eponymous_rose

My main contribution to the first-ever Day of Not-Classic Trek!

This has been a long time coming, but I know there are a bunch of people on my flist watching for the first time and I can't resist the urge to try and draw some more folks into this latest round of squee. Whether you've seen every episode a dozen times, whether you vaguely remember getting bored with the show as a kid, whether you cringe at the mention of all things Trek, whether you're wondering what that RDM fellow was up to before BSG, whether you're not even particularly interested in sci-fi, I hope you'll give this post a chance! If nothing else, it's a bunch of pretty pictures to kill a few minutes, and hey, you just might find a new fandom in the process. ;)

The following should be mostly spoiler-free, obviously, but by necessity I'm going to have to talk a bit about stuff that happens either in the pilot or in TNG (most notably "The Best of Both Worlds"). I promise not to destroy the viewing experience for you, and also not to cackle gleefully if I manage to do so by accident. Honest.

Deep Space Nine was the third live-action Trek series to air, long after The Original Series (featuring Kirk and company) and semi-concurrently with The Next Generation (featuring Picard and company). It's generally seen as the black sheep of Trek, in that it deals with darker subject matter, focuses more on relationships and the development of even comparatively minor characters, cheerfully undermines the idea of the Federation as Utopia, is far less episodic in nature (think seven-parters with each episode ending on a cliffhanger), and revels in putting its characters in morally ambiguous situations. Also, it's set on a space station rather than a starship, so our heroes can't just warp away from the conflict du jour, and have to deal with those pesky consequences.

That said, it also features the most awesomely elaborate shout-out to TOS, a James Bond episode, and that one where Sisko and his crew play baseball against a team of Vulcans.

First, where I'm coming from on this one: I grew up eating, drinking, and breathing The Next Generation. And we're talking action figures, pyjamas, gorgeous-model-of-the-Enterprise-D-sans-starboard-warp-nacelle obsessed. When DS9 started airing, my family and I gave it a chance, but I quickly lost interest (though I think I still have that first set of action figures around somewhere). Possibly because there was no Data, and no Data's cat Spot.

Come on, would seven-year-old you watch a show that didn't feature these two?

Anyway, after my first-ever rewatches of TOS and TNG as an adult, I decided to give DS9 a second chance, and didn't regret it. It doesn't always succeed in what it's trying to do, but when it does, it does it well. Like most 90s Trek, it has a bit of a rocky start - though season one does feature "Duet", one of my all-time favourite episodes - but the characters and general premise are strong enough that you can really believe there's something a whole lot more impressive waiting in the wings.

Also epic. Did I mention epic?

What's this all about, then? I say we need some headers to keep this baby organized.

Premise and Backstory and All That Good Stuff (or: how not to be confused when you catch a random episode on TV)

Deep Space Nine picks up during season six of TNG, so it's drawing on a fair bit of existing backstory - but don't worry; you get a pretty decent flyover early on, and the show starts sculpting its own backstory right from the get-go.

Basically, the political situation is this: the Bajorans were a peaceful, deeply religious, pacifistic race that was brutally invaded and then occupied by the Cardassians, who are not so much with the peaceful, religious, pacifistic nature.

Visual reference: a Cardassian (left, with the general reptilian appearance) and a Bajoran (right, with a ridged nose and a distinctive earring) look at pretty pictures of flowers together. The Occupation was considerably less pleasant than this, possibly because neither side was big on flowers.

Of course, if you ask the Cardassians, they'll point out that all they wanted to do was to help the Bajorans move to a higher level of technological advancement, that they had this big plan that kept getting thwarted because nobody was keen on the appalling working conditions they maintained for the Bajorans they were using as slave labour. Go figure.

I mean, it's such a pleasant environment!

The Bajorans did, however, develop a resistance in their fifty years under the Cardassian Occupation, and terrorist cells began cropping up, targeting Cardassian military personnel, Cardassian civilians, and even Bajorans collaborating with the Cardassians (often under duress). Eventually, the Cardassian civilian leaders decided to withdraw all Cardassian troops from Bajor, much to the military leaders' dismay.

Having finally fought off their longtime oppressors, the Bajorans were left with ruined cities, an economy in shambles, and only the bare bones of a provisional government keeping things together. They called in the Federation for help.

Federation to the rescue! Actually, they just sent in a handful of Starfleet personnel and a few teeny little Runabout-class ships to help out. It's the thought that counts.

