then take about 7 steps back to where your left without Wren’s poise and elegance and instead left with her snark and a reckless nature. That’s Wulfwryn). 

((If you’re imagining snark with Wren’s current looks..you aren’t too far off. Take away all elegant fashion, stick a heavier scottish based accent on, sprinkle some more freckles and that’s Wulfwryn.)

Between then and the War of the Ring is really boring and cliche--she and Aragorn became friends, she broke the canon tagging along on some things and learning how to be a ranger. There are two versions of what happens with the Fellowship--one where she’s there for the start and one where she was on some Ranger Business I can’t remember and met up with everyone at Rivendell. The plot plays out essentially the same, Wulf ends up going to Rohan with Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli and not with the hobbits. Yes she’s essentially a 10th Walker as they were called at the time, but you know what, I really loved her. 

**She was mostly based in Movie!verse as the books were (and still are) a LOT of info to write with. I spent many hours pouring over the timeline in the back of RotK making her ages and stuff fit and figuring out years for everything. 

Typical of angsty middle schoolers she didn’t get along with Eowyn and got hurt a few times, I think I killed her off in a AU once before I reached the point I am at today where everyone gets a happy ending or So Help Me. 

However, after the War for the Ring she actually get’s some character! She becomes the Captain of the Royal Guard for Aragorn/King Elessar as the other guy did actually kick the bucket during the big battle and she was a trusted ally. There she found her place and settled into a leadership role and within a few months she and her guardsmen were closer than blood family. I had a whole list of headcanons for them that are on said old phone. At this point the old horse Aodhan was still kicking around, and I never let anyone forget about their Friendship. 

I joke, but I actually really liked her in the role of Captain, it fit her very nicely and was super fun to play with. So eventually in her story she gets married and has a daughter--Baraneth!--who really brings her down to earth and marks the spitfire woman’s mellowing out. Cliche, I know. 

(If your thinking of Baraneth as she is now--throw that out the window. The only similar thing between Baraneth Gavardis and Baraneth Cousland is the blue eyes. Bara then was a curly dark haired, scholarly polar opposite of her mother)

So the years go on and I know for a fact that in Wren’s canon storyline she was killed at 30 in a border skirmish because god dammit middle school me why you so angsty? And that was that. It was very sad. Her guardsmen lit candles for her every anniversary of the day she was felled. Aodhan the trust apparently immortal war steed became Bara’s. And that’s all I remember. 

Wait no, I do remember something else, I shipped Baraneth and Eldarion (ughhhh you know, prince of Gondor, Aragorn and Arwen’s firstborn? I don’t have any issue with shipping canon characters or writing LOTR anything I was just so very, very poor at character nuancing and shipping back then). 

To make up for what I really hope wasn’t high expectations (I should’ve clarified she was OLD yikes) have some really cringe-y, 6+ year old writing):

“Wulfwryn.” at the sound of her name, she turned her head to see that Aragorn had fallen into step beside her, looking grim and determined. He looked as though he were going to say something important, and Wulfwryn took a wild guess at what it would be.

“Don’t do anything stupid?”

“Exactly.”

Wulfwryn snorted, shaking her head. “I could have sworn you knew that I dont do stupid stuff on purpose! It just happens!”

--

“No, it was nothing you said.” Aragorn placated as he read her expression. “You need not be so careful in your speech Wulfwryn. Our friendship has not wavered simply because I wear a crown upon my brow.”

Wulfwryn nodded quietly, redirecting the conversation. “Why did you come? I assume it was not just to talk?”

Aragorn hesitated for a second. “Not exactly, it is to talk, just not in idleness. I do have something to ask of the utmost importance.”

“And that would be?” Wulfwryn pressed, curiosity getting the best of her.

“Since Beregond had to be dismissed from the position of captain for his treason against the city, no matter how well intended, the position is left open. I was hoping that you would stay in Gondor and become the captain of the guard.”

Wulfwryn froze, eyes widened comically as she thought this over.

---

And a more recent throwback, but heh there was a time when Wulfwryn was a rogue/turned Jedi and she and Emeldir were a thing. When I was shifting her to the main Star Wars-verse. That didn’t last long. I’ll let the idea of anyone other than Risha with Emeldir. ICK. 

