tongowheel

[tongowheel]

TO-DO LIST:        1) LEARN TO FLY        2) FLY AWAY

rocket from guardians of the galaxy            © eros ✹ non-rp blogs dni

[tongowheel]

obligatory 'me && @constablegoo are in california visiting @kardasior this week' post

[tongowheel]

@shoulders / starter call !

"the main thing i want you to know is that the time you spend here is yours, to use however you wish." hugh's words are carefully chosen, but not cautious as he addresses the young man ; he's confident — in himself, in his work, in jack's presence here — && unconcerned that everything will work out for the best. this is not his first rodeo. far from it. no one understands better than him that these things take time.

"our resources are open to you, but what you choose to do is in your hands." there's a gentle smile on his face ; imbued with the kind of wisdom that only comes with age && experience. "that's one of our main tenets . no one can speak or act for us, not even each other. that's the beauty && the joy of individuality." it's been a while since jack's been here, && hugh knows he knows this, knows their philosophy, knows that he's welcome here... but things are different now. he's older, && so much has happened... so hugh offers the same words of courtesy he gives every new xB.

gesturing with one arm not to the cluster of buildings that makes up the headquarters of the reclamation project, but to the trail which leads down to the beach, along which is the cubesfall memorial, hugh catches jack's eye knowingly.

"take your time, but know that you can take advantage of the reclamation project's services && support, just as before." a hand grips his shoulder, old familiarity creeping back in. "regardless... would you like to walk down to the waterfront with me? it's one of my favorite spots. we have a lot to catch up on."

[tongowheel]

all the new xbs from pic s3 arriving on ohniaka iii

[tongowheel]

@owedfavors / starter call !

"....yed vesht nam-tor etek suk'su'uth—" the lyrical vulcan melody sung in a surprisingly confident falsetto cuts off abruptly as zack raises his head from his work station && locks eyes with una across the room. the only sign of embarrassment is the way he swallows thickly, as if he's been caught doing something he shouldn't, rather than any sort of stage fright. there's a long pause before he speaks again, trying to sort out what to say. an apology maybe, or an inquiry: could you hear me from the corridor?

"i know," he says instead, finally, "my pronunciation is only eighty percent accurate."

[tongowheel]

with each passing second, he relaxes more. siraba's talked about him to her — it's not flattery he feels, giax realizes with a start, but relief. because siraba feeling safe enough around someone to discuss her life, && the people in it... that's worth something. && giax can offer her at least the same trust himself.

"well, um..." it still leaves him flustered && grasping for an appropriate response, finally giving an embarrassed nod. "yeah. given everything, that... well. we're really lucky. it's hard to imagine not sticking together."

this is easier to discuss, work. not even work: passion. he's found a certain freedom in expression through clothes — who wouldn't, after spending the first twenty-something years of life not wearing them. it's not something he talks about often ; it usually makes people uncomfortable, one way or another, recalling his history && the unfortunate not-so-distant past of his people.

( there's also the oddly conflicting emotions that accompany recent changes: relief that no one else will be forced into the same humiliation, && bitterness that it didn't happen in time to help him. )

making clothes, though, is an art form — && art, as they say, is healing.

so he dives into each project with focused intensity, in an effort to not think about everything else.

"okay, i'm glad you feel that way. i was really trying not to say anything that would insult you." he dodges the kind words with a joke, gracefully avoiding having to come up with a fitting response to something so effortlessly sincere. "i mean, cardassian fashion is bad enough, but you guys are on another level. again, no offense, but..." he grins, a wide smile this time, flashing a row of sharp teeth, && puts his hands on his hips to size her up.

"it would be my pleasure." he paces a quick circle around her, squinting thoughtfully. "....orange." picking up his padd from the counter, he types out a few notes. "purple, obviously, is your color — but we can't go all purple. it'll be overwhelming. garak never agreed with me, but orange compliments purple beautifully. it's bold. that's ferengi style." he chews on his lip a little. "okay. tell me more about your preferences here. start with what you're wearing now. what works for you? what doesn't?"

