#super phaser

[fuzzkaizer]

Aria - Super Phaser

"These were Phase 90 clones more or less, and were sold under the Arbiter and Vox brands as well."

cred: ebay.uk/Studio Reclaim

[a-christmas-fruitcake]

EVERYONE SHUT UP PLEASE LOOK AT THIS FUCKING REPLICA PHASER MY COWORKER GAVE ME

IT HAS A WORKING SETTING WHEEL AND THE LITTLE BLACK SECTION EVEN COMES OUT TO BE A MINIATURE PHASER

IT'S SO FUCKING COOL IT'S METAL SO IT'S HEAVY AND EVERYTHING AAAAHHHHHH

[antigogglin]

A music project not getting (in my humble opinion) the recognition they're due but rightly deserving it. Modern-day kosmische, and yes, owing much to the influences easily recognized at times in the songs, but who cares when it's done this good? From the great city of Ann Arbor.

Recent interview here @ 15 Questions

[anghraine]

A lighter TOS poll because I feel like it:

[technicallyr43]

I’m deep in the Batman and Danny Phantom fandom, so how about something different.

Where in the Ghost Zone, after the Fentons discover who Phantom is, CW looks at the young king and decides, it may be better for him to have a healthier view in life and to be king a little older or something. So he throws him into another universe and Danny is reborn without his memories or powers in the DCU.

Years later, during a battle in some nondescript place, the JL is fighting some ppl, maybe CADMUS and the batfam is there investigating. Nightwing goes off and finds a lab with a device in it. He doesn’t touch it, and he’s talking in his comm when it suddenly turns on, forming a portal right on top of the hero. He screams and disappears, causing Bab to freak out because he flatlines. She tells the bats and Batman freaks out, heading to where Nightwing was. They find the portal swirling but no Dick. They find his escrima sticks and some blood, and realize he died. The ppl there, Batman, red hood, Red Robin and robin; start grieving but have to go help with the fight as the portal closes. Later, when the league starts searching the base for info on the portal device, Batman comes upon what looks like Nightwing, severely injured with white hair and his uniform inverted with black and white. He bleeds green and his eyes are the same shade, the same shade as the Lazarus Pits. He asks Bab if Dicks vitals say he’s dead, and she confirms it. Still, Batman knows this is his so , his first baby, and runs to him. The other batfam see him and also go to him. Batman and fam see that Dick is super out of it, saying shit hurts and would they still love him if he was dead. He’s crying and they’re crying and Batman says of course he’s love him still. Dick asks if he’d love him if he wasn’t human anymore, and Batman just says, always.

Dick is hugged by everyone and Batman is the last to hold on and dick says I love you and that’s good to hear before passing out in Batman’s arms. A light transforms him back to regular looking Nightwing who is still super hurt and his green blood changes to red and the fam freaks the fuck out bc Bab says he’s alive again but his vitals are all freaky.

Later, when Nightwing is in medical, passed out, Superman is there to witness, with some doctors, that dick just phases through the bed and floor, causing his med devices to flatline. He warns the base and all the heroes try to stop the floating phaser before he reaches the ground and phases into the ground and out the watchtower. Not even the Martians can catch him. Right before he hits the lowest floor to space, Batman finally catches him and is the only one to be able to hold him. He takes him back to medical and no one but the batfam can touch him.

Idk why happens after this but I thought reincarnated Phantom!Dick Grayson would be great.

[funkylittlefruit]

Urgghhh… interests… COMBINE!!

A TF2 Star Trek AU my brother and I came up with. If you have any ideas or if you’re a Star Trek super fan and and of this conflicts with st lore I would love to know. Set around ds9 time because that’s the best one. Character stuff under the cut

Ship: The Fortress

Engineer: The “Captain”. Ex-borg who opted not to remove all of his machine parts. Deemed a liability by Starfleet and was discharged. Refused to part with the ship he was previously chief engineer on and now runs it on a skeleton mercenary crew.

Medic: The chief medical officer. Obsessed with manuals “old fashioned” and experimental medical techniques. Discharged from Starfleet for medical malpractice. Joined the Fortress so he could continue his work.

Heavy: The chief security officer. A Klingon who takes mercenary work to support his mother and sisters back home.

Spy: A Romulan defector. Stole a cloaking device that is now being used on the Fortress.

Scout: A half human half romulan ensign. Thinks he just had a Vulcan grampa on his dad’s side. Left Starfleet of his own accord and joined the Fortress for a sense of freedom and adventure. Navigational helmsman.

Soldier: Never actually a member of Starfleet. So where’d he get that old uniform and all those medals? And why’s he wearing an ancient Earth helmet? Works as a security officer on the Fortress because no one else is crazy enough to take him.

Demoman: Chief engineer. Discharged from Starfleet for drinking on the job. Has an eye implant but it’s barely functional. Will push the practically vintage engines to warp 11 and get that week long job done in a day.

