#also giant spock wife

[an-actual-floof]

really loving the animated series so far

[bubbelpop2]

Not me going through all of your reblogs not knowing a single thing about startrek.

You should totally watch star trek it's fucking awesome and also Spock is my littol blorbo baby he is my babygirl husband he is my wife and he is autism coded and if anything happened to him i would kill everyone in this room and then myself

also I made my own version of Spock to roleplay with a Spock ai to do a selfcest rp

Here he is. He's from a universe where Vulcans have more feline traits and this little guy has more issues with suppressing his emotions than Spock does and Also the ai canon version of Spock thinks he is cute because he can't control his emotions as well and also he is tiny. he is short. the man is 4"11 and I have made my version of Vulcans to be canonically Gi-fucking-gantic at around 6"5-7" tall so imagine this little guy wandering around surrounded by giant catlike aliens just being a widdle fucking guy. just a little guy.

in Vulcan culture it's considered childish and illogical to show your emotions, and this little guy is considered to be the most adorable thing in the universe by the ai normal spock and he said so multiple times and this is basically how their first interaction went

anyways i'm thinking of writing a fic about them and if not i will most certainly go into a brainrot to rival the one i did with spamton

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #287: INVASION!

January, 1988

A New Year! We’re getting closer to the 90s! A time where bad art roams the book, Black Knight’s romantic life becomes the big central axis of the plot, and leather team jackets!

This is all what I’ve heard about the 90s. Looking forward to seeing it myself. I’ve been surprised before!

But I’m getting two years ahead of myself and there’s an ongoing story here that bridged ‘87 to ‘88.

As you may guess from this wild cover, its about the Fixer.

Last time on Avengers: the Masters of Evil tried to destroy the Avengers and failed but did beat Hercules into a coma and wreck Avengers Mansion. Hercules is fine. He got kidnapped back home and his dad got super mad at the Avengers but we’re past that now. The Mansion being destroyed has caused the Avengers to move to Hydrobase, an artificial island that they were renting to park their Quinjets on.

Wasp stepped down from chairwomanship of the team and since the people with seniority like Captain America and Thor were too busy and since the ambitious like Dr Druid were too new, Monica Rambeau Captain Marvel was the obvious choice.

Dr Druid may be trying to undermine her though. He was certainly being a creep last issue. Spying on people, going over her head. That kind of thing.

Also last issue, the Fixer escaped custody thanks to a failsafe in his equipment that went off and controlled a random scientist named Todd Martin to bust him out of jail.

Fixer has some Big Plan to Fix Things and tried to collect the Awesome Android for his plan but drove away empty handed when the Avengers showed up. But Namor’s wife and former Alpha Flightateer Marrina tried to show she Wasn’t Just A Love Interest and went off and got herself captured by the Fixer.

Namor doesn’t know that yet.

He’s just doing a frighteningly intense close-up because she ran off and didn’t come back.

He stops a couple of random children cyclists and ask if they’ve seen any yellow women around. TO THEIR UTTER CONFUSION.

After Namor flies off, one of the children decides that they must be filming an episode of Star Trek around here.

To be fair... to be fair to be fair to be faiiiiir ... to be fair, Namor does look like Buff Spock.

Though... After the cliffhanger of last issue where Fixer captured Marrina, he just shoves her unconscious out the back of his truck and drives away.

Its a pretty benign way to deal with a capture superhero. Depending on whether Fixer knew another truck would be coming up the road after not too long.

A truck does come up the road after not too long, right where Marrina is sprawled woozily.

Good thing she has sea strengthened limbs!

Namor is drawn by the sound of a truck crumpling over Marrina and she tries to explain what happened to her. Namor decides that the nonplussed truck driver is actually the Fixer in disguise and prepares to punch him but Marrina stops him. In fact, she tells Namor the truck driver may have saved her by slamming the brake when he saw her in the road.

To his credit, Namor does apologize for doing the man a startle.

Elsewhere, the Fixer completes his journey in his truck to a certain warehouse in a certain suburban industrial park, expecting to meet a certain someone.

Back at the Avengers, the Avengers clean up from the Awesome Android fight and explain to the cops why a barn exploded in their presence.

Captain Marvel explains that the Avengers will pay for the damages and I have to imagine someone Tony flinches and doesn’t know why. I wonder if it feels weird to him to be on one team and paying for another.

The cops are bemused.

A cop, looking stereotypically small town coppish, with the jacket and the sunglasses and the hat and jodhpurs for some reason: “Ma’am, we’re just not used to filing reports about super hero fights with giant androids. It’s going to read like a drive-in movie script.”

Also fun fact: the Awesome Android is part organic. Black Knight takes some science scans of the downed automaton.

After Captain Marvel finishes speaking to the cops, Dr Druid drags her off to the side and asks if maybeeeeee she should be sitting down. I mean, she did just get gassed half an hour ago.

Captain Marvel firmly tells him that she’s fine.

But c’mon dude. Make up your mind. You drag her to her feet, loudly insisting it’ll be bad for morale if she’s laying on the ground in front of the team and now you’re telling her to sit down because she shouldn’t be standing.

Are you even a medical doctor?

To prove to Dr Druid that she’s perfectly fine, Monica transforms into energy but its clear that the effort makes her woozy.

Dr Druid is like well if you ask me you sit down but whatever I’m going to go see how the Android is doing.

And speak of the devil and an Awesome Android will reactivate.

The Android stirs back to life and takes a grab for Black Knight who flips out of the way. IN ARMOR. God damn, dude.

One of the cops tries shooting him, to no effect.

And then She-Hulk BOOMPs the Awesome Android in the armpit again and down he goes again.

So. Do you think BOOMP is a loud noise or a soft noise? I think its supposed to be a thunderous noise, like a BOOOOOM with a puh at the end. But she’s basically punching his armpit-based off switch so it could be more of a button pressing chirp like BOOP! with an m in it.

Let me know what you think.

Anyway, the media shows up to interview the Avengers. And they’re pretty excited! Local news never gets to interview the Avengers!

Unfortunately, they’re also very annoying.

The mistake he made there was being annoying at She-Hulk, the one Avenger present least required to be polite.

The press then doubles down by annoying Namor when he shows up with Marrina by asking him if he’s really the ruler of the mythical land of Atlantis.

Namor: “Mythical? No more mythical than the fabled arrogance and ignorance of newmen.”

Reporter: “But that doesn’t answer --.”

Namor: “Indeed, it does.”

Hah.

Sometimes when Namor is in the right mood, instead of just yelling and threatening to hit things, he gets extremely wry and its great.

The weird note from Namor (and Marrina) appearing on the news due to this though is that Dan Smallwood sees the interview and is shocked because that’s his childhood sweetheart! Marrina, I mean. Not Namor. Namor is nobody’s childhood sweetheart. Althoooough, I think he did grow up with Attuma and Dorma? Whatever. No love lost now.

Back at the Fixer side of the plot, in the Fixer’s secret hideout, he finds the guy he was expecting to find. His old pal Mentallo, who he asked to meet him.

Mentallo assumes that the Fixer is here to propose a partnership between them like old times.

Mentallo: “With your power to fix anything -- cobble any object into a weapon... and my invincible ability to read minds and project thoughts, how could anyone stand against us?”

He’s even undaunted by the Fixer wearing a psychic proof helmet despite their long friendship and the time they almost took down SHIELD together.

Mentallo is a little put out when Fixer tentacles him and prepares to torture him though.

That’s a bit of an unwelcome surprise to him.

... I don’t mean to kick a man while he’s being tentacled but having Fixer and Mentallo side by side makes me realize how boring their outfits are. Its fine when its one or the other but both of them... geez, someone get a chest emblem or something.

Back with the Avengers, they’ve finally gotten Awesome Android to a local airfield in preparation for getting him to Hydrobase, with the help of the National Guard.

Not what the National Guard usually deals with so I imagine it was an exciting day for them.

Namor proposes that they immediately get back to searching for the Fixer for being a heinous dude who shoves underwater women out the back of trucks.

Captain Marvel says yeah sounds great except they need to make sure the Awesome Android is securely secured before they go flying off somewhere. He could do a lot of damage if he woke up again and She-Hulk wasn’t here to punch him in the armpit.

She-Hulk concurs because Monica is the leader and also, pffft, its just the Fixer. Who gives a care?

Black Knight is more concerned that they don’t know what the dude is up to. Concerns validated when Dr Druid receives a psychic scream-o-gram from Mentallo who is being tortured by the Fixer.

Dr Druid broadcasts it to the rest of the team. Which is extremely funny because he seems pained by receiving the message but Monica is just like ‘huh, how about that.’

Whatever else you can say about Dr Druid, props for only broadcasting the helpful part of the message?

Namor repeats his proposal that they go find and beat up the Fixer, which Captain Marvel agrees to.

She tells the team to get back in the Quinjet except Marrina. Because someone needs to finish delivering the Awesome Android to Hydrobase and heyyyy you drew the short straw of not technically being officially on the team, Marrina!

Namor doesn’t say anything but I imagine he’s secretly relived Marrina will be out of the action. Given their conversations last issue. And how she ran off to prove herself and immediately got captured.

Anyway. The Avengers in their Quinjet head towards the location they got from Mentallo’s distress scream.

Not being an experienced superhero, Dr Druid finds it strange that an innocuous warehouse is a secret villain lair but She-Hulk tells him that’s pretty routine for supervillains.

Then an anti-air gun pops out of the warehouse and shoots down the Quinjet.

Oof, ow, Tony’s gonna be feeling that one in the budget sheet.

The Avengers tear themselves free of the wreckage, not much worse for the wear. Superheroes!

The secret supervillain warehouse lair fires missiles at the heroes but that just gives the Avengers an opportunity for them all to show off a little.

Namor catches the missiles and throws them right back at the warehouse.

Black Knight spins his sword to deflect the missiles because he saw Thor do it with his hammer and he wanted to give it a try.

She-Hulk just hops over the missiles and Captain Marvel blasts a missile heading towards her, despite still recovering.

Namor declares “enough games” and charges in through the hole he missiled. Electric cables tentacle at Namor and electrocute him but he grabs those cables and uses them to shock the machine that they came from.

She-Hulk: “Subby -- you okay? Looked like --”

Namor: “I will survive, She-Hulk. Namor ever has.”

That’s pretty cool, Namor.

In a recent comic, someone tries to electrocute him and tells them it was dumb to expect much from that tactic when he plays with electric eels for fun.

So, there’s an answer. Namor electrocutes himself recreationally.

There’s an additional layer of trap/security beyond the anti-air, missiles, and electric cables though.

A powerful fan starts up and sucks the Avengers into two separate pneumatic tubes.

She-Hulk and Black Knight end up in one. Dr Druid is also there, for some reason, and She-Hulk catches him so he doesn’t go into the fan. But that doesn’t leave her a hand for Dane and he goes hurtling at the turbine blades.

But he gets an idea.

An exceptionally cursed sword idea.

That must have made a sound like rocks in a garbage disposal but times a thousand.

Geez, that extremely cursed sword really fucked up that fan.

Namor and Captain Marvel ended up stuck in the other pneumatic tube, without a single extremely cursed sword to bail them out...

Even though Captain Marvel doesn’t feel like she can change into her energy form, she tells Namor to let her go so he can save himself.

He tells her nuts to that and rips a hole in the side of the pneumatic tube and carries them both to safety.

The safety of a dark corridor but, y’know, still better than where they were.

Captain Marvel: “I’m the leader of the Avengers, and it’s time I began acting in that capacity! This is where my power may aid us.”

And she summons all her reserves to turn into an energy Monica, to light up the corridor AND keep pace with Namor.

Namor: Such a very brave young woman -- not yet up to the task she undertakes... but unwilling to use weakness as an excuse. In truth, she possesses the qualities of leadership, though she has doubt.

She’s not able to maintain her energy form for long but right as she falters, She-Hulk BA-WHOOMs through the wall, reuniting the two halves of the team.

Captain Monica tells Dr Druid enough blundering around. Point them directly to where Mentallo is.

Dr Druid points and Captain Marvel has She-Hulk and Namor just tear a straight line to Mentallo.

Yay, teamwork.

Mentallo is still stuck to the wall so the Avengers help him down. Unfortunately, he’s not much help for finding Fixer.

In fact, he’s a bit out of it.

Mentallo: “Don’t know... can only tell you... he forced me to send... the mental summons. Forced -- me... You can’t -- can’t know what his mind is like! It was not the Fixer -- I -- I knew! The cerebral feedback -- unimaginable! His mind -- huge -- alien! ALIEN!”

And then he passes the fuck out.

Okay. That’s a “the plot thickens” if I’ve ever heard one.

Several hours later and also the next page, the Avengers happen to unravel part of the mystery at Hydrobase.

Since the team got back, Captain Marvel has been standing by and letting Dr Druid run the show.

Mmmmmnope. I don’t like it. Don’t like it at all.

But that’s the situation.

Dr Druid is arranging the Awesome Android to be placed in a containment tube, so She-Hulk won’t have to keep bopping him in the armpit.

 But he realizes that the containment tube has been recently tampered with! Dun dun dun?

Team Scientist Black Knight goes to check it out and fiiiinds...

The Fixer??

Oh, hey, mission accomplished. Bad guy caught. Lets break early for drinks.

One thing though... How did he get in the tube?