"she did," zeveth smiles, oddly warm for her cool demeanor, hands folding away politely behind her back. "she's told me a fair amount about you, in fact. i know how important you are to her, and, i think it's safe to say, her to you. it's an uncommon gift to share a bond like the one you do."

she bows her head slightly, looking more than a little disparaging of her situation. "everything. please. you might be well-aware by now that vorta lack any sense of aesthetics, but even i am recoiling into another dimension, wearing these things. even if i am working alongside them now, it's just not suitable. i need something else, something that stands apart from both the federation, and... and the dominion." she pauses, mildly diverted. "and also maybe something that is only... me? whoever that is? as you've said, you are indeed much more than a tailor; i daresay you've designed an entire person before. you've designed yourself. would you consider doing it again?"

[tongowheel]

🤸 starter call but if you don't specify muse i'm giving you whoever i want && you'll just have to deal with it

[tongowheel]

not ignoring canon nor strictly adhering to it, but a secret third thing (taking the small bits and crumbs canon barely spent time developing and running absolutely hogwild)

[tongowheel]

i really do wanna unpack all this borg shit via hugh threads...

i think picard && jack && basically anyone who got temporarily assimilated could use a nice vacation to ohniaka iii && maybe some free therapy courtesy of the best counselors the reclamation project has to offer

[tongowheel]

anyway. just a couple of immediate canon-divergencies that i'm going to state as far as hugh is concerned because i want to write him in direct response to this episode ( && honestly i've wanted to write him in direct response to most of the season lol ) —

i consider all the events of though the eye of a needle as well as everything in the ohniaka iii project to be canon to my portrayal with the exception of hugh/geordi when it doesn't work with a writing partner. in other words, i won't force that ship onto a geordi writer (&& while i love it && would love to write it, my concept of them is so grounded in the fic that i'm not sure i would be able to write it without both of us having that context) nor will i imply it while writing with either of geordi's daughters (or even other tng legacy characters tbh...) based on the comfort of my partners. while their relationship does inform some of how i write hugh, keeping their friendship intact && the events of through the eye of a needle with geordi's involvement with the reclamation project is much more important to me. if you are interested in exploring how the ship could impact current events, i have lots of thoughts, but we don't have to go that route.

so, all this to say...

when geordi joins picard && co, hugh does not go with, but he does know what's going on, as much as its safe for him to know. as soon as deanna finds out what's going on with jack, geordi gets in touch with him && hugh either comes to join them or more likely is doing stuff behind the scenes from o3 — i'll be able to say with more certainty after the final episode)

the whole vulcan research academy suggestion for jack is dumb. ohniaka iii would be the best place for him, && picard n co would've known that. jack definitely still might've not been happy about it, but there is no reason for anyone with mental links to the borg to be going to another planet's research facility instead of the very capable && knowledgable reclamation staff on the xB homeworld.

this means that regardless of how things actually wrap up next week, it would be recommended by literally everyone that jack && all crew who were affected by the fleet-wide assimilation go to ohniaka iii for a brief time, both for counseling && yes, to have the best experts in the galaxy take a look at what happened to them. but they'd be way more sensitive && tactful about it than any vulcan scientist lmao.

anyway. tl;dr let hugh have a long long long long long talk with jack about all this. && everyone tbh.

