[meriwetherwrites]

me: oh sweet i have 30 minutes to write

me: lemme just get my head back into writing this chapter by rereading the 7k of it i've already written

me: fuck it's been 45 minutes

rinse & repeat ad nauseam.

[meriwetherwrites]

rinse & repeat ad nauseam, pray for another 100 words

[aurora-nova-fic]

I almost passed out at work yesterday. Turns out that's a thing that can happen after you slam your finger in a heavy drawer. Anyway, once I stopped feeling like everyone was very far away, and I stopped feeling like I was going to be sick, I found a silver lining, which is that I will be able to write almost passing out very well should it come up in a fic in the future.

[aurora-nova-fic]

Mr. Nova watching DS9: "Another frickin' Mirror Universe episode."

Every time he gets to one he asks me if there's another, I keep telling him yes, and he keeps being unimpressed.

[sapphosewrites]

I've been thinking lately about how pretty much everyone can agree that they want to read fics where the characters feel in character, but we don't necessarily all agree on what that means- which is reasonable and normal, because we all notice or spend more time thinking about different aspects of their personalities and behavior, and also they change over the course of the show so sometimes what feels in character in the early seasons is very different than later seasons. But it made me want to try and pin down what that nebulous idea of in character actually means for me when it comes to garashir. That doesn't mean this has to be true for everyone- in fact, I'd be curious to hear if your internal list is similar or different.

For me, both Garak and Bashir have to...

be competent at what they do

sometimes kind of infuriating

love to talk

genuinely enjoy being around each other

Individually, I'd also say...

Bashir has a strong moral compass

When Garak panics, he starts saying mean, cold, or deliberately upsetting things

Bashir cares deeply about people

Garak thinks it is practical, necessary, and occasionally funny to lie

But I struggled way more than I expected to trying to pin this down! What do you think it means for you for them to feel 'in character'?

[various-things]

I very-agree with all of this and I think the only other thing that strongly comes to mind for me at least in the moment is that I think Julian has at least some level of avoiding discussing some things/keeping some things to himself/vulnerability avoidance, with the setting of that dial being more subjective.

[hellostuffedtiger]

In Character Garak and Bashir

Highly competent in the skills of their trade, especially the technical aspects

Strongly aligned with the ethics of their trade

Vulnerable to deviating from their trade’s ethics due to personal weaknesses

Have enmeshed their identity with their trade

Strongly identify with and are proponents of their respective cultures though they’ve both been personally and specifically wounded by their culture

Defiant in the face of a challenge

Think analysis is fun

Enjoy social interaction

Actually fairly resilient all things considered (I think I diverge from many in the fandom in thinking that though both have a history of trauma, the way that that impacts them tends to be indirect and only infrequently rises to the surface)

Witty, have a sense of humor

[aurora-nova-fic]

For me, a big part of being in character is also that the dialogue and internal monologue sounds consistent with canon dialogue. Now, canon varies over seasons and episode to episode, so there's wiggle room to be sure, but if I read and cannot possibly fathom the character saying that on screen, I'm going to drop the fic.

[aurora-nova-fic]

Mr. Nova watching "By Inferno's Light": So in the end does Cardassia get screwed for joining the Dominion?

Me: Oh yes, you'll see.

Him: Good. Just wanted to make sure.

[aurora-nova-fic]

I don't think we writers talk enough about how bittersweet it is to finish a story.

When you write a long story or series, when you have tens of thousands (or more) words that you've written over months (or longer), when a story has been a constant companion in your life and now it's done - there's a brief period of grief. You have to say goodbye to this friend, this part of your life, and let it go. You'll find another one, of course. You may already have an idea waiting in the wings, but it won't be this story. This story has been close to your heart, it has been part of who you are in this season of your life, and with the pride of accomplishment comes the sadness that now... now you have to let it go.

[ao3org]

We've gotten some new reports of missing kudos emails, which are tied to issues we've been having with the database. Unfortunately, this will happen from time to time until the database is more stable. We're sorry for the inconvenience!

Posted: 23:33 UTC 31 January 2025

[aurora-nova-fic]

FYI to writer friends, don't worry if you're not getting kudos emails, it doesn't mean people have stopped leaving you kudos.

[aurora-nova-fic]

Well, I had to use AO3's block feature for the first time (for a Harry Potter fic), and I'm once again reminded that the DS9 fandom is by and large a less divisive, angry, keyboard warrior corner of the internet. Let's appreciate, celebrate, and most importantly KEEP it!

[aurora-nova-fic]

Since you shared some of your DS9 scripts, thought this might be relevant to your interests: https://www.tumblr.com/lets-steal-an-archive/771703230560452608/happy-birthday-star-trek-deep-space-nine

tl;dr please to enjoy 20+ scripts from 18 episodes (+ are some separate revision pages)

There are more pdfs for sale but that seller has more than a few that are just scanned print outs of the old .txt scripts, I tried getting 'Trials and Tribble-ations' and 'Far Beyond the Stars' but alas :/

This is super cool, thank you! I particularly like seeing the different drafts and how the scripts evolved. It's like peeking behind the curtain of the writer's room.

