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TNG episode where the ship is taking a bunch of different doctors and scientists to an important medical conference and Worf ends up developing a crush on one of the Vulcan doctors and they get along really well. They both seem lonely and their interactions are sweet. At the same time Worf is trying to beat an unknown opponent at a subspace strategy game which is circulating amongst all the security teams Starfleet-wide (Worf is very good at the game and so is equal parts frustrated and thrilled by this opponent's skill) and during one of their conversations/outings the Vulcan doctor points out a flaw in Worf's opponent's game which he never would have noticed on his own. This doesn't allow him to win necessarily but it does keep them from constantly stalemating one another. The end of the episode has Worf nearly confess to the doctor as they finally reach the conference, but it turns out her husband is waiting for her. Her husband is Tuvok and he was ALSO the opponent which Worf was fighting tooth and nail (on two different fronts?). Tuvok and Worf are both shocked by this and suspicious of one another. Was Worf seducing his wife as a tactic? Was Tuvok using his wife to lower Worf's guard? Doctor T'Pel seems amused, undercutting the tension. Gentlemen, it's only a game. (Both men remember it is indeed only a game and appear sheepish) She wishes Worf well and then gets on the transport, informing the room that her stay on the Enterprise was indeed quite enjoyable. Tuvok & Worf agree to continue playing that game until there is a decisive winner.

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You know what? We need an Anti-Garak. Like some Romulan guy everyone is convinced is a member of the Tal Shiar or something but he's literally just a dude who makes pastries.

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Mariner was stationed on ds9, yeah? Story where she was on the Defiant during Trials and Tribble-ations and is so geeked about meeting the tos crew that she also leaves the ship and has to comically hide whenever any ds9 crewmember shows up so she doesn't get in trouble

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I just rewatched Imperfection in Voyager season 7, and I have to admit that I really like it. There are issues with the episode from a disability perspective, but when it comes down to it, I relate to a lot of parts of it. I do not have a terminal illness, which Seven’s situation in the episode is most directly comparable too, and I can see a whole host of problems with the way the episode represents certain things in relation to that. But at the same time, this is one of the episodes where Seven’s coding as disabled is most explicit, and I can’t deny that it has meaning to me.

The fear of weakness and dependence, the dread of the knowledge that you are a burden to others, the desperate desire to hide suffering from other people, the shame of not being strong enough – these are all aspects of Seven’s character throughout much of Voyager, but this is the episode that really accentuates them the most in a way that feels directly connected to disability. And I’ll be honest, any story that emphasizes the necessity and inescapability of dependence on other people from a disabled perspective will always appeal to me. Dependence is a complicated thing – both beautiful and horrifying, both a root of oppression and a requirement for freedom. Seven’s ambivalent feelings about dependence are incredibly compelling to me.

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It bugs me that there's basically no lore for the Tellarites other than "pig guys who like to argue". They've been around since the 60s and there's no lore. They were a founding member of the Federation and there's no lore. There's a Tellarite main character on "Prodigy" and so far the only new lore we've gotten out if it is (1) at some point in the pre-Federation past, they rounded up their orphans and sent them out into deep space on colony ships, and (2) they're born in litters and the runts get called "Pog"

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STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS — 4.01 "Twovix"

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Samantha Wildman is honestly sooo funny as a background character because she’s like…such a normie against the rest of the Voyager crew, who just pops up occasionally to have normal conversations and experience horrors.

Janeway has a martyr complex and is constantly battling the narrative for dominance

Harry Kim has his whole complex where he’s trapped as both the golden boy and the ensign while also dying and being killed and being brought back just a little different every episode

Seven of Nine has her everything going on

Kes and Neelix are weirdos with species-wide trauma and Neelix died

B’Elanna also died and went to hell

Lon Suder

And Samantha is just like, working in the science lab while untold horrors stalk the halls of the Voyager, looking forward to whatever Neelix has whipped up in the kitchen

The few appearances/mentions she has that aren’t Life Threatening Crisis are

really sweet if it wasn’t in the context of a horrifying episode reveal that Samantha devotedly watches Neelix’s little news show every day (neelix superfan). Average woman turning on France 24/BBC every morning and the forecast is never not unspeakable monsters

bumbles into stopping a guy’s suicide attempt by requesting a bedtime story for her child

stereotypical conversation about having to provide new clothes for fast growing child (derailed)

one person on the ship enthusiastic about Neelix’s cooking (#1 Neelix fan)

xenobiologist inexplicably sent on a ship whose mission is to go hunt down terrorists, as if she’s going to get a spare moment to study the effects of long-term space habitation on hagfish or whatever

Like if Voyager had the tone of Lower Decks (animated), the recurring gag would be Samantha just doing her little nematode observations in the background while there’s a five-way borg/hirogen/alien anomaly/kazon/Q incursion going on, and talking to her coworkers about how Naomi’s drawings are like, really really good. Have you seen how good she’s gotten at shading? She’s just an average woman trapped on the most ridiculous and protagonist-laden ship in the known universe. The inherent humor and horror of being a background character in the genre of Epics

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Begging Star Trek to canonize Kirk's gay nephew

