#getting into star trek in general is also an Experience

[ta5tier]

isat thoughts, go

[this ask is actually an excuse to ramble about whatever thing you can't get someone else to prompt you to ramble about]

i just woke up so this probably wont be too coherent but here we go!

I, like many, discovered ISAT through @jelloapocalypse’s fantastic video on the game, and by that I mean I watched the first 5 minutes of the video and immediately stopped and played the game myself.

I already liked time loops as a literary device, especially in games (outer wilds rocks, 12 minutes is interesting despite the general quality, etc) but ISAT managed to get me interested in the story and its characters before even introducing time loops as a mechanic. (Y’ALL I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR ISABEAU TO JUST COME OUT SWINGING LIKE THAT! I clocked that motherfucker before the gang even left dormont, he isnt smooth.)

ANYWAY besides the great character writing, ISAT also managed to nail its genre parody right off the bat, the literal RPS combat is so funny, Mirabelle gives off such RPG protagonist vibes, and its a neat take on the genre to center the narrative around the “edgy”rogue (HA Scissors pun). Along with the fact that Siffrin is absolutely the right amount of mentally unstable, you have all the perfect ingredients for great genre deconstruction.

Spoilers Under the Cut So be WARNED

There are tons of people talking about the story beats further so i’m not gonna spend more time here reinventing the wheel, but something I will talk about is how the game leverages ludonarrative assonance, I.e. how the game reflects the experience of the player as a part of the story.

In the case of ISAT, this manifests as the growing boredom both the player and Siffrin experience as they continue through the loops. On my first few loops I took care to avoid skipping dialogue and made sure my party was leveled up enough to succeed at any of the fights they faced. I explored thoroughly and enjoyed the process of doing so and I only reset when the game asked it of me.

But as the game continued I found myself zoning out of more and more dialogue, skipping more and more fights, and resetting whenever it would save me time. And Siffrin was with me all the way through all of it, his internal monologue growing increasingly disinterested with the affairs of his party members and the dangers they were in.

Ironically, in a game so outside my lived experience I found myself mentally aligned with Siffrin in a way that's frankly a little concerning. (im ok im not in a time loop lol)

The magic of ISAT for me was in that alignment, of feeling a shared purpose with a character, and in the breaking of that alignment in the games later acts. One of my favorite moments in any story is when I realize I can no longer fully root for the main character. Siffrin's last loop was that moment for me and I loved it. Siffrin's final trek through the House is so awful to watch but also represents the logical conclusion of his decent. The witty commentary is gone, his family is gone, the muscle memory that he and I shared in navigating the house is no longer reliable. Its all no longer necessary.

In Siffrin's mind, whats left of them isn't worth saving. And then finally, agonizingly, they are saved. Despite his best efforts to self destruct, his family come for him and they're mad and they're scared but they do it anyway, even when the world is ending around them.

Anyway yeah i love this game so much Siffrin is Stars' most mentally unwell soldier and i love them and their stupid family so much.

[wren-of-the-woods]

Episode s02e11 Friday's Child is an exprience

[1960z]

how people go about interpreting dr bashir I presume? really frustrates me sometimes ngl especially the “jules bashir died” scene.

like that whole scene is about julian revealing the depth of how deeply his augmentations fractured his sense of identity and who he is - which feeds into the themes of the whole episode surrounding how disability and then by extension disabled people are often viewed as a problem to be solved and because of that are often denied the ability to have fulfilling lives because the able bodied people around them don’t believe that they can.

but… idk, when the fandom talks about it there’s always seems to be a push to read a trans allegory into it that I don’t think is really there? I keep mulling over this post in my mind and when I initially reblogged it I didn’t really want to talk about this because the post is about how stories about racism can be hijacked by white people to be made about their own transness and it felt like as a white person, using that post to complain about ableism would be missing the point. but it really helped me articulate in my mind why the trans reading of this episode feels off to me because the same general principle seems to apply and that is taking a story trying to discuss a specific type of marginalisation and putting a trans reading above it because you can relate more to it personally.