[tongowheel]

actually i'll just put my thoughts under the cut (copy && pasted from discord so forgive the rambling)

i am glad that they've established a formal connection here with the changelings and the borg because the similarities are too good to keep ignoring. however.

every time the borg become relevant again i just get upset because of how trek has handled them, and i know i'm biased against canon because of all the development that hye's done [with the ohniaka iii project] on the xBs over the last 3 years, but it's really really hard to know that this show fucked over Hugh in season one, the person who was the first face of former borgs, before seven of nine. and i love seven and i'm glad she gets to have such a significant place in trek history, but she hasn't (in canon) done anything in terms of advocating for other former borg, other than just be an Exception™ and The One Who Got Out and Made It. and even picard, who is literally an xB himself, got away, in his own words, "without any scars", and has done quite literally fuck all to advocate for former borg. so for star trek to kill of hugh in season one, when he was ACTIVELY RECLAIMING AND REHABILITATING FORMER BORG, only to have him never be mentioned again, not even by picard who saw him, seven who is just like him or GEORDI who was his first friend and GAVE HIM HIS NAME.... it just makes me sick lol. and then to once again bring the borg back as villains, have picard say something like 'we havent heard from the borg in over a decade' and just....... ignore even the CANON DEVELOPMENT of former borg that exists.... its so gross.

this show's track record of simply writing events and people out of its own story is insane to me. and i really was enjoying this season but now i'm not, not any more than i was the other seasons, which is to say i'm engrossed but i'm unhappy. idk. the borg and the xBs just mean so much to me and i know you all met me in my ferengi era and not in my borg era (except laney who was following me in my borg era but we became friends in my red dwarf era lol) but this really just breaks my heart because i think about what we could have had.

and then also killing shaw. my skrunkly izzy hands-like man. literally why does this show insist on killing legacy characters (ro, shelby..... hugh......) AND its good NEW characters???? i dont fucking get it man.

like!!!!!! assimilating the fleet is a fucking great concept! i really like it!!!!! but. but but but. it all just makes me mourn what could and should have been for some of these characters who were done so dirty. even with hugh dead, the reclamation project could and would have been able to continue. and i know we'll never fucking hear about it again.

[tongowheel]

well i'm back on my xB bullshit (my xBullshit, if you will) to literally no one's surprise.

[tongowheel]

if he really wanted to argue, he could. quark prides himself on being an excellent negotiator, && extremely persuasive when he wants to be. but he doesn't want to — he's just too stubborn to let odo win, even in a pointless squabble where they're quite literally on the same side, without putting up at least a small fight.

he's always had a flair for the dramatics. odo has too.

"you know," quark says in lieu of further protest, slinking across the room to stand close to odo, practically chest-to-chest, "when you put it that way, your offer sounds a lot more tempting." his smile is a little bit softer as he meets odo's eyes. it's true — their bickering is a natural part of their relationship, just like breathing, but quark's a romantic. && he does love odo, && sometimes.... not often, but sometimes... he lets that show too. "fine, come," he acquiesces, not sounding too terribly disappointed. "besides, i'd be jealous if you got to spend more time with weyoun than me." his eyes narrow. "unless you just made that up. in which case i'm extremely impressed. maybe i can use you for some of these negotiations after all... hm....."

"a couple of weeks," odo grumbles behind quark's back. grumbles-- but takes care not to complain. the gesture of his arms folding is practically an audible transgression, however, even to his simple ears.

he tries to recover by stepping forward in a half-hearted, almost awkward way, waving a hand aimlessly over quark's nearly-packed bags. "you think i haven't been bored here?" comes his resistance, "while you're off-- gallivanting around the galaxy? last time, might i remind you, you almost lost the bar. twice?" he may be exaggerating, just a little, but it's something he does well. he falls back, going quiet for a moment all the same.

the reality is that both of them have been so busy, they've hardly seen one another except in passing for over a month.

"what if i told you weyoun is due to arrive this week? and stay for two? do you really want to condemn me to two solid weeks of time with weyoun? when i could be..." he clears his throat pointedly, and scowls, "not complaining, with you? i'll behave." here comes the undeniable twinge of sarcasm: "i promise. i won't even accompany you to your meetings."

not that he-- did that anymore. at least not since the month before last.

[tongowheel]

[ID: six gifs from season 2, episode 18 “profit and loss” from the tv series “star trek: deep space nine”, the gifs show quark and odo in odo’s office.