Taken off guard, Wulfwryn turned back, coming face to face with Emeldir now that she was standing. They were close enough so that Emeldir could see the faint splattering of freckles across her nose. “There’s plenty left to talk about. Such as where we stand if the Death Star isn’t open for discussion.” She tilted her head, eyes narrowing slightly.

“And where exactly do we stand?” she asked.

“Well,” Emeldir drawled. “That depends. Remember our missions in the Clone Wars?”

The corners of Wulfwryn’s lips turned up. “Yeah, back when you had a credit bounty the size of Coruscant on your head.” She drew back a half step when Emeldir tugged mischievously at a curl where her padawan braid used to be.

“And you still had that jedi braid in your hair, silly thing that was.” His eyebrow went up as Wren’s hand came over his, pulling it away from her hair and staying there.

“It wasn’t silly.” she defended before switching topics. “But you were quite the charmer, you nearly won me over.”

Emeldir smirked slyly. “I could still win you over.”

“You might be able to.” Wulfwryn said coyly, her voice low.

[sleepymarmot]

DS9 season 5 liveblog

[Season index: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 PS]

Apocalypse Rising

This is the worst device prototype... :D

Sisko makes a very handsome Klingon!

"But don't forget, this is still your fault." I knew they'd have to make a joke about this... :D

The Klingon practive! :D

Dukat does a Renegade interrupt... :D "It was either that or trust in Mister Worf's ability to lie. And frankly, I have more faith in my weapons"

How does nobody recognize Worf?!

Okay, so when Odo "got sick" he was actually poisoned by the Founders to bring him to them for judgement except it was to implant him with false information so that they would assassinate Gowron for them, except if they managed to kill Gowron it would have been obvious he was a Klingon, and if they caught Martok in the field his identity would have been exposed, so maybe they just intended them to be caught and be a reason for escalation, but none of this is addressed...

What was the official reason for invading Cardassia anyway, I don't remember after marathoning so fast?

The Ship

I like O'Brien and Muniz

of course a female Vorta wears a bright colored dress with giant cleavage, heavy makeup, and earrings

oh god, did the boy actually die? :O

I freaking knew it was a changeling aboard

god, so many people died because of miscommunication?!

(This trope is pretty much my worst nightmare aaa) 

this is one of the most upsetting stories so far :( I don't think even Hard Time made me cry for so long...

Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places

Julian...

Worf has good taste!

"What house is she from" Boy you have a surprise waiting for you! :D

grow up, Julian, seriously... :D

poor Worf, what an embarrasment

what a happy poly family!

someone's jealous, Odo!

aw everyone, stop making their lovely arrangement awkward

oh Worf, when will you see it :D

aww just accept that the three of you are married now

that's what you get for being nosy at the beginning of the episode, Julian :D 

congrats on the sex, everyone! :D I didn't expect Quark to actually get lucky with Grilka... And I'm so happy that Worf finally got laid properly -- it was so sad to watch his human-like advances on Deanna and that one half-Romulan in TNG.

this episode watered my crops, cleared my skin etc. it's been an hour and I'm still in a great mood

...Nor the Battle to the Strong

Bashir's unstoppable monologue claims another victim

I really like this dynamic -- young Jake who didn't know what he was getting into and feels very out of place, and the mature and experienced Bashir seen from his perspective

oh god, Bashir is so happy and relieved to see Jake and even apologies while Jake is about to be crushed by his guilt, I'm going to cry :(

Bashir is such a kind person :(

The Assignment

Yikes, you two really messed up! "I have to be in surgery, operating." "On who?" "I'll find someone."

Wow, Rom's really a genius

I hope this was *the* O'Brien suffering episode of the season and he'll be free for the rest of it! It was pretty tame, especially compared to last year...

Trials and Tribble-ations

I've been looking forward to this episode for years! And I just rewatched The Trouble with Tribbles for preparation.

What did Bashir do to his hair?!

"I'm a doctor, not an historian"

omg Odo in the same frame as Uhura and Chekov!

damn, they're really good at pasting new characters into the archive footage :D

Dax repeating Spock's line :D

going back to the greyness of the DS9 ops after all these bright colors...

This is really a perfect example of an anniversary/tribute/crossover episode! All of those disappointing cameos in TNG look even weaker now. And the visuals are incredible. I expected them to just but back and forth between old and new footage, not to actually edit TOS scenes -- and so cleanly!

Let He Who is Without Sin...

Poor introverted Worf...

