So this Bajoran walks into Quark's and orders a raktajino...

[sharpiefan]

Hi there! *waves*

I've been a Trekker for about nineteen years - since DS9 was first shown on TV over here in the UK - although I've not actually taken part in the fandom as such, being a cash-strapped teen and not really knowing about fandom per se, let alone how to get into it. Still, now we're in the 21st Century with internet and all, and I'm here...

My favourite series is DS9 and my favourite character - the one I always wanted to be - is Major Kira Nerys.

Comments

[sharpiefan]

I never watched the last season, season and a half of DS9 because BBC2 kept messing around with transmission times and day - and they never showed Season 7 at all.

TNG had some pretty cool stories, though I much prefer the last two or three seasons of that - I don't think they did many good episodes before the fourth season. S9 got into its stride much quicker, IMHO. My favourite TNG character is probably Ro Laren. So yeah, patterns... :D

And I've only seen two or three episodes, total, of VOY. So I really can't voice an opinion about any of that.

[aryas_zehral]

Oh I was a hideous hideous shipper on Voyager. I was ridiculously invested in Tom/B'Elanna and would take my allowance each month and walk into town to buy the next two episodes on VHS because it was quicker than waiting for it to be shown on the Beeb and I didn't have satelite or cable. They were the first things I read fic for (that I can remember) and tbh they're kind of my go to star trek pairing for challenges on here/LJ. I forgot Luwaxana and Q on my list of possible favourites earlier too so I'll just leave that there.

I keep thinking I should buy the shows on DVD and actually give DS9 a go. I like what I've seen I just missed so much and it was much more reliant on knowing what had gone before than the other shows.

[sharpiefan]

Until last week, I hadn't seen any DS9 since the Beeb stopped showing it. And a friend bought me Season 1 on DVD...

I'm waiting for Amazon to send me Season 2 and I'll probably buy the rest season by season when I can afford them - irregular working hours = not much money. But since when did that stop a fan?! I used to spend my pocket money on the books - there was a time when I figured I could save for two weeks for one novel, and still afford my monthly issue of Star Trek Monthly. Didn't leave much money for anything else, so I taped each episode when the Beeb screened them, apart from episodes I got on VHS video for my birthday. :D

DS9 is well worth giving a go - the later seasons are definitely interlinked, but the earlier ones do have stand-alone episodes. Just fewer of them than TNG and VOY, by virtue of DS9's being stuck in one place. If you can't afford the whole series in one fell swoop, getting them season by season isn't a bad way of doing it. Plus there's all the extras and stuff.

[aryas_zehral]

I think I've seen up to like season five. Of DS9 but with missing eps. I've seen the end of S7 and bits of S6.

I used to go to these "convensions" every two months in a hotel near where I lived. The guy who ran it had friends in the States who would video the episodes and send them over to us. You never knew what you were going to see until they started and sometimes they still had the American adverts in them. It was fun. Of course sometimes if there wasn't enough Trek or if some new show (like Babylon 5) was sounding interesting we'd watch that too- but only if there wasn't enough Trek. I watched the first eps of DS9 and Voyager in that room. And bought so much tat from the dealers tables. :)

[sharpiefan]

I think I've seen up to the episode before His Way (I think!) And I'm pretty sure I've seen S6's Waltz, but that is it. I kind of know what happens in S7, but I've not seen any of it, and intend to watch the rest in order before getting there, because it's been so long since I've really immersed myself in that world, and I need to remind myself exactly what's happened before all of that.

I went to a 'convention' once, years and years ago. There weren't any hugely famous names, but I did meet Jeremy Bulloch, who played Boba Fett in the original Star Wars trilogy - and got a signed pic. And that's the closest I've been to anything as mad as the major conventions get. Buying tat from the dealers is half the fun, anyway. :D

[aryas_zehral]

I haven't been to any proper conventions. Just those ones I went to when I was a teen and they don't really count cos it was a room in a hotel with a bunch of people watching videos and a couple of guys selling stuff at the back... and that was it.

I think if I was to do the DS9 thing I'd start at the beginning again. The rest I know well enough that I can dip in and go "oh my favourites do this in this ep" and then wander away again. Star Trek is my comfort tv. I watch it when I'm sad or ill or whatever so I have watched quite a bit of it repeatedly. :)

[sharpiefan]

Oh, the joys of being a teenaged fan... :D I remember those days well! I'd love to do a proper convention... just to say I've done it. Maybe one day.

It's definitely worth doing the DS9 thing. And I can definitely empathise with Star Trek being 'comfort TV' - I'm pretty sure it exists for that purpose, and that purpose alone! It's the sheer escapism of being able to 'be' in the 24th century for an hour or so... That's probably why it's so darn popular!