“jules bashir died in that hospital because you couldn't live with the shame of having a son who didn't measure up!” this scene is the culmination of julian expressing his pain about what was done to him as a disabled child by his parents due to how they viewed his disability. but often when I see it being discussed, people aren’t really interested in talking about that. instead supplanting it with a trans reading instead which, in my opinion is an allegory that doesn’t even really work when you think about what’s going on in the broader context of the scene.

julian didn’t stop going by jules because he came to the conclusion on his own that the identity didn’t suit him similar to the way a trans person questions or rejects the gender they were assigned at birth, he stopped going by jules because he felt like the identity attached to that name was taken from him because of what his parents did. it’s not julian affirming who he wants to be it’s grieving over who he can’t be and to me at least, it’s honestly kind of harrowing.

and as an aside: when people read transness into a story about parents who change their child’s body and mind at a very young age without consent, which is literally a narrative projected onto trans people by transphobes to justify the curtailing of trans rights, that also doesn’t sit well with me. I think people latch onto this reading because of the idea of “killing a name” but again in the context of the whole episode the trans reading really doesn’t feel appropriate.

I think it’s okay for people to have trans headcanons about julian of course or literally any character they want to really, but I think saying that specific episode codes him as trans isn’t all that great honestly.

[bumblingbabooshka]

I wish Neelix had come back to earth with everyone because I think it would be so funny if he met T’Pel and the two of them hit it off instantly.

[mylittleredgirl]

when i hear "found family" in relation to an ensemble of fictional characters in media there's two different things that could be happening here.

often it's what i think of as forced family, which is like "i found myself in a situation with these people" but a key part of the trope is that, like most families of origin, they're stuck with each other and can't leave without taking extreme action. voyager's "found family" is a forced family. i'm watching m*a*s*h now and it seems that way too. in both cases there's an outside constraint where you literally cannot escape these people and so grow to love them as a result, often in a codependent or unhealthy way but you are closer to them than you will ever be to anyone who did not share this experience. you would sell some of them to satan for one corn chip but god help any outsider who tries to break you up or even understand the situation. sometimes you get lucky and there's a person or two in there that you would choose to spend every day with regardless of circumstance (but would you really? can you even tell for sure??). but also it's "i will never ever speak to you again as long as i live but i'm really bored so can you give me a ride to the 7-11 first."

meanwhile chosen family is more like star trek the next generation where they are placed in this group at random but there's no hostage element to it. any one of them could request a transfer at any time, but they never will because this community and group of people have become an inseparable part of their identity. in both cases they'd saddle up and risk their lives to save each other forever at any personal cost ("not to me, not if it's you") but forced family also contains the element of "i'll fucking do it but christ alive." not every ensemble fits into one or the other but i think it's fun to distinguish as a concept.

[comicaurora]

In the latest trope talk you used Odo as part of your examples. I think You've talked about Star Trek: The Next Generation before but not Deep Space Nine and I just had some questions about what you thought about the show.

What did you most/least enjoy about the series?

What did you think of DS9's syndicated episodes compared to contemporary trek's (TNG, VOY) episodic nature?

How do you feel about the Dominion storyline as a whole? Did you feel like it went against Star Trek's utopian future?

Which characters stood out to you the most/had the most engaging development?

What do you think gagh tastes like?

Any other thoughts about the series?

Oh man, DS9.

I have this very consistent pattern of thinking that the star trek I have most recently watched is the best star trek. When I watched TNG it was the best because of its standout episodes that let Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner show off. Then when I watched Voyager it was the best because Janeway was incredible and 7 of 9's arc was a beautiful iteration on the "inhuman character explores humanity" star trek trope. Then when I got to DS9 I was like "Oh, so this is what actually good Star Trek looks like." I do think I'm actually right this time, though.

