First, a slightly belated exhortation slash enthusiastic recommendation:

ds9_rewatch! A GROUP DEDICATED TO THE RE-OR-FIRST-TIME-EVER-WATCHING OF THE VERY BEST TREK, DEEP SPACE NINE! People who should definitely participate in this: the Doofpire Amry, Meredith, Ariel, everyone who enjoys awesomeness. People who should definitely not participate in this: everyone who hates awesomeness. (If you are worried about acquiring the series: maybe just join the comm, and, uh, *clears throat*. Or ask me!)

Why is DS9 so great, you ask? Well, here is a handy-dandy intro post that I did not make, but heartily approve of. And here is a picspam of one-shot and recurring female characters that I did make, and am pretty okay with. But perhaps you have no patience for clicking on things and looking at pictures! FINE, be that way.

Deep Space Nine is, I suppose, somewhere in the neighborhood of "space opera" or "space western," insofar as it is both epic and essentially a frontier story. However, the term "western" does not to me imply a critique of the frontier concept, which DS9 most definitely engages in, as well as subversive takes on the previously unimpeachable Federation and real engagement with politics and religion. Its first two seasons are largely episodic in the good old-fashioned TNG style (though of a higher consistent quality), while setting the stage for an arc-based shift which becomes ever plottier and higher-stakes as the final five seasons progress. It gets better as it goes along and I think anybody who shares even a smidgen of my opinion on Battlestar Galactica needs a little of that just to be convinced it really can be done. (Tragically, Ron D. Moore was a writer on DS9's latter seasons and a few episodes by him are in fact recognizable by sudden massive failures in the moral ambiguity matrix and general misapprehension of how to tell stories like at all ever -- but these moments are few and far between!) The show is not without the occasional fail, but none are. I love it, you guys. And if you should love it too, all of these and more will await thee!

- my husband, Captain-nee-Commander Benjamin Sisko, who is the only black leader in like all sci-fi television ever Star Trek history, and loves to cook, goof around with his son, nerd about baseball, stand up for what he believes in, make the tough choices, and be a boss
- Kira Nerys, second-in-command, an uncompromising ex-freedom fighter and intelligently religious lady
- also my girlfriend Jadzia Dax who TOTALLY makes it with a woman, Kif, inform the men
- ever so many non-humans whose societies and politics are shown as important, valid, and complex
- gloriously complicated and ideologically strident antagonists in Gul Dukat and Kai Winn
- absolutely zero, yes, zero! WASP males in the main character stable

ds9_rewatch is still only on the second episode, so there is plenty of time to catch up, and I haven't really been participating myself yet, but I do hope to. (Their discussion posts in particular excite me, since when I marathoned the show in 2009 I was doing it solo and didn't really have any way to process it with others.) SO LIKE

LET'S ALL DO THAT. (Even if we form our own little splinter group. Which I would be utterly okay with.)


And now, interview questions! One set from someone who has known me a long time, and one from somebody who has not, which I think makes for a nice balance.

From emilytheodd:

1. If you were going to a bar and getting a beer on tap, what kind would you most like the bar to have for you to order?

What I would most like is a dark beer, probably an ale or lager, that I've never had before. I love trying new things. I particularly love trying new beerward things, because I'm a beer nerd and a nerd without a broad knowledge base is kind of useless. And it's extra fun if it's a seasonal brew. If the menu only had things I was already acquainted with, well, it'd depend on my appetite but I'm always excited to find Stone's Arrogant Bastard on tap, and my standard go-to is Moonlight's Death and Taxes.

2. What about if you were picking up bottled beer at the grocery store to bring home?

In an ideal world that also includes a pack of mint It's-Its in my shopping cart, Lagunitas Censored. The two of them together is as good a quick dessert as any I've ever tried. (Censored is near the top of my reasonable grocery store budget, so if I were feeling broker, I'd generally go for whatever amber ale was on sale, preferably Kona Longboard or Negra Modelo. If I'm at Trader Joe's, their Bohemian Ale unless they have something exciting in the individual beers barrel. And sometimes Costco has big variety packs of Gordon Biersch!)

3. Have you found any good tracts on liberation theologies recently? (This is me trolling for recommendations, I'll readily admit.)

Not exactly. I actually have, like, a liberation theology picture book out from the library right now which is due back tomorrow, but I haven't read it yet so I guess that's a project for this evening. I am, however, currently reading a book on ~the black radical imagination~ which is pretty cool. And that book is Freedom Dreams, by Robin D.G. Kelley.

4. Amy Pond and Anne Shirley start a band. What is it called, and what kind of music do they play?

Bosom: a little garagey, a little melodic, a little riot grrrl. Think the Adventures of Pete and Pete theme song meets Le Tigre.

5. PUNK ROCK JUKEBOX because I may have been wrong about the karaoke. Shall we, sometime?

YES, as the Saturn Cafe's once-legendary jukebox is long gone, although I really was forward to punk rock karaoke. I would do Bouncing Souls and Minor Threat! "Sheena is a Punk Rocker"! I just hope this jukebox at least has the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage."


And from elle_white:


1) What is your favourite incarnation of Star Trek and why?

WELL, THIS IS CONVENIENT. ~seeee above~ Although it is true that I harbor a great, great affection for the reboot film as well, because damn those are some delightful and shiny space nerds.

2) Do you participate in any sports?

No, but I am an avid spectator of Giants baseball! The most sportslike of my exercises is lap swimming, if that counts -- I do it rarely now because ugh expensive, but I was on my high school swim team for two years.

3) Who is your favourite author?

Right now I'm ridiculously in love with Ursula K. Le Guin, who is basically the writer of my dreams. I am also deeply attached to Kurt Vonnegut, E.M. Forster, and L.M. Montgomery atop many others. (I used to list Joseph Heller, because he wrote my favorite book, but I haven't actually been that thrilled by anything else I've read by him.)

4) What is your favourite Princess Tutu episode and why?

Act 23, "Marionettes" (subtitle: Ruslan und Ludmilla). I thought picking a favorite would be tough, but really, so many of my favorite things happen in this episode, even beyond "Did you write my story for me?". It's a clear island of rising action just before the series' climax. Ahiru comes face to face with Drosselmeyer and Uzura with Edel (!!!), Fakir learns what he can really do and pushes it to the limit, and Rue reaches her absolute breaking point. Princess Tutu is sort of hard for me to talk about, because it touches such visceral internal places for me, but one day I really hope to talk about Rue's journey in terms of abusive relationships and depression, and leaving those things behind. This journey, and this episode's imagery in particular, are integral to why I got a black feather tattoo last year. Oh, internet. Why haven't you all watched Princess Tutu? I'm not kidding about it being the best. Princess Tutu ;___; RUE ;____________;

5) You can sit down and have a meal with any three people in all of history. Who are they and what meal is it?

Derp. This is the point where I basically just want to pick at random. Mark Twain. Fuck it, no, I'm going for an all-lady dinner party. Artemisia Gentileschi, survivor and artist in Renaissance Italy. La Malinche, Nahua consort to Cortes. Aaand, uhhhh, Neferneferuaten, who (I like to think) was in fact a genderqueer Pharoah. The meal: vegetable tempura, of course. Don't skimp on the broccoli, please.

If you would like questions *and actually intend to answer them* I will give you some.