Vividcon 2015 Premiere: The Sound of Settling (Star Trek: DS9)
Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space 9
Song: "The Sound of Settling", by Death Cab for Cutie
Subject: Rom
Summary: There's more than one way to be a successful Ferengi.
Password = vividcon
Download: 30MB .avi (zipped) + .srt subtitles from my website.
I've got a hunger
Twisting my stomach into knots
That my tongue was tied off
My brain's repeating
"If he's got an impulse, let it out"
But they never make it past my mouth
Ba pa... this is the sound of settling
Ba pa... ba pa...
Ba pa... this is the sound of settling
Ba pa... ba pa...
Our youth is fleeting
Old age is just around the bend
And I can't wait to go grey
And I'll sit and wonder
Of every love that could've been
If I'd only thought of something charming to say
Ba pa... this is the sound of settling
Ba pa... ba pa...
Ba pa... this is the sound of settling
Ba pa... ba pa...
(repeat)
I've got a hunger
Twisting my stomach into knots
I made this last year, and ended up premiering it at VividCon, even though it was unlikely to be comprehensible to anyone who hasn't watched DS9. This vid started when I was thinking about making a Leeta vid, because she's in few enough episodes that a vid about her would be easy to clip for. Naturally, while looking for a song for her I came across a song for a Rom vid, so my "easy clipping" plan turned into taking notes on about seventy episodes. (NB: if you're thinking about vidding Rom, Nog, or Leeta, I have notes on every single scene they are in, and I'd be happy to share.) Rom's story isn't always a happy one -- a central theme is his abusive relationship with his brother -- but it ends happily and has an arc that I find very satisfying and engaging throughout the entire series (not true for many DS9 characters).
Rom is not a good Ferengi in the classic sense. He has a talent for electrical engineering, but he has no lobes for finance, and so he is a disappointment to his brother, Quark, who abuses, belittles, and exploits him. At the beginning of the show, Rom is an unhappy man who believes fully in his brother's view of what it is to be a Ferengi, and who passes that treatment along to his son, Nog. This might have been his whole life if not for Keiko Ishikawa O'Brien and her plan to start a school on the Deep Space 9. She persuades him that although Ferengi tradition does not encompass Federation-style schooling, attending school could give Nog an advantage in Ferengi business. Keiko doesn't challenge the values he's currently struggling to live up to, but opens the possibility that his son could struggle less. He takes the offer. I believe his willingness to try new things, and to even listen to a Human female, can be attributed to his parents, one of whom did not live up to traditional Ferengi ideals and the other of whom, his mother Ishka, refused to be held down by them.
The experiment with sending Nog to school doesn't last long, because Rom cannot stand up to Quark or Grand Nagus Zek and their insistence on Ferengi traditions over his family's happiness. Other influences like Starfleet and Bajorans cannot overcome how beaten down Rom is. He sticks to traditional Ferengi ways, and in traditional Ferengi ways he fails again and again. His brother values his business acumen less than that of another Ferengi who turns out to be a female, when women aren't supposed to have the lobes for business at all! His attempt to escape Quark's control leads him to work for a new boss who is just as greedy and shows Rom just as little respect. The theme of the first two seasons of Rom's story is settling, settling for the devil he knows.
Nog changes everything. Nog's taste of Federation-style school leaves him with a hunger for knowledge, and after his father forbids him to attend school, he studies in secret with his friend Jake. Nog is a smart kid who understands his father's weaknesses and who understands his fate could be the same, but unlike his father, Nog wasn't raised on Ferenginar. Nog can see a wider universe with other options. The scene where Nog attempts to arrange a Ferengi apprenticeship with Starfleet Commander Sisko is one of my favorite moments in the entire show. Never let it be said that Nog lacks chutzpah. And never let it be said that Rom doesn't love his son, because when Nog succeeds in negotiating an opportunity to join Starfleet, Rom supports him wholeheartedly over his brother's objections. Quark's objections culminate in sabotaging Nog's Starfleet entrance exam. Seeing his son's dreams go down the drain is the final straw for Rom. For the first time we see Rom stand up to Quark and not back down, not give up, not ultimately acquiesce to the status quo. Nog will attend Starfleet Academy. This is the experience that teaches Rom he can stand up for himself, and for other people. He leads his coworkers in a successful labor strike, and Quark learns that not taking Rom seriously is a mistake.
