#one time they got Sisko involved

[youngpettyqueen]

when Keiko gets really mad at Miles she'll go recruit Julian to her cause and tell him "we're not talking to him until he apologizes" and Julian- who cannot say no to Keiko and who also loves to fuck with Miles- agrees to it every single time and it drives Miles absolutely INSANE

[jim-kirks-bubble-butt]

i’ve never seen a single episode of ds9, but i’ve seen enough clips and been on tumblr enough to know things about it and apparently my brain decided that that was enough and i had the most insane dream.

it was in the form of a lost episode, with some weird latin title. it was like e pluribus unum but it was about julian bashir so it was like. e julian unum. basically there was some medical emergency and he was working really hard to find a cure. and time travel got involved so he kept repeating the same day over and over again till he found one (kinda a banger episode idea ngl). anyways he finally found the cure, and after it was all done benjamin sisko took one look at him and was like please relax.

so julian said ok and grabbed miles o’brien to go to the holosuites. also i guess that in my dream miles and julian were dating so yeah. he just grabbed his boytoy and said lets go. there was a point where i was benjamin sisko and after julian and miles went into the holosuites, i (benjamin sisko) witnessed garak angrily leaving quark’s. so i guess he was jealous.

so julian and miles went white water rafting in the holosuite, and then they went like rock climbing and they were having a grand old time. and after they reach the top of the rocks Miles Edward O’brien looks at the water below and says

“the whitecaps on those waves kinda look like pre-cum.”

and then my alarm went off and i woke up. because i had to get up early. to go to the temple. but i was so astounded and perplexed that i lay in bed for 10 more minutes before finally getting up. to go to the temple.

[thegeminisage]

it is time for. NOT a tng update. but a ds9 update!!! wednesday* we watched "emissary" and actually i'm not clear on if we watched both parts or just one since my website is wonky but either way whatever we watched FUCKING RULED. i'm dispensing w the normal bullet points so i can ramble as much as i want

*it was last night actually but it took me all day to type this up so i'm scheduling it to go up later. it got looooong lol

the first most striking thing i noticed about ds9, or at least the first half of what we watched, is that it FEELS like a video game. someone tell me if this is insane. you're playing as sisko. you get flashbacks of his backstory, you get thrown into this starbase that's in shambles and it's Your Job to fix it up. you go around meeting all the secondary characters who will be in charge of this or that gameplay aspect or upgrade system or shop: kira, o'brien, quark, odo, jadzia, julian, etc. the FOLEY in this was insane. all the noise in the back CONSTANTLY suggested a lively and whole universe outside of our direct line of focus - it felt so alive in the way not even the enterprise in tos did. i could picture myself in the opening gameplay/cutscene like slowly walking my character through what will become a hub area that i gradually upgrade over time while kira or o'brien narrates the list of problems. you're starting at the bottom rung and expected to fail, but you can FEEL the potential even in just one brief walk through the promenade. IS THIS INSANE? it feels like an insane thing to say. someone PLEASE write in if you have ever had similar feelings. if they haven't made a ds9 game yet, they should.

i also notice that not only is the quality of the ds9 episodes worse than that of tng and tos - no one has remastered them into 1080p, apparently - but the lighting is very different, as well. it felt WEIRD to see picard and the enterprise D shot this way. but it also lends, perhaps unintentionally, perhaps not, a really gritty atmosphere to what is normally a very clean universe. i guess since we mostly see it from the inside of starships, it would feel like a sterile place to us, but you know how everyone always compliments star wars on how lived-in it feels? the buttons are wearing, sand is stuck in their fancy thingamajigs, etc? this was how ds9 felt to me.

okay. the characters. let's fucking get into it. what's so fun about ds9 in general is that in all other trek shows i have picked out my specialest little guy in 5 seconds flat. tos was spock EASILY. tng i knew it was data before i started. i already know seven's gonna be my favorite voyager character, but i have NO IDEA!!! who my precious little baby in ds9 will be. what a fun surprise for everyone involved. if anybody wants to place bets go ahead.

like, i thought tng had a pretty solid lineup (hence my eternal frustration with its wasted potential) but they're not anywhere as eclectic as ds9's core cast. iirc, sisko and o'brien are the ONLY humans who for once are outnumbered by trek's cool aliens. i'm saving sisko for last because that was the part of ds9 that touched me most profoundly, but for o'brien - it was a little sad to see him leave the enterprise, because picard was right, it WON'T feel the same without him, but i'm really excited to see why everybody says he suffers more than jesus and to find out if the eyepatch is a permanent thing or if it's just mirrorverse fuckery. either way, i win. like, o'brien is cool, and i always miss him when i don't see him in tng, and i'll continue to miss him in tng from here on out, but he could never shine in that show. it's too stiff and too reluctant to put its characters through any real development. it's a shame they can't ALL move to ds9, tbh.

the next person we met was kira, who was WONDERFUL. it took me a minute to warm up to her, not because there was anything wrong with her, but because i figured at first glance she was ds9's version of ro laren, the obligatory bajoran cast member to connect us with the bajoran/cardassian plot - which would of course be good because ro is awesome, but it's not necessarily anything new and i already love ro. BUT I WAS WRONG! kira's personality is very distinct from ro's; really the only thing they have in common is not liking cardassians which lmao Yeah. my favorite thing about kira is that she smiles when she's upset or angry. that's Such an acting choic, to have her grinning at the cardassians when she's almost certain they're about to blow her whole space station to smithereens. all love light and respect to ro laren my beloved, but i think i actually like kira BETTER.

odo: WHAT is that thing he can do oh my god...is this a changeling?? i got that result in a star trek quiz once. i really loved when he snuck aboard the enemy ship posing as a bag to hold gambling winnings. i was like oh they showed us the bag to show us it will get stolen soon BUT NO it was odo!!!!!!! such a fun surprise. the exposition on his backstory was a little slapdash but i enjoyed it all the same, i cannot wait to learn more

i was most nervous to meet quark because i hate hate HATE the ferengi in tng, but he was actually so entertaining! like, you're never gonna be able to entirely remove the antisemetic undertones from the ferengi as a whole, but he was smart, practical, and endearingly longsuffering. i love his wryness and deadpan humor. i have a feeling he is gonna be so much fun to torture lovingly.

meeting julian bashir felt like meeting a famous person. for the longest time all i knew about ds9 was that cardassian guy wanted to FUCK that gay little doctor, so it was a little hilarious that in his first scene he was asking a woman* out on a date. sir do you not know you're gay?? even funnier was the fact that out of everybody in the pilot he had the least lines. we barely know him, but we finally met him. relatedly, i can't to wait to meet more cardassians, especially The cardassian. so far, they're still all gay.

*jadzia!!! gnc/trans queen! the trill stuff is SO interesting and watching that worm slither in and out of people during those flashbacks was so wonderful but also made me wince. i love that she used to be an old man and the jokes about it are actually really funny without feeling transphobic or anything SO FAR. who knows if that changes. i feel like we haven't gotten much yet from her either but i cannot wait.

