#somehow I feel this is quodo

[planetlongjourney]

I feel like quark would draw odo things in his jail cell

Ft. The drawing i did on a post-it note and then redrew on ibisPaint 😲

(Oh yeah and the outfit comes from an OC I did a few months ago-)

[jazzypizzaz]

Fanfic writer interview meme

thanks @obstinatecondolement for tagging me!

How many works do you have on AO3? 79

What's your total AO3 word count? 337,715

Your Top 5 stories by kudos

Sweet Dreams Are Made of This DS9, Quodo cuddling, Odo is a blanket. Of all my fics this is the one I’m most perplexed by its kudo count. Are people that hungry for hurt/comfort pre-slash? Was it on a rec list of a popular blogger I’m unaware of? I don’t know, like it’s very nice it's good fic, but not one I think about often.

What Is This Feeling, So Sudden and New? DS9, Quodo, Odo adjusts to being solid, drinks all sorts of drinks, and has a sexual awakening. Now this is the fic I’m most proud of. That makes sense. Sexual tension! Plot! Emotional beats paced just right! (imo)

like to the lark at break of day arising OFMD, Stede/Ed’s first time, silly but emotional sex. This one I posted just at the right time in the fandom, and I had a lot of fun with it. Dumb banter, Stede gets carried away, Ed nuts and cries, I’m hitting all my favorite tropes lol.

Made Me Feel (Shiny and New) DS9, the sweetest hard Quodo, slow banging D/s double bluff. I never question a smut fic doing well. I assume you’re in it for the same reason I wrote it lmao.

Down On My Knees (I Wanna Take You There) DS9, Quodo, blowjob and tentacle sex. Ditto. :-P

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? 

I always try to!!! The exception being if I’m not paying attention to fandom at all at the time, I go through phases like anything.

As a reader, I love to comment for the author interaction -- especially because sometimes you mention something you liked and it unlocks a whole interesting train of thought from the author about the behind the scenes insights, like a bonus meta. I’m obsessed by this pairing, you are too, please tell me everything hell yeah.

Do you write crossovers? 

I’ve written one Glee/TNG and one Glee/Harry Potter. Not generally though.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? 

Yes. Oh idk whatever I think is hot that the character also might be into. It has to be goofy, somewhat ridiculous, and definitely too many feelings are involved... 

Have you ever had a fic stolen? 

Not that I know.

Have you ever had a fic translated? 

I think someone asked me for permission once or twice, but I don’t remember if I saw the final result.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? 

No, gosh that’d really have to be the right person because it sounds maddening as a process. The potential to be more fun?? But potentially more frustrating.

What's your all time favorite ship? 

Oh you know. Somehow I started writing for rubber head aliens and never looked back.

What's a WIP that you want to finish but probably never will? 

I’m bad at starting things (there are tons of fic prompts I squirrel away for a rainy day), but compulsive about finishing them. If I have more than a couple hundred words written, by jove I’ll figure out a way to get to something I can call a final product that I share, even if it's several years later. 

Even when I’ve posted WIPs, almost the entire fic was written, I just needed to iron out details in the second part and only published the first part to stop myself from messing with it. Actually, exception that proves the rule (?) Coin-Operated Boy is my first true WIP, where I have a long list of ideas brainstormed, but I’m writing a bit by the seat of my pants rather than having all the plot points mapped out already. We’ll see how that goes, always fun to try something new!!

I’m also still committed to finishing the fic I started where Quark and Odo meet in prison and escape together based on this one comic about Rocket/Groot I read. I have like 7k written but there’s a looooot of rough sketchy bits and both details and broad strokes I have to figure out first.

What are your writing strengths? 

Managing tone? Something I enjoy doing anyway -- zipping along on a wild ride from goofy to angsty to heartfelt to absurd and back again. I’ve also been told I’m good at weird banter lol.

What are your writing weaknesses? 

Awkward run on sentences where I’m trying to pack too much in at once. PLOT ??? WHAT IS PLOT why can’t the characters just have a lot of feelings for no reason idk idk. being heavy handed with metaphors and ~themes~

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet, but want to? 

I want to write for Phlox sometime. I’m sure there’s a Quark rare pair I haven’t touched yet that’ll get obsessed with enough for a oneshot lol.

What's your favorite fic that you've written?