I think they really took advantage of how different the core premise of the show was from previous Star Treks. Because the setting was very consistent, the episodic variations on the formula weren't dedicated to seeking out Weird New Shit, but to focusing on the characters and their dynamics with one another. Correspondingly I think the best thing in the show is the character writing and how everyone's arcs are built up. This was something I think they were building towards with the previous series; TNG would occasionally have character-focused episodes, but for the most part everybody on the ship operated like a well-oiled machine, inputting the Weird Thing Of The Week and outputting a solution. Voyager destabilized the formula by yeeting the heroes halfway across the galaxy and well outside the safe confines of federation space, so you got a lot more opportunities for drama caused by limited supplies or existential despair, and a lot more character-driven conundrums without clean or flawless solutions. DS9 is kind of the apotheosis of this shift away from "seek out new life and new civilizations, boldly go etc etc" because instead of our heroes briefly interacting with Bajor and then fucking off into the end credits, they're sitting right on top of a planet undergoing tumultuous social restructuring after the end of a long and horrible military occupation, and they're there for 7 seasons. Because they aren't following an adventure-of-the-week formula, absolutely everything they do has consequences they have to deal with later down the line, and that lends itself very well to longform character arcs.

I liked the Dominion storyline well enough, and I think the existence of an evil space empire to fight doesn't preclude the Federation being a utopia. Utopias are internally perfect systems, not worlds that have absolutely no conflict. I think the part of DS9 that does undercut the utopia is the whole thing with Section 31, but I think that's part of a very intentional move on the writers' part to highlight that Section 31 is not as necessary as they think they are, and that doing all this stuff unethically is a moral concession and a shortcut that demeans the principles of the Federation. That's part of why I like that they serve as a nemesis to Doctor Bashir, who has very personal reasons to despise the idea of taking the easy way out.

Character-wise, I have very predictable favs. Jadzia Dax is fascinating to me, and I love the way they play with her past lives and centuries of experience to create this very layered character packed with plothooks. Also I have very simple tastes, and "woman fills narrative Man Role trope and nobody is weird about it" is an itch I so rarely get scratched despite how not complicated it is. Jadzia gets to be a swashbuckling romantic hero with a tragic starcrossed lover; she gets to be a wise yet cheerful mentor to Captain Sisko; she gets to be a noble warrior honoring debts from a lifetime ago. And I adore how her dynamic with Sisko plays out over the seasons - another completely uncomplicated trope I so rarely get to enjoy, male and female leads who are profoundly ride-or-die for one another and have absolutely no interest in making out. I am still so mad about how Jadzia gets iced, but that doesn't mean I don't like Ezri, and there is something very beautiful about how when she gets Dax'd and her existence becomes an absolute mess of confusion and conflicting memories and she doesn't even know who she is anymore, her single point of stability is Sisko.

That said, Garak is probably my overall fav. The man is an absolute drama hound and since he's not technically main cast it's a rare treat to get him focused on. He is so much fun on a rewatch when you can see exactly when and how he's lying and when he's telling the truth in a way that everyone thinks is lying, and what I think is most interesting about him is how absolutely everybody else on the station has him figured out. There's this "I know he knows I know they know" loop underlying almost every interaction. Everyone knows he's a spy, he knows everyone knows, and they're all just vibing anyway. It's like his entire character is built on telling the truth in a way that sounds like a lie, to the point where it always manages to surprise people when he does something absolutely ruthless. He's been saying he's a bad guy the whole time! People seem to keep forgetting!

