#I have NOT watched MUCH TNG so this may not be entirely in character for Worf and if that's the case I'm soooorrry

[bumblingbabooshka]

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

[lady-sci-fi]

Hi hey hi so

I just finished your Electric Organisms fic series on ao3 and i just wanted to express some sentiments towards your work "^^

1. The fics are so damn good aaa it infected my brain so much i would regularly tell my best friend all about it even though she doesnt watch star trek

2. The fact you dug up unused scenes and scripts and wrote them into fics is so damn cool!! Also may i ask where you found those?

3. Your character writing is so well done, i was so disappointed they didnt explore Geordis personality more in the show. I love that you went into his family background and mental health properly also I honestly love that he just gets to be happy a lot of the time, the show constantly made him suffer for some reason

4. The drawings are such a nice addition to the fics and theyre sooo well drawn <3

5. The way u handled the Fajo&Borg queen assualt implications was so well written. Im still angry the movies and show basically dropped the whole thing and never went into what it would do to datas mental state

6. The romance was so well written i cant- i dont usually read romance but maaan was i invested in this one <333

I swear you basically rewrote the entire series while fixing all the shitty parts and making the good parts *sparkly*

Also just the raw amount of stuff you wrote is crazy impressive!!!!

Unrelated your blog is really cool ive been following for a couple of months or so and it delights me whenever you show up on my dash.

Anyways you're a great writer and artist and i hope my ramble could express that your work is very very appreciated :)

Thanks so much for telling me all this! It does indeed make me feel warm and fuzzy. 🥰

The full series link if anyone else is interested.

While I have written the start and end points for the series, there are still more ideas I'm going to write for it, so stay tuned.

1- That's a huge compliment.

2- It's great to find those little nuggets that were cut out from final script to aired episode for whatever reason. You can read them at Star Trek Minutiae.

3- I like to think I've watched too much TNG to get them too wrong in character 😜. I would've definitely appreciated more Geordi episodes.

4- Thank you. In addition to a fic list, I also have an art list, and DaForge is taking up most of it 😅

5- I'm glad you think so. I don't really blame the show for that, since mostly "one-and-done" episode stuff was the overall structure of shows in that time. A few character things get mentioned or used later, but not everything.

6- The boys deserve a well-written romance 😊It's great to know you think I'm achieving that.

Believe me, I'm also surprised how much I've written for this series since I started it in June 2022. I didn't expect a one-shot fic that came from Brent Spiner saying he much rather would've found Geordi instead of Spot in the Enterprise-D wreck to have led to all this.

It's nice to know you think I'm cool enough to follow on here 😜

Thank you again for saying all this. I'm glad you really like this series.

[azazelsazaleas]

I finished watching through DS9 a few weeks ago and I’ve been meaning to do a rundown of my thoughts on it. Here goes:

- Oh my god that was fantastic. I really wish it’s given it a fair shake back when it was on the air; I was a dumb teenager who resented it for not being TNG and was going through a weird self-loathing phase where I didn’t want to admit to myself that I was the massive nerd that I am. This seriously lived up to the hype. I may have to do a TNG rewatch because this might just have upstaged it as my favorite 90s Trek.

- Andrew Robinson should’ve been made a full cast member. Ditto Max Grodenchik and Aaron Eisenberg.

- Damar’s transmission at the end of The Changing Face of Evil lives rent-free in my head. I cheered out loud at that.

- One thing the show did fantastically that a lot of other SF/fantasy properties don’t quite get right is that it lands a pitch-perfect balance of “these characters are major, important figures in the larger multinational conflict” and “this conflict is absolutely massive and not everything revolves around the same small group of people.” The fact that Sisko, Worf, Kira, Odo, et al are so important is entirely plausible and it never feels like the writers are trying to gratuitously bring everything back to them.

- That said, I kind of love that Admiral Ross’s leadership approach during the Dominion War eventually consists of doing whatever the hell Sisko tells him to do.

- God, the acting was incredible. Andrew Robinson, Armin Shimerman, Nana Visitor, Marc Alaimo, and Louise Fletcher were real standouts, but everyone was just so damned good.

- Actually, I really need to give special mention to Shimerman. The man went above and beyond to make Quark be something more than a joke character, despite how obvious it was that basically the entire production team wanted him to just be cartoonish comic relief. He worked harder to flesh out his character and show his race as a race of *people* (not just caricatures) than just about any actor playing an alien on Star Trek before him except for maybe Nimoy. Give the man a goddamn Emmy. Don’t believe me? Go rewatch the iconic root beer scene from The Way of the Warrior.

That said: I do have a few criticisms:

- Pretty much all of the (canon) romantic subplots were just…yikes. The only major exception I can think of Sisko/Yates, where they actually seemed to have a healthy dynamic, fall legitimately in love with each other, and generally treat each other like adults in a serious relationship, not bickering teenagers.

- Seriously, Worf/Jadzia got so hard to watch and then the fallout with Ezri was just ugggghhhhhhhhh stop please for the love of god

- Why did the writers need to try to romantically pair off all the female characters? Just, why?

- Kira had more sexual tension with that Romulan lady in half an episode than she did with any of her bucket-of-paint boyfriends over the course of seven years.

- I totally get the behind-the-seasons reasons why things panned out the way they did, but (hot take) I think Dax’s whole arc would’ve worked better if they had killed Jadzia off after the first season or two and brought in Ezri earlier. Jadzia was fun, but she was just too perfect to get many interesting stories and her relationship with Worf felt too much like manufactured drama. Having a trill who didn’t want to be joined, agreed to in a life or death emergency situation, and now has to reckon not only with taking on this symbiotic relationship with no preparation whatsoever but also succeeding this beloved person in the eyes of her loved ones is such a better setup for a character and it’s a pity we didn’t get to see that play out properly.

- Sisko deserved a better conclusion to his story. Give the man his damned house on Bajor and let him raise his kid with Kasidy. He’s more than earned it.

- Next time I rewatch the series, I’m skipping the mirror universe episodes and the ones with the genetically enhanced walking-90s-neurodivergent-stereotypes.

Other random thoughts:

- Dukat’s storyline should’ve ended with him getting killed at the end of Waltz. Either by Sisko, or by deluding himself so thoroughly that he does something suicidal. The pah-wraiths subplot felt like a lazy afterthought (except for the episode where he pretends to be Bajoran and starts fucking Kai Winn) and as much as I liked watching Marc Alaimo act, his story arc was basically over at the end of Sacrifice of Angels….which, incidentally is when Damar actually starts to get interesting.

- I loved the O’Brien must suffer episodes but I thought Hard Time was kind of overrated. Mostly for the plot line with the cellmate; I think I’m a little burned out on seeing stories that have a moral of “deep inside us is a line between humanity and savagery and when pushed to the limit, even the best of us would turn to murder.” It’s been done to death, and it’s really not truthful, at least for many people.

- I think I may have a little bit of a crush on Major Kira. It would never work out if I met someone like that in real life, though. I’m a laid-back, atheist, creative type; she’s a deeply devout former insurgent. Given certain real-life crushes I’ve had recently; maybe I’m just into strong women with big, expressive eyes who wear their hearts on their sleeve and have a spine made of fuckin’ steel. I have no idea what this says about me.

- MORN

- Favorite Episodes: In the Pale Moonlight, The Visitor, Improbable Cause/The Die is Cast, In Purgatory’s Shadow/By Inferno’s Light, In the Cards, Duet, The Wire, Civil Defense, The Magnificent Ferengi, basically the entire Dominion War arc.

[the-heartstring-chronicles]

For @para-amour and any others looking for P/C fic recs

These are some of my fave fics and authors so far:

Spontaneity by theramblinrose, I love babyfic and this story Spontaneity has one of the most loving and in character birth scenes of a P/C child where they are both present that I've seen to date in fic. You can find it linked below.

Spontaneity by theramblinrose

Then there is Cave Baby by Mighty_Oak_Roots. Basically Beverly watching "her friend and captain" Jean Luc handling an infant in an emergency situation and enjoying both his discomfort and his caring nature towards the baby in equal measure, with some longing for what could be and a cute last scene that definitely is romantic and potential family P/C. It can be accessed at the link below.

Cave Baby by Mighty_Oak_Roots

Now for two novel length fics

I loved Snow Falling Softly by Mackillian. I read it last year and was invested from the start. Without giving too much away, if one likes the plot we have this season with Jack, this is similar but on an extra intense level in terms of emotion, complexity and dynamics. It's set during TNG and It also allows Wesley to react to the storyline and process his own emotions about not being an only child and the circumstances! Highly recommend. It is however over 500 or so pages when downloaded as an epub, so even online, it is an all weekend read, at least. Link is below.

Snow Falling Softly by Mackillian

I had barely started In The Depth of Winter by Mackillian last year when I got pulled away by stuff in another fandom. It is the sequel to Snow Falling Softly. It redoes All Good Things in a way that centers the fallout from Snow Falling Softly. It seems just as good so I am looking forward to finishing it. It is 700 pages in epub though so it may need two full weekends to read. Link can be found below

The Depth of Winter by Mackillian

I am also including this single chapter vignette In Paradisum by Mackillian because it is the sequel to The Depth of Winter. I have not read it yet but skimmed the first few lines and the writing seems on par with the two novels. You need to read them to understand this piece. Link to In Paradisum ready below

In Paradisum by Mackillian

Now for authors from whom I recommend reading everything they've written for the pairing:

I am absolutely loving everything I've read so far written for P/C by pktechgirlus. The style is spot on and very emotional while also at times being humorous and steamy. My favorite so far from this author is the story "Never And Always" but all I've read so far are incredible. Some are semi explicit, some are not (Warning, not all end happily) Here is the link to the author's TNG fics,

pktechgirlus's TNG Fics for P/C

There is also one for them from the Picard era which I love too, you can find that below

Vignette by pktechgirlus

And finally, the author I feel has the most solid, in character grasp on P/C in totality. @ussjellyfish. I adore reading their work because they understand the multi facets and deep humanity that is at the core of P/C. They can both perfectly write P/C playing on the holodeck, or saving each other from certain death even by committing violence in defense of the other or breaking laws/oaths. They keep P/C's love paramount, but also allow for mistakes to be made by each and vulnerability to be shown. Even the way they write physical intimacy between P/C feels like P/C and not "insert couple here" and I usually skip sex scenes now because I've been in so many fandoms that reading those scenes are a dime a dozen , but not those written by USSJellyfish, they actually make me care about seeing these characters enjoy each other.