Pyro: Nothing is know about them. Just seemed to show up on the ship one day. Wears a broken and burnt environmental suit. Chief communications officer so they can ignore every Starfleet command and because they stay on the bridge where an eye can be kept on them.

Sniper: A Bajoran who was sent away from Bajor during the Cardassian occupation. Secretly taken in by a Starfleet officer and his wife where he learned federation starship systems. Operates the phaser banks on the Fortress.

Pauling: A Vorta who was tasked with supplying the Dominion with more supplies, specifically materials for Ketracel-White. Hired the mercenaries to raid other ships and colonies.

[zm-deragis]

I need an original series phaser for my Halloween costume. I did not already own an original series phaser. The solution:

Make one out of Cardboard and Popsicle sticks! It's not perfect, but it will suit my purposes nicely.

Build pics/details under the cut!

As you can see, the handle's main structure is popsicle sticks. There's a bunch of those hot glued willy-nilly inside the prop to make it sturdier. I used both glazing spot putty and wood filler to smooth out the surface, but frankly I recommend skipping the spot putty. Super nasty to work with, and actually really delicate, so not really worth it. Wood filler is cheaper and less likely to give you lung cancer. Wear a dust mask or respirator when working with either, regardless. The rounded edges of Phaser I are actually foam clay, which I figured would be easier to use than to shape and fold cardboard into a compound curve. The radiator fins in the back of the prop are made of acrylic from a cheap picture frame.

This took me about a week to do, but that's partially because I lose focus easily.

[gaykarstaagforever]

TAS, "The Infinite Vulcan"

This episode was written by Walter Koenig, as an "oops, sorry dude" to him after he found out he wasn't allowed to be on the show, because Filmation could afford to pay 6 TOS actors, but not 7.

...And they went with Majel Barrett-Roddenberry as Nurse Chapel instead of Chekov. For some reason. That certainly had nothing whatsoever to do with her having married Gene Roddenberry in 1969, and him being heavily involved in the production of this show.

Speaking of Gene Roddenberry being a dick, he made Walter write like 12 drafts of this, because every time Gene read one he came up with a new "awesome" idea he wanted added to it. And the experience was so frustrating that Walter basically vowed to never subject himself to this kind of abuse again. So while this episode is really good and Filmation asked him to write more, he noped the whole way out of that.

Also he asked if they would PLEASE pay him like $2 to voice a character in this specific episode that the animators specifically modeled on him. They said no. Like he needed another reason to not work with these disrespectful assholes.

They're lucky he's a classy, professional guy. If it had been me, both Filmation Studios and Gene Roddenberry's car would have smelled like pee, from the beer bottles filled with my own pee I would have thrown at them. But Walter Koenig is not me, so no pee was thrown, he just turned in a really good TAS screenplay that is probably the best example of "TOS, but animated" that there is. This is absolutely one of the best TAS episodes. And those moments where it might be goofy and kinda lame, are 100% the fault of either Gene Roddenberry demanding something wacky, or the animators going "Walter, there is zero way we can draw that on this budget."

That said, they do a lot with a little, here.

The Enterprise is randomly exploring an unexplored planet, that clearly hosts some kind of non-spacefaring civilization. Because we apparently only care about the Prime Directive when Kirk happens to remember it, Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Sulu beam down and start fooling around. Sulu tries to play with a little purple plant that has spider legs, and it immediately stings him with a powerful toxin that will literally kill him in a minute.

So, going well immediately.

They don't immediately beam back to the ship, because Kirk and Bones want to use the last few moments of Sulu's life to panic about what the hell to do. Fortunately for them, some plant people show up and offer to cure Sulu. Bones wastes even more valuable seconds being racist to them, but Kirk rightly figures that if it doesn't work, Sulu is dead anyway, so he lets them inject Sulu with one of their tentacles. He is cured. McCoy is impressed that weird freak plant monsters from Space can do cures of toxins from their own planet.

Dial it back, Bones. Jesus.

The plant aliens, the Phylosians, seem like nice guys in general, and so take "our heroes" on a tour of the giant orange building they apparently all live inside. This includes a room filled with the GIANT CORPSES of the previous generation of the plant people, who all died of diseases brought to the planet by a previous human explorer.

Before Kirk can take the goddamn hint, they all get attacked by...

Well. I'll just show you.

As they're running away and diving to avoid the tentacles of these things, Kirk tries to call for a beam-out, but there is a dampening field that is blocking all communicators and phasers. Spock helpfully points out that these monsters are merely plants, too. Which turns into an immediate self-own as they capture him and carry him off.

Which the Phylosians are super enthusiastic about, because that was their plan all along, as they are following the orders of their "Master."

Just as Kirk begins to physically assault one of them (not an exaggeration), their Master reveals himself:

He is Dr. Stavos Keniclius 5 (the one who supposedly looks like 1973 Walter Koenig). He is 30 ft tall, and he tells Kirk he isn't getting Spock back, but he'll let Kirk use his communicator but only so he and the rest of the crew can leave for good.