The Cardassians left behind a station in orbit over Bajor, called Terok Nor: the Bajorans reclaimed it, and the Federation sent a small group of Starfleet personnel to help maintain its operation. They renamed that station - wait for it - Deep Space Nine.

That's just dramatic enough to call for another header.

The Characters (or: who are those guys?)

Commander Benjamin Sisko (Starfleet)
Do you know what the trouble is? The trouble is Earth. On Earth, there is no poverty, no crime, no war. You look out the window of Starfleet Headquarters and you see Paradise. Well, it's easy to be a saint in Paradise. - 2x21: The Maquis (Part Two)

I was going to get yet another slightly blurry screencap of my own to illustrate Sisko's awesomeness, but I stumbled across this most excellent picture entirely by accident while, um, looking for pictures of Sisko on the internet. Funny how that works out.

You're welcome.

Sisko comes equipped with backstory, courtesy of one of TNG's darkest moments, so it's time for an interlude! Anyone who hasn't watched TNG's "The Best of Both Worlds", by the way, should do so. It's okay. I can wait here until you've finished.

There. Done? Good. Just in case, though, a recap.

The Borg are cybernetic baddies who are all for making you part of their happy little family by turning you into a killer cyborg like them. It's a lot less awesome than it sounds, mostly because they have a tendency to make you go around killing everyone you love.

So guess what kind of day Picard had back in season three?

I'll give you a hint: his day sucked.

Basically, Picard got kidnapped and assimilated by the Borg, the Borg absorbed all that he was and decided to make him go after Earth, and he wound up killing about 11,000 people in the process.

One of those eleven thousand people was Benjamin Sisko's wife, Jennifer.

So while Riker was saving the day (Riker. I mean, really. I mock because ILU, Riker!), and while Picard was coming to grips with what he'd done, Sisko was in an escape pod, having barely escaped with his own life - and that of his son, Jake.

Picard is so not getting a Christmas card this year.

Fast-forward three years. (Then pause. Then reverse and go back and forth frame-by-frame so it looks like everyone's dancing. Heehee. Okay. Play.)

Benjamin Sisko is the one Starfleet is sending to take command of Deep Space Nine. He's depressed, angry, teetering on the edge of resigning his commission, and absolutely determined not to stay. Especially since Picard's the one giving him his final orders.

Well, this is awkward.

It would be easy to write Sisko off as your typical angsty hero. But here's the thing: by the end of the pilot, he's discovered a stable wormhole to the unexplored Gamma Quadrant, had the station moved to guard its entrance, become an important figure in the Bajoran religion (the Emissary), started on the road to healing after Jennifer's death, and begun making a life for himself and Jake on the station. Did I mention this show likes character development?

♥♥♥

Sisko's an extremely complex character - getting into the fandom for the first time, I was surprised at the shortage of fic about him, because surely there's a lot of very good meta to be hashed out. He generally shares the traditional Federation values that come across in other Starfleet officers on other Trek shows, but he's more willing to compromise them if it's necessary for the greater good - and it's often necessary. He's extremely strict with his officers, especially before he gets to know them well, but he and Jake have a much more lighthearted relationship, which starts to bleed over into elements of his professional life as the series progresses. He does a lot of heroic things, but he also knows when heroics are more likely to get someone killed than to accomplish anything worthwhile. He sometimes holds grudges, he sometimes loses his temper, and he's generally quite uncomfortable over the whole Emissary thing, but he's also able to make the difficult judgement calls command requires, and his crew are utterly devoted to him.

If this show teaches anything, it's this: in times of great moral uncertainty, it's important to break the fourth wall.

He adores baseball, which is an extremely obscure sport by the 24th century. He's also a spectacular chef - his dad, Joseph, owns a restaurant in New Orleans.

Sisko cooks for the crew. Odo helps out, hilariously. Julian is horrified at the prospect of beets.

He builds things, too, which is kind of a neat touch considering the fact that this Trek, more than any of the others, is about building a life in one place. He also used to work at the Utopia Planitia shipyard orbiting Mars, and at one point he decides to build a Bajoran lightship based on ancient blueprints just to see if it can fly.

Flying something you built single-handedly based on old diagrams is one of those "this can't possibly go wrong" things, isn't it?

