#chosen realm

[sshbpodcast]

Who’s a Good Boy? Spot vs. Porthos

By Ames

It’s been a minute since we had a spotlight battle when we wondered who was more badass: Tasha Yar or Ro Laren? And now we dare ask who is the best Star Trek pet: Data’s orange tabby cat Spot or Archer’s prized beagle Porthos? We’re all animal lovers here at A Star to Steer Her By, so it’s going to be a competition with many factors to consider, and you know what that means…

The Big Board is back, bitches!

Both pets are loyal and loving companions; they even have focus episodes in which they contribute to saving the day. And I’d argue that we really don’t see either as much as we’d like! Spot definitely gets fewer episodes, and changes breeds and sexes every so often without any explanation (I’m going to mostly call Spot a girl and ignore continuity for the sake of this post). And Porthos, while appearing in more episodes, often gets forgotten when the plot demands it. Who’s going to win best-in-show this week? Read on below and listen to this week’s episode (romp on over to timestamp 52:21) to find out who gets the blue ribbon!

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

1. Relationship with master

Spot: A cat is the perfect four-legged friend for an android because they are both aloof but wise, and can basically take care of themselves. Data cares for his beloved feline almost obsessively, trying out new replicated food to make her happy, writing poetry about her, and making sure she’s cared for when he’s away. But the most heart-warming example of how much Data loves Spot is in Generations when they’re reunited after the ship crash and Data’s emotions really come out.

Porthos: Dogs are the poster pet for adventure and exploration, and Archer is such a dog person. He is in constant need of someone in his life offering unconditional companionship and love, and dogs give it all away for free. Say what you want about the guy (and we gave him hell), but we see Archer’s devotion to his sweet pupper on full display in “A Night in Sickbay” when Porthos is in medbay and Archer refuses to leave his side, even with Phlox there being a nuisance the entire time.

Winner: Spot. We’re all cat owners on this podcast, and we know how much work it takes getting a cat to come out of her shell, so Data gets some extra credit here. And frankly, Archer bringing Porthos into the Delphic Expanse with him in “The Xindi”—where they assumed they’d get annihilated—is damn selfish. Leave the dog with Danica Erickson or something, dude! At least the Enterprise-D was cat friendly!

—

2. Human relationships

Spot: While Spot is very affectionate and tender with Data, it’s sort of a running joke throughout seasons 6 and 7 that she doesn’t get along with anyone else. She scratches Riker in “Timescape.” She hisses at Geordi while hiding under the bed in “Force of Nature,” and he gives Data a whole speech about how she needs to be better trained. Worf is insinuated to be allergic to cats and only promises to feed Spot in “Phantasms” in Data’s absence. The only person other than Data we see actually getting along with her is Barclay in “Genesis” because he’s another cat person!

Porthos: The doggo, on the other hand, is a glutton for attention. Porthos is a very good dog with absolutely everyone. When Phlox eventually comes to understand animals can be used for companionship and not just for his medical menagerie, he seems to really value his time with him, especially in an episode like “Doctor’s Orders.” Perhaps the most emblematic portrayal of Porthos’s shipwide friendship is seen when Sim spends time with him after he’s settled on sacrificing himself in “Similitude.” Who else would you rather your last moments be with than a doggy?

Winner: Porthos. This one is obvious. Spot is not only unfriendly to the rest of the crew, but downright aggressive at times. But Porthos is fully content to get scritches and pats from just about anyone.

—

3. Responses to threats

Spot: This kitty’s got claws! How well would Spot do in defending the ship? We posit she’d do pretty damn well, as is evidenced by how she sent Riker to medbay with scratches on his face that one time in “Timescape.” She could certainly hold her own in a fight with a real foe if she can take down the first officer of the whole ship!

