#Vic Fontaine
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VIC, END PROGRAM
I never got to work directly with James Darren, despite co-writing a scene for Vic in the 5th season that never got filmed. But by all accounts, he was a wonderful guy and much loved. So, here's to you, Mr. Darren. I wish I'd gotten to meet you more than just in passing. Much love to his family and friends.
#ask me anything#tv writing#ask me stuff#ds9#star trek#star trek ds9#deep space nine#star trek deep space nine#deep space 9#star trek deep space 9#james darren#vic fontaine#rip
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DS9 sticker sheets finished !!
You can buy them here if you want
#star trek#non comic art#ds9#star trek fanart#deep space nine#worf#jadzia dax#kira nerys#elim garak#keiko o'brien#vic fontaine#miles o'brien#julian bashir#odo#quark#benjamin sisko#ezri dax#jake sisko#leeta#rom#nog
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ACT four: what you LEAVE BEHIND
a multi-edit study on ds9 told in 4 acts. All acts are up and the study is complete
In conclusion, watch ds9.
#star trek edit#star trek#ds9#star trek ds9#star trek deep space nine#captain sisko#benjamin sisko#Kassidy Yates#ds9 quark#quark#Star Trek nog#star trek quark#major kira nerys#kira nerys#odo ital#jake sisko#julian bashir#miles o'brien#jadzia dax#ezri dax#lieutenant worf#worf son of mogh#worf#elim garak#gul dukat#vic fontaine#TikTok#tiktok edits#simon and garfunkel
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Quark applying for every Federation aid program he can find until he can find one that will reimburse him for running one of his holosuites 26/7 with no customers in it to house a sentient hologram.
#“Can I get money for housing a refugee? Can I be is foster father? What about the endangered Species Act??”#me (always worried about money) watching it's only a paper moon:#oh no that's gonna be expensive#star trek ds9#ds9#quark#vic fontaine
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Ramblings on Tora Ziyal
I think it’s well beyond a shame that they killed off Ziyal because I really would have liked to see her Cardassian-Bajoran identity more fleshed out and have her navigate the world beyond her father’s influence. She was starting to do that a bit with Kira and Garak (though I strongly feel that Garak should have been more of a mentor figure than a love interest) and it would have been really cool to see her get to hang out with Jake and Nog and just be a kid for once. It feels way too weird the way they began her character as this traumatized little girl who knew nothing but the brief time of her life she spent with her mother on Bajor and the horrors of the Breen mines and then magically turned her into this saccharine sweet, mostly well-adjusted young woman who loves her tyrant father despite his crimes (and in many ways, is seemingly unaware of them???????). Where was the therapy? Where was the rehabilitation? Where was the jaded child we saw in “Indiscretion”? What if Ziyal had been allowed to channel her anger and pain into learning about Bajor and Cardassia, into healing herself? Her dad basically plucked her out of the Breen mines after years of giving less than a Cardassian vole's asshole about her and then it turns out he originally planned to kill her when he found her? After she prayed for years that he'd come and save her? I'd be pissed.
But also, I wish they'd explored more of why she didn't appear to be all that pissed. We have almost no other context for Ziyal's childhood, certainly not any of what it was like before Dukat sent her and Naprem away. Was it simply exhaustion and desperation that led her to the conclusion that she'd rather die than not be with him once he'd found her? Was there a guise Dukat put up to portray himself as a kind father and mask the tyrant underneath before he sent Naprem and Ziyal away? Or did she even get to see Dukat at all in her early childhood? Did she simply assume he would be a loving father? Is that the image Ziyal clung to for comfort for all those years? Did she cling so tightly she could do little else but believe it?
It feels icky to kind of reduce her existence to Dukat Drama™ the way the show ultimately did with her death. Why didn’t we get to see her experiencing disillusionment about Dukat, who never actually changed for the better when she was still alive and trying to get him to stop being so horrible? Why didn’t we get any Rugal-level anger from her, the hushed-up child of a Bajoran comfort woman and the genocidal former Prefect of Bajor? Because, obviously, Dukat never actually took his fatherhood to her seriously. She tried to imagine him as someone he was not and he predictably chose to inflate his own ego by encouraging her. She wasn't much more to him than a device to garner some twisted idea of sympathy for himself. Ziyal needed more of a chance to break away from relying on Dukat for unconditional love. Because his love, as we know, was not unconditional. In fact, I hesitate to even call it love at all, given how ready he was to manipulate Ziyal, how ready he was to get rid of her. She had unconditional love from Kira, who immediately went to bat for her before she’d even met her when she found out what Dukat planned to do to his own daughter. And I totally believe Garak’s love for Ziyal could have grown into something unconditional, but they ruined it with some weird, out-of-nowhere romance with an uncomfortable age gap and then had her killed off like some tragic, helpless maiden.
