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#ALSO NOG BEST STAR TREK CHARACTER
slippery-domjot-balls · 9 months
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DS9 S4 E11 Homefront & E12 Paradise Lost, slippery thoughts
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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!
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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!
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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
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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I do wish we figured out how the fake changeling blood was created to trap Sisko. Clever girl, Admiral.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Disabled Characters in the Showdown Currently
Notes:
1.) This list is subject to change, so if you see it off a reblog, please check the link to this post here. At some point this will probably stop updating, as we tend to forget to. Before we kick off the showdown there will be another post. Characters are under the cut, the list is currently unorganized, but might get organized later.
2.) If you see a character on here and you want to submit propaganda for them please feel free to, there is no submission limit or character per fandom limit. Here is the link to the submission form. Characters from the prior round of this showdown are fair game except Toph, Toothless and Hiccup. Additionally, most characters from @gay-disabled-characters-showdown are also fair game.
3.) The amount of submissions will not affect how likely a character is to get into the showdown. If you submitted a character and they are not here, we probably just haven’t gotten to verifying your character yet. If it’s been more than 3-4 days since you submitted the character you can shoot us an ask as to why they are not on the list, it might be an error on our part.
4.) When will submissions close? We have no fucking clue. At the earliest sometime October, as we are still working on setting up over @gay-disabled-characters-showdown which is still accepting submissions here. Additionally, as we need to write image descriptions it takes us a ridiculous amount of time to get set up.
5.) If you think a character doesn’t qualify you can send us an ask or leave a comment, and we can show you the explanation we have for the character as to how they count.
7.) If there is a character or media on here you think is problematic you can send us an ask and we will evaluate. That being said it’s not about being the best most perfect representation.
Tougou Mimori- Yuuki Yunna is a Hero
Olivia- Fear and Hunger 2: Termina
Edward Elric- Fullmetal Alchemist
Takashi ‘Shiro’ Shirogane- Voltron: Legendary Defender
Narti- Voltron: Legendary Defender
Shirou Emiya- Fate Stay Night
Red Haired Shanks- One Piece
Neil Watts- To the Moon/ Finding Paradise/ Imposter Factory
Harrowhawk Nonagesimus- The Locked Tomb
Wei Shi London Arelius- Cradle
Clint Barton- Marvel Comics
Barbara Gordon- DC Comics
Anna Tromedlov- Hench
Chirrut Îmwe- Star Wars: Rogue One
Imperator Furiosa- Mad Max: Fury Road
Long John Silver- Muppet Treasure Island
David- Four Weddings and a Funeral
Kaz Brekker- Six of Crows
Wu Zetian- Iron Widow
Cassandra Cain- DC Comics
Entrapta- She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
Bran Stark- A Song of Ice and Fire
Heart- Moonlight Chicken
Wen Kexing- Faraway Wanderers
Hartley Rathaway/Pied Piper- DC Comics
Wen Kexing- Word of Honor
Zhou Zishu- Word of Honor
Baiken- Guilty Gear
Draal the Deadly- Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia
Petra- 1992 Summer Paralympics/ Cobi Troupe cartoon series
Twyla Boogeyman- Monster High
Kaladin Stormblessed- The Stormlight Archive
Nath- 100% Orange Juice/Sora
John D. Cort- Baywatch
Ming-Hua- Avatar: The Legend of Korra
Takane Enomoto (Ene)- Kagerou Project
Sylvette Suede- Tegami Bachi
Sunny- Omori
Basil- Omori
Stone- ONE by Cheesyhfj on YouTube
Parker- Leverage
Eustass Kid- One Piece
Fujitora- One Piece
Nog- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Ashton Greymoore- Critical Role
Geordi La Forge- Star Trek: The Next Generation
Nicholas Benedict- The Mysterious Benedict Society
Hermann Gottlieb- Pacific Rim
Johnny Joestar- JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
Linh Cinder- The Lunar Chronicles
Percy Jackson- Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Genya Safin- Grishaverse
Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, Fire Emblem Three Houses
Wylan Van Eck- Six of Crows
Jesper Fahey- Six of Crows
Havelock Vetinari- Discworld
Stiles Stilinski- Teen Wolf
Charles Xavier- X-Men
Hitori Gotoh- Bocchi the Rock
Vash the Stampede- Trigun
Gintoki Sakata- Gintama
Big Boss- Metal Gear
Black Raisin Cookie- Cookie Run Kingdom
Daan- Fear and Hunger 2: Termina
General Amaya- The Dragon Prince
Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader- Star Wars
Sir Alastair Hammerlock- Borderlands
Alinta- DC Comics
Norma Khan- Dead End: Paranormal Park
George Mullner- Stardew Valley
Rani- Disney Faries
Joey Wilson/Jericho- DC Comics
Pit- Kid Icarus
Chai- Hi-Fi Rush
Sarah Sharpe- The Sea Beast
Gregg Lee- Night in the Woods
Arthur Lester- Malevolent
Kim Kitsuragi- Disco Elysium
Zee- Total Drama Island Reboot
Ignis Scientia- Final Fantasy XV
Komugi- Hunter x Hunter
Cheza- Wolf’s Rain
Maedhros- The Silmarillion
Ballister Boldheart- Nimona
Doom- Mashle: Magic and Muscles
Ianthe Tridentarius- The Locked Tomb
Talbot- Curse Words: Spellcasting for Fun and Prophet
Aka Ashi no Zeff- One Piece
Charlotte Webber/Sun-Spider- Marvel Comics
Zolf Smith- Rusty Quill Gaming podcast
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quasi-normalcy · 1 year
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Best Episodes of Star Trek by season (Revised and Expanded).
TOS:
"The City on the Edge of Forever" - Still probably Trek's best time travel plot. Would have been interesting if there had been more episodes by Harlan Ellison.
"The Trouble with Tribbles" - The fact that it manages to be hilarious and have good commentary about ecology and taking animals out of their natural habitat makes it peak Star Trek.
"Day of the Dove" - Kang is a formidable antagonist, and the commentary about how hatred and violence can seem to feed on themselves and become their own justification is evergreen.
"The Slaver Weapon" - This one's maybe a bit clunkily written, but I like the novelty of adapting Larry Niven's "known space" to Star Trek
TNG:
"Where No One Has Gone Before" - This one does what Star Trek so rarely manages: to make the universe seem huge and mysterious and full of wonders
"The Measure of a Man" - Like the best science fiction, this one takes a novum (the idea of a mechanical man), traces its implications legally, socially, and philosophically, and ends up shedding new light on the human condition. Brilliant.
"The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1" - This one is just an absolute master class in tension-building and enshrines the Borg as one of the greatest villains on television. There has seldom been such a good cliffhanger.