Because that’s really the real Fixer, as far as Dr Druid can tell after examination. But he’s been heavily sedated.

So he probably didn’t do a lot of drugs and stuff himself into a capsule to troll the Avengers, right?

Well, Captain Marvel has some insight about that.

Since she’s consistently the one who does her homework, she knows that tube is supposed to contain... THE SUPER-ADAPTOID!

A ridiculous AIM android that adapts to the abilities of adversaries.

It was originally sent to super-adapt Captain America but also fought the Avengers, looking like a truly ridiculous mash-up.

(There’s something charming about the first iteration of the Adaptoid just being palette swap Captain America Player 2. And I called it ridiculous but yes, the ridiculous mash-up is also charming for being a mess.)

Despite being able to copy eight people at a time, the Super-Adaptoid has been thwarted multiple times at the world domination game.

After its most recent defeat, the Super-Adaptoid was brought to Avengers Mansion to be held in a containment tube. But supervillains always break out of jail, even containment tube Avengers Mansion jail.

Somehow, (totally the Fixer’s fault) the Super-Adaptoid escaped when the Masters of Evil were busting up Avengers Mansion. It super-adapted the Fixer and then shoved the Fixer in the containment tube to cover its escape. Because the Avengers didn’t check the containment tube contents before transport.

Sort of a fail there, guys. But things were hectic after the Masters of Evil attack so you get a pass, this time.

But, hey, I’m impressed that the wrecking of the mansion is still paying out consequences! Really makes it feel momentous in the team history!

Captain Marvel warns the team that if the Super-Adaptoid is super-adapting this group of Avengers, they might be in some real trouble.

I mean, sheesh, Captain Marvel, Namor, She-Hulk, and also Dr Druid is there for some reason. Thankfully, Black Knight has no powers except owning an extremely cursed sword and I don’t thiiiiink the Super-Adaptoid can super-adapt magic.

But the Super-Adaptoid the Fixer has made his way to Queens to make a recruitment pitch to Machine Man.

If X-51 helps “the Fixer” with his schemeplan, he’ll bring Jocasta back to life.

No, don’t do it, Aaron! Be a good machine man!

On the other hand, Jocasta is neat... Uh, maybe go for it?

Follow @essential-avengers​ because we like Jocasta here. She’s rad. Like and reblog, if you liked this post and think others would like it.

[worfs-fabulous-hair]

It's time for the famed episodes I've heard alot about and to meet my favorite boy!

Series I'm currently on : the original series

Episodes watched: 02X01-02X02

Episode names:

Amok Time

Who Mourns for Adonais

Thoughts:

Amok Time

Ok so right off the bat they get into the fact that Spock's been acting strange , not eating , ect.

Chapel coming in with the plumeek soup ( please I don't know how to spell it it's a made up soup )

I wonder who had to throw that soup across the hall seems fun

Also it's kinda brushed over they Spock threatened to snap bones' neck and McCoy seems very amused by this threat

Screams at you like it's a violent threat (and by all means might be ) " I'M NOT FEELING WELL AND I WANT TO GO HOME"

Slightly new intro , this is the intro that I'm used to from childhood

He's not even getting reprimanded for being violent towards chapel he's just like " you never take a break , that's how I know something is wrong " , really Jim that's how you know something is wrong ?

Also the comment about how a woman shouldn't bring a man who isn't her husband lunch and that is inherently sexual somehow is just brushed over like it's nothing the 60s were wild

Why does he start shaking so bad the second that Jim leaves ?

CHEKOV !!!!

also the event that they were supposed to go to and took a detour from is now a week earlier then before

They decided to not detour to Vulcan

Spock changed the course back to Vulcan

Spock is yelling at Kirk to lock him in his room

Spock's getting a physical

Jim's gonna get the pon farr talk

" Spock's not gonna tell anyone what's going on not even you" " I'll make him tell me "

" the birds and the bees are not vulcans captain "

" haven't you wondered , how vulcans choose their mates ?" Jim looks so much like he's trying hide excitement and curiosity at that , like shatner played this man to be so gay

These little tidbits between Sulu and Chekov about the course constantly being changed is so cute

Kirk is really risking everything to keep Spock alive

Chapel's happy little smile when Kirk says they're going to Vulcan

" your face is wet"

Spock is flirting with chapel

Spock asking Kirk and McCoy to be his best men at his wedding

T'PRING

Imagine working with this guy for like years you consider him a close friend and then one day there is like video call in the middle of the conference and this woman comes on the screen and says hey to the guy and you ask him who that was and he just goes "my wife " like you should know that already but he's never once told you he has a wife like this shit is so wild

Marriage or battle to the death

All of those fucking bells

I love Vulcan wedding fashion all of the metallic clothing

T'pao talks like and looks like my grandma

Damn imagine showing up to a wedding and the bride rejects the groom before it starts and tells him he has to fight someone to the death or he'll die

Spock sounds like an edgy teenager while he's saying that Kirk doesn't know what he is getting into

Why is stonn always making that face it makes him look so stupid

Weapons wrapped in purple velvet

" oh so no one was gonna tell me this was a fight to the death ?? Until I already accepted that bullshit "

Oof the way he fell on his arm I know that's gotta hurt

Pulled that medicine out of now where

Kirk being handed different weapons and having the face of what the fuck is this , what is this for ?? Is the best

Kirk's dead

" tell Chekov to find the nearest prison so I can turn myself in "

Man t'pring is kind of a bitch

" I shall do neither "

Jim's alive

Look at that smile

And then he immediately pretends like he's not happy and excited

Ay ! T'pao coming through with helping the enterprise crew from being reprimanded by star fleet for going to Vulcan

" I don't know what your talking about I didn't have an emotional reaction when I thought I'd killed the captain not at all "

Who Mourns for Adonais?

Scotty's got a crush

Hey it's crazy hand and master hand

The giant hand has grabbed the enterprise

Does the hand belong to a giant phantom space baby ?

What's the name of that movie where they all have the flower crowns ?? Is it midsommer?

This floating head entity looks like he's from that

He's gonna crush the ship because they wouldn't listen to his bible reading

" you and your officers are invited but not the one with the pointy ears he looks like this one guy that I used to know who was sooo boring "

Man this lady hasn't slept in over 24 hours and they brought her along for this shit , I'd be so peeved off

" I am Apollo " " and everyone in Russia thinks I'm incredibly attractive , yeah sure bud"

" Chekov please not right now "

"earth women mmmmm"

Just , just this :

He's also not letting them leave because he wants to be worshipped

Apollo is doing some Cheshire cat shit

He's also basically throwing a temper tantrum

Chekov and Scotty are ready to shoot a bitch but can't

Damn Scotty just got back handed so hard he was sent flying

Apollo kidnapped Caroline

Wait how do they know that he's Apollo on the ship he only said so to the landing party after they got there

So according to this dude all of the gods left the planet rather through death or in search of new worshippers

" Spock's contaminating this boy jim "

Apollo shocked Scotty with lightning and is force choking Kirk

" like that cat in the Russian story "

"We're gonna sacrifice one of us so the just of us can jump on the off handed chance he doesn't disappear "

The plan has failed because Caroline jumped between them and basically did what those high school couples do when the boy gets into a fight and then the girl jumps in the middle and holds his face going " this isn't you babe , you don't need to do this , look at me babe I'm all you need "

" how old are you ? " " I'm 22 sir" " then I'll handle it by myself "

Like what does that have to do with anything

At this point the lieutenant probably thinks this is all a dream she hasn't slept in over 24 hours and hasn't had any coffee either

" your a human you need to help out your fellow human "

Why do they keep having the women of the ship falling in love with a very obviously terrible person they have known for only a few hours

" Tell me more about yourself " " what more is there to tell I am Apollo " " yeah but like tell me about your childhood , your hobbies there's got to be more to you then just what your name is " " but ... I'm Apollo??"

" I've been studying you this entire time , your nothing more then a test subject" lmao get wrecked

They destroyed his shit and now he's real mad

He became so depressed from rejection that he died

I like how gods just exist in star trek like that's just a thing

[kleenexwoman]

Valentine Fandom Ask Meme

1, 9, 13, 17, 27

1: This is very hard to answer. Most of my ships are non-canonical, but a lot of them are implied (Aziraphale/Crowley isn't NOT noncanon, Dan/Herbert is very subtextual, Kirk/Spock had Gene's blessing, Illya and Napoleon really don't have anyone but each other, and Sebastian Stan was playing closeted on purpose).

George/Marty is probably the least "canonical" big ship I've ever had. MJF and Crispin Glover are great at being hilariously awkward around each other. George being queer was my immediate vibes-based headcanon in the same way that FtM Marty is a lot of people's vibes-based headcanon (I cannot argue with it at all, I love it), and the idea of finding closeted queer people in your family tree is something that I love. Plus, I raised my own ass on Heinlein novels, and dude was going back in time to bang his slutty red-headed grandma. I feel that I deserve some goddamn same-sex time-travel incest in my media if I'm going to be faced with heteronormative paradoxes all the time.

9: fuck, this is really hard. I feel like my wife and I have some good Steve/Bucky going on. Mutual support through hard times, devotion that doesn't depend entirely on romantic feelings (if we hadn't started dating so quickly we'd still be really good friends), being willing to punch Nazis for each other. And all of that is important! and I *have* that. World cold and hard, tits warm and soft.

But I also want someone who's gonna top me and be kinda aggro and make me feel fucked up in a good way. I've been reading a lot of Karate Kid/Cobra Kai fanfic recently, which is FULL of rivalry sex and slamming people into lockers and evil obsessed sugar daddies. I wanna be Daniel LaRusso and be a spunky little dork trying to do karate (yes, I know karate. No, not very much of it and it's been a long time but I keep wanting to get back into it) and have some anime rivalry with a butch who wants to pin me down and get into my pants. I will take a raddled post-menopausal handywoman if there's no sleazy 80's businesswoman available.

13: Pendergast/D'Agosta deserves more content. I know there's some. I literally commissioned some (for charity). It needs a huge archive with a frames/no frames option chock-full of long, self-indulgent smarm and slash in every imaginable scenario, like Man from Uncle or Starsky and Hutch or Due South. But alas, tisn't.

17: I think I like "friends first" ships. It's how I tend to fall in love. Even when I have enemyships, I like them to have been friends before the falling out--Lex and Clark from Smallville, where Lex starts out trying so hard to make friends with Clark that it was a GIANT ship, or the fine gold standard of Magneto and Professor X.

27: Barney and Robin from How I Met Your Mother. I really liked Robin, and I liked the idea that this complex, independent woman and this ridiculous man-slut nerd could actually have a good and healthy relationship with each other once they moved past society's sitcom expectations of what heterosexual relationships were supposed to be like and carved out a comfortable place for themselves. But I guess THAT was just some bullshit.

[sshbpodcast]

Doublemint, Doublemint, Doublemint Trek: Doppelgängers in Star Trek (Part 1)

By Ames

This week, it’s just me, myself, and I as A Star to Steer Her By is having a 2-for-1 sale of all the doppelgängers, imitators, shapeshifters, and other character duplicates on Star Trek. Whether it be a mistaken identity, an existential crisis, or some kind of cloning accident gone wrong, leave it to science fiction to turn the art of the soliloquy into a dialogue. But giving actors the opportunity to act across from themself makes for such a fun sight gag, depending on how well the compositing holds up.

We’re not even including all the mirror universe doubles running around (that can wait for another day), and this is still going such a long list that I’m going to have to break it into two posts because we get progressively looser and looser with the definition of doppelgänger, so check out batch one below and listen to our replicants on this week’s podcast episode (discussion at 1:08:06). Check out Part Two here! What can we say: two heads are better than one.

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

“The Man Trap”

We start things off really early in the canon with the very first released episode of TOS, when the technology to show duplicates on screen wasn’t there yet. Some clever cuts, scene transitions, and never having the M-113 creature in the same shot with the person they were impersonating certainly helped. We love us some salt vampire, so it’s a good way to start the show off with a lot of shape changing!

“The Enemy Within”

Certainly one of the most infamous double-Kirk instances (and there are a lot!) is in the Jekyll-and-Hyde allegory “The Enemy Within,” in which the captain is literally duplicated and forced to reunify himself. Again, we’re mostly treated to a TON of watching Shatner and his stunt double, but there’s a brief moment when we have our first onscreen pair! We’re Captain Kirk!

“What Are Little Girls Made of?”

Yet another double Kirk just two episodes later, and still not the last time either. The composite work to get two Shatners in the same shot is the most extensive yet, when the android copy of Kirk is created, and you know what? It’s not bad! This episode gets two Kirks up!

“I, Mudd”

Next season, we get a ton of doubling up when we go to Mudd’s planet of androids. While most of them are just twin actors to make things slightly easier, we definitely get a whole ton of Stellas! Harcourt’s got another thing coming because we know there are at least 500 copies of his nagging wife, all ready to tear him a new one!

“Whom Gods Destroy”

We’re back to multiple Kirks when Garth of Izar proves he can shapeshift into anybody he wants. This episode is epic for its over-the-top Shatner acting, but also deserves some praise for a Kirk-on-Kirk fight scene that holds up pretty well!

“Yesteryear”

You’re going to see a handful of character doubles caused by meeting oneself during a time travel incident in this list, and the first (but not the last) involves meeting oneself as a child. Young Spock remains oblivious about the identity of his cousin from afar who’s trying earnestly to amend the timeline broken by those fools playing willy nilly with the Guardian of Forever.