SISKO. damn. where do i even...first of all, he should be allowed to bite kick kill picard. i say this as someone who experienced a genuine THRILL of pleasure upon seeing picard's borged self again. i loved that whole thing, i'm obsessed with the borg. that it comes back in this small way in ds9, and has such a HUGE impact on the storyline, was so so so fucking good. i always say tng tells and not shows, but even after just knowing sisko for a few moments i felt keenly how much it devastated to find his wife like that and THAT WAS JUST FROM THE FIRST SCENE. and it only gets better! he's a great dad. he's FUNNY. he is not above manual labor. he wants to tear picard limb from limb. and he exists HERE.

the wormhole alien sequence was. so good. it was SO GOOD. explaining linear time to aliens. the aliens using his memories to talk to him. HE EXISTS HERE. back and back and BACK to finding his wife in the rubble because HE EXISTS HERE. he CHOOSES to exist here. he existed there when he applied for a transfer to earth. he existed there when he confronted picard. he never left the ship because HE NEVER LEFT THE SHIP. they dragged him out but they COULDN'T DRAG HIM OUT. he exists here because he won't leave her to exist here alone because damn it we can't just leave her here. that was the most insane series of events i ever watched. like, because at first you DO think it's the aliens taking him back there BUT IT'S HIM. HE IS DOING IT TO HIMSELF. when the penny dropped i got literal chill bumps and when the aliens said "it's not linear" and he, openly weeping, replied "it's NOT linear," i genuinely, truly, shed a tear along with him. TNG COULD NEVER. none of those miserable fucks EVER cry!!! sisko did it in the god damn pilot!!!!!!!

and like, the fact that he can choose to stay at the space station at the end, to shake picard's hand, to exist SOMEWHERE ELSE. AAAAAUGHGHGHG

i really loved the final confrontation, too. kira is so so so so good, again, i LOVE that she smiles when she's angry, when she's sad, and it's not a fake smile, it's genuine and honest emotion, and she's genuinely and honestly going to start eating the cardassians for sport if they don't leave her alone. it was very scrappy, them pretending to be bigger and badder than they actually were because they had no other choice. you get the feeling everybody on the station and indeed the station itself is barely holding together, and what little togetherness is present comes from sheer spite.

anyway, absolutely 10/10. i was so worried ds9 wouldn't be good but it not only met my most furtive hopes it surpassed them with flying colors. it's gonna be REAL hard to go back to tng after this.

[sapphosewrites]

Fanfiction first lines game

Rules: List the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern.

Thank you for tagging me, @ectogeo-rebubbles, you know how much I love a tag game!

Little Joys in the Middle of a Tragedy (Bashir/Garak, M, WIP) It was an after-thought in an already overladen meeting. Julian’s mind was only partly on the conversation; while his colleagues debated mining the wormhole, he mentally combed through the staff roster.

c/GulManners (the space reddit fic) Link to the letter itself is in the autofeed- this post is just for discussion. I want to know: what do we think grandfather was involved in?

Comparative Literature (dialogue only Garak & Worf) “Frankly, I’m surprised you agreed to this."

This is my own, my native land! (Bashir/Garak, a post-canon Cardassia vignette) “You hated it.” 

Stand Beside Me In The Mirror (the creepy alt!Garak one) Being stunned always gave Julian a dry mouth.

Trektober Day #31: Spooky/Supernatural & Trapped Together (Dax & Kira, G, 168 words) "Ghosts aren't real," Jadzia said, although she sounded less certain this time.

Trektober Day #30: Time Loop / Mentors (Dax character study, 158 words) The relationship is recursive by the time Ezri tracks Ben down. A Dax, a Sisko, a mentorship.

Odo's Rounds, chapter 4 (very short snippets of Odo trying to do his job) Quark was leaning on the counter, chin propped in his hands.

Trektober Day #26: Academy Era (Dax & Bashir, G, 210 words) They were already a fair number of drinks in, or she wouldn't have asked.

Imzadi (Riker/Troi, a no dialogue drabble) It's odd, still being able to read someone thoughts so intimately after you've decided to no longer be intimate at all.

If I remember correctly, there's more variation than the last time I tried this, when all my first lines were dialogue. This time round I've got dialogue, description, and even some abstract thinking. I still clearly love a good in medias res, which is hands down the easiest way to write.

I know some of you have already done this but I do not know who off the top of my head! @rusblk? @thoughts-i-have-had-in-passing? @hellostuffedtiger? @philosopherking1887? But as always if you want to, consider yourself tagged and tag me so I can see it!

[thethirdromana]

Headcanons of how Deep Space Nine characters smell

Worf Starting off with an easy one. Canon says Worf has “an earthy, peaty aroma” with “a touch of lilacs”. I’m guessing Klingons also smell stronger than humans - not worse, but more. So it’s unpleasant for humans who aren’t used to it, but if they’re around Klingons a lot, they stop noticing it. And Jadzia finds it sexy. 

Bashir Pretty much every other bit of Bashir got genetically engineered, so I’m sure he’s got the gene that means your sweat doesn’t smell. If you get really close he just smells… pleasant. Unremarkable. 

Quark With that dress sense and those nails, I headcanon that Quark, and Ferengi males in general, are dripping in perfume. Something quite intense too, like the Ferengi equivalent of patchouli and vanilla. 

(Rom and Nog are lower-status, so they use less. You can smell the Grand Negus coming from 100m away). 

Jadzia Dax I just feel like Jadzia Dax is one of those people who goes to the gym, works out for ages, gets all sweaty, and then smells great. Not like Bashir, who barely smells at all. But she would smell good.

I will serve my sentence in horny jail as soon as this list is done. 

Ezri Dax I think fragrance is part of Ezri’s identity crisis, coming into Ops smelling of a different perfume every other day. But I think she would settle on something subtle and sweet, like jasmine. 

Sisko Oh you just know Sisko smells good. Sometimes it’s a refreshing shower scent (eucalyptus? Mint?), sometimes it’s from whatever he’s been cooking, sometimes it’s just him. But no one can resist taking a deep breath when Sisko gives them a hug. 

Kira At the risk of controversy, I think early-DS9 Kira was a bit whiffy. I doubt there was much time for personal hygiene in the resistance, and she went from loose, breathable clothing to whatever her uniform is made of, which is the opposite of that. But as she relaxed and got used to not fighting all the time, I think she would indulge in fragrances. And knowing how lush and green Bajor is, I bet they have some wonderful perfumes too. 

O’Brien O’Brien smells like this picture:

I know there’s not much call for engine grease or welding in the future. I know O’Brien’s work mostly involves fixing things that aren’t even dusty, let alone oily. But he still smells like that. Don’t ask me how. 

Keiko Keiko loves a delicate, floral scent. She smells like springtime. Sometimes she mixes perfumes herself. 

Odo Odo smells very little, since he doesn’t release that many Odo-modules into the environment. If you get very close, he smells of his environment, from microscopic bits of dust and Deep Space Nine carpet, and underneath that, a cool smell, like plastic. 

Garak I have to say that while I feel quite confident of some of my answers, I really struggle with how Garak smells. I think he does use a little bit of scent - not a huge amount - and it’s something warm like sandalwood. But I’m not sure. 