Porthos: This beagle, on the other hand, is a pushover. I’ve complained a bunch of times on the podcast that I just don’t buy it any time the dog actors are supposed to be threatened. Instead of attacking or even barking at the cloaked Suliban on the ship in “Cold Front,” he wags his tail and looks happy. Porthos is no help at all when Ferengi board the ship in “Acquisition” and ends up in a packing crate because of it. He does successfully communicate the jizz alien threat in “Vox Sola” to Archer via barking, so at least that’s something.

Winner: Porthos. Data’s cat knows to be distrustful at first and will use her talons when it’s asked of her! But it's all conjecture if she's actually do any good during a real threat, while Porthos at least has history of barking at enemies to alert his masters.

—

4. Animal relationships

Spot: We know that Spot has gotten busy with one of at least twelve male cats on the Enterprise because she’s pregnant in “Genesis.” We don’t know much about how she got along with any of these superfluous cats, but we do know that she had a litter of beautiful kittens later that episode, and we squee so hard to see adorable kittens for even the brief moment they’re on screen. It’s really one of that episode’s few highlights.

Porthos: During the run of Enterprise, the only time we see Porthos interacting with another animal is when he’s vacationing on Risa with John in “Two Days and Two Nights.” Their shady-ass neighbor during their stay has a Chinese crested named Rhylo, and the two puppies don’t seem to get along! All they do is growl at each other. Where was this Porthos when there were actual threats on the ship for our category above?

Winner: Spot. One word: KITTENS! You always win with kittens.

—

5. Obedience

Spot: An entirely unnecessary sideplot during “Force of Nature” surrounds Data attempting to train Spot, to absolutely no avail. Geordi had apparently borrowed the feline to explore the lifestyle of cat ownership, and I’m sure he learned it wasn’t for him when Spot destroyed his stuff and then escaped. We also see that, while Data’s thought and effort to train Spot failed, her sneaky training of Data succeeded!

Porthos: A generally good boy most of the time, the only bad thing we could really blame on Porthos is when he pissed on the Kreetassans’ sacred tree in “A Night in Sickbay.” I’d mostly put the blame for that on Archer though, since he’s the one that brought the dog down planetside in the first place. A dog needs somewhere to piss after all, and we don’t even know what the protocol on the ship even is. Here’s hoping it was crewman Daniels that had to clean it up.

Winner: Porthos. What a good boy! Porthos generally doesn’t misbehave, especially when he might get some nice cheese as a treat. Spot on the other hand. She doesn’t even know that down is good and up is no.

—

6. Advancing the plot

Spot: Spot’s presence on the ship was critical for a couple of episodes too. When Data’s “Ode to Spot” starts appearing around the ship in “A Fistful of Datas,” the crew get clued into there being something wrong with the ship’s systems. And of course it’s the fact that her kittens come out as kittens while the rest of the crew is devolving into mutants during “Genesis” that allows Data and Picard to figure out a way to get everyone back to their correct states of being.

Porthos: Obviously, Porthos was a main factor during “A Night in Sickbay,” where his illness was the motivator behind Archer’s whole emotional state. However, most of those emotions were various forms of anger directed at the Kreetassans. A less anger-inducing example comes in “Chosen Realm” when Archer sends the “do not feed him cheese” message to Phlox in order to covertly pass information to the doctor.

Winner: Spot. Listen, the kittens were a part of this again, and whenever the kittens come up, they get extra points.

—

7. Inspirational quotes

Spot: Hey, it’s hard coming up with enough categories to fill a blogpost about two animals on Star Trek who are mostly there to give their owners something to care for. So consider this an excuse to talk about Data’s poem “An Ode to Spot” that we hear in “A Fistful of Datas.” It’s so damn cute for the android to want to express his feelings for his kitty, even when he’ll claim up and down that androids don’t experience emotions. This poem is proof!

Porthos: This one’s a stretch but it allowed me to include this category. When Porthos gets to go on an away mission in “Strange New World,” Tucker declares: “Where no dog has gone before.” Is it a good reference? Not really. But it’s certainly a milestone to have humans and canines making strides in the galaxy. That’s one small woof for a pup. One heckin’ bork for dogkind.