As confused as the rest of us, Kirk decides a tactical retreat isn't a bad idea and they go back to the Enterprise.

Once there, Kirk immediately begins plotting Spock's rescue. Uhura finds a record of Dr. Stavos Keniclius, who was actually one of Khan's fellow ubermensch warlords from the Eugenics Wars. He was a genius geneticist who specialized in cloning, and unlike the rest of them that got imprisoned on the Botany Bay, this guy disappeared from history.

Kirk, who mispronounces his name as 'Keniculous' the entire time, concludes that this giant No. 5 guy must be the 5th generation of a clone body the guy grew for himself, and that he's no doubt planning to do weird clone stuff with Spock. But how are they going to free him from the plant monsters, when they can't use any of their technology down on the planet? Well, no worries, Bones suddenly codeswitches into his Confederate accent and remembers how his "great-great-granddaddy" was a gardener who had some secret family recipe for super weedkiller.

So the Space doctor went from immediate xenophobic hostility, to reverting to a thick Southern accent and gleefully plotting sentient plant-men murder with poisoned gas.

I think Walter Koenig gets this show in a way the rest of us never will.

Also, don't worry, Kirk also gets to finish beating up one of these artichoke nerds:

That guy fearfully explains what happened here, how Dr. Keniclius fled to their planet, accidentally murdered nearly all of them with his Earth-viruses, but then managed to find a cure. So he is their Master now, and they have to help him clone a giant body for Spock, so he can put Spock's brain into it, like he did for himself. Because Giant Spock will be Keniclius's new giant enforcer, who will help him conquer the galaxy and force everyone to live in peace!

...Look. He has one power, and it's making giant clones of people and then transferring their brains into the giant clones. He'll no doubt work out how the hell he's going to use that to defeat the Romulan, Klingon and Starfleet armadas, once he gets a giant Spock. One thing at a time, here.

"Yeah but why would a giant Spock with Spock's brain help this giant idiot do his evil plan?"

Dr. Keniclius probably should have worked that out before he did this. Because the giant Spock does NOT help him, especially after the brain-transfer when Giant Spock sees his own little original body dying from not having a brain.

(Also this is now the second of three times in Spock's life that his brain has been removed from his body. Space is a goddamn weird place.)

Before his orginal body dies, Giant Spock puts his brain back into Regular Spock's body with a mind-meld:

Also, when he does this, Giant Spock also just...has Spock's brain, too? Still? So I guess all this did was clone Spock's brain, but back into his own original body. Because this ends with Dr. Keniclius getting sad that his stupid nonsense plan failed, and Regular Spock and Giant Spock agreeing that Keniclius and Giant Spock should stay on Phylos and work together to rebuild the Phylosian civilization.

Kirk says fine, I guess because this 5th giant clone of Keniclius isn't technically responsible for all the war-crimes original Keniclius did 200 years earlier. Plus, how the hell would they even fit a 30 ft tall half-naked Walter Koenig onto the Enterprise, let alone keep him in custody?

Thankfully Keniclius agrees to all this.

Then Kirk asks Sulu to show him a judo throw that Sulu used when they were mixing it up with the Phylosians, and this fucking happens:

If you know, you know. Because Walter Koenig certainly did. I am unwilling to accept any other explanation for why the hell this episode would still end like this after 12 drafts.

Obviously I have spent this whole post making fun of how goofy this whole mess is. And it certainly is. But it is still very good. Everyone on the bridge crew (besides perpetually-irrelevant Arex) gets good, thoughtful character beats. Sulu especially is as loose and fun as he was on TOS in the best stories from that series, and I think it's obvious that Koenig identifies most with that character if Chekov isn't there. Bones is very nearly a parody of himself, but I'm not going to complain, because he's still an effective officer and it's funny. Even Scotty and Uhura get their moments to shine (if only because someone has to do all the stuff Spock usually does when he hasn't been kidnapped by plant monsters).

There is even some good technobabble in this episode, and the Phylosians end up coming off as sympathetic, given their circumstances.

It's a goofy show, but a REASONABLY goofy one. It's fun, and just avoids getting too outlandish.

...Besides maybe the thing where there is now an eternal giant Spock running around a sentient plant planet.

But this same universe had an evil Riker clone for years, and an entire clone of the Voyager made out of sentient mud. Lose the attitude.

[gatormeister]

Space, the Final Frontier

Ignore the Space Marines and unfinished Rising Freedom in the background, both of those are my brother's.

Here is the 1/2500 Scale USS Enterprise D from Star Trek the Next Generation by Round 2 previously known as AMT.

The box claims that this a no glue, no paint build thanks to this model from the 80s having been modified to be snap fit, printed in a color fitting its base layer, and including an impressive amount of water slide decals. However, it will not be color accurate if you do not paint it, as the nacelles, deflector dish, phaser strips, and a few smaller details will be left in the base plastic color.