"Family" - What's interesting about this one is, it really doesn't have any science fiction trappings at all; it doesn't need them. Because, by this point, we're all so invested in the characters that we can watch an hour-long story about the captain recovering from trauma. It's also a major turning point in that we see that actions can have lasting consequences on episodic television.
"I, Borg" - Here, we establish a fascinating tension within the Borg: collectively, they're absolutely terrifying; individually, they're as innocent as any entity ever could be. Plus, we just get brilliant performances and a nice little story about not letting trauma lead you to commit evil acts.
"Face of the Enemy" - Troi was mostly ill-used, so it's really nice to see her kicking all kinds of ass here. Also, it gives us Commander Torreth, a character who is noble, virtuous, sympathetic, and heroic, but who is cast as a villain simply because politics place her in opposition to our heroes.
"All Good Things..." - Simply the perfect finale for this series.
DS9:
"Duet" - This is when you knew that Deep Space Nine was going to be a great series. Powerful performances and a great twist at the end.
"The Circle" - Really this is for the entire three-part arc of which this was the middle installment. It's a shame that they stopped focusing on Bajor later in this series, because it's so good here.
"Improbable Cause" - Garak at his most magnificent versus Odo as a great detective. Fantastic.
"Bar Association" - One really must admire an American TV series from the Clinton Administration that would favourably quote the Communist Manifesto.
"In the Cards" - One of Trek's best comedy episodes, and its embedded in such a dark story arc that it really stands out. Nog and Jake accidentally making everyone's lives a little better as they try to do something nice for Sisko.
"In the Pale Moonlight" - Easily the best 'subverting utopia' episode in DS9's run. We see that heroes do not emerge cleanly from war.
"Tacking into the Wind" - This one pays off two arcs--Klingon politics and the Cardassian/Bajoran conflict--that had been building across a decade's worth of stories, and does so brilliantly.
VOY:
"Jetrel" - This is why I have no time tor people who hate Neelix. The character is just heartbreaking here.
"The Thaw" - Probably the most surreal episode Trek has ever done, with a truly chilling (but satisfying) ending.
"Distant Origin" - This one just has a fantastic premise. What if there was a species descended from the Dinosaurs? What if there was a Dinosaur Galileo? Plus, it's so interesting to do a whole episode that's mostly told from the aliens' point of view.
"Living Witness" - This one has everything; action, social commentary, and a nifty little story about how commitment to historical truth is ultimately good for everyone. Possibly the best episode of the franchise overall, honestly.
"Bride of Chaotica!" - Neither the first nor last holodeck episode, but the holodeck episode par excellence; and such a loving tribute to 1930s sci-fi serials.
"Blink of an Eye" - Just a nifty little episode about a planet where time runs quickly. Voyager at its best is just really good sci-fi short stories.
"The Void" - A ship lost and alone, running low on supplies, and needing to make alliances in order to survive. THIS is what Voyager *should* have been like all along
ENT:
"The Andorian Incident" - Gives is one of Enterprise's best characters in Shran, and offers some much needed development for two of Star Trek oldest alie races. I also love that the Vulcans really were in the wrong here.
"The Minefield" - A tense character study for Malcolm Reed which also shows us first contact between Earth and one of Star Trek's best villains.
"The Forgotten" - One thing that Enterprise did better than any other series is how it handled death. Here, we get a nice meditation on grief, plus a deconstruction of the "Redshirt" phenomenon.
"Terra Prime" - What makes this one work so well is that the things that the yobs in Terra Prime are saying about Vulcans sound only slightly more extreme than some of the things that Archer and Trip were saying in the first season. Thus, Enterprise converts one of its worst aspects into an opportunity for growth. Still Trek's best commentary on the alt-right.
DIS:
"Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad" - In the midst of the doom and gloom of the firstvseason, it was mice to see that Trek could still pull off a comedy episode.
"Through the Valley of Shadows" - Pike learns his fate and accepts it nonetheless. Because he's a hero, dammit.
"Unification III" - One of the things that Disco going a thousand years into the future allows is for *really* long-term story arcs to be paid off; here, we find that Vulcans and Romulans have finally merged back into one culture.
"Species Ten-C" - Just a very good science fiction story about learning how to talk to aliens who aren't even remotely human.
PIC:
"The Impossible Box" - Soji's identity finally comes to a head; we get some really nice world building for the Romulans and the XBs; and Picard learns to look at the Borg in a new light.
"Penance" - This episode had what the rest of season 2 so sorely wanted: a plot. Plus, we get a delightful scene between Picard and Q and the first seeds of the magnificent Jurati/Borg Queen pairing. What's not to love?
"No Win Scenario" - This episode had what I loved best about TNG: a bunch of really smart people solving a problem by being clever. Plus, we have Shaw's heartbreaking monologue, Seven being awesome, Riker throwing an asteroid at Vadic, and a nice moment of awe and majesty with the space babies. Also, Jack's stupid mystery box plot had barely started up at this point, so that helps.
LWD:
"No Small Parts" - Where Lower Decks excels is not in expanding the universe, but in deepening it. Here, we get one of the best "not so harmless" moments ever with the return of the Pakleds, some genuinely really impressive space battle scenes, and Boimler finally getting the respect he deserves.
"wej Duj" - What's great about this episode is that it could *only* be done by Lower Decks. Again, we deepen the universe by showing inside views of the Klingon and Vulcan cultures, resolve an ongoing story arc, and get some good gags and character development in as well. And the end-credits gag is absolutely hilarious.
SNW:
"Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus" - We use a holodeck gag to get a genuinely poignant commentary on humanity's search for meaning in the face of death. Plus, I also love the secondary message: it doesn't matter if everyone else hates a piece of media, it's good if it's meaningful to *you*
"Something Borrowed, Something Green" - Backstory for Tendi, the Orions become a top-shelf Alien race, T'Lyn gets some banger lines, and we get Twin Twains
"Children of the Comet" - We get a fascinating premise, a fascinating new alien race, and more character development in one hour than Uhura got in the preceding 56 years.
"Ad Astra Per Aspera" - A nifty and timely courtroom drama that shows us the complications of civil rights cases.
PRO:
"Let Sleeping Borg Lie" - I'm glad that a new generation will grow-up being horrified/fascinated by the Borg. As it should be!
(These ones were a lot harder to pick than the worst ones)
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suekay · 1 year
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24th Century Star Trek characters react to being told they're your favourite characters
(Breaking the Fourth Wall a bit here... )
Jean-Luc, chuckling unconfortably: Hah, uh well yes... I am a role model
Will, giving you that smile: Oh? Do tell me why? Over some drinks maybe?
Data: That is most interesting. I would like to examine your reasoning for coming to this conclusion
Deanna, bemused: As much as I am flattered, I am sensing a strange level of fascination from you which I'm not completely comfortable with.
Geordi: *big contemplative sigh* I...uh...well... That's something
Beverly, amused: Okay, what are you after?