Winner: Spot. “An Ode to Spot” is so good there’s a whole Hallmark ornament of it. And when you press the button, it plays Data’s reading of the poem. The whole poem. That certainly beats a pun.

—

8. Eating habits

Spot: This feline is known to be very picky. So picky that Data has arduously been sampling at least 221 different formulas to try to find something she likes, as we learn in “Phantasms.” She hasn’t liked most of them, though her favorite does seem to be supplement 25.

Porthos: Give this boy some cheese! We first see in “Fight or Flight” that Archer can’t resist those puppy eyes when they pine for a piece of cheese, even though it definitely upsets Porthos’s tummy. In “Dear Doctor,” he’s in medbay with gastrointestinal distress caused by too much dairy. When Phlox is caring for him, we also see the two of them snacking on leeches together in “Doctor’s Orders,” supposedly with the possible side effect of clearing out his intestinal tract. He also refused to eat liver with shredded cheddar, usually his favorite, when he was moping about the presumed dead Archer in “Storm Front.”

Winner: Porthos: Cheese is indeed delicious, so we can get onboard with at least some of Porthos’s culinary favorites. As for the leeches… Well, what flavor are they?

—

9. Appearances in dreams

Spot: When Data is dreaming all over the place in “Birthright,” the whole escapade culminates with Spot in the captain’s chair on the bridge of the Enterprise-D and Data having a chat with his old man. Turns out it’s all been a part of Data’s programming, and seeing things that he connects with in his dreams is something Noonien Soong had planned as a next level for Data to explore. Thanks, dad!

Porthos: In the complete inverse of that whimsical (if stupid) Data plot, the dream that Archer has of Porthos in “A Night in Sickbay” is traumatizing. Archer is stressing out that Porthos won’t get over his Kreetassan illness and envisions a dog funeral attended by the rest of the crew. And then it turns into a sex dream about T’Pol (because they always do!) and it’s all just terrible.

Winner: Spot. Captain Spot! Now that’s an officer I can really get behind. And it’s a way better dream than a stress dream!

—

10. Other versions

Spot: The final category that I could think of is mostly an excuse to share a screenshot of Spot after she’s turned into an iguana in “Genesis.” That episode is so damn ridiculous. The rest of the crew is morphing into cool monsters, but they literally just swap in a normal iguana for Spot. At least make a puppet! And we haven’t even touched on the early appearances of Spot when she was apparently a Somali cat. Wonder what happened there?

Porthos: While the hosts of A Star to Steer Her By rarely agree on our opinions of the mirror universe, the reveal of mirror Porthos in “In a Mirror, Darkly” is a damn fine gag. Instead of the sweet, lovable beagle that Porthos is in the prime universe, he’s a Rottweiler who looks like he really wants to take a chomp out of Mayweather. Ya know, like everyone in the mirror universe.

Winner: Porthos. Rotties are beautiful puppers, even if they often get a bad rap. It’s a good and fitting reveal to see this alternative version of Porthos, while it’s just confounding and a missed opportunity for Spot to be an iguana.

—

Verdict

Did I consciously engineer this to end in a tie at 5 points apiece? Of course I did, and I’m glad it went this way because both Spot and Porthos are the best critters! We love them both, and it’s been a lot of fun having an excuse to highlight them for the blog this week. We could have created a tie-breaker question (like we did in the Yar-Ro post, which somehow ended up backfiring on us in the same way), but it’s really just the perfect conclusion because kitties and doggies are both good boys and girls!

—

Give your kitty or puppy a hug from everyone at A Star to Steer Her By! And also make sure you’re following along here because next week is going to be a doozy! We’re wrapping the first season of Discovery in our watch-through on the podcast over at SoundCloud or wherever you listen, so make sure you're caught up! You can also meow or bork at us over on Facebook or Bluesky. Now who wants some cheese?

