#sisko just got made captain love that for him
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sisko and jadzia is one of my fav duos on ds9 just incredible vibes
#it's a great ensemble cast#and they all have incredible dynamics#but there's something quite special about these two#sorry for whiplashing you all with a star trek post#but i'm at my boyf's and clone wars is for me not the two if us#so we're back on ds9#i'm finally watching new episodes!!#sisko just got made captain love that for him#beth stuff
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“Since the Cerritos is statistically the horniest and least romantically committed crew in Starfleet, we have no married officers aboard.”
- Lower Decks S4 EP6
First off if this is referring to just their current time period then yes I’d probably agree BUT since it’s a show and I think the creators were making a clever nod towards other shows I’d like to point out some things
This’ll get long. (Spoilers for TOS, TNG, DS9, & SNW)
TOS:
Both Spock and McCoy are divorced (McCoy twice over)
Whatever was going on between Spock and Chapel ???
Kirk is apparently too committed to the enterprise (yeah definitely the ship… nobod-nothing else) to commit to any of the women that he has definitely fucked
Kirk didn’t commit to Carol Marcus and she had his son
The Shore Leave episode
Theodore Sturgeon’s letter about the Shore Leave episode
Episodes with “Paradise” in their name
Must I bring up Amok Time?
Half the crew is just in love with the ship and all their relationships fail. The one time someone tries to get married their spouse dies
TNG:
Jean Luc is happy as is … Q however
Q is the horniest motherfucker for that frenchman and I’m counting him
Riker
Beverly with the ghost
Oh yeah Jean Luc literally kills two spouses (Crusher and Sisko) he’s actively uncommitting the romantics
The show’s SECOND EPISODE is where everyone gets super horny and fucks each other
Even the “emotionless” android gets some (I cannot blame Tasha one bit, Godspeed)
That’s all I remember from this show
DS9:
JADZIA DAX MY QUEEN
Julian Bashir’s original name was Dr. Amoros. He is doctor dick.
Lwuxana Troi wants Odo so bad but that goop ain’t committing
Whatever is going on between Odo and Quark
Need I mention Garak?
Mirror universe (Kira is about to kiss herself)
Almost every character is dating each other in this show and they made it canon for several but they all fall apart (Except Rom and Leela cause they’re perfect)
The O’Brien polycule… I drew it out but it got more complicated than the O’Briens (basically Julian is best friends with Miles who is married to Keiko. Keiko was on a shuttle while pregnant with Julian and Kira when there was a crash and Julian had to transfer the child from Keiko into either him or Kira, so Kira volunteered. She ends up living with the O’Brien’s while carrying the child and bonds with both of them (to the point both she and Miles think it’s weird). Kira eventually gets with Odo who is Quark’s nemesis and Quark is crushing on Jadzia who is exes with Julian who is (somewhat unknowingly) courting Garak. Jadzia Dax becomes married to Worf but I think her and Sisko have definitely fucked. Sisko is married to Kasidy and enemies with Gul Dukat who reciprocates that but is also fixated on Kira who hates him. Did I miss something?)
Now, I bet they did not count DS9 in their statistics because it’s a station not a ship but also because they’d always win this contest
SNW:
Spock and T’Pring
Spock and Chapel
Spock and Kirk
Other Kirk and La’an
Kirk and Carol ???
(All of them fail that’s why I bring it up)
Pelia has been married to another woman (not canon but it’s gotta have happened, right?)
Whatever was going on between Una and Neera in the court episode
There’s no way Uhura’s in a relationship (they might set her up with Scotty next season but I’d like to see her and Chapel)
The others do not seem romantically committed to other people
Pike’s weird dinner parties
To be honest Lower Decks is maybe the most outright vulgar in its language but most of the time it’s a feel good show about a bunch of best friends. Their captain is married, their CMO and head security officer are in a (happy?) relationship, and third thing here.
I haven’t seen any of Voyager or Enterprise and I don’t think Discovery is that horny/romantically uncommitted
#star trek#star trek lower decks#lower decks#star trek tos#star trek the original series#star trek tng#star trek the next generation#star trek ds9#star trek deep space nine#star trek snw#star trek strange new worlds#I’m not tagging all those names#silly star trek stuff
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Prelims, Vote 8 of 8
The top 5 finales will move on to be included in the main bracket
Propaganda is under the cut, may include spoilers
Brooklyn Nine-Nine - 8.09 / 8.10 The Last Day
It just... season 8 had been so bad as a whole, it attempted to touch on the blm movement and did it in an okay at best way and in the wake of it all, i think a lot of people just weren't here for cop shows. The finale tried to bring the magic back with one last heist and it did pull out all the stops but I don't know, it just left me feeling really cold. And the ending being that even though the main character wasn't a cop anymore, that he would return to the station every year for the heist... it just never escapes the cop narrative even after he's left.
Chén Qíng Lìng/The Untamed - Episode 50
I nominate this final on grounds of CCP information control, censorship and homophobia. They were so scared of the power of wangxian that they ended up banning ao3 in china and in the show they have to inexplicably have them part ways just to hammer home the no-homo. Plus the show is just kind of objectively bad.... but it rewires your brain all the same
Community - 6.13 Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television
ok i haven’t watched it in a while but it wasn’t the episode’s fault this show had been going downhill for a while. The finale put it out of its misery mostly.
Kyle XY - 3.10 Bringing Down the House
The writers knew they were getting canceled and chose to raise more questions than answers and set up cliffhangers, rather than have a satisfying end. I'm sure it was a last ditch effort to save the show, but it didn't work and now it's just a bad finale.
Northern Exposure - 6.22 Let's Dance / 6.23 Tranquility Base
No propaganda submitted
Ozark - 4.14 A Hard Way to Go
No propaganda submitted
Soul Eater - 1.51 The Word Is Bravery!
ugh god it just gave up on any attempt at character development or the ending of the story in any meaningful way. instead of a complex universe journey exploring her bond with soul, and death the kid becoming the new god of death, maka just...wins the day by 'being brave', extremely underwhelming and borderline nonsensical
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - 7.25 / 7.26 What You Leave Behind
Man so okay like it’s not the worst worst one out there but man they really just fuckikg did that. Found family all went and spread themselves across the quadrant with the head of the show the leader, Captain Benjamin Sisko who really just wanted to live on Bajor, got turned into an incorporeal being who could no longer live a linear life while his wife and unborn child had to go on without him. They didn’t even have him saying goodbye to his actual son. His literal son did not get a goodbye, they only gave that to Kasidy, and no hate to Kasidy, she’s my girl, but she’s only been there for three year while his actual son Jake sisko was still basically a kid. He was like 19, 20 and no goodbye fork his dad he’s lost time and time again. Some characters got a satisfying ending but then Julian Bashir is left to stay on deep space nine supposedly still in love with Ezri Dax and together (but let’s be honest, it was a terrible forced decision. They made no sense, and had no chemistry) and still stuck without moving forward or changing. Like what a cop out. Not to mention the terrible cgi fire caves where literally gods got thrown into a fire pit and that was the big climax
#prelim#wfprelim#wfpoll#poll#polls#brooklyn nine nine#the untamed#chen qing ling#community#kyle xy#northern exposure#ozark#soul eater#star trek#star trek deep space nine#ok glad people are saying the untamed was good bc I only watched like ten minutes of it so idk but I really did think you guys liked it.#good to see I’m not fully in a bubble.
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Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks....
10 Favorite Characters
You asked a broad question, so I hope you’re okay with answers outside of my daily posting. I post a lot about BL on here, but this list is a mild reminder that I am Black. As I’m putting this list together, I’m recognizing a common thread of ruthlessness in these characters that I will have to unpack at some point.
Omar Little (The Wire)
Omar is one of my favorite characters of all time because he was the first sympathetic gay character I ever watched on TV with my dad. As I got older, my dad decided I was old enough and wanted me to watch what he considered to be one of the greatest shows ever made (NOTE: He is correct). I was obsessed with Omar because of his strict code and how gentle and loving he was with his boyfriends. It was amazing to me that we had this powerful gay character in the middle of a modern Greek tragedy and he is one of the most compelling characters ever created in American television.
Ender Wiggin (Ender’s Game)
One of the sad thing about growing up queer is the people who wrote a lot of your formative works hate queer people. Orson Scott Card was my first major disappointment in this regard. In the 7th grade, I discovered this book in our school library and ended up reading it and the related books multiple times throughout my adolescence. I was a weird kid who was too smart for my own good. In middle school I struggled with feeling out of place because I was relatively new compared to most of these kids, and my family had me on a specific life track that meant that I had to perform at a high level constantly. I connected with Ender’s isolation and his brilliance. I also connected to his ruthlessness.
Marco (Animorphs)
Animorphs is a pretty dark series for a bunch of elementary school kids to read, but that was K. A. Applegate’s point. War is horrible, and should be avoided. Reading this series is a reading the perspective of child soldiers. There was something about the way Marco always masked with jokes, but was quietly the most ruthless member of their group that means he’s always the one I remember first. There were also the ways he commented on Ax and Jake that just didn’t read straight, and I’ve been relieved that Applegate and the ghost writers have acknowledged the fan read on Marco’s bisexuality. I just love how from appearances at the end of the series Marco is actually okay after all the war, but he absolutely is not.
Benjamin Sisko (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
He was our first Black captain in Star Trek and I will love him forever. He’s also from New Orleans and cooks our food. He’s a devoted father, which was something Avery Brooks requested for the role to make sure we had a positive depiction of Black fatherhood on TV in the 90s. He has an understated spirituality to him. He has grit from facing the ugly side of maintaining a utopia and has an incredible temper that he holds most of the time. He’s a nerd about baseball. He cares about his people and holds firm as their commander. This isn’t a committee for him. He can be so brutal. I love him.
Ghost Dog (Ghost Dog)
Ghost Dog (1999) is one of my favorite movies of all time, and I’ve always loved the version of masculinity Forest Whitaker put into this character. He has a sense of style and flair, and also follows a strict code of conduct. His adherence to his way earned him the respect of everyone in his community, and gangsters in his neighborhood show him admiration and respect. I loved his friendship with Raymond, in which neither knows what the other is saying and yet they are actually on the same page constantly.
Raymond Holt (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
Yes, this show is copaganda, but I love Raymond Holt so much. I love that Andre Braugher played the Straight Man role in a comedy as a politically out gay man who has such a serious exterior. Holt was so gay in so many ways and I am obsessed with him. He is so deep into his niche interests (like me) and yet he was actually such a great mentor figure to everyone under him. I loved that he and his husband were so devoted to each other but were never depicted as the perfect couple. I love that he has a petty beef with another colleague. He’s just an incredible character.
Kiram Kir-zaki (Lord of the White Hell)
Kiram is the first time I ever realized how deep the programming in speculative fiction to read the protagonist as a white man with brown hair and brown eyes. Kiram is a dark-skinned Haldiim youth with curly gold hair and light eyes. It took me three readings of this book to perceive Kiram properly, and it’s something that has shaken me for a long time. Kiram is brilliant, snarky, and too gay for his own good. He’s also not stupid. I love reading a smart gay character who generally cannot hide who he is doing the work to blend in to a homophobic setting. Ginn Hale also writes gay sex better than some gay male authors.
Kakei Shiro (What Did You Eat Yesterday?)
Honestly, when am I ever not thinking about this man? I love how, even if he can’t immediately give Kenji everything he might want, he gives Kenji all that he can. He couldn’t say he loved Kenji for a long time, but you could feel the love in his cooking. I’m so happy to have this man and his partner back on my screen again. It is just so hard to be gay. I am so relieved that many of the folks reading my posts didn’t suffer The Knowing, because I know that Shiro and I will never be able to get away from what it did to us.
Chiron (Moonlight)
The terrible intersection of poverty, race, and sexuality has never been better exemplified for me than in this film that has no white people in it. There are just so many fewer choices for us, especially if you can’t hide who you are. I love Chiron so much because we see so much of what he was forced to be pushed onto him. There’s something heartbreaking and beautiful that as an adult he resembles Juan, and that he never got over Kevin. I find it hard to explain why Chiron means so much to me, but I’m black and gay so I don’t always feel like I have to.
Max (Black Sails)
I love Max because she consistently chose to not be cruel when so many others would have. She is not accumulating power for her own ego or to punish those who wronged her. She holds power as a facilitator. History doesn’t remember the facilitators who keep the lights on and make sure the bread gets made every day, but you notice their absence within two days when they’re gone. Max is also funny to me because she and Flint almost never encounter each other, but have caused the other so much grief.
Thank you for the ask!
#answered#black sails#what did you eat yesterday?#star trek#deep space 9#moonlight#animorphs#lord of the white hell#ginn hale#ender's game#ghost dog#brooklyn nine nine#the wire
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Are They a Stoner? DS9 Edition:
Captain Sisko: Being raised in the south means he has most definitely lit up, and I refuse to believe otherwise. However, after his father caught him smoking and he got stuck on clam duty for a month, he learned his lesson.
Jadzia Dax: Let’s be so real, if she played Tongo with a bunch of Ferengi why would she not own a Betazed bong??? She definitely begged Worf to try it but after his experience with Deanna he only fucks with Blood Wine.
Kira Nerys: OH 100% she was a stoner during the occupation. How would you even attempt to relax in that situation WITHOUT weed? Once the occupation ended Kira stopped messing with weed, but Kira would often hangout with Jadzia, who no doubt brought something to share with Nerys on multiple occasions.
Worf: Blood wine and prune juice.
Dr. Bashir: Before knowledge of him being an augment was made public he never touched anything that could potentially make him not in full control of himself (he did drink a little though). After the knowledge was made public Dr. Bashir and O’Brien definitely were lighting up in the holosuites. That’s why they don’t remember the Alamo.
Erzi Dax: She was straight edge through and through before she was joined with Dax. However afterward…Let’s just say Dax would never turn down an edible.