Worf: Why? *thinks* I suppose, you must appreciate and understand the importance of honour. Tell me, are you a warrior on your world?
Guinan, smirking: Okay kid, that's nice.
Pulaski: I don't care
Wesley: Really? Tht's so cool... I mean, uh, thank you
Sisko, bemused: Uh...thanks?
Kira: Uhm, I mean that's nice, thank you...Also a little creepy though, won't lie
Odo: Hmmph (derogatory)
Jadzia, flirtaciously: Oh really, care to tell me why?
Julian: What? Really? Me? Uhm...*thinks*...Well then I'm really rather flattered! Would you care to join me at Quarks for a few drinks or would you care for dinner?
O'Brien: Of all the people living out in space you picked me? The guy who fixes replicators for a living? I mean thanks, but I don't even think my wife would pick me!
Jake: That's so nice of you to say so. I feel bad though because I don't really know anything about you. So if you've got time do you wan't to hang out or grab some food?
Nog: Well I mean, I'm flattered of course... thank you. But in Starfleet we don't play favourites, you shouldn't categorise people like that and box them in.
Quark, laughing: And will your favouritism bring me profit? I think not. And I don't do freebies...nice try though
Rom: I... I.. I mean uh....Um... You... Youmusthavemeconfusediwthsomeoneelse *walks away* *comes back" And...and my son Nog and my wife Leeta are my favourites, they should be yours too!
Garak: My dear... Thank you for the flattery, however it will get you nowhere. I am but a simple tailor and I don't provide discounts to just anyone. Also did Ziyal tell you all about me, or was it the dear Doctor? You definitely haven't spoken to Major Kira or Chief O'Brien, that's for sure!
Ezri: How can I be your favourite? I'm not even sure I'm a whole person yet!
Weyoun, insulted: Odo is standing right there! How dare you disgrace yourself like this...
Dukat: At last, someone on this Federation station has a modicum of common sense. Thank you my dear, I'm sure we will all come to value your perspective on this most important of issues.
Janeway, sceptical: Uhm, well. A captain is only as good her crew, so thank you, I guess.
Chakotay, thoroughly confused: I don't get it
B'Elanna: You don't know a thing about me do you? Well I don't want to be your favourite!
Tom, smirking at your poor taste: I'm flattered, but also very amused. I'm so sorry!
Harry, dumbstruck: Okay?
Kes: That's so sweet of you, thank you!
The Doctor: Well that's only natural I suppose!
Seven: Favouritism is irrelevant.
Tuvok: I fail to see the logic of this exercise.
Neelix: Thank you! You've made my day! And well... If I'm your favourite you couldn't do me a favour could you? You see I'm looking for a taste tester-
Beckett: I'm not even my favourite person on this deck. But I do have my own brand of cool I guess, glad you like it!
Boimler, giggling: Oh my god really? Mariner! I'm this person's favourite! Does this mean I'm cool now?
Tendi: AND YOU'RE MY FAVOURITE TOO! OH THIS IS SO AWESOME, LET'S BE BEST FRIENDS!
Rutherford, happy: Wow! That doesn't make any sense, but okiedokie!
Freeman: Do I look like I care?!
Ransom: What did you do? Come on, no-one on this ship is nice to me unless they've fucked up and they're tring to cover their ass
Shaxs, crying: That means more to me that you'll ever know, thank you so much!
T'Ana: Are you Shaxs? No? Then fuck off
Raffi: Am I supposed to care about your little popularity test?
Soji: I won't lie, this has me confused.
Seven (Picard era): Well that's original. Still irrelevant though but whatever.
Agnes: Oh...Oh I wouldn't pick me as your favourite... I just, nope. Sorry.
Chris, laughing self consciously and in distress: Oh I have to introduce you to my Emergency Holograms...they're gonna love you
Elnor, hugging you: I LOVE YOU TOO!
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warsofasoiaf · 11 months
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I think you said before that Pale Moonlight was your favorite Garak episode. What was your favorite Quark episode?
A lot of Ferengi episodes are panned for good reason, but there are some good ones in there. Little Green Men was probably the most fun Ferengi episode for a whole host of reasons - the set design, good use of screwball comedy, my own love of the Cold War era. The Magnificent Ferengi was another great Ferengi episode, and had a heartwarming moment between Cecily Adams and Iggy Pop. But I don't consider those Quark episodes; there's a difference between Ferengi episodes (which also focus on Rom and/or Nog) and Quark episodes. If we're looking at episodes that really focus on Quark, I think House of Quark is my favorite.
Most Quark episodes are rather formulaic affairs: Quark tries out his latest get-rich-scheme, things escalate beyond Quark's control, hijinks ensue, Quark ends up no better off than he was before. House of Quark starts off the same way, a drunken Klingon named Kozak trips and falls on his own blade while in a struggle with Quark over paying his bloodwine tab. Quark spins a tall tale about how he heroically faced down the Klingon in combat to drive customers to his bar. It doesn't fool Odo, and it probably doesn't fool any of the other regulars either, but plenty of folks would stop by to hear the story and see the novelty that was cowardly Quark boldly facing down a Klingon. This is an episode that is thick with its themes of empathy, honesty, and partnership - the characters do well when they act according to these guidelines, and suffer when they don't.
Quark dishonesty is challenged by D'Ghor, Kozak's brother, who threatens Quark with bloody retaliation. To hear D'Ghor tell it, if Kozak accidentally died, it would be a disgrace, one that mandated Kozak expunge the stain by slaying Quark. Yet if Kozak died at the hands of a superior warrior, it would be a death in honorable combat, one that required no vengeance. Quark, cowed, accepts, maintaining the lie that he slew Kozak in a duel, and D'Ghor leaves, satisfied. Many Star Trek fans would catch on that something is somewhat fishy about this, because Klingons swore oaths of vengeance all the time in response to the deaths of a loved one- it was a major plot point in Worf's arc in The Next Generation against the House of Duras, and Jadzia had to honor Curzon's blood oath against the Albino in Blood Oath in the previous season. Yet Quark, dismissive as he is of Klingon culture, doesn't catch the lie, and so plays into to D'Ghor's scheme.
As is typical for Quark episodes, Quark's schemes come back to bite him. Kozak's widow, Grilka, comes to face down the man who slew her husband in combat, and when she finds that he is a coward in capable of defending himself, she demands the truth. Once Quark confesses, she threatens that he either come with her and use his talent for lies in her service, or be gutted. At knife-point, Quark is tranquilized, abducted, and then learns that Kozak was the disreputable head of a great Klingon house, and now the house has no male heir to lead it. D'Ghor was not Kozak's brother but his rival, and Quark's lies have given him all the ammunition he needs to destroys Grilka's house. Still at knife-point, Grilka forces Quark through an unknown ritual, then suddenly kisses him before spitting in disgust. Quark's zany scheme has its escalation: the bartender has just been part of a Klingon shotgun wedding.