DS9 was sort of the only place Ziyal could experience any sort of semblance of real safety in her life, especially considering both Bajoran and Cardassian attitudes towards biracial children. It would have been interesting to explore an arc with her making DS9 her home as a place that is conducive to the cohabitation of many different species and cultures while also wrestling with isolation and ostracization from those who share in the two most pervasively impactful facets of her identity. Maybe the writers wanted to focus on portraying her girlhood and favored it over exploring the complexities of her Cardassian-Bajoran heritage. But honestly, they failed at both. She never got to have a girlhood and she ultimately became more of a plot device than a fully-fledged character. This franchise started off with its most interesting and beloved main character being both Vulcan and human. I know Ziyal is someone else entirely, but they totally could have done more with her than they did.
I would love, love, LOVE to see her engage with different aspects of both Bajoran and Cardassian culture. I wonder if she would develop any kind of spirituality regarding the Prophets. Since Bajorans are widely a spiritual people, it's possible Naprem shared some of her spiritual practices with her daughter. If she did, does Ziyal observe those practices to feel closer to her mother? Does she seek Kira's help in learning more about Bajoran spirituality? Do they connect over the struggles their faith has gotten them through? Would delving deeper into Bajoran spirituality open a gateway to acceptance from other Bajorans? Or would it make them turn their backs on her even more? How does her Cardassian-Bajoran heritage impact the way she interacts with her own spirituality and beliefs? As far as Cardassian culture goes, Garak certainly has an eye for art and I could see her connecting with Professor Natima Lang, Hogue and Rekelen and learning about Cardassia's resistance movements.
Also, multiple Bajoran and Cardassian drinks, confections and meals are shown throughout the series and especially with respect to its main character, DS9 frequently places food in an important cultural, community-building role. As someone whose strongest connection to their own heritage comes from food, I would have loved to see Ziyal engage with both Bajoran and Cardassian culture through food.
Obviously, we were robbed of heaps and heaps of space station shenanigans:
Nog sharing what he learns from Starfleet Academy with Ziyal, Ziyal trying tube grubs and actually liking them.
Ziyal illustrating Jake’s stories into comic books or murals and the two of them creating stuff together and maybe some nerdy pop culture history discussions on the side. I feel like Jake, Nog and Ziyal would totally have weekly movie nights.
Odo looking out for her, giving her advice about handling bullies, the two of them bonding over being generally considered the odd ones out and Ziyal making paintings to add to his quarters.
Kira giving her lots of hugs, teaching her to fight, protecting her from bigots and helping her embrace her Bajoran background, teaching her Bajoran culture. Ziyal stealing clothes from Kira's closet occasionally ("You hardly ever wear anything other than your uniform, anyway! And they fit, see?"). Ziyal sneakily tagging along on Kira and Dax's trips to the holosuites, eventually convincing them to just invite her to them regularly, anyway. She knows how to use her cuteness as a force for good, but more importantly, she knows how to use it as a force for capers and hijinks.
Garak making her clothes, teaching her the art of cunning deceit and helping her embrace her Cardassian background, teaching her Cardassian culture. More hangouts in the holosuites basking on steaming rocks. And the two of them giggling in tasteful mirth at Bashir because he finds Cardassian literature boring.
Gossiping with Bashir and Jadzia, learning to treat wounds and carry a bat’leth, never growing tired of Dax’s many tales of woe, romance and adventure.
Sisko teaching her how to cook and inviting her to play baseball with him and Jake.
Quark occasionally letting her have a drink on the house because she can be more devious than him if she wants to be (“Listen, kid, if you’ll get rid of all this root beer for me, you can have as many free glasses as you want”).
Leeta and Rom being the cool aunt and uncle who buy her all the jumja sticks she wants.
Babysitting Molly and Kirayoshi and learning about plants, science and Earth history from Keiko. I wish Keiko had gotten more screen time - in general, but also of her in her element, studying plants and playing music. It's criminal that we never see Keiko play her clarinet in DS9, so I definitely would love to see the two of them playing music together if Ziyal felt so inclined.
Leaving O’Brien in the dust at darts for reasons he simply cannot fathom.
Listening to Klingon opera with Worf over glasses of prune juice.
Becoming an accidental stowaway on Kasidy’s freighter one day and Kasidy taking her with on missions to Bajor. Kasidy, Keiko and Ziyal hanging out together is a trio dynamic that never happened and definitely should have.
Talking stuff out with Ezri, the two of them commiserating over their respective identity crises.
Dressing up for nights at Vic’s.
Learning about Klingon music from that Klingon chef (I believe his name is Kaga) on the Promenade.
Punching each successive version of Weyoun in the fucking face (maybe even Weyoun 6, accidentally or intentionally, doesn't matter, it would just be funny).
Rebel strategies with Damar (I think he’d come around if he didn’t have it out for her and got over Cardassian bureaucracy), Kira and Garak.