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Julian and Keiko headcanons because Keiko gets sidelined so much and deserves the world and I wish we got to see them interact more

when they get stumped on their respective projects, they'll do late night work sessions together and bounce their research off each other to see if the other can help them figure out where the problem is. they'll do this in person when theyre both on the station, but also over call if one of them is away, and after the O'Briens move back to Earth

they edit each other's papers (Keiko marvels at Julian's ability to spell out complex chemical compounds with his eyes closed, and somehow use 'their' instead of 'there') (in his defense he wrote that bit at 4 in the morning after going 2 straight days without sleep) (she threatens to sedate him)

Julian sometimes brings back plants from planets they explore in the Gamma Quadrant and gives them to Keiko. sometimes he does it because the plant has medicinal properties and the two of them can do a joint research project, but most of the time he does it just to give her a nice gift

when Miles goes away for particularly dangerous missions, Julian will keep Keiko company and help keep her mind off of it. sometimes she has trouble sleeping because shes so worried, so he'll hang around and start rambling on about whatever he's currently working on until she falls asleep. he jokes he's boring her to sleep, but it actually means a lot to her

they have a weekly tea date. this is their prime gossip time. sometimes Jadzia is invited

when Keiko's mad at Miles she'll rant to Julian about it. Julian learned very quickly that this is not a time where advice is wanted, so he sits back and lets her get it all off her chest, because she really just wants someone to listen and let her blow off some steam

Julian makes a concentrated effort to learn more about plant husbandry and care after the incident where he accidentally killed some of Keiko's prized plants because he actually does feel very bad about it

Julian hovered over Keiko nearly as bad as Miles did when she was pregnant with Kirayoshi (and then he hovered over her even more after the pregnancy transfer, and he wouldnt tell anybody why, but Keiko knew it was because nearly losing her shook him up pretty bad)

when Julian gets outed for being augmented, Keiko goes to him and gives him the tightest, warmest hug he's ever gotten in his entire life

Julian gets invited to girls nights with Keiko and Molly (steady surgeon's hands make him the best one to paint nails) (he pretends to complain but he loves it)

anytime Julian has to go away for a scientific conference of any kind, if he gets to bring someone with him, his first choice is always Keiko

in short: theyre besties they told me so themselves <3

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Hello person I’ve been following for a long time but never interacted with.

If you want some sci-finance for realsies you should check out night lamp by jack vance. Its like 80% just regular scifi but boy does it really get into the banking aspect when it does come up. It kinda feels like when a movie shot lingers too long on some feet and you start to get suspicious of the directors fetishes…..

Bye

I am suspicious about your choice of analogy, Anon. But thanks for the recommendation.

Honestly I'd watch a 100% sci-finance show. It can't be cheap or easy to finance a fleet of exploration vessels even in a post-monetary society.

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the voyager crew's condemnation of b'elanna's actions in barge of the dead is really interestingly similar to the enterprise crew's condemnation of the Hegh'bat in ethics and the ds9 crew's in the sons of mogh. there have been several notable occasions when klingon values demand that a character kill someone else, and those ruffle some feathers but are ultimately allowed, whereas in these three instances the idea of suicide according to klingon culture is met (initially) with a hard No. i think the only reason they allow b'elanna to induce a coma and return to the barge of the dead is that she doesn't want to Die, just induce a death-like state that the emh can resuscitate her from, unlike worf or kurn requesting to be flat out killed and being flat out denied.

to clarify, i'm not trying to say that anyone on next gen or ds9 was necessarily wrong for how they reacted to these situations, and i'm not trying to weigh in on any kind of debate about the topic of assisted suicide itself -- i'm more interested in the fact that the desire for vengeance, like jadzia's in blood oath or worf's in reunion, is a much more easily accepted example of culture demanding death. i think that the human/non-klingon crew are more ready to understand the desire to kill someone who's done bad things and hurt innocent people because it's a desire they've, if not felt, then at least considered before, the aspect of klingon culture isn't so important because they can fundamentally relate -- but the desire to die in the name of values they don't understand or place equivalent importance on is significantly more foreign, they don't relate, they see it as alien. that's the desire that gets equated to lunacy, despite coming from the same place culturally as the need for vengeance. it isn't necessarily that one is more morally acceptable than the other, that's impossible to objectively judge, but the fact that one is less foreign and more explicable in human terms. the other is an uncomfortable reminder that klingon culture, the culture of crewmates, friends, partners -- is, ironically, alien.

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Really interesting to consider “Collective” in the same continuum of “Survival Instinct”, and how these episodes pan out very differently for two characters (Seven and First) who find themselves suddenly disconnected from the Borg collective and lash out with a similar mixture of fear and anxiety about their lack of control, especially when their fellow drones start to assert an individuality that neither Seven nor First are equipped to deal with. Seven survives, by dooming the rest of her unimatrix; First does not, and with his demise the rest of the Borg kids can board Voyager and be reclaimed from the Collective.