They have both long novel length fics for P/C that are part of a series. and shorter one shot pieces.

The novel series starts with the fic Fair Trade and is several novel length fics long. I haven't finished the entire series yet but I am enthralled by what I have finished of it.

And some of my favorite shorter fics of theirs for P/C are Kindling and Lifeline, both are hurt/comfort fics of a sort. Kindling is explicit.

As I said though, I recommend reading all of their fics for P/C so I am putting a link that leads to all of their P/C fic below.

USSJellyfish's P/C Fics

(They also write Beverly/Kathryn fic, Beverly/Deanna fic, Riker/ Beverly fic, and other pairings on TNG, Fic for several parings on Discovery, and for several on Voyager including Chakotay/Paris and J/C. so much to read!)

Happy reading everyone, I hope this list was helpful!

[sshbpodcast]

Top 3 Star Trek Deep Space Nine villains

By Ames

We’re still enjoying our stay on Deep Space Nine after a great week of chilling with our favorite DS9 minor and one-off characters last week. This week, there’s a tussle at Quark’s as we’re about to go toe-to-toe with the best villains, antagonists, or general scallywags of the station-bound series. We did it before with our favorite baddies from TOS and from TNG, so who are the biggest bads this time around?

There’s a lot of competition for this one, but some of the picks are obvious because Deep Space Nine just put so much time and effort into making its characters believable, motivated, and always incredibly well developed. So see if your favorite villains match those of hosts of A Star to Steer Her By as you read on below and listen to our banter on this week’s podcast (discussion starts at 1:11:11) which features some bonus, podcast-exclusive picks from guest star James Rossi. Scroll on, my child.

[images © CBS/Paramount] 

Chris – Bring out the big guns

Kai Winn

Dukat

Garak

Chris is highlighting the heaviest hitters of all of Deep Space Nine, and for good reason! We get the most of these frequently recurring guest stars, and every time we see them, they are consistently compelling and compellingly consistent. From the deliciously acerbic religious leader who serves only herself, to the utterly deluded leader in the Cardassian ranks who is convinced he’s always in the right, to the simple tailor who is capable of some really, really diabolical stuff, these three are examples of how to write naughty characters well.

—

Caitlin – Scum of the earth… er, space

Kai Winn

Keevan

Gowron

On Caitlin’s list, we’re going to get some characters who just leave a nasty taste in your mouth, but you’ll keep coming back for seconds. These three are just slimy individuals who commit some really atrocious things and all get exactly what’s coming to them. We see the kai who takes out her irritation that the prophets don’t talk to her on an entire people, the Vorta middle manager who gleefully lets all of his troops get slaughtered as long as they saved him first, and the megalomaniacal Klingon Chancellor who started rewriting history in his favor.

—

Jake – Same face, different day

Intendant Kira

Gaia Odo

Admiral Leyton

Jake went with some characters we see a little less, though we see some of their faces pretty much every week. Let’s start off with the mirror universe equivalent of Major Kira, who may not be the best villain, per se, but she is the most entertaining to watch. We also see a slightly different take on Odo from an alternate timeline, with a slightly more believable face and much more capacity for freakin’ genocide. Finally, a familiar face from Jake’s Top Ten Worst Admirals blogpost who seems to love declaring martial law… when he’s not a Changeling, that is.

—

Ames – Be you friends or foes?

Dukat

Kilana

Third Remata’Klan

On my list are three villains whose side you can almost convince yourself to take, if it weren’t for all the constant murdering. My love for everyone’s favorite swaggering lizard man is well documented, but it’s so easy to be taken in by all that charisma, confidence, and neck. I have to share a little love for a Vorta who just seems so reasonable while she’s negotiating with you… until you realize she’s absolutely not to be trusted. And finally, my favorite Jem’Hadar who, in a different reality, we could have called friend, played by Phil Morris to boot!

— We’re putting our bat’leths and cloaked mines away for now and calling it a truce over a nice bottle of kanar. Make sure to come back here next time for one more visit to the promenade when we wrap up our spotlight series on Deep Space Nine. You should also keep following along with the last few lightyears of our journey through Voyager on SoundCloud or wherever you get your podcasts, consider us allies over on Facebook and Twitter, and stop summoning Pah-wraiths already!

[thegeminisage]

it's tng update time.

we did. and you know this. because i made. i counted. 18 posts about it. "half a life." and of course: "the host" (honorific).

half a life: part of what makes the ep after this so wonderful is that THIS episode was so genuinely upsetting. it was a huge bummer. it was awful. the only fucking episode lwaxana troi has been in that cathy actually watched and she had a valid character arc. i was furious. and then we got into it and i was like. oh.

first of all, kudos to charles winchester from mash for being here. cathy caught a 4077 ref that i missed bc i wasnt paying attention. i cant believe he was gay when he did this

secondly. the fucking. ethical implications of. people who are infirm should be dead for their children's sake and for their own sake. like it's better to be dead than in a nursing home. when you're 60 time's up. parents care for their children so children should care for their parents. your aging parents are mortal and they'll die one day. your daughter wants you to kill yourself. you want to die and can't wait to kill yourself. you don't want to live and then you do want to live but you still have to kill yourself. you're 60. you're 60. YOUR DAUGHTER WANTS YOU TO KILL YOURSELF. when she is 60 your daughter WILL ALSO KILL HERSELF.

i think the most fucked up part of this was that lwaxana ruined him. she meant well, and for once i saw her point and her arguments as totally valid (i usually think she's horrible), it was like maybe the only semi-selfless thing she's ever done aside from the ferengi business we will not be discussing. but she ruined him. when he was fine with dying and he had to die, fine and whatever. when he wanted to live?? no longer fine. if he lives his people will hate him forever. his daughter will regret him living because he can't be laid to rest in the family plot. because he can't die with his friends and family surrounding him. but he's 60. people live to be well over a hundred in the star trek universe, other aliens live even longer. he's SIXTY. he's healthy. he has work to do. a planet to save. and he's gonna die knowing his work meant nothing and his planet might die and his grandson may have nowhere to grow up. live or die, he will be miserable either way, just because he was introduced to a different way of life. it's SO fucked up

i think i had more to say about this after it ended but i have clean forgotten all of it. like it's been blasted out of my memory which is probably for the best. the short version is, i am living at home taking care of my mother who turned 58 three days ago. i didn't need any of that.

but then.

But Then.

the host: what can i possibly. i mean. the sheer. the fucking

like the fucking MOOD WHIPLASH alone

i had heard of this episode years ago. so i knew beverly's bf was a parasite and he eventually jumped into a woman and i was made to believe she was super homophobic about it. i was prepared to look completely past all of this and enjoy not-quite-gay SUBTEXT. i was NOT prepared for ANY of the rest of it

to get this out of the way: as i said, though i miss wesley very much (ask catherine i say so like every episode) it's so fortunate that he was not here. i think bev finally hit menopause because her horny levels were CRITICALLY off the charts and this whole debacle would have been so awkward for him. i'm glad he sent her a letter god bless i'm so glad he's fine wherever he is

the BABY BUMP THIS GUY HAD. this i was not expecting. i didn't know we were doing pregnant men in this episode. i figured the entire episode would be about beverly being like "this is weird cuz idw fuck you now that you're a woman" i had no idea his ass would jump into RIKER

riker did amazing bg work in this ep too before he got to star. he gave beverly and her bf some KNOWING looks. at one point the following exchange was uttered: "HE knows they're fucking." "yeah he wishes it was him." apollo and the dodgeball.....

the fact that after that i literally did have the thought "yeah except he'd never fuck beverly. she's one of the few people who are off limits." lisa simpson dot jpg

and then riker's pregnancy, what can one say. beverly put a little worm in his body. i'm only sad we didn't get to see the baby bump because that would have been extremely funny

i spent the whole ep thinking no way can beverly fuck riker. they have to work together. she has to look him in the eye after this. AND THEN THEY DID.

like it's so insane. it's not even that i dislike the concept because the fallout could lead to some extremely meaty interpersonal drama except for the fact that star trek generally isn't about interpersonal drama and we didn't see riker again after he got possessed. we didn't get one word from him. the silence seems so calculated so as to avoid having to write his reaction. BUT I WANTED HIS REACTION. will he not tell us how it feels to be possessed and pregnant and FUCKING BEVERLY CRUSHER? genuinely this is the first time i've been tempted to look up tng fic. someone tell me there is fic

also, like, he only had 18 hours until he got a new body. she could have waited to fuck the new guy if she felt weird about it being riker. SHE didn't know the knew guy was gonna be a woman. like it had to be menopause

the fact that deanna condoned this, even suggested it, is INSANE. not only because she didn't consider riker's ability, or lack of ability, to consent, but because THAT'S HER BOYFRIEND. quasi-boyfriend. sometimes exes sometimes fwb. like it's NUTS.

their discussion was so wild too. like "what do i miss...his hands, his mouth...no, there was more than that" girl they were 5 more minutes away from discovering the split attraction model. actually i don't even normally like the split attraction model but this episode made me like it a little more. growth <3

actually on that subject quasi-exes are weirdly chill with each other on this show. picard and beverly are kinda dating and kinda not, the same way deanna and riker kind of are and kind of aren't. and picard is like...beverly whatever else i am to you i'm also your friend and i know this fucking sucks. do you want a hug. like that is SO chill and cool of him. and ik they probably do this bc they don't want to have to maintain character development but it winds up accidentally feeling really refreshing

anyway: The Woman

i can't believe that beverly can fuck riker, her "sort of "brother," but not this hot blonde lady. and i know it's because they can't be gay but ACTUALLY

i was SHOCKED that gender didn't come into it at all. like yes it was the elephant in the room but nowhere in beverly's dialogue did she say she couldn't do this because odan was a woman now. copypasting:

"Perhaps it is a human failing, but we are not accustomed to these kinds of changes. I can't keep up. How long will you have this host? What would the next one be? I can't live with that kind of uncertainty. Perhaps, someday, our ability to love won't be so limited."