I still don't want to see Julian/Leeta but at least they came here to break up

Worf I'm pretty sure this is illegal not to mention tremendously stupid

welp this was bad

Things Past

yikes Garak, no the Bajorans don't appreciate you playing devil's advocate

poor Dax "ran out of speculation" trying to justify standard filming conventions :D

y i k e s @Dukat

Garak: "I never knew we were such messy conquerors. I remember the occupation being a little more tidy than this." Sisko: "Everything's tidy when someone else is doing the cleaning." Garak: "The Bajorans were much more suited for this sort of thing than we were. Servile work is in their nature." also yikes

Dax is hyper-competent this time. like we’ve seen in “Past Tense”, she has a talent for impersonating someone from the past

"When your people resort to terrorism and violence, they're fighting against order, against stability, against the rule of law, and this must be stopped" this is all about trying to convince Odo that the Founders are right, isn't it

A reversal of "Necessary Evil" -- this time it's Odo who didn't magically spend years enforcing order for the occupants and still remain innocent. Odo as a "former Cardassian oppressor" is a story that was waiting to be told (even if this episode is weaker than Necessary Evil). The further I go, the more I become convinced that Odo is the best character and the heart and thematical center of the entire story. 

I... don't really understand Garak's part in this episode. Dax is better than him as a secret agent, Odo is better both at being a Cardassian oppressor and at reflecting on it. It's not like I expected Garak to go "omg I learned my lesson" at the end, but I was waiting for something. He comes off kind of naive and incompetent about the whole thing. And Odo of all people saying "Interesting that a simple tailor should just happen to have a high-level security code" is out of season or out of character and either way has no place here. Which kind of makes me lose faith that the rest of Garak’s behavior -- why is he so eager to parrot anti-Bajoran propaganda? -- is a part of some long pre-planned arc. By now I kinda have a feeling that the writers just throw out random lines and hope the actor’s skill will save them.

The Ascent

Odo is Cassandra Pentaghast :D

How did they survive in these conditions without food and water? Sometimes I don't know if I'm too weak & spoiled or the writers are exaggerating the hardships their characters go through...

Jake-Nog subplot got solved too fast

Rapture

What, they just change uniforms overnight in the middle of the season?!

"Those of you who were in the Resistance, you're all the same. You think you're the only ones who fought the Cardassians, that you saved Bajor singlehandedly. Perhaps you forget, Major, the Cardassians arrested any Bajoran they found teaching the word of the Prophets. I was in a Cardassian prison camp for five years and I can remember each and every beating I suffered. And while you had your weapons to protect you, all I had was my faith and my courage."

Look, I can understand why Sisko is choosing his visions over everything, and maybe I would have done the same, but this still squicks me and I don't want to watch it

Let me guess, all this religious propaganda will be justified because Sisko's vision will reveal something super important about the Dominion's moves

can we not go back to Bajoran spirituality any time soon please

(Why did the visions start, anyway? He was zapped by the holosuite computer, so what?)

Btw, if, judging from the uniforms, First Contact happened between the previous episode and this one, I'd like a reference to it? Worf, you were there! Sisko, that was the Borg! Hello?

The Darkness and the Light

ouch D:

if he was just a servant, how does he have the skills and knowledge for precize and difficult attacks like these?

"He wanted to protect the innocent and separate the darkness from the light. But he didn't realise the light only shines in the dark and sometimes innocence is just an excuse for the guilty" why is Kira talking like this... what kind of OOC bullshit...

maybe it's just because I caught Bryan Fuller's name in the credits, but this just felt like an episode of Hannibal... A string of brutal and overcomplicated murders, a grotesque villain with poetic speech, focus on misogynistic violence... I sure hope Discovery is nothing like this! I'm so angry Kira's friends died for this nonsense

the only good part was Kira’s unrepentant speech

The Begotten

Baby changeling! Odo gets "The Offspring" of his own! Let's hope this one has a happier ending...

is it just me or is Bashir prettier than usual in this episode?

Odo don't put the baby in a cup!!! what if someone drinks it?! D:

oh god, he's making Odo do these things himself D:

what a magical moment!!! aaaa

oh no Odo was so happy I just knew they'd kill his baby

he's holding it in his hands :((

I had a feeling they'd be able to link!! Even the conclusion is like "The Offspring" -- the father absorbs his child. I expected the story to end with Odo having to give it to the Founders because only they can save its life/raise it for some reason

Odo and Kira bonding over losing their babies :(

finally, a great episode again!