Weyoun Vorta smell pleasant but in an unidentifiable, disconcerting way. Not floral, or fruity, or musky, or animal-smelling, nor any other scent that a human can recognise, but on the verge of being familiar, so half of anyone’s concentration when speaking to Weyoun is caught up with wondering what the smell reminds them of.

[beardedmrbean]

https://x.com/halalcoholism/status/1781092014391734595?s=46

In my senior year, I read a book about a Khmer Rouge child soldier and survivor

He said heard his little brother died from starvation while asking where he was

Evil my friend pure evil

Psst, Jewish people, the left defense of the Khmer Rouge is what would happen if the Nazis didn’t attack England and France. Sorry I think people don’t understand that Nazis had a eat the rich mentality

Also people said the cia funded the Cambodian genocide

Oh leftists

The American agencies are INCOMPETENT AS FUCK

If we know about the cia connections to bin Laden, then anti commies cia hating people would put that shit down hard.

Seriously…do they talk to any working class American? I mean ever heard that in cops shows. The cops are weary when they learn the cia is involved?

Almost like the cia makes everything a living hell for the average American….hmm why did we go to Vietnam again? Why did so many Americans have to be at the mercy of Vietnam’s vets with ptsd with little to no mental resources again?

Why does the cartels have military grade weapons that no American civilians can buy?

Why didn’t the sniper try to kill lbj as well?

Why did the crack epidemic hit my community the worst? How the fuck inner cities thugs got military grade weapons too?

There a reason why American sci-fi since 70’s have an agency that based off the cia to pull middle fingers to. Not a Trekkie, but didn’t the next generation crate a federation cia call sector 9 or something?

Gonna run those tweets on their own, since that will bring discourse™

In my senior year, I read a book about a Khmer Rouge child soldier and survivor He said heard his little brother died from starvation while asking where he was Evil my friend pure evil

Fairly large Cambodian community in my town, I'm sure they'd love a word with the idiots that think the khmer rouge was anything but evil,

Psst, Jewish people, the left defense of the Khmer Rouge is what would happen if the Nazis didn’t attack England and France. Sorry I think people don’t understand that Nazis had a eat the rich mentality

They were a form of socialists so ya, not sure how many of them realized they were, but ya.

Also people said the cia funded the Cambodian genocide Oh leftists The American agencies are INCOMPETENT AS FUCK

They managed to pull off a few things in South America, they wouldn't have funded a communist state though, not one that small at least, need something that would be more than a minor annoyance for china or the soviets.

If we know about the cia connections to bin Laden, then anti commies cia hating people would put that shit down hard.

ya he was fighting commies, Afghanistan the graveyard of empires

Why does the cartels have military grade weapons that no American civilians can buy?

ATF gunwalking scandal Thanks Obama.

Why didn’t the sniper try to kill lbj as well?

Who would have gotten us stuck in Nam for years and years if not for lbj though?

Why did the crack epidemic hit my community the worst? How the fuck inner cities thugs got military grade weapons too?

That was the FBI, CIA operates outside of our border, allegedly. It's also a contributing factor to the black community having such a low vaccination rate during covid, alphabet soup news outlets never really brought it up because that's not a way to demonize white people so they don't care.

There a reason why American sci-fi since 70’s have an agency that based off the cia to pull middle fingers to. Not a Trekkie, but didn’t the next generation crate a federation cia call sector 9 or something?

I think there was a episode of DS9 that went into that when Sisko went back in time on earth, but don't quote me on that. _________________

Got this one out at least, still waiting to hear if it's pick up day or not.

I'm gonna shitpost for a bit tho I think.

[incirrata]

very kind of ds9 to welcome me back from my too-long hiatus in watching with two consecutive episodes delving into a specific character’s ethical views as they’ve been portrayed for six seasons and to what degree the character believes that the ends justify the means!

first of all we’ve got “inquisition,” in which some other stuff is going on but I’m mostly engaged by the full review of bashir’s most important moral decisions. it’s not an original choice for a doctor, but he’s always has a strong do no harm principle that means he tends to advocate for the least utilitarian choice. possible counterpoints are brought up: he hid his status as genetically modified from starfleet and he advocated that one time for the federation to surrender because he didn’t think they’d be able to defeat the dominion. tellingly, though, neither case involves directly harming people for the end goal. I think it’s very realistic for someone to have some certain actions (directly harming or not saving people) which they will never take, while they also hold some principles (loyalty to starfleet) which they will set aside for the greater good. sexy and fun episode.

in the pale moonlight. here we’ve got our consequentialist! he feels bad about it but he can live with it. computer, erase that entire personal log. (sidenote: the framing of an episode like this with a retrospective monologue would never work unless you have someone as good at monologuing as avery brooks. I get why everyone quotes those ending lines now.) interesting things happening here beyond the “our character DOES think the ends justify the means” thing. it’s implied that garak keeping the full plan from sisko was necessary and he never would have signed off on it originally, yet he says he’d do everything again! is this an issue of personal responsibility? willing to be an accessory to murder vs. a murderer; the pulling of the trolley lever itself kind of thing? or is it what I see as the main consideration consequentialism must concern itself with: the question of uncertainty? does sisko retrospectively condone the murder now that he knows it was effective, but wouldn’t have done so with the outcome up in the air? how much uncertainty would he have tolerated? sexy and fun episode.

[anotheruserwithnoname]

Some good news and some bad news regarding Season 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The good news is that now that the strikes are over, production of Season 3 is set to begin next month! This is good because there have been rumours swirling around possible cancellation in the wake of Star Trek Discovery being ended after its 5th season. But SNW continues (Lower Decks has also been renewed for Season 5). The only caveat to that is Paramount Plus still cancelled Star Trek Prodigy even with its Season 2 complete, so nothing is a guarantee anymore. (And even then, it's been reported that Prodigy S2 will at least get some sort of Netflix release).

(Further good news is Season 2, with its amazing musical and Lower Decks crossover episodes, is set for Blu-ray release before Christmas.)

The bad news - though this is likely educated speculation on Screen Rant's part - is the possibility that the 10-episode 3rd season my be split, with only 5 episodes airing in 2024 and having to wait till 2025 to see the rest. Aside from that wrecking viewer momentum, those 5 weeks will come and go very quickly. If this news is correct, though, they could be telegraphing some sort of 5-episode story arc, which should be good but I actually prefer SNW's episodic format as it better supports the type of experimentation we got with not only this past year's musical and part-animated episodes, but the episodic format is what made TOS what it was. No official word on any cast changes, though I will be surprised if S3 doesn't reintroduce Dr. McCoy in some fashion.

I haven't written much about SNW but it's my favourite of the live action modern Treks. I stopped watching Discovery and Picard but SNW has kept me. I've had songs from the musical earworming for the last week or so after I rewatched it. And I greatly appreciated the time-travel episode "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" for finally canonizing an explanation as to why the prequel series haven't always lined up with what we know as canon from TOS, TNG, etc. which as far as I'm concerned frees the writers to deviate and retroactively serves to rectify canon issues dating all the way back to some episodes of DS9, never mind Enterprise, Discovery and SNW itself. I will explain for those who don't know but I will put a spoiler break here for those who might be waiting for the Blu-ray or haven't had a chance to stream season 2 yet. If the break doesn't appear below, stop reading now if you don't want the spoiler.