NONE OF THAT MENTIONS GENDER. none!!! the only part that could be interpreted as a gender thing was when beverly said bring HIM in, and was smiling bc she was about to meet the new version of her bf, only for her smile to drop when she encountered a woman. you could sort of read it as "a woman will be even weirder than riker and i just don't have it in me to go through that acclimation process again" BUT LIKE. like she's CHOOSING not to. not that she couldn't eventually adjust. to a woman. beverly just found out she's bisexual fr

like the wrist kiss was SO SENSUAL. LIKE WHAT THE FUCK. i can't believe they let two women do that on tv in 1991. holy shit. AND!!! they said i love you to each other. i did quite literally stand up out of my seat. it feels very progressive considering when it was written

and like it's a shame this was in the same episode where riker gets knocked up bc that distracted from the entire gay thing. i WISH the whole episode had been odan in a woman's body and riker had had his own episode to do all of that in later. like it would've been incredible. sexuality is fluid <3

anyway. wow. next time: "the mind's eye" and "in theory," two episodes i already feel sorry for because they will Never live up to all of that.

[dragonnan]

list 8 tv shows for your followers to get to know you ★ i was tagged by @disappearinginq

Psych - My first true obsession since the X-Files went off the air in 2001. My biggest obsessions of the past were all WELL before streaming was a thing which meant you HAD to be in front of the TV when it aired or you simply missed out. For example, I missed the final episode of the OG MacGyver. I didn't get to see it until I bought the complete DVD box set decades later. (special mention of Monk which led me to Psych back in the great days of USA Network)

Sherlock - I was late to the party and didn't start watching until after the last season ended. This is, since 2017, my biggest current obsession. I have a strong attachment to detective shows and can't believe how long it took to finally watch. I love, in particular, the portrayal of the characters by Benedict, Martin, Amanda, Mark, Louise, Rupert, and Una (rip).

Fullmetal Alchemist (OG and Brotherhood) - Same, @disappearinginq! My love for this world never ends! Like you there are things I love about both versions. The way Brotherhood developed characters and the wider world (plus the ending) are so so good!! Meanwhile the first series handled certain emotional episodes SO much better!!! I'm sure you know WHICH one in particular. This was also one of the only times I took part in a writing group to help develop the multi-arc vision of a writer who goes by Heathenesque. I didn't write much as most has been created by her but it was so much fun! It still exists on LJ, as well as Mediaminer and The Pit (FFN).

Cowboy Bebop - The first anime anything I ever saw. My brother-in-law had it on VHS back in the day and was watching it at our house. I took an interest and was immediately hooked. I have lost track how many times I've rewatched episodes and there's a reason its considered one of the best anime series created.

Good Omens - WE NEED SEASON 3!!! Entirely quirky and initially feels like just comedy. But my GOSH there is so much depth under the humor and it poses very solid questions about faith and religion as well as friendship, love, what being human means, etc. And that was just the first season. I'm still not emotionally recovered from season 2.

Star Trek - Again, like @disappearinginq I love this show - TOS, TNG, DS9, and Voyager. I even had them on VHS back when cassettes were sexy lol. Star Trek was one of my earliest fandoms and I had such a crush on Spock.

Doctor Who - Thank goodness for streaming cause I watch this on repeat aaaaaall the tiiiime!! I consider it a comfort show and I don't get tired of it no matter how often I rewatch. It may be packed with, often, silly effects (particularly early on) and deeply questionable science. But I also haven't cried harder from the most wrenching scenes and emotion it triggers.

My Foundation - I'm dedicating this last one to the shows that built the tastes I'd have as an adult: MacGyver, Simon & Simon, Hart to Hart, Remington Steele, Scarecrow & Mrs. King, The A-Team, Magnum PI, Airwolf, Blue Thunder, Beauty & the Beast, The Fall Guy, Knight Rider, Moonlighting, as well as Saturday morning cartoons, The Electric Company, and Sesame Street.

Tagging: @sgam76 @theleftpill @mrs-n-uzumaki @mamahanu @villaniouslyawesome @ceruleanmindpalace @copperplatebeech @ariaadagio @aelaer

[imaginethat0327]

Get to know us!

Hey everybody!  IJustLiveHere and I decided it might be kinda nice to share some info about us, so we can all be a little more personal with each other. We each made a little list of stuff we thought might be kinda fun to share :D 

ImagineThat 🦜: 

21 years old, pronouns she/her

Lives in the USA

Loves to sing, and enjoys pretty much all genres of music (from the Oh Hellos to the All-American Rejects, from cinematic instrumental to rap :D)

I’m an ENFJ and an Enneagram 9. My top love languages are Quality Time and Words of Affirmation.

Likes: Chocolate, coffee, sunshine, animals (especially cats and birds!), talking with people, having long, complex conversations, encouraging others, drawing (mostly digital art), all types of food (Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Greek, Halal, Indian, American, Mexican…. It goes on and on), Christmas (THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR), sharing my interests with other people, and watching movies (All the movies, all the movie quotes, lets goooo.) 

Dislikes: Sweet potatoes, most types of squash, mushrooms, disrespect towards others (HUGE pet peeve, especially when it’s directed towards parents or elders), bugs (unless in a documentary), rudeness, hypocrites, cold temperatures, unnecessary/over-the-top gore or crass language (unless I’m writing Bakugo or a character for which swearing is normal for them), horror films (they give me nightmares. I like a good psychological thriller, though) being ignored or otherwise deemed unimportant *sad face*, upsetting others. 

Fav Fandoms: My Hero Academia, Sherlock, Doctor Who, Stranger Things, How to Train Your Dragon (films), Lord of the Rings (films and books), Owl House, Avatar the Last Airbender, Star Trek TNG and DS9, Disney (especially pixar, but like the older movies cause the most recent ones are sorta meh), Marvel (not as much any more, gotta admit, although Guardians of the Galaxy 3 SLAPPED) and Hermitcraft 

Other fun stuff: I have a fairly big family, two dogs, and I’ve moved seven times in my life. I’ve traveled to nearly every US state and several other countries. I know how to passibly juggle, was once on a swim team (my record for breath holding about 4-5 years ago was 2 minutes!), and I rode horses for a while. My personal mission statement for life is to fight cynicism and negative views, always try to be open-minded and wise, and to always keep improving myself. 

IJustLiveHere 🍓:

20, she/they

Based in the USA 

I’m a theater person, and love both acting and working behind the scenes. (Like ImagineThat, I also appreciate all music genres)

INFP and Enneagram type 2. My top love languages are Physical Touch and Quality Time, although I appreciate all of them in my own way

Likes: Video games, dnd (playing and streams), sweet things, watermelon (my favorite fruit -despite what my sona may tell you- and I can eat entire melons in one sitting), snow, pretty much all animals, baking, platonic displays of affection, getting clear directions about something, talking about things I love, and listening to people rant about things they’re passionate about

Dislikes: Horror films (I’m really squeamish unless it’s animated or drawn, and spook super easily), pork and things that sneak food dye into it (allergic and makes me sick), the sun (also makes me sick), hot temperatures (haha makes me sick too), making on the spot decisions, and watching things that give me second-hand embarrassment

Fav Fandoms - Anime/Manga: One Piece, My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, Haikyuu, Dr. Stone, Fire Force, Hunter X Hunter, Chainsaw Man, Dorohedoro, Assasination Classroom, Mob Psycho 100, Hell’s Paradise, Kaiju no.8… (a whole lot more but the list would be waaaayyy too long if I added them all. Name it and I most likely will be into it)

Fav Fandoms - Cartoons/Shows: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (but I like the other iterations too), Lego Monkie Kid, Avatar the last Airbender, OG Teen Titans, Marvel (more of a casual fan), Dimension 20 (most definitely not a casual fan… it’s a problem), Critical Role, and Firefly 

Other Fun Stuff: Ok some fun facts about me. [1] I tend to get injured in weird ways. For instance: I once cut myself on the round orange part of a pumpkin, and I've accidentally cut myself on a box cutter… by falling onto it face first. (She also somehow managed to stab herself in the hand with a knife while cutting a bagel, then drop the knife on her foot blade-first -ImagineThat). [2] I also rode horses! It was very fun. Unfortunately I had to stop when COVID rolled around 🙁. [3] My favorite number is 13, mostly because I just think it’s neat but also I was 13 years old when I moved out of my home state. [4] I love to bake, but I honestly know nothing about cooking lol. [5] I am a dice gremlin and have more dnd dice sets than any one person probably should, and the same goes for earrings! I love funky dangly earrings and probably have somewhere in the hundreds of pairs. [6] I want to go to Ren Fair or a Cosplay Convention one day but I don’t have the stylish outfits to do so *sigh*. [7] I honestly had never heard of Hermitcraft or Empires until I started beta-ing for Imagine. I’m hooked on those silly little guys now and even though I don’t actually watch the streams Imagine keeps me updated on everything that goes on with them (which I look forward to hearing every time)

[hopecomesbacktolife]

you’ve inspired me to watch star trek BUT i have a big question:

where do i start????

i’ve heard next generation is great but i also wanna know what the deal is with gay kirk and spock so??? what do you think???

first off, thank you! what a compliment, Star Trek really is great! You have so much wonderful stories ahead of you ♡

One of the many wonderful things about it is that you can start almost anywhere and enjoy it. TOS is where it all began (with Kirk and Spock, and yes, so gay) but some people may find it too campy as a place to start. Instead of starting at the beginning of TOS, if spirk is what you’re looking for you can start with Amok Time, which is one of the shippiest episodes for them :D

In between and overlapping with subsequent shows are the TOS movies— a lot of people will tell you that the odd numbered movies are bad and the even numbered movies are good, but I disagree. I truly love all of movies 1-4, and even 5 and 6 have delightful moments although they’re less comforting to me as a whole. The fourth movie, The Voyage Home, is also a wonderful place to start for lighthearted and absolutely lovely shenanigans and time travel and also not-so-subtle calls to action on animal welfare and environmental consciousness! It’s so good. 10/10.