His relationship with other Ferengi starts to shift. Rom isn't the only one re-evaluating his reality. Grand Nagus Zek has a brief bout of Prophet-induced insanity and rewrites the Rules of Acquisition. By the end of the ordeal, the brother who used Rom as a Human Ferengi shield at the beginning of Zek's visit shields Rom from Zek's wrath with his own body. The episode is notable for Quark's growth in how he regards his "idiot brother". Rom also develops relationships with a Bajoran woman, Leeta, and with the Deep Space 9 engineering staff. Rom is no good at business, but he is excellent at making a holosuite, bar, or space station hold together with gum and string, and he is the one who saves the day in the war against the Dominion with his self-replicating cloaked minefield. Rom is now settling into himself, into a role in life that fits him.
Rom almost settles too far, almost trades his culture for Leeta's in his excitement to marry her, but his new Starfleet friends warn him off it. This is the moment when Rom, like his son, finds a third way between forcing Ferengi traditions on Leeta and abandoning them himself entirely. He takes the step no other Ferengi would have taken, of giving up his wealth to avoid asking his bride to sign a demeaning prenuptial agreement regarding that wealth. It's a revolutionary loophole to take. My greatest regret of this vid is that I could not find a good shot of latinum to illustrate Rom giving it up.
In the end, Rom finds happiness and respect with his loved ones, coworkers, and friends. Quark even indulges Rom's interest in non-Ferengi culture, though he will never understand that interest. And ultimately Zek (now partnered with Rom's rebel mother, Ishka) recognizes that Rom may not be the classic Ferengi success story, but he's the success story Ferenginar needs. And that is how the least likely Ferengi became the Grand Nagus.
...I really need a DS9 icon.
[ Original post |
comments | Reply at DWth ]
Song: "The Sound of Settling", by Death Cab for Cutie
Subject: Rom
Summary: There's more than one way to be a successful Ferengi.
Password = vividcon
Download: 30MB .avi (zipped) + .srt subtitles from my website.
I've got a hunger
Twisting my stomach into knots
That my tongue was tied off
My brain's repeating
"If he's got an impulse, let it out"
But they never make it past my mouth
Ba pa... this is the sound of settling
Ba pa... ba pa...
Ba pa... this is the sound of settling
Ba pa... ba pa...
Our youth is fleeting
Old age is just around the bend
And I can't wait to go grey
And I'll sit and wonder
Of every love that could've been
If I'd only thought of something charming to say
Ba pa... this is the sound of settling
Ba pa... ba pa...
Ba pa... this is the sound of settling
Ba pa... ba pa...
(repeat)
I've got a hunger
Twisting my stomach into knots
I made this last year, and ended up premiering it at VividCon, even though it was unlikely to be comprehensible to anyone who hasn't watched DS9. This vid started when I was thinking about making a Leeta vid, because she's in few enough episodes that a vid about her would be easy to clip for. Naturally, while looking for a song for her I came across a song for a Rom vid, so my "easy clipping" plan turned into taking notes on about seventy episodes. (NB: if you're thinking about vidding Rom, Nog, or Leeta, I have notes on every single scene they are in, and I'd be happy to share.) Rom's story isn't always a happy one -- a central theme is his abusive relationship with his brother -- but it ends happily and has an arc that I find very satisfying and engaging throughout the entire series (not true for many DS9 characters).