1st gif: quark and odo are standing face to face, quark asks odo “so you’re not really doing this for me?” odo confirms “ that’s right”

2nd gif: quark wraps his arms around odo’s shoulders, and says “then i don’t owe you a thing. thank you! you’ll never know how muchthis means to me.”

3rd gif: odo tells quark “let go” and quark slowly releases his grasp.

4th gif: “sorry” quarks apologies and withdraws his hands.

5th gif: quark moves around odo and goes to odo’s desk, and says “um… now, um, let’s hurry,“

6th gif: “before you change your mind.” quark presses a button to open a door in odo’s office. /end ID]

[tongowheel]

he doesn't miss the gesture of latinum passes from hand to box / it's not necessary here, at least not from other species, && the last thing he expects is from a vorta, someone from far, far away... not that they don't seem to know everything about every alpha quadrant race, but... he recalls the dominion diplomat who stayed on the station during the occupation — weyoun — he had been... cordial, but this feels different, && giax decides, in that moment, to trust siraba's instincts, && his own keen intuition.

"she told you that?" somewhat tickled by that knowledge, giax looks faintly surprised, but smiles nonetheless. "well, she's right — i am. although personally i consider myself a designer more than anything, but..." his own gaze moves to peer out the windows to his old mentor ( && later competition )'s former shop directly across the promenade, now the home of a bustling cardassian cafe. "anyway, yes. of course. what can i do for you?" he glances down to where zeveth has directed her attention, && his nose wrinkles somewhat reflexively. "just shoes, or..." he gestures to her general outfit, "everything?"

she offers no hints, no suggestions or acknowledgements, until he dredges up the information from the back of his mind of his own accord, dipping her chin with a slow-growing, very faintly tight-lipped grimace.

it seems everyone has heard about the incident with the denobulans at this rate. had she known...

"that would be me," she confirms at last, pressing a single slip of latinum into the courtesy collection box at the entrance to the shop. "my name is zeveth. and you are giax. siraba has told me about you, too. i'm here on probation for the time being, and she has been kind enough to lend some expertise on the subject of my research. it appears we are well met, after all."

she tilts her head, considering him. "she told me you were a tailor. since i might be here a while..." her gaze falls with brief distaste over her standard-issue federation boots, "i thought you might... be open to a new customer?"

[tongowheel]

he also knows what it's like to want to feel useful, to be utterly frustrated sitting around doing nothing at all. in a way, it's what prompted him to join starfleet in the first place — he also remembers his uncle feeling a very similar way, when he was...

well, that particular memory takes him down a long winding river of memories he'd rather not dwell too much on, so he shrugs it off.

"oh, i will. don't worry. i have no intention of bringing you on board && not making use of your expertise." he laughs quietly to himself. "starfleet likes to claim that they separate diplomatic missions from exploratory ones, but not when it comes to the gamma quadrant. it's all the same there."

he begins striding down the boarding dock, tossing his final words over his shoulder with a grin, all the confidence of a still-young captain in the way he carries himself. "how does half an hour sound to you?"

her delight is hard to miss. she tries to contain it, briefly, stifling a small hop in place and a grin a mile wide, ducking her head for a moment to compose herself. “thank you, captain,” she insists, “i won’t let you down. i– i appreciate the opportunity. and your good faith. truly.” caught between worlds, she starts as if to shake his hand, only to pin her arm to her side instead, nod once, firmly, and then settle for placing the same hand meaningfully over her chest. “anything i can do to help, anything at all… please don’t hesitate to call on me. when do we depart?”

she has taken the liberty of packing already, a small bag at her side. she picks it up and sets her face, determined. she remembers what zeveth said; anything she can do to help the founders, the dominion… her people, she will, even when the help they need isn’t necessarily the help they wish to accept.

the dominion will endure. just in a new way.

[tongowheel]

𝚒 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 , 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨. ©