Quodo in Every Episode discussion: "Rules of Acquisition"

[chacusha]

This week we're discussing... episode 2x07 "Rules of Acquisition"!

Episode synopsis: A big Quark episode! Quark is sent by Zek to do a difficult business negotiation with the Dosi, a Gamma Quadrant race. Assisting him is Pel, an ambitious Ferengi waiter with strong business sense, who turns out to be a female in disguise!

What The Boys are up to in this episode: This is a Quark-centric episode. He is doing a lot throughout -- playing tongo, getting advice from Pel, doing negotiations with the Dosi, going on a trip to the Gamma Quadrant with Pel which takes an unexpected romantic turn, and finally reckoning with the fallout of Pel's secret, both with Pel and the grand nagus. Odo has a couple of scenes in this one: he appears briefly at the beginning of the episode to tell Morn he can't sleep on the Promenade, and then appears later with Rom, where his musings on how he would personally react to someone stealing his brother's affections prompts Rom to rifle through Pel's room, looking for dirt.

One screencap from this episode:


Transcript: http://chakoteya.net/DS9/427.htm

Quodo fics tagged with this episode: There is one fic tagged with this and another episode in the tag:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/44865166

Tell us:
- What did you think about this episode?
- Have you written a fic set during/after this episode?
- Have you read any of the fics linked above? Let us know if they fit! Do you know of any other fics set in or that build off this episode that weren't linked above?
- What do you see as the Quodo potential for this episode?

Anonymous comments are on, so feel free to chime in even if you don't have a Dreamwidth account! If you prefer, we are also available on Discord:
https://discord.gg/VaCnMYvKu6 (18+ proship Quodo Discord - there is a dedicated channel for this event)
https://discord.gg/Htz4crCdCt (general Quodo Discord)
Event info & rules
Fic masterlist

Comments

[chacusha]

Random thoughts:

- Lol, poor Kira. Love Nana Visitor's facial expressions, though.

- "You're a woman?!" -- Thanks, DS9, for giving us Jadzia giving Pel gay love advice before realizing she's actually a woman. XD

- Huh, I guess this episode does have an example of what Ferengi socks look like (random thing I wanted to know when researching for a fic once).

- Poor Pel, freaking out about sharing a bed with Quark. When there's only one bed lmao.

- I like all the sets in this episode.

- The Dosi are cheesy but great fun in this one. I like them being so casually intimidating and Quark just being thrown in the lion's den by Zek. It's a fun dynamic.

- The lines "Spoken like a true female," and "I'd care," kill me. This episode has got so many feels and again showcases the interesting things DS9 does with Quark's character, where he's a greedy misogynistic capitalist but with Depth. Like, I love how for him femininity is sentiment and romance, which Quark isn't interested in dealing with, and he's just at the end of the day too socially conformist to appreciate what Pel has going on (despite the (literal) flirtation he has with gender-nonconforming off-world women like Dax). Like, he's willing to flirt with the idea of being with a powerful, headstrong woman, but when he thinks about settling down, it's ultimately the traditional Ferengi wife that he wants; when among aliens, Quark is a Ferengi oddity and proud of it, but when it comes to things that literally hit closer to home (his own culture), he reveals how mediocre and ordinary of a Ferengi man he is and unwilling to stick his neck out, and that contrast is so interesting to me!

- Zek is so terrible but I love him. XD His scared shouting when he finds out Pel is a female is sooo funny. Also, "Shame on you!" lmao. Just the best reaction. Also, I just love Pel throwing her ears at the nagus -- the guts. XD

- And of course Quark ends this episode in the same place where he started. He'll never get that moon at this rate. XD

I like this episode, being the first time we get to see a female Ferengi -- off-world and doing business, no less. It's also fun getting to see Quark vibing with someone who is on his level (or actually, better) when it comes to business sense, which is rare. I feel like you can tell he's kind of lonely along that dimension (although also probably DOES prefer being the smartest businessman in the room).


Thoughts on Quodo potential:

- I feel like it would be fun to write something playing up Odo's obsession with/jealousy regarding Quark. Like, it would be so easy to have Odo being antsy about Quark being away from the station / missing him / being as unhinged as Rom about Quark getting too close to that Ferengi waiter of his -- like Odo being annoyed Quark is spending time with Pel, or Odo appreciating the fact that Pel is different from the types of partners that Quark normally goes into business with, and thinking he should be relieved at Quark actually having good business sense for once, but instead Odo just finds himself unsettled and worried about how it will change his and Quark's relationship or something if Quark goes into business with Pel long-term.

- Quark and Odo have a conversation at the end of the episode where Odo awkwardly comforts Quark on losing Pel.

- Maybe Odo watching and commenting on a tongo game / Quark's dynamic with various other players.

- For an established relationship, I feel like you could have Quark and Odo discussing Quark's thoughts on settling down with a female Ferengi wife and whether that life tempts him.

The fic linked briefly references things that happened in the show, including in this episode, but is mostly unrelated to this episode, so I didn't include it in the list.