[youngpettyqueen]

one of the funniest things about Star Trek is how it either nails the "at what point do you become the very thing youre fighting?" concept right on the head or it completely fucking flubs it by going "hello oppressed minority, did you know youre just as bad as your oppressors?"

[zelda-the-sacred-realm]

Watercolor Heroes Finished!

Today I finished this piece, the result is not as I hoped, but I completed it anyway because I love this scene so much

Watercolors are among the media I have used the least and I don't manage them as I would like, but I want to try again with a larger subject (not that I have high hopes 😅)

Thanks for your encouragement, I will study this further and hope to do something better

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 317

IMAGINE THIS: Lil baby Damian, bored and being not quite old enough to start learning how to use proper weapons (curse these wooden ones, he wants true steel!) is wandering the base. This is not out of the ordinary, he’s the prince after all. What is out of the ordinary is that his shadow, his Akhi, is not here. 

Technically, he should be napping, but he woke up and neither his mother or his brother- who is quiet but gentle and isn’t a good speaker (mother said it was from a head injury)- is there. Which is how he finds his way to the Pit, which he’s not supposed to be at. Or at least not alone. 

But! His mother and Akhi are there! And- and Akhi is screaming and he’s never heard him scream like that, like he’s in agony- His eyes are green- they were blue, had, had Mother placed him in the Waters- 

And then the pool is bubbling- he should be running away, get assistance or something, he’s five, he shouldn’t be running towards it when everything is screaming to flee. But one moment he’s at the doorway, the next he’s clinging to his akhi as something writhes in the Pit, a mighty bellow echoing even as the Shadows take defensive positions. 

The water cascades, laps at their feet, splashes everywhere as a scaled form rises from the depths, wings like a bloodied sunset spreading as fur bursts into flames. Crimson eyes glare down at them all, pupils slits as they bare down at his Akhi. 

The creature- the dragon- dips its head down, its breath warm as it chuffs at his akhi, wings folding as though it is bowing. His akhi is clinging to Mother, shivering, several scars glowing as they fade and a burst of hair burned white. 

Oh. 

Oh.

@fairy-lights-and-blobs @f4nd0m-fun @hdgnj @radiance1 pspspspsps

[nothwell]

cozy fantasy enjoyers are really sleeping on Yonderland tbh

[lovecoredeity]

so both of these artworks are Super Old with the weapons being the oldest but like behold! my old oc Serenity and the weapons designed for her and the rest of her magical girl group! the sword at the very top was designed by @purple-sea-dragon based on Serenity’s design and the rest of the weapons were designed based around the sword and Serenity! I deffo see like the vision I had for these but I think there are absolutely design changes I would make now to improve them (if possible) (also there are some things scattered around that Aren’t Weapons because I wanted to make myself a sticker sheet and then never did lmao)

♡ if you like my art please consider buying me a kofi ♡

[mikaikaika]

Bad just asked Tubbo "are we the baddies?" 😭😭😭

[steamclouds]

I regularly think about this. It's so random and out of the blue. My favourite item in Forgotten Realms lore, the heart-shaped locket of friendship.

(Excerpt from R.A. Salvatore's The Halfling's Gem)

[bloody-kissezz]

Coronis in her youth

a painting i made to test out my new drawing tablet. merry Christmas!

Updated version with baby dragon

[parachutingkitten]

Monstrosity certainly had it's vibe locked down. I think that was the main thing guiding the whole project, was just the very clear vibes. It had an aura in mind, and it nailed it completely. It is a visual masterpiece.

That being said... man does the story suffer big time from this being 15 minutes.

[bigmoon-is-bigwife]

Something I've noticed is that when people talk to Ros about the castle they are always so adamant that it is her castle, not Foolish's. Ros will disagree and say that it is Foolish's because he is king and she built it for him but everyone wants to be sure that Ros gets her credit and it's very sweet. Foolish is extremely supportive of her hard work on the castle and always praises her for it but I feel like if people thought he wasn't being grateful they'd overthrow him. Everyone loves Ros and her castle so much.