Quark's bizarre marriage to Grilka is not the only marriage in this episode; the Ferengi-Klingon marriage might be a sham, but Miles and Keiko have a real marriage that is going through difficulties in the B-plot. The school had closed down and Keiko was left with little to occupy her free time, starting to feel adrift. Miles tries his best, giving Keiko a romantic dinner and communicating earnestly about how much he loves her. It makes Keiko happy, for the night, but when O'Brien has to work and Keiko is left home, the feelings fade. This is an understated, but powerful scene that really resonates with people that suffer from depression, and those who care for those who suffer from it. Sometimes, things can happen that shake the feeling in the moment, but it returns, creeping in the quiet time afterward, evoking feelings of uselessness and futility, even guilt that loved ones are trying so hard and spending so much effort. O'Brien and Sisko speak frankly about a topic that many people in long-term relationships face: "what do you do when your significant other is unhappy?"
Quark's happiness in his own marriage is irrelevent in the main plot, as Grilka demonstrates before the Klingon High Council that Quark is the new head of her house, as she has wed her husband's killer, as according to D'Ghor, Quark was a superior warrior. Gowron accepts the ritual which buys Grilka time, but she admits that she doesn't quite know what to do next. Quark asks to see the financial ledgers of his new house, and Grilka scoffs. Just as Quark dismissed the Klingon culture, so too was Grilka dismissing the Ferengi way. When Quark's keen eye for finance uncovers D'Ghor's scheme to reduce Kozak's house with finances (the way a Klingon would never do, hence why D'Ghor used the tactic), the show dispenses the characters with their reward - Quark might be able to save his skin, and Grilka might be able to save her house after all. Quark believes he can save himself by acting as a Ferengi and exposing D'Ghor's "un-Klingon" like chicanery. It's still a Ferengi episode, it's still primarily a comedic outing (as seen by the Klingon High Council visibly frustrated and confused as Quark explains the "simple" matter of depreciation and asset assessment), but the comedy is used to augment the episode instead of carrying the burden of filling the hour alone.
Of course, the scheme continues to unravel, as D'Ghor threatens Rom to confess to the whole scheme, and uses it as a pretext to challenge Quark to personal combat. D'Ghor might be cunning in finances, but he reframes the issue in a Klingon way, by accusing Quark of slander and demanding the Klingon method of arbitrating a dispute. Quark knows that he is doomed, and so he plans to flee, and leave Grilka to her fate. Grilka attempts to persuade him to answer in the Klingon way, Rom feels guilty, but Quark won't be dissuaded; he follows the 125th Rule of Acquisition: "You can't make a deal if you're dead."
Miles tries everything he can think of, but in the end, Bashir helps him realize that Keiko is feeling unfulfilled in a way that has nothing to do with their relationship. Keiko loves Miles, but she doesn't feel personally fulfilled with her own life. So Miles does the only thing he knows he can do, he finds a botanical mission that she can go with, and take Molly with her. Miles speaks a powerful line: "this is about you being happy and me knowing that you're not." And likewise, Keiko initially demures, saying that she doesn't want her own professional life to get in the way of their previous promises to each other - Keiko sacrificed a lot for Miles to take on the position at DS9. Miles says that they can make it work, that the sacrifice he's making for her is a testament to the strength of their love for each other. If Odo and Kira at the end of Chimera was about partners doing what they can for each other instead of dwelling on what they can't, Miles and Keiko are about the importance of compromise, communication, and sincerity in a relationship. As a B-plot, it contrasts enough with the main plot to be its own story, but the themes of marriage and understanding resonate strongly that it makes the whole episode very strong.
The climax of the episode comes in the Klingon Council Hall, where Grilka believes that all hope is lost. Quark enters the hall, wearing Klingon robes and carrying a bat'leth, and announces himself: "I am Quark, son of Keldar, and I have come to answer the challenge of D'Ghor, son of whatever." Quark foreshadows how much he has learned of Klingon culture in this simple line. None of the Klingons have ever heard of Keldar, and they really have no reason to have done so. He wasn't even a very good Ferengi as he had no business sense, so by all rights, Quark should omit his name entirely. Instead, Quark stands and proclaims the name in challenge as a Klingon. He states the name as if Keldar was Klingon, and that all assembled should know exactly who he was due to his own great deeds that Quark is legacy thereof. Then he insults D'Ghor, by saying he was the son of "whatever," a pointed insult that renders D'Ghors lineage not only unworthy of recognition, but not even sapient. Quark stands with his bat'leth, but before the duel begins, he tosses it aside, and castigates the Klingons - they know that Quark is physically incapable of fighting D'Ghor, but they cannot condone him simply being murdered. The Klingons created a fiction, just as Quark did earlier in the episode, to satisfy their own personal needs, and Quark refused to allow it. If D'Ghor wanted to rise to the Klingon High Council, he would have to do it through the murder of an unarmed man, without honor or glory. Quark kneels, presenting his own head to be severed ala the Green Knight from Arthurian legend, and when D'Ghor accepts, Quark doesn't flinch. Gowron sees the truth, D'Ghor would stoop to anything in the pursuit of power, while Quark bravely faced his own death with eyes open and heart steeled, almost as if had said: "It is a good day to die."
With that, the lessons of the episode are learned, and the protagonists victorious. D'Ghor is discommended, and is not even afforded the dignity that Worf held when he faced his own shunning in Sins of the Father. Gowron commends Quark on his bravery, and Grilka offers Quark a boon. When he asks for a divorce to gracefully exit from this scheme, Grilka grants it, slapping him and spitting before kissing him. During the marriage ceremony, she kissed him and spat - the kiss was clearly ritual while the spit was her true feelings. This time, the spit is ritual while the kiss is genuine, Quark has grown and become a greater person due to his bravery. Quark ends the episode with the bar facing reduced customers yet again, but Rom asks him to tell the story about how he faced down D'Ghor again - he has respect, earned sincerely, through his deeds. It's not latinum, but it is something he didn't have, and it's something he wanted. The 109th Rule of Acquisition might state: dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack, but as seen later in The Magnificent Ferengi, that empty sack is full of something deeply desirable.
Thanks for the question, Anon.
SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King
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sshbpodcast · 1 month
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Character Spotlight: Benjamin Sisko
By Ames
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We’ve segued so smoothly into Deep Space Nine for our character spotlights here on A Star to Steer Her By that you didn’t even notice it. Thank you, Worf. So this week we’re doing an in-depth look at one of the more complex lead characters of a Trek series, Benjamin Lafayette Sisko. He might be the leader who gets tested the most out of any of our main stars, and he makes probably the most wide-ranging decisions – though typically that decision is “let’s see how this goes.”
