#ds9 fascination

[filmjunky-99]

s t a r t r e k d e e p s p a c e n i n e created by rick berman, michael piller [fascination, s3ep10]

'I have the honour of placing the first Renewal Scroll into the fire. As the scrolls burn, may our troubles turn to ashes with them.

And now, for the next twenty-six hours, I expect you all to enjoy yourselves.' - kira

[ineedfandomnow]

Well just watched fascination and is the deep space 9 version of the naked time

Lowkey a fun episode tho

[walkingstackofbooks]

DS9 3x10 Fascination thoughts (I'm re-watching, so there may be future spoilers)

"Isn't that the earring you-" "-bought for Mardah?" Huh, I thought Bajoran's earrings were personalised and individual to them, like when Kira recognised Nalas', not something bought by others as gifts.

I say this every time, but I love Sisko and Jake's relationship

"But I'm not going to have any fun." "Oh." XD

Julian's "we've played 70 games" makes me think he's comfortable enough with the chief to not hide things like counting racquetball games <3 although I doubt it was a perfectly round 70

"And you know what all those games have proved to me? That I'm a poor substitute for your wife." "I could've told you that sixty games ago."

Okay so an average person could have done that 70x2=140 calculation in a few seconds, but Julian did 70x2=150 so either he made the mistake on purpose, or he rounded 73/4/5 games down to 70 then doubled the actual number and rounded it up to 150.

His little grin at the end there <3 Idk the "Maybe you can try and convince her to stay" was just a nudge, knowing that Miles would be like definitely not and realise he didn't really resent her being away.

Odo's noticeable slow down as he approached Nerys

Kira's smile at "Actually, I was thinking of joining you this year." - she's SO beautiful, I love her smile to bits

"Well then, we'll see each other later." "I'd like that." He's so awkward but he's trying <3 I didn't like last time suddenly realising he was in love with her, but this time round I am here for it, because she obviously thinks super highly of him, and although he's jealous and doesn't always hide it, he never tries to make her uncomfortable or push her (at this point), even though he's not used to these feelings.

"For you I will make the time, Odo." She does like him a lot. (And her smile again, wow, she's radiant)

Keiko's sigh at "I should never have given you all that candy" - if she had been looking at Lwxana, that would have been a death stare.

"I usually make it a point to drop by Quark's three or four times a day at random intervals, just to let him know that I'm thinking about him." Oh do you, now, Odo?

Ughhhh, Lwxana is So Forward and I don't like it. Odo's so uncomfortable. (I do ship them. Just not right now.)

"What kind of help do you mean?" THat is the correct question to ask. He sounds so nervous and he is so right to.

Lwaxana just being like #icanfixhim 😅

"The office has changed Kai Winn" Has it, Bareil, or is that just wishful thinking?

KIRA'S HAIR. ffffffffff I love her look rn

He's jealous of Jadzia. If she was a guy Kira would have gone "she's just a good friend." But no, perish that thought even be entertained on this throughly straight space station.

KiraDax tradition!!

Miles and Keiko's argument is so Aghhhh. Neither of them are exactly wrong but they're both tired and grouchy and need to give each other some grace or some time.

Kira is SO BEAUTIFUL, her dress is gorgeous but so is SHE

Her catching eyes with Dax who smiles back why can't they BE GIRLFRIENDS

Jake's grin and "wanna go out with me?!" he is such a child. At least in this episode it's mind games and kind of endearing.

Kira is understandably speechless at that

"Because I was hoping that you and I could get to know each other better... A lot better." Oh dear.

I don't like how Lwxana forces Odoout of his comfort zone. I think she would be good for him if she went at his pace with the PDA, and actually asked him about it, rather than assuming he needs to have affection forced upon him. I know I liked her more in DS9 than in TNG, but atm I'm just frustrated with her

Oh it's Quark's trans flag suit!

Yay, Keiko and Miles made up! "You know, I haven't sat here since you've been gone. " "That's so sweet. " I love her smile too :)

Annnnd another argument. of course.

Jealousy is not a good look on you, Miles

Yes, Miles, you are behaving like a child.

Oh fuck you Miles she is TIRED do better than this for goodness' sake you're an adult

"Of course I like her." "Well so do I." I love how simple this argument is and how clearly Jake thinks it solves everything XD

Sisko is so worried and rightly so <3 But clearly has no clue how to handle this curveball

"That's very thoughtful but I have nothing to give you in return." "Being with you is the only present I need." Nah, usually that's a sweet line, but here's it's just downright manipulative

"There's no divorce, no broken homes, nothing but peaceful conjugal bliss." This is a really good illustration of why divorce can be a fucking good thing and rising divorce rates since women have been given more rights and freedoms is not a worrying sign!

"You cancel the party, and then that way we can spend the evening alone together. What do you say?" "Sisko to Bashir." XD I just really like this as a response. Not "something is wrong", but acting on that wrongness immediately

Miles is good at apologies, I'll give him that

I remember the first time I watched this I was convinced Keiko was in her bedroom with someone else having been affected by the weirdness, and everything was going to ramp up even more between the two of them.

Huh, Lwxana is arm in arm with Julian too! She gets round XD or he does....

That was the most ridiculous kiss XD How Siddig and Visitor kept straight faces during that scene I have no idea!

Okay, so Sisko is the only sane one here and he's just noticed.

Oh, and Odo is too

Julian's slight self-awareness of "this is very embarrassing" mid-kiss is so amusing to me

Jadzia just stealing the betrothal bracelet like a magpie there

Keiko's entrance :o I'm glad she took the time for herself to just think things over and figure out what she wanted, rather than feeling like she had to accept the apology straight away.

Sisko really just took that punch

JADZIA'S SO GREAT. Taking down Bareil like that was just so much fun to watch, she's wonderful (poor bareil i guess)

Keiko and Miles are so stunned XD I forgot they've missed out on everything else and have literally no clue what the heck is going on here.

Sisko's tact XD "hen Mrs Troi's amorous feelings for ... someone on the station"

"There would have to have been some pre-existing latent attraction." They didn't have to add that in, but they sure did.

"Only on a subconscious level. Best not think about it too much, if you ask me." *Sigh* *sad nod*. Oh, poor boy, he's really going to try hard not think about it isn't he

You KNEW he didn't like you and you STILL kissed him? This is NOT OKAY, Lwxana!

I'm happy Keiko and Miles made up, but it would make so much more sense for Miles to insist on resigning and going to Bajor to be with her. I'm sure he loves her enough to, and the only reason he didn't is because he's a main character - but in universe this makes him a little eh.... and Keiko deserved sooo much better

*Throws racket* "Chief" straight away. Yep, you're definitely not trying to be a wife-substitute, eh, Julian?

So this was a long one! I did enjoy that episode, despite it's weirdness and frustrations... and how achingly heterosexual it is. Hey ho. It's silly and fun and very Star Trek, still

[improbabledreams900]

Deep Space Nine · The Ferengi

[onwhatcaptain]

I still have tons to say about the Garashir Goes Canon™ moment in Lower Decks so here is my big meta post about it! Below the cut is a meta discussion about the penultimate Lower Decks episode, contextualizing what it means for something to become canon.

To be clear, this is a mostly positive post with analysis included. You’ll see lots of love for Garashir and Lower Decks and also oodles of fandom meta below the cut, since we have a complicated relationship with Paramount. My analysis and graphic is based on a recent lecture about Star Trek canon I gave at KiScon!

First, I have to say that both Unification and this Lower Decks episode following mere weeks after of my lecture panel at KiScon titled Fuck Paramount, about what Star Trek canon really is and what its place is in relation to us as slash fans, is absolutely mind-blowing timing. I wish everyone in both the K/S and Garashir fandoms had been able to attend it because it was absolutely designed to serve as a framework for both of these major fandom moments. And also it was just funny as hell. But most importantly, it was relevant, and existed to give us a sense of understanding when navigating Paramount hell, particularly when they play Gay Chicken (will they, won’t they — most of the time, they won’t).

Since not every single Star Trek fan on this website was at KiScon last month, I want to expand on that a little more here, this time in Garashir context, since last time it was centered on K/S, though Garashir came up several times! When I was giving my lecture, I asked the audience what it would look like if K/S were made canon tomorrow. Everyone had different ideas—but the most common theme that came up was sheer distrust of Paramount doing it justice.

For those of you that are reading this, the thesis of Fuck Paramount was that you as a fan and a viewer have more control over what is and isn’t canon than you think, and that our role as fans is to take ownership of our stories back from corporate interests. I also developed a four-sided framework to describe how we interact with canon to take power back and make sense of canon. Both Unification and the very, very fresh Lower Decks episode have already been controversial for a number of reasons, the primary one they share being: “Wait… does this make this canon?”

So far it looks like the main reactions for this Lower Decks episode (especially considering how sudden and late in its run it is) are mostly “HOLY SHIT THEY REALLY DID IT” and “I AM DISAPPOINTED BY THE MERE SCRAPS.”

And my position on it is that both of them are completely reasonable reactions that don’t contradict one another! I’m going to make the case for both sides as I try to explore the implications of this episode with respect to the episode’s subtext, corporate storytelling, and so forth. I’m not going to go too much into the academic aspects, but I am happy to make the original slides available for anyone who is curious about my canon analysis framework.