“What Is This Feeling?” has my whole heart. 

"Dinner for One" also has a special place - getting out my Sisko family feels, plus I pulled off making Siskuark happen (briefly) lol.

--

@wowbright @chacusha @quodo-brainrot tagging you if you want to participate I'd love to read your respones!

[walkingstackofbooks]

DS9 4x12 Crossfire (I’m re-watching, so beware spoilers for future episodes!) [3 July ‘23]

Kira's smile when she comes to see Odo! Oh, I love her smile!

Idk, arranging the placement of Quark's quarters so you can torment him isn't great, Odo.

Bashir telling O'Brien "Maybe he just wanted to see you in your dress uniform. It does show off your figure" sure is ... XD

Is "The True Way" the group mentioned in Our Man Bashir who sabotaged the runabout? (Answer: yes)

Odo and Worf's "My space is my space is my space" talk is all great I can't choose one bit. And the fact they're surprised they're both so similar! XD

Tbh I don't trust Shakaar's aide, that's the guy I suspect

The way to deal with guys like Shakaar is to tell them they're putting other people's lives at risk by just going off on their own.

Love that tidbit that Kira probably plays the Vedeks on the station at springball.

Hmm, Quark sure does have the same disappointed expression when Odo leaves, as Odo does when Kira leaves... #Quodo

"[The Federation] claim to be open and understanding, but somehow they're always convinced that they're right." That actually is uite on the nose, Odo.

"Has she ever said anything to you that might indicate that she thought of me as more than a friend?" "Ah. Well, let me think. No." XD Tbh I think that's fair enough

"Maybe I should just be patient." "That's what I would do." We knowww, Odo. We've been watching you be patient for THREE YEARS.

Quark's transparent lies are SO transparent. "I've been looking for that...I USE it to monitor Rom's sleep." hehe, no-one's buying it, Quark.

"You don't have to pretend with me." That's so tender though... #Quodo, again

Odo being distracted about security codes.. well that was obvious

I never thought about how strong shapeshifters could be.

I don't mind the Odo-likes-Kira plotline, and I don't mind that he's pretty awful about dealing with those emotions because they're not something he's ever had practice with... but I do hate how the way he deals with them affects other people.

"I'm happy for you." Odo really is a good guy, he does try, bless him.

I don't like that we're supposed to think "ouch" when she's tells Odo he's such a good friend in response :/ FREINDSHIP IS GREAT AND ODO APPRECIATES BEING FRIENDS.

Worf commending Odo for his well trained officers and not telling him off for being absent is 👍

Odo's got this stray bit of hair in front of his face, which must have been purposeful, right, since he's a changeling?

"The way I see it, you've either got to tell her how you feel, or forget about her and get on with your life. Concentrate on the essentials. Because you can't keep going like this. It's interfering with your job. And my profits."

"But I'm just looking out for my business." "Funny. For a minute there I thought you were talking to me as a friend." Oh, Quark, burying your feelings so deeply under your Ferengi pretenses.

Odo not having his belt would be a really nice detail if I had actually ever noticed the belt or lack of it XD

"Are you sure you haven't been listening in on your holosuites again?" "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I don't have the right equipment." Aww, that definitely felt like Quark was throwing him that so Odo had something to feel satisfied about

"I heard some noise, and when I went to complain, I found a work crew installing soundproofing in the floor. I have to say, Odo, I'm touched that you would do something like that for me." "I'm having the floor reinforced. The fact that they're soundproofing it as well is incidental. If you think I'd put up with three days of construction for your sake, think again." "I guess I should've known. Thanks, anyway." THESE TWO I SWEAR :3

[vouai]

ds9 au where mirror odo infiltrates the other universe & meets in-universe quark

[asettledsky]

Top 9 Romantic Ships

I got tagged by @gay-and-tiredaf

So here's my Top 9 Romantic ships that are sorta kinda in order (well, the top three definitely, the others have wiggle room)

9. Jack Daniels

They'd be a lot higher on this list except I don't go looking for the content as much as I used to. They're hilarious though and they play off of each other so well. One of my Top 10 fics I would recommend to most people is called "Doctor Jackson's Diary" and it's hilariously slapstick and has quite a lot of sex in it.