From first contacts with the Gamma Quadrant, to yet another standoff with Klingons, to full blown Dominion War, to whatever was going on with the wormhole aliens, Ben’s got a long list of moments for us to consider. So grab yourself a bowl of jambalaya, hop in your solar sail ship, and maybe get a little war crimes as a treat! Scroll on below for our Sisko spotlight and listen to a ton of spare moments on this week’s podcast (jump through the wormhole to 1:04:00). Ow!
[Images © CBS/Paramount]
Best moments
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There’s no hurry Our first contact with beings from the Gamma Quadrant is also DS9’s first breaking of the Prime Directive. In “Captive Pursuit,” Miles is trying desperately to save Tosk from his hunters and Sisko is doing his best to technically stay within the rules, and it’s a rare success of doing both. Telling Odo to take his time in apprehending O’Brien shows that Sisko is coming from a place of real morality.
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Find something you love, then do it the best you can We could name great moments between Ben and his son all day, but there’s more to our list than that, so let’s sum things up with a perfectly pure moment of excellent parenting from “Shadowplay.” Sisko is immediately accepting of Jake not wanting to follow in his footsteps and join Starfleet, and melts our hearts. Doing something he loves and being true to himself is far more important than legacy.
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Cardassians love cosmetic surgery Appropriately, we watched Enterprise’s “Judgment” on the podcast this week and spent most it comparing it to The Undiscovered Country and “Tribunal.” When O’Brien is on trial in Cardassian kangaroo court and his lawyer is doing nothing to defend him, Sisko walks in with an undercover Cardassian spy in tow and wins the whole thing without saying a word. Like a badass.
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Humans used to be a lot worse than the Ferengi We brought this up last week in our Worf chat too, but there’s a general racism towards the Ferengi all through Deep Space Nine. Quark calls Sisko out for it in “The Jem’Hadar” when Sisko and he are butting heads, and by the end of the episode, Sisko has seen Quark in a new light and refuses to leave him behind because Sisko got over some his prejudice (at least a little bit).
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I’ll see that you get that chance Speaking of that prejudice against our lobed friends, everyone and their moogie is dubious when Nog claims he wants to join Starfleet in “Heart of Stone,” which would be a first for a Ferengi. But when Nog tells Sisko that he’s serious and looking for a life that will earn him real respect, the commander takes him at his word and vouches for him, putting in motion one of the best character arcs in Trek.
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Some taboos are made to be broken Throughout the series, the relationships between characters are probably the strongest in Trek, and a true highlight is watching Sisko with his old/new friend Jadzia Dax. It’s such a beautiful scene in the equally beautiful “Rejoined” when Ben tells her that he’d still support her if she decides to break Trill taboo and hook back up with Lenara Khan. He’s that good a friend.
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Don’t you see, Admiral? You’re fighting the wrong war. Around season 4, the show really tests Sisko with some ethical conundrums during the Dominion War. This is one he passes with flying colors. In “Paradise Lost,” Sisko is able to see his old mentor and silver medal winner from Jake’s Evil Admirals list, James Leyton, for what he really is: a megalomaniac who uses the Changeling threat as an excuse to incite a coup. Until Ben steps in!
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Presenting the newest honoree in the Order of the Bat’leth It takes a certain level of crazy to think you can infiltrate the best warriors the Klingons have to offer, and luck for us, Captain Sisko is just that level of crazy. Avery Brooks seems oddly at home portraying a blood-thirsty Klingon being inducted into the Order of the Bat’leth in “Apocalypse Rising,” and even better, he and Odo (mostly Odo) expose Changeling Martok!
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Don’t let Bajor in the Federation! We say it all the time on the podcast and today is no different: Bajor is NOT ready for Federation membership, no matter what Picard says. So when Sisko goes fully nuts after getting zapped by a plinth in “Rapture” and crashes the Federation membership ruling, we are fully supportive of his absolute batshit meddling. And ya know what, it works out for Bajor because of it!
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Sisko, you’re baby crazy Any time Sisko is with a baby is truly joyful. This from a podcast of self-professed non-baby people. But this man’s mirth is so pure we’ve got to give it to him. Avery Brooks isn’t even acting in “Children of Time” when he dandles that baby, or in “The Abandoned” when he’s nostalgic about Jake as a baby, or in “Heart of Stone” when he’s delighted that Vilixpran is budding. This man just loves babies.
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Let’s pretend that the Major’s not even here… By season 6, Gul Dukat is at his lowest point – he’s lost the station, his daughter is dead, and he’s more nuts than Ben in “Rapture”! And Captain Sisko plays him like a fiddle! “Waltz” is such an amazing showcase of acting talent, with Avery Brooks and Marc Alaimo bouncing off each other like pros. Sisko pushes his Cardassian counterpart over the edge and survives the cave of madness, some-freaking-how!
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The Emissary has completed his task Sisko’s final action in this corporeal plane is also the climax of the whole series, culminating the wormhole alien plot that was started at the very beginning. And while we may whine that the Kosst Amojen plotline in “What We Leave Behind” felt rushed at the end, we have to admit that it’s cathartic to have the Emissary make a huge sacrifice to take out the pah-wraiths in the series finale.
Worst moments
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This is how you hold a grudge Interestingly, the first taste we get of the jambalaya-slinging commander is him being bitter and fickle in the series premiere, “Emissary.” The show immediately introduces him being a dick to Picard, stewing with rage over Locutus’s part in the Battle at Wolf 359 (as if Picard had any control of that!). He also clearly doesn’t want to be in command of the station, starting him off with character conflict that the series will build on.
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If I hear of you hanging around with him… Continuing our running gag that the only alien species the show seems to think it’s okay to be racist against is the Ferengi we brought up last week with Worf, we see more instances of it from Sisko early in season one in “A Man Alone.” When Ben basically tells Jake to not hang around with Nog anymore, it’s flavored with that anti-Ferengi racism we’re sadly accustomed to.
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When in the Mirror Universe, do as the Mirror Universe people do We have a lot of issues with how DS9 trots out the mirror universe all the time, and it’s at its most uncomfortable when Sisko goes over there and sleeps with his friends’ counterparts in “Through the Looking Glass.” Sure, there’s not much you can do when Intendant Kira sets her sights on you, but it’s simply wrong to take advantage of Mirror Jadzia, regardless of how hot she is.
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Abusing your power is so romantic Sisko is so blinded by love in “For the Cause” that he ignores all the signs that his girlfriend Kasidy has been aiding the Maquis. And then Ben abuses his power as commander of the station to get her out of an inspection when she bats her eyes at him, which is straight-up unethical. As we’ll see, Sisko tends to make terrible decisions when the Maquis are involved…
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Red – the blood of angry men Arguably the most immoral acts that Sisko commits are the war crimes in “For the Uniform.” Even after Starfleet tries to take him off the Maquis assignment, Sisko’s obsession with taking out Eddington has gotten so personal that it clouds ALL his judgment. If we gave Picard grief about removing the residents of Dorvan V, then we’ve got to rake Sisko over the coals for POISONING A PLANET and relocating more people!
