#jack pack

In Statistical Probabilities, I've never really focussed in on this line:

BASHIR: There was nothing the doctors at the Institute could do for them. These cases are so rare there's no standard treatment. KIRA: I can't imagine it was a very stimulating environment for them. BASHIR: That's what Doctor Loews thought when she first came to the Institute. She got permission to separate them from the other residents so that she could work with them.

and I've always assumed the Institute was for genetically enhanced individuals, and that Jack, Lauren, Sarina and Patrick were just selected as the most likely to benefit from "rehabilitation".

But I'm kind of thinking that actually, maybe the implication is that they were the only four mutants at the Institute, which was more broadly meant to cater for (or maybe, "cater for" 🙃) people with a whole variety of additional needs, and that they'd been sent there simply because whoever was in charge of their cases didn't know what else to do with them.

(Or at least, that whoever was in charge of Patrick's case didn't know what to do with him, and subsequently since he was already there, it "made sense" for Jack, Lauren and Sarina to join him when their parents came forward.)

It’s not quite WIP Wednesday yet, and it’s likely I won’t be posting this particular fic for a longtime, but here’s an entry from my notes app I’m filing under Writing That’s Cheaper Than Therapy because I wanted to revisit the Autism Voltron post-canon and give them a future that feels a lil more hopeful with less Starfleet Ableism. Also, I just love these guys and have way too many thoughts about them

(Sarina’s in the kitchen helping Julian make coffees in a parallel scene I haven’t written yet. As soon as they return to the group, Lauren will ask him how Cardassians make love.)

Make the jack pack less stereotypical. Make them actually have good endings. Make julian actually help them.

Give it this vibe i think a storyline like this would have made it one of my favorite episodes. I keep imagining the stories that couldve happened while listening to this on loop so propaganda 👇