For the Uniform

Loving the manual departure scene! But how exactly is Nog relaying communications to the engine room?

I continue to understand nothing about the Maquis situation. What's a "Maquis colony"? I thought only the terrorists themselves used that name, not the civilians they protected? 

Eddington's use of chemical weapons against civilians is presented as moral event horizon, but Sisko's retaliation in kind is postfactum approved by Starfleet? I thought he was bluffing, and I assume his crew thought he knew what he was doing which is why they didn't object, but Eddington expected him to act like a villain and he literally did?? He used weapons of mass destruction against an entire planet populated by humans who may or may not be Federation citizens (or, alternatively, Cardassian citizens, which might be even worse politically). But that's fine, because the entire population of that planet managed to evacuate before the poison killed them. I don't know how to go on watching the show after this.

In Purgatory's Shadow / By Inferno’s Light

Bashir is great :D

Aw, Bashir isn't going with him? :(

hate to agree with Dukat, but yeah, this is inappropriate

"The man is a heartless, cold-blooded killer" "Like I said, he's a Cardassian"

w h a t

damn, just as I thought Julian was being unusually cool at the beginning of the episode, he turned out to be a changeling

okay, I knew about Dukat and the Dominion and had been waiting for it. but I'm stuck on Changeling Bashir. How long? Since before the uniform change? I feel betrayed. I want to believe it was the real Bashir in The Begotten! Not only because I love that episode -- the presence of a Founder would have changed the plot completely!

I thought I could spend one episode without gushing about how Dukat is written, but apparently not, so here it goes. This plot twist makes perfect sense on so many levels! Sisko has commented before on how quick Dukat was to join the winning side after the fall of the Obsidian Order. Dukat himself made a big speech about missing the good old times when Cardassia was feared (and as a viewer, I kind of miss that too...). Cardassia is the main antagonist of the show's past and the Dominion -- of present/future, and their autoritarian nature is pretty similar. As far as I remember, Dukat hasn't met the Founders before and is probably unaware of their deep hatred of solids, plus his usual overconfidence makes him underestimate the Dominion’s power, so I can see how he would treat this like any other alliance. I hope this means we'll see more Cardassians again, not just Jem'Hadar exploiting their territory and resources. 

I wish Ziyal were a bit more conflicted over the entire thing -- she spent her entire life idealizing her father and trying to justify his actions, and taking off the rose-tinted glasses should be more difficult and traumatic than "Oh I guess all of you were right and my dad is a bad guy after all".

Doctor Bashir, I Presume

Leeta, just ask him out yourself!

lol, Bashir should have told them about the hologram...

I knew the big spoiler, but assumed the genetic enhancement was prenatal, so the actual story about parental ableism still came as a surprise. I hope this will be discussed again in the following episodes! 

The story about a son who has good reasons to resent the father but forgives him in the end is a bit to similar to The Begotten, but I don't mind that much.

Miles is such a good friend :')

All of the A-plot was great, but the B-plot slightly spoiled the impression.

The resolution of the problem is what should have happened in the first place. Julian is in no way responsible for what was done to him as a child!

So if we didn't take this perfect opportunity to talk about changeling!Bashir now, I guess that won't be discussed ever?

A Simple Investigation

"I've done things in my life I'm not proud of, too. You worked for Draim, I worked for the Cardassians. I never had the courage to walk away. You did. I admire that"

Bashir and O'Brien's larping :D

I thought Odo wasn't capable of enjoying this kind of thing?

"Once, on my homeworld, I had an experience that you might consider sexual" uh... did I miss something? 

remember season 1 when Odo was adamantly aroace? good times...

wait what did he do with her hand?

the plot was so boring I had to force my self to focus on screen. and why make Odo fall in love (again) and have sex? that's stupid, leave him alone

Business as Usual

How come Quark is shunned by absolutely everyone? And the general disapproval is represented by Kira (who herself admits that weapon trade saved Bajor), Sisko (who used WMD only a few episodes ago) and Dax (a big fan of a certain culture built around violence).

Ties of Blood and Water

Just as I was thinking that this season has a lot stories with daddy issues, and that Kira doesn't have a father -- this guy shows up! Aww, Kira is so happy to see him"! I hope this doesn't mean he'll be dead by the end of the episode...

