#but anyway back to watching star trek

[spacealiencafe]

this whole adblock-blocker thing has made me realize how little i actually need to or even want to use youtube. i mostly watch reruns on other streaming services or dvd's anyway. everytime it warns me about my insidious use of the adblocker i just close the tab. feels nice

[favvn]

At the risk of being a contrarian (because I have browsed the tag, I've seen the complaints), The Deadly Years isn't entirely out of character for Jim Kirk. It's just that we get to see him at his worst again.

Back in season 1, the Conscience of the King shows that he will pull rank on both Spock and McCoy--the two people on the entire ship that Kirk allows himself to be closest to--to keep them out of his life and to shut down their concerns for his well-being. Kirk is not sick or inhibited by anything in this episode (other than haunted by his past). His decision to use the Enterprise to transport the acting troupe doesn't delay a mission or risk lives outside of the Enterprise, although it does inadvertently endanger one member of his crew (Lt. Riley). In other words, he acts selfishly in this episode and lashes out towards those who want to help, much like he does in The Deadly Years.

Earlier in the season, The Galileo Seven shows that Kirk will reassert his authority as captain to put off completing a mission to deliver emergency medical supplies to Makus III and aid a colony overrun by a plague because he has "standing orders" to investigate quasars. This mission is ordered by Galactic High Commissioner Ferris, which the Enterprise is transporting to oversee the supply transfer. Ferris himself later states that he outranks Kirk and can cite regulation to support his taking command of the ship to complete the mission once Kirk makes it clear he intends to take 2 full days to locate and retrieve the Galileo's crew rather than use those days to get to Makus III. This situation is interesting in that it shows how Kirk can respond negatively to those holding authority over him, especially when those same people question his decisions. Ferris is technically correct when he argues that the Galileo did not need to be launched to begin with, given how Kirk would rather trade the life of a colony for the lives of seven crew members.

I realize TOS is inconsistent about background details with how Starfleet operates owing to its standalone story structure, and this instance of "standing orders" is yet another case of that structure hindering the world building. While Kirk doesn't follow the Prime Directive even at the best of times (best of times being the absence of a cult. I'll grant him that exception), he will ignore a high galactic commissioner to follow "standing orders" all of a sudden because, at his core, Kirk doesn't want to follow orders. He's the captain. He's supposed to be the one in charge. If he's a perfectionist (his guilt at losing crew members during missions to the point of Spock having to console him, although this also comes from his survivor's guilt from Tarsus IV), it wouldn't surprise me a bit if he has control issues alongside it. In other words, for all the good Kirk tries to do and strives to do, he is still just as capable of acting selfishly and in his own best interests, and he has done so since the start of the series.

More to the point of The Deadly Years, aging is not always painless or graceful. We get to see Kirk starting to forget recent events and commands (forgetting recent events and conversations is one of the first symptoms of Alzheimer's disease) to the point that he is an active risk to the safety of the crew. Of course, he will be in denial about it, to the point of anger and deflection. It's a painful thing to reckon with, to live in a body that doesn't work like you know it should, and to have others place judgments onto you for it because they're in perfect health. Not everyone can accept that with grace. This doesn't make Kirk out-of-character. It makes him human.

[tea-earl-grey]

i had an itching for comfort media so i went back to watch some s1 voyager episodes and s1 is soooo much better than i remembered. the later seasons appeal to my tastes a bit more but all the characters in s1 are so earnest and hopeful even when they butt heads and disagree and i'm just sitting here like "oh god they don't know what the next 7 years have in store..." i doubt it was that purposeful on the writers' part but it's so compelling how all of the characters have pretty open insecurities and are clearly people with lives and dreams beyond Voyager and bit by bit that's chipped away in later seasons. yes everyone becomes more confident and competent but is that really who they are or are they just losing themselves along the journey? (unfortunately the Doyalist explanation is just that the writers stopped putting focus on like. half of the main cast but shh i'm here for Watsonian analysis.)