8. JohnLock

If you could see my AO3 history it would have a frankly embarrassing amount of these two in various convoluted (and not so convoluted) scenarios that end up with them getting it on.

I regret nothing. Or maybe I do a little, which is why they aren't higher on the list.

7. JDox

I just really like the whole "The grumpy one loves the sunshine one" trope. Also John C. McGinley is a hottie.

6. Shassie

See above Re: Sunshine/Grumpy. Also these two just take the sassy up to eleven somehow. They're both so snarky. Everything about the show Psych is just great. There are so many good fanfics for this pairing, but I particularly like "The Dah-Ling Store It Yourself" series.

5. Chelley

I have a few reasons for this one. But by far is the fanfic "Blue Sky" by Waffleguppies, I cannot possibly tell you how amazing that fanfic is.

4. The Love Square

I'm not posting 4 gifs for you guys to get the point. I love all iterations of these two dorks. (Though not equally, Ladrian is definitely my favorite dynamic). I could write a few thousand word essay on why they're the most annoying couple of dorks in all of fandom though. Miraculous Ladybug is an infuriating show to watch sometimes. I stand by my theory that it was specifically designed to spawn fanfiction with it's design, which is all build up and no resolution.

3. Hellstrop

(Not me choosing the saddest part of their relationship as the most romantic gif available, whaaa?)

The only reason this one isn't #2 is because I haven't been into The Good Place for very long. I feel like, given enough time, it'll outpace Beetlebabes just because Silverfox Ted Danson is more attractive than Alex Brightman. (Yes I did say that, no I won't take it back). Also because of Michael's completely Adorkable personality.

2. Beetlebabes

3 ships for the price of 1. My preference being musical, movie, then cartoon as a distant 3rd. They are all very different dynamics. I love their relationship in the musical. Totally toxic, but somehow they're still the best thing that has ever happened to each other.

And our GRAND FINALE.....

1. Quodo

When I say the relationship between these two idiots is always in the back of my mind I am probably not exaggerating.

Never have any two grumpy middle-aged men had such belligerent romantic tension.

These two have the relationship and communication skills of people who had been married for three decades and then had a messy divorce but still have to work together so they choose to needle each other every day because they refuse to admit they actually still like one another.

[chacusha]

Snowflake Challenge #2

Challenge #2 - Write a promo, manifesto or primer for your fave character, ship or fandom.

I am lazy so instead of doing this, I linked (on Dreamwidth, friendslocked) all the manifestos I’ve already written and also add some thoughts about how writing those manifestos made me wonder at my sometimes unpredictable/inconsistent taste in pairings, and how Quodo is simultaneously a very new/unusual kind of OTP for me to have and also kind of at the intersection of multiple dynamics I’ve been drawn to in the past. It’s simultaneously a bizarre OTP for me and a completely predictable OTP for me. The full discussion is over at my journal in a friends-locked post, but here is a part of it I’m fine sharing publicly:

In some ways my obsession with Quodo is simultaneously very weird/unprecedented for me (like, M/M pairing? aliens/xeno? sci-fi canon? rivals-to-lovers instead of friends-to-lovers? these are very weird/new aspects for me). But at the same time, I am also 100% convinced that my taste in pairings has led me straight to Quodo and it's 100% predictable that this pairing would have been catnip to me. Like, I guess one thing you might notice about my shipping patterns is that they seem to be pretty agnostic to the genders/ages/attractiveness of characters, but they strongly gravitate toward romance/pining/romcom type dynamics. Usually such pairings in fiction are het, hence the skew in my OTPs toward het, but in the case of Odo/Quark, they're like a romance pairing on steroids, with basically half a dozen romcom dynamics somehow packed into a single pair of characters. They're enemies-to-lovers; they're friends-to-lovers; they're the disreputable rake and the spirited virgin; they're the dour emotionally-repressed guy pining after the vibrant girl full of life; they're slap-slap-kissing except without the kissing part; they're detective/thief; they're corrupt cop and criminal boyfriend; they're tsundere; they're the guy with a crush on his best friend who has a crush on someone else; they're sharing a bed and stranded together and enemies forced to cooperate; they're running to the airport to confess their feelings; they're both shamelessly flirting with each other; one is shamelessly flirting and the other is oblivious; they're both oblivious; they're already married. They're like a supernormal stimulus, where the stimulus in this case is romcom plots.