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Prophets, take the wheel! Half our Worst Moments come from the last two seasons when Sisko is tested more than any other Trek captain due to the Dominion War. And so often, he chooses the messed up response. I am still trying to figure out his Hail Mary play in “Sacrifice of Angels” when he flies headlong into the wormhole against thousands of ships and ends up asking the wormhole aliens to do a literal deus ex machina for him. Leeeeroy! Jennnnkins!
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What’s a better response to a “Yo Mama” joke than this? I shat on this one in our time travel post, but Sisko using his status as Emissary to let Kira play with the Orb of Time in “Wrongs Darker than Death or Night” because Dukat banged her mom and then gabbed to her about it is absolutely incompetent of him! Why anyone has access to that thing is incomprehensible because it just begs for time shenanigans!
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I can live with it… because Vreenak can’t Arguably one of Deep Space Nine’s best episodes, “In the Pale Moonlight” forces Sisko to make the hardest decision a Starfleet officer has to make – and he jumps at the chance to pick the option involving committing more war crimes. While it is a huge benefit to get the Romulans on your side, Sisko knowingly accomplishes this through lies, counterfeiting, bribery, murder, and most damning of all: enlisting the help of Elim Garak!
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Sisko SMASH! Here’s another instance when Ben abuses his power, this time in order to get access to an ancient artifact from Bajor in “The Reckoning.” And what does the Emissary do once he’s borrowed the tablet without asking permission, promising to take good care of it and that he’ll return it first thing in the morning? He destroys it utterly in a fit of rage, releasing some spirits that nearly gets Jake and Kira killed.
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Pick a lane, Ben I will always give Sisko guff about this. In “Accession,” he has accepted his role as Emissary to the prophets while he’s already serving as commander of Deep Space Nine, and frankly, Ben, you can’t be both! It’s a HUGE conflict of interest. In “Tears of the Prophets,” Admiral Ross gives him some hell for this when he’s torn between the Prophets and Starfleet, and he’s right! Step down!
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You’re outta here! “Take Me Out to the Holosuite" is a polarizing episode that fans either love or hate (even your SSHB hosts are mixed!), but you’ve got to admit: Sisko is a terrible baseball coach! He forces all of this senior staff to play a baseball game in the middle of wartime, cancels his girlfriend’s shipments to make her to play too, kicks Rom off the team, gets obsessively competitive about it, and then gets himself thrown out anyway! How many strikes was that?
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They warned you that marrying me would bring you sorrow Finally, we are still cross with Sisko for knocking up Kasidy. In “The Dogs of War,” Kasidy tells him she’s pregnant because he forgot to take his contraception, even though Bashir is constantly reminding him! This is a world in which having children should always be a choice because future contraceptives are basically magic, AND he’s been told that he’s basically cursed, so take your damn meds, jackwit.
Well, we can live with it. We can live with it. We’ve also got more DS9 character spotlights on the way if you keep watching this blog, more Enterprise watch-throughs on the way if you keep listening to us on SoundCloud or wherever you podcast, and more announcements from Ops over on Facebook and Twitter. Computer, erase that entire personal log.
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animentality · 11 months
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Being a mega hardcore delusional ds9 fan is hard because while you hate that official star trek shits so much on ds9 and never references it ever, you're also safe from the agony that is modern trek's mutilation of beloved characters.
Like sure, they haven't brought back any ds9 character BUT look at what they did to Icheb.
I would never want to see Nog get his other leg sawn off for shock value.
I'd rather have nothing than a bloody eyeball being tossed in ten forward.
Ds9 is safe because no one on earth remembers it exists but me because I'm from the timeline where ds9 was lauded as the best star trek ever.
It sucks in your timeline, but it's better than the alternative. Don't touch my Julian or my Miles or my hideous son Garak.
They are safe, trapped in the past.
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gutsfics · 10 months
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Top 9 Shows
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i was tagged by @inlocusmads at the begining of the month and then. promptly forgot about it.
anyway i tried to do a mix of live action and animated shows even though i watch more animated shows bc i didn't want to look too much like a child
Santa Clarita Diet - this show is for the bisexuals fr. Shelia and Joel are total couple goals. Netflix is cowards for canceling it
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - there's an episode where Quark, Rom, and Nog accidentally get sent back in time and become the Roswell Aliens and Quark tries to convince the humans to do even more capitalism than they were already doing, and its called Little Green Men. Show of all time.
Rise of the TMNT - the best TMNT show (imo) soley for the fact the turtles actually have different designs for once. also its insanely beautifully animated and really funny. also fun fact but Mikey's voice in this (done by Brandon Mychal Smith) is my voice claim for Devi.
The Muppets (2015) - my favorite show about making a show, and hands down the best Muppets show to come out of the last decade. which is like an insanely low bar bc they've been doing a steady nosedive since Disney bought them. BUT. honestly this is how a modern Muppets show should be done. compared to other modren Muppets shows, theres so much energy. i wish Up Late With Miss Piggy was a real show
Gravity Falls - i love when a show has exactly enough episodes to tell the story it wants to tell and doesn't get cut short or run on for too long. also Alex Hirsch faking screenshots of Fiddleford writing the journals was genious and every showrunner should do stuff like that instead of changing the plot bc the fans found out what was going on a season early. theres this shit called forshadowing, and it's good if your audience can pick up on it
Community - one of my binge shows for when i don't feel like doing something else or watching something new. i usually stick to the first 3 seasons though. Shirley is the best character and i wish the writers knew what to do with her more often. there was so much going for her and the writers just dropped the ball so hard
Bojack Horseman - my other binge show and my second favorite show about making a show (and movies). it's not often that a character's arc ends with them gaining weight, as a sign of healing or otherwise, so Diane holds a really special place in my heart, especially bc there isnt a single joke about Diane's weight gain at her expence. also Todd is best boy.
Breaking Bad - Jesse Pinkman my beloved
Invader Zim - i was actually born the same year this. when i was old enough to actually watch the reruns, i was terrified of it. now its my favorite show. i have a gir hoodie :3
tagging @raytaku @lame-kid-on-couch @enki-ankarian @mydemonsdrivealimo
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abriefingwithmichael · 9 months
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“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” s6e10 (1997)
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The Magnificent Ferengi, written by Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler.
"A child, a moron, a failure, and a psychopath. Quite a little team you've put together!"
Very funny episode. It also provides plenty of thrills, some action and several nice character moments. For Quark and Nog, mostly. Rom, meanwhile, is hilarious in all his scenes. Particularly when the prisoner is first brought aboard the ship, and Rom cheerfully begins to conduct polite introductions.
Iggy Pop guest stars. And is brilliant.