TNG/next gen is a very accessible place to start, that was my first Trek and it’s what got me into the series! If you do start with TNG, rather than starting right at the beginning, I’d recommend starting with Measure Of A Man, Darmok, or one of the Dixon Hill episodes— or any of the episodes with Ro Laren. The Next Phase is really awesome and feels very quintessential Trek.

DS9 and Voyager are each a little special/unique from most of trek, as DS9 is a stationary (most of the time) space station positioned near the planet Bajor, and Voyager is flung into another quadrant of the galaxy and essentially cut off from the rest of Starfleet. For both of them starting at the beginning is pretty essential to understanding what happens as it goes along. They’re both excellent and I love them both for different reasons! With DS9 you get more long, multi-episode story arcs and the luxury of exploring the complexity of a culture ravaged by war over an entire show, allowing them to really dive into the Bajoran culture, it’s awesome. Voyager is some of The Most found family I’ve ever seen, it’s beautifully optimistic and intimately sad all at the same time, with some truly gorgeous and incredible character arcs (although the same could be said of the ds9 characters! Truly so good on both shows)

I still haven’t seen all of Trek myself, so once we get into content made in this century (all of the above was made in the 20th century!) I can’t speak as much to or recommend something specific—with the caveat that I’ve seen the first 9 episodes or so of Prodigy, and really loved it so far, as a spin-off of Voyager.

Also, if you decide you enjoy Star Trek on screen, oh my, I have So Many Star Trek novel suggestions! I have been getting so into the (secondary canon?) books and it is literally so much fun and such a joy, and I’ve found a new favorite author in the process (hi Diane Duane! ♡) there’s so much wonderful storytelling and achingly beautiful content in Trek novels!

If you want more specific episode suggestions from a certain show/era I’m more than happy to help! Thank you so much for this ask, Star Trek is truly such a delight, and I’m always down to chat about it 😊 I hope you enjoy, and Live Long and Prosper 🖖🏻

[transhuman-priestess]

Watching Strange New Worlds, I'm seeing dead people

If I'm honest, I can't stand Strange New Worlds. Spoilers abound in this post, this is your only warning.

Look, I watched the first season. I enjoyed most of it. It's delightful. It has a cast of colorful characters, the old planet-of-the-week plot, and Anson Mount's aw-shucks Captain Pike. I enjoyed it, but something kept nagging at me the entire time.

That nagging kept with me for the first 8 episodes, and I still couldn't figure out what was bothering me and why. Then comes "All Those Who Wander," and suddenly things started to fall into place.

The thing that carried Star Trek for the first 40 years was always characters, because when you have an episodic/monster-of-the-week type show, that's where your main source of continuity is. Watching characters change and grow, but within a predicable envelope such that you can say, regardless of where in the show syndication takes you, "yeah, i can see Riker/Troi/Geordi doing that."

Disco and Picard shifted the focus of the show from character-driven continuity to story-driven, and a lot of people weren't terribly happy with that. I actually liked Disco, though in hindsight it is pretty disappointing.

But getting back to Strange New Worlds, "All Those Who Wander" flopped really, really hard for me. To start, the Alien pastiche was so tonally jarring compared to the previous 8 episodes that it already felt like writing for shock value. So when it gets to the cool blind guy doing his heroic sacrifice, it felt part and parcel of writing for shock value.

Said cool blind guy, Hemmer, has, at this point, gotten I think 4 episodes with an actual role to play. His actor, Bruce Horak, is in the opening credits for the entire show to this point. Hemmer is the chief engineer of the Enterprise! Traditionally, that's a big role on a Star Trek show. Geordi, O'Brien, B'Ellana, Trip, and, of course, Scotty.

Scotty, of course, is the Chief Engineer of the Enterprise in TOS. At this point he's also been very conspicuously absent from Pike's Enterprise, and therein lies the one thing that just absolutely kills Strange New Worlds for me. It's a prequel.

Ever since Discovery came out, I've made do with the reality that Paramount would rather do prequels and interquels and follow-ups than stick a flag in the early 25th or 26th centuries and continue on the way that TNG did with the 24th.

Canon is always going to be a millstone around the neck of a writer. This is true of any work in an established property. The Star Wars prequels were not only bad because George Lucas is a dogshit writer, they were bad because the story they wanted to tell had to fit into the world established by events that take place after them and that were written long before they were.

Back in 1986 when TNG was in the planning stages, Roddenberry was very insistent that no direct references be made to the original series. Eventually the producers persuaded him to have a cameo by Bones. But after that, for years, TNG only made vague reference to the original series. This started to change after Roddenberry's death, eventually bringing in James Doohan and Leonard Nimoy to reprise Scotty and Spock in one-offs.

During TNG and most of the rest of the 90s, when faced with a conflict between canon and doing something interesting which contradicted it, the writers of Star Trek chose the latter, both for better and for worse.

But as the frachise has expanded, aged, and sunk into the groundwater of pop culture, fans who are now second or third generation raised on Trek have become increasingly demanding of writers. Star Trek and universes like it are no longer a basis for telling stories, they are a core component of identity. To call it religious may be slightly facetious but not as much as you might think.

All of which loops me right back around to Scotty's notable absence in Strange New Worlds, Hemmer's death, and the unbearable burden of canon.

There is not a single story that has been told in Strange New Worlds that could not be told in a sequel series set in the 25th or 26th centuries. Pike's struggle with his certain fate does not need Pike to be an interesting story, it could easily be any other Captain, because the interesting part of a story like that is not the end result, it is the journey to that end result. But because canon is law, Pike's fate is assuredly sealed, as the season finale, "A Quality of Mercy," lays bare.

Canon is law, and so when I watch Strange New World, I see, as the line goes, dead people. I see Lieutenant Na'an dead fighting the Gorn. I see Oretegas transfered to the Saratoga or the Faragut or the New Jersey. I see Dr. M'Benga leaving to remain on some distant world to help erradicate a disease that reminds him of his daughter's plight.

I see all of these characters that in the course of 10 episodes I have already come to know and love be swept away in order to make room for more familiar faces. It has been 57 years since Star Trek first aired in syndication on NBC, but as it was written, so it shall be that James Tiberius Kirk will be captain, that Spock will be his first officer, that Leonard "Bones" McCoy will become the Ships Doctor, and that Montgomery Scott will give it all she's got, captain.

I'm probably in the minority here, as Strange New Worlds appears to be by far the most popular of the new Star Trek series, at least the live action ones. But honestly? I'll take Discovery instead, any day of the week.

[calliethetrekkie]

Star Trek TOS S01E18: The Squire of Gothos

Original Thoughts

"Well… that was weird. Why am I still surprised at this? Admittedly the villain is fun to watch cause he’s just being over-dramatic as heck and loving it! But otherwise that’s all I can really say about this one, weird. At least Shore Leave’s weirdness was absurd enough to keep my attention and had some funny bits and lines. This was just weeeeeird."

Rewatch Thoughts

Ho boy, this episode. This was NOT a favorite of mine the first time. I thought it was weird but okay I think the first time? Then after it settled and I kept going on my TOS journey, I remembered disliking it and finding Trelane too annoying to find fun. Given what I wrote in the original watchthrough... that was weird. So three years later, how am I feeling about this one now?

It's not a favorite by any means, but I was WAAAY too harsh on this one. It's fun~

Trelane feels like a prototype for Q, being a God-like reality warper with everyone appearing helpless before his power. Q comes off more as a trickster with a hidden agenda however, he uses his methods either for his own amusement or to teach Picard and crew a lesson. An unconventional lesson, but a lesson nonetheless. Trelane? He is a child playing a game of pretend and views Kirk and company as his toys moreso than even as life-forms. Q may have seen Picard and co. as inferior and didn't hide it, but he at least recognized them as existing beings, unlike Trelane.

The episode feels like a fever dream not gonna lie. I enjoy the Renaissance-like aesthetic, no one can say that Trelane has bad tastes. I also enjoy how Trelane's actor, William Campbell, is clearly having the time of his life being a brat pretending to be a chivalrous Liberace-type character. Aside from him appearing as another character in DS9 (according to Wikipedia) I don't see any other notable credits, but he did this kind of character very well without it coming across as too annoying. His final moment, where Trelane is confronted by his 'parents' and his entire facade drops was especially a really good piece of acting.

One issue I had with the episode is that, for the most part, it feels like we're either standing around Trelane's lair or getting back to the Enterprise, only to get yanked back. The Enterprise crew feel overall powerless in this situation and we're just waiting for Kirk or someone to hurry up and figure out a solution. I feel especially bad for the Yeoman who Trelane puts into a dress and forces her to mingle with him. That woman did NOT deserve that even if it's one of the more tame 'TOS treat women like crap' scenes. At least Uhura got to play the piano.

I guess that's why I've been struggling with this review, what can I say about it? It has some nice little moments like the cold opening and Spock sending McCoy on the Away Team pretty much cause he knows he's gonna force him to let him go one way or the other. Trelane threatens Spock and Kirk's reaction, even as a mostly non-Spirk shipper that moment is hard to ignore. McCoy eating/drinking things he REALLY shouldn't. Seriously, if you think Kirk's the one who eats/touches stuff that may kill him and McCoy has to yank him away from it, you have them mixed up haha. And of course, the ending where Kirk gets hunted by Trelane and then Trelane's 'parents' show up, seriously it is wild.