Major Kira Nerys (Bajoran Militia)
The fact of the matter is, I've already been where you're going. I've lived the life you're choosing - fighting, hit and run, always outgunned, living on hate and adrenaline... it's not much of a life. And it eats away at you, so that every day a bit of you dies. - 4x14: Return to Grace

Though I have a truly ridiculous number of favourite characters in this fandom, I think Kira is my absolute favourite, in large part because she has an immensely satisfying character arc that plays out very nicely over the seven seasons. Also, for the record, "Nerys" is her given name, and "Kira" is her family name - Bajoran naming convention is like Japanese naming convention that way. Don't worry if you occasionally get confused: even the novelisation of "Emissary" screws it up once.

If you see this expression on Kira, it's because she's just pwned you and your tiny brain hasn't quite figured it out yet.

So, that Bajoran Resistance I mentioned earlier? Kira joined one of their resistance cells at the age of twelve, as soon as she was big enough to carry a weapon. Now, in the immediate aftermath of the Occupation, she's been assigned by the Bajoran Provisional Government to be the liaison officer to the Federation and help keep things smooth on the jointly owned station. She's Sisko's first officer.

It's smooth sailing from the start as Kira and Sisko meet for the first time. "I'm Benjamin Sisko." "I suppose you want the office."

A lot of Bajorans are more than a little wary of calling in the Federation to help so soon after experiencing firsthand the Cardassians' idea of "help" - there's a general feeling that they're trading one oppressor for another. Kira is no exception, and on top of that tension, she's got a near-impossible transition to make: from being a shell-shocked ex-resistance fighter to living with a contingent of the utopian Federation, where her duties are largely bureaucratic and involve a whole lot less in the way of fighting and blowing things up.

Theoretically, anyway. (For those of you who have never tried to screencap Kira kicking a Klingon's ass, I'd just like to point out that it's surprisingly difficult.)

An important thing to know about Kira: she hates Cardassians. Even when she's forced to work alongside them, since the Federation's not actively at war with the Cardassians or anything, she often takes a lot of pleasure in pointing out their various hypocrises. In spite of that, a lot of her plots on the show revolve around her unearthing all sorts of shades of grey in what she'd previously assumed to be a black-and-white conflict.

That and having really awkward dinners with Gul Dukat, featuring conversations along the lines of: "So, how's your daughter?" "Great - thanks for convincing me not to kill her, by the way." "Oh, anytime. And how's that oppressive dictatorship of yours working out?"

There's a fantastic fanvid here featuring Kira. Yes, it does contain spoilers – but if you're like me and have a memory like a sieve if you haven't watched a show yet, it's worth checking out for sure.

One of the things I love most about this show is the relationship between Kira and Jadzia Dax - their friendship is utterly believable and so much fun. Watch for the episodes where the two of them get to go off and save the day together.

Kira doesn't have a whole lot in the way of hobbies, owing to the fact that, well, she spent her whole life fighting the Cardassians.

And... nope, no hidden talent for sculpture.

Lieutenant Jadzia Dax (Starfleet)
I think you Klingons embrace death too easily. You treat death like a lover. I think living is a lot more attractive. - 2x19: Blood Oath

Dax! While she does get saddled with some pretty meh episodes early on, and while it takes them a while to pin her character down, she's one of my very favourites.

She's a Trill; if you squint at the little picture, you can tell by the spots. Also, the awesome.

Jadzia Dax is the station's Science Officer. She's also a Trill - part of a species in which a small percentage of the population become "joined", that is, have a symbiotic relationship with another sentient entity. So while Jadzia may look like any twenty-something Starfleet officer, she's actually got the memories and experience of a 300-year-old slug-shaped symbiont inside her. Jadzia is the name of the host, and Dax is the name of the symbiont. So you might hear tell of other Daxes - Tobin, Emony, Curzon - who carried the symbiont before her, but there's only one Jadzia. Think Doctor Who: each body's got all the memories of the ones who came before. Now where's my crossover?

Vaguely Doctorish outfit? Check!

Dax's previous host, Curzon, was Sisko's mentor and best friend - throughout the first season, Jadzia and Sisko gradually start to pick up where they left off, as close friends who have frequent heart-to-hearts, though there are obviously a few hiccups here and there. He still calls her "old man", and she calls him "Benjamin" and occasionally mentions that he's like a son to her.