According to IMDb users, this is 36th best episode.
My 764th episode of Star Trek, out of 888.
9/10
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attiredpan · 1 year
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Vibe assigning the ghouls of Ghost to Star Trek characters(FT.OC): DS9 Teens
Jake - Mountain, Earth Ghoul
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•Tol boi
•Assumed Braincell Holder™️
•Writes
•Earthy Boi™️
Nog - Aether, Quintessence Ghoul
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•Has reading glasses, I just know it
•The Responsible One™️
•A very buff boi
•Gives Best Hugs Ever™️
(OC)Amy - Rain, Water Ghoul
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•Generally shy, but opens up and gets more confident around trusted friends
•True Braincell Holder™️
•Needs background noise to sleep
•Cries during Life Eternal/Living Best Life™️ during From The Pinnacle To The Pit
Ziyal - Cirrus, Air Ghoulette
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•👑QUEEN👑
•Mom Friend™️
•Sweetheart™️, cares so much about everyone
•Also simultaneously feral
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sallytwo · 2 years
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NOGGIE
sigh.
favorite thing about them: well everyone has heard me say it before. but his idealism and gung ho attitude and enthusiasm for starfleet. and also just everything about him. ITS FUCKING NOGGIE MAN. least favorite thing about them: i dont think ive ever been annoyed at nog ever once while watching ds9. ever brOTP: JAKEY!!! HIS BEST FRIEND EVER!!! his friendship with obrien is also so good. OTP: sigh none. sorry but his character arc... doesn't need that. lol. nOTP: idk i don't have one. he only gets shipped with jake which is cute but also like... it's all people talk about when discussing the two of them. cant two boys just be friends.. random headcanon: that him and harry were academy friends ofcourse ^_^ i don't think they were besties besties but i think they hung out a bit... unpopular opinion: well i do think dear noggie would go onto being an excellent captain. however everything in ds9... it doesn't make sense to be like "he got 1 million promotions and was made captain in one month :)". it makes more sense he would stick around the station for awhile and stay as a lower ranking officer just.. like learning how to exist as an officer OUTSIDE of war. because his entire career has been stained by the dominion he has no clue how to exist outside that. and then a few years down the line i think he would eventuallyre be ready to be in command positions.. and he would be the best captain in all of star trek EVER!! song i associate with them: well. as we just saw. 1937 state park car seat headrest.. favorite picture of them: i really like this one EVIL nog of EVIL
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harpothemarx · 1 year
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hey so I'm interested in starting DS9, do you have recommendations for how to get into it? is it like a "start from ep 1" thing or are there litmus-test episodes like "if you don't like S4E12 you won't like DS9" kind of thing?
Hey anon! Thanks for the question 💜
I definitely think it depends on you and how you want to watch it. For me personally, I had only ever watched TNG and TOS before I started DS9 and wanted to know if I was gonna like these characters before I committed to watching all 7 seasons, so I looked up what the best episodes were and watched them first, then I started the series from the beginning once I knew I liked it. But I know lots of people started the show on the first episode and watched it all chronologically and still loved it. It's just personal preference (it also helps that the first two episodes are some of the best episodes in the series)
If you're ready to just jump in and start on the first episode then awesome, but if you're wanting to test the waters a bit and see if you like the characters then here's some of my favorite character focused episodes from the earlier seasons (be warned that these episodes will spoil major plot points in the show and/or have stuff that you won't really be able to fully understand without context):
S1E3 Past Prologue (the episode where Garak is introduced and the Garashir ship started. Also a great Kira episode)
S1E18 Dramatis Personae (not really a character focused episode but it does further Kira and Sisko's friendship, and also has some really fun and different performances from the rest of the crew)
S1E19 Duet (a Kira focused episode and really one of the best episodes of Star Trek ever)
S2E5 Cardassians (a great Garak and Bashir episode that shows some of the real tragedies of the Cardassian occupation of Bajor, and also has somewhat of a sidestory where O'Brien faces some of his prejudices)
S2E7 Rules of Acquisition (a Quark centric episode that explores Ferengi culture)
S2E12 The Alternate (an Odo episode that explores his past)
S2E14 Armageddon Game (a Bashir and O'Brien episode that explores their relationship a bit more)
S2E22 The Wire (a really great Garak and Bashir episode that goves some insight into Garak and explores their relationship, and honestly the best episode of DS9)
S2E23 Crossover (a Kira episode and also somewhat of a Bashir one, and the first Mirror universe episode of the series)
S3E4 Equilibrium (a Jadzia focused episode that gives some more insight into Trill culture and the whole symbiosis process)
S3E17 Visionary (an O'Brien episode that follows the famed "O'Brien must suffer" trope, and boy does he)
S3E25 Facets (a Jadzia episode where we get some insight into her past selves and a great Nog sidestory)
After this is when the whole Dominion plot line really starts kicking off so any episodes after these are gonna have major spoilers for that.
Hopefully this was helpful, I'm not the best at answering these kinds of questions
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combined jumbled ds9 I watched a lot today
mirror Kira. she- I- um. HELLO??
I wanna read like a character study now. also implications for non mirror kira???
got long again and this is about many episodes and it’s all jumbled up, so here’s a cut
I kept thinking that by the amount of times they said “no changeling has ever harmed another” that would change soon, and I was right. feel bad for odo :(
lotsa invasions happening. romulan-cardassian invasion of the dominion, klingon invasion of cardassia, when is the full out war gonna start? also the maquis still exist but they haven’t done much in a while
oh wait, except for when ruler version 2 (tom) pretends to be will and steals the defiant. also I never got to finish tng (it left netflix and I just never got around to watching it on my own on my laptop) so like what happened between will and o’brien?? like. that “I have nothing to say to you” exchange was SO unexpected.
also apparently the enterprise gets destroyed. that was news
back to ds9, umm oh we finally see the ferengi planet! andddd yep, seems right, pay to enter someone’s house, pay for an elevator, pay to sit, pay to stand, pay to find out who’s been charged with a crime and what the crime is, etc
quark and rom’s mother seemed quite interesting. kinda want her to pop up again, see how her secret financial empire is going
nog got into the academy!
rom stood up to quark!
that one episode that’s pov is old Jake and it’s the story of how ben dies but not really was. so sad. good thing his plan worked and it was fixed! but also, feel like it should come with a suicide warning? technically?
who in their right mind thought sending dukat on a mission alone with kira was a good idea? and then he had the nerve to say “actually, I think the occupation was good for Bajor but I’m not here to debate you on politics” THEN WHY’D YOU BRING IT UP, MISTER
also, dukat of all people was in love with a Bajoran? and has a half bajoran daughter? who he couldn’t bring himself to kill even with a weapon pointed at her for a few long minutes? surprising
don’t know if taking her back to cardassia is actually the best thing, sorry major, but I can’t believe most cardassians would ever treat her as equal or respect her. not to mention like. I’m assuming dukat would take her home to his home. and his wife and seven children. so not only would the rest of cardassia think she shouldn’t exist, she’ll probably have to live with people who resent her and just think she’s a “mistake” by dukat. who knows though, maybe cardassian “family is everything” values have a broader definition of family than I’d pessimistically include.
