Ds9 - Blog Posts
bashir: I like human mystery novels :/ The trouble with cardassian enigma tales is that they all end the same way, all the suspects are always guilty
garak: yes!! but the challenge is determining exactly who is guilty of what!
hey elim garak, I have amazing news for you about the hit game series “phoenix wright: ace attorney”
whys he so cute im going to squeeze him until he fuckegdn explodes
so many other shows, movies, videos I could watch now that I finally finished ds9!
instead I am watching s2e22 of ds9. again.
the aesthetic romanticism of this episode. the deep love for discovery. the decolonization allegory which is not so much a 1-to-1 allegory, so to speak, because sisko proving that ancient bajorans had not only the technology but the sheer Wonder and Curiosity to venture into space is a metaphor for speaking against any number of white supremacist "histories" deriving from imperialistic paradigms since the age of colonization---
to provide the counter-colonization narrative with a space-ship that sails on the impulse of photons (a very real and possible engineering for space-flight--like NASA is building ships like that) is wonderful. this story about the ancient people who thought to travel to space and push their spacecraft through space off the force of light, and then sisko proving to everyone not only its possibility but its historical fact, was sweet and interesting and full of feeling.
it's all as if to say: to engage whole-heartedly with an episteme of decolonization is to engage whole-heartedly with an episteme of curiosity and discovery and love for What Is.
so I’m about a third of the way into A Stitch In Time and I just have so many thoughts.
this is unexpectedly one of the most fascinating books I have ever read, because the circumstances of its existence (tie-in novel for established tv show, written by the actor, largely taken from his character-dev writing) create a novel that would’ve never existed otherwise.
in any other normal novel, the protagonist with a sad childhood who gets shipped off to train to be a weapon of the state, in a violent, loveless institution, would be… taking a stand against the status quo! that’s what protagonists do, they make unlikely friends and they stand up for what’s right and they change their world etc etc. yahoo. yay !
but as we good and goddamn know: garak’s not a protagonist
these flashback portions follow so many classic sf/f coming of age tropes of a young lad finding himself in a harsh new world, but instead of the main character being guided by a convenient moral compass and growing in defiance of the competitive, cruel environment– garak adapts, learns to outcompete his peers, learns to be crueler.
it’s not so much that you’re reading garak becoming worse (though he is, for sure)
it’s more that garak is drifting from being a mere product of his environment, to a perpetuator of it
thinking about the recurring theme of sisko being someone who constantly comes adrift in time, literally and metaphorically, physically and emotionally. no matter how much he wants to stay here, and how hard he tries to, he drifts, he comes unmoored. you exist here. and always existing here means he can't exist there simultaneously; one precludes the other. and the grief of that truth that rings like a bell through his whole existence at once. hm.
the first episode of star trek tng:
hi everyone! meet the crew! wow, this guy's got a temper. this one's an android! uh-oh, a spooky alien has appeared!
the first episode of star trek ds9:
post-traumatic stress disorder
You ever think about those DS9 episodes where everyone's aboard the Defiant fighting an intergalactic space battle, and meanwhile back at the station it must be like:
I’ve graduated from art school! I’m really enjoying my summer break and allowing myself time to recover from creative burnout. Here’s a garak & bashir painting I started months ago and just finished!
Also, keep an eye out on me possibly opening commissions again soon 👀⭐️
Based off that one post i cant stop thinking about
garak is a pathetic extremely mentally ill cringe gay man in his fourties who day drinks and abuses his prescription meds trying to fuck a twink 15~ years his junior. garak is an ex agent of a fascist state's secret police and has tortured and killed dozens of people. garak is cunty and flamboyant. garak is smarmy and a rude bitch and talks in stupid riddles. garak is terrifying. garak has done unforgivable things. garak is capable of change and kindness and affection. garak wants what's best for his fatherland. garak is a nationalist. garak wants desperately to be loved. garak cannot let anyone truly know him. garak cannot handle emotional intimacy. garak is ready to sacrifice himself for a higher purpose. garak is ready to sacrifice others for what he believes to be a higher purpose. but most importantly garak is a fucking lizard
I'll give her this one
sorry but bashir was really excited by the prospect of fucking his great-grandmother and becoming his own ancestor. he was all fired up defending his theory
I impressed myself on this one actually.
”He wanted to protect the innocent, and separate darkness from the light. But he didn’t realize that a light only shines in the dark.”
I absolutely love Kira, she’s hands-down one of the best Star Trek characters written and a wonderful example of a complex story. Here’s a piece with plenty of lighting that I made of her :) Alt below
drama on DS9 after Martok publicly slaps Bashir's ass and Worf gets mad about it bcuz he doesn't think the doctor deserves "such high an honor"
Some people say Bashir is in the closet, in denial about his gay thoughts, but honestly given Star Trek is supposed to be set in a super progressive future then, (ignoring inevitable attitudes of the time it was written) I don't think he's in denial of his sexuality.
I think it's far more likely that he's on a Bajoran space station and is dealing with the sudden realisation that he is deeply attracted to suspicious morally ambiguous Cardassians.
I literally laughed so hard making this edit I almost threw up