Odo:
Elim Garak: After the wire was removed Garak decided to stay relatively sober. However, for harm reduction reasons, and to help him cope with his headaches Dr. Bashir prescribed him some medical gummies. He eventually waned off of them completely once Erzi started helping him (he still some times smokes and sews which is why sometimes your trousers don’t always fit right).
Miles O’ Brien: He swore off the “devils lettuce” when he first came aboard the Enterprise. But once stationed at DS9 he quickly realized he would need some of Keiko’s supply of Cannabis-infused tea to remain sane.
Quark: Being a bar owner (best bar on the promenade btw) he is not a big supporter of weed because his main source of profit is alcohol. However, Nog explained to him what a cart is and how you can make a profit from selling them to hoo-mans so he is looking into that as a possible new business opportunity.
Rom: You can’t be a leftist and not have at least tried weed. Also an engineer, so yeah.
Leeta: Oh 10000%. In fact, she’s the plug for the other dabo girls. She even bags her “merchandise” in handmade baggies she makes from recycled textile/fabrics from Garak’s (he owes her because she gave him boy advice).
Nog: No. He follows the rules of StarFleet academy to a T.
Jake Sisko: Hes going to school for writing so yeah. Definitely an edibles kinda guy. His dad has yet to find out despite how many times Jake has come home and slammed an entire pot of jambalaya in 10 minutes.
Keiko O’Brien: Who do you think on DS9 is growing it in the first place?
Gul Dukat: No, he is a snitch who hates fun.
Weyoun: Yes, he is a snitch who loves fun.
Kai Winn: She gives me cop vibes more than Odo does so I’m saying she is a snitch who also hates fun. She also unironically calls weed the Pah-Wraiths Herb or something like that.
Kasidy Yates: Yes, but stopped after jail.
Ziyal: Art school attendee/ art school drop-out. You tell me.
Damar: He’s only a fiend for Kanar (someone help that dude).
#ds9#text post#long text post#captain sisko#jadzia dax#kira nerys#Odo#jake sisko#julian bashir#nog#gul dukat#weyoun#elim garak#Erzi Dax#worf#miles o'brien#keiko o'brien#kasidy yates#kai winn#ds9 memes#stoned trek#whoops this is a long one#sorry LOL#I could make another one#rom#leeta
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DS9 S4 E11 Homefront & E12 Paradise Lost, slippery thoughts
Wow....let me catch my breath. That was a wild and tense ride. Nice scenery too. Obviously these are just my opinions, but I wanted to share them because Star Trek makes me happy and passionate. I want you to be happy and passionate too!
Given the intensity of these two episodes I completely forgot it started off with Jadzia pulling off the most specific pranks on Odo.
Jadzia: I sneak into my coworker's private quarters and move his furniture by 3 cm every couple of days.
Quark: That's weird. They would not even notice that change.
Jadzia: Oh, no no no. He sees it every time and it drives him insane.
Audience: Oh you silly worm!
And I loved that we got to see these two besties playing pretend. We need more Miles and Julian aviation adventures. Super cute pals.
R.I.P. Clive
Playtime is over now because the changelings have basically infiltrated Earth and are ruining everything all the time and it isn't fun anymore....or are they? They are, but are they? Possibly. Probably. Perhaps.
To me this kind of episode is the pinnacle of what Star Trek writing has always been about. We see a complex evaluation of choices in conflict. It is not about an obvious "right" or "wrong", but one decision versus another. This is a battle between perspective and reason. All sides contain some merit. This episode also shows good intentions taken too far and taken beyond the ethical reasoning that initially inspired the action.
If this episode were to have a villain it would be fear and paranoia itself and not any particular character.
Vice Admiral Leyton was an amazing character. It was brilliant to establish that he had a close professional history with Sisko early in the episode because it immediately made me trust him. You sneaky writers!! But that was the whole point. The story that was unfolding to the audience purposefully made us feel betrayed with Sisko. We co-experienced in real time the feeling seeing a close friend commit treason.
Enter the most powerful man on Earth. He can move the most stubborn hearts, calm the most irrational mind, and fill up the most starved stomach. Replicated foods beware of Grandpa Sisko. I see where Jake gets his style too! It was so believable that these three were family. You could see how cadences, mannerism, and behaviors in Granddad Sisko were passed to Ben and then passed down to Jake, but in their own naturally developing ways in each generation.
*Spoiler Alert* Grandpa Sisko also saves the day.
Just when I thought this episode had all the ingredients for perfection Nog the keeper of all things pure and innocent shows up. Look at that smug Ferengi. He knows that he is the best thing at the Academy and so do we.
A great thing about these two episodes is that every character acts as an essential part of the story. Nog will lead Ben on the chase with his talk of the Red Squad. A+ Nog!
This ain't your normal seagull. This one loves Bajoran women.
Around this point we have all the main details of the episode. Admiral Leyton and Captain Sisko are working together to protect Earth from a suspected Dominion infiltration and invasion. The President of the Federation is against the proposed worldwide security changes but reluctantly allows their implementation.
With security personnel, blood tests of all crucial Starfleet staff and family members, and martial law practically in effect everywhere we are ready to repel any Dominion attacks. After all, the wormhole was winking at DS9 a lot so perhaps a cloaked invasion fleet is on Earth's doorstep.
HERE WE GO! Papa Sisko challenges Daddy Sisko's paranoia. Ben is seeing changelings in his sleep and not the Odo kind either.
So we start to see the episode present one of it's many challenges:
How far should we trade individual autonomy for protection?
And THIS is why I love Star Trek. Grandfather Sisko is absolutely correct!! And yet, Ben Sisko is also correct. Both want to protect what they love, life ad they know and perceive it.
We search for the highest good in each situation. Ben wants to secure and save everything he loves on Earth. He wants to protect his family, his home, and everything therein. Grandpa Sisko wants the EXACT same thing. The methods to achieve their shared goal is in conflict.
DS9 writers have a candy bar on me. Well done!!! (engage smooching sounds)
This very moment is crucial for Ben. His paranoia is pushing him toward the type of dictatorial control that Admiral Leyton is calling for, but Ben has found that not only is something odd happening in the background but this entire movement smell stinky.
Nog is such a good cadet. I love him with all my little heart. He provided critical information about Starfleet Academy's unofficial super special secret mean girls club Red Squad. This little snack of information sets Ben Sisko on the trail of breadcrumbs leading to the smorgasbord of treason committed by Leyton.
Smug Shapeshifting O'Brien is a gift. Enjoy every second of this hilarious goop boy. Colm really did a great job. We do see that there is a Dominion changeling on earth (saw it earlier in Homefront as well). We understand how real the threat of their activity can be. We especially see how terrifying a changeling can be when Dominion version O'Brien has a little chat with Ben. It might only take one hostile changeling to completely destabilize an entire world.
I do wish we figured out how the fake changeling blood was created to trap Sisko. Clever girl, Admiral.
I felt bad for Leyton. He is someone caught in a difficult position of authority and personal fears. His own paranoia drove him to the utmost extreme. I imagined that maybe he has a cute little family with a kid back home. I imagined what it might be like in his shoes. It would be hard to live thinking that your lack of effort led to the death of your child or friend or family member or significant other. It would be hard to go to bed knowing that the person you once shared it with prematurely died because of that you thought you failed to do. Even in much of the two episodes his facial expressions show a man full of internal strife and conflict. It is as if he kept questioning his actions as he made them.
What if his fear of failing his community drove him to radical dictatorship? He wanted to keep all that he loved safe, but he betrayed everyone he loved. He demanded that all his loyal friends trust him. Trust is a two way exchange though. He abandoned trusting his friends and confidants. That was the beginning of his downfall.
Leyton wanted to protect society at the cost of society itself. He could not see beyond his fear of losing society to war and enemies abroad to the point of blindness. He became an enemy of all he cherished, and I honestly think that he knew that too. He was just so scared that he desperately dug in to the one aspect of his life that he thought he could control, which is so relatable. We all can act irrationally under stress and pressure. This is not justification or approval. This is accepting that life may not have as many villains in it as we are told to believe. People are just trying to be people, meet their obligations and responsibilities while preserving what little bit of life exists to enjoy.
We are all prone to brash behaviors in order to protect what we love, but sometimes it is healthy to set down the admiralty bars and accept that you can't do it all, especially alone.
Remember that everyone in this episode wanted the same thing. Leyton wanted to protect life. Sisko wanted to protect life. Grandpa Sisko wanted to protect life. Everyone held the same belief and motivation.
I appreciated how solemnly Leyton gave in and how respectfully he surrendered. It actually felt less like defeat and more like he was relieved of a burden that he was too overwhelmed to carry alone. He didn't need to carry it alone but chose to go alone. In a symbolic way by removing the admiral bars he set down his fear and moved on.
The amount of time taken for these shots impressed upon me the symbolic significance of it. Sisko also lets go and moves on with Leyton. By setting the phaser down he too lets go and agrees it is time to move forward from this conflict. He is still betrayed and disappointed, but he is not stuck or trapped in the past. He sets down his weapon and joins Leyton in facing a reality outside the oppression of their own paranoia.
I loved that Paradise Lost ends with the restaurant opening up again. It is the resolution these episodes needed. It was closure showing that being open to others and not letting the world cloud you of the humanity in others is fundamental to life.
Despite the many differences in all these characters, regardless of where they were in the progress of their own lives, no matter the goal or intention, we all essentially desire the same things.
Star Trek is the future I hope for!
If you made it to the end of this post and are reading this then 10,000 sweet kisses to your forehead. If you didn't make it then I am still giving your forehead tender kisses, you are just not aware of it.
#pictures courtesy of trekcore.com#love you @trekcore#star trek deep space 9#ds9#DS9 gang#slippery thoughts#benjamin sisko#miles obrien#julian bashir#worf#jadzia dax#kira nerys#odo ital#nog#quark#morn#admiral leyton#i am not going to add any more tags
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Love Stings
Normally when I post request fics, I reply directly to the ask I was sent, but in this case I was sent a dm by the requester, and they wanted to remain anonymous at the time. So here’s to you, friend! I hope you enjoy this and that it fits your idea! I hope it’s alright! Hell, I don’t even know if you’re going to see this, but here’s hoping. This got super long! It’s over 8500 words. Enjoy!
If you want to be added to or removed from my fic taglist, please let me know!
Cross-posted to AO3 here.
~*~
Senator Letant (DS9) x Reader
[A/N: This is smut, so 18+ ONLY, MINORS DNI!!!]
Warnings: Interspecies sex, Human/Romulan sex, fuck or die situation, away mission gone wrong, sex pollen type situation, as consensual as a sex pollen situation can be, mutual pining, fingering, woman on top, dirty talk, praise kink, begging, implied oral sex (female receiving), smut with feelings.
~*~
“Why does a Romulan need a Federation escort, again?” I asked as I readjusted my bag on my shoulder and followed Captain Sisko down the corridor.
“Because Federation runabouts are able to withstand a particular form of radiation that utterly fries Romulan computer technology. In order to reach the planet where their probe went down, you need to pass through an asteroid field absolutely teeming with that radiation,” he answered as we reached the runabout airlock. “Starfleet isn’t about to give a Romulan free reign with one of its vessels.”
“And why can’t he and his men just, y’know...fly around that asteroid field instead?” That seemed like a rather obvious solution.
“Because that would take them several months out of their way - time which none of us can afford to spend in Dominion territory,” the Captain said as he handed me a small case. “You’ll need those.”
“What are they?”
“Earplugs,” he said with a smirk.
“Remind me: why was I chosen for this oh-so-special mission?” I asked slipping the case into my bag. Instead of the Captain, another voice piped up from directly behind me.
“Because, my lovely Lieutenant, you are the only one who can put up with me for long stretches.” Oh no. I knew that voice. With dread and several other emotions pounding away in the pit of my stomach, I turned and saw none other than Senator Letant wearing a mirthful smirk as he took in the look of sheer disbelief on my face. “Come, come, my dear, I would’ve thought you’d be overjoyed to see me again! After all, I requested you specifically for this little adventure.”
I opened my mouth to protest this assignment, but when I looked back, Captain Sisko had made himself scarce.
“Oh, let’s just get this over with,” I groused stepping around the Romulan and into the Shenandoah. Tossing my bag onto one of the benches at the back of the craft, I made my way to the cockpit with a pair of much-too-spry footsteps following in my wake.
“Just think of it, Lieutenant! We’ll have a whole week in the Gamma Quadrant, just the two of us.” Letant’s enthusiasm made me roll my eyes.
Of course he would be excited about this. He enjoyed flirting with me - or, more accurately, with anything that moved. Unfortunately, I enjoyed his banter, too, but how the hell was I supposed to keep him from seeing that for a whole week? If he knew, he’d be twice as insufferable as he already was.
With a quiet sigh, I refrained from responding, choosing to go through the pre-flight checks, instead. He rattled on while I ensured everything was prepped, but after several minutes of receiving no response from me, he laid a hand on my forearm. I nearly jumped out of my skin at the contact - a fact which didn’t go unnoticed by my co-pilot.
“Are you alright?” He sounded genuinely concerned, but I simply pulled my arm away and muttered a quiet ‘yes.’ Disbelief and sarcasm colored his tone when he spoke again. “Yes, of course. That must be why you’re behaving the way you are. In case you’ve forgotten, Lieutenant, I’m rather adept at spotting lies.”
Swallowing nervously, I turned back to my instruments.
“I’m fine. Pre-flight checks are all done. We’re ready to go,” I said, opening communications with the station before he could protest. “Shenandoah to Ops. All systems are green. Requesting permission to disembark.”
“Permission granted, Shenandoah,” Major Kira answered. “Sealing airlocks and releasing docking clamps. Have fun out there, you two. May the Prophets guide you.”
“Thanks, Major. We’ll be home before you know it. Shenandoah out,” I said as I closed communications and released our own docking systems. “Twenty seconds to the wormhole.”
“And how long until you tell me what’s bothering you, Lieutenant?” From my peripheral vision, I could see that the Senator had turned his chair to face me. If he was already able to tell that something was wrong, I really needed to compose myself. Otherwise, the next week was going to be hell.