"I'm dying" of fucking course........

SHE JUST THREW A CUP RIGHT AT HIS FACE this is incredible

(Kira is literally too tired to deal with his shit. And it's beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen anything like her body language, expressions and voice in this scene. She doesn't even dignify his "sick little games" with a single shifting of pose before that one sharp movement to throw the cup.)

(at first I thought the cup broke as it hit his face, which was a completely delightful image, but sadly not what happened)

Kira, he was a member of the Central Command, what did you expect?

Weyoun is great :D

Kira, have you finished questioning him or not? If not, you shoud continue, regardless of your personal relationship.

I really enjoyed this episode, though there are some things that don't let me be truly impressed by it. It was pretty predictable; Kira's anger seemed naive and immature, and the revelation at the end did not completely disperse that impression.

From reactions of Odo and Bashir, who say nothing like "It's your duty to continue asking him questions" it seems like their interviews were over, but the montage and Dukat's poisoning attempt suggest the opposite. All of that is a shame, because this episode is my favourite kind of DS9 episode.

Ferengi Love Songs

Why is the Nagus of all people completely fine with her wearing clothes?

It's disappointing to go back to status quo. I thought the new life without a Ferengi business license would mean character development, but apparently not. And Ishka is weaker here than in Family Business.

Soldiers of the Empire

Always love a good Klingon episode! Honor! Fighting spirit! Jadzia and Worf being awesome!

Also I'm greatly amused that Julian was assigned to be an intelligence officer of all things.

Children of Time

O'Brien is the only one who reacts normally to this creepy situation...

The premise of the entire story doesn't work for me because apparently we're supposed to think that being stuck on an isolated planet with little technology is idyllic instead of horrifying??? I'd do a lot of things just to prevent that. Imagine all the inbreeding that must happen with only 48 ancestors, eww.

Oh boo fucking hoo, you won't have descendants on the planet, well you'll have about as many in the real world in 200 years, plus your absense at DS9 won't deal a strategic blow to the security of the Alpha Quadrant -- why isn't anyone talking about that?

And as usual with time loop stories, it's hard to take the entire thing seriously because -- what happened the first time? Did Jadzia fail to check the logs? Did they not meet their future descendants at all, sat for two days on the empty planet repairing the ship and just happened to stumble upon the anomaly on their way out? By interacting with the crew, the colonists are already changing the timeline, so there's no reason to believe that going back in time will preserve their history instead of making a new version of it.

Blaze of Glory

Eddington is like people who complain about products that have too many 'chemicals'

The writers didn't know what to do with the Maquis so they wiped them out offscreen and tried to wrap up the story with another team-up of rivals, but Eddington is no Dukat and the story itself is not strong enough. RIP Maquis storyline, you were a mess.

Empok Nor

Ouch, Garak, don't so casually bring up O'Brien's greatest traumas!

I have a bad feeling about all of these young nameless officers...

That doesn't look like a great environment for someone with claustrophobia

Cardassian faces always look so great in chiaroscuro! Since season 2 I've wanted to see Garak in this lighting, and the show finally delivers.

"You're right. I'm an engineer" :D

Very cheesy episode, but I enjoyed it more than any of the Mirror ones...

In the Cards

The scene with the crazy doctor and bargaining with Bashir are really hilarious...

"It is enough to know that you and I have found so many common interests. I feel that we are very much alike. :))))" "*grabs his ear* No. We are nothing alike. Nothing at all. :))))))"

What a wonderful episode!!! (But where was Dax?)

Call to Arms

"We're losing the peace, which means a war could be our only hope"

THIS IS SO EPIC!!! And finally, Sisko's prophecy in "Rapture" comes true.

General impressions:

Dax was reinvigorated! -- by the romance or not, but she seemed more vibrant than ever this season. Bashir got more character development! O'Brien suffered a little less than in the previous years! Dukat got to be openly antagonistic!

As usual, my favorite part is the main epic plot. There were three great comedy episodes this time: Par'Mach, Tribbles and Cards. Other favorites: Nor the Battle to the Strong; Things Past; The Begotten; Doctor Bashir, I Presume; Ties of Blood and Water.

Once again, Klingons are allies, Cardassians are enemies, and Quark is not an outcast. Must we cling so hard to the status quo?