Also, fun fact, the very first chunk of DS9 I caught was the back half of the episode "The Wire", and when I was mentioning this to my dad, I was like "yeah I don't remember their names but these two guys seemed extremely married-" and he immediately went "oh, Garak and the doctor?" so that's very telling I think

[vintagesffantasyactors]

Craig Charles (Red Dwarf)- In 1987, 23 year old performance poet Craig Charles auditioned for the role of protagonist Dave Lister in sci-fi sitcom "Red Dwarf". Despite having no acting experience and being much younger than the creators had envisaged the character, he won them over through his sheer charm and still plays the role to this day. Lister is the last human being alive, stranded in outer space three million years in the future, but he isn't about to let that get him down. Craig portrays this incurable optimist excellently. Lister is a working-class, mixed race everyman with a heart of gold, a natural leader despite his inherent laziness and an idealist who helps his robot crewmate Kryten to break his programming to become more independent. The character isn't written as sexy but the actor makes him so, helped by his homoerotic relationship with his hologrammatic bunkmate Rimmer. They even kiss, albeit in a dream. The "ho yay" in this show is off the charts.

Brent Spiner (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Independence Day)- Brent Spiner as Data Soong is the most amazing performance ever, and Data continues to be my favorite character in the world. He plays him perfectly, naive in certain aspects but devastatingly wise in others. His character arcs are phenomenal. ALSO he’s hot as shit dude, his eyes both in and out of costume are stunning, I don’t think i’ll ever get over him

Additional propaganda:

Craig Charles:

Brent Spiner:

[johannestevans]

Woe, Boypussy Be Upon Ye: Transing Characters in Fanfic & Fanart

What’s the deal with envisioning your blorbos as transgender?

Originally published in Prism & Pen. Also on my Patreon.

It’s a meme, I made it. Here it is.

It’s been unbelievably positive for me as a trans dude, the change in approach to trans characters in fandom and subsequently in media in general, and I just wanted to write a bit about my experiences with the cultural shift and how positive it’s been for me personally.

What’s weird about people in fandom confidently, nay casually, writing characters as transgender and just having them be a regular dude with a pussy or a regular girl with a dick is that like… I remember when it wasn’t a thing.

Back in 2009, for example, which was a big time for fandom — Superwholock was running rampant, Star Trek (2009) had just gotten a new generation of fans into Trek — or even in 2012, when Les Misérables (2012) had dropped and gotten new people into Les Mis, or when the Hobbit had revamped a lot of interest in Tolkien’s books and the original Lord of the Rings films, not to mention The Hobbit itself, none of this even getting into the Marvel movies, like…

It just. It wasn’t a thing.

Sure, there were transgender characters around, characters that people wrote as trans, but I remember it so strongly as being very niche. It was deep, emotional work where people had to work to “justify” the emotional work they were doing, and even then, they couldn’t just say a character was trans and be chill about it. In order to justify a character being transgender, one had to put in mountains of evidence, or admit the trans perspective was a genderbend of sorts.

For me, I’m pretty sure the moment when things started to change was when I was reading and writing a lot of Loki-centred fanfiction, roundabout 2014–2017 — and the more permissive culture was very much borne of Loki being seen as an exception.

Loki, of the Marvel film and comics, is an alien secretly kidnapped and adopted into the Odinson family, and is known to change his body and appearance frequently, including changing his apparent gender or expression.

He was, in the comic canon (not to mention the original Norse mythologies) quite genderfluid, after all, so even if you didn’t refer to him as explicitly transgender, you could explore him as being some variety of genderfluid, nonbinary, or intersex — as an alien, as a Jötnar as opposed to being AEsir like Thor or Odin, as a god.

But then things changed a bit more.

Welcome to Night Vale, a weird narrative horror podcast, started in 2012, and one thing you could rely on from a lot of fanfics is that people might have weird or alien or otherwise not-not cisgender but not entirely cisgender genitals either. The Magnus Archives, also a narrative horror podcast, started in 2016, and when I got into the fandom in roundabout 2019, which is also when the new Good Omens TV show was due to release and there was a resurgence of interest in the book as well, I remember experiencing a sort of newfound thing where like…

I’d had a mental block around writing many trans characters, before — I could create my own characters who were trans, but a big part of me still felt like I wasn’t allowed to just make a canon character trans if they’d never been mentioned as being trans before or made explicitly trans.