“Nothing’s wrong. I just had a rough morning, that’s all,” I lied as I lowered our speed for the trip through the wormhole. “I should be back to my usual self in a little bit.”
“I see...” he murmured sounding no more convinced than he had a few moments before. “Well, if you require a sympathetic ear, I’d be more than happy to fill that role, and we are quite alone. Anything you told me would remain in total confidence.”
As light enveloped our little craft, I looked over at him, finding sincerity in his expression. I paused, though, because the ever-shifting light filtering into the cabin made his features glow. Letant looked almost ethereal - the changing hues flowed across his face, highlighting his forehead ridges, his nose, his lips, and making it impossible to ignore his beauty.
“Thank you, Senator. I’ll take that into consideration.” My voice came out raspier than I’d expected, making my cheeks burn. Before I could look back at the panel in front of me, though, Letant gave me a surprisingly gentle smile.
“I think we can safely skip the formalities, don’t you? There is nobody else here, and I certainly won’t be offended by a little added familiarity. Please, feel free to call me Letant,” he murmured, and I agreed quietly. A flash drew my attention away from him and back to piloting the runabout. We’d exited the wormhole.
“If you’ll input the coordinates, Letant, I’ll set a course,” I said, and a quiet hum came from the man beside me. “What?”
“I’ve never heard you say my name before, but I must admit...I quite like the way it sounds coming from you,” he murmured as he moved to do as I suggested. It felt strange to say his name when I wasn’t alone. The only place I’d said it before was when I was in my bed in the dead of night, but he definitely didn’t need to know that. He’d never let me live that down.
As soon as the course was set, I initiated the autopilot and took a deep breath, closing my eyes as I leaned back in my seat. It would take us about three days to get there at our vessel’s maximum warp.
“I can feel you staring at me, y’know.” My murmured observation drew a huff of incredulous laughter from my companion.
“Ridiculous. Utter rot. Even Romulans are not that perceptive,” he scoffed, but I just smirked.
“Haven’t you ever heard a Human say they felt eyes on the back of their head before?”
“I have.”
“They mean it. Yes, that expression can be used to communicate paranoia, but usually the person is being literal. We can feel when we’re being watched. We may not be able to pinpoint where it’s coming from, but a gaze can be felt as easily as a touch,” I explained, cracking my eyes open and tilting my head, finding him looking at me stunned as I’d expected to. Scientifically, that was only partially correct with psychological bias factored in, but he didn’t need to know the nitty-gritty details. “I wonder, was it you staring at me in Quark’s the other night? Or was it some other inebriated patron?”
“Who told you I was in the bar?” He fired back with a knowing raise of an eyebrow.
“Nobody. You and your guards make quite an entrance everywhere you go. I saw you arrive, but I thought little of it,” I lied, trying to give the impression that I hadn’t seen him in a gorgeous green tunic he’d never worn before. He’d looked so handsome that night, but I couldn’t show that I cared about his looks. He’d never let me live it down.
“That’s too bad. I’d hoped to ask your opinion on my tunic. I don’t often wear purple garments,” he said, and before I could stop myself or think better of it, I blurted out what I was thinking.
“But it was gre–” I broke off, but he’d heard just enough to widen his smile.
“You’re quite right. It was green, but how would you know that, e’lev?” Letant asked leaning closer to me. “I thought you didn’t care that I’d been in the bar?”
“I didn’t. As I said, your entrances aren’t exactly subtle. Everyone in the bar likely noticed you and your new tunic. That hardly makes me unique,” I said trying to explain my statement away, but his voice just lowered a bit more, becoming more velvety and delicious.
“...I don’t recall mentioning that the tunic was new.” He practically radiated triumph and glee, even as I internally cringed at my slip.
“And you still haven’t answered my original question,” I deflected as I stood and walked to one of the other sensor arrays as an excuse to put a little space between us. Beginning to perform a re-calibration, I nearly rolled my eyes when I heard footsteps behind me.
“You’re right. I never did answer your question. How rude of me,” the Senator said, his voice growing ever closer. Eventually, one of his hands rested on the bulkhead near my shoulder, and the other rested gently on my waist. “I admit I did look at you quite frequently that night, but I simply cannot resist a gorgeous view when it’s offered so freely. You seemed so relaxed. Nevertheless, allow me to apologize for staring like a lecherous rogue. Tell me...how can I make it up to you?”
His mirthful, suggestive question was practically whispered against my ear, but I bit the inside of my cheek to suppress a shudder of pleasure. It would be much too easy to turn and connect my lips with his.
“No need, Senator,” I murmured, hating how shaky my voice sounded. Ducking carefully under his arm, I went back to my seat and acted like I was double-checking the sensors. The Romulan let out a sigh, but he didn’t look too disappointed when he returned.
“You might change your mind over the course of our journey,” he said lounging in his chair, “and if you do, I’m quite open to any suggestions you might have.”
This was going to be a long trip.
--
The next morning, I stumbled through my usual routine, shuffling into the cockpit of the runabout with a hot mug of coffee clutched in my hands. Blinking sleepily as I took my seat, I started checking the sensors and our course.
“Well, well, good morning!” Amusement practically dripped from Letant’s voice. Oh, it was too early for this. “You seem to be out of uniform today.”
“Since we won’t be at our destination for another couple of days, I thought I may as well wear something a little more comfortable,” I said glancing down at my oversized shirt and sweatpants. “Besides, I thought you said you didn’t mind if we dropped some of the formalities? If you object, I can always get back into uniform...”
“Oh no, don’t you dare! I don’t mind at all. I’ve never seen you looking so ravishing,” he crooned as he raked his eyes over me. “Is this how you normally dress when you’re not on duty?”
“Yep, this is my favorite shirt, actually,” I answered sipping my coffee. I’d had it for so long that was beginning to go threadbare in a few places allowing my skin to peek through - a fact I hadn’t given much thought to before, but which I was now acutely aware of with the Senator’s roving eyes on me. “I take it you approve?”
“Oh, heartily, but I’ve never known you to need another person’s approval,” he said leaning toward me in my peripheral vision.
“And you seem to need the approval of every woman who dares to glance in your direction.” I hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but once it was out I couldn’t put it back no matter how much I might want to.
“Not every woman. Only you,” he responded without missing a beat, and my eyes snapped up to meet his before I could think better of it. Beneath the obvious hunger in his expression, there was something...soft and vulnerable that startled me into looking away.
No. No, I was imagining that look. I had to be. Letant was a Senator. He could have any woman he wanted. There was no way he’d want me.
The rest of the day, Letant seemed somewhat more subdued, alternating between focusing on a Romulan data PADD he’d brought with him and the readout from the primary sensor array. I still caught him looking over at me occasionally, but he wasn’t nearly as determined to drive me insane as usual.
--
We decided to alternate who got the early morning shifts so that neither of us would be overly tired. Thus, the second morning, I was halfway through my second cup of coffee before Letant emerged from the aft section of the runabout. Glancing back at him, I noticed his own informal wardrobe for the day and did a double-take. Wearing only a pair of midnight blue sleep pants and an open, matching silk robe, Senator Letant stole my breath as he did nothing more but take his seat in the copilot’s chair.
So that was what he was hiding beneath his uniform!
“See something you like, e’lev?” Tearing my eyes away from the smattering of hair on his well-defined chest, I looked up to see him giving me a knowing smile. “Oh, don’t go quiet on me again. We’ve made so much progress on that front in the last couple of days. Would it help if I got back into my uniform?”
“Don’t you dare,” I murmured, repeating his own words back at him and drawing a devilish grin from him.
“I believe that’s the boldest flirtation I’ve ever received from you,” he declared crossing his legs and allowing his eyes to skim down the length of my body a little slower than the day before.
“Who said it was flirtation? If I have a right to be in my pajamas, so do you.”
“Ah, it’s a matter of equality, then. How curious. I could’ve sworn I saw you bite your lip a few moments ago,” Letant murmured, and I wracked my memory. Had I? It was conceivable that I had subconsciously. He did tend to bring out those sorts of reactions in me. His voice calling my name knocked me out of my anxious thoughts. “Oh, don’t worry. I did much worse than bite my lip when I went to bed last night. And after being around a beautiful woman in nothing but her pajamas all day, who could blame me?”
My cheeks burned at his insinuation. He was joking. He had to be joking. He’d never do...that...while thinking about me.
...Would he?
No. No, way. He was probably just trying to get a rise out of me first thing in the morning. I should just ignore hi–
“Ah, we’ve made better time than I expected,” he murmured checking the estimated time of arrival. “We’ll be there in less than twelve hours. It should’ve taken us eighteen more. How did you manage that?”
Okay, this I could do. I could totally talk work.
“Oh, I made a few routine course adjustments and skirted around a few astronomical phenomena that could have slowed us down,” I said as I pulled up a log I’d been keeping of my adjustments. He skimmed over it and a low hum issued from his throat.
“...You do realize what this means, don’t you?” Letant asked looking up at me, and I raised an eyebrow. “This means we have six fewer hours to spend together on this journey. You wound me, Lieutenant. Am I truly so unpleasant a traveling companion?”
He laid a hand dramatically over his chest and adopted a look of faux innocence.
“Seriously? We’re flying through Dominion territory and that is what you’re worried about?”
“Well, I did select you for this mission so that we could spend time together,” he replied as if it should be obvious. I could scarcely believe my ears. “I thought you might enjoy some private interaction with a man as attractive as I am.”
“You are the most arrogant person I’ve ever met.” The words were out of my mouth before I could even think about stopping them, but rather than looking offended, Letant merely leaned toward me in his ridiculous, open robe and smirked.
“And did it never cross your mind that I have what it takes to back up my inflated ego?”
I had no rebuttal for that. The possibility had crossed my mind several times, in fact. Taking my silence as an answer, the Senator seemed satisfied that he’d gotten his point across.
“Now, before we reach our long-awaited destination, I need to brief you on what to expect,” he said, as if I hadn’t been briefed on the basics before we left. Before I could protest, however, he held up a hand. “There are several details that the Romulan government did not see fit to authorize me to convey to Starfleet, details that you must be made aware of if we are to complete this mission successfully.”
“Is the probe sentient or something?”
Letant let out a short burst of mirthful laughter.
“No, certainly not, although I admire your vivid imagination. The probe we’re going to be looking for is equipped...with a cloaking device.”
With the most serious expression I could muster, I set my coffee aside and laid my hand over one of his.
“Letant, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Starfleet has been aware that your people have had cloaking devices for over a century. I’m so sorry, I know that must come as a bit of a shock.” He gave me an exasperated look, and I couldn’t help but smile mischievously at having finally irritated him for once.
“You know, you are gorgeous, intelligent, and an utter pleasure to be around, but, Elements, my girl, you can be infuriating,” he said lifting my hand to his lips.
“Speak for yourself, Deihu.” The expression on his face morphed into pure surprise. “My apologies for the interruption. Please continue. What is it about this cloaking device that makes it so special?”
“Not only is it a new type of cloak, it was made more durable as well. We expect that it survived the crash and is still active,” Letant explained.
“So we’re going to be looking for a fully cloaked probe? How the hell are we supposed to find it, then?” Maybe that was why we’d been given a full day to search for this damn thing.
“Ah, I have a deactivation signal that I’ve already programmed into our tricorders. Once we scan the probe, it’ll decloak, we can remove the section that we need, and we can get back home,” he murmured, skimming his thumbs over the back of my hand. Why did he still have my hand?
And why did I never want him to let go?
“Why not just put that code into the runabout computer and scan the whole planet from orbit?” I asked raising an eyebrow.
“Because the tricorders can be destroyed afterward. The runabout computer can’t if we want to get home.” Of course. The Romulan Empire wouldn’t want any trace of how we deactivated a cloak to exist afterward to compromise them. “I do have the approximate location of where the probe went down - it was still transmitting as it crashed - so we should be able to land close enough to get into tricorder range within a reasonable span of time.”
A rather unpleasant thought occurred to me, then, and for the first time, I was forced to confront just how dangerous Letant could be if he so chose. His species was physically stronger than mine. If he wanted to hurt me, he could with barely any effort, and I would have no chance of stopping him.
“And...when we’re searching for the probe, what happens if I end up seeing it or the decloaking codes? Are you going to have to eliminate me for the sake of the Empire’s security?” To my horror, my voice was much quieter and shakier than I anticipated. Letant’s grip on my hand tightened by a fraction, and he looked at me with an inscrutable expression.
“If you truly believe that I could ever raise a hand to you, then you don’t know me as well as you think, e’lev,” he said. “I chose you for this mission, because I trust you not to reveal any more than is necessary to your superiors.”
I didn’t quite know what to say to that, so I simply nodded my head. Savoring the feeling of his fingers holding mine, I looked at Letant curiously. What was I supposed to make of him?
--
The rest of the trip was relatively quiet as I mulled over everything I’d learned. We were both mostly silent as we took turns getting changed back into our uniforms in the back. Even Letant’s flirtations were more subtle. I was working off muscle memory more than conscious effort as we approached the planet to enter orbit.
“Lieutenant, I’m inputting the range of coordinates where the probe could possibly be. If you could place us in synchronous orbi–”
He was cut off by an explosion rocking the craft and throwing us from our seats. My arm collided hard with the deck plating, and I let out a grunt of pain as I struggled to right myself.
“The starboard engine just overloaded,” I called as I finally got a glimpse at my panel. I clawed myself back into my chair and aimed us as close as I could manage to the area Letant had indicated. He pulled himself up just as I did, and as I held us on course, he started an emergency shutdown for the warp and impulse engines. “We’re going down no matter what we do! Brace yourself for impact!”
The collision jolted me from my seat, but before I could hit anything, a pair of strong, warm arms caught me. Grabbing onto Letant instinctively, we clung to each other for dear life until the runabout came to a screeching halt in the dirt.
In the unnatural silence that followed, our breaths seemed much too loud. I kept my face buried in the crook of the Senator’s neck for several beats longer than was strictly necessary, catching my breath and savoring the solidity of his body against mine.