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The episode reveals that due to the many time travel events over the years (including ones we haven't seen on screen by enemies of the Federation; the episode relates one involving Mary Queen of Scots (in-joke for the actress) what we have been seeing in SNW etc. is an alternate timeline. Maybe not as extreme as the Kelvin timeline of the films, but events such as the Eugenics Wars - indeed, the birth of Khan himself - were delayed by decades. This major change to the timeline - and then you fill in the blanks by factoring in even minor changes such as the guy who accidentally killed himself with McCoy's phaser in City on the Edge of Forever, Sisko replacing Gabriel Bell in the Bell Riots, the Voyager crew going back to 1996, Archer and T'Pol heading off agents of the temporal cold war in the early 2000s, etc. - and you can see how it's possible that things progressed differently resulting in SNW and Discovery being more technologically advanced than TOS-era ships should be as established in TNG, DS9 and Enterprise that used the original tech and designs. Also character differences, like Pike's crew being aware of T'Pring and Khan when Kirk's crew in TOS did now despite Spock having worked with La'an Noonien-Singh and Kirk being aware of La'an's feelings for him. Or the lack of reference to Kirk's brother, who dies in a famous TOS episode, having been former Enterprise crew. And it literally stems from two lines of dialogue. It's exhibit A of how quickly and simply a show like Doctor Who can fix things.

[walkingstackofbooks]

DS9 4x20 The Muse thoughts (I’m re-watching, so beware spoilers for future episodes!) [12 July ‘23]

I had no idea Jake's mind-nomming happened in the same episode as the Lwxana/Odo marriage - okay let's gooo!

"I won't let him do it, Odo." "Who? What?" I guess being telepathic, she might forget she actually has to start from the beginning of a story and explain it rather than have people pick up from what she's thinking?

This alien talks in the weirdest way. I'm glad Jake starts out uneasy, at least.

I hate when Jake picks something over spending time with his dad. Like, it checks out, he *is* a teenager, but Sisko's always so disappointed 😭

"What do you want me to do about it?" "Either cheer her up or get her to leave." Love how Quark thinks Odo could cheer her up rather than just be security getting her to leave.

Oh!! At Quark's request Odo does go and give up his routine and free time to make her happier :3 I do love these two.

Odo's war with himself over being unpleasant to ward her off from his quarters but also not wanting to. :3

"Major Kira and First Minister Shakaar are involved now." "How sad." "Not at all. I'm happy for her." For most of the time Odo is actually such a good bro. I don't like the framing later on that he somehow 'deserves' Kira just because he likes her, but he really is so respectful.

"Well, just don't go do what I did. Look for someone to fix your broken heart then end up pregnant and on the run." "I don't think there's too much danger of that happening." His little laugh. I am sad he and Lwxana couldn't be together.

"[I feel] Like a changeling who's had to hold his shape too long." It's sweet that she puts it in understandable terms, I think?

"Lwxana? Your replicator isn't really broken, is it?" Aww it took you that long? Call yourself a detective XD

"I'm sorry if I made you feel unwelcome." You literally did less to make her feel unwelcome than you do to any other person who comes your way though!

Oh damn I had paused this halfway through and once again forgot Jake's storyline was the other half of this episode!

Why do I feel like that pen should write in Jake's blood?

This alien is so creepy and I hate this so so soooo much

Haha! Odo laughing! I love how much they enjoy each other's time

Why not lie to Lwxana's husband, and tell him that she's not here??

IT'S ODO'S IDEA TO GET MARRIED??? I HAD THOUGHT IT WOULD BE LWAXANA! HE IS THE SWEETEST

Odo's so tender as he helps her up to the stage thing!

Miles' uncertain look at "add her to what is mine"

Quark's wistful sigh at Odo's "I didn't need anyone else."

"The truth is, I was ashamed of what I was, afraid that if people saw how truly different I was they would recoil from me." *camera pans to Julian* OH THESE TWO GIVE ME FEELINGS. They would just have the ability to relate so hard to each other! Tell me that that quote couldn't belong to Julian in DBIP.

"The day I met her is the day I stopped being alone." *Kira looks down* Oh, I wonder what she's feeling about that. Because she definitely thought they were good friends.

I am still surprised the husband doesn't fight harder. All he needs to do is doubt it. I guess some part of him really did love Lwxana?

"What can I say? I'm a hopeless romantic!" Really, Quark? Sure.

"You know, for a minute there, I really believed you wanted to marry me." Oh, he DID.

"Orange juice." Sometimes Jake does things that make me remember how young he is. (Even though I'd be ordering apple juice all the time though... But everyone else usually guess got tea or coffee or alcohol.)

At least Jake's in a public place when he collapses. Glad he didn't go back to his quarters.

"He was the youngest I ever found. So eager, ready to give everything he had in one great burst." Apart from he hadn't agreed to give everything, he didn't know that was what you were doing and he wouldn't have consented if he had!

"You really should stay." "I'll miss you, too." Ohhh. Lwxana's ability to cut to what Odo is feeling.

"I could stay, try to make you fall in love with me, but we both know that won't happen. Then I'd end up resenting you, and our friendship is far too important for me to let that happen." I love these two so much though ❤️❤️

"The dialogue is sharp, the story's involving, the characters are real. The spelling is terrible. I especially liked the father." SISKO :3 I love his dad-ing

"All you need to do is learn to find them by yourself." Sisko is such a wonderful dad. And so good at advice and saying the right thing!

Anslem - he wrote that in the alternate timeline where Sisko dies? But on his own? I guess in that timeline, at this point was he too sad for the alien to find him an alluring target? I like how we know it's his - and I'm guessing Sisko does too from his memories of that timeline. :3

[weyounbodycount]

Cardassian/Dominion scenes I wish we got to see in DS9 Season 6:

- How Weyoun 5 first encountered Dukat. Was it planned? By chance? HAS to be planned after 4’s quality time with Sisko and crew… or did Dukat seek them out and Weyoun answered the call? Was he assigned because the Founders knew Cardassia was a major chess piece for them already?

- How Weyoun 5 convinced Dukat to commit to the Dominion. I imagine he tried a permutation of the same speech Weyoun 4 gave Sisko in “To the Death” and it actually worked…

- How Dukat trusted Weyoun was a clone as he’d parroted back to Sisko when Ghemor was on the station. Did Weyoun prove it with another Vorta? Dukat got a tour of the facilities? Dukat really just took his word for it?

- How Weyoun 5 personally handled losing the station, and losing Dukat as a chess piece, when he was alone with no one to observe him. Was he unmoored? Uncomfortably out of his element like when Dukat challenged him to explain Sisko’s battle strategy? Ready with Plan B? Did he immediately go to Damar, console Damar’s grief over what he did to Dukat and Ziyal, and then how did he convince Damar to take Dukat’s place?

- The first time we see Weyoun 5 and Damar operating alone is the “my, my” scene where Damar holds his tongue when Weyoun condescends to him. What happened before?!?

