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“Chris only turned to Catholicism when he was feeling particularly despondent.” -Me

It’s not often that a fic writer gets to see something they’ve been writing about for more than a year get brought to life on-screen, but Strange New Worlds did that for me with an absolutely brilliant scene showcasing Pike’s rocky relationship with his father and his struggle with religion. Seriously, after 40 minutes of extremely low-stakes action and what-the-actual-fuckery, Anson Mount delivered 60 seconds of pure characterization and it was a fucking dream come true.

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Best scene in the episode. Change my mind.

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Look at her! LOOK. AT. HER! And she’s not even done yet?

Flops onto the couch and sobs.

Update on the Katrina Cornwell WIP portrait. Damn... I had to leave her for a year and came back. That's how she looked before.

It's for @cornwells-couch

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I’ve always had a bit of a different take on Equinox, and tumblr keeps showing me this post so I guess that’s a sign to contribute to the discussion. I’m not well versed enough in readings of Equinox over the years to know if this is anything new, but I also don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone share a similar reading, so here’s mine.

Yes, Equinox is about the depths to which humans will sink when they are desperate. What will they do to protect and care for those they are responsible for? How much will they sacrifice? And what do they become once they’ve made that sacrifice? And yes, it’s also about the two captains and what happens when one lets go of their principles and when one clings to them too hard. But I want to point to one of Janeway’s lines, the one where she says that Ransom is “…torturing and murdering innocent lifeforms just to get home a little quicker,” because this is the entire episode for me.

What Ransom did, he did for convenience. He tortured and killed and used sentient beings for convenience. Yes, his crew was starving, their ship was falling apart, but they could have made the choice to settle somewhere or to have gone back to the Ankari and asked them to translate. They could have chosen to suffer and ultimately put their principles before the mission (to get home and explore along the way). But instead, they continued to use the device to trap the aliens. And yes, it is easy for me to sit here, living in a comfy first world country, and judge him, but I’ll argue that we are supposed to. (Viewer=Janeway)

We see him first use the body of an alien he accidentally killed—and that’s giving him the benefit of the doubt that he didn’t use the device to call the alien for some nefarious reason. But then his reasons do become nefarious. He calls more beings, consciously lures them into a trap, lets them die horrible deaths, and orders his crew to experiment on them, all so he can use their bodies to get home a little quicker.

Ransom argues that he was justified in what he did to save his crew. Was he? Was Ransom justified in using the body of the first alien? Was he justified in killing more aliens because his crew was starving? What if the aliens weren’t sentient? Would he be justified then? At what point does killing for convenience become justifiable?

What if he wasn’t killing aliens, but killing humans? I think the writers finally draw this parallel when he orders his EMH to experiment on Seven. At this point, Ransom has lost so much of his humanity that this order isn’t hard for him to give; it’s just one more on the list of sins he commits “for his crew.” When Ransom started out, no I don’t think he could have ordered his crew to experiment on another human being. But after killing so many aliens, that’s where he ended up. We see Max, too, willing to let his friend die, because after torturing and killing so many aliens who don’t look like them, humans begin to look like the aliens.

Ransom had choices, like I mentioned, but he chose to use the device to lure the aliens when—if he was justified the first time—he could have just taken the 10k light years and found a world to settle on, or even just continued the journey from there. Yes, it would have been harder, they would have struggled, but instead he chose to violate his principles for the convenience of a faster engine.

And Janeway saw this, and like us, she judged him. And when Ransom clung to his perspective and left Voyager to be destroyed, she became obsessed, nearly sinking to his level in her attempt to prove her own point.

And I’ll shut up now because this is getting really long. I don’t think this episode is perfect, but I love the tough questions it asks and leaves the viewer to wrestle with and ultimately answer for themselves (God I miss when media actually did that!). Is killing for convenience ever justified? What about killing when you’re struggling? Where do we draw the line between struggle and convenience? And ultimately, how much of our humanity are we willing to sacrifice for our convenience?