Letant breathed my name against the top of my head, and I reluctantly forced myself to pull back far enough to look at him. A dribble of green blood trickled down the side of his head from a small gash.
“You’re hurt,” I murmured as I reached up and turned his head so I could examine him.
“Perhaps, but you’re not.” A glimmer of triumph twined through his words. Forcing myself onto my feet, I found the emergency medkit and passed the dermal regenerator over his injury with as much care as I possessed. He touched the spot gingerly when I was done and smiled up at me when he found himself healed. “You have my sincerest gratitude, e’lev.”
A flutter of pride went through my chest as I put the medical tools back in the kit. As a precaution, I took out a medical tricorder and set it aside in case we needed it.
“Why is this probe so important, anyway?” I asked a few moments later as we examined the outside of the runabout. Surveying the craft for damage was our first order of business. After all, if there was no chance we’d get off this planet, there was little point in rushing off to find the probe. Survival always came first. “May I know what we almost died in pursuit of? Surely, we didn’t go through all of this just for a prototype cloaking device.”
“No, it wasn’t just the cloak. Our probe managed to record secret information on the Dominion, but I’m afraid I can tell you no more than that without endangering you,” he said as he stepped over a large log. “Well, the propulsion systems appear to be offline but functional, as well the weapons.”
“Not quite. The antigrav thrusters are shot. We’ll have to get those working again before we can lift off,” I called as I pulled a branch out of one of the intake ports. “Okay. Well, it looks like we shouldn’t be stuck here for too long, at least. We should be able to find the probe, fix the thrusters, and head back.”
A vague noise of approval sounded from my companion.
“We landed not far from the probe’s potential crash site. If you’ve got the tricorders set up, we can start our search now,” I suggested as we both met up at the door of the runabout. Anticipating my statement, Letant held out two tricorders, one for me, and one for him. I noted that the medical one was already strapped to his side. Grabbing a second commbadge from inside the cabin, I traded it for the tricorder. “Keep your commline open. After all, we’ve only got each other out here.”
“Indeed. Watch yourself, Lieutenant,” Letant said as I strapped a phaser and holster around my waist. His own disruptor gleamed in the evening light.
The setting sun cast long, sleepy shadows across the ground as we tramped through the trees. I’d taken a different direction than the Senator so that we could cover more ground, and I couldn’t help but wonder whether he was allowing himself to pause and take in the beauty of this previously unexplored planet.
“Report, Lieutenant.” Speak of the devil.
“I’m not reading any humanoid lifeforms, only plant life, small animals, and various insects. I’m not reading the probe, either, so apparently I’m not in range yet.”
“No need to worry, Lieutenant. I’ve apparently entered range of the probe. I’ve almost reached it now. As far as life form readings, I’m getting the same as you. Be cautious, though. There’s an insect I scanned which appears to be venomous.” Letant’s warning came just as I stepped into a clearing filled with what looked like bioluminescent moths. Their colors varied through the entire visible spectrum of light, creating pulsations and swirls of color in the sky. For a moment, I could do no more than watch them in silence.
“Oh, wow,” I breathed as I watched the little winged bugs dance in the low evening light. “Letant, you’ve got to come see this!”
“Acknowledged. I’ve gotten what we need from the probe. On my way,” he responded, but I barely noticed. As if the little bugs were aware that they had an audience, they fluttered together and fanned out in a brilliant array of shapes I couldn’t even begin to describe. Just as I began to hear the Senator’s footsteps approaching me, the entire swarm of brilliantly hued moths fluttered toward me. I stumbled backward against a very solid chest. Turning just enough to confirm I’d bumped into Letant, my eyes met his just as the moths flew around us in a tight spiral from our toes to our heads. The light from their wings caressed his features, sparkling in his irises as I looked up at him in utter awe. His voice came out as a breathy whisper when he spoke a single word. “E’lev...”
The thrumming of wings slowly lowered in volume, and we watched the moths’ progress as they began to alight upon the branches of the trees at the perimeter of the clearing, colors still pulsing and changing as beautifully as before. Becoming aware of two arms wrapped around me like iron bars holding me upright against the Senator’s chest, I felt my face begin to burn.
“Thanks for catching me,” I murmured. Was it my imagination or was his face getting closer?
“It was my pleasure,” he breathed, and his lips brushed against mine. As my eyelids fluttered closed, though, something sharp jabbed my neck, and I let out a startled yelp. Turning me in his grasp, Letant caught my hand as I reached for the area. “Hush, it’s alright. Let me see.”
Baring my neck for him, I felt my heart sink when he swore in Romulan under his breath and pulled out his tricorder.
“Let me guess. That was one of the venomous ones.” The quiet beeping of the tricorder cut through the deafening silence - an answer of its own. I could already feel sweat beading on my skin beneath my uniform. Whatever this venom was, it was potent.
“We’re too far from the runabout to make it there before you suffer any ill effects. Do you trust me?” I’d barely even managed to answer in the affirmative when his lips closed over the bite mark and sucked hard. Gasping at the sensation, I clutched at his shoulders and tried to work out what the hell he was doing. Pain lanced through me from the wound, but after something pulled free, every ounce of discomfort within me transformed into intense euphoria.
The Senator spat something on the ground a moment later then returned his lips to the same place, sucking hard again. This time a moan tore from my throat. I never wanted him to stop. I felt like I’d die if he stopped - hell, I think I murmured something to that effect as I clung to him.
It was as if the sensitivity of every nerve in my body had been heightened all at once starting with the spot where Letant’s lips were glued to my skin. Cascading downwards across my entire being, electricity, desperation, and pleasure had all been ignited within me.
Through the fog, the vague thought that he was attempting to suck the poison out of my wound poked at my mind, but it was deftly swatted away by the feeling of his lips repositioning themselves on my neck as one of his large hands supported the back of my head.
He spat something else onto the ground, but by then I was nearly limp with pleasure. I’d been close to an orgasm, so achingly close. Tears sprang to my eyes at the loss of contact, and all too soon he was asking me a question that I was too bleary to comprehend.
“Lieutenant? Can you understand me?” He sounded almost panicked, but I’d made out enough to answer that time. “Let’s get you back to the runabout.”
What the hell? Why did I nearly have an orgasm from what amounted to rather enthusiastic necking? As we trudged back the way we’d come, Letant supported me with an arm around my waist. I hoped that he hadn’t noticed the stupidly strong arousal that the sting and his reaction had caused. Surely at such close range he had? But if he did, then why wasn’t he teasing me about it?
And why did I have that reaction in the first place? I’d wondered what it was like to be with him on more occasions than I cared to admit, of course, but why the hell did I feel like all my nerves were hypersensitive?
The burning, overwhelming need for stimulation settled into a persistent buzzing in my abdomen. I’d never heard of venom causing a reaction like this before.
As soon as we stepped inside the shuttle, I ducked into the washroom at the back of the runabout. Splashing water on my face, I barely managed to hold back the moan that threatened to bubble out of me at how good the cold liquid felt against my burning skin. When I reemerged, Letant looked over at me with concern furrowing his brow.
“Are you experiencing any odd symptoms?” He asked, and I hated how my body reacted instantly to his voice. Any assistance that the cool water had provided disappeared as my skin heated further and I was forced to look away from him. “Lieutenant?”
“Hypersensitivity,” I answered. I hoped he would simply drop the topic and allow me to remain vague in my answer, but I had no such luck.
“In what way?”
“My hearing is amplified, smells are stronger, and I’m more aware of tactile sensations.” As I explained, Letant’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. Silently, he pulled out the medical tricorder he’d grabbed earlier and scanned me. After a long moment, he set it aside and moved to my side.
“E’lev, what can I do to help you?” He’d lowered his voice, likely out of consideration for my condition, which simultaneously made things better and worse. My ears hurt a little less, but this new register was gravelly and sinful, making me close my eyes as I felt a new gush of warmth between my legs. “You have a fever and elevated levels of hormones. Are you experiencing other symptoms that you haven’t mentioned?”
“Let’s just get the thrusters working so we can get off this planet,” I rasped as I stepped around him and got a tool kit. Focusing on anything would be difficult, but it would be better than throwing myself at a man like Letant.
I wanted him, oh, I wanted him desperately - I felt like I’d go crazy if he didn’t see though my act and fuck me soon - but he flirted with anything that moved. It was more likely that if I made a move, he’d tell me politely that he preferred prettier women...dabo girls like Hartla and Leeta, not officers like me. The idea that he could want someone like me was a childish fantasy, but...I wasn’t ready for it to end. Not yet.
The last few days had felt like a dream. He’d even seemed like he was letting his guard down in a sincere way. I wasn’t quite ready to give that up. His feelings might not be genuine, but mine were. I knew I’d have to wake up and face reality one day, but this trip had allowed me to push that sobering thought aside for a while.
As we worked on the downed systems, I was acutely aware of his proximity. Every time he moved, my stomach clenched and the traitorous heat between my legs got worse. Eventually, the computer pinged, notifying us that the engines were working again.
“Strap in. I’ll start the launch sequence,” I called as I made sure everything we’d brought was secure. Letant double-checked to make sure everything was secure, and within minutes we cleared the atmosphere. Though I didn’t remember doing so until later, I set our course back toward the wormhole and engaged the engines at our maximum speed. I had the distinct impression that whatever that insect had done to me needed to be fixed as quickly as possible.
I had no idea how much time had passed since we launched when a warm, familiar hand landed gently on my shoulder. I tensed involuntarily despite the inherent caution in its owner’s every movement.
“Why don’t you let me take over for a while? I assure you, I’m perfectly capa–”
“Yes, I’m sure you are, but I’m fine,” I cut him off trying to sound as though I was something close to normal again. Letant wasn’t buying it, though. He wasn’t fool enough to believe that I’d dismissed such an intense reaction so quickly.
“You’re not fine. E’lev, you’ve been flying this runabout for hours, and neither of us has any idea how your condition might affect you,” the Senator said reaching over and activating the autopilot system. “Overexertion could be lethal, and I am not prepared to lose you.”
“Letant, for fuck’s sake, I’m–”
“You are ill, I outrank you, and I am giving you a direct order, Lieutenant.” I turned my seat to face him, scoffing all the while.
“You can’t give me a direct order, Senator. You’re not a Starfleet officer. I’m staying right fucking here!” As soon as the assertion left my lips I knew it was the wrong thing to say. I tried to swivel my chair back to face my work station, but Letant caught it effortlessly in one hand. His damnable Romulan strength allowed him to keep it stationary with barely more than a thought. Slowly, he rose to his feet and leaned in close enough to brace his other hand on the back of my seat, effectively caging me in.
“I may not be a member of your precious Federation, but I am responsible for your safety!” I’d seen the Senator irritated before, even close to anger, but the passion burning in his eyes had me frozen squarely in place, pinned by his gaze. “You will get yourself cleaned up, lie down in your bunk, and get some rest. Argue with me again, and I will toss you over my shoulder and tie you to your bed until we return to the station. Is that clear?”
The low, velvety caress of his voice contrasted with the harshness of his tone, and suddenly, I couldn’t decide whether I was intimidated or more turned on than I’d ever been in my life. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I acknowledged that it was a particularly potent combination of both.
Undoubtedly mistaking my silence for fear, Letant’s gaze softened, and he cupped my face in both his hands. Silently, gently, he touched my forehead lightly with his, and his next words came out barely above a whisper.
“You know...surely, you must know that I’m doing this to keep you safe...?”
Covering his fingers with mine, I tried to steady my breathing. He was so close to me, and he smelled so good! Every inhale filled me with more desperation, especially when I contemplated how easy it would be to kiss him, but I hoped beyond hope that I wasn’t being too obvious despite our proximity.
Realizing I’d been silent for too long, I swallowed and forced myself to take a breath.
“I trust you, Letant. I always will,” I murmured. I hoped he would never question the reason behind my certainty. He pulled back just far enough to allow me to get shakily to my feet. “I’ll do as you ask, but just this once.”
With a small, fond smile, he brushed a bit of hair behind my ear.
“We’ll see about that, e’lev.” With that parting tease out in the open, I walked - or rather, stumbled - into the aft section of the runabout.
--
By the time that the dirt had sloughed off me in the sonic shower, I had to concentrate very hard stay upright. I was exhausted. First, the crash, then the walk through the woods, and the sting...it had been a long day.
The heat between my legs had intensified even further, leaving me shaking as I leaned against the wall of the sonic shower. The coolness against my overheated skin made me moan. The sound came out much louder than I’d intended, and I hoped that Letant hadn’t heard me.
Letant. Just thinking about him sent a fresh wave of slick dripping from my center. He wouldn’t know as long as I was quiet, would he?
Dipping my fingers between my legs, I was forced to slap a hand over my mouth at how good the friction felt. Against my better judgment, I brought myself to a quick, mostly-quiet orgasm, stifling my moans the best I could.
I could finally breathe a little easier once I’d blown off a bit of steam. One tiny little orgasm wasn’t going to be sufficient to make everything stop. I could tell. But it had given me the relief and clear mind that I needed to be able to go through the rest of my nightly routine and crawl into my bunk.
Rest, however, was thin on the ground. The heat that had been plaguing me in ever-building waves kept me tossing and turning in search of comfort. As I faded in and out of consciousness, brief flashes of dreams flitted across the insides of my eyelids.
Hell, I even dreamed that Letant came to check on me, once. The quiet, familiar beeping of the medical tricorder seemed distant and hazy compared to the soft, affectionate caress on my cheek. He whispered that word he’d been saying all through this trip: ‘e’lev.’ It felt important. Everything about this dream felt important, but I couldn’t place my finger on the reason, choosing instead to allow myself to fall back into my troubled, achy sleep.
When I finally gave up on sleep several hours later, I was covered in sweat. My own natural lubricant dripped down my thighs once more, and I was forced to get in the sonic shower again just to become halfway presentable. I didn’t bother with a uniform when I got out. Opting instead for comfortable set of clothes, I walked shakily toward the runabout cabin.