- I love that one episode where we see Kira wake up and go about her day under occupation and would love to see one from Weyoun’s perspective either on Terok Nor or Cardassia Prime, since he is also essentially waking up and going to work with coworkers he hates every day.

- The moment Damar realized Weyoun 6 was different (“he lacked your appetite for cruelty”) (AND EVERY FANFIC ON THIS IS SO VALID!!!)

- The moment the kill order was given for Weyoun 6, and Damar’s involvement in it. What was the trigger or communication to deploy 7?

[youngpettyqueen]

DS9!!

two people sent me this but Sarah you got it first!

The first character I first fell in love with: Juliannnnn <3 he had an unfair advantage, showing up in TNG and having very good interactions with Data, I knew IMMEDIATELY upon seeing him that if I ever started DS9 he would be exactly my type. I am nothing if not incredibly predictable

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: I'd have to say Odo! I knew I'd like him from the moment I met him, but he honestly compels me so much more than I thought he would. when they established in the first few episodes that he's the 'only one of his kind' type of character, I expected him to be similar to Spock and Data, so his intensity caught me off guard. and honestly, I love it. and, again, he's just so goddamn compelling. searching for his species, a sense of belonging, his history with Kira and with the Cardassians... I eat it up

also its just. very funny that a guy who looks so deliberately bland speaks like he's constantly on the verge of snapping and killing everyone around him

The character everyone else loves that I don’t: I honestly cant think of a character I dont really enjoy! I also dont know if ive met the entire cast, im just starting the third season literally as I type this, so for all I know new characters could come in that I won't care about. the only addition to the cast in the future that I know of is Worf and I know I love him <3

The character I love that everyone else hates: I dont really interact with any fan content of DS9, and ive never been into the tags, so ive seen very little of what people think about the main cast. I dont know if there's anybody who's generally hated, so hard to answer

in terms of characters who ive never seen any fan content for but who I love, that would be Jake! no idea what fandom opinion of him is, but fandoms tend to not enjoy child characters/pass over them, so I'll say him. I love him a lot, he compels me, him and Sisko are so sweet I love their bond. Jake's determination to be friends with Nog is also very sweet

The character I used to love but don’t any longer: so far I still love everyone!

The character I would totally smooch: Kira Nerys I am free Saturday night if you are also free I would love to take you to a romantic dinner on Saturday night when I am free

The character I’d want to be like: so far I'd say Julian. his commitment to his patients is admirable, I really loved The Wire for showing the lengths he's willing to go to to help somebody. I would also love to be that charming and slutty tbh

The character I’d slap: I say this with so much affection: Quark

A pairing that I love: Kira/myself Miles/Keiko they're so cute and in love and I love that the show takes time to show that!! theyre married and they have a daughter and they take vacations together and make out and flirt and have a sex life they feel so REAL. I love them sm

A pairing that I despise: I dont think I have one I despise tbh. like, of course any ship involving any adult with any of the kids, but besides that the potential pairings I can see are mostly fine!

[fancy-a-dance-brigadier]

BEN SISKO PLS

Benjamin Sisko? More like Beloved Sisko 😌

One aspect about them I love: I love the capital P Presence he brings to every scene. He’s such a force of nature! Of course there are the obvious examples like ‘In the Pale Moonlight’ and ‘Far Beyond the Stars’, where his presence is literally jaw dropping, but I think he brings such a monumental force to even the softer scenes. Force might be the wrong word, but I’m thinking about all his quiet moments with Jake, his tender moments with Kasidy, his grief when he’s in New Orleans after Jadzia’s death. You can feel every inch of what he’s feeling, all the love and passion and rage. This is more of a comment on Avery Brooks than Sisko I suppose, but he’s easily the actor that impresses me the most in any Star Trek show. He’s such a privilege to watch.

One aspect I wish more people understood about them: That he likes to have fun! I often see him cast in fandom as the stern father figure to his crew (which is a whole other kettle of fish) or people exclusively highlighting his actions in the Dominion War. But Ben is capable of goofing off just as much as anyone else! His delightful love of baseball is the obvious example, but there’s also the episode where he built the Bajoran lightship and flew it with Jake, or all the crazy stories of his youth with Curzon, or when we see him interacting with Jennifer for the first time. And while he opposed the Vic Fontaine holosuite (for very valid reasons), I got the impression that he did end up enjoying himself a teensy bit during that casino heist.

One or more headcanons I have about this character: His favourite musician is Nat King Cole. Joseph would always have his music playing while cooking, so Ben has a lot of fond memories growing up and listening to those songs. And he probably started learning to play the piano by trying to play them by ear.

One character I love seeing them interact with: This is so hard to choose! His interactions with pretty much everyone on the show are so rich, but I think I’ll have to say Kira for this one. The captain and first officer dynamic is always an interesting one (unless it’s TNG sorry not sorry), but the fact of Sisko being the Emissary adds so many layers. Of course there are the jokes about Kira’s boss being space Jesus, but I really do think they have one of the best relationships in the show. Two scenes in particular come to mind - in the episode ‘Starship Down’ when Ben’s injured and Kira’s trying to see him through it, and I can’t remember the episode, but the scene where Ben invites her to a baseball game. Very different scenes, but I think they do a lot to convey how much they care for each other no matter the situation. But then they’re also trying to work through the complex web of worship and every day interactions and station hierarchy and friendship and ugh it’s just so good!! It’s so good.

One character I wish they would interact with more: Jennifer Sisko. I don’t mean interact as in bringing her back from the dead, or having mirror!Jennifer play a bigger role (which would be kinda cool honestly), but rather I wish we’d got to hear more stories about their past interactions. Ben’s grief over her death is literally what kicks off the entire show, and I feel like we should really know more about her since she had such a strong connection to the main character of the show. I find it very difficult to believe that Ben wouldn’t talk about her more to keep her memory alive. I want to know what kind of dates she and Ben would go on, the little idiosyncrasies Ben loved most about her, the things she’d do that would annoy and charm him all at once, and the moments where he was most proud to love her.

One or more headcanons I have that involve them and one other character: He’s in love with Julian Bashir ❤️💙 I’m sorry, I can’t help it - Siskoshir is just too powerful of a ship to go without at least mentioning. I saw that one scene in ‘Past Tense’ when Ben brings Julian breakfast and that was it, no thoughts only Siskoshir. I think I find that ship so compelling because, even though they appear outwardly quite different, on the inside they’re birds of a feather. They’re both so passionate about the people around them, they’re both dedicated to their careers, and they’re both strong enough to survive immense the trauma that’s impacted them throughout their lives. But then there’s also what they can give to each other - Julian can help bring Ben out of his grief with his relentless brightness and optimism, and Ben can offer Julian the warmth of familial love that he felt like he’d lost once he discovered his augments. Basically, they’re the best I think they should kiss 😌

[dragontamerno3]

DS9 S2 E3 - The Seige

I appreciate the "this is going to be bad, so if you wanna leave, you should go" speech at the beginning but what I like more is how most of the crew was looking at Sisko like he was dumb and he should get on with it already. Like, of course we're gonna stay, just tell us what you need us to do lmao

Jake and Nogs hug goodbye! Heart hands for their friendship. I adore them.