Anyway, that’s my take. (Hi, I’m cornwell’s-couch, and I just really wanted to join the conversation.)

I want to make it clear that I'm not making judgments in my post. But I wanted to talk about Equinox, not in the moral sense, but in the human and dual sense of the whole situation. Ranson succumbed; he did terrible things. I speak for myself when I say that I understand that people lose their minds and do terrible things out of desperation. But there are things that happen there that make me think of truly evil actions, not just Ransom's, who, in addition to killing those life forms, made the Doctor practically torture Seven. His crew also committed some evil acts, like Max, for example, when B'Elana tells him to stop because he could kill people on Voyager, and he practically says he doesn't care, that she'll die too. And then there's the crew member Janeway almost killed, whose name I forget, who very hypocritically tells Janeway that she's about to commit murder, as if he hadn't already committed several.

I'm not saying Janeway did everything right—she lost her mind, too—but come on… A Federation captain was killing various life forms and putting his entire crew, including Voyager's crew, at risk, in addition to basically kidnapping two of Voyager's crew (the Doctor and Seven) and taking them with him. Ransom also risked a war between these beings and the humans because the beings thought all humans were the same. Janeway was very, very crazy… Yes. But I understand. And it's a good thing Chakotay was there to stop her from doing crazy things (or at least trying), because Tuvok is the kind of friend and officer who would say, "Okay, the Captain is crazy and wants to do very crazy and inappropriate things, it's illogical, and I don't approve… but she's the Captain, let her do it." Seriously, I love Tuvok and Chakotay, and I love how they are her friends and subordinates, but in VERY different ways.

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first rule of being a rare pair shipper is find a freak or three who can be convinced to enjoy the rare pair as much as you do. second rule is feed each other's insanity

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“the possibility of a western”

Screeching halt.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 in SFX Magazine

SFX Issue 393 (July 2025) has an interview with Strange New Worlds showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers about the upcoming new season.

Topics include the season 3 opener and other specific episodes and their genres (some more playful and whimsical, others darker), the newcomer Dr Roger Korby, how the show comes up with concepts and ideas for the episodes, Montgomery Scott becoming a series regular, the possibility of a Western and a straight animated episode like Star Trek: The Animated Series, and more.

The showrunners mention if "someone wants to throw movie money" at them, they're "not going to argue", and that they think such a movie would be a story about Captain Pike. "That's what everyone would want. The fun of doing a TV show is you get to lean into everybody. That's the thing I would miss. I mean, I love movies, but that is the thing I would miss that you get from television."

(Click on the images to enlarge.)

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Oh hey, I… wrote that?

I don’t have much to add except that yes, what Seska did (in Maneuvers and before) was one hundred thousand percent sexual assault (Disco 1:6 anyone?), and I actually really like that the writers went there. Sexual assault against men wasn’t talked about in the 90s (it still isn’t given enough attention, if you ask me) so kudos to the writers for taking on this subject.

And we don’t really see any of the characters dealing with the fallout of their experiences, but if we want to take a look at Chakotay, yes he is a very private man, but also, he didn’t want this child and even if he had, by the time he learns what Seska did, there isn’t much he can do to go after her anyway (what’s the endgame? Kidnap Seska? It was hard enough just getting Chakotay back. Kidnap the baby? Not likely). It’s only after Seska asks for help that he even considers going after his son, and I do love that conversation between Chakotay and his father.

But yeah, I agree: I don’t think he truly saw this child as his until Basics, and though he might have one day regretted having a child somewhere in the galaxy that he didn’t know, I think he recognized the futility of the situation. And I might be in the minority, but I love this storyline because it’s uncomfortable; it asks incredibly tough questions and makes you to think critically about your answers (but I also really like 4:17 for the same reason so y’all can come at me if you want). Could the writers have done more in terms of the plot with this storyline, though? Oh hell yes.