I paused and leaned against the wall for support, contemplating how I was supposed to beat this, but in that short span of time I managed to catch Letant’s attention.
He looked thoroughly surprised to see me standing upright in my condition, but truth be told, he looked a little worse for wear himself. The Senator looked haggard, as if he hadn’t slept yet. And there was worry in his eyes - so much concern that I hadn’t seen from him before.
“You should be in bed,” he croaked as he got to his feet. Not giving him the chance to herd me away, I took a few determined steps forward.
“I’m fine,” I rasped, but he didn’t look at all convinced.
“E’lev, why won’t you tell me what’s wrong? I know you’re experiencing more than you’ve let on. If you tell me, I might be able to help yo–”
“You can’t, okay?!” He looked surprised by my outburst. Hell, I was surprised by my outburst. “You can’t help me, because I feel like I’m going to scratch my skin off if I don’t...if...”
A stab of pain and arousal wound through my abdomen, silencing my protests. Wrapping my arms around my middle, I dropped to my knees and tried to breathe through the sensation. Nothing I’d done had helped so far. Fingering myself in the bathroom had given me temporary relief, but as soon as I came in close proximity with Letant again, the almost uncontrollable lust had returned stronger than before. It had only grown since the sting, and now I was left a trembling, humiliated mess on the floor in front of the Senator.
“Do you think you’ve been successful in your efforts to hide your condition from me?” The question wasn’t accusatory, but I still looked away as he knelt in front of me and grasped my shoulders. “Because your pheromones gave you away the moment I tried sucking the stinger and venom from your neck.”
I looked up at him in alarm, but all that met me was a warm, gentle smile.
“You knew?”
“Of course, I did. Between that and your scent in the shower, it has been quite obvious that you are in need of some intimate attention,” he said, and my face burned. “If you truly have no desire to allow me to help you, I will respect your wishes and leave you in privacy, but over the time I’ve known you, I always felt there was...more to our interactions. If I was mistaken about my interest being mutual, I sincerely apologize, but if I was right...please, allow me to alleviate your suffering.”
“Are you doing this out of pity?” Letant looked scandalized by the mere suggestion. “Why would you be attracted to me when there are women who are so much...well, more?”
“No, I’m not doing this out of pity! My interest in you has always been genuine. I thought you of all people would’ve realized that by now, e’lev,” he said cupping my cheeks softly and looking into my eyes. Instead of mirth, all I found this time was sincerity and affection. “Why would I waste my time with anyone else when perfection is right here in front of me? None of them are you.”
His lips covered mine, and I stopped thinking altogether. Surrendering to the sensation, my eyelids fluttered closed, and I clutched at the front of his tunic. As though a switch had been flipped, I gave in. Letant was all I’d wanted for a long time.
Before I even realized I’d moved, I pulled him closer and practically started climbing him. A gentle laugh reverberated through his chest as he caught my waist, and I nibbled my way down the side of his jaw.
“Desperate, are we? Don’t worry, my eager girl. I’m going to help you,” he murmured lifting me into his arms. As he carried me toward the bunk in the aft section, I clung to him, trailing my lips across his skin in a haze of lust. I’d given in entirely to my raging hormones and my desire, and I needed him to just fuck me already!
A pained whine escaped me when Letant laid me on the bed and I was forced to release my death grip on his shoulders. Had he decided I was more trouble than I was worth? No, surely he wouldn’t leave me when I needed him this badly.
My worries were silenced when he laid one of his large hands on my upper thigh and allowed it to skim upwards to the utterly doused fabric covering my crotch.
“So beautiful...” His reverent whisper made me arch toward him, praying for more friction than just that of fabric. “You’d let me do whatever I wanted to you, wouldn’t you?”
“Anything. Anything, just please touch me–ah!” My begging morphed into an almost feral sound of pleasure as he tore the crotch of my leggings and dragged his fingertips through my folds. Suddenly I was incredibly grateful to my earlier self for choosing to forego underwear. That was the wisest choice I’d made all week.
“Hush, I won’t leave you unfulfilled,” he promised, slipping one, then two fingers inside of me. Clutching the bedsheets frantically, I found myself lost in his gaze. Hunger, passion, and potent confidence drew me to him like a moth to a flame. It was painfully obvious, now, that Letant’s earlier insinuation about having good reasons to be confident in his abilities was absolutely true.
Had I a scrap of dignity left, I would’ve been irritated at that revelation. As it was, all I could manage was a series of desperate moans and pleas as the Senator curled his fingers within me. In an embarrassingly short amount of time, I was arching off the bed and gushing around his digits.
Letant murmured quiet praises that made a small, quiet part of myself roar with pride at having earned his compliments. He leaned down to kiss me, and almost without conscious thought, I maneuvered him beneath me and started tugging at his clothing. There need to be less separating us. I needed the hardness tenting his pants inside me now!
The next few moments were a blur of clothes sailing away from the bed, and finally - finally - I was able to sink down on his length. The tightness of his grip on my hips spoke to his own growing need for this coupling. We were both beyond words when I began to ride him in earnest. He sat up beneath me and wrapped an arm around my waist, even as his free hand tangled its way into my hair.
Our labored breathing sounded so right. This was what we’d been missing all this time. When I finally tipped over the edge into another orgasm, the last of my lover’s restraint snapped, and he shoved me onto my back amidst the sheets.
Resuming his place between my legs, Letant looked positively feral as he set out to prove why Romulans made superior mates. He gave me everything: powerful thrusts, hungry growls, and an orgasm intense enough to make my voice go hoarse when I called his name.
The fires ignited by the venom in my veins finally cooled when a shattered moan poured from his throat and his seed filled me in hot spurts. Bliss and tranquility blanketed every cell in my body as he rained featherlight kisses across my mouth and cheeks. This was heaven.
Letant maneuvered us into a much more comfortable position, murmuring that I should rest. His voice melted into a delicious hum that In was too boneless and satiated to comprehend, but it was alright. Everything was alright. He’d protect me.
--
The first sensation I became aware of when I awoke was the gentle, affectionate caress of warm fingers across my back. Still wrapped solidly in the comforting embrace of a Romulan Senator, I let myself float leisurely back to the realm of consciousness. There was no rush. We were still a long way from the wormhole and Deep Space Nine.
Stirring slowly, I tilted my head just far enough to press my lips against Letant’s neck, prompting a low hum from deep in his chest.
“I take it you’re feeling better?” The Senator asked, and I let out an affirmative sound as I snuggled farther into his arms. “I thoroughly enjoy this version of you, you know...the one who isn’t pushing me away.”
Guilt wormed its way through me as I recalled all the instances where I hadn’t believed he was sincere in his flirtations.
“I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for, e’lev. You were protecting yourself,” he murmured pressing his lips against my forehead in a gentle kiss. “I do want you to know, though, that for as long as I live, I will be yours. Assuming you’ll have me, of course.”
Pushing myself up far enough to look into his eyes, I traced my fingertips down the bridge of his nose and over the softness of his lips. Then, without my permission, the words I’d held inside of me for so long finally poured out.
“I love you, Letant.” The smile he gave me as he flipped me onto my back and hovered over me was the most glorious sight I’d ever witnessed.
“I think you know how I feel about you, but just in case the idea needs reinforcing: I will love you until all the stars in the universe go out,” the Senator promised before catching my lips in a tender kiss that inevitably deepened into something more. He practically dragged himself down my body, lips trailing in his wake, eyes burning into my soul, pausing only when he was far enough to lift my legs over his shoulders. The mischief in his eyes told me everything I needed to know about what he was planning.
“Letant, you...don’t have to–”
“Oh, but I want to. You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to taste you,” he crooned as he kissed his way up my thighs. “Your pheromones are so strong that every time you enter a room, you’re all I can think about...all I can imagine...all I desire. I’ve fallen asleep so many times with the memory of your scent lingering in my mind that I almost always wake up so hard that it fucking hurts.”
I moaned before I could stop myself, but Letant was undeterred. Trailing his lips up my inner thigh, he made every move with intention and tenderness enough to convince me that he actually had imagined us like this before. When his eyes met mine, it hit me that the emotions he spoke of weren’t just a womanizer’s bluster, they were real.
He loved me as much as I loved him.
And apparently he was going to make quite certain that I never questioned the sincerity of his feelings for me again.
~*~*~
Romulan Words:
e’lev = darling
Deihu = Senator
~*~
Taglist:
@akamitrani @android-boyfriends @attention-bajoranworkers @bigblissandlove1 @darkmattervibes @emilie786 @horta-in-charge @live-logs-and-proper @slutty-slutty-vulcans @starrynightgardens @toebeans-mcgee
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Wanna Try Star Trek?
Hi tumblr! I love Star Trek, as do many of you, but it can seem intimidating to folks who are interested but don’t really how to approach such a large franchise. The thing is, Trek’s “golden age” lived in that delicious sweet spot where tv shows outside of soap operas were only just starting to learn about serialisation. These shows were built for drop in, drop out viewing. So I’m gonna write some beginner friendly summary/reviews of various episodes and you can see if it strikes your fancy. If you decide to watch an episode I talk about, please, feel free to talk to me about it!
Also, I made a big spinner wheel of all the TNG/DS9/VOY/ENT episodes and I needed something to do with it.
Today’s random pick is Deep Space Nine’s “Indiscretion”, episode 5 of season 4.
So real quick, Deep Space Nine aired between 1993-1999 and was set aboard the titular space station. It’s still the only Star Trek show not to be based on a ship. The long and short of the premise is that, after a long and gruelling occupation by the Cardassian Union, the planet of Bajor wins its freedom. Having no means of defending themselves from something like this happening again, Bajor reaches out to the Federation (the post-scarcity multi species utopia that humanity is part of) for protection. They send a Starfleet detachment to administer the space station the Cardassians left behind, commanded by one Benjamin Sisko, who has to manage the delicate political situation. This show is by far the most serialised of this era, but nowhere near the extent of modern shows.
First Officer’s Note: Starfleet is an all-in-one exploratory, scientific, defense and diplomatic service, and most of the shows and movies revolve around the various adventures of Starfleet crews.
Our episode today opens with DS9’s First Officer, Major Kira Nerys, receiving a call from an old friend named Razka Karn. He tells her that he’s found a lead on a ship she’s been searching for called the Ravinok. He won’t share the information over a video call, so she’ll have to come to him.
Ship Counsellor’s Note: Kira is a Bajoran, and was previously a member of the Bajoran resistance against the Occupation. Bringing in “one of Kira’s old resistance buddies” is one of the writer’s favourite ways to start up a plot for her.
The station’s security officer Odo shows up for a scene where he’s giving Kira a security report, but her mind’s clearly elsewhere. Odo asks her what’s wrong, and Kira asks whether he thinks she should go after the Ravinok. He tells her it doesn’t matter, as he knows she’s going to go anyway, so all he’ll say is “good luck”.
Usually, there’s some hand wringing over whether or not Sisko will send one of his officers on these personal missions, but here we skip right to Kira packing for her trip, only for Sisko to give her the unpleasant news that the Cardassian government wants in on the search too. See, the Ravinok was a Cardassian ship transporting Bajoran prisoners when it was mysteriously lost.
Kira’s come a long way in her feelings towards Cardassians since the start of the show, so she does (huffily) agree to delay her departure by 52 hours to allow a Cardassian delegate to join her.
Science Officer’s Note: Bajor, and by extension DS9, has a 26 hour day. This is one of those little writerly worldbuilding details that stays consistent, and really helps sell the idea of Bajor being its own place. Take note, aspiring writers!
It’s b-plot time! Sisko has been dating a freighter captain by the name of Kasidy Yates. Jadzia Dax, the Science officer, teases Sikso that things are getting serious, which Sisko denies. Kasidy then shows up to say she’s got an interview to sign up as a freighter captain for the Bajoran government. She’d be around all the time, she could even have quarters on the station! Sisko is clearly scared by the idea, but Jadzia is having way too much fun encouraging Kasidy to care. She’s a cad.
Back at Ops (the command centre), the Cardassian delegate arrives - it’s Dukat! Dun dun dun! Ad break!
Tactical Officer’s Note: Dukat (whose first name is never confirmed in the show, but some of the novels name him Skrain) is a major recurring character on the show. Sometimes an ally, often an opponent, but never liked by the crew. He was the officer in charge of the Occupation of Bajor during its final stages, with the rank of Gul. At this point in the show, he’s recently been promoted to Legate.
On their way to rendezvous with Razka, Dukat, galaxy brained individual that he is, decides to debate Kira on the merits of the Cardassian Occupation. When Kira pushes back on this, he says “I have to desire to debate the merits of the Occupation with you”. Charming guy.
We do get Kira’s motivation here, which is that the Ravinok was transporting a prisoner by the name of Lorit Akrem. He was the man who inducted Kira into the resistance, and one of the many friends and mentors she gained during that time.
Back on the station, Kasidy is telling Sisko over dinner that she got the job and how excited she is. All he can say is “it’s a big step”, and before long Kasidy gets sick of this and storms out.
Razka’s come through though, in his new role as a scrap metal merchant. He’s gotten his hands on a piece of the Ravinok’s hull. Kira and Dukat are able to use it to track the Ravinok to the Dozaria system, which conveniently has one (1) habitable planet.
Arriving at the planet, the pair are unable to determine much more than the wreckage’s rough location and decide to land their ship and explore on foot.
Chief Engineer’s Note: Star Trek is famous for its “technobabble”, made up science-y sounding phrases designed to create and solve problems. Due to the “ionic interference”, neither scanning for lifesigns or using their transporters to beam directly to the surface are possible. Ionic interference is a favourite of the writers, great for when you want to make sure a problem can’t be solved too quickly or easily.
Sisko is busy commiserating the situation with Jadzia and the station’s Chief Medical Officer Julian Bashir. They’re no help as Julian is also having entirely too much fun with this. Quark, the owner of the local bar, which is basically a space Dave & Busters, pipes in with his own two cents. Given that Quark is a Ferengi, and Ferengi culture is so misogynistic they make your average MRA look like a feminist ally, it’s not much help.
