Standardized by babel (PG)

[oceloty.livejournal.com]

Fandom: STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE
Pairing: none
Length: 1700 words
Author on LJ: babel
Author Website: Babel Fanfic list
Why this must be read:

Thanks for tuning in to DS9 this month -- I hope you've found something worth reading.

At the risk of making a PSA, there's plenty of great DS9 fic still out there waiting for you. I had a hard time choosing the last story but decided to end the month back at the beginning, with another recent story in a fandom that's still alive and kicking.

"Standardized" consists of five snapshots of Julian Bashir's life. In just a few words and scenes, babel examines the ways in which Bashir's evolution from struggling preschooler to genetically enhanced genius only intensified his sense of failure and alienation. There's not a word wasted in this incisive portrait of a man and his teddy bear.


You are three years old the first time the woman who smells like rubbing alcohol comes to your house with a bunch of pictures and drawings for you to look at. She lays out three pictures on the kitchen table and asks you which one doesn't belong.

Before the woman got there, your father told you to focus really hard on the questions she asked, so you look at the pictures for a long time. They all look kind of the same and kind of different. You look up at your mother. Her hands are clasped under her chin and there's a deep line between her eyebrows.

You say you like all of them, but the woman says again that you have to choose the one that doesn't belong. So, you point at the middle picture.

Everyone looks so disappointed, and they won't tell you why.


Standardized