like it's particularly noticeable with Janeway. she's definitely always been written as a strong leader but i forgot how much in early seasons we get to see her insecurities and vulnerabilities, how different she acts from when she's acting as captain to when she's alone, how often she questions her morality and whether she has the right to make decisions for her crew (and how often others questioned that right). then in the later seasons (around s3 and definitely by s4), she almost never questions her moral decisions, she rarely shows doubt, she plans heists on Borg cubes without a second thought, she dispenses her justice to the Equinox crew without really considering their position, she regulates others' autonomy (especially with Seven and the Doctor) without seeming to realize how easily that can go wrong. and don't get me wrong i love this development and think it's incredibly realistic for Janeway to deeply internalize her role and authority as a Captain and for it to permanently change her sense of self. Endgame is the perfect closure for Janeway's character because her future self exerts that same authority that she's been practicing over herself (also Janeway gets to live out her martyr complex one last time). i just wish the show was a little bit more self-aware that it was writing Janeway (and other characters) like this because there could be so many more interesting character conflicts.

anyways rewatching early ds9 made me say "aww these characters don't know that one day they'll all grow together and basically become family" and rewatching early voyager has me saying "uhohhhh these characters don't know the unhealthy relationships and neuroses they're going to uncover and develop". toxic found family for the win.

[duhragonball]

I COULDNT thiNK Of how to properly thank you for the birthday gift, like, genuinely speechless, SO here’s a LUFFA!!! thank you so so much again!!! AND KEEP ON BEING YOU 💕💕💕😭💕💕🗣️🔥🔥

AAAAAA THANK YOU COZY!

And happy birthday again (give or take a few days)! I hope you're doing well!

[comradecowplant]

*sniffle* well, that's that then. voyager has made it back to the alpha quadrant (albeit i'm not the biggest fan of the "timey whimey antics save the day" means utilized but i've seen similar plots play out far worse so i'll accept it with minimal brow furrowing), my mind & heart are full with a new sci-fi obsession, and while i know i said i'm diving into TNG asap, i do think my little ticker needs a minute to process & say goodbye to the star fleet captain who-- no matter how good picard/other captains i can't wait to meet are-- will now forever be My Captain(tm), and her intrepid crew (i'll even miss the doctor!) of the U.S.S. Voyager o7

[musicals-and-mushrooms]

where and how do you watch my adventures with superman bc I NEED IT

Like boimler is superman now?! HEATHER DUKE IS LOIS LANE?!?! BUT ALSO LUZ NOCEDA PRETTY MUCH?!?

AND THEY *KISS*!!!

WHY DID NOONE TELL ME ABOUT THIS?!?

I need it in my life yesterday actually my fandoms are colliding

[wingsofhcpe]

final update: I read the summary of all episodes of Picard s2-3 in Wikipedia and I've decided not to continue watching s2 or get to s3. I'm perfectly satisfied with season 1 and will instead proceed to write my alternative s2 longfic and be happy reading friends' fics instead!

S2 and 3 officially do not exist for me! I am FREE.

[sweetandglovelyart]

Are there any other Kirby fans on here who are also fans of Star Trek? I’ve met a couple of people on here who like both, but I’m trying to see if there’s anyone else.

I’m a big fan of Star Trek and I actually see a lot of parallels between Kirby and Star Trek (some examples of this are they both have mirror versions of the characters and the plot of Planet Robobot is just the plot of every Borg episode from Star Trek). I also like to include Star Trek references in my Kirby fanart (like making a reference to the Vulcan philosophy IDIC/Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations in my Meta Knight backstory comic) and I was wondering if anyone else in the fandom likes to do stuff like that in their art or writing. Where are all of the Kirby Trekkies at lmao 🖖

[charlesemersonwinchesteriii]

WHAT’S UP WELCOME TO WIRE WEEKEND!!!! (← Friday night at 3 in the morning when I finally watch Star Trek: Deep Space 9 Season 2 Episode 22 “The Wire” for the first time)

[theshadowrealmitself]

You chose "with your crew who's eating and talking"

(Read before answering the poll)

You decide to go to your crew that's trying to engage with the Vulcan crewmates while still eating, hoping to act as a social buffer. A couple of them see you approach and start to make room. Within moments you are sitting 5 members of your crew and 3 members of Captain Lek's crew. You look at them and mentally catalogue who's who.