Otherwise... I have no real strong feelings about this one? It's fun, but other episodes are a lot more fun (Shore Leave, The Trouble With Tribbles). The concept of Trelane and his parents is interesting, but they do this a lot better in TNG with the Q's, which I'm honestly convinced Trelane may be a Q or at least related to them. It has some nice little character bits, but we have equally good bits in other episodes. Even on the weirdness scale this isn't even close to the weirdest TOS gets, how naive I was when I did the first watch and thought this and Shore Leave were the apex of the weird episodes haha.

The episode is just okay. It's not good, it's not bad, it's just okay. It doesn't do anything particularly bad in any category, and it's not rage-inducing or boring. But it doesn't really stand out among other TOS or even ST episodes either with plenty of others doing similar things, but better. We had a similar thing with Charlie X as far as 'being with God-like abilities' goes and not only is Charlie much more sympathetic, but it felt like a lot more was going on and like the crew weren't so helpless to do anything. I don't know why my opinion soured so much as I went through the TOS rewatch, but now? It's okay, I am indifferent to it. I'd watch it again, but it's not gonna be one of my first options, or even one of my middle options. But I guess that's better than it pissing me off, can't say that about some other episodes, that's for sure.

Original Rating: 1/5 Rewatch Rating: 5/10

[My TOS Reviews]

[TOS S1 Reviews]

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[lorenzobane]

Yk I know Quark is a trash capitalist but, at least where I am in my first watch of DS9 (Season 3, episode 3 - House of Quark) he has a LOT of really really interesting character traits and moments. And, in my person theory so far, does a lot to redeem the race that was entirely comic relief and annoyance in TNG. 

Like, he’s pretty much always willing to debase himself for a deal, but he actually does have a really high sense of dignity. When he’s calling Sisko out for disrespecting the Ferengi in S2x26 The Jem’Hadar he points to the ways that Humans don’t treat the Ferengi well but he also comments that despite their cunning, and their tendency towards deceit, the Ferengi are not violent people. They don’t enslave others, they don’t fight interstellar wars, they don’t colonize. They are in fact better or potentially more moral than the other races in this context. The Ferangi may double cross you, but they won’t physically harm you.

And in House of Quark like, yeah he’s really scared about what’s going on but when he demands to see the financial records, his voice is even and serious. He really demonstrates how he is a clever and thoughtful person.  AND he solves the problem by manipulating his understanding of Klingon honor to survive a battle he couldn’t win. In The Maquis he OUT LOGICS a Vulcan by using a Ferengi concept of value to advocate for peace (and sets up a pretty clear reason as to why Ferengi largely don’t get involved in wars, they don’t try to make peace “more expensive” than it needs to be). 

And I think some of this has to do with the fact that Ferangi seem to have a SHOCKINGLY well developed sense of forgiveness, and Quark is no exception. In Move Along Home, he is terrified. He thinks he might have to send his friends to their deaths (once again proving his has no stomach for violence). But as soon as it turns out to be a game? No problem! All is forgiven, let’s see if we can make a deal. In The Grand Nagus Rom tries to KILL him, and he’s forgiven in a heartbeat. I guess that is what allows them to not be violent, they have their very specific codes and you can double cross people within it but that’s the nature of the beast. They don’t hold onto grudges or blame. 

Anyway- Quarkfuckers are right. 

[fictionadventurer]

I have never watched any Star Trek. It's such a cultural icon, I'd love to be a little conversant in it, but every time I think about getting into it, I'm so intimidated because there's soooo much of it! If one wanted to dabble, to take in some of the absolute classics, where would you recommend one start?

To be honest, I'm not much more than a dabbler myself, and my usual approach is to Google "Best Episodes of Star Trek", either as a whole or specifying a particular series I feel like watching. The lists will rarely lead you wrong, and they'll quickly make you conversant with the best-known plot points.

I'd say pick a series that appeals to you, try out the best couple of episodes, and if it appeals to you, dig deeper. Or move on to the next series. The great thing about Star Trek is that it's so episodic that you can pick and choose individual episodes and still generally follow the story.

If you want a little more guidance, here's a basic overview of what to expect from each series.

Star Trek: The original. It's where it all started, but it has a very different vibe from everything that came after, because it's so very, very '60s. Clunky sets, colored lighting, shouty acting. Square-jawed heroes who punch bad guys and fall in love with the girl of the week before delivering an earnest speech. It's very old-school adventure, and that's a big part of its charm. Focuses heavily on the central trio of Kirk, Spock and Bones and their differing personalities approaches to space adventure. Honestly, if you watch "The Trouble with Tribbles" and "City on the Edge of Forever", you will understand at least 60% of the cultural references to this show, but I'll also put in a plug for "Balance of Terror", which is an excellent battle story that introduces the Romulans, who happen to be my favorite Star Trek villains.

The Next Generation: The more cultured, civilized cousin to the original. They're still out exploring strange new worlds, but there's a kinder, gentler vibe to the show. The ship is more plush, the crew generally gets along, and a lot of the episodes are more focused on philosophy than punching. Most of my Star Trek experience is with this series, and there's a common cultural idea that this is "the best one" (at least after Riker grows the beard in Season 2). The one absolute must-watch is "The Best of Both Worlds: Part 1 and 2", because this is a turning point for the entire Trek franchise: establishing one of their best villains, giving a plot twist that resonates through multiples series, and providing a cliffhanger that changed television and Trek forever. But I don't recommend starting there. Watch at least a few other episodes to get to know the characters first. The show's so episodic that it doesn't matter which episodes, but I'll give a few options.

I started with "Elementary, My Dear Data", which gave me an enduring love for Data and holodeck stories, and "The Measure of a Man", which may be peak TNG vibes: Data story, big philosophical question, and iconic Picard speech.

Basically any Data-focused episode is worth watching, because either Data is tearing out your heartstrings or Brent Spiner is chewing the scenery.

If you truly want to understand TNG, you must watch at least one Q episode. "Q Who" is the one episode you should probably watch before "The Best of Both Worlds" because it introduces the Borg.

"Darmok" is a must-watch, especially for someone on tumblr (you'll understand when you see it).

You must watch "I, Borg", because it might be my favorite (but only after you watch "The Best of Both Worlds").

I'll recommend the timey-wimey ones: "Yesterday's Enterprise", "Remember Me", "Future Imperfect" and "Cause and Effect".

"Second Chances" is far, far better than a ridiculous "transporter clone" story has any right to be.

And I'll give a shout-out to "The Defector", because that's one of my favorites--it's so very Shakespearean--but I've never seen on "best-of" lists.

Deep Space Nine: The dark and gritty one. The Wild West town, except it's a space station on the edge of a wormhole. This one has darker, more troubled characters and darker, more troubled storylines, though there are still plenty of light-hearted hours. I've only seen a couple of episodes, so I can't really give recs, but I will caution that this is more serialized than the other shows are, especially in the Dominion War arc in the latter half of the series. This is often hailed as "the best Star Trek" by devoted factions of science fiction fans, even though it subverts Star Trek's usually optimistic worldview.

Voyager: The red-headed stepchild of Trek. This is beloved by girls who grew up watching Captain Janeway, and tolerated at best by everyone else. It's an attempt to return to the episodic exploration of the original series, with mixed success. It has some interesting characters--I find them more interesting in some ways than the more uniformly white and blandly competent TNG crew--who aren't always portrayed or used well. The show's got a rough reputation, but when it's good, it's very, very good. Probably the series where you're best served by picking-and-choosing the good ones. "Year of Hell" is usually held up as "what Voyager should have been", because for once their 70-year journey through uncharted space has them struggling with limited resources far from help. So far, my personal favorite (and Captain Janeway's) is "Counterpoint", which is about Janeway struggling with whether to trust (and fall in love with) a dangerous defector. "Living Witness" and "The Blink of an Eye" are excellent explorations of story and history, and "The Muse" is so cool because it reimagines Voyager as an epic in the style of The Odyssey and Greek plays.

Enterprise: The usually forgotten younger brother of Star Trek. This is set a century or so before the original series, before the Federation really existed and when humans were first exploring deep space in a ship called Enterprise. I haven't seen much of it, but it's kind of fun for a different spin on the Star Trek universe--people who don't know what they're doing, struggling with more limited technology and a more complicated world. I've heard it gets weirdly sensual at times, in a more juvenile way than the other shows. Consensus is that it's an interesting premise that never quite lives up to its potential, until a much-better third season that unfortunately wasn't enough to save it from cancellation.

When it comes to the movies: Common wisdom is that you watch the even-numbered movies and skip the odd-numbered ones (and movies II and IV are by far the ones most referenced by the culture). But Star Trek isn't well-suited for movies, so you don't miss too much by skipping them.

As far as the new shows, you can check them out if you want, but those aren't a part of the culture in the same way as the others, because they're new and because they're on a more specialized streaming service, and most of the shows aren't family-friendly. And they also heavily lean on nostalgia from the previous shows, so it's not a great place to start. I do highly recommend the animated kids show Prodigy, for having ten excellent episodes with good characters (though it does bring a Star Wars vibe to Star Trek). I'm also cautiously enjoying Strange New Worlds for its excellent characters and mostly-clean content, even though so far, its episodes are little more than remixes of stories from the original and TNG with better cinematography.

[calliecat93]

When I started TNG, the biggest curiosity I had was why Dr. Pulaski was so hated. I heard plenty about why, but at the same time I wanted to see for myself and be able to draw my own conclusions. Well now that I’ve finished S2, I think that I can safely state my opinion and the reasons why she had such a bad reception.

My general opinion is… Pulaski’s fine, but she got an bad start. She’s a very competent doctor who is devoted to her duty. She’s a bit of a smartass, but otherwise a friendly enough person. She’s a VERY much based off a certain CMO form a certain other Star Trek show that came out before this one, but we’ll get to that later. Pulaski honestly had a lot working against her and she just wasn’t able to get over them despite her actress Diana Muldaur (who played Miranda Jones in TOS) doing an excelent acting job. It ultimately ended with Pulaski being dropped all together and Crusher returning in Season 3.