The Ravinok is found in short order, along with a series of 13 graves. Dukat sets about identifying the remains, and refuses to let Kira help. He claims that Cardassian funeral rites are very strict, and non-Cardassians must not view the remains. Hell, he even quotes a Bajoran religious leader to justify why she shouldn’t concern herself with the bodies of her fellow Bajorans. Luckily, Bajorans all wear earrings unique to their family line, so Kira can identify the bodies from those after Dukat excavates them.
Medical Officer’s Note: they’ve landed in a scorching desert, which Dukat loves. Cardassians are lizard-like and prefer hot environments. This was a major plot point in the season 2 episode The Wire. The desert shots were filmed in Soledad Canyon, California!
A little while later, Kira emerges from the ship’s wreckage with a passenger manifest to discover Dukat lost in thought as he stares at a piece of jewellery that she identifies as a Bajoran pledge bracelet. Dukat admits that he had an ulterior motive for coming on this trip, as he hoped to find a Bajoran woman by the name of Tora Naprem. She was his mistress, and he claims that the two were in love.
Not buying that last part. Also, Dukat absolutely has a thing for Bajoran women. It keeps showing up throughout the show. He even hits on Kira every now and then.
Anyway, Kira’s able to use an old resistance trick to track the survivors.
Later that night, as they make camp in a cave, Dukat manages to get a giant stone spike impaled in his ass. The sight of him hopping around in pain as he rubs a medical doohickey of the wound prompts Kira to burst out laughing, and Dukat even joins in. It’s not really a bonding moment, but there is a certain energy to it. An abatement of hostility, perhaps.
Whatever it is, it gives Kira the courage to ask about Tora Ziyal, the name of a civilian she found on the ship’s manifest. Dukat admits the truth, Ziyal is his and Naprem’s daughter. Dukat’ sensing the Occupation was coming to an end, planned to quietly ship them off to a neutral planet to live out their lives in peace, as neither Cardassia or Bajor would accept them. Kira, naturally, assumes he’s come to rescue Ziyal. Dukat says he’s come to kill her. Dramatic music sting. Ad break.
First Officer’s Note: Bajoran names follow Eastern naming order, meaning that Kira and Tora are family names. Also, Star Trek loves doing things in caves because they can build a new set out of the same few prop walls they have. It’s a fun detail to notice as you watch these shows.
The next day, Kira & Dukat are arguing as they pick up the trail. Dukat claims that he has too many political enemies, and a bastard child, let alone a half-Bajoran one, would give them ammunition to go after him. Kira accuses him of just being out for himself, but Dukat insists that he can only protect his family if he remains in power.
Are you getting a good feel for the kind of bastard Dukat is by this point?
This is all a bit much, how about another comic relief break in the b-plot? Sisko and his son Jake are having breakfast, and Jake mentions that he (and his friend Nog) spoke to Kasidy. As Sisko’s getting ready to give Jake a talk about the hard facts of life, Jake (having talked things through with his friend Nog) correctly diagnoses the problem as a fear of commitment. Sikso’s a widow, see, and it was his career that got Jennifer killed.
Sisko is rather bemused by this, but he can’t deny that Jake’s spot on. He asks if Jake said any of this to Kasidy. Jake says that he (and his friend Nog) considered it, but ultimately decided that Sisko should speak to Kasidy himself.
But now, at long last, we find the survivors. They’ve been taken captive by a mysterious alien race called the Breen, and are being forced to mine Dilithium ore from the planet. Presumably, it’s quite easy to do, as there’s only a few dozen survivors and no signs of heavy industry. There’s a young girl there too, presumably Ziyal.
Kira tells Dukat to go back to DS9 for reinforcements. Dukat refuses, and Kira’s obviously not going to leave Dukat with a chance to kill his daughter. Instead, they decided to mount a two person raid on the mines, which goes out without a hitch.
Well, except for the fact that Lorit died two years ago and a brief firefight gives Dukat a chance to slip away and find Ziyal. She instantly guesses who he is, having held out hope for the last six years that he’d come rescue her. Kira catches up to Dukat and threatens him at gunpoint to drop his rifle.
It’s ultimately Ziyal’s words that sway him, and Dukat can’t find it within himself to mow down his own child in cold blood.
Back on DS9, Sisko apologises to Kasidy, who accepts, and Dukat says he’s going to take Ziyal back to Cardassia to live with him. Aww, maybe he’s not such a bad guy after all.
First Officer’s Note: Yes, he is.
This is a pretty great episode. It was directed by LeVar Burton, who had been a main cast member on The Next Generation, and is remembered by many as the long running host of Reading Rainbow. He did especially well with the location shoots, making the narrow Soledad Canyon look like an expansive desert. Marc Alaimo as Dukat shows yet again why the writers kept bringing him back. He’s smarmy, oozy, hypocritical, but still retains a certain charm.
Though he only gets two short scenes, Roy Brocksmith does great as Kira’s old friend Razka. He was a jobbing character actor in the 80’s-90’s and if you’ve seen American tv from that era, chances are you’ve seen him in something.
The b-plot is a needed reprieve from the heavy nature of the main plot, but smartly it’s not played for broad comedy. Instead it’s more subdued, more grounded and relatable. Luckily, Kasidy sticks around and has a sweet relationship with Sisko, built on a genuine chemistry between the two actors.
Would I recommend this as your first Star Trek episode? Conventional wisdom would say no, it’s too steeped in the lore of DS9 and the relationships of these characters, it’s the start or mid point of so many character journeys. Sod that for a game of soldiers, I say. This is a great little story, and even without context for everything you can pick up what’s going on well enough to understand the emotional stakes. That’s far more important than knowing all the lore and linking plot points.
So, what’s next? Time to spin the wheel, I guess!
Oh boy, we're doing Voyager!
#star trek#deep space nine#star trek deep space nine#ds9#st ds9#please share and interact!#wanna try star trek
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I FINISHED DEEP SPACE 9 HERE ARE MY THOTS ::
Absolutely fucking stunning series to the point where I'm like "why isn't this THE Star Trek ppl talk about in their daily lives" but like I get it. It def doesn't have the fun chaotic exploration vibes of the other series but IMO the characters and plots are so multilayered and interesting and so much can be said and explored about them.
But when it sucks it SUCKS. Which I guess is every Star Trek but like. God I hate the Mirror so fucking much. I haaaaaaate the Mirror. Also why did Miles O'Brien send his kid back in time after trying to acclimate her for like a week in that time travel episode that sucked so bad holy shit.
Captain Sisko favorite captain. Far and away the best captain. He's harsh and serious and makes really intense, tough decisions that MAKE SENSE for the position he's in. Picard can be a lawfully good goodie guy cause he CAN and the Enterprise is FUN. Sisko does not have that luxury and it makes him do things that are kinda shitty sometimes and also he's a GOOD DAD and I love him.
Kira worship all day every day 24/7 thank you for giving me a female character in the 90s that isn't just "OUGH STRONG LADY" and actually has weaknesses and depth and can laugh and fall in love while also being angry and ruthless and unforgiving. I love her. I worship her.
Odo was my fav for a while but I kinda hate what they did to his character towards the end. I shipped Kira Odo like I really did but once they were together there wasn't much there. Garak actually ended up being my FUUCKING meow meow sorry I love him like I get it he's precious I LOVE HIM. Pale Moonlight was one of the best PIECES OF MEDIA I've ever watched. Garashir forever.
Every plot with Quark actually made me like Ferengi SO MUCH. I fucking HATED the Ferengi during TNG, but DS9 made them really fun and just so ridiculous I ended up loving them.
Uhhh I have a lot more thots but this got long so idk send me a message so I can talk about My Man Garak
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DS9 S3 E18-22
More binge watching while I did my best to just survive the day.
E18 - Distant Voices
It’s hard to buy how young some of these characters are supposed to be sometimes, but that’s beside the point. I can’t relate to Bashir turning 30, I didn’t care one way or the other about it and now that I’m a few years away from 40, I’m not sure I’m going to care that much about that one either.
What I did like about this episode was that Bashir realized pretty early on that he was in a coma and didn’t fight it.
Overall it was a compelling plot and interesting to see how he fought off various issues but not the most engaging story.
I do love how he was with Garak, though, and how Garak was basically the first person he talked to in a coma (Quark only mumbled in fear, doesn’t really count to me). Also how Garak was super proud of Bashir for not trusting him in his coma dream.
6.5/10
E 19 - Through the Looking Glass
Another Mirror Universe episode, and it was a fun one.
Sisko got super into his AUs personality fast. The way he was grabbing at Dax and Kira without hesitation shocked me, but it was interesting to watch.
Also can I note how gay Kira was in this one? She was kinda there in the first one but she was only really flirting with herself so it was more narcissistic than gay (bisexual, whatever), but in this one she was flat out flirting with a nameless woman when we first see her and then kinda with Jennifer.
Because they clearly have the ability to jump to and from now I’m intrigued to see where this goes for them. Will we be getting more from the MU? Probably lol
7/10
E20 & 21 - Improbable Cause/The Die Has Cast
I normally wouldn’t combine these more but because I binged the lines are a little blurry on what happened in which.
Garak episodes are my favorite.
It was interesting to watch his scheming brain get him to the end of all of this.
Garak/Bashir is going strong with how worried Bashir was at the explosion in the shop and seeing Garak injured. Finding out that he did it himself was a bit of a shock, I had assumed it was the alien that Odo questioned, which was a fun interrogation IMO because of the way Odo started to mix the various components. I didn’t even suspect that Garak would have done it himself.
Seeing Garak with the maid was sweet and makes me love him more. He might have a dark past and might have done some dark things in the second episode but there is more to him than just that dark past and Mila was a piece of that. Hell he even went back for Tain when shit went down but Tain was too far gone to notice. I love Odo knocking him over the head to get him out of them. Judging by Bashirs reaction I’m going to assume the gayest reading of it and say he appreciated the knock of his head too.
On the other side of this coin, I love it when Captains/Commanders ignore all orders from Starfleet and do the thing that they know is the *right* choice. Sisko completely disregarding things and going after Odo was perfect. I don’t necessarily agree with how he handled the sabotage from the one officer but even then it was done with such grace I couldn’t argue with it too much.
8/10 for both of them
E22 - Explorers
I hate his facial hair. Lol
I have always loved the idea of solar sails so it was interesting to hear about Bajorian tech and how they might have done the original trek with them.
The bonding moments between Jake and Sisko were sweet as always and I love how easily they communicate even when its clear it *isn’t* easy.
I’m also super proud of Jake for getting into the writing school cause damn that is an achievement. I am a little upset that he’s putting it off for a year cause I’m worried (from an aspiring writing) that he’ll talk himself out of it but that’s just my own brain screaming at me.
It feels silly but when Dukat showed up with the Welcome call at the end and the “sudden discovery” of a crash site plus some fireworks, it made me a bit teary eyed. It was a sweet thing, even if Dukat wasn’t trying to be.
On the flip side, Bashirs whole story line was awkward and weird. He’s always been so smooth with literally every other woman, even if he doesn’t manage to get anywhere, he’s never hesitated but suddenly he has second thoughts? It was strange. That said, his moments with Miles where fun. I don’t want them to be drunk all the time but their time together was silly and a much needed break for the two of them.
I will admit to being bored for some of the episode but it was a fun one so it was hard to rate it.I kept going back and forth, wondering if I should give it something higher but I’m settling on a middling one cause I did check out a few times.
6.5/10
#star trek#star trek ds9#ds9#watchalong#ds9 bashir#star trek deep space nine#i love them#ds9 garak#garak x bashir
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SIIIGH it is star trek update time. last night we watched tng's "preemptive strike" and ds9's "the collaborator."
preemptive strike (tng):
well well well, if it isn't picard racially profiling more bajoran women. because that went SO well for him last time
yes it was also because of her "training" or whatever but like. it was because she was bajoran
rough time w this episode because picard was being awful to ro the whole time and it's so clear she loves him and cares about his opinion SO MUCH! but ro herself was amazing. i literally was cheering for her to defect the entire time and she finally did and i was SO HAPPY girl get her off that spaceship
on the other hand, it sucks that all her life is about the cardassians. she either is oppressed by them or fights them and she doesn't ever really get to break free of that ever. i guess it's better than serving under picard but :/
i looked up why she wears her earring on the other side and apparently it's to keep vedeks from feeling her pagh ie she's an atheist. queen.
did NOT like the section where she and picard had to pretend to be making out. her also fr making out with that other rando was gross. like, they put her in this situation, and she immediately has to pull a captain kirk and start using her body/sex as a tool in her arsenal.
icing on the shit cake is sending riker out with her to make sure she stays loyal when riker was the most skeptical of her at first and even made her TAKE OFF HER EARRING. he calmed down eventually and he was really nice to her here (and his outfit did slay) but that's still adding insult to injury
the collaborator: (ds9):
the emotional rollercoaster this one sent me on.
i hate vedek winn with a passion reserved for people who hate fictional characters because they've known people exactly like that in real life. the way she's like no i am nice and kind YOU are the mean evil one for always being so angry :) makes me homicidal. every religious south carolinian ever. so initially i was like "bitch shut up we all know youre framing his ass"
EVEN THOUGH I ALSO DON'T LIKE. BAREIL. it's a tough life i lead
i thought kira's orb vision where they were naked together was REALLY creepy*, and i was extremely disgusted when they fucked in whatever episode that was, so him and her fucking for a good section was like. gross.
*possibly this vision was supposed to be sexy instead, but i never stopped seeing him as slightly predatory after this
anyway, then i was like, i don't want winn to be kai because she sucks so bad, but it would be cool if he did it because then he and kira will break up! and kira can get back to having no romance whatsoever with odo until like season one million, but i'm a patient woman and i can wait.