Rom is not a good Ferengi in the classic sense. He has a talent for electrical engineering, but he has no lobes for finance, and so he is a disappointment to his brother, Quark, who abuses, belittles, and exploits him. At the beginning of the show, Rom is an unhappy man who believes fully in his brother's view of what it is to be a Ferengi, and who passes that treatment along to his son, Nog. This might have been his whole life if not for Keiko Ishikawa O'Brien and her plan to start a school on the Deep Space 9. She persuades him that although Ferengi tradition does not encompass Federation-style schooling, attending school could give Nog an advantage in Ferengi business. Keiko doesn't challenge the values he's currently struggling to live up to, but opens the possibility that his son could struggle less. He takes the offer. I believe his willingness to try new things, and to even listen to a Human female, can be attributed to his parents, one of whom did not live up to traditional Ferengi ideals and the other of whom, his mother Ishka, refused to be held down by them.
The experiment with sending Nog to school doesn't last long, because Rom cannot stand up to Quark or Grand Nagus Zek and their insistence on Ferengi traditions over his family's happiness. Other influences like Starfleet and Bajorans cannot overcome how beaten down Rom is. He sticks to traditional Ferengi ways, and in traditional Ferengi ways he fails again and again. His brother values his business acumen less than that of another Ferengi who turns out to be a female, when women aren't supposed to have the lobes for business at all! His attempt to escape Quark's control leads him to work for a new boss who is just as greedy and shows Rom just as little respect. The theme of the first two seasons of Rom's story is settling, settling for the devil he knows.
Nog changes everything. Nog's taste of Federation-style school leaves him with a hunger for knowledge, and after his father forbids him to attend school, he studies in secret with his friend Jake. Nog is a smart kid who understands his father's weaknesses and who understands his fate could be the same, but unlike his father, Nog wasn't raised on Ferenginar. Nog can see a wider universe with other options. The scene where Nog attempts to arrange a Ferengi apprenticeship with Starfleet Commander Sisko is one of my favorite moments in the entire show. Never let it be said that Nog lacks chutzpah. And never let it be said that Rom doesn't love his son, because when Nog succeeds in negotiating an opportunity to join Starfleet, Rom supports him wholeheartedly over his brother's objections. Quark's objections culminate in sabotaging Nog's Starfleet entrance exam. Seeing his son's dreams go down the drain is the final straw for Rom. For the first time we see Rom stand up to Quark and not back down, not give up, not ultimately acquiesce to the status quo. Nog will attend Starfleet Academy. This is the experience that teaches Rom he can stand up for himself, and for other people. He leads his coworkers in a successful labor strike, and Quark learns that not taking Rom seriously is a mistake.
His relationship with other Ferengi starts to shift. Rom isn't the only one re-evaluating his reality. Grand Nagus Zek has a brief bout of Prophet-induced insanity and rewrites the Rules of Acquisition. By the end of the ordeal, the brother who used Rom as a Human Ferengi shield at the beginning of Zek's visit shields Rom from Zek's wrath with his own body. The episode is notable for Quark's growth in how he regards his "idiot brother". Rom also develops relationships with a Bajoran woman, Leeta, and with the Deep Space 9 engineering staff. Rom is no good at business, but he is excellent at making a holosuite, bar, or space station hold together with gum and string, and he is the one who saves the day in the war against the Dominion with his self-replicating cloaked minefield. Rom is now settling into himself, into a role in life that fits him.
Rom almost settles too far, almost trades his culture for Leeta's in his excitement to marry her, but his new Starfleet friends warn him off it. This is the moment when Rom, like his son, finds a third way between forcing Ferengi traditions on Leeta and abandoning them himself entirely. He takes the step no other Ferengi would have taken, of giving up his wealth to avoid asking his bride to sign a demeaning prenuptial agreement regarding that wealth. It's a revolutionary loophole to take. My greatest regret of this vid is that I could not find a good shot of latinum to illustrate Rom giving it up.
In the end, Rom finds happiness and respect with his loved ones, coworkers, and friends. Quark even indulges Rom's interest in non-Ferengi culture, though he will never understand that interest. And ultimately Zek (now partnered with Rom's rebel mother, Ishka) recognizes that Rom may not be the classic Ferengi success story, but he's the success story Ferenginar needs. And that is how the least likely Ferengi became the Grand Nagus.
...I really need a DS9 icon.
[ Original post |
comments | Reply at DWth ]