What was it that stopped me?

My own dysphoria? Perhaps a little. Maybe some lacking self-confidence.

Most of all, it just felt as though I couldn’t justify it. I couldn’t justify seeing a cis man written by cis people in a cis show and saying, “Hey, no, he’s like me, actually” — even though I could easily do it about the same character being gay or Jewish or even chronically ill or disabled.

It was like there was a mental block inside me I just couldn’t get past.

I still had a lot of the old online cultural expectations stamped onto me, I think, even being an out trans man who knew many many other trans and intersex and nonbinary people of every gender imaginable in fandom.

I think for Welcome to Night Vale and then especially for The Magnus Archives, part of what made it so easy for people to write and envisage different characters as trans, the fact that there was such limited physical description of characters, the fact that you were attached to them by their voices alone, allowed people to envisage them in whatever way they liked.

In The Magnus Archives, most of the main characters are envisaged as trans in one way or another — Daisy Tonner particularly is explored with all flavours of butch dykey complexity, trans in whichever ways or directions are juiciest and most interesting. But for so many of the characters — from Jonathan Sims and Martin Blackwood to Sasha James and Tim Stoker to Elias Bouchard to Peter Lukas to any of the other Entities — there is no end to the characters people will explore or envisage as trans or nonbinary or just straight-up outside of gender or gender-weird.

No one has to justify a period character being trans with no problems. Loads of people write Izzy Hands or Stede Bonnet or Edward Teach, as being trans in Our Flag Means Death alongside the canonic nonbinary character Jim Jimenez. Any and all characters, trans or otherwise, are invited to participate in ye olde top surgery performed by Roach, the ship’s surgeon, or somehow get hold of ye olde hormones in whatever handwavy way necessary, and it’s cool and fine.

And what’s wonderful for me is the way I see the current approach to trans characters gleefully and delightedly applied to fandoms that are years if not decades old.

I see people write House MD fanfic now where they just go, right from the beginning, yeah this or that character is trans, and they’ve always been trans, and it’s chill. What if James Wilson was trans? It’d rock, that’s what. What if Greg House was trans? Yeah, he’d probably do his own T-shots under the table.

People write Spock as trans now, or guys from M*A*S*H, or Jean Valjean.

What if in the X-Files Dana Scully and Fox Mulder were T4T? Makes complete sense, and also, the idea fucks absolutely. They’re already so lesbian vibes for each other, it fits perfectly.

I wrote a silly little Tumblr post a few weeks ago envisioning Morticia and Gomez Addams as T4T, and it blew up immediately — I think about how if I’d made that most a decade ago it would have been met with crickets, if not a bit of scorn, and not just from transphobes, but just people who like me at that time hadn’t been able to relax and have fun with it.

That’s the real crux of the matter, the impact a lot of fandom has made on me and the way that trans characterisation is approached, the hunger I have for trans characterisation now — it’s the idea of being trans as joyful and delightful, as inherently fun and sexy, but also just as being something every day and normal. A detail you can include as casually in your interpretation of a canon character as any other headcanon.

There’s a beautiful freedom in it, and I’m so grateful to have been able to learn from and grow because of other trans people paving the way with their confident headcanons and delving into trans ideas in their fic.

It’s done wonders for me everywhere — not just in my fanfic, but most of all in the original works I pen now, each one of them featuring trans character after trans character.

[sirfrogsworth]

Thoughts on Live Action Avatar: TLA

I'm sure people are going to hate this. Some for valid reasons. Some because of endless nitpicking that really has no bearing on how good or bad it actually was. Some because they have already chosen to hate it and it's just a self-fulfilling prophecy.

But I always root for things to be good. I want them to succeed. And I always go into everything I watch with the hope and expectation it will be good. I turn off my critical brain and try to just experience the show for what it is. As I said, I saw no trailers. I read no reviews. I knew almost nothing about the production of this going in.