Helping around the house whenever she and Garak visit Mila, long talks with Mila about her Obsidian Order days.
Weekly dinners with everybody.
I want to see her making friends and being supported by all the loving, caring people around her who love her (collectively and individually) more than her actual-piece-of-shit dad. I want her to grapple with the fact that certain people hate the mere existence of her enough to want her dead but also decide to go “hell with it” and fucking live for herself. She deserves to be more than the tragedy that made Dukat finally snap and descend into pure insanity. She deserves to laugh and cry and stomp her feet and dance and shout and sing and love and play and paint to her heart’s content. She deserves to be angry. She deserves to have a childhood, an adolescence, an adulthood and an elderhood. She deserves to live. And maybe to be the perpetrator of a few political assassinations as a treat.
So………....................suffice to say, I have a LOT of thoughts about Ziyal. I love her and I wish the show runners had loved her more, too.
#ds9#tora ziyal#tora naprem#rugal ds9#nog ds9#jake sisko#odo ds9#kira nerys#elim garak#julian bashir#jadzia dax#benjamin sisko#quark ds9#leeta ds9#rom ds9#molly o'brien#kirayoshi o'brien#keiko o'brien#miles o'brien#worf son of mogh#kasidy yates-sisko#ezri dax#vic fontaine#klingon chef kaga#weyoun#corat damar#mila ds9#spock#skrain dukat i guess yes he's last#everyone else is lined up to punch him in his stupid face harder than sisko punched q that one time
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I love how the DS9 writers were just like "ya know what this space station needs? Frank Sinatra." And then they just. Threw him in there.
#i fucking love vic fontaine#hes such a guy#love me a sentient hologram#vic fontaine#ds9#frank sinatra#star trek deep space nine#vic fontaine ds9
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My sister had an oldies playlist going and I was like "I know this song... I know I know this song, but it doesn't sound right." And it is because I know that song from Vic Fontaine
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RIP Vic Fontaine
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It took me seeing him in a tuxedo to come to this conclusion, but Odo is kinda Kermit The Frog coded. Another reason he should have ended up with Lwaxana
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See you around, pally.
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In "It's Only a Paper Moon" (S07E10, Stardate UNKNOWN) is such a powerful episode carried by strong performances. The weight of trauma that Nog went through is explored as fully as a 90's TV series was able to and it cuts me deeply to see how much I resonate with a lot of the major themes. Bravo.
There were so many ways I thought of going with this episode poster, and I landed on showcasing Nog's cane and one of my favorite lines from Vic.
#star trek art#star trek fan art#ds9#star trek poster#episode art#star trek#episode poster#fan art#star trek deep space nine#nog#it's only a paper moon#ferengi#cane#vic fontaine#ptsd#war
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Aw! James Darren (aka Vic Fontaine on Star Trek: DS9) passed away today. He was 88.
RIP, pally :(
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I was initially skeptical about Vic Fontaine and the whole lounge holosuite concept - seemed a little out there to be so involved in the plots. But then obviously he went on and became central to some of the most moving/fun episodes! What was the inspiration for him and was he always supposed to become such a big part of the other characters' development?
Ira was friendly with Frank Sinatra, Jr. and wanted to create a character for him to play as a fun one-off. So we came up with the idea for Vic Fontaine.
Then Sinatra couldn't play the part (too busy performing), but by then, we'd become attached to the idea of the character and went looking for another singer/actor to play him.
We lucked out and got James Darren! He was lovely to work with and terrific on screen, so we decided to bring him back (similar to Andy Robinson and Casey Biggs) and the character grew from there.
#deep space 9#star trek deep space 9#star trek deep space nine#deep space nine#star trek#star trek ds9#ds9#ask me anything#ask me stuff#james darren#vic fontaine#behind the scenes
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Idk why I was thinking about this today but in the DS9 episode where they have do so the heist movie to save Vic Fontaine's casino from gangsters, there's a really good bit where Sisko says he doesn't like that holodeck program because it's the kind of place where a black man wouldn't have been welcomed in the real world of 1962 america, and as he has a (possibly hallucinatory) first hand experience with 1950's racism, it makes him uncomfortable.
And Cassidy says oh well Vic isn't like that, it's completely inclusive and yadda yadda whatever, which Sisko says is why he doesn't like it, because it's like, whitewashing history and ignoring the ugly parts. Really thoughtful way to handle that IMO.
ANYWAY, in the episode where Vic Fontaine is trying to play cupid to hook up Kira and Odo, he makes fun of Odo's clothes and refers to him as "Nanook of the North" which is like, a stereotype "eskimo" character from the 20's or something, so Vic is actually completely era-accurately racist after all, and Sisko was right, as usual.
#star trek#star trek ds9#star trek deep space nine#ds9#deep space nine#benjamin sisko#ben sisko#captain sisko#odo#ds9 odo#vic fontaine
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