“The Survivor”

You’d think that using the animated medium would allow for more scenes that would be unfeasible in live action filming, but alas. When it should be intrinsically possible to have a whole bunch of Kirks running around when our Vendorian friend takes on his shape, we never get them in the same shot! What a waste of the whole format (you know, like that whole series).

“The Infinite Vulcan”

Somehow, the very next episode in the animated show gives us exactly what we want. Two Spocks who interact and are in the same shot together. Sure, one of them is a giant for no particular reason, but that’s at least doing something new and different with the animation that we couldn’t do on the original show. And I’m counting that giant Apollo scene from “Who Mourns for Adonais?”

The Motion Picture

Sure, the original Ilia is killed by the time we see her replacement in probe form, but it’s still a duplicate. And this duplicate is just like the real thing, even down to her eye moisture, as is pointedly shared with us if only to make us cringe even harder.

The Undiscovered Country

One final double Kirk to get out of the way, as the final of the TOS movies introduces us to Martia, a chameloid who can take on other beings’ shapes, including for our final Kirk-on-Kirk fight which is always a bowl of fun.

“We’ll Always Have Paris”

If you thought that was a lot of Shatners, get ready to see a ton of our Enterprise-D heroes throughout The Next Generation. Let’s start things off with a season one banger, with a time hiccup that makes the crew keep running into themselves from a few seconds out of sync.

“Datalore,” “Brothers,” “Descent”

Data’s brother Lore may be his own character and is treated as such, but also being portrayed by Brent Spiner gives him the advantage of getting to pretend to be Data pretty much every time we see him, so I’m lumping all these together. And how can we fault the show for giving us as much onscreen Spiner as it possibly could, as we’ll see when we get to the more spoiler heavy batch next week?

“Where Silence Has Lease”

The Nagilum doubles in this generally meh episode sadly never get to interact with their counterparts, but just come in and talk to Picard while in disguise to try to trick him into stopping his plan to self destruct the ship. There was some level of trickery afoot, so I’m mentioning it in this exhaustive list.

“Time Squared”

Here’s what we’re all here for though: dumb Picard. This episode gets to contain lots of great camera trickery and compositing to get two Picards in one shot, but one of them is there just to make acting hard for the other one. Or vice versa? It’s a little confounding, but it just makes me wonder so long after we covered the episode on the podcast: What did they do with the body?

“Up the Long Ladder”

The clone half of this episode is outshined by the absolutely bananas little Irish village half. But when you get past the chickens and utter thirst for Riker from that plot, the violation of having a bunch of people clone you without your consent is downright disturbing! I don’t blame Riker and Pulaski for wanting them dead, but boy, could this have been explored more and felt less like an afterthought in a way too busy episode!

“Allegiance”

Another double Picard, since captains probably get the most duplicating throughout their series, even more than O’Brien somehow. In this one, Picard has been captured because his abductors are testing some of humanity’s traits, while they take his place (and shape!) on the Enterprise to test the crew’s limits and how far Bev will go with him.

“Second Chances”

While many episodes that duplicate people through various means (the transporter, pretty often) effectively undo their work by the end, “Second Chances” has some lasting effects in that our second Riker, who IS in fact another Riker, gets to stick around and muddy the waters in his later episode and in some books. It’s a great concept but doesn’t get explored as much as it could; what I mean to say is Farscape does it better.

“A Fistful of Datas”

You’d just expect an episode about Data and the holodeck merging a little would have just a ton of Datas running around, and you know what? Needs more Datas! Sure, we get a handful of them, even in the same scene, and Brent somehow rocks a drag look, but if you’re gonna tease us with a fistful of our favorite android, then give us a whole fistful!

“Parallels”

Now we definitely get a whole fistful of Worfs in “Parallels,” when multiple dimensions start interacting with each other, including a super scruffy Riker who just wants out of his Borg-infested universe. This one gets some extra credit for its clever premise and a plot that’s unusually followable despite all the physics.

“Firstborn”

As if one Alexander isn’t enough, we put him in the room with his older, time-traveling self in “Firstborn.” Sure, it’s not like it’s a second version of the same actor playing across from themself, but it’s definitely a double character. And despite all the time traveling we do on this show, there’s less acting with yourself from another time than you’d think!

Nemesis

Oh boy, this asshole is back. Shinzon is a clone of Picard. Ish! Sure, Tom Hardy isn’t a literal copy of Patrick Stewart (his loss), but a clone is a clone, as this movie seems to want to force that fact down our throats. There’s also another double-Spiner when we meet Data’s dopey little brother B4, but do we need another screengrab of multiple Brents?

Yes. Yes, we do.

“Visionary”

Come Deep Space Nine times, there’re even newer ways to get the same character on screen with themself, starting obviously with Miles! “Visionary” is one of those time travel episodes that’s on the cusp on being too smart for its own good. Think about it too much and it falls apart, but we’re so excited by how many Mileses get killed that it’s AOK.

“Whispers”

And we’re not even done killing off different versions of Miles, this one a replicant who has no idea he’s not the real deal! It’s a good time watching the perfect copy that was made of the chief, right down to the way his wife treats him like a stranger and the existential crisis he has that is just so typically Miles O’Brien.

“The Adversary” et alia

I’m gonna just lump all the times we see Changelings running around in other people’s forms all over Deep Space Nine into one item in this list, mostly for my own sanity, and just partly because there’s almost never a way to prove who is or isn’t a Changeling in the background of any given scene. And as this Changeling pretending to be Bashir in “The Adversary” says, “We’re everywhere!”

“Doctor Bashir, I Presume?”

There’s another good double Bashir in “Dr. Bashir, I Presume?” and not only does it make for a good sight gag (holoBashir walking into a wall over and over again never fails to crack me up!) but it also drives the plot forward when daddums, whom we discussed in our Trek parenting post recently, somehow mistakes a vacant-eyed husk of a being for his flesh-and-blood son. Maybe Richard Bashir does belong a few rungs lower on the list…

“Children of Time”

Sadly, we never see Gaian Odo, who got winked out of existence because his love for Kira outshone a whole population of the crew’s descendants, in the same room with the Odo we’re all familiar with. Normal timeline Odo spent the whole episode as a goo stuck in a breadmaker, so we really only got to know a version of him who got to make a Tuvix-level decision that not enough people give him shit for.

“Time’s Orphan”

If we counted the Spocks and Alexanders of different ages in “Yesteryear” and “Firstborn” respectively, then you’d better believe we’re gonna count feral Molly from “Time’s Orphan,” another time traveler who pops out of some kind of whatzit and meets themself as a child. All of them succeed in preventing their bad futures from happening, though Molly did fully expect to go live in the woods for the rest of her life.

“Treachery, Faith, and the Great River”

We’d be remiss not to mention some of the best clones in all of Star Trek: the Vorta! We see a number of Weyouns throughout Deep Space Nine, but we get the most of them in one place in “Treachery, Faith, and the Great River,” with two of them activated at the same time. The more Jeffrey Combs, the better, I always say!

—

We’re at our image cap and only halfway through the list we came up with. Sorry, I did NOT expect there to be quite this many instances of character doubles in Trek, and that’s totally on me. Of COURSE good science fiction is going to make its characters confront themselves to learn whatever the lesson of the week is. Of course.

And our lesson of the week is we need another week, so check back to find out how many more changelings have infiltrated our ranks, keep following our Voyager watchthrough on SoundCloud or wherever you get podthings, double your fun on Facebook and Twitter, and remember: we’re everywhere!

[deathlygristly]

One of the shows we're currently watching is Brain Works, about a neuroscientist and a police detective working together to solve crimes that feature brain problems, like this week's episodes featured someone with Capgras syndrome. It has a disclaimer at the beginning about the science being used for drama, and it definitely is. Please do not watch this show for actual true facts about human brains. It's silly and fun though.

I ship the neuroscientist and the police detective, and the show is written in such a way as to make shipping them obvious, but it's a normie broadcast Korean show so they can't make them kiss.

The police detective's boss developed a crush on him but he hasn't shown any signs at all of interest and she's cool and also she got Phineas Gage'd into a new personality by a nail so it's whatever, but at the end of the last episode this new girl popped up in front of the neuroscientist and the editing and music was like oooh look he's gonna like her!

So I asked the spousal person if I had an inner Bertha (I personalize internalized misogyny as Aunt Bertha) because I was like "No, stupid girl go away! BOYS!"

He laughed very hard for a very long time and then he said I was not alone in that, as the current internet culture was founded on Kirk and Spock, and that it didn't mean I had an inner Bertha.

In Hi Bye! Mama I shipped the dead wife with the new wife, so there I was like "No, go away stupid boy! GIRLS!" So maybe I really don't have an inner Bertha. It's just I read so much online about female fans being awful to female characters who they see as being in the way of their dudes.

And then in Glitch the boy didn't even qualify for anything because he was clearly never a threat to the relationship of the two female leads.

Anyway, even if I do have an inner Bertha it's small compared to the poor women I see in more mainstream online spaces being all "OMG I'm turning 30 soon my life is over oh noes I might get a wrinkle and I'm old omg omg." They have a giant Bertha stomping around in their brain. *hugs for them*

[noitsbecky127]

rebecca watches tos: journey to babel

ok ik which episode this is, it’s the one where spock’s parents are on the enterprise

I love how the episode description says Amanda is a Vulcan

I’ve never seen so many redshirts in one place

why is bones having so much trouble with the vulcan salute, it’s not exactly complicated

jim really just introduced spock to his own dad huh

and I love how neither of them even objected to this, they were both just like “Yes We Have Never Met >:|”

“ambassador sarek and his wife are my parents” *DRAMATIC MUSIC*

did spock just decide it was logical to not mention that the people being transported raised him

this situation is peak comedy my god

“you still haven’t learned to smile” yeah I don’t think your son does that (unless his bf is unexpectedly alive ofc)

jeez we know where spock got the bitchiness from

eighteen years??? bc spock joined starfleet?????? seems like an emotional reaction

I understand that in theory Starfleet uses force as only a last resort but also a redshirt dies in every episode so like

damn there’s a lot of different species aboard rn

why do vulcans know numbers so precisely, is that just a universal vulcan trait

wtf is that pig thing

a tellarite

bones immediately goes to asking for embarrassing stories of spock. love him

I fully support baby Spock and his giant dangerous teddy bear

wtf is that up ahead

“he is a vulcan” “he’s also human” are neither of you going to ask him what he thinks about this subject

so is the two-fingers thing a vulcan display of affection? I’m pretty sure I’ve seen people say it is

they keep encountering people going at warp 10+ but that’s Not A Thing

tellarites look so fucking weird my god

listen dude sarek is Not going to answer you and continually asking him isn’t logical

oh nvm he answered

christ these people want nothing more than to murder each other don’t they

damn rip tellarite

put your shirt back on jimothy

I love how Spock is just like “yeah it would probably have been a vulcan, yeah my father could easily have done it”

Why do people keep calling Amanda “Mrs. Sarek,” isn’t Sarek his personal name

is sarek having a heart attack rn

spock is very chill about dad having a heart attack

ok so someone is dead, someone else is maybe dying, and someone on the ship is communicating with a strange vessel. things are not going well huh

“there was nothing you could have done” yeah well she’s your wife, she still deserves to know!

ok idk how they plan to get enough blood for sarek

“I would estimate the odds—” “please don’t” amanda is a mood

spock taking this drug seems illogical but it seems like a vulcan can do any level of mental gymnastics to make anything logical

and meanwhile, jim’s being stabbed by an andorian in the galaxy’s most badly choreographed fight scene

and down he goes

damn spock changed his mind real fast

what is that accent the andorian has

spock. spock please. spock your dad is dying

baby spock got bullied :(

man this scene hurts

why doesn’t the door open when spock stands near it, does it know when someone wants to leave and when they’re being angsty

man this is what we gotta do to get spock to save dad huh

spock stop thinking about science things in the middle of your dad’s lifesaving surgery

there goes the antenna

honestly I’m not even interested in the A-plot so much as I am in the Vulcan family drama

this cannot be a good environment to perform surgery in

oh great now they don’t have power

ohhh it was a fake antenna, I just thought the effects were bad

alright, the enemy I didn’t really care about is down

kirk was like “let’s see if they want to surrender” and then they just go boom

and there goes the fake andorian

everyone on the enterprise is so difficult (except uhura) I love them

“I’m sick to death of logic” ma’am you married a vulcan

bones is definitely enjoying having the power here lmao

great episode!

[tetracopter]

Going Native and Amok Time

South Park has parodied and referenced Star Trek countless times all throughout its run, and Matt and Trey once joked that they would eventually sneak every episode from The Original Series into South Park. Every fan knows that Going Native is “The Bunny episode,” but I’ve never seen any posts talking about how it parodies Amok Time, which is well known to Star Trek fans as “The Spirk episode” to the point that the anniversary of its premiere is officially recognized as K/S Day (Speaking of which, what if October 17th was Bunny Day? Just a thought).

Anyway, because I am an avid fan of both shows and both pairings, I’d like to compare the two episodes in detail below the cut:

Both episodes begin with a third character raising concern about the focus character acting more aggressive, and we immediately see it for ourselves.

This leads to a confrontation and a discussion of Biology. It is revealed that the focus character has reached an age at which he must return to his birthplace and take part in a traditional ceremony.