♥

She has to face a resurgence of feelings when a previous host's wife appears on the station, despite the fact that romantic relationships are taboo once a new host has taken on the symbiont, and she also manages to maintain Curzon's friendship with a trio of Klingons. She's also extremely good at the Ferengi game of Tongo (to the point where she's the only non-Ferengi allowed to join them in their regular games at Quark's), and an expert in Klingon martial arts. Jadzia, before being joined with the Dax symbiont, gained degrees in astrophysics, exoarchaeology, exobiology, and zoology. Long story short? Being a joined Trill involves a lot of emotional multi-tasking.

It apparently also involves throwing the odd all-night party. Unfortunately, Trills are not immune to hangovers.

Early on, the showrunners were understandably a little lost when it came to her character and seemed to want a bit of a Spockish vibe, but the character really hit her stride a bit later, when they realized it was much more fun to have her played with a sense of humour. She mocks everything. One of her missions is to get Kira to do something silly every once in a while.

For instance, this is their attire when getting introduced to Worf for the first time. Jadzia has a bit of an evil streak. (Worf's reaction? "Nice hat.")

Security Chief Odo (Bajoran Militia)
There's no room in justice for loyalty, or friendship, or love. Justice, as the humans like to say, is blind. I used to believe that. I'm not sure I can anymore - 2x08: Necessary Evil

Odo! While he does satsify the show's requirement for a Big Ball of Angst a lot of the time, he's certainly another favourite, especially when his scenes also feature Kira. Yes, this show is one of the ones where I go "Yay, an episode about so-and-so!" every. Single. Time.

Odo's name actually means "Unknown". If you ever decide to name a kid that, keep in mind that it could well contribute to said kid's becoming a Big Ball of Angst. Just saying.

Odo's a shapeshifter (he has trouble with faces), and acts as the chief of security of Deep Space Nine. This is interesting, because he was also the chief of security back when the station was under Cardassian control. Basically, he's so good with matters of justice and being a fair and unbiased arbiter that both sides of the conflict trusted him enough to put him in that position.

They also picked him because he's so good at film noir-ish monologues and standing dramatically in doorways, both of which are important assets in a law enforcement official.

At the start of the series, we know absolutely nothing about the rest of Odo's people (thus the angst) – he was found by some Bajoran scientists, who promptly catalogued him, ran tests on him, and basically did everything but figure out that they were dealing with a sentient lifeform for quite a long time. Why? Because Odo's default form is... goo. He has to revert to his gelatinous state every sixteen hours or he melts, which is always awkward. Hence the bucket.

Odo and his bucket. Said bucket usually doesn't come with flowers.

Odo met Kira on the station during the Occupation, when it was still called Terok Nor. Despite a bit of a rocky beginning to their friendship, the two of them hit it off (see

isiscaughey's awesome Odo/Kira fic rec list - beware spoilers!), and when the Federation comes to stay, they're united in their (initial) mistrust.

In fact, Odo's first words to Sisko are "Who the hell are you?" Poor Sisko didn't get much of a welcoming committee.

He's a master of sarcasm, casts disparaging remarks at any and all "humanoids" (especially Quark), but he's a top-notch security officer, and the second someone enters his custody, no matter what crime they've committed, he's absolutely dedicated to preserving their safety. O'Brien also gets him hooked on old Earth crime novels, which is awesome.

Odo's never happier than when he's threatening Quark with arrest.

Doctor Julian Bashir (Starfleet)
(Ooh, I'm going to have to be careful about backstory-related spoilers here.)
Maybe I could have been first in my class, but it wouldn't have changed anything in my life. I still would have chosen this assignment. This is where I belong. - 3x18: Distant Voices

I wasn't involved in fandom back when the series first aired, but I suspect Julian is probably the character who made the biggest turnaround from "guy many fans find annoying" to "guy many fans like a lot" over the course of the series. The constant right from the start, of course, being "guy many fans find extremely adorable".

I did actually try to grab a still screencap, but then I came across this post by scapegoat1989 and, I mean, awwww.

All giggling aside, Bashir graduated second in his class at the Academy (having made one small error on the final exam), but still got the first posting of his choice: chief medical officer on Deep Space Nine. He's utterly enamored with the romantic notion of "frontier medicine", and pretty much lacking in tact and self-restraint, so he spends a lot of the series with his foot planted firmly in his mouth. He's also got an extremely high opinion of himself, which is, much to everyone's frustration, generally well-deserved: he's an extremely capable doctor, and a brilliant researcher. He's also pretty much madly in love with everyone he meets, though Kira rebukes his advances pretty solidly (and hilariously) early on.