IMAGINE MY SHOCK when kira was like talking about her problems to odo, who had alerted her to the prisoner being moved JUST as a consideration, and was doing all these data lookups for her JUST to be nice, and she goes "i love him" and his approximation of a head snaps up like it's on an approximation of a string
LIKE. HELLO??? WE'RE ONLY IN SEASON 2????? i got the impression they didn't get together until WAY late in the show and this is pretty direct confirmation that despite his very loudly objecting to the idea of romance in general he is ALREADY CARRYING THE TORCH........perhaps has been for some time?? me pointing to the ds9 soup hey is there PINING in this?????
i really hope kira/odo is good when it happens. i'll be so sad if it happens but it's bad. in my mind palace it's amazing. not that i don't love odo and quark, but quark has yet to connect with my psyche on a deeper level and odo and kira live in there rent free with sisko and julian bashir.
anyway, the plot twist about kai opaka was really REALLY good an unexpected, kira was FANTASTIC in this ep, and of course i'm insane about odo pining, but ultimately this is a bust bc we got the absolute worst of both worlds: winn is kai, AND kira and bareil don't break up. i was LIVID.
i then looked up to see when/if winn and bareil die and was relieved to discover he dies soon but she lives until the finale 😒 fuck offffff
TONIGHT: the SERIES FINALE of tng!!!! our suffering is almost over.......
#personal#star trek blogging#tng lb#ds9 lb#i know we have 4 tng movies but theyre all spread apart and two of them are supposed to be good#i'm not looking forward to the first one.
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here is a star trek ask!! if we could have gotten a ds9 episode focused on kasidy yates, what would you have liked to see? do you have any headcanons about her that you would like to share?
Ahh thank you for asking me about Kasidy specifically, I adore her & talking about her! (And thank you @everyone who sent me asks in general, I was not expecting this many and I actually got to split the distraction material across a couple of rough days so yay🤗)
First of all I NEED to know what it was like on Kasidy's freighter. She is literally the captain of her own crew!! And she was already working in the Bajoran sector before she met the Sisko fam, so I imagine she had Bajoran crew members (within the Maquis majority). On the show, after she's caught in 'For the Cause', she drops her crew off with the Maquis & takes responsibility for all their crimes- I don't know if this makes them wanted criminals in the Federation or completely off the hook lol, but either way, getting back to work mid-s5 must've been crazy! And since she's working for the Bajorans now, even if she did get back a lot of her old crew, I personally hc that her new crew has a Bajoran majority. And Kasidy doesn't seem overly fond of Bajoran religion or their more rigid traditions (though in my view, this is coloured by the way it gets in the way of Ben's life and her privacy), so I would've loved a further exploration of that- especially given how she eventually decides to settle on their planet.
And obviously there should've been an episode with her and Jake! He's the one who befriended her first after all, and he liked her so much he instantly tried to set her up with his dad. That sounds like a very precious relationship that happened almost entirely offscreen! So best of both worlds, maybe somewhere around S5 she takes Jake along on a cargo run- just a fun little bonding trip- and whoopsies, they run into some troubles. This would be after the Cardassia-Dominion alliance, so maybe they get tractor beam'd by some desperate Maquis now being hunted to extinction by Cardassian patrols- and of course, Kasidy's old sympathies for them arise. But it's also a big "oh shit" moment for her, because this time JAKE IS HERE. She already feels like her relationship with Ben is on thin ice after her time in prison; now she's endangered his son! And maybe this also brings out some of the pro-Maquis, We Doubt The Emissary takes among her crew as well, and… while she objects to them publicly, she clearly is still conflicted. Jake is taking all of this in his stride though, this happened to him once already in 'Nor the Battle' so now he's just whatever about it, straight up interviewing Maquis and putting together this comprehensive document of their dreams & goals- maybe he even starts sympathising with their position! Kasidy is low key horrified at the implications of this, but because she is unapologetic by nature, she doesn't exactly discourage him. Lol
One thing I always wished DS9 explored in more detail is how Ben's rivalry with Eddington changed his views on the Maquis- like in S2, he seems almost understanding of their aims, but by S5 he's barely holding the quadrant together and he's had enough of the Maquis getting in the way of his political plays. There's this fascinating thought mechanism at work here- are the Maquis' original demands less valid now that surrounding situations have rendered them trivial (to someone like Ben, at least)? Is their struggle less valid for being represented by someone like Eddington, rather than literally anyone more sympathetic? Jake even wrote a Maquis-themed short story a couple seasons ago iirc- what would it mean for Ben, to hear his son actually got caught up in one? This would have made the more personal nature of his anger in 'For the Uniform' make more sense to me. But ultimately, the episode would still be completely focused on Kasidy (and Jake), and a further exploration of her attitudes towards her job and all her decisions.
And maybe she and Jake get to talk a bit more about the events of 'Rapture', so we get to see Kasidy beginning to feel more responsible for him. Maybe she actually promises him she'll be around if anything happens to Ben. The transition between Jake being her boyfriend's kid to Jake being family, basically. Ahh the possibilities!
I also think we should've seen her interact more with Jadzia. And Kira. (This is possibly because I ship Kasidy/Kira a fair bit lol). Maybe a S7 episode? I always felt that 'Prodigal Daughter' would've flowed better if it had a B-plot; maybe there could've been a similar thread with Kasidy going to visit her family during the war? Or maybe they visit the station. I would've loved to have met her brothers! There could've been a really interesting contrast there, with the warmth of her family vs Ezri's- though, they are not entirely devoid of conflict either. Maybe they disapprove of how serious things are getting with Ben, and they have their doubts over whether a man who is literally a religious figure in Bajoran society will prioritise her- and again, she defends him, but she can't quite fully disagree. This would've made her willingness to just completely walk away in 'TDDUP' hit harder too (for me at least).
There's also this huge three-month period where Ben and Jake were away on Earth and the Bajoran wormhole was closed. What was Kasidy doing at this time? Her cargo runs, obviously- but, how is she supposed to balance that with her growing concerns about Ben, and the demoralisation of her Bajoran crew? (Again- she's a captain- she must be thinking about this kind of stuff all the time!) So maybe early in s7, Kira invites her to the shrine one day- and she touches something and has a series of non-linear dreams that don't seem to make much sense, but in hindsight, they actually foreshadowed the trajectory of her relationship with Ben and his eventual disappearance completely? Idkkkk again these are all boiling down to foreshadowing the ending better while giving Kasidy (and her relationship to that loss) more focus haha
As for headcanons, I firmly believe she is one of those 24th century humans who has never been to Earth (or at least, hasn't spent much time there). One or both of her parents was probably a freighter captain and Kasidy basically grew up in space :)
#this turned out humongous I'm so sorry#but tysm for the ask & all your kind words friend!! <3#ask game
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Saw a post a while back about favourite and least favourite bits of star trek and I wanted to join in. So here's my two cents :
Original Star Trek
Favourite: Spock. Bones. Scotty. Uhura. Kirk. Chapel. Sulu. Chekov. EVERYONE. The sets. The lighting. The camp. The blatant homoeroticism. The do or die for each other crew. That time they found an alien that was just a pomeranian wearing fancy headgear. The fact that every episode is self contained and ends with a little bit where everyone stands around the conn and chats. Leonard Nimoy. Sulu with a sword. Sulu the rest of the time.EVERYONE. This is my favourite trek, and the one I return to over and over again. First trek is best trek.The bell bottom trousers and cuban heel knee high boots. More kinky boots, modern trek, d'ya hear me? More kinky boots.
Least favourite: When the show reveals how terribly it can abandon everything that makes it good. Of all the episodes, there's about a third I just cannot watch. Times where they fill it full of weird christian metaphor.
TNG
Favourite: Geordie and Data. And Spot. I keep trying to watch this but I've only ever seen A Fistful of Datas. IT was great. And horribly horribly slow. (oh. And one where Picard chases bandits through the ship armed only with a saddle and while dodging a laser car wash. That one was great. Except for when I rewatched this as an adult. When it was horrifying.)
Least favourite: Invented the holodeck which gets used too much later and which always confuses me. Can't watch holodeck episodes without obsessing over how it works. Everything is carpeted and it panics me. Why are there wall to wall carpets in the future. In high traffic areas. Also it was genrerally too slow and difficult to watch. And whil I love Hornblower I have a headmaster nor a Naval Captain fetish, so Picard never does it for me.
DS9
Favourites: Everyone. Everyone together. I want Sisko to be my dad. Or my friend. Or my Captain. All of the above. Julian Bashir trans icon. Jadzia Dax trans icon. Everyone is poly and queer. Ferengi episodes. Kira Nerys lesbian energy. Every 36 hours I turn into a liquid. I can swim. The whole Odo marrying Lwxwna episode. Our Man Bashir. He was more than a hero. He was a Union Man. It's written all over his back.
Least favourite : When they switched to serialised I do struggle to keep watching. Taking away Kira's butch haircut and stompy boots. Show never recovered from that. Any time they give Kira a beard. I've never finished the series bc I couldnt face the Julian/parents arc or the Jadzia death/Julian and Ezri thing. When they stopped Andrew Robinson from being on screen with Siddig El Fadil. Any time Dukat got more than a minute airtime. Any executive decision Rick Berman made.
Voyager:
Favourites: Seven of 9. Harry Kim. Janeway. B'elanna. The time they all opereated the French Resistance out of a bar. Stand alone episodes. The time Janeway definitely slept with Amerlia Earhart. The time Janeway ran around in a dirty singlet with a big gun. That episode where they hide the telepaths in the buffers of the transporters to sneak past a moustache twirling villain while Janeway flirts with him like they're both opponent pirate captains with insane homoerotic tension. Ther's coffee in that nebula.
Least favourites: The Doctor. Seven not getting a uniform. Tom Paris any time he's not just Harry Kim's boyfriend. Janeway's inconsistent characterisation. The fact that phages might be a real world last line defence against antibiotic resistance but thanks to voyager it will always terrify me. I've never made it to the end because Tom/B'elanna was too hard to watch and I didn't know how to deal with them actually getting home. Ithink they never should have. Any executiev decision Rick Berman made.
Enterprise:
Favourites: I have seen two episodes and Hoshi Sato has my heart forever. Phlox is great. Tight-wound angry queer british guy can stay too. Travis is great. Theme song is terrible and I love it. It's so incongruent. Sounds like the sort of country song you listen to while committing suicide in the bathtub. Can't stop singing it. The fact that it killed Rick Berman's career.
Least favourite: Everything else. The dog in particular. Why is it there. Why is it soulless. Poor Jolene Blalock. Why are their uniforms so bad. I love a jumpsuit but they didn't colour code them properly! Every executive decision Rick Berman made.
JJ Abrams:
Favourites: Nothing. This is terrible.. If you can't make up you own characters why are you butchering my boys. Go away.
Least Favorites: Trying to remake wrath of Khan (the worst movie with the original cast imo) without even bothering to buiild the relationship that makes us care. Why is he still white? Why are they in a brewery? Why is Pike a hot dad now? He's a wreck of the american masculine heroic ideal who exists as a counterpoint to Kirk. If tumblr wants to make his doomed ass a poor little meow meow fine. JJ Abrams shouldnt put him in his movie. Every exectuive decision they made about women in this movie. Making Sulu gay in massive disrespect to Takei's depiction of him and Takei's own acting skills. Making everyone else straight in the worst possible way. Pretending miniskirts in 2009 meant the same thing as in 1969. Also I stoppped after the first couple because it was starting to feel like self harm. Blue orbs. The fact their chracterisation feels like if you'd never star trek but a cabbie had explained it you once badly, and the fact that literally WAS WHAT HAPPENED
Oh wait. Leonard Nimoy cameo. only good thing.
Discovery.
Favourites: Wanted to love it. Couldn't see what was going on because it was too dark. Everytime I tried in spite of that I fell in love with many parts of it, then they immediately fucked it over. they fucked over a thing I love. Michael Burnham? In jail for unfair reasons. Cap. Georgiou? Dead. Burnham should be Captain, and I think she still isn't. I don't know I couldnt see. Etc etc. Apparently it gets better but It's too serialised to start in the middle.
Least Favourites: Too dark. Bad uniforms (Why would you bring back the ENTERPRISE uniforms of all things?) The fact that klingons are now middle eastern coded so that they still align with the zeitgeist of who we're being xenophobic again right now. (OOHscary FIGHTYculture is Russian. No WAIT black. NO middle eastern. yeah) Jason Isaacs. I liike my villains NOT on the crew. Why does EVERYONE have to be related to Spock
Lower Decks: I don't do this format of cartoons.
Prodigy: I don't do this kind of animation either.
SNW:
Too dark to see. Also stop just redoing the original characters. Make your own. For years now I get excited about new Star Trek and it ALWAYS either too dark to see or animated to see or just about tos characters done badly. At which point I'll just go watch tos. Also remember when Star Trek uniforms actually looked futuristic? Yeah, me too.
Turn the lights back on and maybe we can talk.
#long post#og 4:3#star trek#this makes me painfully aware of how few shows I actually watch all the way through#i have the attention span of a squirrel#wrote this ages ago the found it in my drafts
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Strange New Worlds Season 1 Thoughts & Review
Overall, this show was a pleasant surprise, and I found myself enjoying it more than expected. That being said, while there’s a lot of a promise, I think another season or two is still needed for them to really find their feet -- which is typical for Trek. I also think that while the show’s status as a prequel doesn’t completely drag it down, it does hurt more than it helps.
Spoilers under the cut.
What I Liked
Hands down, the single best element of this series is the fact that it has stand-alone episodes rather than an overarching serialized plot. It’s honestly ridiculous how much difference this makes. You can feel it from the first episode. There’s a greater variety of stories and tones, and it’s easier to focus on the ensemble of characters.
I also really appreciate that the show can just be dumb sometimes. With the exception of Lower Decks (which feels like an outlier), new Trek hasn’t had the opportunity to just be silly and stupid for an episode. But this season had two of them, and they were both a lot of fun.
That being said, the show’s not afraid to go to some dark places as well. But it does so without comprising the overall lighthearted nature of the series. It’s very well-balanced.
The cast is solid. I enjoy most of the characters, and they did a good job of creating a unique balance of people.
