Anonymous asked:

So, from what I've seen, you seem to commission Lady Yate-xel a lot. I'm a first-time commissioner, and I'm super nervous about how to communicate with the artist in a polite way that doesn't show how much of a complete fangirlish idiot about their work I am. Do you have any tips for what to write when commissioning an artist? :)

Be a total fangirlish idiot. Squeal. Jump up and down. Flail a little. She’ll fucking love it, I promise. Brave heart, Tegan!

(And then show us what you commission, okay???)

Anonymous asked:

I don't know where I saw it, if it was your blog or Lady's, or in a comment either of you made to something, but I vaguely seem to remember something about DD9 Julian finding out about Garak and some kind of drug, and thus there being a 'The Wire'-reminiscent thing, but I don't know if it was just speculation and discarded or possibly that I'm imagining it entirely?

What a good memory you have, anon~~~

You didn’t hear it from me, but the issue may have been rather thoroughly explored… I may have done a thing, and once Lady Yate-Xel does another thing, then there may be an aggregate Thing for popular perusal.

Don’t worry - you’ll hear!

A Garak/Bashir trope that gives me squick

[tinsnip]

Okay. It’s incredibly common in the fanfic. And every single time it gives me the yigg.

Garak tells Bashir about a Cardassian tradition, OR gives him this piece of jewelry, OR fakes this illness, and Bashir respects the tradition/wears the jewelry/tries to treat the illness, and it leads to sexy times, and yee hah, and Bashir asks about the tradition/jewelry/illness, and Garak is all I MADE IT UP TO GET IN YOUR PANTS/IT’S A BETROTHAL RING HA HA WE’RE ENGAGED NOW/THAT ILLNESS ISN’T REAL I JUST WANTED TO SEX YOU.

And Bashir’s always all, oh, you rascal, let’s sexy times again.

And I just can’t help thinking that lying to get into someone’s pants is very different from lying to entertain, or to protect oneself. If I were Bashir, I’d be horribly embarrassed and very turned off. Especially with that betrothal jewelry bullshit. Seriously, don’t lie about that.

I’m thinking too much. But it’s a weird trope and I don’t like it.

[ladyyatexel]

No, this is totally a legit thing.  I started writing a giant spiel in a draft post about the things that Garak gets away with as a Cardassian versus what he can get with as a human (because pizza), and then there were definitely things that he should not get away with in either circumstance and “oh, lol, now we’re engaged/sleeping together because I am mocking/exploiting your lack of knowledge about my culture~” is not one of them. 

Garak’s lying is fun because most of it is an invitation to figure him out (the rest is, like you said, self-preservation).  Lying to sleep with someone is ridiculously skeevy and I think can be classified as rape under some places’ laws.  And I’m pretty sure Garak is not this despicable. 

WHILE WE’RE ON THE SUBJECT OF ‘NO’, I get really frowny when Bashir is referred to as a ‘boy’ because  A) fuck epithets, and, more importantly, B) Bashir is a fucking adult.  He might be a young one, he might be totally doofy and kind of naive when this shit starts.  He might have eyes fit for a Disney movie and possibly the hair and smile as well, but he’s a MAN.  He has a fucking medical degree, can we stop it with boy?   I understand there is an age difference.  I rather like it, even!  But let’s stop with trying to ratchet it up to creepy levels AND infantilzing Bashir. 

[muiromem]

I have come across these sort of things so many times while reading fic and THANK YOU GUYS YOU ACTUALLY GET IT. I hate it when they have Garak call him “boy”. This stuff just bugs the crap out of me.

Not to mention one of my own more minor pet peeves is how often I see things going completely one-sided with their relationship. I understand that Julian always showed an interest in Garak and his culture, but relationships are supposed to be a compromise between both people involved. It bothers me when I read a fic and Julian is is the who tries to learn to the language, customs, rules, and such about Cardassians (which is great) but then Garak just stays exactly how he is and people kind of ignore human customs, ideals, and such.