[sshbpodcast]

Character Spotlight: Phlox

By Ames

For many Enterprise fans, Phlox is a highlight. As a Denobulan, he shines through the show as someone with a different perspective than what the early-days astronauts that serve with him on the crew can often comprehend. He has different medical practices than the audience is accustomed to seeing on Star Trek and his menagerie of animals is a lot of fun. But for your A Star to Steer Her By hosts, Phlox might be just a rung above Archer as characters we just don’t have the taste for.

“Offputting” is the sentiment that came up most frequently regarding how we found the dear doctor. When he wasn’t hiding behind his unique culture to justify his obnoxiousness and tactlessness, he could be medically inept, ethically problematic, and downright offensive. This is going to be another of those blogposts that swings wildly between the good and bad moments, perhaps like Rom’s did. So grab someone else’s celery, your tongue scraper, and your own toenail clippings to prepare to read on below and listen to this week’s diatribe on the podcast (shuffle over to timestamp 42:20). It’s time to feed the bat.

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Best moments

Let’s just see where it goes Phlox, for better or for worse, serves as Trek’s most prominent representation of a person in a healthy polyamorous relationship. We learn in “Dear Doctor” that he has three wives, who each have two other husbands, and we have to applaud the eponymous dear doctor when he is fully honest and transparent about his romantic situation with a totally game Crewman Cutler.

Duck Season! Rabbit Season! A few episodes after Phlox condemns an alien race to death (more on that in the Worst Moments list), Phlox evidently changes his mind on interfering with the evolution of sentient species in “Rogue Planet.” And good thing too, because he’s able to create a masking agent that saves the wraiths from being brutally killed by those pesky hunters.

The one with the waggly tail Though there’s a lot to dislike about “A Night in Sickbay,” you’ve got to give some credit to Phlox for going above and beyond in helping to cure Porthos of the disease he picked up on the Kreetassans’ planet. The doctor doesn’t even understand why someone would care enough to invest energy in curing a simple animal, but he still pulls out all the stops in getting the puppy on his four feet.

Doctor-patient confidentiality I’ve got to admit that I totally expected Phlox to blab to the Vulcans onboard in “Stigma” that T’Pol has Pa’nar syndrome and was pleasantly surprised when he didn’t (it was that loose-tongued Yuris who totally spills the beans!). Granted, his attempt to weasel information out of the Vulcans failed laughably, but Phlox respects his patients’ privacy. This time, at least…

Antaran Lives Matter First off, there were better ways to have written an episode like “The Breach,” because Phlox doesn’t develop at all as a character during it. It turns out all his growth was done years ago and he just tells us about it. But hey, at least it’s nice to know that there are anti-racist Denobulans out there who can treat an Antaran like Hudak like a person despite societal racism!

I have no intention of turning into one of those cybernetic creatures Not only does Phlox effectively cure being assimilated into a Borg in “Regeneration” (someone inform Janeway!), but he also treats his infection with the seriousness it deserves. When Hoshi offers to sit with him, he warns her away in case he suddenly turns. He even concocts a neural toxin to kill him in case his cure doesn’t work, all to make sure the Borginess doesn’t spread.

It’s as if it never existed at all I’ve tried to consciously not to include mere instances that were literally Phlox doing his job as a physician, but this one’s worth mentioning. Maybe it’s just because I like the episode “Twilight,” but it’s also commendable to see Phlox dedicate himself so selflessly to curing Archer’s amnesia in such a very clever way, and it ends up resetting the timeline, so everyone wins!

I don’t just remember Trip’s childhood, I remember mine We’ll get to all the horrible things Phlox does in “Similitude” in a second, but for the moment, let’s just appreciate that the doctor’s rapport with Sim as he grew up was very sweet. It was probably aided by the fact that the mimetic simbiot grew up in three days, so parenting couldn’t have been very hard, but we got the impression that Phlox is indeed a proud papa.

