Icon from a picrew by grgikau. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.
I love the Ds9 writers for making Leeta and Rom happen. Obviously there’s some sexism behind how they wrote daboo girls. But instead of keeping Leeta as eye candy at the side of the seemingly suave station doctor (I mean he’s not but i think they tried to write him that way at least initially), she got to marry for love. She became an important part of a family, had a clear personality and agency and was a great influence on Rom, propelling his character development too.
I pulled up some old Star Trek interviews from the BBC via the Wayback Machine as they no longer exist on the BBC website. One of things I love about the cast and crew of DS9 is how passionate they are about the work they did on the show. Here is Chase’s story about a fan encounter and what it meant to her:
It was a convention in Denver. I was really tired, it was the end of the day and we’d done the whole convention and I’d just come off stage. I was exhausted, and I quietly, unobtrusively made my way to the bar, and was just going to get a beer and go to bed.
I said hello to the person I was sitting next to. She was a key figure in the US Navy, because she teaches people how to fight. She’d been on the front lines, and she knows a lot of people who’ve been on the front lines. She’s been in for something like fifteen or twenty years, so she’s a career girl, and her stories were amazing.
She told me stories of going, several years ago, in to rebuild Bosnia, and they would go as much as twenty-one days without a shower. She said they would come back from wherever they were, and before they’d even take a shower or do anything for themselves, there was sometimes a new tape of Star Trek shipped in from the States, a new episode that they hadn’t seen, and they sat down and watched that hungrily and joyfully.
She said that was because of the sense of unity that they got from watching our show. The feeling of hope and of all that is important.
It was such an electric experience sitting and listening to her say that. It’s just so wonderful to know not only that you entertain people, it’s wonderful to be on a show that actually means something to people and to the world.
So, instead of just getting my beer and going to bed, I sat there at the bar and cried, because it just touched my heart so deeply. It was really very very special and I’ll never forget it.
Things like that do happen quite a bit for us. People will come up and say what certain episodes meant because of their situations in their life. That’s one of the most beautiful things about the show. Obviously even though it’s about people in places far away, it’s just so personal to the fans.
AU in which Garak keeps ending up in Julian’s bed, like maybe he is sleep walking? They don’t have sex. Julian just keeps waking up with Garak snuggled against him. He gets up and goes to work without waking Garak, and Garak gets up and goes about his day. And they never talk about it. For like. Weeks? Maybe a couple months?
Eventually something happens that forces them to talk about it. Lots of angst ensues, but they end up working things out. And then neither of them ever has to sleep alone again.
Adding a Note: this can absolutely be aro/ace! The important part is the snuggles. Thank you.
I just had an idea for the something that happens. What if this is while Julian and Leeta are dating? Julian stays over at her quarters sometimes, but she never stays over with him. But one morning, when they have spent the night apart, Leeta goes to Julian’s quarters to surprise him, and Garak is there. Leeta assumes Julian is cheating on her. Julian can’t explain why Garak is there, because he doesn’t really know. Garak, having just been woken up, is probably not on his best behavior. So it all blows up.
Oh second thought if I’m Dr. Julian Bashir. And I start dating Leeta and she asks to borrow Kukalaka bc he’s cute and I give it to her even though I absolutely don’t want to that’s my bear Leeta bc I’m a ball of insecurity and just want to do the things that will keep me in a relationship, any relationship. And then she breaks up with anyway and I think maybe for once I can be ok about bc it’s not like I was feeling like she was the love of my life anyway and sure yeah we can be friends with our exes I am Paragon of Healthy Romantic Relationships ha HA. but actually she broke up with me for Rom and like 3 months later they’re engaged to be married and I’m still “”“”“"dating Julian Bashir”“”“”“”“. Oh my god I’m not as good as Rom I can’t keep a partner but ROM can I’m fundamentally wrong everyone will find love but me I’m going to die alone. And before I can bring up Kukalaka I head out to this medical conference which should help distract me right except no I’m kidnapped. and in prison for over a month and in the meantime there’s a changeling on the station and it’s like well what if Leeta DID offer to return Kukalaka to the changeling and he said no. Finding out would require bringing up to Leeta the time I was replaced and none of my friends noticed which sends me into a ✨spiral✨. So yes of course the most reasonable thing to do is to pay two teenagers to break and enter into her house with illicit medical supplies that are at least a little dangerous. What would you have done???