I kind of came to this conclusion partly because I was thinking about what do some of my other recent OTPs share in common with Quodo and I came up with something like this:

Shared with Hawkeye/Riesz: One half of the pairing is a shameless flirt; the other half radiates intense never-been-kissed energy. Shared with Sansa/Sandor: Every interaction is a clash between opposing life philosophies. Shared with Alternis/Edea: One half of the pairing is a super repressed guy always hiding feelings. Shared with Mi-na/Yun-seong: Playful teasing friendship with sexual tension. What these dynamics all share is, well, Quodo, but also you might notice that they all create some kind of pining potential: With the shameless flirt + never-been-kissed character, you get plenty of opportunities for romantic/intimate moments initiated by the flirty character but rebuffed by the never-been-kissed character who doesn't quite know whether to take the flirty character's advances seriously at all. Ambiguous feelings! Intimacy while pining! Rejection! With the clash-between-philosophies dynamic, the opposing moral codes create tension and a feeling of incompatibility that keep two characters who are otherwise attracted to each other apart. Will-they-won't-they! Slow burn! A reason why neither character will end our misery and just Spit It Out! Repressed characters -- I mean, this is the bread and butter of pining. Works better the more ridiculously repressed a character is, and Odo is ridiculously repressed for various reasons of his upbringing. Yeah! Just the contrast between the strength of the felt feelings and how little the character expresses them -- that's the good stuff. Again, a good reason why characters attracted to each other just will not say anything or get together -- one guy is repressed and, while the other is expressive, they have no reason to believe repressed guy is interested in them at all. With various friends-to-lovers dynamics, you get all the fun of flirtation but then the mixed messaging where neither person is sure whether affection is platonic or romantic. Like, sometimes this kind of play, these games these friends who are attracted to each other engage in, feel like courtship, but I mean... they're just friends, right? The situation is just waiting for one of the two friends to develop a crush on or be wooed by a third party and then oh NO, the pining hits the fan. Once one character (or both) catches/realizes feelings, then it's Pining Time. Affection that used to feel good now feels painful; its pain is proportional to how good it feels, even! Guilt at having developed feelings! Jealousy while also wanting to be A Good/Supportive Friend!

So yeah, analyzing the connections between Quodo and my various OTPs has led me to conclude that Quodo is the usual pining dynamic I like in fiction... ON STEROIDS. Which maybe explains why it broke my brain while being very unlike the kind of pairing I usually get obsessed with/go for. Because in some sense it is the intersection of a whole bunch of my favorite dynamics in fiction somehow rolled into a bizarre package.

[stephantom]

11 for Quodo and 23 for GilxRowdy (you asked for both in your tags so why not. don't know anything about the first tho but I thought you'd like a question for that also :))

(Answers got long.)

11) Who makes fun of the other for having a crush on them, and who has to remind them that they are in a relationship?

Haha, thank you for asking for a Quark/Odo response even though you don’t know them! I appreciate it! And I love this question for them because the answer is they both do this.

All it takes is one of them making a sweet gesture a little self-consciously to trigger this. Quark does it with obnoxious, flirty leers (“Well, looks like someone’s got it bad for me!”); in response, Odo affects an air of long-suffering, rolls his eyes like Quark is just really dumb and sighs, “Quark, we are married.” But Odo does it too when he’s feeling cheerful and playful; he’ll fold his arms loftily and say something like, “How thoughtful, Quark. One might even suspect that you harbor particularly tender feelings for me.” And Quark gets like irrationally embarrassed and splutters (“That’s—whatever, I just—[verbal equivalent of a;sdlfkjh]—we’re married, Odo!!”)

23) Who thinks they are not good enough for the other’s love? and who’s more afraid of losing the other? Who thinks they keep messing up, only for the other to tell them they don’t need to worry?

Ah, an angsty one. I think this goes both ways, but looks a little different for each of them.

I think Favor on some level probably believes that Rowdy is too good for him, and that Rowdy, being so young and lovable (and loving), will eventually move on and find someone (probably a kind, pretty girl closer to his age, someone with less baggage, less of a temper) to settle down with. And he’s sort of resigned to that, which makes him take on a bit of a self-defeating attitude with Rowdy. Like, does it really matter if he disappoints or upsets Rowdy, if Rowdy is going to leave him soon enough anyway?

And for his part, Rowdy just always wants to prove himself to Favor and can never really shake the feeling that Favor is still testing him, as a drover and potential trail boss, as a man, as a lover, and that he’s still somehow falling short in Favor’s estimation. Sometimes, most of the time, that makes him want to try harder, and sometimes it just makes him mad.

I don’t think they have conversations really addressing the roots of these feelings very often, if at all, so I’m not sure it actually ever reaches the “telling them they don’t need to worry” part of this question. Neither of them articulates their fears constructively, so neither of them can ever assure the other in a straight-forward way. It’s, uh, sad. A sad ship for me, lol.

But they do try to make the other feel reassured when they can tell the other is freaking out about something. When they’re in camp with the others, it’s with a cup of coffee, a hand on a shoulder, a word of praise about a job well done from Favor or a declaration of loyalty/faith from Rowdy. When they’re by themselves, with smiles and hair ruffling and kisses and “hey I’m not going anywhere”s.

[eriexplosion]

any Trek for the meme thingy

The character I first fell in love with: Surprising literally no one, at all, ever it was Quark. I feel like I don't even need to explain this one because everyone knows I'm a filthy Quark fucker who loves that garbage goblin and if any of my followers somehow missed this this is the memo.The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Miles! Just looking at him I thought for sure I'd never pay much attention to his plots but now I absolutely love this poor unfortunate potato man he doesn't ask for much in life just respect and to go unharmed for more than two episodes at a time.The character everyone else loves that I don’t: This one's hard just because for the most part I don't think that I hate any widely loved characters. I know the general tolerance for Damar's entire existence is a little higher than my personal tolerance level.The character I love that everyone else hates: I regret to say that my love for shitty cousin Gaila is absolutely genuine.The character I used to love but don’t any longer: LOOK I WAS HIGHLY ENTERTAINED BY DAMAR UNTIL HE STARTED ACTUALLY DOING PLOT RELEVANT SHIT AND IT TURNED OUT I WANTED TO PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE.The character I would totally smooch: JADZIA. I WOULD KISS HER IMMEDIATELY. IMMEDIATELY. The character I’d want to be like: My soul longs to be as good a human being as Benjamin SiskoThe character I’d slap: Dukat of course. And Damar but I'm sure everyone is aware of that judging from my above answers.A pairing that I love: I'm legally not allowed to say Quodo because everyone fucking knows I love Quodo it's like saying I like air. But I also love several other pairings! Such as... Quark/everyone that wanders vaguely into his line of sight. (My primary set is still Quark/Garak/Odo OT3)A pairing that I don’t: I mean... most pairings the show insists that I'm supposed to care about.

[venndaai]

quodo honestly redeemed odo as a character in my eyes like i just hated every aspect of kira/odo he was her first boyfriend (beard) who was actually there all the time and the fact that he was a cardassian collaborating cop in love with a revolutionary and somehow entitled to her because the writers said he was made me very angry please free kira, now quark on the other hand is just as gross and morally messed up as odo so no issues there and i can finally appreciate odo sorta

lol, I mean I can’t really agree because while I dislike Kira/Odo I unreservedly love both Odo and Quark they’re my problematic faves, but yeah having them date has the pleasant side effect of freeing their female love interests from unpleasant romance plots

yeah the feeling that Odo got Kira because he ~deserved her is what makes me most uncomfortable with the relationship

and there is an appeal to Quodo in that both their morality systems are askew from the rest of the cast’s

[fluorescentbrains]

quodo

Ship It

What made you ship it? god it's been so long i don't even remember but i think it all started with seeing some fanart by @snoozlebee and going "hmm" and then actually watching the show and going "OH HMMMM???" they're homoerotic pretty much from the very first episode. i started writing fanfic after watching "necessary evil" so maybe that was the one that did me in

What are your favorite things about the ship? they have such a sweet relationship buried under several layers of repression and cultural baggage!! they pretend to be the Ultimate Rivals but they're actually best friends who rely on (count on) each other all the time. they feel safe with each other, canonically. they really Get each other's Issues in a way that the other characters don't, despite ostensibly being "opposites" (they're not opposites at all they're like very nearly the same picture). and i like that they're aliens but they're not sexy In The Traditional Sense. they're just funny little guys wearing rubber masks who are also somehow extremely horny.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? mmmmm not really? quodo fandom has by far been my most pleasant and drama-free shipping experience lmao. one thing people sometimes post that i don't care for is that they're in that homestuck blackrom thing, which i fundamentally disagree with because it implies they actually hate each other, and i don't think they remotely do