Starting from your left you recognize Yosuke Bosque. A shorter, plump woman who's worked among the stars longer than you've even dreamed of them. Yosuke used to work in those big 'Fleet ships, but a family tragedy brought her to your crew, now more reserved than you heard she used to be but still full of life. She works down in engineering.

David Denzel is the young man on her left, another member of engineering, and also on the shorter side, but he's still a couple inches taller than you. Your ship is his first ship job, and he's proven himself a dedicated worker so far. Only problem you have with him is that he tends to play practical jokes during work hours. You know he'd been disowned, but that's all you or anyone knows, as everyone knows better than to pry.

Across from you is the intimidating figure of Ragnarr Marconi. Normally Ragnarr works on base, but with so many rush orders lately, they've taken up temporary shop on your ship as a much-needed delivery person. Ragnarr stands tall at 6 feet with a murderous looking face, but has the personality of a large dog that doesn't understand it can't fit on laps. You regret not knowing them better as every interaction you've had with them so far has been pleasant.

On Ragnarr's right is Sisay Dema Hathaway a nonbinary nurse with he/they pronouns that has the unfortunate habit of giving everyone their health information as dramatically as possible. Which you would not have guessed from his appearance as everything about him is as average as can be, however, everything and anything is a production with this one. Something you found out the first day you met them as, in the process of telling you your blood sugar was low, they had you convinced you were dying.

And finally, on Ragnar's left, is Lockie Devereaux. Newest permanent worker down in engineering as well, a thin tall person with she/he pronouns, and, you suspect, David's new partner in crime. You don't know Lockie's personality yet, but everywhere David is, there's Lockie.

Every member of your crew has some kind of trauma or backstory for why they've joined your crew, which is the only thing that would drive a person to join, is if they had nothing to go home to. The missions can be long and with little to no excitement to them, and whether you work on the ship or on base, it's years before you see Earth again. It's not the work you do if there's someone at home for you, eagerly awaiting your return. Everyone knows that, but no one pries. If they ever talk about why they're here, it's on their own terms. Hell, even you, their captain, haven't shared your reason with anyone except your First Officer.

You look over at the 3 Vulcan crewmates who you obviously don't know. They're all quietly eating and don't look as though they want to be engaged in conversation. You think you've heard before that on Vulcan it's customary to not converse while eating. If that's true, then they probably aren't appreciating your crew's attempts to be friendly.

Best you can do for them right now is get your crew talking to you so they aren't talking to them while they're still eating. You decide to start with Ragnarr, being that they're right across from you, and with their personality, you're sure the others will hop right in.

"So, Ragnarr..."

[greenscreen-dress]

Watching TOS has me thinking they really missed the opportunity for Spirk to just be a polycule with McCoy. SpocCoy has some serious teasing-flirt vibes from the very start, and McCoy keeps ending up in the hilarious role of "those idiots are constantly getting themselves so close to death but they're MY idiots!", and. Yeah.

Listen I'm only partway through S2 of TOS and so far that's ALL I know of Star Trek as a whole so maybe idk anything. I'm just saying when ppl talk about how the Kirk/Spock girlies invented fandom back in the '70s you don't hear anything about how they could've invented polycules too.

Feel free to correct me though, I'm always down to learn more fandom history! (ideally w minimal spoilers if possible as I've only just finished S2 Ep10 "Journey to Babel") :D

[thirddoctor]

mean post incoming but why is the dialogue in SNW so bad

[pursuingsunshine]

[imaginariumgeographica]

mash watching discourse is ignoring the 'passively watch random reruns on television as you grow up + that one time your dad brings home a dvd that has like. 5 episodes from season 6 from the library' method

[coredrill]

feliz jueves i was fucking right

[kashilascorner]

I love spock and mccoy's dynamic so much