Not wanting to invest in a lot of paints yet, I tried to get by using Gundam Markers, mostly the Gundam Seed set and one of the metallic colors as well. Don't do that. It does work, but trying to clean them up or be precise is a hassle. I ended up getting some dollar store brushes and painters tape to compensate, and that helped, but it was still kind of a pain. Everything I read told me that doing something like this with them would be, but I did it anyway just to see for myself.

I also used Mr. Hobby Water Based Matte Top Coat and Tamiya Mark Fit Decal Solution to help apply the water slides and top it all off as well. More details and some process and pre-top coat photos under the cut.

As for the model itself, its gates are huge, you are not going anywhere near this thing with a single blade nipper, and I ended up damaging part of the saucer trying to get the gates off. I should have just got them as close as I could with nippers then sanded the heck outta them.

Also, I assume because this was originally from the 80s that was originally meant to just be painted, the raised details on the model, and the water slides don't actually line up very well a lot of the time. It's not super noticeable except on the bottom of the engineering section where it's just impossible to get the two phaser strips to line up even remotely close to both.

[marblesmind]

[SPOILERS FOR PHASER ARC GO RUSH SEASON 2]

I know he’s a minor character and stranger stuff has happened in both Sevens and Go Rush but like imagine being Schrödinger or whatever the cat guys sub name was. You are a child around say 13-14, absolutely obsessed with cats and you wear a fursuit head of one at all times, in addition you’ve got some pretty neat hacking skills as a result of being hired by a super tech savvy guy two years ago to beat up some of your fellow 11 year olds. (You didn’t do a very good job at that but its besides the point)

Then one day while you are just sitting in the park and three talking cats (one if which is wearing glasses) come up to you and ask you to hack into the government database so they can check the status of some company that you’ve never even heard the name of. The reason they need this information is because one of these cats is a boy your age who went missing two years ago because he SHOT HIMSELF INTO SPACE in an attempt to save rush duels. He says that all three of them are time travelers and they need to check if he has irreversibly fucked up the timeline forever and also pretty pretty please don’t tell his best friends about this🙏.

So obviously you do as they ask because this is really what your whole life has been leading up to hasn’t it?

[fuzzkaizer]

Super Sweep - Phase Shifter

"4-stage JFET based with three 1458 opamps. Phase 90-esque but with a super strange switching strategy. SPST switch that basically grounds the effect for bypass."

cred: facebook.com/Peter Maffly-Kipp, Alan Levitt

[itsscromp]

Reader and Rocket running away from the nova corps cause Rocket stole something and Reader ends up getting hurt.

Job gone haywire

Ahh some early-day stuff, I really like it anon. Poor guy, he would feel so guilty getting you hurt and would do anything to help you feel better :D. Word count:891

You and Rocket have been partners in crime for about 7 months now, Rags to riches, you two used your brains together to be able to pull off some amazing heists together. Today was no exception. You've heard that there was an ancient artifact being transported to the collector as you spoke, If it wasn't in his hands it would be worth 5 million units. Oh now this was something you needed to tell Rocket, Immediately running to him.

"Rocket, you are gonna love what I'm about to hear" You smirked.

"Lay it on me pal, what ya got ??" He turned his attention to you.

"So an artifact is about to be present at the collector's emporium, if we can pull it off correctly and quickly, we'll be 5 million units richer," You said eagerly.

His eyes and ears perked up. "5 Million units !!!!"

"Easy 2 and a half to each of us"

"Oh, I am down, when is it coming in ??" He was now super eager, you swore you saw his tail swish in excitement.

"If from what I heard, Later tonight it'll arrive"

"Ok, I think I have an idea"

You both agreed when the artifact arrived late into the night, you'd hack the cameras to make a repeat loop and then Rocket could sneak in and disable any other security measures. Easily pulling it off and sneaking in.

"Ok, so we need to be on the lookout for something that looks like this" You pulled out a drawing of the description of what it could look like.

"Gotcha, now come on, 5 million units await." He then began to look around the place as did you. Up and down, Left and right. You two worked tirelessly to find this flarking artifact.

"How ya looking y/n ??" Rocket spoke up after a little bit.

"Nothing on my side, Yours ??"

"No, goddamn why did they make it so flarking hard to find."

'Wait, hang on I think I got something" You then found a box and began to slowly open it, Rocket right onto it, climbed onto your back gently and looked over your shoulder to see it. Sure enough, this was the artifact.

"Wow... so shiny" He awed at it, making you chuckle.

"5 million unit's is ours" You smirked and raised his fist for a fist bump, which he gladly returned.

But the celebrations were short-lived as the alarms blared, You found that the box had its own tripwire if anyone were to lift the lid, the alarms would be set off.

"Scut, let's bolt it !!!" Rocket shouted and started running, you hot on his tail.

The two were quickly surrounded by Nova Corps officers, You then found a way out and began to bolt for it. "This way !!" You urged rocket.

But then you felt a sharp graze on your thigh as an officer shot your leg with his phaser, Rocket saw the injury and grew scared and angry, pulling out his own weapon and shooting back at the officers.