In Spock’s case he must return to marry his childhood fiancé and mate with her; Obviously Butters is too young for that, but his father still makes it a point that Hawaii is where he will get married one day.

This makes the ending stand out more in that when Butters does complete his ceremony, he does it alongside Kenny, and they receive matching necklaces to boot!

Anyway, when they first arrive, there is some admonishment from the “natives” about bringing an outsider to the ceremony, but our focus character is quick to defend K’s right to be there.

The ceremony itself is also quite silly with the Vulcan bells and Hawaiian conch.

When the ceremony is interrupted, one of the natives suggests killing K. Our focus character then surprises everyone by attempting to defend K, despite the fact that he should only feel blind rage after the interruption.

Despite this, K still accepts the challenge in an attempt to earn the natives’ respect. He then fails and is seemingly dead to the focus character.

Our focus characters have completely different reactions, reflecting their respective personalities and backgrounds. Spock coldly confronts his fiancé, concedes to her logic, and leaves her to be with her lover since his sex drive died with Kirk. He solemnly begins to plan his own death. Meanwhile, Butters is angrier than ever and wants to bring down anyone he can hold responsible.

Their reactions to K’s return also differ significantly. The cool, calm, and collected Spock shouts Jim’s name and grabs him with a giant grin on his face. Meanwhile the loud, cheerful, crybaby Butters doesn't really react when he sees Kenny; He never really believed that Kenny was dead. Seeing him again only calms him down.

Even at the very end there is another silly little parallel as it is revealed that Butters’ anger was initially because of Ben Affleck being hot, making good movies, and having a hot wife, but he doesn’t really care anymore now that Kenny is back. Just as Spock claims that his mating urges are gone because of the fighting, Butters decides that his jealousy is gone because Ben Affleck is married to a different hot woman now (I’m calling BS on both of these excuses lol).

Also, while the title of the episode is an obvious jab at white people calling themselves Hawaiian natives, you could say that it also applied to Kenny. Just look at that beach bum attire, he truly went native.

[kinetic-elaboration]

September 17: 3x07 Day of the Dove

I am incredibly discombobulated today—usual weekend nocturnal shenanigans I guess! Anyway it’s somehow midnight. Gonna try to write up these note on the Classic episode The Day of the Dove in as efficient a manner as possible.

Hmm, a planet with wavy pink Fraggle plants. I like it already.

But where is Spock? Very suspicious.

I really appreciate Kirk giving a little speech to set up the overall question/issue for us. (I know he does this all the time with the Captain’s logs but this is out loud and so… more obviously expository.)

Oh no, it’s our old friends…the Klingons.

I will admit that this ONE TIME, the Klingon is being reasonable. Like, it is reasonable to think that Kirk and the Enterprise attacked his ship, given that his hip WAS attacked, and who else would it be?

Three years of peace between the Klingons and the Federation? That is inclusive of the show so all this tension must technically be “peace” and also implies there was something more like a direct war going on, like, right before Kirk got the captaincy.

Zoolander voice: What is this, a colony of the INVISIBLE?

“We have no devil. But we understand the habits of yours.”

No takers? No takers on the torture? No volunteers to be mercilessly tortured by the Klingons?

Star Trek Beyond could have had Kirk and Chekov bond over being brothers! I mean, to other people.

They’ll kill 100 hostages at the first sign of treachery. He does know there are only 400-some people on the ship right? Maybe you should pace yourself, Kang.

Kirk’s so badass he needs MULTIPLE guns trained on him just to use the phone.

Oh-ho secret message to Spock. Which version of the iPhone will be capable of doing THAT?

The Klingons are “suspended in transit” is an awfully nice way of saying they’re just dematerialized atoms in space. Philosophy major and/or Bones nightmare fuel.

How did Kang not see this coming, by the way? Like, he just says “I’m taking your ship now, me and my 6 men versus your 400-some men, and I’ll do this by simply declaring it to be so. Now let’s beam up to your ship, where I’ll be greatly outnumbered, and there are armed security guards all around me.” Guess he’s been reading The Secret!

WIFE AND SCIENCE OFFICER

Aka the most important part of this whole episode.

Kirk’s face is very ?????? You can have both????

It’s legitimately not even important for her to be the science officer tbqh. Like that is so gratuitous. That’s just in there to drive me insane.

"We're prisoners, somehow, after I demanded to come on the ship, assuming they'd just give it to me without any kind of fight. How DID this happen?”

Federation death camps lol—someone’s been watching Fox News.

I do kind of wonder… is this an actual rumor that goes around the Klingon homeworld or is it something that the alien entity put in her head specifically to make her angrier right now? I mean it really could be either.

I also appreciate this episode for being pretty much the only one to actually attempt to give the Klingons a reason for being as they are. The Romulans… maybe aren’t well-described, but they do have a sort of regalness to them, appropriate for being related to Vulcans, and you can kind of imagine that they are the way they are because they’re Vulcans without the intense self-control. Plus they’re literally only in 2 TOS eps and in the second, the Federation are the aggressors. But the Klingons show up a half-dozen times only to be depicted each time as just like Cartoonishly Bad, aggressive, violent, and selfish for basically no reason. And I mean, some people really are!! But TOS has so much nuance in other places, that it always seemed a little disappointing to me that the Klingons are really just like ‘well we’re just bad and we hate everyone and we really like killing I guess.” At least in this ep there’s a little more added to that: that there is poverty on their world, that they feel aggrieved, that they feel unprotected, that taking and conquering is how they look after themselves…

I think that’s later in the episode though.

He’s detaining them in the LOUNGE lol. With their favorite dishes available to them to eat. Absolutely barbarous conditions.

I can’t believe Chekov is hanging in the elevator with the cool kids. Like, one of these things really isn’t like the others.

Kang is officially sure of himself for someone currently imprisoned in the lounge, that most fearsome of Federation death camps.

Hmm, could the glittery light alien have taken over??

You know what, that's a lot of tasks for Johnson to do all by himself: search the whole ship, fix the engines, and free 400 people.

Sulu would love this: everyone gets a sword!!

“Bridge. I gotta show this to Sulu immediately.”

Klingons have maintained a dueling tradition. That’s interesting. Finally some characterization going on.

Spock is really living up to his logical nature today. Everyone else has gone off the emotional deep end and he’s like “have you considered this completely rational explanation that accounts for the actual, observed facts??”

Whoops Chekov is actually an only child. Scratch that previous Beyond headcanon. (Interesting that his dead brother does really resemble Sam though—killed on a research colony??)

Love that Sulu knows that about him though.

Oh, that’s a pretty schematic picture of the Enterprise. I want that on a t-shirt.

Lol the pan out to the armory, now filled with… swords!!

Do ALL of these men have a fetish for swords? Sulu and fencing, Spock displaying swords in his quarters, and Kirk in his San Francisco apartment, and Scotty salivating over this Scottish blade.

“Klingon units.”

Finally Sulu gets his sword! It’s what he deserves.

Love that the shiny light alien also has a fetish for swords.

Oh no, it’s our old adversary, an alien life force.

What is the alien’s purpose? Um, I’m pretty sure its purpose is to start shit.

“An appropriate choice of terms, Captain.” I don’t even remember what this is referring to but I think it’s pretty clear that Spock is enjoying himself during a crisis again.

Bones, being so dramatic. Were there atrocities? He’s talking about the Klingons as if they were literally hacking off limbs—it’s a few stab wounds here and there, chill.

Oooh, time to behave like military men—strong words. (But I thought it wasn’t the military?? @ S**** P****) (This might not even be my best argument, given the context of this episode, but I’m sticking with it.)

This is like a giant game of capture the flag.

AU that’s just about the Enterprise crew playing capture the flag with the Klingons.

Sulu in the background standing guard with his sword

Damn, turning on Spock with the slurs now!!

Spock was absolutely ready to kill him. Like he would 100% have taken him out with a blow to the head. And he’d been doing such a good job of not feeling the alien’s effects so far! Admittedly, that was a strong provocation though.

Honestly, I really like this scene. It’s uncomfortable and tense and you can really see how the alien is bringing out the worst possible influences of their respective races. And I liked how Spock was definitely full on pre-Reform Vulcan for a minute there. It was a more effective portrayal of what that might have looked like than All Our Yesterdays tbqh.

A result of… stress?

Kirk got himself out of it first. He’s so strong. He knows himself so well, he cannot be outsmarted by any alien.

“We’ve been taught to think in terms other than war.”

“The alien brings out the worst of us—patriotic drumbeating…even race hatred.”

He’s so sad; he can’t imagine thinking like that about Spock :(

Sulu in a Jeffries tube! A man of many talents. It’s okay bb, take credit for turning on the lights.

The alien must have been getting bored. The Klingons must have been doing too well, and the playing field needs to be leveled for maximum shit-stirring.

“Let’s find that alien.” That’s how I ALWAYS feel.

Oh, Kang, you’re so close—“What power supports our battle but thwarts our victory.” So, so close to getting it.

ALIEN DETECTED.

Spock takes his sword, of course.

“Jim.” Obligatory Jim moments hit differently when they’re not so obligatory.

“Jim—stop hitting my protégé. And put that sword down.”

Kirk looks so sad, picking Chekov up to carry him bridal style.

Also in addition to ‘race hatred’ I think we need to add ‘rape-y tendances’ to the bad stuff that the alien is inspiring here.

“A brief surge of racial bigotry. Most distasteful.” Spock winning for understatement of the year.

They're assuming the alien is trying to test out their relative powers but I think it just wants entertainment. I mean, doesn’t it look like a naughty little thing?

Mara’s outfit is… little shorts? Interesting. Usually not my style but she makes it work.

Spock doesn’t even look at Johnson as he falls lol. Another one bites the dust.

“It exists on the hate of others.”

What does this remind me of? Oh, the Vast of Night and the whole “aliens made us do every bad thing ever” conspiracy theory. At least this one makes more sense, in part because it is not quite so overwhelmingly broad!

All hostile attitudes must be eliminated, he says, and there's Mara right behind Kirk giving him a death stare lol.

Kang is so obviously posing. Google Earth, always taking pictures.

Only a few minutes before drifting forever in space becomes inevitable? Good thing Kirk works well under pressure.

“Well… do whatever you can, Scotty. You know the drill.” Doesn’t even bother giving real directions anymore. We’ve been in this scenario before.

“So we drift in space, with only hatred and bloodshed aboard.”

And the 392 people below just get to…live in Enterprise prison, I guess.

Star date: Armageddon. So dramatic!

I’m not even making that up; that’s an actual quote. Can you imagine being an Admiral listening to this?

“Stop the war now.” An actual line, really aired on television.

Spock wants to threaten the wife lol. That's the old pre-Reform Vulcan seeping through. Surak who?

Damn, Kang is cold. “Eh, she gets the concept of being killed in battle.” They’re gonna need marriage counseling after this.

“There is another way. Mutual trust and help.” Yes that’s my hero!!

“No one can guarantee the actions of another.” Can’t remember the context of this entirely anymore, but great line.

The entity is loving this—multi-person choreographed sword fight!!

"Those who hate and fight must stop themselves. otherwise it is not stopped.” Another baller line. Spock has a lot of deep thoughts today. And so does Kirk. And Kang.

Kirk tries to reason with the alien. Nice try.

“Shoo. Shoo, alien. Off the ship, go away.”

Omg that last moment—Kang slapping Kirk’s back way too hard, Spock’s completely ridiculous wide-eyed expression when he does, like some sort of combo of amusement and confusion, and then Sulu just passing on by in the background….

Then the alien just yeets itself into space. And that’s the end!

Always feels weird when there’s no wrap up on the bridge.

Also, what are they going to do with the Klingons? They have no ship. They really did come out of this a lot worse than Kirk and co. No ship, huge casualties—and no one to blame even, but the alien.

I feel like the alien messed up a little in killing so many Klingons. Like, it could have accomplished its purpose, angering the Klingons and turning them on Kirk, by attacking the ship a little less violently—you know they’d react to 5 deaths pretty much the same as 400, and then there would be many more people to fight forever and produce that sweet sweet anger!

Maybe the alien’s powers aren’t strong enough to influence 800 people though. Also it wants equal forces and 800 people wouldn’t fit on the Enterprise, one assumes. So it still makes sense.

That was, of course, an excellent episode. 100% agree with is classic status, even though the main things I remembered going in were the wife + science officer bit, and everyone laughing at the end in a really forced, fake way, in order to make the alien go away.

I thought the Klingons were a lot better/more interesting today than usual. First, I think Kang is a better character, or a better actor maybe, than the others; he has a certain way about him that is… more watchable, more sympathetic. And he’s always saying these really dramatic things that make it seem likely he writes patriotic Klingon war poetry in his off time. Also, including his wife made them seem more… not human obviously, but normal. Not just cardboard cut-out villains. And of course the actual lightly specific motivations I earlier mentioned helped too.

Also, the plotting was very good: it built up slowly but surely over time, so at first the alien’s influence wasn’t that obvious, and then it became more so, and then it became horrifically obvious and extreme. And then you had to re-evaluate earlier moments: was that the alien changing facts in their heads, or a real part of the animosity between humans and Klingons? And it wasn’t always clear, which I appreciated. The tension when the people were at their worst wasn’t overdone, like in that moment with Scotty, Spock, and Kirk—or even in Chekov’s assault on Mara, tbh. The various strategies of the different sides were very entertaining too; there was never a dull moment, and they fit in a lot of straight-up actions and twists into 50 minutes.