Why It’s Enough

On one hand, this episode is done well. Undeniably. It’s a lot of fun. I have also said many times before that the only way I’d want K/S or G/B to become canon is if they suddenly randomly drop the info that they were married and don’t bring it up again, because otherwise they might do more harm than good! This was an example of it done incredibly well, in my opinion.

This episode serves as all the confirmation you could possibly really need of Garashir. Yes, there are quite a few gimmicks involved—it’s all AU, all the way. Garak is now a surgeon from another dimension, and Bashir is from an entirely different dimension, and also not really himself, but a hologram. Here’s how they’re introduced:

WILLIAM BOIMLER: “Elim Garak, a brilliant Cardassian Surgeon—and his husband, an emergency medical hologram based on Dr. Julian Bashir.”

What I really love about this moment is that it actually does more than it looks like it does, at face value. For most of us, our first instinct is to go, whatever, he’s based on Bashir, he’s not even the real one! But what they did here was brilliant—it serves as implicit confirmation that our man Bashir is also bisexual, and loves Garak. He is indeed not a corporeal human being, but as the DS9 episode where the LMH is designed based on Bashir tells us, the hologram is designed and based on who he is. It has his personality traits. Interviews are conducted to make sure that the hologram is as authentic and true to the real thing as possible:

O'BRIEN: “You mean this programme is going to have all of his personal likes and dislikes?” ZIMMERMAN: “That is why we bother to choose a human template in the first place.”

William Boimler, from the prime Star Trek universe, doesn’t say the EMH is based on some Bashir, he says this one is based on Dr. Julian Bashir. Again, this serves as clear confirmation that he is modeled on recognizably the same character from DS9. They’re not that different in essence from their prime universe counterparts, or it wouldn’t be fun for the writers or the audience. We learn that Garak is still former Obsidian Order. They are still the same people, in essence. They may be AU characters but the point is for them to be similar to the originals, or they may as well just have been some guys!

The important thing, for me, is that it’s a clear, unambiguous acknowledgement. It’s played straight. Well, not straight—but not as some elaborate joke or filled with contempt. It doesn’t tease and doesn’t dance around the issue and wink and nudge, begging the viewer to question whether or not they’re together. That much is made immediately very clear. In the episode, AU Garak and AU EMH Bashir are a married couple, and they kiss. Every moment of their relationship is sincere, the comedic moments being not about the fact that their relationship exists, but about the dynamics it brings to the story. It also tells us very clearly that they’re not even from the same universe, and that their compatibility remains nonetheless:

HARRY KIM: “Are they from the same reality?” CURZON: “No, but they love to brag about how statistically unlikely their marriage is.”

Again, I tend to see this as a positive nod to the compatibility of these characters rather than a brush-off that says the prime universe Garashir couldn’t be together. And then Garak tells us his universe’s Bashir is like the original: still a racquetball player and competes with Chief O’Brien—again, revealing quite a bit.

And the B-plot is about them squabbling, acknowledging very clearly to us that Cardassians really do just love flirting via argument, which serves as a brilliant nod to everyone who complained for three decades that the DS9 writers never really admitted that Bashir and Garak were just flirting. Finally! The writers seem to understand quite well what’s important to us, even if this isn’t the ‘Real Garashir.’

What satisfies me ultimately is that this doesn’t in any way look like a rejection of the possibility of Garashir in the prime universe. It looks to me like it supports the text, not a mean-spirited denial that it could only happen under bizarre AU circumstances. To sum it up with another Boimler quote:

BOIMLER: “The multiverse is just a rehash of stuff I already know.”

Hm… :)

And as I pointed out in a prior post, the whole point of the episode is to show that even in different circumstances and worlds, the love characters have for one another remains a constant and is utterly transcendent. The episode straight up tells us that some relationships are so powerful that they span dimensions and realities, and then Garak and Bashir say they would follow one another to any reality!

In my panel-lecture, I said, “[Paramount’s control over the text] suggests that certain readings require their endorsement or confirmation to be true.” But this doesn’t feel like that to me, and so I accept this. It leaves room for possibilities of all kinds, and opens more doors rather than closing them. I can appreciate that.

I also spoke about how canon isn’t one thing—not a binary yes or a no, and that there is no singular meaning. I call this multiplicity:

“Multiplicity is about the continuous proliferation of ideas and the rejection of the text as having a single meaning. It rejects mere viewing or the consumption of media in favor of dialogue and participation rather than a one-way communication.”