[chacusha]

Quodo dynamics

So basically, when I get really into a pairing, my mind tends to obsessively attempt to catalog exactly what I like so much about the pairing. Usually the result of this obsessive cataloguing is a ship manifesto (so yeah, that is probably what is going to fall out of this eventually). But for now, just some scattered thoughts.

Basically, I think the reason Quodo draws me so much is that Quark and Odo have a very complicated relationship, and those different layers to their relationship, all stacked on top of each other gives one so much to think about and so much to play around with and poke at. It’s like candy to my mind.

One layer: Cat and mouse / adversaries / detective + criminal. Odo is the chief of security aboard Deep Space Nine. Quark is a dodgy businessman who’s trying to make profit however he can, even if it means doing legally dodgy things. So one layer of their relationship is that they’re engaged in this antagonistic game where each one getting what they want means thwarting the other. There is almost a cartoonish feel to this aspect of their relationship, like Tom and Jerry, or Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny, or Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner. Odo is always trying to get Quark, and Quark is always trying to do crimes for profit without alienating Odo/Sisko/the DS9 administration TOO much that it lands him in hot water. While this often makes them “enemies” there is also clearly a playful element to it where each action one character takes stimulates and challenges the other.

Another layer: Hatred / clashing personalities / opposing moral codes. A bit more seriously, though, Odo and Quark have not just roles that regularly put them into conflict, but they actually seriously just hate each other. On a more personal level, they have very different ideas of who/what is worthy of respect and the other person isn’t it. Odo is a lawful neutral “law and order” type who basically looks down on Quark’s criminality and trashy notions of entertainment. Quark is materialistic hedonist and finds Odo’s heartless “stick in the mud” personality offputting, and his rigid adherence to the law, while it can be admirable, it can also cause him to be callous toward and inhumane in his treatment of people. Here, too, though, there is a playful element to their dynamic where each of them delights in pissing the other off. For example, Odo is generally a pretty dour and grumpy guy, but when he does show mirth, it’s often at Quark’s expense -- when Quark is having a rough time or is in a jam, for example. And Quark is a troll who loves saying things that he knows will irritate Odo.

Layer 2.5: Mutual obsession. Both of them have their own reasons why they fixate on the other. Odo is a workaholic who only enjoys his work. Watching and surveilling Quark is his work, and he does it with a delight he rarely takes in anything else. And it’s true that Quark likes to irritate Odo, and you know what is the best way of irritating an emotionally repressed guy who hates having fun? Flirting with him. Constantly. All the time.

Yet another layer: Old friends. BUT ALSO, these two go way back. They’re the two main holdovers from the regime change on Terok Nor/Deep Space Nine and they’ve known each other for a long time. And not all their interactions are antagonistic. They’ve been known to cooperate with each other. Even hang out with each other. And also, you don’t spend that much time evading/trying to nab the other without understanding and being able to predict them on a deep level, so Quark and Odo aren’t just adversaries but they’re also genuinely close with their own form of rapport. Later episodes have an undertone of romantic feelings (see next layer) but even if you read them platonically, then it’s undeniable that Quark and Odo sometimes acknowledge that, yes, they are friends. They support each other, they give each other advice, and they sometimes express gratitude for that support (albeit in weird ways!).

More layer: Latent romantic feelings??? On Quark’s side, it’s easy to read his feelings for Odo as romantic. Pining, even. Quark flirts with him a lot -- maybe that’s just a form of entertainment for Quark; there’s always plausible deniability. When Odo gets with Kira, Quark’s interactions with him start to read like pining -- “I gave him so much of me and did he ever notice?” kind of thing, but it never quite reaches the level of text. In any case, if Quark did have feelings for Odo, it’d be hard for him to admit it because it doesn’t really go with his playboy/hedonistic sort of demeanor. On Odo’s side... Odo has zero emotional maturity. If he did have feelings for Quark, he isn’t capable of noticing them. You can easily read him as also carrying romantic feelings for Quark that he doesn’t yet know how to process.