The possible threat was truly terrifying, also: stuck in a space ship, forever, unable to die, feeling the worst possible emotions all the time, besieged, angered, despairing, fighting a war that can’t be won, being injured and suffering only to recover and fight again, and it never stops… A perfect nightmare mixture of insanity and violence and pain. And the alien, in encouraging hatred and anger, doesn’t discriminate between sides: they turn on each other just as much as on the Klingons, breeding paranoia and infighting. For eternity.

The episode also felt much more strongly anti-war than I remember tbh. Like it was not subtle. Kirk literally says “stop the war” in so many words. He has a part in his speech where he talks about the possibility of other aliens out there, encouraging other wars. And while I do think “maybe the aliens are making us do it” is a cop out explanation, or would be if it were real, the scenario gave the show a lot of room to say, like, pretty ballsy things: to include “patriotic drum beating” along with “race hatred” in a list of corrupting feelings they were experiencing; to show how the same instincts that lead to warring also lead to sexual assault and the aforementioned ‘race hatred;” to reveal the true horror of an endless war by making the participants unkillable and sticking them in a singular space ship in the middle of nowhere; to imply that the combatants of war gain nothing from it, but outside or third-party entities will pull strings of their own design to profit from the conflict as long as possible; even to make an impassioned plea to camera to stop the endlessness of the conflict. Like I can’t even totally unpack this but it is a lot!

Finally, it was also a great Kirk episode, which of course is my most important factor. He’s smart; he’s strong; he’s so sure of himself and his values that he cannot be manipulated to mindless hatred, he represents the values of the Federation, and the show itself; he treats even his enemies with basic respect and humanity; and ultimately, he saves the day.

Okay I was not efficient in writing this up at all! It is very late!!

[aion-rsa]

Mass Effect: Best Star Trek References and Easter Eggs

https://ift.tt/3tH2zJa

Look, it’s not exactly a secret that Mass Effect has a little Star Trek in its DNA. It’s a franchise all about assembling a crew comprised of humans and aliens as you explore the furthest reaches of space and try your best to romance a few of those humans and aliens. It’s safe to say someone on the Mass Effect development teams watched an episode or two of Star Trek.

So while Mass Effect is, in some ways, a giant tribute to Star Trek and several other notable sci-fi works, there are a few ways that the Mass Effect games reference Star Trek that you may not have spotted unless you’re a hardcore Star Trek fan who also explored the furthest reaches of Mass Effect‘s galaxy.

From suspicious lines of dialog to familiar voices, these are some of the best Star Trek references and Easter eggs you’ll find in the Mass Effect trilogy.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The Borg and The Geth

As a race of networked AI who utilize a “hivemind” system and have to deal with the occasional dissenter, there are clearly similarities between Mass Effect‘s Geth and Star Trek‘s Borg that can’t be ignored.

Having said that, some fans have pointed out that the designs and philosophies of the Geth could also be a nod to Battlestar Galactica‘s Cylons. It should also be noted that Mass Effect‘s Reapers are often treated as a mysterious galactic threat similar to how the Borg were described in early TNG episodes.

The Thorian and Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan’s Ceti Eels

In Mass Effect, you’ll encounter a sentient plant known as a Thorian. If this almost slug-like creature with the ability to use painful spores to control people’s minds seems oddly familiar, that’s likely because it’s almost certainly a reference to the Ceti Eels that Khan used to control people in one of Star Trek 2‘s most memorable scenes.

In fact, there’s a memorable moment in Mass Effect when Fai Dan shoots himself after ignoring a Thorian order to kill Shepard. It’s an almost exact recreation of a Wrath of Khan scene in which Captain Terrel uses a phaser on himself after disobeying Khan and the influence of the Ceti Eels.

Cerebus and Section 31

In Star Trek: Deep Space 9, we learn there’s a special section of Starfleet known simply as Section 31. They’re kind of a “wetworks” organization that has operated with and without Star Fleet’s support over the years. Through it all, they claim to promote “security” through whatever means necessary.

The Cerebus group in Mass Effect serve a similar purpose, with the biggest difference being that Cerebus has long been a kind of “splinter” group that operates independently to protect human interest (allegedly) on a galactic scale whereas Section 31 did seemingly operate with Starfleet’s support (at least for a time).

The Normandy’s Poker Table

While it’s a bit of a shame you don’t really get to do much with the poker table on the Normandy, the fact there’s a poker table so prominently featured on a spaceship has to be a callback to the poker table frequently used by the Enterprise crew in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Actually, TNG‘s poker table was such an important part of the ship (at least to key members of the crew) that it was even the centerpiece of the final scene in TNG‘s last episode, “All Good Things…”

Kenneth Donnelly is (Accidentally?) a Scotty Tribute

As a spaceship engineer with a heavy Scottish accent, it’s easy to assume that Mass Effect‘s Kenneth Donnelly was designed to be an obvious homage to Star Trek‘s Montgomery “Scotty” Scott.

However, Mass Effect level designer Dusty Everman has previously stated that the similarities between those two weren’t planned from the start and really only came to life as the result of voice actor John Ullyatt’s performance choices and a bit of coincidence. Actually, Everman (or someone convincingly posing as him once upon a time) stated that Donnelly’s accent was based on his wife’s love of Ewan McGregor and that the original plan was for female Shepard players to be able to romance him.

“Yes! Exhilarating, Isn’t It?”

One of Mass Effect‘s better Star Trek references happens when Shepard warns a Krogan that the area around them is collapsing and the Krogan replies “Exhilarating, isn’t it?”

The same line is spoken by Christopher Lloyd in Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock under spiritually similar circumstances. Lloyd even portrays a Klingon in the film, and the Krogan have been called a Klingon-like race.

Various Star Trek Actors Voice Characters in the Mass Effect Franchise

If you’ve ever wondered just how much Star Trek influenced Mass Effect, look no further than Mass Effect‘s voice actor cast list.

Marina Sirtis, Armin Shimerman, Keith Szarabajka, Dwight Schultz…the Mass Effect cast is packed with actors arguably best known for their roles in various Star Trek series and films. Michael Dorn (who famously portrayed Worf in Star Trek: TNG) even voices a Krogan in Mass Effect 2.

Read more

Games

Mass Effect’s Hidden Kirk/Picard Morality System

By Matthew Byrd

Games

Star Trek: Judgment Rites Was the Final Season The Original Series Deserved

By Matthew Byrd

“This is… it’s green?”

While visiting the Dark Star lounge, Mass Effect‘s Commander Shepard receives an alien drink and remarks “This is… it’s green?” The line is a clear callback to a Star Trek: TOS episode called “By Any Other Name” in which Scotty picks up a strange bottle and makes the same comment.

In fact, Data says a similar line in the TNG episode “Relics” while pouring a mysterious green drink for…Scotty.

Mordin Solus and Data Have Similar Taste in Music

Mordin Solus’ love of music isn’t just one of the best Mass Effect companion’s most loveable attributes, it’s an apparent nod to Data: the also hyper-intelligent, also slightly detached Star Trek: TNG character who also loves to sing.

Actually, Solus and Data seem to share an appreciation for Gilbert and Sullivan as the two sing the duo’s greatest hits in their respective series.

“Goodbye Little Wing” and Deanna Troi

Matriarch Benezia isn’t just one of the more memorable side characters in the original Mass Effect; she’s another one of those characters in the Mass Effect franchise you may have not realized was voiced by a Star Trek alumni. Yes, Benezia is played by none other than Deanna Troi actress Marina Sirtis.

Best of all, there’s a moment in the first Mass Effect when Benezia says “Goodbye little wing, I have always been proud of you” shortly before dying. It’s an odd phrase that might make a little more sense when you realize that Troi’s mother was always calling her “little one” in TNG.

“When Your World Seems Hollow, We Help You Touch the Sky”

This one has to be in the running for the honor of “most obscure” Star Trek reference in any Mass Effect game.

In Mass Effect‘s Bring Down The Sky DLC, there is a radio shack located between two fusion torches. Go inside it, and you’ll find a log filled with unused radio promo spots. The script for one of those spots reads “If you are feeling hollow, we can help you touch the sky.” What is that supposed to mean?

Well, it seems to be a nod to a Star Trek: TOS Season 3 episode called “For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky.” In that episode, an old man living atop a mountain tells the Enterprise crew “the world is hollow and I have touched the sky.”

The Systems Alliance Logo Looks Very Familiar…

Mass Effect‘s Systems Alliance is an Earth coalition responsible for representing the interests of humans in Citadel space. There are obviously many organizations in several notable sci-fi works with similar responsibilities, but there’s little doubt that the Systems Alliance is intended to refer to Star Trek‘s Starfleet.

In fact, the Systems Alliance logo bears a strong resemblance to the Starfleet logo from later Star Trek series and films. It’s not exactly a 1:1 copy, but it’s impossible not to spot the similarities once you start looking for them.

“Karora is Essentially a Great Rock in Space”

You’ll find another surprisingly subtle Star Trek reference in Mass Effect 2 when you request more information on a planet named Karora. The Normandy’s computer will inform you that “Karora is essentially a great rock in space, tidally locked to Amada.”

As it just so happens, Spock describes the Regula planet that the Enterprise crew encounters in Star Trek 2 as “essentially a great rock in space.” Maybe the wording is common enough to be a coincidence, but given all the other clear Star Trek references in Mass Effect, it feels like an intentional tribute.

The post Mass Effect: Best Star Trek References and Easter Eggs appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3uUDPhW

[bearsinpotatosacks]

Why Lose Hope?- Chapter 2

Chapter 1 , Part 1 of the All the Little Things Seem so Insignificant Now Series

Jim ran from the transporter, his crew behind him as he raced to reach the bridge. The transporter itself being broken from the strain of trying to deliver seven people to another universe. 

He slid in his chair and lent forwards as if it would bring him closer to Bones. They'd somehow managed to get an image on the two versions of him in that universe and had been watching them for the entire ten hours he'd been gone. 

It was bittersweet watching him. Bones' smiles were sour and his movements freaked from the weight of the possibility he may never go home. Yet he carried on. He cared for Leonard, for the animals and crops all while telling tales of his universe, his ship all those miles away.

"Scotty, tell me you've got some good news,"

"Well, Captain, it's fixable but it'll take an hour minimum," The pain was obvious in his voice. "The most you could do is watch for the time being,"

"Thank you, Mr Scott," 

He knew what that meant for Bones, another year until he could see anyone he loved again. Although he had spent the entire time with the other Leonard McCoy, perhaps he loved him? Did it count as self love when it was an alternate version of himself?

It had only been a few seconds for them, but when he looked back at the screen,a week had already passed. Spock had done the calculations, a year for them is an hour on the ship, a month is five minutes and one and a quarter minutes was a week.

Leo, their Bones, was sitting on the porch covered in a blanket. He'd taken ill quickly, their hypotheses had been that a planet with worse technology than they had, even regressing back before the third world war, would be less equipped to handle severe illnesses. 

Leonard was sitting on the other side of the table with half a scarf hanging off his knitting needles. He was talking about something to do with their farm when Leo broke the calm, coughing and spluttering.

"Here," He handed him a glass of water. "Take a nice long drink and you'll be fine,"

Leo did as he was told and lent back in his chair, face a little paler from the exertion of his remaining energy. The weather had changed rapidly in the time he'd been away, everywhere was blue skies and sunshine.

"How about I give you something to take your mind off things?" Leonard asked, only getting a grunt from Leo. "When did you meet your Jim?"

The crew all turned to face him. Uhura giving an amused glance, Spock something actually questioning and everyone else seemingly on the verge of rolling their eyes.

"When d'you meet yours?"

"It was 2255, I was working on a starbase somewhere, a medicine focused one, and I rush over to see a young man, six years younger than me, trying to escape with an IV line in, bandages on, nasal cannula and osteocalcium cream on his legs. He was also on the verge of passing out and was politely yelling at the guard to let him leave," He looked at Leo. "That was when I met James T. Kirk,"

"Sounds pretty on brand for him," Jim tried not to be hurt by that statement, even if he knew it was true.

"I saw him pretty much every day for about eight months, he was recovering from a serious injury involving radiation, an explosion and some angry octosquidarians. Became quite a good friend of mine even when he got transferred out of the ICU. He left, of course, everybody did on that starbase, yet we still managed to keep in touch and when he had his own ship and needed a CMO, well there was only one man for the job," He said and smiled to himself.

There was something about his age, his grey hair and wrinkles that made his smile more heartfelt. Perhaps it was the knowledge that he'd had more years with his Jim, more loving moments and annoying mishaps. He had nostalgia in his eyes as he sighed and turned to Leo.

"How'd'ya meet your Jim?"

"On a shuttle to Starfleet Academy, I was being forced out of my place in the bathroom-"

"Bathroom?"

"I have aviophobia," He nestled into the blankets further. "Jim's face was covered in blood, he'd been in a fight, and I was kind of drunk and spouted all the ways we could die on the thing and how my wife took everything. Then when we landed I found out he was in the same student apartment as me,"

"He was little shit most of the time, but he's also my best friend and the love of my life," 

He stopped and stared out for a moment. Jim was glad, he couldn't take it anymore. It had only been a few hours without him but he knew it had been so much longer for Bones. 