This episode served to defy singular interpretations of the text. It tells us that there are infinite possibilities and it took a route that challenges the single-story interpretation of Garashir = Not Canon. It made room for new perspectives and affirmed what “the stuff we already know.”

Why It’s Not Enough

Now for the other side of the coin: why it’s not enough. As exciting as it is to have this kind of confirmation from the current writers for Star Trek in a frankly increasingly conservative storytelling environment, it’s still disappointing for many people that even in the most progressive Star Trek that exists, they cannot or will not openly state that the prime universe Garashir got the ending and acknowledgment they deserved. 

It feels like begging Paramount as a corporation for scraps and thanking them for what really doesn’t feel like enough—it stops short of full, sincere, complete validation of Garashir’s queerness. As I said in my panel, it’s normal for us to want confirmation from the writers and creators that what we’re seeing is real and not just imagined, even when the role of fanfiction is for us to transform canon and reject it ourselves.

It’s absolutely exhausting for us to say we see something that is continuously denied by those who ‘own’ the story in favor of mass appeal, and to me, that is a legitimate perspective that can coexist with the idea that fandom is designed reshape the canon to fits its own needs, and that we don’t need confirmation from the creators for something to be true. Fandom exists to defy corporate ownership of stories, but to have to fight for mere moments where marginalized perspectives are foregrounded causes anger for good reason. We may not need confirmation from them, but saying that we should never expect anything from Paramount releases the corporation of accountability and obligation to respect the audience and their own characters. We should be able to expect and trust that these characters and their relationships can be done justice by those who have the privilege of steering that ship.

It’s one thing for me to say that this episode affirms the reality of Garashir, but it’s also true that prime Garashir probably could not be given complete canonization because this is the best way they knew how to ‘get away with it’ all while maintaining its mainstream and popular appeal with heteronormative audiences that would have a problem or reject it if it happened to ‘real Garashir.’

Slash fans, for decades, have existed in the lane of compromise—firmly between having our truth validated and entirely rejected in favor of a Star Trek that is designed to be sold as a product to as many people as possible. Rarely do we receive more than a bone tossed to us by the powers that be, and when we do receive it, it’s on their incomplete terms, often with massive concessions made to make it happen. For Garashir to receive their blessing, they had to twist it into an AU. The reason they could do this episode is because it gave them the neat plausible deniability to also say this has nothing at all to do with prime Garashir, so that it didn’t entirely alienate audiences who wouldn’t support a queer narrative.

This is their way of having their cake and eating it too. In some ways, it looks like they’re just trying to make everyone happy, but the story shouldn’t have to make everyone happy, and a compromise can really just feel like everyone loses, or like prioritizing the status quo again. For decades, the status quo has always left those with marginalized readings of the text unhappy, sidelined by a narrative that is supposed to be progressive and supposed to look to a future where queerness is natural and not taboo. And if this is the best they can do, it’s only reasonable that it should still sadden us, disappoint us, anger us. It’s hard not to resent that reality.

What Now?

I urge folks to continue negotiating the text, as I did above in the first section. I made sense of it in a way that fits my understanding of Garashir! You do not have to assume that there’s no more to it than that because it was all that was said on screen. We don’t have to look at canonization as the final say on the text. My perspective is that we should take it as a wonderful and deserved affirmation, and continue to transform the canon as we see fit. This is your time to decide what it means for these characters. Personally, I see it as a massively positive step forward. Just remember that where canon is concerned, you are in control of what it means.

Canon is still transformable, multiplicative, negotiated, and timely. Holders of the ‘IP’ are only one piece of the puzzle where the truth of a story is concerned. So take this as a beginning to more, not an end! As I like to say, “canon is a means to an end, not the end itself.”

Also, please don’t hesitate to add your thoughts, questions, comments, or anything else. I hope you enjoyed this meta post, if you read this far.

[1960z]

how people go about interpreting dr bashir I presume? really frustrates me sometimes ngl especially the “jules bashir died” scene.

like that whole scene is about julian revealing the depth of how deeply his augmentations fractured his sense of identity and who he is - which feeds into the themes of the whole episode surrounding how disability and then by extension disabled people are often viewed as a problem to be solved and because of that are often denied the ability to have fulfilling lives because the able bodied people around them don’t believe that they can.

but… idk, when the fandom talks about it there’s always seems to be a push to read a trans allegory into it that I don’t think is really there? I keep mulling over this post in my mind and when I initially reblogged it I didn’t really want to talk about this because the post is about how stories about racism can be hijacked by white people to be made about their own transness and it felt like as a white person, using that post to complain about ableism would be missing the point. but it really helped me articulate in my mind why the trans reading of this episode feels off to me because the same general principle seems to apply and that is taking a story trying to discuss a specific type of marginalisation and putting a trans reading above it because you can relate more to it personally.