Don’t get me wrong tough, I mean I’m one of a bunch of us who hold on to our personal headcanon that he and Garak go live on Cardassia and adopt a bunch of war orphans and of course Julian would need to learn about Cardassian culture if he’s going to live there. But like, for a very quickly grabbed (and probably crappy) example, nearly every fic I have read has the two of them being “bonded” or whatnot the Cardassian way, but never do I hear mention of them getting married like humans do. This is in no way a bad thing, but I sometimes feel like the authors just dismiss any notion that Julian might want to hold on to his own culture. It’s just little things like that I guess.

and this has been a longer jumble of half-thought out opinions than I expected woops don’t bite my head off anyone please

[ladyyatexel]

Not to excuse it, because I don’t, and I would rather they share, but I wonder if people do this as some sort of unconscious attempt to undo some of the “HUMANS ARE THE BEST, DO IT THE HUMAN WAY” that happens on a lot of shows? I think Star Trek tries very hard both to show that the human way is not the best way, and then goes and tries just as hard to show the Federation way is the best way (which is mostly ‘the human way), so there’s some conflict in how things are presented.  I feel like we very rarely see a planet ultimately get along just fine without the Federation values.  Like, we start watching the Ferengi culture change into something the Federation would like more (which is thankfully spurred by a Ferengi woman and not some people who swooped in telling her she was oppressed like some colonial bullshit), and while it was a good thing in that case, it seems that is just keeps happening with every planet they encounter. ‘Silly aliens, this thing you’re doing is dumb!’  Do we see the Federation ever running into a new world and going “MY GOD, THEY HAVE A GOOD THING HERE, LET’S USE IT!” rather than just eating everyone up? 

 So maybe it’s a counter to that and that people feel there’s some sort of romance in giving up your own shit for someone? And people feel bad making Garak do that because, ‘oh, isn’t it predictable for us humans to think our ways are superior, and dammit Federation, stop it. I’ll write Bashir going Cardassian instead!’    

And then everyone does that and Bashir and Garak don’t share. 

[tinsnip]

I am banging my actual head on my actual table. It’s really quite an interesting feeling. You’re right, you’re right, dammit, you’re right. Giving up your own shit for someone is a recipe for disaster in, mmm, about three years, when you realize you’ve lost all your friends, you don’t wear the clothes you like anymore because you don’t fit in with his friends/culture, you hardly see your parents, you listen to his music, you read his books, and where the hell is the person he fell in love with, and how dare he not appreciate the sacrifices you’ve made to be with him?? 

It’s not romantic, it’s not cool! Oh, God! This is going to find its way into what I’m writing, rrrrrrgh, my G/B headcanon is getting turned on its head and it’s making a mess~

[ladyyatexel]

look what i haaaaave~

Not that I have anyone to give one to in person who would appreciate this, but I thought if I have to test my printer on something…

ladyyatexel.tumblr.com

~Kingdom Burning Down~: I wonder if, in the Star Trek universe, they’ve come up with words for...

[ladyyatexel]

I wonder if, in the Star Trek universe, they’ve come up with words for a nearly uncountable number of sexual orientations.

Like, this guy is human, but he is only attracted to women of other species. Is he just like, heteroHETEROsexual? If the same guy is attracted to only men of other species,...

[ladyyatexel]

The twins - Chel and her brother who I am slightly closer to naming~  

Not as happy with the nameless kid as I am with Chel, but it’s a thing~  If I can name him in some reasonable timeframe, I’d like to put these on dA with the ones of Mira and Tolan.   

Also random spoon comparison in the corner, because it was there.

Influence

[ladyyatexel]

Deep Dish Nine!Julian tries to work under the influence. Of many things.

The next part of the … thing. The thing what I am doing with the pizza and the AU.  I promise I am slightly more competent at words under the read more.  

The first part of this was Maintenance, the second part was Linear.  The clever ones will note that this is now the third one what am i doing with my life.

It would be good if I had a name for all of this.

Read More

[tinsnip]

Just adorbs. So enjoyable. “Why was I the girl the line worked on??” Poor Julian.

ladyyatexel.tumblr.com

~Kingdom Burning Down~: DS9 Season 6 Episode 2 "Rocks and Shoals"

[tinsnip]

Buhhhhh, wow. Read my rambles after the cut.