I'm not sure how I feel about the Miles/Keiko scene about leaving cause it kinda felt like Miles was being a bit gaslighty but I think that might have been a poorly phrased line or two and my sensitivities so I'm mostly ignoring it. Keiko has every right to be upset at Miles, though, even if I do agree with Mile's decision to stay. He's kinda been more married to the ship (Enterprise) or the station than he has to her.

Quark and Odo's goodbye was def flirting. Also Quark totally deserved to be left being.

Also, them hiding in the conduits and having trenches humor was a nice touch. It was both funny and a bit unnerving knowing some bad shit might happen. I didn't have any concern for our named crewed, I knew the only ones that could die would be the red shirts and Li Nalas, but it still felt like the calm before the big battle.

One of my "nerd" obsessions is strategy on things. It's probably why I love TTRPGs so much. I love trying to figure out what someone's next move is going to be. I'm not talking in a fighting sense, though sometimes that comes in handy, but rather the quieter kind. The shady deals to get ahead, the diplomatic whispers, which politicians are in bed with whatever and what they might be getting in return, the ultimate game of who is actually ahead. It's part of what I liked about Dune, all of the political 3D chess going on there. It's what I loved about this episode, too. Specifically, General Krim's attempt to walk through Sisko's mind in this same way.

The second he walked off the ship and saw everything was too calm, he knew something was up. And then, later, when he was confronted by Sisko and he listened, he backed down with such grace. Krim is a fun character and I hope we see more of him. Not needed but a hope.

Day, on the other hand, I knew was going to be the cause of Li Nalas's death, but man was he incredibly ignorant and arrogant the whole damn time before we even got there. The fact that he didn't tell Krim about the Cardassians involvement even to gloat about how ridiculous this concept was did surprise me a bit, though. He seemed the type to spill all the beans cause he thought he knew better than everyone else.

Li Nalas died a hero, but tbh, I kinda saw him as a hero before that. Even if he did fall down a hillside and ambush a bathing Cardassian. The scenario that led to his hero status didn't really matter as he helped save the day in the end, but he saw it as a fumble.

Off the hook after all but hopefully a martyr at least.

7/10

[thegeminisage]

STAR TREK UPDATE TIME. last night we watched voy's "waking moments" and ds9's "waltz" (omg waltz).

waking moments (voy):

i was afraid this one would be bad but it was good! -something i say about voyager a lot lately.

naked tuvok was extremely funny especially when they kept teasing him about it. he's like "vulcans dont experience embarrassment may we please change the subject as quickly as possible"

my villain origin story is when inception came out and claimed to be about lucid dreaming i, who was at the time obsessed with lucid dreaming and attempting to teach myself to do it, flipped my lid because absolutely none of it was even remotely accurate to like, actual dream science. (in the very first act, someone READS, which like...you can't read in dreams or at the very least not in the same way you do as in reality. i spent the whole movie fuming and took something very different from it than the shipping girlies did)

anyway, this healed me, because while i WAS annoyed that tom paris was like yeah one time with no training whatsoever i had a lucid dream (not impossible but man come on), he did quickly and accurately explain what they ACTUALLY were

this is also a piece of media that made me very afraid of the moon. just like majora's mask

like, the plot twist when he thought he was awake but was still dreaming...damn...they got us...and then they did it AGAIN. those magnificent bastards, etc

like, not only is that a very successful and smart bit of writing to be able to do the same twist twice, it had me guessing for the rest of the episode at what might be real and what might be fake. they could never do this, but chakotay seeing the moon again in the final shot would have been great

speaking of chakotay, can we please stop saying "vision quest" on this television show. that's two episodes in a row. he can just lucid dream like anybody. don't worry about it. you don't have to make a special racist lucid dreaming ritual

waltz (ds9):

OMG WALTZ...............................

dukat is crazy. off his fucking rocker. it's so good and so layered and it's the perfect way to illustrate that like. the ramifications of colonization and occupation on EVERYBODY involved without forgiving him for what he did and what was his personal responsibility to stand up against and like. how "good" people who do nothing are in so many ways worse than evildoers and become evil in a system that turns them into evil people because if you're not against the oppressors you're literally with them

like, dukat shows up to bajor and he is just Some Guy. shaped by the values of his culture (ie that their race is superior and colonization is the cool hip thing to do) yeah but he's just a dude. he's never really had to look at it up close until now. so he looks around at the labor camps and the executions and he goes yikes this makes me squeamish! hey guys what if we were super nice to the bajorans. and then less bajorans died and they were like Great this enables us to fight back better! let's do some terrorism! and he was like wait what why are you fighting back. you're supposed to love me because i said we should kill less of you. like i need you tell me it's all okay now and i fixed it and he absolutely SNAPPED when they would not do that

like he's crazy now but i think this is just the final result of like. he looked around at what was happening and he could not deal with the fact that he was participating in it. he needed someone anyone to tell him he was good and kind and loved and would never do such bad horrible things unless he was FORCED to and when no one told him that he just told himself that and it became the truth. because either someone forced him to do this or it's his fault and he is a bad and evil person

he begged sisko ALL. EPISODE. to tell him he wasn't evil. he just wants one single person to tell him he's not a bad person. that he wasn't a bad person when he raped leeta, or (in all probability) ziyal's mother. that he wasn't a bad person when he sentenced innocents to torture and execution and that he wasn't a bad person for overseeing the slave labor that BUILT THIS FUCKING STATION

and no one will tell him! his own daughter wouldn't tell him! ziyal got FUCKING SHOT because he's so evil his OWN DAUGHTER could not stomach what he's done. HIS OWN DAUGHTER. and he's so evil that he's not even grieving for her! he's grieving for the loss of the one person he had managed to trick into thinking he WASN'T evil! when sisko took him into prison and he handed back that baseball he was full of forgiveness because he wants just ONE PERSON to forgive him (even kira said this in a previous episode) and like NO ONE CAN. his own daughter can't!

and then hes like. well they MADE ME do this. the bajorans MADE ME punish them because they wouldn't worship me for being SLIGHTLY less awful than the other people occupying their planet and forcing them into labor camps. but I'M less awful everybody should LIKE me everybody should FORGIVE me but they MADE me execute them by the hundreds and rape and torture them they MADE me do that!