While I understand the hate against Pulaski and can’t say that it’s unwarranted to an extent, I think that a lot of it that I saw was overblown. Now if people disliked the character, that’s fine. Everyone has different tastes and reasons for what they like and dislike and should be free to have and express those thoughts. But a lot of the issues with her that I had were taken care of very early on and she became much better by the end of her tenure. So why do I believe that Pulaski ultimately failed? Well I’ve come up with three explanations based off my own observations from watching the show and what I got from fandom consensus. Now this is all my opinion based on those observations and is not objective fact whatsoever, so take this with a grain of salt. So I believe the reasons that Pulaski failed are:

#1. She Is Essentially a Female Dr. McCoy… Sort Of: Pulaski was clearly heavily based on Dr. McCoy from TOS. She’s an middle-aged, somewhat world-weary doctor. She’s stubborn, grumpy, and doesn’t put up with anyone’s crap. She’s witty and always ready with a biting comment. She has the dedication to her job. She has the bantery relationship with the Science Officer, which we’ll go into that here soon. She is a doctor before she is an officer and that will always be her top priority, even at great risk to herself. She has a zero tolerance towards authority and isn’t afraid to talk back to anyone no matter how much they outrank her. She even outright has a hatred of teleporters that McCoy had. The parallels are all there. It may be why I’m a bit more lenient on her since McCoy is very much my favorite character in TOS and so far all of ST. But I think it is very much the root of the problem.

While Pulaski has several of McCoy’s traits, I think the writers really only understood McCoy on a surface level. They forget to include his compassion, his empathy, his humanism, his loyalty to the captain even when he opposes his actions, all of the things that make McCoy… well, McCoy. I don’t even know if the pacifism is there. Also McCoy had over 70 episodes of TOS and at that point five films (Undiscovered Country hadn’t been made yet). Pulaski had about 20 episodes and her relevance depended on the episode. McCoy had that as well, but he also had more material so we had FAR more time to get to know him. Pulaski didn’t get to have the time to gain that depth or care from the audience. Like… can I imagine Pulaski hypoing someone so that she can be tortured in their stead and it have the same impact that The Empath did? Can I see her counseling and assuring Picard if he’s having doubts like McCoy did for Kirk in The Ultimate Computer (okay tbf that would be Troi’s job but still)? Could I imagine any of the main cast being crushed about Pulaski dying of a terminal illness and choosing to stay on essentially a doomed spaceship with someone she just met and feel as gutted as I did in For the World is Hollow…? Honestly… given time maybe but in the end no. Now could I imagine McCoy risking getting an aging illness to possibly cure a child and others of it ala Unnatural Selection? Yes, albiet I think he’d be smart enough to bring protective equipment with him to be safe. Could I imagine McCoy telling someone like Data they’d be wrong to sit by a woman giving birth because he wasn’t human ala The Child? Hell no. Maybe he would if he was worried it would cause potential distress the one giving birth, but it sure as hell wouldn’t be because they’re an android. But I could imagine that someone who just saw McCoy as ‘grumpy doctor with a bad bedside manner who says witty lines and argues with the logical Vulcan character’ would get that interpretation. Thus why I think that Pulaski may have ended up how she did.

Now mind you I do think it IS a double standard to excuse McCoy’s dickish momemts and flaws, but demonize Pulaski for her’s. It’s like saying a man can be that way because it’s just expected of them and they can be forgiven, but a woman doing so or being assertice is wrong and they are horrible and unforgivable for having these traits or having flaws even if they correct them. That being said I do think that it’s more than that and it all comes down to the fact that TOS and TNG are two different shows with different character dynamics and ways of doing things. TOS mainly followed a Triumvirate (for the most part but that’s a different post entirely), TNG is much more of an ensemble. Pulaski didn’t have a Kirk nor a Spock to bounce off of or either let her traits shine or be kept in check like McCoy did nor did she really develop any unique relations for herself aside from maybe with Troi. We hear about her empathy and humanitarianism, but we don’t really see it on-screen like we did with McCoy. She has his surface level traits, not the deeper ones that the Triumvirate dynamic along his doctor position allowed him to showcase. In other words, Pulaski was put in a series that wasn’t designed for her while McCoy was exactly where he needed to be in order to thrive. It really speaks to how much the TNG writers didn’t really seem to get McCoy or why and how his character worked, which is strange since they got him right when he showed up in the series premiere. But maybe that was due to DeForest Kelley and him absolutely knowing the character he’d played for so long. But yeah they tried to replicate McCoy, and it just didn’t work with TNG’s already established character dynamics nor did they fully get the character that they were trying to recreate. If I want McCoy, I’ll go watch TOS or AOS. I didn’t need Pulaski for that.

#2. Data and Misconstrued Character Dynamics; This is in relation to the first reason and REALLY shows how much the writers didn’t think the dynamics through. We all know how much Spock and McCoy bantered. How they are opposite ends of the spectrum and how their perspective points helped Kirk in making his decisions. Well clealry they wanted to re-create that with Pulaski and Data. Makes sense, Pulaski represents the humanism and Data the logical. But there’s one big, BIG problem with that: Data is NOT Spock. A lot fo people have pointed this out, but here’s the thing about Spock. Despite whatever he may have said, Spock DID have emotions. He kept them suppressed due to the issues in his upbringing and that wasn’t necessarily healthy, but he did have them. And despite speaking in a calm manner, he was also an utter sass bucket, could be rude, and had no issue putting down humanity if he had a point to make. He and McCoy were very much equal in their bantering and yes maybe McCoy could go too far with his insults, but there was always an equal balance and Spock was also perfectly capable of starting/escalating their spats. There were also plenty of moments to show that in spite of it, they were still friends and cared a great deal about each other with probably the best examples of this being The Immunity Syndrome, Bread and Circuses, The Empath, and plenty of moments in others like Miri and For the World is Hollow… Those who have been following me know how much I love the Spock/McCoy dynamic and I could go all day, but the point is it’s a complex relationship that may seem like disdain on the outside, but is so much more when you examine it up close.

Data however? Data is intelligent and the Science Officer with a calm demeanor, but that’s about where the similarity between him and Spock ends. Data is an android. I do not believe that he is emotionless, he just has a different wiring that causes him to feel things differently. He’s never shown disdain towards humanity at least from what I’ve observed thus far. If anything, he actively seeks to understand it and emotions more. He actively has hobbies like Sherlock Holmes. He tries things like sneezing and growing a beard in an effort to understand more. Data is more or less a child with a child-like understanding of things and he doesn’t really understand social cues or things like humor, but he DOES have emotions and feelings. There’s too much on-screen evidence to say otherwise. He just has his own way of processing it. This is what makes Pulaski look so bad. When she calls Data a machine, says he can’t understand, and even purposefully mispronounces his name, she comes across as an outright bully. She is essentially bullying a neurodivergent child. Do I need to explain why that’s awful? Data, while by no means a doormat, isn’t the type to sass back or make any biting comments back like Spock would. There is no balance. There is no equal footing. There are not enough positive interactions outside the banter to show that there is something deeper there at the end of the day like Spock and McCoy did. Heck you can even compare how Pulaski and McCoy talk to Data via McCoy’s guest appearance in Encounter at Farpoint. He DOES make a quip about Vulcans when talking to Data and when Data points out he’s an android not a Vulcan, McCoy mumbles “Just as bad.” But immediately after he gives Data genuine heartfelt advice on treating the Enterprise with care. It’s clear that ultimately it’s McCoy being his usual grumpy self who’d be acting the same way towards anyone else and is otherwise perfectly civil and encouraging to Data. We’ve known him long enough to know this. Pulaski didn’t have that luxury, coming off as condescending towards Data at best and considering that she’s a doctor, it looks especially bad.

Now to be fair this only lasts for about four episodes. Pulaski does start catching herself by her second episode, and stops completely after Unnatural Selection when Data helps her and stays with her after she gets the aging virus. After that she’s MUCH moe civil to him, even defending his choice going against the Prime Directive in Pen Pals and was at his retirement party in The Measure of a Man. But clearly the damage had been done. Data is a very beloved character and by Oulaski’s intro had already been established and well-liked character. Data was treated equally and was valued as far more than just an android among the rest of the crew, Crusher included, so Pulaski coming in a season later and acting that way also didn’t help. The writers did not think through why Spock and McCoy worked and how to try figure out a unique dynamic for Pulaski and Data. Instead they just tried to copy TOS, and it utterly failed. It ruined Pulaski’s chances before she could even really start running. But I do believe that she could have rebounded and as I said, she DID get past it. She did relapse some at the end of the season in Peak Performance to the point I wanna say that maybe it chronologically happened earlier in the season, but even then she felt realized her screw up and apologized. It’s still an improvement from early on. But things just weren’t meant to be, which leads is to…

#3. She Only Lasted One Season/She Replaced Dr. Crusher: I believe that the biggest thing that worked against Pulaski is simple: she was cut after Season 2. Pulaski was created when Gates MacFadden left the show. I’ve seen conflicting reasons as to why, but regardless she left and a CMO was needed. IDK how popular Crusher was, but I had really enjoyed her. She was essentially the mom of the ship which added something different from TOS (wel McCoy was also the mom lets be real XD), had a son onboard which also added something new, was very much capable and devoted to her job, and was a badass when she got to use a phaser. Her being written out sucked, but that’s not necessarily a reason to hate Pulaski. But as I highlighted above, she just didn’t work. They tried to make McCoy, but without the dynamics and depth that let McCoy flourish. TNG is not TOS. Whenever TNG tried replicating TOS like with The Naked Now? It blew up in their faces. The key to a spinoff or reboot is to keep certain themes and tone alive, but to not just replicate what came before. TNG flourished when it began to find it’s own footing, and ultimately lasted four seasons longer than it’s predecessor due to it.