[aurora-nova-fic]

Man, you use one single German word and suddenly Word think you're writing in German and the quotation marks go all wonky.

[idlestories]

me every single time i’m on the edge of going fully insane about a new fandom: haha what if i just checked ao3. just for fun. just to see what there is. i won’t save anything or get in too deep i’ll just do some recon. i’ll just go see. for fun

[aurora-nova-fic]

I had wanted to go to a Star Trek convention for over 20 years. A couple of years ago I started saving with the plan to attend the 60th anniversary year convention in Las Vegas, and then a few weeks ago I saw an ad for Trek to NJ which was held last weekend, and thought, at last, a convention within reasonable driving distance!

Honestly, the experience was disappointing and I'm now reconsidering if I really want to spend a few thousand dollars in 2026. So my question to convention veterans is, was my experience an outlier? Is the Vegas convention vastly superior to others?

Reasons I found it disappointing:

Lousy communication from Creation in general. Some of this I would know better going forward - I would certainly plan to bring plenty of cash, for instance, but the website lacks a lot of information and the schedule is finalized so close to the convention that it's impossible to plan and buy tickets for extras if you're only planning to attend one day. Seems like the whole experience is designed for people to attend multiple days.

The vendors were disappointingly sparse, other than actors at their tables (Trek to NJ had a lot of actors there).

The panels were chaos. I only saw two (more on that below) and both of them were crashed by other actors. Moderation was sorely needed and I really want to know if this sort of 'sure, whoever wants to drop in can come talk about whatever' is the norm, because to me that was just rude. Lower Decks actors had their own panel right after Jonathan Frakes & Brent Spiner - at that moment people were in the theater area to see that duo, not hear LD actors sing.

Now, one of the big downers for me was not entirely within Creation's control, but their policies certainly didn't help. We don't know exactly what happened but the guess is that Jeri Ryan was struggling that day for some reason. (She referred to Michelle Hurd, who was not supposed to join her time on stage but did and did more of the talking, as her 'emotional support human.') So, the scheduled photo ops with her didn't happen on time.

I'm not at all here to slam Jeri Ryan for that. She's human, people have bad days, and as someone who has my own bad days with mental and emotional health, I think we need to give each other grace.

The thing was, this threw everything off schedule. We waited in line, photo op postponed, more information to be forthcoming. Now here is where I think Creation needed to do better. For one thing, they couldn't tell us right away if or when the photo ops would take place. Okay, it takes time to work out, I get that. But they said "it will be on the screens in the theater." Right. But what about when I'm not in the theater? They had no other way to communicate. I didn't want to miss it because I was in line for other things or browsing at vendors. Then when they did reschedule it, due to waiting in line I missed other things I'd have liked - the costume contest and the first part of Frakes & Spiner - and I had specifically planned the single photo op I bought to not conflict with events I really wanted to see.

So by the time all of this went down, I'd honestly have preferred the option to get a refund and spend the money elsewhere. But Creation only gives refunds if the actor outright cancels. I think that in cases like this, flexibility in their refund policy would go a long way - I personally would have come home a lot happier if I had gotten a refund and been able to enjoy the afternoon events as planned.

(I was in fact so annoyed with the whole experience I didn't even buy a souvenir or two as expected.)

Finally, I felt like there were two options to enjoying yourself. One, you have a lot of money to spend on and a desire to get multiple autographs and/or photo ops with actors. Two, you enjoy sitting and watching whoever comes on stage do or say whatever randomness happens to occur. If you didn't fall into one of those categories, there honestly wasn't much to do.

Was this usual or unusual? Is Star Trek Las Vegas different? If you've actually read to the end, by the way, thank you.

[aurora-nova-fic]

Things I Wish I'd Known About Star Trek Conventions

I finally made it to a Trek convention (Creation Trek to NJ) and learned a few things I wish I'd known ahead of time, as it would've made the experience more enjoyable. So I am sending it out into the ether in the hopes that it will help someone else be savvier than I was.

BRING CASH. Most of the actors were selling autographs and photos directly to fans at the vendor tables, and I did not see a single one taking cards for payment. The convention center's ATM ran out of cash, and Mr. Nova, who sweetly went to a nearby bank, reported long lines there as well, so I wasn't the only one who expected to pay with my card. This is important information which ought to be on the convention website.

How much to bring? We saw prices ranging from $40-110, as each actor sets their own pricing structure. If you want to get multiple autographs/photos from the big names, bring hundreds of dollars cash.

Skip most official photo ops. Creation sells photo ops, and they do warn on the website that it last seconds. What they don't mention on the website is that most/all of the actors selling autographs directly to fans at the vendor tables will add a selfie/photo on your phone for an additional fee (amount varying by actor). Unlike the production line of the official photo ops, these are more relaxed and fun. Again, it will depend on the actor, but there's a greater opportunity for interaction.