"Rocket no !!!"

"Go, Get outta here, I'll take care of them !!" He yelled.

You mustered through the pain and began to escape back to the ship, Rocket then threw a tazer bomb at them, which sent a huge electric shock wave throughout the building. He then caught up with you at the ship and immediately high-tailed it away from the planet. Once he was sure they were safe, he ran to your side, seeing you patch up your injury.

"Y/n... I'm so sorry, I did this... this is my fault" His ears drooped deeply.

You've never seen him so worried, so caring. You've always seen Rocket as this cocky lone wolf. But this was completely different.

"Rocket... it's not your fault"

He shook his head, he wasn't taking that for an answer. This was his fault, he wanted to make it right for you.

So later on, while you were changing the bandages, he brought in some coffee and food he coul make from whatever you two had left.

"Here... Your favourite" He gently rubbed his arm gently, looking down in guilt.

"Buddy, I'm not mad at you" You said softly. making him look up at you, ears still drooped.

"None of this was your fault, Absolutely none of it. This job comes with many risks, this is just one of them, ok ??"

He looked back down and gently nodded, without thinking, he jumped on the chair and hugged you tightly. You both were taken aback by what was happening, nevertheless, you gave the hug back. Rocket had a softer side to what you know.

"Hey, besides, How will I share the 5 million units with you ??" Letting go of the hug, smirking as you pulled out the artifact.

His eyes and ears perked up once again, a smile returning to him. "WOOHOO !!!!" He ran around the place, you two were rich !!!

"Oh, what should we do first ??" You offered.

"Drinks and lots of them, I know a really good bar, I'll punch in the coordinates." He ran off to the cockpit.

You smiled seeing him so happy, you would always help him, save him and protect him. No matter what.

Taglist: @callofdudes @fun-k-board

[episodicnostalgia]

Star Trek: The Next Generation, 124 (May 9, 1988) - “Conspiracy”

Teleplay by: Tracy Tormé Story by: Robert Sabaroff Directed by: Cliff Bole

The Breakdown

The Enterprise is en route to Pacifica for… it doesn’t matter, because Picard gets a top secret late-night-call from his old buddy Captain Walker Keel, of the starship Horatio.  Keel implores Picard to cancel his appointment with Pacifica, because he has some piping hot tea (earl grey, presumably) that he can only spill in person, but it’s gotta be now …and also, don’t tell anyone why. Since Picard probably hasn’t had anyone to gossip with since his hairline met his forehead, he orders the Enterprise to “fuck our meeting with Pacifica, and take me to a nearby abandoned mining outpost instead,” much to the crew’s bemusement.

Upon arriving to their new destination, the crew find three other ships have also arrived, with three designated representatives already waiting on the mining-planet’s surface, so Picard beams down before Riker can admonish him about breaching protocol. On the surface Picard is greeted by Keel and the other two ship’s Captains, who are all pointing phasers at his head, and asking him a bunch of MFA questions (which Picard obviously crushes; the dude is nothing if not savvy). Since Picard has proven he’s not an imposter, Keel proceeds to explain that he suspects a vast Conspiracy within Starfleet, that may have permeated even the highest levels of command. Apparently Starfleet has been restructured in vaguely suspicious ways, and also Keel’s first officer and doctor have been acting super-sus. Picard remains unconvinced, but agrees to keep his eyes peeled, and leaves their clandestine rendezvous so he can get back to following orders like an upstanding person.

Of course, wouldn’t you know it, just as we’re getting back on track to the Pacifica story we all came here for, an even more interesting tragedy strikes; The Horatio has been destroyed, claiming the lives of Keel and his entire crew! That alone is enough for Picard to suspect that something is amiss, but when Data pours through all of the Starfleet command files at super-android-speed and finds that things do indeed appear quite suspicious, that clinches it. After bringing his key staff up-to-speed, Picard resolves to bail on Pacifica altogether [sorry Pacifica, sucks to suck. Maybe try being part of the main plot next time], and return to starfleet command to get to the bottom of things once and for all!

Upon arriving to earth, Picard is greeted by three Admirals we’ve never met before, which historically means they can’t be trusted. Fortunately however, Admiral Quinn is amongst them (along with his snivelling-sycophant-commander Remmick, leering in the background) who, you may recall, came to Picard several episodes ago, warning of a conspiracy against Starfleet. Picard explains to the admirals that he has something urgent to tell them, and they seem pretty happy to hear him out.  In fact, they even suggest that Picard and Riker both come down away from prying eyes, for a private little dinner where they can discuss it, and nothing bad will happen. First though, Quinn wants to come up and take a quick look at the Enterprise (because who wouldn’t), and Picard reasons that the Admiral probably wants to warn them about something.

But he would be wrong.

It turns out all three of the Admirals, including Quinn (and also that fucking weasel, Remmick), are possessed by alien-bug-creatures that burrow into the back of your neck at the base of the skull.  Thankfully Picard clues in that something is wrong when Quinn back peddles hard about his previous Conspiracy woes. Since the dinner is obviously a Trap, Picard orders Riker to hang back for a bit and keep an eye on Quinn, while he heads down and hopes for the best.

