stede bonnet giving me those early-season julian bashir vibes. just that complete mixture of sweet baby and cringe king.
The unrequited love thing with Bashir?” de Boer [who played Ezri Dax] asked. “I thought it was quite barfy.
The relationship built up between O'Brien and Bashir was very important to all of the writers, as well as both actors. According to Ronald D. Moore, after the scene where they sing Jerusalem together in “Explorers”, all of the staff writers wanted to write scenes involving their friendship. According to Alexander Siddig, “it’s been said, by even the producers, that O'Brien and Bashir are the only real friendship that’s ever happened on Star Trek. These two really are friends. It’s not like some kind of odd couple scenario, like Spock and Kirk. It’s a real friendship. These people talk about inane things, and I think that’s been really refreshing.”
Julian Bashir was originally called “Julian Amoros”, and his name was only changed at the last minute prior to the filming of “Emissary”. In the “DS9 Bible”, while most of the characters had several pages describing their back-story and giving information on their psychology, Amoros’ description was simply, “a Human male in his mid-twenties; may have an accent depending on casting.” In the first draft script of “Emissary”, Amoros was described as “human, male, mid-twenties, wide shouldered with a boyish face, trying to appear confident.” The character was described in much the same way in the final draft of the “Emissary” script, though his surname was changed to “Bashir” by then and the latter statement of the initial description was now altered to refer to him as “cocky with a little too much confidence.” As Alexander Siddig pointed out in 2002, “He was a completely blank canvas, no one knew anything about him.” He believes that the only reason the character was created was because the producers knew there had to be a doctor on the show, but beyond the fact that he was a doctor, “they were all scratching their heads.” (Crew Dossier: Julian Bashir, DS9 Season 6 DVD special features)
In March 2015, Executive Producer Rick Berman related on his twitter account, “When I first saw Siddig on film I wanted him as Sisko. Then I learned he was in his 20s (couldn’t have a teenage son) so he became the doc.” [1]
Anonymous asked:
cosmictuesdays answered:
This is a very flattering and very heavy question to be asked. I’ll see what I can do.
The first piece of advice is the exact advice I’d give to anyone writing a disabled character: they’re always disabled. Every day of their life. It’s never going away. There are days where it has less impact, and days it has more bearing on what can and can’t be done, but it’s always there.
Second: Remember that Bashir’s autism informs, but it doesn’t define. It’s absolutely something to keep in mind when asking how he’d respond or react to any given situation. As is the fact that he’s a doctor, and a Human, raised in the Federation, in British culture, with influences from his service in Starfleet and posting on Deep Space Nine, in a post-scarcity society with dozens of other sentient species around, with his own unique personality and outlook on life. Picking any one of these as the single most important characteristic does a disservice to him as an individual. If he’s autistic, then that’s got to be on the top of the list for considering his behaviors, actions, and reactions. But it’s never the only item on the list.
Third: He’s an adult with decades of life experience. Yes, there are days he’s going to have meltdowns and shutdowns from everything going on. And fucking hell NO, that won’t happen often. I took the first four and a half seasons of the show as “autistic canon” and drew from them extensively to determine what he’d be capable of without the enhancements, as was the case until “Doctor Bashir I Presume” was broadcast and changed things. As such, if those pre-DBIP episodes are to be believed, Bashir can absolutely handle himself in both day-to-day and extreme situations - situations as extreme as the Jem’Hadar attacking the station and emergency battlefield triage. Is he good at social situations? Not particularly. Is he good enough that he can have friends and an active sex life? Yes. Is he still going to miss his mark and say the wrong things? Yes, and fairly often. Is he going to run off and cry because he’s overwhelmed? Not likely, not unless the situation is presented as something so far out of his comfort zone that’s the only way he could think to escape it. And what would someone who can stay cool in the middle of a battlefield with his arms to the elbows in someone’s ribcage consider out of his comfort zone? Answer that, and do so honestly.
Fourth, once you have that answer, make sure Bashir’s behaviors are consistent. Like I said, he’s always autistic, and there are times he can present himself to seem less so, and there are things which are always going to be beyond his control. External stimuli will impact his behaviors and reactions. To present those behaviors and reactions realistically, understand what his behaviors would be without the decades of life experience. Then overlay the life experience. Say he has aversions to certain foods and their textures - oh, those fucking beets, my heart soars for that scene - and would rather not eat them. If he’s given a choice between beets or something else, he’ll choose something else. If he’s being served beets by his commanding officer at a private dinner where it’s understood turning down the food would be somewhat insulting … he’s still probably not going to choose them. But he’s going to be very polite about not choosing them. If he had to, he might even take a single bite and say they’re very nice but not for him. Because he doesn’t want that texture in his mouth, and he knows the circumstances of the situation require a different set of behaviors than a large buffet table at a medical conference where he can just walk past the beets without anyone caring.
Fifth. Whatever you do, don’t fetishize his disability. Don’t make things cute, don’t think of him as a child, don’t think he’s someone who needs his metaphorical hands metaphorically held at all times. Respect him as a character with motivations, desires, drives, passions, fears, worries, concerns, regrets, hopes, the same way you’d respect any other character. He’s a working professional adult, with friends, with a sex life, with deep ambition, with interests that grab him and don’t let go, with a steadfast commitment to being a doctor and a healer, who owns a teddy bear, who’s not the best with social situations, who’s driven to be the best in his field, who’s estranged from his parents, whose first impulse to so many situations is often kindness.
Sixth, do your research. Find authentic autistic voices, and while I encourage you to start with Temple Grandin, I implore you, don’t stop with her. Figure out what being autistic would mean for Julian Bashir, and then start going.
Also, please come off anon so we can really get to talking about this.
(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJYlSxz3eZY)
He never says that, which is a shame. But he does say lots of other very interesting things about Cairo Time and about DS9. And he looks adorable.
chequerootlurks
I’m an apprentice tattoo artist. An artist who owns a few shops invited me to their team.
I’ve got a long way to go. I’m still learning basic shading techniques. Working with a tattoo pen adds depth to the traditional flat plane I’m used to working on.
One is never too old to learn a new skill.
At times I feel like a complete newb.
So, here is a meme that I love. I’m sharing it for everyone who is learning something new.