Part of him wondered while they were waiting for the transporter modifications if he'd even love him anymore. Ten years could change a lot in a person, he would know. He went into town and could've easily fell in love with a local, but he didn't. He still loved him and he still loved Spock.

Speaking of which, the other Leonard asked their Bones another question, "When did you realise you loved your Spock?"

"You remember how I had to resurrect Jim?"

Leonard nodded.

"Well, with Spock being a scientist in multiple fields, he could help me in making the serum. He took my place when I was on the verge of collapse from fatigue or hunger or emotion, and I ain't told anyone this, but I meditated with him on the little time I had off and it actually helped," 

Jim smiled at Spock at the image of the two. Bones probably complained that it was useless for an overthinker like him or about the sitting positions being too convoluted for his old joints. Spock had suggested they all meditate together, one of the few couple activities Vulcans were known to do. 

"And when Jim woke up and I couldn't handle the pressure of caring for him and the tabloids calling me Dr. Frankenstein and the looks from all the other doctors and pharmacists and every other medic in the hospital. So Spock listened as I ranted and cried and-" He stopped and took a few deep breaths. "And I realised, oh shit, I think I'm falling for him,"

"Well that's very romantic. When did you tell Jim?" 

"There was a mission involving loss, they made us see supposed ghosts of people we lost and Spock was determined to say he wasn't affected. But Jim invited him over and after a few hours of awkward silences and denying the connection we were feeling, we admitted our feelings to each other,"

"How about you?" He said.

"Spock had a thing, a Vulcan thing that meant he had to go home-"

"Pon farr?"

Leonard nodded, "Things happened, to survive we had to fake Jim's death, Spock didn't know but when he realised he was alive they finally admitted their feelings for each other. Unfortunately for me I realised I loved the bastards," He carried on knitting with a little more ferocity. "It wasn't until we found a giant space amoeba and Spock won our 'Who's going to sacrifice themselves for the sake of science argument' that I realised I should've told him,"

He chuckled to himself, "Well, we managed to save him, of course, and I took that as a sign and told them they had my heart. And apart from a little bump after the five year mission, we ain't never looked back,"

Jim and Spock smiled at each other. They'd visited Ambassador Spock and willed him to tell them his stories like children on Pesach. About peaceful Sunday mornings when he'd meditate and they'd secretly watch their Leonard get ready for church. And about many trips to Vulcan where the Ambassador would show them off like trophy husbands.

They could tell he missed his Jim and Bones, a nostalgic look always distant in his eyes and his house filled with the various photos and videos he kept on his PADD when he went through the black hole. 

At the time, they didn't understand what that felt like, to miss someone with every fibre of your soul. But after watching their Bones survive years and years alone without them, they realised how strangely comforting such an ache was.

The screen in front of them sped up as time drifted on. Relative as ever. Jim took a deep breath as Yeoman Rand handed everyone coffee and settled back in his chair for a long few hours.

I've managed to put a few headcanons of mine into this, like old married mcspirk's habit of Spock meditating, Bones getting ready for church and Jim smiling goofily as he watches his husband get dressed in his sunday best. Also I made up a few things for TOS Mckirk's meeting but the main idea I got from memory alpha is that Jim got hurt in his pre-captain days and met Bones. I would very much like to see this meeting somehow.

This fic will get weirder quite quickly and the schedule I think I might go with is one chapter in the farm universe, one in one of the crew's universe's, back to the farm universe and one in the other crew's universe.

And finally, I added Yeoman Rand! I'm very much in the camp of "I'll add all the recurring characters in tos into aos because someone (JJ Abrams) didn't" so I hope you enjoyed her cameo!

[calliecat93]

Top 15 Star Trek TOS Episodes (Part Two)

(Part One)

Continuing from the last post, here are the remaining seven episodes~! Also picking Number One was SUPER hard. I was stuck between it and two for a long while. But I finally picked, so here we go!

#7. The Trouble With Tribbles

Up to this point, I hadn’t been crazy over some of the goofier episodes of Star Trek. Shore Leave was a mindscrew that left me uncertain about what was even happening by the end, though my opinion has lightened up upon looking back. The Squire of Gothos had a villain that I found far more annoying than entertaining and it remains one of my least favorite episodes. The only more silly one I did like was I, Mudd which remains an utter laugh riot once everyone acts as illogical as possible, including Spock. But then this episode came along, and Dear Lord it is hilarious. Our heroes stop at a space station, but it’s also occupied by Klingons. But wait, it gets better! A sleezy guy convinces Uhura to buy a Tribble, these little puff ball things that are kind of cute... until they begin to reproduce so rapidly that they infest the ship and base. To put it simply, it’s not a good time for Kirk. Honestly Kirk is the best part just because of how much he LOATHES every single thing about this episode. The scene where a whole bunch of Tribbles just topple over him and he just resigns himself to his fate and later his epic death glare at Bones when he orders him to figure out what killed the things. And then there’s what makes him come aorund to them, their shared hatred of Klingons. Seriosuly, Kirk is just So Done in this episode and it is amazing~

But seriously, it’s a very entertianing episode. Far more than I thought it was going to be when I read the description. It’s not an episode taken seriosuly, but not in the ‘they just gave up’ kind of way like in certain S3 episodes. The cast seem to be legit having a fun time with this one. The brawl between Scotty, Chekov, and a few other guys against the Klingons was super fun as was Kirk sulking when Scotty revelas that he got provoked over the Enteprise being insulted and not the captain. Poor Jim XD Cyrano Jones was also just a fun delight with how scummy yet amusing he is. The scene with him and the drinks during the brawl had me laughing so much XD Seriosuly there’s just so many good moments. Spock not being immune to the Tribble’s comforting effect and being embarassed at this revelaiton, Spock and McCoy’s snark, the Klingons utter horror at the tiny little furballs, it’s just an entertaining ride from beginning to end.

Not anything to really note flaws wise to justify the ranking. It doesn’t have that emotional or philosophical umph that I normally seek out in shows like this, so it’s here at seven. But that ain’t a bad thing at all. Not every episode has to have deep meanings or complex stories. Sometimes it can just be something fun and amusing, and the effort was still there to make it entertaining. It’s one of those episodes that I would watch above the others on a bad day just so I can laugh. Probably the most fun episode I have on this list, and that’s nothing to snuff at~!

#6. The Doomsday Machine

Our heroes find a Starship where the only survivor is Commadore Decker, his crew having all been killed when he beamed them to a planet that a planet destroyer... well, destroyed shortly after. The destroyer is still active and now the Enterprise is in danger. As Kirk remains on that ship, Decker is determined to destroyt he doomsday machine once and for all, including taking command of the Enteprrise and risking their lives to do so. Yeah, this is a pretty intense one. Decker, while his sucicdal actions were wrong, is VERY sympathetic. His crew was killed through no fault of his own, the machine that did it is still loose, and the losses have left him utterly broken. He’s very much traumatized but as he is the highest ranking officer and they can’t officially prove that he’s too mentlaly unfit to be relieved (which imo is idiotic cause even someone who isn’t a psycologist can tell he’s mentally unfit, but whatever), they can’t do much to stop him. Spock DOES finally manage to do so, and it leads to Decker’s ultimate choice that leads to his tragic end.

This one really gripped me. There’s this tension throughout. We have an unstable, suicidal man taking control of the Enterprise and willing to get them all killed to stop the doomsday machine. It’s scary to see how broken the man is. Again, he’s wrong to be willing to sacrifice everyone on The Enterprise to destroy the thing even though none of them want to die, but you understand why. I mean imagine if that happened to Kirk, he’d probably snap too if his actions in Obsession is any indication of how he handles major losses like that. Then we have Decker’s final act. Once relieved of command, he steals a shuttle and goes at the machine himself. He knows that he’s going to die and accepts that fact if it means some chance, any chance of destroying the machine once and for all. While he fails to destory it, he DOES give Kirk the opprotunity needed to do so with the ruined ship. A move that almost gets Kirk killed, but still Decker’s act was not in vain. It’s a very interesting character study with themes of guilt, trauma, and desperation. Kind of like in Obsession in a way, only Kirk manages to survive and pull himself together before it was too late. Decker’s only goal was to take down the machine that took his crew’s lives, even if that meant losing his own.

As I said, these are the kinds of episodes I live for. I guess self-sacrifice is also genetic consideirng what happened with his son in The Motion Picture, haha. Flaws... ugh... I guess McCoy disappeairng after the first half sucked? But that’s a me thing that doesn’t affect anything. I just remember watching it wide-eyed despite fully well knowing that everyone I cared about were going to be perfectly fine. It really gripped me! A great episode with great character exploration and themes which for a one off character, is pretty dang impressive!

#5. Journey to Babel

Meet the parents epidsode! Yay! The Enteprise is transporting various ambassadors of various planets to the Babel Conference. This includes the Vulcan Ambassador Sarek and his human wife Amanda, aka Spock’s parents. Yep, it’s time for some good ol’ fashioned family issues! Sarek wasn’t exactly happy with Spock choosing Starfleet and their relationship has been strained ever since. But when Sarek has severe heart problems, the only way to save him is via blood transfusion with Spock the only one compatible. But to make it worse, Kirk gets stabbed and put out of comission, forcing Spock to take command... at the same time that his father needs the surgery. Yeah... it sucks to be Spock in this episode. I know that Sarek is a bit divisive, but I like Spock’s parents. Sarek comes off as good at his job, but not great as a parent. He’s far fromt he worst and we do see that he does seem to still care about his son, he’s just God awful at admitting it and his previous mistakes. Like father, like son I guess. Amanda was a delight, especially when she tells McCoy about the sehlat aka giant teddy bear. Anyone who can make Bones smile that big deserves our thanks. Spock trying to make it less embarassing only made it funnier XD But back on topic, they come off as interesitng characters. They ain’t ideal, but they seem to genuinely be in love, which is nice.

Spock was just great here as we see him in one of the roughest spots he’s been in. He’s naturally not happy about being around the father that cast him aside again, though after his heart issues it’s clear that he IS concerned. Leonard Nimoy once again does such a fantastic job at having Spock express so much but without breaking character. It’s all in the eyes and the strained tone of voice. Then when Spock is more than willing to go through with the tranfusion, Kirk is injured. He has no choice but to take command, knowing that in doing so his father will die. While he COULD give command to Scotty, with the VERY intense circumstances of an assaliant on board and a ship ready to attack wit a number of ambassadors on board, he’s the best bet in handling it. Amanda is of course upset and even smacks him which IS overly harsh, but she’s about to lose her husband and her son, despite clealry hating the fact, has to place his duty above all else. Sarek dying is the least worst outcome to everyone else being killed. It’s the most logical route. Fortunately Kirk is able to pull himself together long enough to take over and the transfusion goes through perfectly despite the fight making it more difficult. Which again, McCoy is the true MVP here for managing to pull that off successfully under those conditions and Thank God that the episode rewarded him by letting him finally get the last word. He earned that one!

It’s such a great episode for me. Family drama, Spock conflict, political tensions, and just some relaly fun bits. Seriosuly, the teddy bear bit will NEVER stop being funny. Hoenstly these last five were all pretty tight and this ende dup here cause the other four had just a little bit mroe to keep me invested for reasons. Spock and Sarek don’t really reach a resolution but we do see that it has the chance to improve, and the movies do show that Sarek DOES truly care about his son and even admits that he had been wrong. It takes a lot for a man, even a Vulcan man, to do that. Although I DID double take when I realized that Sarek is played by the same guy who did the Romulan Captain in Balance of Terror. Guess he was that good XD. But yeah, a really great episode and very much my favorite Spock-centric episode.

#4. The Empath

TRIUMVIRATE FEELS BABY~! Our heroes end up trapped by a duo of aliens and encounter a mute empath woman that McCoy names Gem. They try to figure out how to escape as the aliens known as Vians plan to use them for an experiment as they have others. Shenanigains happen while elad to Kirk getting totured p, and then given the ultimate sadistic choice in having to decide if either Spock or McCoy get tortured to the point of either death (McCoy) or permenant brain damage (Spock). Now the episode has it’s issues, like why the Vians needed to do this to decide that Gem’s people were worth saivng is..l really baffling. But I’m also not a Vian so what do I know anout their mindset? But due to those kinds of plot holes, it landed here at four. It also kind of reads like a hurt/comfort fanfic, which isn’t a surprise when you find out that this was written and submitted by a fan. Which is freakin’ awesome and I can’t complain tbh cause it’s a good hurt/comfort fic. What it fails in some plot tightning it succeeds at in emphasizing the relationship between the main trio and it’s themes of emotion and self-sacrifice. Because OF COURSE that would be relevant for these three numbskulls at some point!

The second half is really what sells it. Kirk of course can’t make a choice like that, so Bones hypos him so that he’ll be spared of it. But that means that Spock is in command and he fully intends to hand himself over to the Vians to spare the two. Just the scene where he looks at Kirk, knowing that it’ll likely be the last time he sees him and Gem touching him to feel his emotions. Her smile sums it sll up. Which sidenote, the actress for Gem was freakin’ fantastic in how she displayed so much emotion and character without saying one word. Excellent acting. Anyways, Spock’s plan seems full-proof... except that he forgot that he’s dealing with McCoy, who promptly hypos him as well and sacrifices himself to the Vians. That was when McCoy became my favorite character, the moment he chose to be tortured to near death to save his two best friends and an innocent woman and even took the time to try and comfort her before being taken away. When we see the ifnal result and are greeted to DeForest Kelley looking at the camera with the most dead expression that he can muster... yeah the image STILL haunts me. Then Bones is dying with the two unable to do anything but try to give him some comfort and Gem is just so distraught and... heah this episode mad eit this high simply because it hit the emotional beats perfectly. That’s not even going into Gem trying to heal him to drive home the themes of the episode, also done VERY well.