Only the lonely (dum-dum-dum-dumdy-doo-wah) I’d give Phlox more credit for surviving the anomaly and getting the ship through safely while the crew was all comatose in “Doctor’s Orders” if it weren’t just a carbon copy of “One” with Phlox swapped for Seven of Nine. But if you forget that all other Star Trek exists and view this in a vacuum, it’s a good episode for Phlox! And he takes great care of Porthos!

This is between you and your doctor One more example of Phlox executing doctor-patient confidentiality, which should be a low bar for a physician to achieve and you’ll see why I’m bringing that up when you get to the Worst Moments list. But he definitely performs in accordance with medical ethics in “Damage” when T’Pol comes to him because of her trellium-d addiction and he helps her without blabbing!

No wonder you erase memories. Your behavior is appalling. Phlox tries his darnedest all through “Observer Effect” to save Trip and Hoshi (without the use of Lyssarrian desert larvae even!) when we all know it’s a fool’s errand. But his best moment here comes when he meets the Organians who are testing humanity and he absolutely cusses them out for the immoral bullshit they are engaging in! You get ‘em, doc!

I’m certain there are easier ways for you to recruit a new lab assistant Probably the best I’ve personally seen Phlox comes way toward the end of the series in “Affliction” and “Divergence.” When captured by Klingons and forced to create augment Klingons, Phlox initially stands his ground and would rather die than perfect augments. But then he works with Dr. Antaak to trick General K’Vagh into curing their admittedly idiotic augment virus instead!

—

Worst moments

Have you smelled Ensign Socorro after she exercises? One of the earliest impressions we get of Phlox gives him a creeper reputation, and that’s in “Fight or Flight” when he’s peeping on Crewmen Bennett and Haynem, assuming that they intend to mate, and pondering if they’d let him watch. So right after the pilot, he’s already on my bad side as some kind of tactless pervert. Oh and he also sniffs the crew. Red flag!

Grand Theft Celery This one’s become a sort of running gag on the podcast, but it’s also another example of Phlox rubbing us the wrong way. This man is a serial celery thief. For some obstreperous reason, he finds it socially acceptable to steal food off of other people’s plates, as we see in “The Andorian Incident.” If you’re thinking he just doesn’t know human customs yet, well, he does it again in “Shadows of P’Jem”!

Would you care to recite the Invocation of Renewal with us? This one’s my bias seeping through, but there’s something squicky about watching Phlox lead someone else’s culture in their invocation in “Cold Front.” It could all have been fixed with a word swap! The pilgrim leader doesn’t ask Phlox to “lead” their prayer; he says “recite with us.” And yet Phlox is presumptuous enough to make it all about him and start narrating on his own.

That’s not how it works... that’s not how any of this works! All these examples have been tenuous at best so far, but here’s undoubtedly the worst thing Phlox ever does. The ethics displayed in “Dear Doctor” are just atrocious, as Phlox refuses to help cure the Valakians of their disease even though he’s already solved it and even though the Prime Directive doesn’t even exist yet. But worse than genocide through inaction and then patting himself on the back for it is how Phlox justifies it to Archer with a definition of evolution that is an affront to science. I could never forgive Phlox after this episode for this wrongheadedness alone.

Eye of newt, wool of bat, and toenails of Phlox While we can still be gracious to Phlox for saving Porthos in “A Night in Sickbay,” for the entire rest of that episode he is utterly insufferable. Is he this obnoxious when he’s got a sapient patient in sickbay? Why can’t he loudly clip his toes or scrape his tongue or chase the bat around in his own quarters when Archer is trying to sleep? And then to suggest to the captain that he’s got a thing for T’Pol, as if she doesn’t get it from every angle already. Shut! Up! Phlox!