Came across a post mentioning Seska and it made me want to share some thoughts. When I was first watching the early seasons of Voyager, I was very young (11 or 12) and I knew what she was doing to Chakotay was real bad. But as a woman rapidly approaching middle age I've got to address the fact that what Seska did to Chakotay was at the very least sexual assault. He would never have consented to sleeping with her if he'd known who and what she was. And don't get me started on her attempt to impregnate herself with his dna. I don't think I've ever really seen this being discussed by the fandom with any level of seriousness.

It's honestly a really uncomfortable plotline to watch. And we barely see Chakotay deal with it.

I kind of wish it had been discussed in Resolutions, like how he felt about it all, how scared he was this kid could be his. But no, he was building bathtubs and plotting ways to kill the cockblocking monkey rather than thinking about the potentially imminent birth of a child he hadn't consented to fathering.

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Writing is so fucking stupid. I had a scene pop into my head and now I’ve spent the last year and 100k words creating the necessary contextual plot/character depth to earn the emotion in that scene. Ridiculous. Absurd. Why.

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Bring. It. Her. Back.

Kat in her black tanktop

that's it

that's the post

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Welp...

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A few people on the internet know what this plant means to me. If you do, also know that I love you. 🩷

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I feel like the only Strange New Worlds fan on the internet who is not excited for S3, and that makes me sad.

That I’m not excited, not that I’m the only one.

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Anson Mount as Cullen Bohannon ⤷ Hell on Wheels (2011-2016) | S01E04

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for the fic writer ask game: 2, 7, 13, and 20!

Thank you @jet-plane for the ask!

2. if you could sit down and finish any completely new fic without anything stopping you (time, tiredness, etc), what would you write? tell us about it if you want!

Okay so today is my day for overthinking! (What counts as new? Is the idea I jotted down three paragraphs for a year ago now technically a WIP?) But a fic I haven’t put too much thought into yet that I really want to write someday is my SNW-John Doe crossover idea. It’s kind of a reverse Outlander where Pike gets transported back in time. He and Jamie (also played by Jayne Brook for those who don’t know 😉) get together while he helps her solve a homicide, and they help each other realize that they need to start living in the present.

7. is there a fic you wish you received feedback on, but didn't get any/much? this ask game is asking someone else to then give feedback on said fic, pretty pretty please!!!

One fic in particular that comes to mind is Dominus Regit Me, which was my sophomore attempt at writing explicit sex scenes and to date my only multi-chapter fic with no comments. It’s a collection of mini fics surrounding Cornwell/Pike in “Through the Valley of Shadows,” because she should have been in that episode. I still don’t think I’m any good at writing sex scenes, so that makes it easy to think that maybe no comments was the feedback (?), but I’m extremely proud of everything else in that fic, and actually, the non-sex stuff is more of what I wanted to share anyway. *Shrugs.*

13. do you have any writing projects/goals/plans you're working on/want to work on?

I have more projects than I will ever finish! 😂

But honestly my biggest goal this year is to scale back on writing. It is not going very well as I am completely overtaken by a canon divergence au at the moment, but as most of my current projects are longer fics, I am being forced to take my time—which is very healthy for my relationship with my stats page/inbox ☺️

20. answer any one of the other questions that you want to!

Oooo! I’ll answer 6: if you were to write a part two/sequel to a fic, what fic would you want to write it for?

Somewhere, Indiana, a modern-day J/C au, was always supposed to have a second chapter, however that second chapter is explicit and I wrote the fic before I was comfortable writing even M-rated content. As I don’t write a lot of E-rated stuff, and would need a LOT more practice before adding onto that fic, I don’t think I’ll ever write it. But if I had the skills, I’d totally do it.

Thank you so much for asking @jet-plane!

Ask game

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4 and 14 for the fic writer ask game please ❤️

Thank you @curator-on-ao3 for the ask!