I genuinely believe that Pulaski COULD have developed into her own character and could have found her place the same way that McCoy did. But alas that didn’t happen. People wanted Crusher back, so they managed to get MacFadden to return and thus Crusher was put back in her rightful place. Because of it, Pulaski was just forgotten about. She didn’t get the chance to form her own character. She didn’t the chance to develop further and leave her early days behind. Why? Because she simply wasn’t given the opprotunity to do so. I can’t say it was the wrong choice, but it’s an utter shame because I do believe that Pulaski was on her way to improving. But it was too late. Her bad start with Data, her character not working in the TNG dynamic, and her replacing an already perfectly likeable character who did fit the dynamics all amounted to the character’s abrupt end. And because she didn’t get the chance to develop further and find her own path, her bad reputation has stuck to this very day.

In the end, the whole thing just feels like a waste. Pulaski had potential, but it just didn’t work in the end. I can’t say that I hate her. If anything, I feel bad for her. The writers failed her at the end of the day and by the time they tried correcting their errors, the audience had already made their judgement. It may have been for the best to just drop her and bring Crusher back, but I also hate seeing character potential just so utterly wasted. I hope that if any side material used Pulaski, they were able to find a much better direction for her. I can’t say that I love Pulaski. In a more TOS-like setting maybe she’d have worked better. But in the end I think that Pulaski was a decent character who just had too much working against her and they caused her to crash and burn. Just an unfortunate case all in all.

(Image Source)

[phoenixfeathersinfall]

The Dax Debacle: Re-Imagining S7 of “Star Trek Deep Space Nine”

*This post came about after a few discussions with Lee @creativilee on how the stories of Jadzia and Ezri could have been adapted to better serve both of those characters and respect the work of both actresses! Thanks to them for all their help, encouragement, and serving as a springboard! Anything in italics is theirs!

For all of us DS9 fans, the finale season can be rather fraught for several reasons, many of the biggest revolving around the transition from Jadzia Dax to Ezri Dax, henceforth called “The Dax Debacle.” Many folks seem to love one and hate the other, which is a huge shame because both characters brought amazing potential and storylines to the table, but the writers really fumbled in some key aspects. This sure-to-be-long-winded meta is an attempt between myself and Lee to fix some of those fumbles and give both characters the storylines they deserved. So, let’s get to it!

First, a little behind-the scenes context.

Why Two Dax-es?

To begin with, it’s important to acknowledge that the Dax Debacle was largely unplanned, and the writing often reflects the ways in which Nicole de Boer was shoehorned in as Terry Ferrell’s replacement, just as the character of Ezri was deliberately put forward as Jadzia’s replacement as the next host of Dax. What happened?

It is widely believed, based on various interviews Terry gave during the show’s run, that the set of DS9 was inhospitable to her, placing her in situations of harassment and abuse. By the time of S7, due to this as well as the sheer grueling schedule of the show, she wanted to be moved from a permanent member of the cast into a reoccurring role like that of Andrew Robinson. When it proved fruitless to negotiate this, Terry decided to leave the show, though she explicitly stated she had not wanted Jadzia’s character to be killed on her departure.

Though the writers went through with the decision to kill Jadzia, they still wanted the character of Dax to remain on the crew, and due to the way Trill physiology was designed, they decided to do this with another host, similar to how Jadzia was initially seen as the continuation of Sisko’s old friend Curzon.

Enter Nicole de Boer as Ezri Dax, a young unjoined Trill who had never intended to be a host at all, and the story of her adjustment to carrying on the Dax legacy.

The Story’s Seed

It’s definitely worth noting that the initial conception of Ezri’s story, the young suddenly-joined Trill joined under trying circumstances who has to re-discover herself has a lot of potential! It could have been extremely poignant and moving, in something of the same vein as Seven of Nine rediscovering herself on “Voyager.” Unfortunately, the choices made regarding how she became the next Dax make it hard to appreciate Ezri on her own merits. Both we as the audience and the other characters are constantly seeing Jadzia in her place. It stymied who she was able to be as a character and how the audience was able to receive her. The way she was written invites constant comparisons, often to Ezri’s detriment in her initial interactions with the crew.

Lee said some things extremely well here: “Ezri as a character was hindered a lot by being made ‘Jadzia's replacement’ instead of ‘the next Dax,’ a Dax in her own right. While Jadzia definitely had Curzon's legacy to live with, it was absolutely not all she was, and she interacted with it as such, but Ezri wasn’t written with the same care. She isn't ‘Ezri Dax’ she's ‘Ezri, the one who replaced Jadzia.’ She was entirely written as a replacement, and it shows.”

Fumbles, Fumbles, Fumbles

Let’s review some things that went sideways in Ezri’s arc, so we can see it for the purposes of our rewrite.

The “I'm the new host of your dead friends symbiont" aspect is very difficult to watch. It’s hard to say if the writers wanted to lean into this aspect deliberately, but even if they did, I don’t think they ended up hitting the emotional notes they wanted to.

Ezri doesn’t seem to get much training from what we can tell, and being joined is a huge change! We learned from Jadzia’s arc that initiates often train for years. It’s wartime, but she still really did get thrown into the deep end!

The audience can’t approach Ezri on her own merits, but quite often, the crew isn’t doing that, either. There’s the caveat that they’re grieving and it’s an odd situation to be in, but! Sisko initially tries to interact with her in the same way he would Jadzia (calling her old man, which upsets her a great deal,) Julian flirts with her with the same intensity he did Jadzia in early seasons, Worf seems to only be seeing his dead wife any time he looks at her.

Ezri is given a role as ship’s counselor when she is in no way emotionally able to handle the psychological difficulties of others when she’s going through so much herself.

Her return to Deep Space 9 (the station) seems to contradict what we know about Trill culture. Joining is meant to give the symbiont as many life experiences as possible, and re-association (to various degrees) is anything from strongly discouraged to forbidden. Ezri goes right back to living Jadzia’s life in some ways, in the same place with the same people. Jadzia wasn’t able to resume her relationship with Lenara Khan, but Ezri finds herself being intimate with Jadzia’s widower.

Our alternatives and fixes for the arcs of Jadzia and Ezri fall into three broad categories, which we’ll break down here:

1. Ezri Not-Dax? (Ezri is still joined unexpectedly, but rather than the Dax symbiont, she is host to another symbiont which needed her.)

2. Where in the World is Jadzia Dax? (If Ezri isn’t a Dax, we have to figure out what to do with the Dax we know!)

3. The Legacy Question (The age-old Trill questions of new hosts, old hosts, and interpersonal relationships.)

Ezri Who? Ezri Not-Dax!

The best solution Lee and I were able to find was the idea that Ezri was joined under similar circumstances to canon, but not to Dax itself.

This is still largely workable for the story we want to tell, because, as Lee explains: “The Dax symbiont isn't key to her character, except to affect her relationships with the crew. Her main personal conflicts are about being joined before she was ready, not about being joined to Dax. She still would have worked without the Dax symbiont.”

For the sake of convenience, let’s call this hypothetical new symbiont Nal. So, Ezri Tigan —> Ezri Nal.

Where in the World is Jadzia Dax?

Theres 3 different paths we could take with Jadzia!

If Terry was made a reoccurring member of the cast, the writers could easily have put Jadzia into the position of being given a transfer assignment. Though Jadzia might initially struggle to accept this because of her loyalty to her friends, “with things picking up in wartime, it's believable that Starfleet would want the people more familiar with what dangers are on the other side of the wormhole to be spread around and maximize the number of ships and stations that are prepared for it. Maybe Jadzia acts as a representative and goes around giving lectures/debriefings on that stuff. This situation puts us in a position to get frequent updates about Jadzia, even if we don't see her again!"

If Terry did not stay on at all, Jadzia as a character could still have died, but the Dax symbiont finds a new host back on Trill, away from the station. Maybe we get updates about this Dax because Ezri trained with them for a bit, or the new Dax reaches out to Sisko from time to time, since he was well-acquainted with two previous Dax-es.

The option I like best for purely self-indulgent reasons would be if Terry stayed on for one more season and was present on the station when Ezri arrived, serving as a mentor to her.

The Legacy Question

Since the “TNG” days, Star Trek likes to experiment with Trill, and what happens in relationships between joined Trill and non-Trill, particularly in the case of a symbiont with a new host. We might assume this was part of the writer’s intent with the Dax Debacle, but it went over much better in the move from Curzon to Jadzia then it did in the move from Jadzia to Ezri.

Other options for exploring “the legacy question:”

“If they wanted to explore the whole ‘new host when the previous host was close to you’ thing, they could have had an episode that went into detail about Sisko meeting Jadzia for the first time after the death of Curzon.” Or, just having Sisko reflect more on the changes and developments in their relationship as time passes. They did this quite well initially when Jadzia first came aboard, but dropped it soon after the first season for the most part and left it to our amazing fic writers to pick it back up.

The character of Curzon is often used as a vehicle for explaining Jadzia’s connection to Klingon culture, but he also gives us access to a wealth of relationships which could be used to explore the legacy question. “Curzon had so many friends, and we see a variety of reactions from them, particularly with his Klingon friends. Some of them immediately fall back into that friendship, some of them struggle to recognize that Jadzia may not be Curzon, but she is still Dax, and has a lot of Curzon in her.” Keeping that thread going would have been intriguing also.

The Life of Ezri Nal

Here’s how some elements of Ezri’s story might look with the “Nal” symbiont.

Ezri is joined rather unprepared when a medical emergency puts the life of a symbiont at risk and the host is unable to be saved. For convenience, let’s call this symbiont Nal.

Ezri was always interested in Starfleet Service, especially in working as a counselor (which she studied on her own rather than gaining the knowledge through the memories of past hosts.) She assigned to the station by the Trill Symbiosis Commission largely because there are people there who will know how to help a newly-joined Trill; namely Sisko, Julian, and Jadzia.

Jadzia+ Ezri

Being the only other Trill on the station that we know about, Jadzia puts herself in a mentor role to Ezri, helping her adjust to her new life and consciousness. Her personality and experiences make her perfect for the job!

As a bonus, we get to see how the mentor and mentee relarionships between joined Trill and initiates work.