Yet more layer: Protectiveness. Odo is a gruff security officer who is also a superhuman being that is pretty much invulnerable to most things. His job is to keep people safe and he’s a pretty intimidating guy (and he knows it). Quark is a fairly gender-conforming Ferengi which means his sense of masculinity is tied up in how much money he makes and how much sex with pretty women he has, and not at all in how bravely he faces danger. So when he’s in trouble, he’s not at all ashamed to react to it by screaming in a high-pitched voice and hiding, and in fact, he hates violent confrontation and often explicitly denounces it as barbaric and unnecessary. Oh, but also, his shady under-the-table dealings means he often has to deal with sketchy characters who might be tempted to use violence to get their way. It’s a great setup for having Odo have to save Quark and rescue him from danger as, like, just a normal part of doing his job. This means that, even if they DIDN’T have all those interesting dynamics I listed above, they’d still have a promisingly shippy dynamic just by virtue of this aspect.

Maybe I’m missing a couple of other aspects of Quark and Odo’s relationship, but for now, that’s all I can think of. In summary, Quodo basically functions on one level as enemy to lovers (complete with many of the fun tropes that are possible with that), and on another level as friends to lovers (with its own set of tropes), and on another level as just openly romantic flirtation, and on another as clueless pining -- it manages to be all of that at the same time, somehow. And that’s amazing.

[chacusha]

DS9 Companion liveblogging (3/14)

From 2x01 “The Homecoming” to 2x13 “Armageddon Game”:

“Quark’s alter-ego, Armin Shimerman, was delighted to discover that Season 2 would establish him as quite ‘a ladies’ man,’ with liaisons of one sort or another in ‘Rules of Acquisition’ and ‘Profit and Loss’ and numerous flirtations in between. ‘I believe Quark’s had more relationships than anyone else on the show,’ Shimerman notes with pleasure.” This is cute. I like how no one is a bigger booster of Quark and Ferengi than Shimerman <3

On Bajoran fashion: “Kira’s recreational garb in the episode [2x02 “The Circle”], and also her outfit from the mission to the Hutet labor camp in ‘The Homecoming,’ represent a deliberate shift in Bajoran costuming enacted by Costume Designer Robert Blackman. ‘The color palette remained the same, the rust, green, and gold earth tones, but the textures changed,’ explains Blackman. ‘During the first season, the clothes on background Bajorans were flat-finished,’ a reflection of what the producers liked at that time. But as the show moved into its second season, says Blackman, ‘they felt that the clothing needed to have a rougher texture, that the wardrobe looked too sleek, like something you’d see at the Sherman Oaks Galleria’—a place made notorious in the 1980s by Frank Zappa’s satirical song ‘Valley Girl.’ Thus, Blackman chose to use loose knits, crochets, and ‘things over things’ for Kira’s off-duty clothes, ‘so that you would get a kind of buildup of texture on a Bajoran background.’ Blackman notes that the shift in costume design had synergy with changes in the look of the station’s Promenade. ‘It became more bazaarlike, with banners and more neon. It had been too utilitarian, too perfect.’”

For 2x04 “Invasive Procedures”: I didn’t realize the woman guest star in this episode also played the scientist in “Little Green Men.” And Tim Russ was one of the Klingons in this episode!

Interesting notes here on how this episode reveals sides of the characters that hadn’t been seen before: Bashir showing genuine affection for Jadzia; Sisko handling a hostage situation and in an up-close fight; Jadzia young and vulnerable and afraid without the Dax symbiont in her; Quark going far beyond the harmless criminal schtick he normally has and Kira drawing a line with him.

It surprises me that 2x05 “Cardassians” is really Garak’s SECOND appearance. He appears in the second ep of season 1 and then disappears for a whole season?! He becomes such a regular part of the cast and his closeness with Bashir is so well established and convincing that I feel like I falsely remembered him being around more than he actually was (onscreen).

I feel a bit dumb but I didn’t realize that “laying pipe” had, like, a non-sexual meaning? Ira Behr: “How do we take Garak and lay pipe?” Me: Oh my.

Anyway, interesting note that this is the first episode to establish a link between the Cardassian characters, Garak and Dukat.