4. is there an au or trope that you haven't written before, but would want to try?

Okay, I definitely spent wayyyy too much time overthinking this one (how much time do I have to have spent on an idea before it becomes an actual WIP? Do unpublished WIPs count as having “tried” the thing? How long does the thing have to sit untouched before it becomes abandoned? Am I really never coming back to that WIP? Maybe I should go work on it?). I definitely have a nasty habit of starting things I’ll probably never finish and a few of those are AUs/tropes I’d actually like to publish one day.

I have a harem AU idea I’d like to go back to (I think I freaked myself out by wanting to make it a Cornwell/Una/Pike and got overwhelmed). I also have two crossover time-travel stories I’d like to get down someday, one where Pike and crew get transported back in time to Hell on Wheels, and one that is a fun SNW-John Doe crossover with Christopher Pike/Jamie Avery where he wakes up in 2001 in Jamie’s shower. I’ve even thought about an accidental baby acquisition fic which is something I never thought I’d consider writing. But a trope that I’d like to do someday but have ZERO ideas for—which is probably closer to what this question is actually asking—is a forced marriage fic, but he’s actually a good guy. Who’s getting forced to marry whom? Don’t ask, I have no idea.

14. is there anything outside of your normal content that you want to write?

For some reason I also overthought this question too 🫣 (what counts as normal?) I’ve always wanted to write a fantasy novel but have no plans at the moment. I also then think about how hard it is for me to write a fic that’s even 30k, the current state of the publishing industry, and my insecurities as a writer and experience some major existential dread. But I guess that’s another thing I’d like to do someday: write a novel-length fic (I don’t count Love Lies Bleeding even though that’s 90k since that’s more episodic than a single storyline). I do have a slow burn Cornwell/Pike academy-era WIP that I think will be novel-length…someday, if I can ever finish it.

Thank you for the ask! I enjoyed (over)thinking these! 😂

Ask game

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✶ . ၄၃ . FIC WRITER ASK GAME !

any [insert __] is for the sender to fill in :)

1 ⧽. if you could sit down and finish any one of your wips without anything stopping you (time, tiredness, etc), which fic would you choose? tell us about it if you want!

2 ⧽. if you could sit down and finish any completely new fic without anything stopping you (time, tiredness, etc), what would you write? tell us about it if you want!

3 ⧽. what's something you like about your writing?

4 ⧽. is there an au or trope that you haven't written before, but would want to try?

5 ⧽. is there a certain kind of fic that feels the most satisfying to finish? any reason why?

6 ⧽. if you were to write a part two/sequel to a fic, what fic would you want to write it for?

7 ⧽. is there a fic you wish you received feedback on, but didn't get any/much? this ask game is asking someone else to then give feedback on said fic, pretty pretty please!!!

8 ⧽. what part of [insert fic] is your favorite?

9 ⧽. tell us about a wip/idea that you're excited about!

10 ⧽. what genre is generally the easiest or most enjoyable for you to write? which is the hardest?

11 ⧽. if you were to rewrite [insert fic] with [insert different character/ship] how do you think it might change?

12 ⧽. what's a song or two you associate with [insert fic]?

13 ⧽. do you have any writing projects/goals/plans you're working on/want to work on?

14 ⧽. is there anything outside of your normal content that you want to write?

15 ⧽. if you wrote a fic called [insert title] with [insert character/ship] what do you think it might be about?

16 ⧽. if you wrote a fic called [insert title] what character/ship would you want to write it for?

17 ⧽. are there any songs you want to write a songfic for?

18 ⧽. how do you want your writing to feel to your readers?

19 ⧽. give a hint/teaser about something you're writing without any context or explanation! tease us haha

20 ⧽. answer any one of the other questions that you want to!

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sorry but someone assuming you have "left a fandom" when you don't post about it a lot anymore feels like bilbo coming home to the sackville bagginses having him presumed dead and selling all his stuff. girl i was just on a little quest????