worf is here! funny thing - when we watched tng my mom never liked worf but now that he’s here she’s happy to see a(nother) familiar character lol
JADZIA AND LENORA AND DS9’S FAMOUS LESBIAN KISS why is this episode so tragic I wanted to cry
alsoooooooo I love how not a single complaint was they’re both women but only that they were married in previous hosts like yes go star trek written in the 90’s you did it
oh that reminds me! this was a few days ago, sisko and bashir were talking about reassigning an ensign because he’s “budding” and then have a whole, happy conversation about how “he’s pregnant?” “yes, twins” “well congratulation, of course he’s reassigned” “we’re having a baby shower for him” “I’ll be there are you getting him anything” that just made me happy
also I like how julian and miles’ relationship went from miles hates julian and julian annoys miles and then they grow to like and understand each other and sometime they start spending fixed times together (racquetball, darts) and go to each other with problems, become basically best friends to the point where when they get captured by some jem’hadar who want a cure to their genetic drug addiction and julian refuses to leave with miles because he wants to cure them, miles is willing to risk his career and everything to get julian back to their ship with him no matter what. even if julian’s his superior officer. even if he has to blast his work apart. even if julian might always resent him for it. (happily the end cues seem like they can start hanging out again in a few days, but I don’t think it could be quite the same as before after something like that, not so soon at least)
during jadzia’s (????) ceremony where she meets her previous hosts and curzon somehow joins with odo and both decide they want to stay in odo’s body but eventually realize it’s not for the best. I just. that was sad ok.
also, speaking of odo, he’s in love with kira? I feel like there are literally never signs besides like. two episodes. one is when it’s the bajoran gratitude festival and odo’s like “I was thinking of coming this year… I’ll see you there?” and kira said she’d be with bareil and odo was visibly disappointed
the second episode was when another changeling pretended to be kira stuck in a growing rock and odo admitted it when he thought she was gonna die. (also! I KNEW it was a trap, the second they split up something happens to her? really? also she sounded way too panicked to be kira over getting her foot stuck in a rock)
another point - because of odo I just assumed changelings are bad at being humanoid, but changelings besides odo can imitate humanoids (so far, one vulcan and maybe two humans? including scanning as that species with a tricorder!) so why can’t odo? does he just need more practice or is it some result of being separated from his planet and people so young? or maybe something to do with this great link?
oh and about that episode where odo and garak go off to investigate and then garak is like “huh! I can be a good cardassian again? I can be back in the obsidian order? yes!” like. dude. of course I understand his desire to go home and feel bad for him but do you really trust that? really?? you were EXILED for betraying this man and - even if you say you didn’t do it - you think he’s just gonna let you back into the fold? back into cardassia? after you ran off to save him from ab assassin only to learn he sent the assassin after you? really? I suppose he figured it out at the end, somewhat.
odo in that episode too. so when he can’t turn back to liquid he starts falling apart? like. geez that’s harsh. also why does he always wait until the whole 16 hours have passed? like, 16 hours is his regeneration period, it’s the longest he can hold a form, but wouldn’t it make more sense to go back to his liquid state whenever he has a safe few minutes time? that way his 16-hour “time bank” would always be as full as possible. or does it only count at the 16-hour marks?
also the scene when odo is flaking apart and looking in all sorts of pain and can’t stand anymore and garak runs over like “just tell me something! anything!” and odo bursts out with “I want to go home! not to the station, but to my people! I want to be part of the great link” and he sounds tortured and agonized over it. well. goodness, that hits right in the heart, doesn’t it? (the “goodness” makes me southern in that sentence, lol)
also the whole thing with “need to bleed to prove you’re not a changeling because when separated the blood goes to what I’m now calling default changeling mode (dcm?)” why oh why are they always making big dramatic cuts in their palms? a finger prick would work just as well! at first I thought, just yank out a strand of hair but then I remember wigs could easily make that useless. but seriously. finger pricks! also get something sterile, why is everyone in the room using the same klingon’s knife?
my dad promised to get paramount+ after wimbledon’s over, so I’ll probably finally actually finish tng before I come back to this. since I’m not under “BINGE BEFORE IT LEAVES” constraints it’ll probably just be one or a couple of episodes a day, which’ll hopefully mean I’m actually coherent if I’m possessed to write about it like this
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lovelyamneris · 2 years
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DS9 FOR TV SHOW ASKS
HI SORRY THIS TOOK ME AGES I LOVE YOU ❤️
Favorite Male Character: O’Brien. I love him so much. Comfort character tbh. They put him through too much it’s so sad :(
Favorite Female Character: Kira
Least Favorite Character: Dukat was literally the worst. Like he was a well written character and blah blah blah but also he made me mad 24/7. His audacity omg.
Prettiest Character: Bashir was so !!!!
Funniest Character: Morn
Favorite Season: season two I always rewatch those episodes the most
Favorite Episode: Little Green Men (the ferengi episodes go hard every time!)
Favorite Romantic Ship: O’Brien and Kieko I love a healthy happy marriage
Favorite Family Dynamic: Sisko and Jake!! Best father son dynamic out there
Favorite Friend Ship: Jake and Nog :]
Worst Ship: there are so many bad ships in Star Trek I swear to God but the ultimate worst ship (I’m cringing even typing this out) is Kira and Dukat now excuse me while I gouge my eyes out
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petitefaguette · 2 years
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might fuck around and become a ds9 fanblog
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mylittleredgirl · 2 years
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i do love the relentless action and high stakes of new star trek, BUT in exchange i think we need and deserve a recovery episode at the end of each season. the characters definitely do! having something healing, character-driven, and optimistic either before or after Major Disaster Episodes felt like an important part of the old 26-episode seasons, you know? “family” after “the best of both worlds.” deep space nine gave us 6 or 7 straight episodes of war plot at the beginning of season 6, bookended on one side by jake and nog scheming to give captain sisko a baseball card, and on the other by an episode about worf and dax’s bachelor parties. before deep space nine’s final 10-episode arc, the closest thing to modern trek, they sent us off with “badda-bing, badda-bang.” after disco or picard seasons, there are also massive universe changes that could definitely have taken another episode to roll out, rather than a quick montage. i understand why they don’t want to take time out for a holodeck episode when the fate of the galaxy is on a time crunch, but they could do it after! reunite with friends, solve a silly little mystery, receive the laurels that are due. 👏 give 👏 our 👏 heroes 👏 some 👏 tacky 👏 vacation 👏 clothes 👏
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