Julian's all-purpose just-got-pwned poutyface. "Oh! Hahaha, you thought that I was trying to- No, no no no." "My mistake." "But... if I thought-" "Forget it." "Right."

He's very big on adventure and heroics, and eventually finds an outlet (beyond his nine-to-five, anyway) in holosuite programs of historical battles, which he and Miles O'Brien frequent all the time, generally in amusingly authentic costume.

Basically, the show is worth watching for scenes like this alone.

He's also big on spy stories (leading to the aforementioned Bond episode), which means that when he starts having lunch with Garak, the one Cardassian who stayed behind after the Occupation, he's convinced Garak's a spy and is torn between wanting to reform him and wanting to fanboy him.

You may think I'm exaggerating the subtext, here. Believe me when I say I'm not exaggerating the subtext.

For all that, though, Julian can definitely act like a grownup when the situation demands it, though it generally involves a lot of moral indignation. And when he gets embroiled in some real-life spy games (courtesy of Starfleet's version of Black Ops), he starts to recognize that there's a much darker side to his fantasies.

Also, creepy dudes start sitting in the dark and watching him sleep. That freaks him out a bit.

Chief of Operations Miles O'Brien (Starfleet)
I took an oath to defend the Federation and what it stands for. I don't steal from them. I don't lie to them. I'm no angel, but I try to live every day as the best human being I know how to be. I need my little girl to wake up in the morning and look up at me and see a man she can respect. - 2x25: Tribunal

Miles! ♥ If you're a fan of TNG, you'll recognize Miles as the Transporter Chief. He and his family have just transferred over from Picard's Enterprise at the start of the series. You can picture him saving the world, punching his timecard, and going home in time for dinner – he's really the Everyman of Deep Space Nine.

An Everyman who occasionally wears a cloak and Speaks! Dramatically! during a CGI thunderstorm. But really, who hasn't done that at least once?

One of the downsides to being an everyday sort of character on Deep Space Nine is that the writers immediately single you out as an audience identification figure and have you suffer. Poor Miles – if there's an alien disease to catch, a weird form of radiation to suffer from, an injust justice system to suffer through, he'll be there. Fortunately, he's got the universe's most adorable family to help him through it.

Molly's cuteness knows no bounds.

His wife, Keiko, was a botanist on the Enterprise, and while she moves to the station when Miles is promoted, unlike him she doesn't have a job waiting for her. The show doesn't gloss over the fact that this move brings up some tension between them – their marriage feels pretty realistic, with its ups and downs and fights and make-ups, but there's a lot of love underpinning it all in the end.

♥

O'Brien's job on Deep Space Nine as Chief of Operations generally means that he gets to fix everything that breaks down on the station. Considering the Cardassians completely trashed the place before they left, and people (like Major Kira) occasionally blow up bits of Ops, he's got his work cut out for him.

Oh, and occasionally his job involves crawling through a conduit full of green fire. Mondays must suck sometimes.

Though O'Brien originally finds Julian incredibly annoying, the two of them bond over their fascination with old battles, and spend a lot of time either playing darts or reenacting the Battle of Britain in the holosuite.

And yeah, O'Brien gets to be the Bond villain.

Quark
The way I see it, humans used to be a lot like Ferengi: greedy, acquisitive, interested only in profit. We're a constant reminder of a part of your past you'd like to forget. - 2x26: The Jem'Hadar

Quark is a Ferengi - part of a misogynistic race dedicated to the acquisition of profit. Originally introduced as pretty awful one-note characters in TNG, DS9 gives the Ferengi a bit more in the way of development, and even lets them have something in the way of social reform. But you've gotta get through a handful of pretty icky episodes to see it. Fortunately, Quark has the odd crowning moment of awesome to help offset the bad.

He also has an unbeatable sense of style going for him.

Quark is the archetypal Ferengi, which makes him a love-to-hate sort of character a lot of the time - his brother Rom gradually becomes a lot more sympathetic, and Rom's son Nog is a lot more like his father than his uncle. But for all that, Quark often manages to do the right thing. During the Occupation, Quark still ran a bar on the station, and he sold food to the Bajoran workers at cost, which is definitely against Ferengi codes of ethics.

Of course, he'd sooner die than admit it.

Quark's archenemy is Odo, who's constantly stopping by the bar and working on unraveling Quark's assortment of dastardly schemes. All the same, they're sometimes pretty much the closest either of them has to a real friend and confidant, and sometimes their baiting and bickering is a screen for a more meaningful conversation.