Up on the Enterprise, Riker starts asking too many questions, until Quinn is forced to admit that he’s here for nefarious possession-related purposes (he brought a possession-bug onto the ship, with Dr. Crusher being the intended target in this case).  But since the jig is up, Bug-Quinn starts beating the shit out of Riker, because being possessed gives the hosts super powerful bodies. 

Geordie and Worf show up to find the Admiral hunched over Riker’s unconscious body, and do their best to help, but they also prove to be no match for Quinn’s super-bug-strength.  Thankfully Dr. Crusher has more common sense than the chief of security and pretty handily knocks Quinn flat on his ass with a phaser (seriously Worf, way to drop the ball). With Quinn secured in sick bay, Crusher is able to determine what the heck is going on, and bring Picard up to speed. Suddenly Riker makes a miraculous recovery, and sneaks up behind Crusher, implying that he got body-snatched after Quinn shit-kicked him.

Meanwhile Picard is down on the planet surface, and the Admirals pretty much confirm that they have indeed been taking over key members of Starfleet, with the intention being to use humans as slave hosts. Right around then Riker shows up claiming to, in fact, be possessed with the bug that was intended for Crusher.  But it all ends up being a ploy (yep, that whole moment in sickbay was all just a classic red-herring), and once everyone’s guard is down he starts blasting the shit out of everyone in the room. The ensuing fire fight ends with Picard and Riker following a bug into a command station where Bug-Remmick is ostensibly plotting something evil. The possessed commander espouses some obligatory villain-monologue nonsense, but Picard figures enough is enough, so he and Riker straight up phaser Remmick’s head until it explodes. But it’s not over yet, because a giant queen-bug-worm-thing emerges from Remmick’s oozing chest cavity, and you can bet this thing isn’t going down easil- oh… never mind. Yeah, so Picard just vaporizes that too.

With the mother-bug reduced to space-ash, all of the possessed peoples are released, and the reset button has formally been activated.  Data does make one salient point, and informs Picard that prior to his death, Remmick had been sending a message into the far reaches of uncharted space.  The contents of the message are unclear, since the bug-dialect is unknown, but Data hazards a guess that the message may have been a homing beacon to earth…

Anyways it’s probably nothing! The end.

The Verdict.

If you had shown me this episode when I was eight years old, I would have probably identified it as a perfect hour of television.  A physically imposing enemy, who can’t be easily detected, and who could be your most trusted friend? Check. Creature FX, hand to hand combat, phaser fights, and corridor chase scenes? Check, check, check, and motherfucking check!  It’s actually kinda fun/interesting to see a number of preliminary concepts being experimented with, that would eventually be reworked and repurposed in other (arguably stronger) stories later down the line [more on that below].

Overall I’d say there’s more good than bad here, even though quite a few moments end up being unintentionally comical by current pop-culture standards, that’s also part of the charm.  An episode like this is a perfect example of classic pulp-camp television that has always been part of Star Trek’s DNA, and you have to go in with that attitude to enjoy it.  The clunky fight scenes barely hide the obvious stunt-doubles, the stop-motion creature effects are obviously inhibited by some clear budgetary & technological restraints, and the resolution is a bit overly convenient for how dire the circumstances were supposedly meant to be. As much as those things could be considered limitations, I almost appreciate the show even more for being so unapologetically sincere, even when it doesn’t perfectly stick the landing.

Overall, I think the creature work is actually quite impressive, and the practical special-effects used for Remmick’s gaping chest cavity/mother-bug are largely effective.  The other limitations might stop me from hailing this episode as a masterpiece, but they all work to the effect of telling an entertaining, if technically-over-ambitious story.  Even where our heroes make questionable choices, I can forgive on the grounds that the villains do the same; at least there’s an internal logic (or hilarious lack thereof) that remains consistent across the board.

Although, as much fun as ‘Conspiracy’ was, it didn’t have a lot to say.  Apparently at one point, there was an earlier draft of the script that was intended as a real-world allegory to the Iran-Contra affair, with the episode centering around an ordinary coup (sans body-snatch gimmicks), but was kiboshed for being too depressing/controversial. I imagine that iteration of the story might have still likely failed to hit the mark on any meaningful commentary, mainly because Star Trek historically has (especially during this still-early stage in the franchise) a very politically-liberal-colonial bias; ie, lots of good intentions, but with clear blind spots when it comes to addressing the root corruption that our core institutions are built upon, amongst other issues.  All the same, I kind of wish that earlier draft had been allowed to pass, even if it was a disaster, if only to see what it was that TPTB found so distasteful (it’s not like the season 1 scripts were batting 1000 anyways).

Overall, a harmlessly fun hour of camp TV, and a welcome change of pace after the last episode.

