He showed me that he had the spine to play the game as it ought to be played. But why then did he back off? Why couldn’t he go beyond that moment? Why did our relationship end?
Although Garak may act slutty, in terms of actual relationships (one night stands with your enemy don’t count Garak!) Bashir has way more experience, and therefore is probably the more mature one in the relationship.
Iām gay, I have a new hyperfixation, and Iām new in town. Hello ds9 fandom.
(Iāve been a Trek fan since I was a kid, but I only got around to watching Deep Space Nine last September, promptly became obsessed with it like nobodyās business, lost valuable sleep during finals because I was too invested watching the last season, and then stayed obsessed with it. And then started doodling. Oops. Iām usually really intimidated by social media and fandom spaces in general but yāall donāt seem too intimidatingā¦ and itās probably easier to yell about a show that ended before I was born here than it will be convincing my friends to watch it, even if it does have a gay lizard. So yeah- here I am! please be my friends)
Now that Iāve got the daunting Intro Bit out of the wayā¦. I love how Sisko and Odo end up with a weird sort of āIām a religious figure to an entire culture through no fault of my own and I donāt like it but I canāt do much about it so Iāll grudgingly accept it and at least try to do some goodā solidarity. One has to admit that christianity lowkey popped off with the whole stained glass concept, so voila, a weird semi-abstract symbolic religious-y stained glass window for both of them.
Sisko: the Emissary himself, the Celestial Temple/wormhole with the Gateway/DS9 behind it- the yellow circle in the center of the wormhole incorporates that swirly symbol that props up in religious contexts and on the Emblem of the Bajoran Republic; pah wraiths from the fire caves at the bottom; the text on the sides is, at least if my sources are correct, the message on the Reckoning Tablet in Modern Bajoran: āThe time of reckoning is at hand. The Prophets will weep. Their sorrow will consume the gateway to the temple.ā The four hourglass things in the corners are Orbs (I wanted to include all ten but I didnāt end up with enough room. The sacrifices we make for aestheticā¦)
Odo: this one was more challenging since not only does ds9 not show any religious symbolism or details for the Dominion religion/culture, but neither the Vorta or (almost certainly) the Jem'hadar create art of any form for me to base it on, so it ended up a bit more abstract and based a lot on Weyoun 6 in Treachery, Faith and the Great River. Why did I slap them in the goop ocean instead of anywhere else? The main answer is for the aesthetic but thereās some symbolism in there somewhere in the fact that Odo is also a part of the link but is basically the only one of the founders who treated Weyoun as an equal and cared when he died, and Weyoun looking up at both Odo and the Federation emblem while heās kicking the bucket, but I wonāt belabor it. Also it ended up looking a bit gayer than I intended but nobody on this show is straight (derogatory) except for Kai Winn so thatās ok
Some people are responding to this saying, “the ferengi are
misognyistic capitalists though”, and i personally feel like theyre missing the point. There are absolutely valid criticisms of Ferengi society, but Ferengi culture and ferengis in general cannot be
simplified down to a single set of traits and beliefs. There are ferengi with absolute faith in the system, but there are also reformists, rebels, and dissenters. Individual Ferengi are not inherently worse than individual humans or vulcans, they simply come from a different society which, yes, has oppressive systems, but which also has an ability to change. When Federation members view Ferengi as backwards and immoral, they deny that, and deny that their own cultures are also morally complex, and have histories that involve just as much misogyny and exploitation as ferengi culture. In order to judge, Federation members have to view their culture and beliefs as superior and valuable in a way that others are not, and assume that they come the moral high ground.
Quark doesn’t say that Sisko should like all Ferengi or all of Ferengi culture, he asks him to name a single Ferengi he likes. This points out the way that Sisko and others in starfleet have othered and stereotyped ferengi, and assumed they must all be the same. Its a patronising and arrogant viewpoint, one which offers no respect to ferengi on a cultural or individual level, and its something that deserves to be questioned.
I’m assuming they mean soccer-football and not American football because otherwise that would be emotionally scarring to me. Anyways, Garak knows how to play football.
Cecil. She/her. Ā During the day I sit in libraries staring at books. During the night I write queer fanfiction with a historical slant.
Some not-so-random facts: Gay space lizards are the best lizards. Star Trek is my life. I have too many DS9 ships. Classic Who and the Eighth Doctor Adventures make me grin stupidly. Kelas Parmak is the best. I will defend historically accurate portrayals of Alan Turing to the last drop of blood. Ā Likes and asks end up in the name of @apolesens-otheraccount, because Tumblr doesn't have a way of changing which blog is your primary one. Nothing happens over there - this is the one to follow.Ā