And sometimes they just get stranded on a mountain and yell at each other while wearing funny clothes.

Quark also has a close friendship with Jadzia – she seems to be pretty much the only one on the station who will voluntarily spend extra time with Ferengi.

Of course, winning all their money probably helps.

Jake Sisko
Who cares about anomalies? People want stories about things they can relate to – life and death, good and evil. An outbreak of Cartalian fever would be just the thing. The brave doctor battles the deadly virus! ...Listen to me, I'm actually rooting for a plague. - 5x04: ...Nor the Battle to the Strong

The last of the main cast members, Jake is Sisko's teenage son – and in a lot of ways, he's the heart of the show.

Jake! ♥

Jake has the dubious honour of growing up on the station - when he and his dad first arrive, he's fourteen years old, and over the show's seven seasons, he does a lot of growing up. Some of the strongest writing in the show is centered around Jake's relationship with his dad.

I maintain that it's pretty much impossible to watch this episode without tearing up.

Jake grows as a character throughout the series, makes stupid mistakes, trusts the wrong people, is a hero and a coward and sometimes both at the same time. He's a son who can love his father without necessarily idolizing him, nor wanting to follow in his footsteps. He's a writer who has to learn to tell stories about a war that eventually starts hitting much too close to home. Every now and then, we get to see the show from his eyes, and all the other characters are suddenly just that little bit larger than life. It's an extremely effective way to tell a story, and it can cast some pretty scary light on just how much everyone has gone through over the course of the series.

Sometimes he has to play conscience for everyone, too, and that's a bit of a wake-up call.

His best friend is Nog, Quark's nephew, and while they immediately hit it off (much to the horror of both fathers), as they grow up they have to deal with some pretty irreconcilable cultural differences and rediscover the common ground that brought them together in the first place.

Okay, so a lot of that common ground involves a love of loitering and throwing sand peas at passersby. But common ground is common ground!

Other Awesome Characters (or: this is getting ridiculously long)

Basically, setting DS9 in a stationary location means having lots and lots of regulars. Lots and lots. Lots and lots and lots. And keep in mind that there are even whole two-parters featuring characters who aren't in the main credits. Heck, there's an entire episode about a character who doesn't even have a speaking part.

So I'll picspam! But first, my two favourite Cardassians get special mini-rambles:

Garak, who is either a devious and cunning spy/assassin/saboteur with a brutal streak, or a witty and amiable tailor exiled from Cardassia for failure to pay his taxes. Possibly both. "The truth is usually just an excuse for lack of imagination." ♥

Gul Dukat, who ran the station back when it was Terok Nor, and goes from being a moustache-twirling villain to quite possibly the most complex and fascinating baddie the franchise has ever produced. "When my son looks back on this day, the only thing he'll remember is that a Federation officer on a Federation ship invaded his home, and kept his father away from him on his eleventh birthday. And he won't look back with understanding. He'll look back with hatred."

And now, a picspam of the various and sundry recurring characters, as well as characters who later become regulars but whose little blurbs would be too spoilery for this post, in no particular order, with (believe it or not) several glaring omissions that I will remember precisely three seconds after I post this entry.

Ezri!

...yes, I have to post mirror!Ezri. Clearly.

Worf!

Nog!

Vic!

Because dangit, I need mirror!Vic fic, if only because it's fun to say. Vic fic. Heehee.

Rom and Leeta!

Eddington!

Kasidy! ♥

Martok!

Ziyal!

Aaand, of course, Morn! I would quote him, but the guy never shuts up.

The Bottom Line (or: wrap it up already!)
So that's DS9 in a nutshell. Well, maybe in an eggshell. A seashell. A... really big shell. Possibly not in a shell at all.

It's a show about space and final frontiers and these-are-the-voyages just as much as any other Trek (especially once the Defiant makes its appearance), but it's also a show about friends and enemies and lovers and wars and religions and moral ambiguity.

Mostly, though, I always think the best part is that it's all about family – the families we're stuck with, the families we choose, and the families we make.

There's a whole other picspam in there somewhere, but in the meantime, I think it's about time I stopped typing and started working on fic!

Hope you enjoyed!

Note: screencaps are almost all by yours truly, and if you'd like to snag them for whatever reason, let me know and I'll rustle up a bigger version for you.

If you're on my flist and aren't sure where to find DS9, this post is also relevant to your interests. If you're not on my flist, new friends are always welcome. :)