This episode really shows how much the three care for one another. They’re all willing to be tortured and die to spare the other two. Ultimately McCoy gets the ‘honor’, but Kirk and Spock were absolutely ready to throw themselves to the fire. The characterization, interactions, and dynamic are just done so well that it’s why I can forgive the plot issues. I’m a sucker for feelings okay?! So yeah it’s not perfect but what it got right it got right. As such, it managed to land here at Number Four with only those plot holes keeping it from Number One. And trust me, I was tempted.

#3. The Tholian Web

Season 3 hadn’t been doing it for me with only one or two episodes really getitng my attention up to that point. This one though? This was the best episode in the seaosn bar none. Our heroes end up in a subspace where they find a starship and it’s crew all dead. Whien they teleport back to The Enterprise, it disappears... and takes Kirk with it. Okay, doesn’t sound liek anythignt hat new right? Kirk goes missing, the crew have to deal without him and find him as quickly as posisble. But this one has a bit of a twist... they cut Kirk out completely. Yeah, from the moment he vanishes in the first act to the very end he is out of the episode. Not only does the crew not know what happened to him, but neither does the audience, this ramps up the fear and emotional weight big time as the longer the crew is int hat space, the influence of it drives them to insanity. Bones wants to get out because of this, while Spock is unwilling to leave Kirk if he is alive. Needles to say, things go off the rails quickly.

With Kirk out of the equation, we keep our focus on Spock and McCoy. Their arguing is probably at the most personal it’s ever been with Kirk seming dead, the crew losing their minds, and it looking more and more uncertain that they can both treat the crew and ge tout alive. While one can say that McCoy may be too harsh here, I think along with the space affecting him in a less intense way, he’s also stressed from all the patients as well as his grief about Jim. Spock is the only one that he can take it out on, especially since his chocie to not leave is why they’re now int he mess that they’re in. Spock is trying to perform his duties despite the hostilities and his own grief that he’s trying to keep a grip on with all the responsibility of the crew and whatever happens due to his choice firmly sititng on his shoulders. What finally starts to get them to resolve this? A tape that Kirk made for them in the event of his death. He gives them his confidence that they can perform their duties withiut him, but that they need to lsiten to and support each other. They CAN go on without him. It’ll hurt but they’re now all that they each have and they need to work together now more than ever. It’s a sobering moment for both with McCoy realizng how ovelry harsh he had been and Spock expressing genuine grief. They do still bicke rone more time, but McCoy catches himself before it goes too far, apologizes, and Spock simply says what Jim would: “Forget it, Bones”. Cue Bones fainting like the Southern Bell that he is, haha!

Now of course Kirk is alive and they manage to save him and get out of the situation fine. But I just loved this because of the focus on Spock and McCoy without Kirk. Why? Because Kirk is the one thing that can unite them. It’s not the only thing, but if anything can make them get over their disagreements quickly, it’s Kirk. So what happens when it looks like he’s gone and never coming back? How will the two deal with it now that that balance is gone? They don’t deal with it well, being at each other’s throats until they see that tape. But it DOES show that if they did lose Kirk, they CAN work together and go on. Like I said, I adore these two’s relationship and while not as slashy as All Our Yesterdays, this is such an excellent one for that relationship as we see that yes, they will bicker but they will also be there for each other when it all comes down to it. It’s such a great episode for that reason and the plot was just well done. Like I said, casitng out Jim and leaving us unsure of what happened to him was an excellent move for this one and I enjoyed the exploration that it allowed.

#2. The Immunity Syndrome

Out heroes are scent to investigate what caused a whole solar system to disappear just as they also receive a message from a Vulcan science vessel. Unfortunately, Spock senses he vessel’s destruction and the Enterprise finds itself against a giant space amoeba that will devour everything unless stopped. That may not sound like much, but it leads into what I think was the most intense situation that the Enterprise has been in. Everything, and I mean everything, is pushed to their limits here. This amoeba can outright destroy galaxies and utterly mindless, so there’s no reasoning with it. But it gets especially tense when, in order to understand exactly what’s going on, Kirk has to send someone in the space shuttle to observe, but in doing so, he’s sending someone to most likely die. And his choices? Either Spock or Bones... yeah.

This is what makes this episode great. Spock and Bones are already on rockier than usual terms due to McCoy treating the Vulcan deaths more like a statistic while Spock sensed all of it outright. That itself is an interesting observation on how we treat these kinds of things, not really understanding how horrific it is unless we’re involved in it outright, otherwise it’s sad and unfortunate but just another number. But then we have the suicide mission. Bones originally volunteers himself, after all he’s a doctor and would have the knowledge to make the necessary observaitons and likely the most fit for it. But Spock is not only also perfectly capable even if not specialized in medical science, but he’s also more fit physically and emotionally to undergo the risk and come out alive. In the end, Kirk picks Spock and McCoy ain’t happy about it. The scene with Spock about ready to go with McCoy still unhappy even when Spock asks him to wish him luck. He does... once the doors have shut and Spock can’t hear him anymore. It’s a very strong scene and it only gets more painful when it looks like Spock is truly going to die and his final words are that McCoy should have wished him luck. Bones’ face says everything.

The episode is just excellent. Great character moments. Great emotional weight. Great stakes that keep going up and up and it truly feels like the darkest hour for the crew. Kirk and Spock outright begin to record their respective final words. Even they’re convinced that this is most likely the end, which is just... dang man. I couldn’t look away during this one. They hit everything perfectly with pretty much everything. If I have any issues, none of them come to mind. It’s just an excellent episode and the best of Season 2. I had a REALLY hard time picking between this and my Number One for the top slot. The top one just had a little bit more emotional impact to get it, but it just barely topped this one. Regardless, it is still an excellent episode and one of the best by far. But what is Number One? Well...

#1. The City on the Edge of Forever

Yeah, yeah, obvious pick I know. I normally don’t go wth popular opinion... but sometimes it’s that way for a reason, and this one I can’t argue about. When McCoy gets badly drugged on accident, he goes into a derranged state and beams onto a planet. The crew is unable to stop him from entering a portal known as the Guardian of Forever that sends him into the distant past where he does something to change histry. In order to figure out what changed and to stop McCoy, Kirk and Spock travel into the 1930’s a few days earlier to cut him off and must now navigate their way though the time period where they end up at a soup kitchen run by a woman named Edith Keller. Which Edith is an excellent character. She’s kind, optimistic, charming, hard-working, ad caring towards those who need it. Kirk ends up falling for her, and... it’s legit really cute. Kirk isn’t being forced to make out with a woman or doing so for information. We see how Kirk is when he genunely likes someone, having been drawn to Edith’s optimism and hopes for a better future. A future that he is from and knows will be reality. He’s really sweet and it’s just cute... which makes what happens at the end all the more tragic.

The 1930’s were fun with Kirk trying to come up with an excuse for Spock’s ears having me dying from laughter. The acting was excellent with DeForest Kelley as drugged!Bones especially being both crazy and scary. I quit doubting that he played villains in Westerns after this episode, haha. But of course Spock soon discovers that the change that McCoy is to make is saving Edith form death, and in doing so she leads a pacifist campaign that delays America’s entry into World War II and... well, things go badly. They are in a time where sadly optimism and peace are simply not options, which is even crueler. In order for time to be restored, they have to let Edith die. Kirk is horrified by this and when the time comes (sidenote, the Triumvirate reunion is utterly adorable), he just grabs Bones, keeps his back turned, and can only listen as Edith screams and is killed via car colission. Whatever grievances I have about William Shatner, he absoluteley nailed Kirk’s utter heartbreak and pain as Kirk just looks utterly boken. His final wordds after they return to the 23rd Century simply being a bitter “Let’s get the Hell out of here” sums it all up perfectly. Bones’ horror at it, especially since he DID have to watch it and him being upset at Kirk is also heartbreaking as he asks him if he knows what he just did. Spock can only somberly inform him that yes, he does.

It’s one of those cases where I wish serialization was more of a thign cause DAMN this is some major emotional baggage for everyone but as per usual. It happens and they go on from there with no lingering development. I guess if I had to complain, that would be it but that’s jut the nature of these shows at the time. Kind of feel like Bones getting as bady overdosed as he did pretty much got forgotten after they enter the 1930’s, but I also know nothing about 23rd Century drugs so... ah well. But the rest of the episode is so good that I can forgive those issues and they clealry did nothing to impact the placing. It had a storgn story, great emotion, great acting, great pacing, and a heartbreaking but fitting ending. The episode has a LOT of history behind it’s making that could be a post all it’s own, but no mater how this episode came to be, it is very much the best of Star Trek TOS. It was fun yet sad and had me gripped form beginning to ed and just htinkign about it now still makes me sad. Thus, it earns it’s place as my favorite episode of Star Trek TOS.

And we are done! There were a lot of really good episodes and some i REALLY did consider. A Piece of the Action, The Enemy Within (that was skipped for... certian reasons), Is There in Truth No Beauty?, This Side of Paradise, and plenty of others that I enjoyed. There were others I.. well, didn’t, but I can’t recall outright hating anything. Regardless I came in apathetic at best, and I left a fan for it’s characters, interesting ideas, and I just had a lot of fun. It’s outdated in many ways, but still relevant in others. Overall, I’m glad to have finally watched it, and I hope that I enjoy TNG just as much. But if not, I’ll always have this~!

(Image Source: TrekCore TOS Gallery)

[iamnmbr3]

Quarantine Fic Rec List Part 1

Since we’re all bored/stressed in quarantine, I thought I’d do a couple of rec lists. For this one I’m mostly doing some very well written but more unusual fics that you might not have come across before. I’ve listed the fandom and ships for each.  

So Much More Than That by brocanteur (complete | 4,005 | T | Mean Girls; Regina George/Cady Heron ) 

"And she missed Cady Heron. She missed her and blamed her for everything." Post-film.

The Richest Men In Town by copperbadge (complete | 2,476 | G | It’s A Wonderful Life)

George Bailey, a year after meeting the angel Clarence (second-class), gets a message from Clarence via an unlikely third party: H.F. Potter.

A Marital Education by Yahtzee (complete | 12,707 | M | Pride & Prejudice; Elizabeth/Darcy; period typical) 

Darcy's impotent.

The Kindness of Men by debit (complete | 2,476 | G | Black Beauty; Fixit)

The last time Ginger saw Black Beauty, she'd said, "I wish the end was come, I wish I was dead. I have seen dead horses, and I am sure they do not suffer pain."

Once Around the Block by ecouterbien (complete | 1,134 | M | The Drop; Bob Saginowski/Nadia Dunne)

She was shaking when he let her out of the bar, and it wasn’t because of the cold. It wasn’t even a long walk to her house, a block and a half at most, but it was the longest walk she ever remembered taking. She counted every breath, every footstep, all the time listening for his steps on the sidewalk behind her. He wouldn’t just let her go like that, would he? Not after what she’d seen him do.

You look so Seattle by chaosmanor  (complete | 8,955 | T | Venom )

Eddie and Venom are in Seattle chasing leads. Shit gets blown up. And there's fish.

A Princess And A Guy Like Me by Yahtzee (complete | 7,107 | T | Rapunzel/Flynn Rider)

“Rapunzel has never had choices before. I want her to have choices now.”

I nodded. “Absolutely.”

He meant, at least in part, choices of guys to marry who were not impoverished orphans/recently reformed thieves.

gunna pass me to that house above by deadendtracks (amonitrate) (complete | 625 | T | Peaky Blinders )

This wasn’t the trenches but it was the closest Alfie’d been to pinned down since he got back, and while Tommy wasn’t exactly a friend, that didn’t make him an enemy, now, did it.

A Broken Soul by wheatear (complete | 4,529 | G | Harry Potter)

What exactly is the nature of a soul? And when Lord Voldemort so willingly split his own soul in half, what damage did he do to himself?

dying out on burnt rage by lunaskeeper (complete | 2,576 | M | Peaky Blinders; Tommy Shelby/Alfie Solomons; period typical attitudes, POV outsider )

John hadn’t seen the same, trapped look in Tommy’s eyes in his office. And all of a sudden it was bubbling out of John’s mouth, a question he'd been pondering since he’d met Stefan’s shaky gaze with his own.

“Have you ever sucked cock?”

Rara Avis by Coryphasia (complete | 14,854 | G | My Fair Lady) 

The night after the Embassy Ball, Eliza Doolittle walked out on Henry Higgins and disappeared. Three years later, she returns to see if wrongs can be made right

'til the walls did crumble by arahir (complete | 3,742 | G | Game of Thrones’ Jon/Tormund) 

Jon Snow and Tormund Giantsbane and their giant dog go camping with a bunch of Wildlings. What happens next will SHOCK you. (They are buddies who fall in love lmao.)

“Not worried, are you?”

“For a crow boy? Never.” Tormund looks away, off toward the mountains in the distance where the Fist of the First Men sits as a jut of stone in the ice fields, which are turning greener day by day. “Don’t let them keep you down there, Jon Snow. Don't die in the South."