We also set up some fun parallels! Take Jadzia, who had to try so hard to be joined, and it was a huge goal in her life (to the point where she applied again to the Symbiosis Comission after being rejected once, which is played as something that basically never happens,) versus Ezri who was perfectly happy to be just herself and ended up taking on this responsibility without being ready and without feeling like she had much choice because of how Trill culture regards symbionts.

From the little we know about Jadzia before she was joined, she was somewhat like Ezri-bookish, shy, anxious-and she initially struggled to adjust to the likes of Curzon. But now, she’s gown so confident in who she is, for the most part, and she’d be the perfect person to guide Ezri and help her find joy in her new life.

But, she also understands having difficulties with aspects of being joined, for example, her conflict in whether she should rejoin with Lenara Khan, or how she struggled in the aftermath of the discovery of the cover-up regarding Joran.

In short, Jadzia helps keep Ezri as mentally and emotionally healthy as she can be.

Julian+Ezri

Being CMO, Julian helps look after Ezri and ensure she’s physically well; after all, it’s what he does best! “Having Julian as the Chief Medical Officer on board would be a big draw for the Trill. He's even performed a symbiont joining and removal procedure. He had to be very familiar with Trill biology, meaning a newly joined host would be relatively safe and well-cared-for on board. And, I’m sure that there's a big chemical change in Trill when the get joined, and adjusting to that would be hard!”

Julian can also sympathize having something done you didn’t want or weren’t ready for, and can help her process those feelings. “ They both have complicated relationships with their parents regarding their parents’ expectations and their own desires and feelings, which would be interesting!”

In some ways, Julian can serve as another mentor to Ezri. It would be an interesting shift to watch Julian, who is often portrayed as the the youngest or most “green” be able to mentor and guide someone else. “This is also a good way to show Julian has grown and matured, without having to have other characters just say it.”

If we still followed their romance route, having Ezri as Ezri Nal rather than Dax could have make the relationship between her and Julian sit a lot better with audiences. With a rewrite, Julian is not chasing the “ghost” of Jadzia; rather he’s meeting Ezri for the person she is, on her own terms. This also prevents a regression of his character back to the way he chased Jadzia in the early seasons, and instead honors the relationship of treasured friendship that Julian and Jadzia built.

Sisko+Ezri

As he is with many of his younger crew, Sisko takes naturally to the role of a mentor and father figure with Ezri, again meeting her for the person she is, on her own terms. He serves as a valuable guide to ship life and helps her get acquainted with station staff and residents.

Like with Jake, Sisko encourages Ezri to find herself by being her own person.

Ezri tries to take up cooking as a hobby with Sisko, but the experiences of past hosts mean her skills vary wildly depending on what they are making.

Other Relationships

Garak helps Ezri figure out how she wants to dress, often integrating different styles from past hosts. (He rather jumps at the chance.) Ezri still has her difficulties helping him as a counselor, but her additional training and the lack of complications from the Dax symbiont make things easier. They also get to know each other through Julian.

In this Ideal Timeline, Ziyal survives and meets Ezri. They relate well to each other, both of them not really knowing where they fit and grappling with someone else’s legacy, but they have each other for support. Ziyal has given her portraits as gifts.

She has a similar dynamic with Jake, who is trying to figure out how to honor his parents while being his own man. Ezri starts writing memoirs of sorts about her past lives on his suggestion.

Surprisingly, she gets on with Nog, too. They’re both doing things unexpected and feeling like they’re going to be the first in something big.

She isn’t especially close to Worf, but he assures her that the sacrifices she made for Nal are ones to be honored, and becomes rather fond of Ezri due to Jadzia’s influence.

Thanks for reading this super-long meta! Please tell Lee and I your thoughts on this rewrite!

[dreamylyfe-x]

heyo i've been watching the eps in real time, but i only got around to watching the gallavich hall of shame today and i loved all of it except the beg which i was really hoping you could help me with cuz i've been extremely upset by it (literally crying oops). so, why would the writers possibly use the phrasing "piece of my heart" and act like what ian felt for his other bfs is in any way comparable to mickey, only on a much lesser level? cuz we've seen it play out that that's just false [pt 1]

Hey! Sorry about not getting to this right away -- real life has been extreme today -- but I wanted to make sure to reply to this ASAP because it clearly bothered you a bunch. This ask has several parts and I’m going to pull the questions from the others so that I can best answer. And I may sound a little glib because I know this really, really bothered you, so I want to make it clear: I completely respect your feelings about this... but I don’t think the show was thinking about how people who love Gallavich would feel about that line. Because they had a brief and it was “write a clip show.” 

First: why would the writers make ian flat out tell mickey that doesn't have his whole heart WHEN THEY'RE MARRIED for god's sake.

So that they’d have a fight through which they would introduce themed clip packages that had already been decided on. 

Second: i'm just so confused and upset about what the writers were trying to accomplish with this?

Completely understandable that you’d be confused by it, because the primary thing they were looking to accomplish was to have snippets of conversation that would introduce themed clip packages. 

Third: why'd the writers chose such vague flowery BS wording for this? plz help me get it

Because nothing in the Hall of Shame episodes can actually add up to anything significant, because they’re clips shows that were put together entirely because Showtime needed to fill time while the show -- which is still shooting -- finishes up. 

A few things about the Hall of Shame episodes. The first and the most important: It’s pretty much impossible to write a good clip show. They are creative black holes. I shudder to think how much time the writers were even given to do these things. They all -- All! -- exist solely to fill time.  So it’s always “The Golden Girls sit around a table and eat cheesecake and then reminisce about all the times they ate cheesecake.” One of the very worst episodes of Star Trek: TNG exists solely because they ordered another episode at the last minute and it’s -- you guessed it! -- A clip show. The best -- and I use that term loosely -- clip shows are the ones where the have some Voice of God narrator say “Mickey and Ian are the romantic heart of the show, but they don’t always get along! Cue clip package where Mickey and Ian fight about stuff. Voice of God: “But they sure do enjoy making up!” -- Cue clip package of Ian and Mickey making out. 

That still sounds pretty terrible. The best idea for a Shameless clip show is to do some sort of Frank-at-the-bar-talking-shit thing and I’m sure they thought of that and then I'm sure they were like “Fuck. We can’t spare Bill for that kind of time.” -- and then they had to do this. This whole thing is born of scarcity -- of time, of means and of new things to put on the tv -- And given the choice, having seen what came out of it, I think I opt for what they did because I truly do believe the Mickey gifs that the Fiona one produced have restorative properties and I am very grateful that they exist. 

The Hall fo Shame episodes giveth, and they taketh away. So my advice, in how to approach them is just this: 

They aren’t canon

Nothing that happens in them matters

But the parts you like can be as real as you want them to be

So take what you like and throw the rest away

But again, this might be easier said than done, so let me dig a little deeper into what bothers you so much about this line in the context that it happens. 

The 87% line is patently ridiculous and I reject its premise. Love is not finite. You do not divide it between people. You love the people you love, the way you love them, and if someone else showed up you’d love them in whatever way you love them and that would not lessen the love you feel for anyone else. You do not suddenly love your child 50% less because you had another child. That is insane. You just love the other child also. 

That said, the 11 seasons in which we have seen Ian love Mickey more than he loves anything -- his freaking words -- cannot be undone by one line of dialogue in a clip show. First, because clip shows are innately flawed, but also because 11 seasons are more important than one line of dialogue. Even ONE episode of Not a Clip Show is more important than what happens in a clip show. Every single episode of Shameless is trying to do something much more valid and important with the characters than introduce a clip package. 

This problem is also not restricted to the Gallavich episode -- People do a whole bunch of stuff in the HoS episodes that they’ve never done on the show. Carl and Debbie don’t punch each other in the face. Lip doesn’t completely and totally discount every single thing his sister did to keep a roof over their head. Mickey doesn’t act like Ian’s sexuality is a lifestyle choice and Ian is smart enough to know that Mickey Milkovich -- who he loves more than anything -- doesn’t want hear about the mathematical breakdown of how much Ian cares about Other Men. 

now i desperately need the writers to fix this and say mickey has ian's whole heart. 

This is probably not going to happen because I don’t think Actual Shameless considers that to be a thing that happened. On Actual Shameless Ian watched Mickey beat Ned up and then ran away with him when the cops showed up looking DELIGHTED that Mickey had beaten Ned up. On Actual Shameless Ian can barely stand to have Kash touch him once he’s been with Mickey, because Mickey is all he wants. On Actual Shameless Ian’s most viable non-Mickey relationship crumbles the second Mickey shows up because there’s just no comparison for him. Ian loves Mickey. He doesn’t stop. If something happened to Mickey he wouldn't look vaguely disconcerted and then get into an argument with some third party about whether or not it’s valid to be weirded out when someone you had sex with dies. You know that line, “show, don’t tell”? There’s reason that’s considered better storytelling -- because the stuff you show is the stuff that the audience feels and experiences. If Ian had said he loved Ned in any capacity I would have laughed out loud, because what I was shown was Ian mostly hanging out with Ned because he was missing Mickey, wanted a distraction, liked room service and the occasional nice gift, and... it made Mickey jealous. None of that was about Ned. 

And in the end: Ned’s dead, baby. Long live Gallavich. 

(it would of course be very nice if Ian would tell Mickey he has his whole heart, partly because it’s true, but also because Mickey deserves to hear these sorts of things, and we all want Mickey to be happy. And I do think Ian probably does tell Mickey that, after the clip show is over -if we acknowledge that this happened at all- because ultimately Ian’s whole life is about Mickey. Mickey is all he ever talks about. Even when he’s being pissy it’s all about how things are going with Mickey and how they are GOING to be going with Mickey. How he feels about his job, how he feels about himself, what his life plan is -- all depends on what is up with Mickey. Mickey is everything to him, and I’m going to assume Ian both shows and tells Mickey that in key ways, because Mickey sure seems happy in the Fiona HoS.) 

Anyway -- I don’t know if that helps at all, but that’s my take on this mess. Thank you for asking!