AND HE'S NOT EVEN GETTING MAD AT THE RIGHT PEOPLE. you could justify anger at the cardassian government even if that still does not let you off the hook morally for helping that government commit atrocities but he CAN'T. because his identity and his idea of acceptance is so tied up in that society he CANNOT believe it's the problem because it's too much like believing HE is the problem and he CANNOT be the problem because HE'S good and moral and soooo nice to bajorans! he was even "in love" (blech) with the bajoran who became ziyal's mom! he loves bajorans so much he called leeta into his office just to be better friends with one and definitely not abuse her at all!

and the end result is you take this mostly normal guy who is not a good person by any means but is also vaguely squeamish about war crimes happening right in front of him. and you put this guy who wants really badly to be liked in this position of immense power where he is doomed to be hated. and what that does is turn him into the screaming maniac we got in this episode saying he should have killed every bajoran man woman and child who ever lived. colonization ALSO HURT HIM, irreparably. like we're also doing a fantastic at job at illustrating the evils of colonization - just the entire concept of it is so systemically rancid that it is hurting and making worse literally every single person involved, because the people upholding it and participating in it, like dukat, can never ever be forgiven for that crime

AND HE SHOULDN'T BE. this is so crucial: there is NO sympathy. sure he is suffering but he made his own bed of nails he dug his own fucking grave and he DESERVES TO SUFFER there is no fucking m*rvel let's meow meow this guy bs. this is not l*ki this is not w*rd this is a fucking killer. this is a guy who sisko hits on the head with a pipe and says AND THAT IS WHY YOU'RE NOT EVIL??? we joke about speaking truth to power but jesus fucking christ sisko shouted it at power from the ground with a broken fucking arm and a phaser pointed at his head

it's just such a good job at making such a complex fucking villain without him needing a redemption or a sad little wet cat phase. it's so refreshing. sisko literally said damn sometimes i forget people really are evil but there it is. i hit evil on the head with a pipe and told him to get fucked

and by the way.......the fact that avery brooks did do little outside of ds9 is a fucking crime because good lord that man can ACT. the fact that he didn't win that vintage hot guy scifi poll is fucking unforgivable. not only is he hot but he is out-acting everybody else on that show by MILES except for perhaps nana visitor whomst he is only out-acting for like maybe one mile. he's running fucking circles around them. he should have been an a-lister. sisko is so cool and badass and sexy and i had never even HEARD of him until i was like halfway through tng. again i say: unforgiveable!!!!!

LIKE. HE FEARS NO EVIL BECAUSE HE IS THE EVILLEST MOTHERFUCKER IN THE VALLEY. YES HE IS. HE HITS EVIL ON THE HEAD WITH A PIPE. HE TELLS EVIL YOU'RE A BAD PERSON AND YOU DESERVE THE SUFFERING. god. god!!!!!!!!

okay. i'm calm. i'm normal. ds9 GOOD.

TONIGHT: voy's "message in a bottle" and ds9's "who mourns for morn?" rip morn :(

[sshbpodcast]

Star Trek Parents Just Don’t Understand (Part 1)

By Ames

Who’s got the bigger daddy issues: kids from Disney movies or kids from Star Trek? Many writers’ cheat code to give a main character depth of any kind starts with killing off one or two parents, or perhaps giving them terrible parents that will scar them for life. The futuristic world of Trek is no different, featuring guff with one’s parental unit in so many characters that it makes being raised by the Borg seem like a luxury!

That’s not to say we don’t get some good ones, or ones that, at bare minimum, try a little bit. Break out the greeting cards and flowers this week as A Star to Steer Her By spends some quality time with the folks of many characters across the franchise up through all the classic series. Check out all the family trees below and listen to us rattle off a bunch of honorable mentions on this week’s podcast episode (discussion at 54:08). Some of these apples fall pretty far from their terrible trees.

[images © CBS/Paramount]

He’s my number one dad!

I’ll just go category by category and start out with the best of the best. The positive influences in our characters’ lives often made them more well rounded people, and frankly it’s always good to see moms and dads putting their kids’ interests over their own. There are some great examples in Beverly Crusher who’s just a straight-up solid mom to Wesley throughout TNG, supporting him even when he’s messing things up, and in Worf’s adoptive parents Sergey and Helena Rozhenko who took in not one, but two Klingon children, and raised them in what turned out to be a very balanced way. And I can’t praise Ishka enough for bringing up two relatively progressive Ferengi boys in a society that doesn’t put much value in their females.

Let’s hear it for these single dads who gave their kids the choice to do what they wanted with their lives and threw themselves behind them 100%: Rom whose development throughout DS9 grew in tandem with that of his son Nog, and Data who let his daughter Lal choose her own body to express herself just as she wanted. And don’t forget Joe Sisko, a classic sort of father role who is caring and comforting, and even willing to trek across a desert in his old age for his kid.

But the easy pic for best parent in Trek is obvious, so I’ll not spare you the suspense. Benjamin Sisko, yet another single father (and a single Black father, at that) because writers LOVE killing spouses, has the tenderest, sweetest, most loving relationship with Jake that it’s almost nauseating but you adore every minute of it. And when Kasidy and he are going to have a baby and the Prophets come calling, the very reason why it is such a debilitating sacrifice for him to abide by their plan is because of how much he loves his family, but we’ll touch on that again in a bit…

—

Technically good: the best kind of good

Moving on to a group of parents who we may not understand: we see a lot of aliens with different cultural norms but who are great for their kids in their own ways, literally. Who comes to mind specifically for this category is Endar from the TNG episode “Suddenly Human,” a Talarian who is raising a human child orphaned from the war. In his own culture, this is perfectly normal even though to us it might seem barbaric, but it’s clear he really loves Jono, so who are we to judge? Q, for that matter, is the first parent in all of the Continuum, so it’s hard to judge his parenting style save to say that he’s going about it in that specifically Q way of his, usually involving some kind of elaborate test. Similarly, I think of some Cardassian dads like Gul Madred and Tekeny Ghemor who might seem like hard asses in a fascist regime to us, but who are decent and doting fathers to their daughters in that lizardy way of theirs.

Speaking of lizards! While we’re here, let’s throw in some love for the seriously unhumanlike parents we meet who do exactly what they need to do because it’s their biological nature. I’d toss Mother Horta on this kind of list, along with Spot and her kittens, George and Gracie and their whale calf, and even Janeway and Paris when they’re in salamander form. I hope their lizard babies are okay.

But the more I think of it, the more I actually think the Borg might be some of the best parents on the list, but only if you consider this argument from the perspective of their own culture. Think about it: all their kids get just the right time in the maturation chamber as they need, they have the whole hive mind to support them, they’re never lonely because everyone’s voices are in their heads. Sure, if you’re not already in the Collective, getting assimilated is not pleasant (wait for our final category for more of this!), but when you’re assimilated, you’re family.

—

Everyone makes huge, huge mistakes

Most parents, however, make mistakes. Lots of ‘em. Some are bigger and harder to forgive than others, but these are the kinds of things that are understandable because their hearts are in the right place, right? Like, how easy is it to forgive Miles and Keiko O’Brien for literally sending their feral daughter to live in the woods? They meant well and it worked out, after all. Or to forgive Amsha and Richard Bashir for genetically augmenting their struggling son when they knew that the illegality of their actions was teeming? Or to forgive Kira Meru for bedding with the enemy to ensure subsistence for her family? Okay, that one she really had no ability to consent in, but it still messed Nerys up for quite a while.

Other parents in this clump just don’t gel with their progenies because their personalities clash. Odo’s parental figure Mora Pol is a proponent of using the stick over the carrot, especially if it’s a stick with some kind of shocking device built in. Tom’s got a big chip on his shoulder from his treatment growing up under Admiral Owen Paris, who is made out to be the kind of dad who just expects so much of his son that there’s no way anyone could possibly live up to it. And speaking of great expectations, Noonian Soong literally made his kids to be better than the sum of their parts and seemed way too hyperfixated on his own legacy to care about their individual needs. It doesn’t help matters that he built them to look just like him.