3 stars (out of 5)

Parting Thoughts

Silly things that I find interesting: I’d honestly never heard of this episode prior to watching it, but I wasn’t as avid a fan of TNG growing up (DS9 & Voyager for me, baby), so I was left to consider the possibility that I’d somehow missed out on even hearing about a major Space-bug-bodysnatchers story arc. Because, I gotta say you guys, that is one pretty ominous cliffhanger. So yeah, I obviously felt compelled to look ahead for answers, like the slutty little gossip that I am. [My “research” primarily entailed reading subreddits and fan sites. Which means, y’know… grain of salt, subject to error, and all that.] Supposedly, the bugs were meant to return as a recurring ‘Big Bad’ for the show, but the creature effects were too costly to produce on a regular basis. Although, it seems that the borg were possibly utilized as a more cost-effective alternative to achieving a similar hive-mind-themed existential threat.  Likewise, I’ve heard it suggested that some parts of the Changeling arc in DS9 may have been inspired by this episode, but who knows. All the same, one wonders how this story might have otherwise played out if given the chance, although it may be just as well that it didn’t; I think I still prefer the borg.

Remmick’s death is pretty violent for syndicated television. I suspect that level of gore probably wouldn’t make it past most network censors today. I realize that streaming has largely circumvented those kinds of restrictions now, but exploding brain matter still isn’t exactly a common occurrence, even on the newer (and notably more graphic) Trek shows.

So, are the events of this episode a matter of public record? Just before the climax, the bug-admirals indicate that they’re not far off from achieving total control of Starfleet, implying there were many other infected officers (which would support Keel’s suspicions). Is the invasion-attempt something that’s common knowledge across Starfleet (not to mention the general public), or was this all kept hidden somehow? A conspiracy this large could reasonably be expected to set off virtually every alarm across the entire Alpha Quadrant, rousing most governing bodies/empires to a vigilant search for a compact enemy that can turn almost any humanoid into an insurgent super-soldier. I dunno man, I don’t think I’d just let this one go, personally.

[myfairkatiecat]

TMBS x KOTLC ability headcanons

(Aka the AU that ABSOLUTELY NOBODY WOULD CARE ABOUT EXCEPT ME. But here)

FTMBS characters as elves:

Reynie: Empath all the way. And he does little things whenever he gets a read on someone’s emotions. If they’re feeling sad, he does something small to brighten their day. If they’re feeling anxious, he helps them calm down. If they’re feeling super happy, he hypes them up. If they’re feeling lonely, he makes a point to show how much he cares all day. 🥺

Kate: Phaser or Conjurer. Either one makes sense for her, though walking through walls just feels SO on brand for her. On the other hand, making a bunch of objects appear out of thin air is ALSO on brand for her since she relies on so many little things. Perhaps she could be both—I think it’s mentioned that a some people do get two abilities (not counting polyglots) even though it’s rare (and Sophie foster doesn’t count). So either she’s able to break down and walk through solid surfaces or the void is her red bucket. You decide.

Sticky: He DOES have two abilities because one of them is definitely polyglot. He’s a polyglot he can speak ALL the languages and you can’t convince me otherwise. As for his second ability, I believe he is an enhancer (actually I also think Reynie could be an enhancer, but I’m pretty stretched to the idea of him as an empath). He also still has his photographic memory and love for knowledge so he knows almost everything, but he also loves the way he can hold a friend’s hand and make their ability multiply in power. It’s like… a physical sign of how supportive he is of all his friends and how much he wants to help.

Constance: I mean if I didn’t make her a telepath I’d be stupid. Of course she’s a telepath. But since she’s Constance and she gets a special power in a world where no one has special powers, im actually gonna give her TWO special powers. Either she’s one on those rare cases I mentioned, or she’s like Sophie Foster (which is totally possible. She has no clue where she came from or who her parents are in the showverse, and she her memories are spotty……./genetic engineering and memory tampering? 👀) but I digress. She’s a pyrokinetic. She is ABSOLUTELY a pyrokinetic. She’s a telepath and a pyrokinetic and we love her.

I’d love to hear the thoughts of my TMBS mutuals who aren’t kotlc fans as well <3

[lonesomedreamer]

SNW Liveblog: S3 Teaser Trailer

because @thekenobee enjoys when I suffer (source)

“We want to give audiences a reflection of their own world through the lens of fantasy.” I’m not going to split hairs here—there’s a lot of overlap between fantasy and SF (it’s even grouped together as one all-encompassing mega-genre at my library, at least…which I hate), and Trek has always had generous helpings of the former. But shouldn’t it be science fiction (and morality play) FIRST, fantasy second?

The SNW people can’t trick me into believing they care about TOS with filters, campy costumes, and TOS music when every single writing choice they’ve ever made indicates otherwise.

Um, I guess he looks a little more like TOS!Kirk now, so kudos…??

This looks like a joke. Why do they want to make their own franchise an actual joke? I mean, this looks cheesier than the SNL TOS set.