Anson Mount is excellent as Pike. We already knew this going on, but it bears repeating. He just has this energy and charisma to him that all the best Trek captains share, and he absolutely carries the show as its lead. He also feels different from other Trek captains we’ve had before -- if I had to compare, I’d say he’s an intriguing mix of Kirk’s charm with Sisko’s intense dad energy.
I didn’t care for Spock in Discovery, and I was convinced that I would hate him in this, too. But the writers and performance gradually won me over. I do think that compared to Nimoy and Quinto, Peck is the weakest of the three, but there’s still some good stuff there. It’s clear that both the actor and the writers respect his character, and are interested in fully exploring the dichotomy between his Human and Vulcan sides.
Chapel grew a lot on me, as well. She doesn’t feel remotely like her TOS counterpart, but considering the original Chapel didn’t have much personality to speak of, I can’t really mind that much. Jess Bush completely made the part her own, and I can respect that.
I adored Celia Rose Gooding as Uhura. I love seeing this younger, less certain version of the character coming into her own.
I enjoyed M’Benga, though I would have liked to see him a bit more.
The opening is great. Awesome visuals and a subtle remix of the TOS theme. Not terribly important in the grand scheme of things, but I still wanted to mention it.
What I Didn’t Like
This show really needed to spread the love a bit more, and make sure that all of their characters got at least a little bit of focus at some point. Bare minimum, one focus episode per main cast member would have been enough, but the season didn’t even do that. Chapel, Hemmer, and Ortegas never received any focus episodes, and the latter especially did not feel remotely fleshed out enough.
Also, I cannot wrap my head around the decision to kill off Hemmer. He was such an interesting character idea, and I love that they cast a blind actor for the part. But after only giving him bit parts in a tiny handful of the season’s episodes, they abruptly killed him off and played it up like we were supposed to be devastated. But we barely know this guy! Apparently the writers only created Hemmer to be part of Uhura’s arc, and I cannot put into words how much I hate that. It’s an absolute waste of a good character, and by far the season’s biggest misstep.
Some episode premises also felt repetitive, and I would rather have seen something brand new than explore the same ideas multiple times. I didn’t need more than one Spock and T’Pring episode, for example. Nor did I need two dark Gorn thrillers. It felt like that was just taking screentime away from fleshing out some other aspects that I wanted to see.
Una (Number One) is kind of a non-character. I think it’s a performance issue tbh -- Rebecca Romijn just doesn’t bring much energy to the part. She has very little presence, usually blending into the background of an episode, and I often just forget that she exists altogether. She doesn’t get much to do either, with her single focus episode being one of the weakest of the entire season.
I also didn’t care for La’an. I didn’t mind her at first, but I found her more grating as the season continued. Everything about her feels a bit forced eventually, and she has an edgy OC quality that I can’t entirely connect with. Also, I don’t understand why they made her a descendant of Khan. It adds nothing to the character or the story, and she would be a perfectly fine character with a different last name.
And in the finale, I did not like Paul Wesley as Kirk. At all. I understand not wanting to do an imitation, and other actors on the show have done well to reimagine classic characters with their own spin. But Kirk still needs to have some charm and life to him, which Wesley simply does not have.
My last complaint might be petty, but whatever. I wish this show wasn’t a prequel. Everything is well-executed, and most of it does fit into the timeline well (unlike Discovery). But I also know deep down that I would enjoy this more if it were all-new characters in an all-new setting, and part of me can’t help but be grumpy that we’re exploring old characters rather than creating new ones.
Episode Quick Thoughts
Since we actually got individual episodes this season, I thought I’d give super quick thoughts on each one of them.
Strange New Worlds -- A solid opener that did a good job introducing us to the main characters and the setting. The premise stretched believability just a tad, but the character arcs landed, and that’s the more important thing in the end.
Children of the Comet -- An excellent episode for developing this version of Uhura, but a fairly meh episode everywhere else. Not bad, just not terribly interesting.
Ghosts of Illyria -- A serviceable infection plot but some weak character moments. They really needed to develop the Illyrians some more (I did not remember them from their single Enterprise appearance), and the final reveal for Una felt very forced.
Memento Mori -- A tense, action heavy episode that somehow managed to make the Gorn intimidating without ever showing them. Fleshing out some of La’an’s backstory worked well, and I particularly enjoyed Spock and La’an’s mindmeld.
Spock Amok -- A stupid one! I loved every second.
Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach -- I did a whole write-up on this one. Basically, I think this episode was put together wrong, and the story should have been rearranged to make the twist happen much sooner, to really force Pike into a true moral dilemma.
The Serene Squall -- A really solid start that ultimately took a nosedive. I loved the pirates taking over the ship, and all the tension there. And then as soon as it turned into yet another Spock and T’Pring story with a teased Chapel love triangle I lost pretty much all interest. Everything about it felt forced, with the extremely stupid Sybok reveal at the end just being the icing on the cake.
The Elysian Kingdom -- Another stupid one! I thoroughly enjoyed this, and it’s clear that the cast was having a grand old time. The ending felt rushed, but that’s my only complaint.
All Those Who Wander -- Another tense Gorn episode, but this one didn’t work for me nearly as well. I was mostly just bored and wondering why it felt like we were doing the same story again. Hemmer’s death also did not land for me, at all.
A Quality of Mercy -- A mixed bag. I really enjoyed the concept of Pike seeing a world where he doesn’t make his sacrifice, but they didn’t really sell the horror of that alternate timeline nearly enough for me. It wound up feeling like a pale copy of Yesterday’s Enterprise. And Kirk’s lifeless portrayal dragged this down for me pretty hard.
#personal#star trek#strange new worlds#snw spoilers#i think this will come right above enterprise in my overall ranking#like it's very average trek#nothing spectacular. nothing terrible. just sort of is#but i think it has the potential to grow into something more
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Star Trek DS9 - First thoughts after the first episode
Might also be the first two? Netflix labels it as a part 1&2 but they are like, connected?
- My DS9 mutuals made me believe that this was a romantic story between Liquid Man and Quark. I am not getting that impression yet. This isn’t a homoerotic slashfic, this is a treatise on politics
- Last time I interacted with Star Trek in any meaningful capacity was at the age of 14 when some obscure German television channel ran dubbed episodes of TNG. I didn’t pick up on it back then but they certainly made some heavy choices in the writing of the Ferengi. I hope I am just imagining things but it feels really bad
- Liquid Man looks like my grandfather on my father’s side. I do not like that. Also, the only major spoilers I have for this show is that he is like a quadrupel agent or something? Don’t know what I think about him
- Xiomara was so goddamn spot on when she said I would love Kira. Exactly the stuff my blorbos are made out of. Firstly, she is hot, and secondly, she is correct; why should the Bajorans shed the Cardassian occupation just to subject themselves to the hegemony of the Federation? The only meaningful difference between the Federation and the Cardassians is that one has intense soft power and the others have hard power. I know this is a Star Trek show so the Federation have to be the good guys and Kira will slowly learn to trust and at the end of the show be in support of the Bajorans joining the Federation. But! If TNG is anything to go on, a third to half of the main cast will inevitably end up with evil clones/models of the same design/parallel universe selfs as the show goes on. Can I get an “evil” alternate universe Kira that blows up Federation Ships and breaks Picard’s nose or something. Please. As a treat.
- Speaking of Picard; I have only watched TNG in German and since then, I have only heard Patrick Stewarts voice as Uriel Septim and (in my memory more importantly) Richard III. So. Uh. Weird. I can’t trust this voice after hearing it speak so many wonderfully evil Shakespearean monologues.
- Speaking of Captains, my goddesses, is Sisko acted well. Genuinely surprised how good he portrays the emotions of a traumatized, grieving man trying to outrun the call of destiny. I am just afraid that your name is one of the first to appear in the intro, good captain; you can’t deny the call, I am afraid. “You exist here” and “It is not linear” got to me.
- Sisko called Worm Lady “old man” and she is now a genderqueer transfem in my mind.
- Genuinely positive reaction to Kira shutting down the doctor for romanticizing “frontier medicine”. I love her. She should be allowed to break more people’s noses. I am not sure if this show will manage to meaningfully address the colonial narratives imbued in the original Star Trek but at least we get that moment.
- O’Brien becoming permanent cast member is nice but! I feel this station could profit from an openly slutty bisexual. Send Riker, too.
- One of my mutuals has Gul Dukat as a pfp and hm. I mean he is as pompous as he is pathetic and could become an interesting character but just like Liquid Man I am not seeing it yet
- Not to be a lesbian but Kira’s nose...
#kass watches DS9#this isn't any serious analysis it's just the thoughts that appeared in my mind#admittedly 90% of my thoughts regarding this episode are wamen... pretty... in regards to Kira and Worm Lady#but I filtered those out for convenience's sake
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So thank you to @sal-absinthii for tagging me in this list of 10 characters in 10 fandoms.
To start off, gotta go with the Big M:
1: Megatron - Transformers (IDW1.0 continuity as the best incarnation to date, but I also really love both the Fall of Cybertron and Prime versions of him too)
At close second is:
2: Fëanor - The Silmarillion (I don’t care what you say, he did nothing wrong cause no one else was trying to stop Morgoth. The Telari should’ve given him those damn boats.)
3: The 8th Doctor - Doctor Who (I tended to waver back and forth on which of the revived Who Doctors were my favorite [not counting 11] while always wondering what the show would’ve been like had the TV movie actually worked at reviving the series in the 90s. But then I found out that Paul McGann and his silky honey voice reprised the role of the 8th Doctor in audio dramas from Big Finish well before the show returned on BBC tv. And yeah, without a doubt 8 is the best Doctor and has phenomenal writing, and also has the honor of being the first Doctor to have a trans companion played by a trans actor in the recently concluded Stranded story arc series of stories. 8’s just the best and always needs a hug cause he’s basically what would happen if you took all of the Doctor’s hope, love, joy, enthusiasm, excitement, and curiosity and made a person out of those emotions.)
4: Jaina Solo - Star Wars (yes, I know she’s not technically part of the current canon anymore but Jaina is just the absolute best and I love her and she deserves the Galaxy. I’m still waiting for them to finally let her book trilogy be uncancelled and get written.)
5: Benjamin Sisko - Star Trek (in the debate of who is the best captain, it always unjustly becomes a Kirk vs Picard kind of thing, but while Picard is indeed better as a captain than Kirk, Picard is the kind of officer you want to serve on while inside the Federation. Once you’re out on the frontier or beyond? You need someone with the flexibility and morality/lives over Starfleet regulations, duty, and honor. Besides, he’s the Space Dad that keeps the DS9 polycule alive cause he’s the only one with a brain cell.)
6: The Rookie - Halo (well before Doom got revived in 2016, Halo had already made a game where your silent protagonist had beautiful characterization purely through his body language alone. Halo 3: ODST is a beautiful game with an amazing environment and a really great player character that you can just feel the loneliness through his body language as he works his way through an alien occupied and dead city trying to find his unit, while also seeing sparks of exasperation and playfulness at times without a single word being spoken. I will never forgive 343 Industries for killing him off in a flashback in a book instead of giving him the sequel we all wanted.)
7: Isaac Clarke - Dead Space (Dead Space is the kind of game I never expected, horror in space while allowing you to live your starship engineer dream. Like, yeah dealing with the terrifying cosmic horror truth of the Necromorphs and Brethren Moons is my kind of story, but I found I really really loved the parts where eternally tired engineer Isaac Clarke comes up with on the fly ways to keep space ships and space stations going and in the sky while fighting hordes of monsters. Especially that 200 year old derelict fleet section where you get to fly through like four or five different ship wrecks getting what things you can turn back online, well, online lol)
8: William Adama - Battlestar Galactica (what more can be said about Commander-turned-Admiral Adama? Sometimes you gotta roll a hard six and he did so every time. Not many people could lead the survivors of humanity through the stars to build a new home and future after a twelve-planet-wide robot induced nuclear apocalypse, but he sure did)
9: Loghain MacTir - Dragon Age (oh boy this is a character. You meet him as the main human antagonist in Dragon Age Origins as you try to unify the nation of Ferelden against the Blight and its Darkspawn hordes. He seems a typical fantasy bad guy human but the more you learn about him the more complex and tragic he becomes. He was once a peasant during the imperial occupation of Ferelden by neighboring Orlais and its fantasy French people, who rose up and joined the rebellion of the deposed prince and helped liberate his homeland from truly barbaric oppression. And that oppression scarred him for life. At one point he had to sacrifice a whole army to rescue said prince, his best friend, but was forced to promise to Maric that he would never again sacrifice an army to save one person not even if that person was a king. This places his retreat from the field of battle at the start of DAO in a different light than what you initially are led to believe. Cause his leaving the field allows for the current king, Cailan, son of the deceased Maric, to die at the hands of the Darkspawn in what was a hopeless battle. Loghain keeping that promise to Maric saves the lives of his part of the army, but is viewed by everyone else after as betrayal of the crown. He also comes to fear that Orlais will return and so instead of fighting the Blight he tries to solidify his regency against a hypothetical return of the imperial occupier. And so he has to be beaten and humiliated by you as you topple him from power less his actions doom the nation. After doing so you have the choice to kill him or recruit him into the Grey Wardens which is a life long sentence of protecting the world from the Darkspawn. If you do that, he returns in the third game as the only Warden not corrupted by the magic of the big bad and who can either sacrifice his life in battle to atone for the Wardens being overcome, or you can sacrifice someone else and keep Loghain alive still so he can continue his penance for what he did in Ferelden during the Blight. You also learn from his daughter that when his wife’s roses died he rode to the other side of the country to buy her a new rose bush but didn’t know how to safely transport it on horseback so he silently held the thorny bush in his bare hands for the whole ride back home, thorns piercing his hands all the way, simply cause he loved his wife and wanted her to have her flowers.)
10: Tali Zorah - Mass Effect (what else is there to say about Tali other than that she is the Space Wife? Nothing else need be said cause that says it all)
Tagging @cblgblog @fantastic-fantasy-fanfics and @thefingerfuckingfemalefury for this.
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