But let’s dig into our feature character in this category, Lwaxana Troi. She might be a fashion and feminist icon, but her relationship with Deanna is strained at best and insufferable at worst. For most of The Next Generation, she’s portrayed as just a busybody mom who butts into her daughter’s life all the time, constantly meddling and focused only on how it reflects on HER that her daughter not only left Betazed for Starfleet, but is still unmarried. Deanna chose her own life and Lwaxana just doesn’t get it. Luckily, we later get episodes like our Tops pick “Half a Life” and “Dark Page” that shine new light on their relationship and bring them closer together, but there are still many fans out there who detest the character because of these first impressions she made as a parent.

—

Where can I stow all this baggage?

So many of the main crew members have parents or ARE parents in this lowly category that it was probably the toughest one to make the cull for. These parents are the reasons so many characters are left with a foundation of mommy and/or daddy baggage that follows them around wherever they go. Look at Kyle Riker, a single father who Will has nothing but apprehension for, especially for cheating him at anbo-jyutsu all his life. Then there’s Miral Torres for whom her daughter B’Elanna was never Klingon enough, giving her a sense of racial dysphoria that formed the base of her character; and on the other hand John Torres for whom B’Elanna was TOO Klingon and he freakin’ left, giving her abandonment issues on top of that! Ezri’s mom Yanas Tigan falls into this category as well for how little she supported her daughter during her transition to joined Trill and also, ya know, for all the general crimes and shit. And let’s round this out with Chakotay’s dad Kolopak, who just didn’t listen to his son’s desire to not follow in his footsteps, and died never having made up – though I guess they also talk after death now sometimes, so who the hell knows with them?

The characters with the biggest chips on their shoulders can also have just plain absent parents, who messed up their upbringing by just never being there. I can give James Kirk a little bit of a pass since Carol Marcus asked him to not be in their son’s David’s life (which is a little iffy on its own, Carol), but how much anger David harbors for him just proves this was a bad move. A super tenuous relationship is also on full display across several series between Spock and Sarek because daddy Vulcan judges Spock for being half-human when he’s the one who bred with a human in the first place! We’ll see more of Sarek next week when we see how good he does in nu Trek too.

Of course, the poster boy for shittiest parent in Trek tends to be Worf, and though that’s partly a joke among fans, there’re also some sound reasons. K’Ehleyr was rocking it as a single badass mom when certain Duras things happened and put Worf into the role of deadbeat who pawns his offspring off on his own parents (already mentioned above!) when he can’t handle it. Which is understandable; he didn’t sign on for this, but every interaction between father and son is begrudging, Worf does nothing but try to jam Alexander into a Klingon mold that he so clearly doesn’t fit, and he never listens to what the kid wants or needs. It’s no wonder Alex is so bitter towards him when he returns in Deep Space Nine!

—

Creatures who eat their babies

Terrible, terrible parents in Trek are easier to spot because they’re ones who really just don’t care if their kid gets harmed, killed, assimilated by Borg, etc. Or even try to do it themselves! A pretty big example of this is Gul Dukat who fully intended to murder his bastard daughter Ziyal to cover his lizard ass. And then he does it again in “Covenant” when he has another half-Bajoran kid! How many more of these Dukat babies are there? More bad Cardassian parenting comes from Enabran Tain who nearly gets Garak killed so many times it’s no wonder the poor guy has so much trauma. And who can forget Eleen from the TOS episode “Friday’s Child” who was straight up going to kill her newborn once she got it out of her belly until McCoy talked/slapped her out of it?

Not much better were parents who are just cool with sacrificing their children for whatever reason. We see this in the TOS episode “The Mark of Gideon” when Hodin volunteers his daughter Odona to contract Kirk’s Vegan choriomeningitis to thin the herd of her people, or on the podcast this week where we featured “Child’s Play,” in which we learn Icheb’s parents Leucon and Yifay whelped him specifically to get him assimilated and infect the Borg with a virus. In that same vein, Magnus and Erin Hansen were negligent and downright careless enough to bring their tiny daughter with them on a Borg observation survey, getting all their asses assimilated.

But you know what? I’m gonna give the worst of the worst to the Prophets, specifically that absolute weirdo who possessed Sarah Sisko just to get impregnated and create our boy Space Jesus, I mean Benjamin, knowing full well it would be torturous to him throughout his life until he ultimately threw himself into the fire caves for whatever weird wormhole alien, nonlinear shenanigans they were pulling. Was it all just Sarah knowing it was fate? Screw that. You’re the worst, Prophets, and you should be ashamed of yourselves in whatever nonlinear way works best.

—

Come back for seconds next week when we see if parents in newer Trek movies and series are any better than their predecessors. Also, come back for more Voyager in our full series rewatch over on SoundCloud or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also give us your alien parenting tips over on Facebook and Twitter. And parents, heed this lesson: keep your children away from the Borg. You know, unless it’s futile.

[bijoumikhawal]

I’ll ask an obvious one for the ask game: Julian!

one aspect about them i love

I love him so many but I think an underappreciated thing is how he rags on people- sending a flute with Dax to give to O'Brien while he's dealing with a vole infestation, sitting in Worf's seat and for a beat just looking at him like he's not gonna get up, taking a moment to tease Garak about how he hides things (he actually does that a few times, the one everyone remembers is is Camp 371 of course, but he also takes Garak's eye piece from him in Cardassians and incredously asks if he takes that with him everywhere).

one aspect i wish more people understood about them

I have said this recently but like- Julian is a soldier. He's kind, and gentle, and compassionate, but he has an inclination to get physical, he's very stubborn, and he doesn't look kindly on any dereliction of duty- including if a scared man shoots himself in the foot because he doesn't want to die in battle. Hell, he understands what duty is. He's had to kill before regardless of enthusiasm (and he's not really sadistic ofc, but Sloan does bring out a deep and justified loathing in him).

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have about this character

I am one of g-d's bravest soldiers for writing Julian pussy content where cis people can see it. (I do have many cisgendered friends who aren't weird about this and who I love talking to about trans Julian but I have had some WEIRD comments about it).

one character i love seeing them interact with

Lets scoot the obvious one out of frame for just a moment. I do really like when he interacts with Kira and I wish we'd gotten more of them once they were used to each other and she didn't mostly regard him as annoying. They're both the same age iirc, and not the way Dax is where she's technically a 5000 year old dragon or however that joke goes, and I feel like there's a lot of potential there.

one character i wish they would interact with/interact with more

I did say Kira and I'll expand by saying I really do dislike that one of the episodes they do interact in that's significant to their relationship is a mirrorverse episode. I did not like DS9's foray into those and most of them I either watched halfway through and got bored, or i didn't bother trying to watch at all. I also wish we got a little more of him with Sisko- I do love Past Tense but it makes me a little sad when you get one story in a series that's got a lot of two main cast characters interacting. Also Odo, I think that would be interesting.

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have that involve them and one other character

He and Jake keep in touch regardless of where they end up after the series is over. We don't get to see them interacting much, but he did help inspire Jake to write in the first place iirc, and Jake picked him to interview early on in his wroting career, so I think they have a rapport.