Read More

[ladyyatexel]

I loved pretty much the exact same things you did about this one.

I was also irrationally and fiercely compelled by Keevan, like, to the point that I was hoping he would be a recurring thing. I don’t know if it was his...

[tinsnip]

I left the cut in, because this is gonna get long!

Re:  Keevan - I guess he comes back, but I guess it’s just once and the episode is kind of silly? Too bad. I liked his portrayal of a Vorta who does respect his men, but also understands that they are tools to be used for a specific purpose. He’s not sentimental about them and they don’t want him to be. It’s weird and alien and that’s what I like about this show.

The makeup team did a good job on this episode, yes? To be able to make Garak and Nog look good under natural light is probably not the easiest thing in the world. I looked for seams and didn’t see any. I liked the story continuity too, and I liked that Nog was completely forthright about it.

I think that O'Brien is just the most mentally stable son of a bitch in the known universe. He’s like one of those inflatable clowns - you punch ‘em over and they pop back up. Julian keeps subtly trying to assess his mental health, and O'Brien just kind of looks at him. O'Brien has a family to keep him tied to reality, and he has friends that love him desperately. I think that he uses them to keep himself afloat; to get over the bad memories, he makes as many good ones as he can as quickly as he can. It is too bad they didn’t do more with it, though. Does he ever even make reference to his 20-year-stint again?

Re: Garak and sewing - I like that right now it kind of seems like he’s made peace with the tailor thing. He’s found a niche, and it’s perhaps not the niche he would prefer, but his experience with being back under the wing of Enabran Tain back in season 3 was not as pleasant as he remembered either. I think he probably realizes that he’s changed just enough that he can’t go back to what he was, and Cardassia doesn’t want him back any other way, so for now he’ll make do and make pants.

Nog has grown tremendously as a character! Not going to lie, I still find him a bit irritating, but I find him irritating in the way that every green Starfleet cadet irritates me. Wesley was the same way. They’re so earnest and eager. I like them better once something awful happens to them. I am a terrible person.

Thanks for talking to me about Star Treeeeek~

[tinsnip]

Garak. Elim. Can we talk?

Can you perhaps not bring the sexy quite so much? It makes it hard to follow the storyline when I keep having to stop and screenshot. That’s all I’m saying. I’m sure we understand each other.

(Also, mad props to the flying hair! I love it when his hair moves! I have so many shots of just his hair!)

[ladyyatexel]

seriously fucking loved like every second of him in this episode

shooting things makes my love for Homicidal!Garak flare up every time

[tinsnip]

He is rather arresting, isn’t he?

I love the idea that by Cardassian standards, he’s not particularly attractive. He’s just this dumpy little tailor with whom you do not fuck.

Fic: Linear

[ladyyatexel]

Deep Dish Nine!Julian has coffee with Garak.  And then goes pounding on MIles’ door in the middle of the night. 

Continuing on from Maintenance.

This is may be taking DD9 and letting it do something organic on its own, rather than following a strict episode-parallel formula, I’m not sure, it depends on where this would fit, though it’s still early given that Julian is still kind of awkward and fail like 75% of the time.  Though I guess late enough that he and Miles are (non)SpaceBros.

  I’ve given Julian and Garak movies in addition to books to discuss.  I’m positive they discuss literature just as much, but I thought movies might be slightly more feasible than novels for someone trying to get a medical degree and work a part time job to actually consume for the purposes of deep discussion. 

Also had a little fun with ways to make Garak human but give him traits that hint back at Cardassian.  I was a little inspired by bits on my dash talking about Cardassian thinking and memory not being a straight line. 

this is a lot of notes. this is not even all the ones i wanted to make

————

Read More

[tinsnip]

Miles Miles Miles Miles!!!

I love this. I have a great big smile on my face and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

How old are Julian and Garak in this world? I peg Julian as about 25, and Garak as about thirty.. seven? Eight?

Also, “HE KNOWS WHERE YOU LIVE!"  I have had this exact conversation with a friend; I loved seeing it here!