“jules bashir died in that hospital because you couldn't live with the shame of having a son who didn't measure up!” this scene is the culmination of julian expressing his pain about what was done to him as a disabled child by his parents due to how they viewed his disability. but often when I see it being discussed, people aren’t really interested in talking about that. instead supplanting it with a trans reading instead which, in my opinion is an allegory that doesn’t even really work when you think about what’s going on in the broader context of the scene.

julian didn’t stop going by jules because he came to the conclusion on his own that the identity didn’t suit him similar to the way a trans person questions or rejects the gender they were assigned at birth, he stopped going by jules because he felt like the identity attached to that name was taken from him because of what his parents did. it’s not julian affirming who he wants to be it’s grieving over who he can’t be and to me at least, it’s honestly kind of harrowing.

and as an aside: when people read transness into a story about parents who change their child’s body and mind at a very young age without consent, which is literally a narrative projected onto trans people by transphobes to justify the curtailing of trans rights, that also doesn’t sit well with me. I think people latch onto this reading because of the idea of “killing a name” but again in the context of the whole episode the trans reading really doesn’t feel appropriate.

I think it’s okay for people to have trans headcanons about julian of course or literally any character they want to really, but I think saying that specific episode codes him as trans isn’t all that great honestly.

[deeplovelydark]

this is so fucked up. romantic relationships not as something you *want*, something that develops out of your connection to a particular person, but something you *have* to do. so you just chose the best option out of what's available to you.

[odo-apologist]

Thinking about the ways Kira and Quark's arcs run parallel to each other. Thinking about how they- along with Odo- are the only people in the main cast that witnessed the Cardassian Occupation firsthand, and how they both- again along with Odo- go through it again with the Dominion Occupation at the beginning of season six. Thinking about the wasted potential of them growing closer after Odo's betrayal during this event, even though it is hinted at in episodes like The Magnificent Ferengi where Kira does a favor for Quark in return for his help in getting the station back. Thinking about how both of them continually experience loss before and during the series, though with Kira, she usually loses the people she cares about through death while Quark loses people through abandonment. Thinking about how their final loss in the series is the same loss (Odo leaving them to be part of the Great Link). Thinking about them both remaining on the station after the series ends

[youngpettyqueen]

Kira and Julian going at each other like rabbits in Fascination will always be fucking hilarious to me just because its so funny to consider where the attraction lies with these two. like its not surprise at all that Julian is attracted to Kira, literally just look at her, but then you think about Kira being attracted to Julian and it seems to unlikely and like prime 90s Trek hetero bullshit, but I would like to pose that it actually does work

im not saying Kira has secret feelings for Julian or anything like that, I cannot emphasize enough that I do not ship these two, but since Lwaxana's influence draws on even the most subconscious attraction, I think it's perfectly feasible that Kira would have subconscious attraction to Julian. and I dont think its looks or charm or anything like that, but rather that Julian is, right from the get go, absolutely ready to throw down with anybody regardless of authority or whether or not they could snap him in half. again, I dont think she has any romantic feelings for him, but yeah it makes sense that she would see him do some bullshit like call the goddamn Kai a coward to her face, and go "hm." on a subconscious level

Julian would be an absolute menace with this information if he ever found out about it and this is why Kira refuses to ever talk about the events of Fascination ever again

[panicbones]

i feel ppl assume just cuz characters have insane chemistry it means they need to be shipped together. sometimes its better when nothing happens/its unfulfilled. it adds to the flavor. take for example dukat/sisko. there is undeniably something there (one sided) but under no means should they ever actually get together. ever. but dukat wants sisko desperately

[chitinleg]

[thefrostychemist]

Saw that Jem'Hadar are a playable faction in STO, and like... Whose Star Trek fantasy is being the highly expendable warrior slave race genetically engineered to be lethally addicted to a drug held only by commanding officers to prevent disobedience???

[asexualjedi]

Odo: I go lurk in quark’s like 3 to 4 times a day to let him know I’m thinking about him ;)

The poor Starfleet bastard covering for odo: 🏳️‍🌈 ???

[charlesemersonwinchesteriii]

YOU ARE SO WRONG YOU STUPID TWINK. GET FORESHADOWED IDIOT.

[stopthatbluecat]

Fake Marriage - Kira x Jadzia

In order to get Kira out of an accidental engagement, Jadzia offers to pretend to marry her. The idea seemed so simple at first...

[exasperatedoctopus]

Lwaxana: takes off wig

English Odo: It’s fine

French Odo: It’s very pretty

Me: 👀