There’s something incredibly telling about TOS trying to look like the future, influenced of course by the culture of its own time—it’s called retrofuturism—and SNW, made almost 60 years later and which has always been slick and modern as possible, suddenly trying to look retro for no reason (and badly at that).

Why the FUCK is there a holodeck on my twenty-third century Enterprise?!?!

Really wish I wasn’t so weak for them! Watch this scene be in Episode 1, and then they break up while I put on (more) clown make up. Also: they let Spock have some chest hair! Yay!

Also, hold up: RING. GIRL HAS A RING.

I already dislike most of TNG’s holodeck episodes. Now we have the SNW crew playing live-action Clue? Jesus tapdancing Christ, y’all.

Why is he even HERE?

Pike is not beating the alcoholic allegations.

“You know, Mr. Scott, we make a pretty good team.” This line is so blatantly fanservice-y that I want to die. And again…WHY IS UNDERSTUDY DISCOUNT BARGAIN BIN KIRK EVEN HERE?!??!!

It’s interesting (not in a good way) that there’s roughly as much of Kirk in this teaser as there is of either of Spock or of Pike. Ya know, the nominal captain/hero of this show. Remember him? There’s also more of Ortegas than of Uhura or of La’an, the vastly superior characters. Choices were made.

Almost everything—apart from the last twenty seconds, which feature a bunch of phasers, photon torpedoes, and a Gorn—that they’ve offered up from Season 3 so far is off-the-charts silly, goofy even. That seems disingenuous, even mean, since Season 2 ended on a dramatic cliffhanger with life-and-death stakes…over two years ago! Way to thumb their noses at their audience. (And yes, cliffhanger or not, we all know that the Enterprise and all the main characters will be fine. That’s not the point for me. Read the room! For heaven’s sake, they kept Leonard Nimoy’s name out of the opening credits of Search for Spock even though I’m pretty sure every person who went to see that movie knew, in their soul, that Spock would be returning. Pretend to give a shit! Pretend to have integrity!!!)

Also interesting that there is nothing from last year’s awful “First Look” in here.* Granted, it’s only sixty seconds long, but they chose to include plenty of other silliness!

The stakes feel super low, and that’s disappointing. I’m not saying I want more grimdark content like last season (I absolutely don’t—you can go back and read what I have to say about those episodes if you want), but how about episodes that don’t revolve around gags like “let’s put wired telephones on the Enterprise” or (apparently) “let’s dress up like 1970s caricatures to play a murder mystery game on the holodeck” or “let’s make fun of our own source material for no reason”? How about pieces of social commentary that feel earnest and sincere? God knows our society needs that. This is the time for earnestness, sincerity, and for critiquing cruelty. Star Trek has never just been mindless fun. For every “The Trouble With Tribbles,” there are three episodes like “City on the Edge of Forever”! And even then, they were working with 24-episode seasons, not 10.

Besides, once they go heavy and grimdark like they did with alarming frequency in Season 2—once they establish a monstrous supervillain species like they’ve twisted the Gorn into—how can they proceed to spend most of their time on pure silliness? It boggles the mind.

I can’t really say much more, because there is VERY little of substance to unpack here.

My predictions:

They’ll under-utulize Number One, as usual.

They’ll pretend M’Benga didn’t kill a diplomat in cold blood, or hand-wave it in some fashion.

Ortegas will continue to be annoying af even though the writers seem to think she’s cool.

Everyone will make fun of/belittle Spock, given the opportunity. (This is cheating. We already know they do from the first look material.)

Scotty’s character will be ruined and made unrecognizable apart from his accent.

And Pike will continue to be everyone’s indecisive, functioning-alcoholic Space Dad.

Oh, and despite (or maybe because of) what’s shown in this teaser, they’ll come up with some lame-ass, paper-thin reason to break Spock and Christine up, again.

Anyway, you can bet that I’ll be suffering through every minute of this season for the sole reason of seeing Spock and Christine enjoy some much-deserved intimacy, even if it’s only a couple of scenes. I’ve come this far for them, haven’t I?

I previously did a Season 3 First Look Liveblog here.

[rna-world]

Your iterator "voice" clips are cool as fuckkkk would you ever consider taking commissions for them or doing a tutorial on how you make them? You have the sound of them totally nailed

PROOOOBABLY I can do a tutorial but I'm pretty averse to commissions since all my art is self-fufilling

The process is super easy, really, so long as you have a decent audio editing software and fl studio

I still have 2 more clips I want to make before I probably never touch it again for 7 months and I'll do a recording of my process making them

Though if you don't want to wait here are the steps I usually take for making iterator voices - Take a compilation of voice clips from whatever source you want - Reverse + speed up the audio slightly - Adjust pitch to whatever feels right - Add reverb/phaser/whatever you effects you think fit the iterator in question - Splice the audio to HELL. Make it cut out occasionally or lag and repeat

Usually it looks something like this when I'm done: (Quartz, NPM, and Sulfur respectively)

For a bonus you can reverse and pitch edit your results and see if you can still hear the original audio