I paid $60 for an autograph/photo combo with Terry Farrell, and it was more fun than the $100 official photo op with Jeri Ryan, plus I got to actually speak with Terry for a minute. The picture is better too - sure there are people in the background instead of a neat blue screen, but I'm clearly more excited and Terry is much more relaxed.

Exceptions: if you want the duo or group photos with multiple actors, and have the money to splash out on them (they went up to $400 for a group with 5 TNG actors), you'll need the official photo ops for that. Also, the official photos might be your only option for some actors - it was for Jeri.

Tickets can be bought last-minute online. I was making a game day decision, and Creation's website said that ticket purchases will be emailed within 2-3 days, with tickets available at the door as long as they aren't sold out. When we got there, we were advised to buy tickets on our phone and told, "Oh no, you'll get it instantly." Not the end of the world, but I'd have liked to have just walked in with the tickets ready had I known I could buy ahead of time.

The schedule is a guideline. I'm not just talking about delays, those happen. What I found very surprising was the chaos of the panel schedule. A group of Lower Decks actors crashed and basically took over the end of Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner's time on stage, and that was after Marina Sirtis dropped in for a few minutes. Todd Stashwick crashed Jeri Ryan's for a conversational detour into discussing Dungeons & Dragons. Some people in the audience seemed to enjoy these unscheduled appearances. I was not one of them, so if you're like me and you prefer adherence to the plan, moderate your expectations.

Everything is expensive. No, I did not expect bargains, but neither did I expect $23 price tags on magnets. If you have your heart set on souvenirs, budget extra. (All the vendors selling wares took cards at least.)

Final thought: don't get your heart set on too many 'must-dos.' This is one that I think I did right going in. There are a lot of moving pieces, different events at different times which can clash with the slightest delay in the schedule, etc. If you go in with a list of several autographs you'll be crushed if you don't get, multiple photos you have to take to be happy going home, and panels you must see, you're going to experience more stress than fun. Pick a couple and otherwise go with the flow - you will enjoy yourself more for it.

[libraflyter]

I want a post Dr. Bashir I Presume fic where after the reveal, Garak is angry. Not because of the lying, but because Julian had a secret that was a blackmailer’s dream and yet he still befriended Garak. Garak the exiled spy. Someone who not only could have uncovered the secret but had incentive to use it against Julian. He is incandescently angry that Julian Bashir has such terrible self preservation.

I want a whole feelings fic about this. Garak trying to figure out why he’s angry and not impressed. He should be impressed! Julian is a better liar than he knew and that should please him, not anger him.

Garak has never had the anger you get when you find out after the fact someone you love did something that could have hurt/killed them and yes it’s okay now but you need them to know how unacceptable it was, how they need to understand they can’t hold themselves so cheaply and promise to never do it again.

Where there’s a confrontation (because of course Garak is avoiding Julian and that only works until Julian is fed up with him) and it turns into a big fight which is ultimately about how much Garak cares about his dear doctor. Garak finally understands why he’s so upset. That the augment reveal was the last straw in his tangled feelings about how much danger his doctor was in that he didn’t see. He didn’t see the changeling and he didn’t see this (and he didn’t save his father) and safety is both an illusion and something Garak is supposed to provide to His People.

If Julian is going to be so reckless, if Garak can’t stop him he must have enough information to protect him.

(Odds of Garak planting hidden trackers on Julian: very high. Julian is going to feel both violated and relieved when section 31’s kidnapping is uncovered so quickly.)

[sapphosewrites]

I think Garak has to believe that everything he's done and sacrificed and twisted himself into was worthwhile and necessary, so that he can go on living in his own skin. If he ever finds himself believing it was a waste or Tain just being cruel or didn't actually help Cardassia, the whole house of cards caves in, and genuinely I don't know how he could move forward from it without a complete mental break.

So you'd get people like Julian or Ezri who are very well intentioned and trying to be helpful and encouraging him to think about things differently and they don't understand his very fragile sanity rests on him believing shit like children deserve to be put in closets, and if he lets himself think otherwise he'll just fully implode.

[aurora-nova-fic]

I had to watch a LinkedIn video training on overcoming your inner critic to empower creative thinking. You know, one of those corporate trainings that management labors under delusions about being helpful career advice but what really happens is that everyone complains how they have a whole lot of actual work they could be getting done instead. Anyway, at one point there was a list of characteristics to look for to know when & where you're creative. One of the potential identifiers was the process being easy, and I thought of literally everything I've ever seen about how HARD writing is, and rolled my eyes.

Sure, sometimes it goes well. Sometimes a scene flows in one shot and I barely need to edit a thing and it's all sunshine and roses. But sometimes I spend an hour writing two lines and that is still the creative process.

Don't identify creativity by ease.

[aurora-nova-fic]

The grammar check in Word has really gone downhill.

What I wrote: "Harry hadn't stopped to consider it."

Suggested change: "Harry hadn't stopped considering it."

And this is the kind of AI technology which is supposed to be so great?