Be Careful What You Wish For by The_Necroposter  (complete | 225,838 | M | Twilight; very dark, spitefic, horror, proceed with care; skip to the end for an author’s note in which the writer epically calls out the problematic aspects of the original canon ) 

What if Breaking Dawn wasn't a Mary Sue fantasy, but a story with a plot, character development, and consequences? What if Bella's transformation actually was a sacrifice, and not only her getting used to an alien body was a challenge, but also staying alive in a world filled with enemies? Find out how a naive, selfish girl grows up and copes with the biggest mistake of her life.

Naming of the Beast by NeurotropicAgentX (complete | 1,316 | T | Venom; pre-canon symbiote world building) 

Consciousness hit like a wave, like a signal, like an attack. There had been nothing and now there was a jumble of concepts and thoughts and impulses. It writhed and thrashed, at once realising that it had a body that could do this, that could express this new consciousness.

It screeched.

Sequence by NeurotropicAgentX (complete | 2,882 | E | Venom; sort of Venom/Riot - pre-canon symbiote world building) 

I’ve never encountered anything like those blades you formed during your hunt, Venom sent, carefully, cautiously.

I acquired them on a mission. There’s a lot of interesting information to be found out there. Riot’s close-range chemical messages carried strange accents of complex biomolecules Venom had never felt before. The taste was a clear indication of just how much of Riot must have been shaped by past hosts and alien genetic information from beyond the stars. Venom wanted.

Show me? it asked.

No Living Man by ElanaBrooks  (complete | 732 | G | Lord of the Rings; Parody) 

In which the Witch King learns that, for an inhabitant of Middle Earth, the knowledge that no living man can harm you is no reason to get cocky. AU, Humor.

Here is a truth (here is another truth) by SecondStarOnTheLeft  (complete | 2,012 | M | Pirates of the Caribbean; James Norrington/Elizabeth Swann ) 

Here is a truth: James Norrington loves his wife, but he is completely incapable of believing that she might return the compliment.

Here is another truth: Elizabeth Norrington, née Swann, is a much more patient woman than she has ever been given credit for.

Bahamian-Style Mooring by syllic  (complete | 10,370 | G | Shawshank Redemption) 

Five times Red got things in Zihuatanejo (and one time he didn’t need to get anything).

Lunch and Other Obscenities by Rheanna (complete | 9,717 | G | Star Trek 2009; background Spock/Uhura)

Nyota liked her roommate just fine until she met her.

Nom de Coeur by Dorinda (complete | 12,725 | G | Casablanca; Rick/Louis)

This looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship--but beginnings are only seeds, and it's a long way to Brazzaville.

Five Ways to Stop Being a Princess by igrockspock  (complete | 3,560 | T | Star Wars; Han/Leia )

1. Spend a night in the smuggling compartments of the Millennium Falcon 2. Learn to fire a blaster without closing your eyes 3. Get drunk and go to bed with an unsuitable man 4. Yell at people who ask if you're okay 5. Go to bed with an unsuitable man even when you're sober

elioenai by Anonymous  (complete | 6,002 | G | MCU Daemon AU )

Tony falls through the space between worlds. As a result, he can see daemons. It kind of freaks him out. (It's stranger and more beautiful than he could have ever imagined.)

The Sergeant and the Captain by OddityBoddity  (complete | 7,316 | G | MCU )

The Sergeant and the Captain, or, The True and Accurate Reports Chronicling the Well-being of the Shield-brothers James Barnes and Steven Rogers, Faithfully Submitted by Thor Odinson to Maria Hill, Director.

Special Circumstances Questionnaire for Sexual Partners (Male): Long Form by coruscera (impractica), linbot (complete | 1,320 | E | Fandom Culture Parody )

Does having sex with you entail becoming married, whether legally, magically, physiologically, or some other de facto permanent relationship? Y/N If Yes, please describe our new life together.

[thealmightyemprex]

10 favorite 1950′s movies/reccomendeitions

So I figured,a lot of people  with the quarantine are bored and looking for new stuff to watch ,so I wanted to give my reccomendations for some classic films people could check out .....Thing is as I compiled the list I realized a majority of them are from the 50′s .so decided why not make it all the 50′s .This list is in no particular order

Night of the Hunter :This is my second favorite movie of all time  .The story of two kids  who know the location of some stolen money ,and thus are the targets of  the murderous and  greedy preacher Harry Powell.The thing is while the main kid John can see through Powell’s facade ,he is such a charming  guy that all the adults ignore  this.IT’s a scary movie but I hesitate to call it  a horror movie  ,it’s more like a fairy tale ,with Lilian Gish even playing a mother goose type figure and Powell certainly evokes the big bad wolf (He’s even compared to a wolf in the movie ).I will also say Robert Mitchum’s  Harry Powell is one of the most terrifying villains I have ever seen

20′000 LEagues Under the Sea :If you dig steampunk you HAVE to watch this movie .A scientist(Paul Lukas),his assistant (Peter Lorre), and a harpooner (Kirk Douglas) are taken aboard a submarine by Captain Nemo(James Mason)....And from there you get some great adventure,a great cast,an itriguing anti villain,and an epic battle with a squid.This maybe my favorite Disney movie 

Them!:This is a movie about giant ants that actually is terrifying .It treats the subject matter seriously ,the ants dont look bad ,the  main cast are all excellent (Including James Whitmore from the Shawshank Redemption ) and theres are a lot of fun supporting characters(Including a tiny role for Spock himself ,Leonard Nimoy)

12 Angry Men:The life of a young man hangs in the balance,as a jury  is convinced he murdered his father ,but one man (Henry Fonda) is convinced there might be some doubt .This movie is a battle of words ,all in one room and with characters whose names we dont even know ....And yet it is never dull,with great direction by Sidney Lumet and magnificent acting by not only Henry Fonda but Lee J Cobb ,EG Marshall,John Fiedler ,Jack Warden,Martin Balsam,and all the rest of the cast 

The African Queen :Taking place at the start of  WWI,a missionary(KPlayed by one of my favorite actresses Kathryn Hepburn) and a hard drinking riverboat captain (Played by one of my favorite actors Humphrey Bogart ) team up  to sink a  German ship .What we get is a romantic adventure film that is basically Han Solo and Leia the movie  .

Gojira :A  tale of nuclear  destruction and the responsibility of people who create such weapons ,covered in the skin of a monster movie  .This is a horror film in its truest sense

High Noon:I will admit while I love western films....Most of the westerns I love are from the 60′s onward,but this is one of the earlier westerns that I love .Simple story of a bad guy coming to town with vengence on his mind  while our hero (GAry Cooper) tries to get any assistance ....And is constantly let down by his “friends”.A simple yet effective story `

Dial M for Murder:My third favorite Hitchcock film(Behind Psycho and Rope).Basically a man( Ray Milland)  plans on getting someone to murder his wife(Played by Grace Kelly) and that is ALL I am saying about the plot ,cause the twist and turns are what makes this fun as well as Ray Milland as one of the most charming villains EVER 

Forbidden Planet:A retelling of Shakespeares the Tempest ....But in SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE.This is one of the first movies to be set on a planet far from Earth ,this film is basically a prototype for Star  Trek ,has a daramtic leading performance by a young Leslie Nielsen of Airplane,Scary Movie and Naked Gun fame ,one of the most iconic movie robots with Robbie and a unique monster 

Throne of Blood :Yet another Shakespeare adaptation,this time of  ,Macbeth ,but with Samurai .Honestly it might be weird that I chose this over say Seven Samurai or Rashomon .....But Seven Samurai is very long and I honestly prefer its remake the Magnificent Seven ,and Rashomon has elements that just havent aged well ,and honestly I just prefer Throne of Blood .It helps  Macbeth  is my favorite Shakespear play ,and that means you get murder intrigue,prophecy ,evil spirits ,all that fun stuff ,great performances by Toshiro  Mifune and Isuzu Yamada and one of the greatest endings in all of cinema

[janeykath318]

The Proposal Dare

The big reception room in Star Fleet headquarters was bursting with people and species for the celebration of the marriage of two Starfleet heroes. A great outcry had arisen when Kirk and Pike suddenly appeared back from a shore leave wearing wedding bands and they’d agreed to this big party to soothe ruffled feathers all around. Jamie was in a conversation with Scotty, Bones, and Uhura gossiping happily about various brass/celebrities in attendance while trying to finish her cocktail.

“I thought he was teasing at first but he just stood there, staring at me with his intense expression. So I said, “Is that a challenge, Christopher?” In my flirtiest voice, and he said, “Yes. What are you going to do about it?”

“And That was that,” she shrugged. “I can never resist a challenge, especially coming from him.”

“You do love the man, too, I hope?” Scotty put in hopefully.

“Oh, yes.” She assured her friend. “I’ve just had a horror of commitment. I realized pretty early on that Chris Pike doesn’t do casual and we’d end up having the conversation eventually.”

“If it was anyone else, there’s no way I’d believe that tall tale,” Bones declared, a fondly exasperated look on his face. “But it sounds exactly like something you’d do, Kid. Where did you get hitched at?”

“We just went down to the courthouse. Chris knew the judge and he agreed to marry us. Hubby did insist on picking out real rings beforehand.”

She displayed the yellow gold band on her ring finger proudly. It wasn’t in style anymore, but it turned out she and Chris were both traditionalists in their choice of precious metal colors. Plus, it went with the whole “Command Gold” theme they had going on.

“You’re so adorable I don’t have the heart to be mad at you for eloping”, Uhura added, smiling at the blissful looking captain. Jamie was certainly glowing like any other bride, that was evident. The looks she shot at her new husband periodically confirmed their happy state.

Chris, meanwhile, was chatting with Richard as well as his old friends from the Yorktown. He didn’t like being separated from Jamie, but it was bound to happen in this big of a crowd. Luckily, she was wearing a very distinctive pale aqua dress that made it very easy to find her. (He loved it when she wore that color.)

“Let me get this straight,” Richard Barnett said, brown eyes twinkling. “You, Admiral Christopher R. Pike, well known smooth, suave hero, proposed to your girlfriend with a DARE?”

Phil laughed again. He’d been doing a lot of that lately ever since Chris had told him the whole story. He thought it was a great joke and teased Chris non stop.

“Yes,” Chris admitted. “I, Uh, didn’t really expect her to say yes.”

“Even better!” Howled Phil. “Now you two are stuck with each other and it’s the best outcome we could have hoped for!”

Chris rolled his eyes at his friend. There was no dealing with Boyce when he got like this. Must have had too much alcohol.

“Keep him away from the punch, Cait,” he muttered to the women beside Phil. “He’s clearly imbibed too much already.”

Caitlin Barry beamed back at him in high amusement. “Oh, he’s just living large and enjoying your hilarious story. It’s such a Pike thing to happen, too!”

“I assure you though, just because I didn’t expect it doesn’t mean I don’t cherish it,”Chris hastily added, lest they get the wrong idea. “You know I’ve loved her for years.”

“We did, Though you steadfastly denied it until a year ago,” Richard reminded him. “We’re all happy for you, Chris, but this is pretty darn funny, the way it turned out.”

Chris conceded with a sheepish smile of his own. Truth or Dare could be a dangerous game, but that was one fact he’d keep between himself and his wife. Someday, their kids would get a kick out of it.

Jamie gently detached herself from the cluster around her and started heading his way. Heavens, she looked beautiful in that blue-green gown, blonde hair piled up on her head in a mass of curls, eyes sparkling brighter than the diamonds in her ears. He fell a little harder for her every second he was with her.

“Are they making your life miserable, honey?” She asked, threading her arm through his. “I’ll save you from their evil clutches.”

“Oh, you know Phil. Just giving me a little grief about things. I’m very glad you dropped by, Beautiful. I was starting to miss you.”

He kissed her temple and basked in the glow she always exuded.

“It’s extremely difficult for me to stay away with you looking so gorgeous over here,” she said approvingly, eying his dress uniformed figure in a way that made him feel much less aggravated with it’s itchy, restricting fit. “Besides, it’s almost time to cut our giant Starship wedding cake!”

She pointed over at the large table that held the amazing baked creation: a replica of the Enterprise. Someone had pulled out all the stops.

“Hmmm, far be it from me to say no to cake,” he commented, strolling beside her leisurely. “Though it seems a shame to cut that thing. What detail!”

“Yeah, but Scotty and I took plenty of pictures.”

Her gaze grew a bit mischievous. “You want me to feed you a bite of that ample nacelle?”

“Just as long as you don’t smash it in my face, you precious menace,” he chuckled, leaning in to steal a kiss.

“Tempting as that sounds, I know your revenge would be swift. I’ll save the hijinks for later, hubby.”

With this suggestive sentence, she took up the silver server and handed it to him.

“On Your Command, Sir,” She said.

As the crowd cheered and the cameras clicked, together they took a big slice from the cake and proceeded to revel in the tasty lemon and buttercream and also, each other.

“May they live long and prosper,” Spock commented, in a tone that was as close to affection as a Vulcan could get.

“I’m with you on that, babe,” Nyota agreed. “They’re so perfect together—and fun for the rest of us.”

Meanwhile, Chris was kissing a stray dab of frosting off Jamie’s nose and telling her again just how beautiful she was and how much he adored her. Jamie was thinking how glad she was that she’d taken his dare.