Has she offered to give you a rose petal bath? You know how we were giving Phlox credit for a normalized portrayal of polygamy in “Dear Doctor”? Well all that goes out the window in “Stigma” when his wife Feezal sets her sights on Trip. Phlox creepily tries to push Trip into banging his wife, as if being poly were now mandatory, even though it’s obvious that her constant sexual assault is making him uncomfortable.

Let’s all go to the lobby I get it, pally, that you don’t have movies on your home planet, but when you’re watching something for movie night, do you see anyone else talking incessantly through the flick? Read the room, jerkbag. We see in “Horizon” that he just can’t shut his damn mouth while watching a movie with a bunch of crewmates who are trying to enjoy the show and T’Pol has to shush him!

Sue this man for malpractice By season three, we’ve stopped using the decon chamber as a peepshow and need to get our jollies somewhere else, so Phlox decides to totally lie to Tucker, give him a placebo instead of the drugs he prescribed, and then force T’Pol to practice Vulcan neuropressure on Trip (which is NOT her job) in “The Xindi,” all so the fanboys can wank to Jolene Blalock with her top off some more. It’s offensive and juvenile and sexist and I blame Phlox for all of it.

Soylent green is Sim! While we were a little harsh on Janeway for how she treated Tuvix, his existence came about through an accident. But Phlox creating Sim in “Similitude” was on purpose and it’s morally all over the place. Not only does he opt to create sapient life just to harvest his organs, but he specifically omits telling Archer that creating simbiots with Lyssarrian larvae is banned AND that there might be a way to extend Sim’s lifespan, which is still lying, dude!

Her body, Phlox’s choice So we gave Phlox credit above for not outing T’Pol’s Pa’nar syndrome or trellium-d addiction at various points in the series, but here’s an example of him just bypassing doctor-patient confidentiality entirely. In “Chosen Realm,” he treats Indava’s request for an abortion with surprising respect, especially for the time, but then he goes and tattles to Archer right after! Not cool.

A mind is a terrible thing to lose While the whole deception gambit in “Stratagem” made the Archer bad list with much gusto, we’ve got to ream Phlox out a little bit for it too. Not only did he perform the memory wipe (those things are always questionable in their ethics!), but it was all his idea in the first place! These men are supposed to be the heroes of the show and they’re messing with Degra’s brain!

I can’t blame those men for the way they reacted The writers missed a trick in handling Phlox’s attack by racists in “Home.” The yokels who start the bar brawl are just plain xenophobes. And yet after the show’s 9/11 season, Phlox outright states that it’s okay to racially profile people because of the circumstances. Uh, no, it’s not. And what a terrible excuse to justify racism in the early 2000s. Unpuff your stupid face and tell us these people are assholes because they are.

—

What are we missing? So many people claim Phlox is their favorite Enterprise character, but we’re just not seeing it through the selfishness and terrible definition of evolution. But he’s also the last of the more major characters, so come back next week to watch us struggle to come up with things the sidelined main cast even did. You can also keep following along with our rewatch of Discovery over on SoundCloud or wherever you podcast, have a succulent Chinese meal with us over on Facebook or Bluesky, and unhand my celery, you miscreant!

[worstloki]

there is a difference between being born to a throne, maliciously vying for a throne, stealing a throne, and having a throne thrust upon you when you are already in the midst of an identity crisis. And I fear Loki's place in the line of succession has people unable to differentiate between any of these

[dawntread]

my lord dalamud, loyal hound of my mother and my grandmother's goddess, i beseech you - take this body as your vessel, your voice, and deliver us unto salvation.

[awesomenikie]

Big fan of characters who are catalysts in their worlds. Percy Jackson, Bree Matthews and Fitzchivalry Farseer my beloveds.

[incorrect-dragonquest-quotes]

Serena: Where is Erik? I’ve been searching for him but I can’t find him anywhere

11: Wait I’ve got this.

11: Can someone hold my hand?

Erik, appearing from nowhere: *gently holds 11’s hand* I’m here