I don't know if the similarity between Seven and First was drawn intentionally by the writing but in my opinion it's pretty evident. As drones in an unfamiliar situation they are unprepared to deal with the discomfort of re-emerging thoughts of a life pre-assimilation, and their reaction is to seek a return to the Collective by whatever means necessary. In addition to that, they can't cope with alone-ness at all, so they ensure the drones who are with them will help them to return to the Collective as well by restoring ‘order’—in the case of First, by establishing a pecking order where he is the indisputable leader, and in Seven's case by assimilating the rest of her unimatrix in a mini-collective. I think Seven only succeeds where First failed because Seven by that point was an adult drone who was entirely capable of assimilation, while First, having emerged from a maturation chamber too early, did not have the ability yet (in “Collective” Icheb mentions that they've all been trying to learn to assimilate but have failed so far). This is a powerful metaphor too—adults have powers of coercion that kids might not have yet developed fully, and it points to latter's better chances of successful reclamation.

Except First pays for his stubborn inexperience dearly, while Seven does not, despite her being much more culpable. I've been wondering how she might feel about the whole encounter, since “Collective” doesn't offer much in this respect. I wonder if, despite First's relentless hostility towards her, Seven was able to recognize her former self in him. I think she might have, given this exchange right at the end:

I also wonder if First's fate was yet another reminder for Seven of the many ways in which she failed both as a drone and as an individual, and especially of the exceptional circumstances of her continuing survival. Other former drones die while facing the same difficulties and obstacles Seven has encountered, but she survives against all odds, often because the people around her have chosen to go above and beyond for her, but also just out of luck. It's a constant in her life, both on Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Picard. I have to imagine it's a weight that keeps becoming heavier as the years pass.

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voyager’s the haunting of deck 12 implies that weird shit is constantly happening around the ship that the audience doesn’t necessarily get to see so i propose there should’ve been a c-plot about naomi and the borg kids playing hide and seek that also serves to hint at all of said weird shit. “neelix told us not to go into the arboretum by ourselves but that’s where the best hiding spots are. who cares if there are carnivorous plants in there” type stuff

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the ds9 pilot is insane. they went into the writer's room and decided the introduction to this series needed to be a long form exploration of the nature of grief

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Handwritten poem by Leonard Nimoy from one of his fan club’s newsletters.

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I think B'Elanna and Tuvok probably work together a lot in a distant, professional capacity and it's mostly through notes about what will and will not blow the ship up. Constant updates about how not to blow the ship up or otherwise kill everyone aboard which are increasingly and endlessly complicated and if Tuvok weren't Vulcan and B'Elanna weren't built with a mind like a diamond they would both just collapse under the weight of it all and give up but instead they're lowkey kind of enjoying the challenge sometimes. When they aren't collapsing under the weight of it all. They started their messages with B'Elanna being so careful about sounding professional but by year 4 they're not even using honorifics or greetings. They might be employing shorthand. When they get back to the alpha quadrant the admirals are pouring over their notes, maneuvers, quick fixes, and long-term solutions in both horror and fascination. In year two they had to trap an alien slime in the turbolift which is nonsentient and unkillable and it helps the turbolift (which was previously broken beyond repair) run but WILL eat anyone inside that lift if the power coursing through its body reaches a certain level so that particular turbolift has to stay lower-powered and slow. No power can be diverted through that turbolift or anyone who uses it will be eaten. Engineering Win: If we incorporate this alien technology which uses star power instead of solar power which B'Elanna found detailed in an old book during a shore leave thrift sale we can increase the ship's systems' efficiency by over 50%! Security Fail: The star power technology makes people inexplicably think they are a star, their longing for the twinkling void causing them to throw themselves out into space. That's the sort of thing that B'Elanna and Tuvok are dealing with. There's so much that Tuvok brings to B'Elanna like 'this is horrifically dangerous' and B'Elanna replies like 'this is the only way the ship can keep functioning.'

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I think they actually were onto something with changelings and borg working together in pic s3. Borg physically cant assimilate changelings. Typical changeling tactics wouldnt work against borg. Borg are only interested in assimilation, changelings on their own arent a threat-- so borg would clearly have very little interest in harming them, meaning changelings would consider borg safer than other solids. What im getting at, if those two made an alliance with someone, it would be with each other.

Borg doesnt have enough raw power to take on federation, and its YUMMY, with dosens of species and cultures-they need help. Even with small numbers, changelings can destabilize it, make it weaker- but its no use since they have no raw power at all. It sort of makes sence.

Like both are very interesting species, and somewhat similar. I want to see them interact. There are just so many fun weird things to come out of it.

Changelings would probably see assimilation of their enemies as THE HUMANE option. How can they understand how terrible it is for a solid to become a part of a hive mind and lose own self? They are themselves a hive mind and they fucking love being one.

The irony of the fact that out of the two, borg want to learn, and changelings want to destroy

Didnt borg queen want an equal?

Seriously tho, they finally found equals, but cant interact nearly on the same level as they do with "lower" species. ANGSTY TOXIC HIVE MIND YURI.

They are similar, but dont work in quite the same way. What terrible, terrible things will they teach each other?(Actually it would be funny if they somehow made each other better in some weird way)

Neither are at their best in picard, to put it mildly, but THERE IS POTENTIAL