I like this note on Garak learning to see Cardassian politics through Bashir’s eyes:

“When offers of wine and women fail to win over Kot, Quark appeals to Odo for help. Although the constable enjoys seeing Quark squirm, he agrees to look into the situation.” - More suggestive Quodo lmao.

I love everything about this:

The episode synopsis in this book says “Odo had become even more suspicious a short time later when he spotted Pallra kissing Dukat.” I got confused because I was like, "I don’t remember THAT happening." Looks like it was in the script and probably filmed but was cut at the editing stage (I’m guessing):

Odo comes out of a turbolift... moves down the corridor... stops at a corner as he hears voices: PALLRA (O.S.) Goodnight. GUL DUKAT (O.S.) Trust me. You have nothing to worry about. Odo peeks around the corner to see Gul Dukat is standing at Pallra's door... kissing her... Odo moves back behind the wall, reacting. ANGLE - ON DUKAT AND PALLRA as they break their kiss, Dukat smiles and she goes inside... he walks toward Odo, turns the corner and as he passes where Odo used to be, there is now a picture on the wall of Dukat and it's crooked... he walks by it, then stops, looks curiously at the picture, straightens it and leaves.

(Interesting that this demonstrates Odo using his shapeshifting for the first time to discreetly observe people.)

Interesting notes on 2x09 “Second Sight” about why the episode was unexpectedly weak. Interesting because I also thought that episode was weak but I wasn’t sure why. The reasons listed in the book are that they changed the love plotline from Bashir to Sisko, and the terraformer character ended up changing quite a bit and eventually ended up more eccentric and egotistical rather than tortured. The first one I agree changes the story quite a bit because I feel like Sisko is a bit too sensible to get much attached to a nice woman he meets for like a few seconds at a time, but Bashir would probably be intrigued and easily drawn in. I think the episode is an important one for Sisko, though, because it indicates he’s started to heal from Jennifer’s death, but other than that, the emotional stakes just seemed off/not there.

Interesting notes on all the Trek actor connections there are in the 2x10 “Sanctuary” episode.

“But somehow, aside from some positive comments about the racquetball sequences, the episode [2x11 “Rivals”] seems to have struck out with both viewers and crew. ‘Our e-mail fans really liked the tight suit that Bashir wore in the matches.’ Robert Hewitt Wolfe grins. ‘They liked that a lot.’” - lmao

I kind of liked "Rivals," though? It's not a very memorable episode if I'm being honest, but I liked seeing a character who is as slimy as Quark and the Bashir/O'Brien one-sided rivalry was comedy gold, and it's an important episode for establishing their relationship?

I did not know that the swindler character in this episode was the same race as Guinan, and originally intended to be her son! Also, he was originally conceived as a recurring rival for Quark, but the competitive dynamic didn’t really gel between the two so that was dropped. Probably okay, though, since we eventually got Brunt instead.

Interesting how there originally was the idea for Rene Auberjonois to play both Odo and Mora, and for Armin Shimerman to play both Quark and Ishka (lol), but in both cases the time-consuming makeup procedure made that intractable.

Not much to say about 2x13 “Armageddon Game” except it’s another good Bashir and O’Brien episode and Rosalind Chao is a great actress.

[jazzypizzaz]

Alright alright alight.... I have just been.... OBSESSIVELY reading your stupid "Can't Buy Me Love" series and it's just... UGH~! And I feel like if anyone would appreciate the headcanons that have spawned from your headcanon it's you. So, how stupid would a hilarious pregnancy scare be in Quodo? I don't know how biologically identical you meant for ferengi to be in your fic, but the idea had me cackling like mad.

THAT'S SO GREAT TO HEAR thank you :-D.I've got plenty more weird headcanons (from myself and others) collected in my tags #xenobiology or #ferengi if you're interestedI do like hc'ing ferengi as some version of sexually monomorphic (intersex?), where yes Quark could get pregnant........ He'd have a pretty rough time of it (if he followed through), since he's pretty insecure/defensive about his masculinity already, but maybe he'd somehow learn to relax?? to accept himself the way he is??? to not be so horridly misogynistic????? One could hope.On the other hand, LET ODO BE A DAD!!! I welcome any plot device to make that happen. I would definitely read a story about the shenanigans of Odo and Quark trying to raise a baby together!