Just for Tonight
| Star Trek DS9 Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Just for Tonight |
| Author(s): | Ariana |
| Date(s): | 1997 |
| Length: | |
| Genre: | |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine |
| External Links: | Online here |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Just for Tonight is a Star Trek: DS9 story by Ariana.
It was posted to alt.startrek.creative and won an ASC Award.
Reactions and Reviews
The pairing alone makes it a worthwhile read. As a "lost scene" from Ariana's full scale epic "Babylon," Ziyal and Quark spend some... comfort time together. If you didn't think it was possible, then you have to read this story! Tastefully done and rich with characterization, Ariana gives us an unusual look into Ziyal's somewhat mysterious "life on board the station" TPTB never saw fit for us to see. [1]
This story was about two characters who, I think, need each other more than they realize - and it's so easy for me to like Ziyal when it's Ariana writing about her. [3]
Wow. That is what I felt when I first finished reading this story. Followed by a pang that I hadn't considered the possibilities in this pairing myself. That was followed by gratitude that someone had, and that this someone was bothliterate and quite apparently loved the characters as much if not more than I did. This is something I wish TPTB had seen fit to do -- integrate the character of Ziyal into the show without trying to force her into a particular mold. She had so much potential, so many lovely possibilities based on her background -- having been enslaved by the Breen, raised on a prison planet,
having her formative years spent as a slave -- not even considering her being Dukat's daughter that her death was met by regret from me. Many saw her character as an interloper or of trying to "muscle in" on Garak, but I saw her character very much as Ariana paints her here. A lonely and frightened young woman, learning still about herself and trying to escape her past by forging a new future. Garak was only a small part of that and IMO, she would have quickly moved beyond him, even if they did have an affair. IMO, Garak saw that, too, and was merely encouraging her to grow and move beyond the rather limited situation he was in and find her own niche. It's a pity that never happened. Ariana's story removed some of the sting of that, though, by providing a very tender interlude that is both eloquent and seems entirely natural and uncontrived. My only complaint was that the story ended. [4]
My personal favorite Ariana story is "Just For Tonight". She managed to take Quark and Ziyal and portray them not only true to character, but also used those little bits of information from the show to flesh out what is a very simple story and make into something more intimate and moving. Like taking into account Ziyal's brutal childhood in a Breen prison and Quark's past affair with a Cardassian woman (Natima) and the fact that he *would* know what would please one.
I really, really enjoyed this story. Which isn't to say I don't like their characters. Frankly, I like just about everyone on DS9, regular cast and guest characters, and the two I am indifferent to I won't name. It pleases me to write sometimes and have someone tell me they liked so-and-so's interaction or that I captured so-and-so's 'voice'. Even knowing privately I don't really
care much for that character, it's nice to know that as a writer I'm able to keep that personal disinterest from flowing into my stories. [5]