Initially, things were rough... buddy.

And I think that is a longstanding problem with live action TV shows in general. I am always reminded of Star Trek TNG and how it took two seasons (48 episodes) before they figured out what the hell they were doing. Back then shows were able to find their footing and grow and learn. Actors were given time to find their characters and understand them and finally become them.

But now, every show has to be amazing from the start or they get cancelled. And I think people have become very unforgiving of first seasons as well. I feel like not enough people consider the potential of something getting better. And I think that is a shame.

So, yes, Avatar started out rough. They tried to cram all of the exposition into the first 20 minutes. And that was unpleasant. The effects were jarring at first. It is incredibly difficult to translate animation into live action. And please don't say the CGI was "bad." It wasn't. There was just so much that needed to be packed into every frame of this show to make it work, and finding a way to make it all seamlessly blend is a monumental task. I think the artists did an amazing job with the constraints of essentially making an 8 hour movie in the time usually given a 2 hour one.

But as the show continued, the actors seemed more comfortable in their roles. The showrunners seemed to figure out what worked and what didn't. The quality across the board started to improve. Especially when they started to deviate a little bit from following the cartoon. I also noticed that the effects that were jarring in the beginning eventually stopped bothering me and breaking immersion. I got used to them and was able to just focus on the story. And I think they got a little better as well. The bending was much more convincing as the show progressed. And it was a bajillion times better than the slow-motion bending of that movie that shall not be named.

And by the final episode, I was all in. The Avatar monster was really cool. And I was crying my eyes out and having all kinds of emotions. And there were some changes they made to the story which I actually thought made more sense. And I was glad this show was doing a few things to differentiate rather than being an exact carbon copy.

It won me over.

And I know it won't do that for everyone. And perhaps I am forgiving a lot of sins just because I wanted it to be good. The original was my absolute favorite show of all time. I just liked spending time with these characters again.

But I liked it more than I didn't and I'm hoping that is the general consensus, but I fear that is not the case.

Things I really liked...

I thought the actor playing Sokka was really great. They didn't give him enough humorous material. But I think this kid absolutely nailed the role. And if this gets another season, I do hope he can show Sokka's lighter side a bit more.

Ken Leung also did amazing as Zhao. I think he surpassed his cartoon counterpart in villainy. I loved hating him.

The final battle was beautiful. I think they probably dedicated a lot of resources to that. Maybe at the expense of other things. But I think it was worth it to end strong.

In the first season of the cartoon, the trauma was often skipped over or kept very brief. I'm sure the idea of dealing with genocide and war time trauma was not an easy sell to Nickelodeon initially. But they did actually take the time to show some of that trauma, especially with Katara and Sokka. And I cried a bunch.

They seemed to go to considerable effort to have a diverse cast. I am glad they learned that lesson from the movie.

That said, they probably could have brought back Dee Bradley Baker to make the animal noises. This might have been an overcorrection...

I guess this will give the anti-wokesters something to complain about since the original was already super woke and it is probably a challenge to complain about the new thing being woke as well. Though I'm sure they are up to the challenge.

Things I didn't care for...

The compressed timeline caused a few stories to be combined and accelerated. I understand why that was necessary. But there were some important moments of character growth that got lost.

Sokka's missing sexism. I think it is much more useful to see someone grow and change and let go of their problematic traits than to pretend that never existed. Sokka's sexism was a symbol of the conservative views within water tribe culture in general. It was also foreshadowing for the conflict with Pakku (which was also minimized). I just think young viewers seeing a character overcome ingrained ideals has a greater influence than just erasing that aspect from the character.

Things I hated...

Princess Yue's hair. You get the amazing Amber Midthunder to play Yue, and she does an amazing job with extremely abbreviated screen time, but I couldn't stop staring at whatever that was they put on her noggin. I know I criticized people for nitpicking, but that was very distracting. I don't know exactly how it could have been done better, but I worry a great performance is going to get overshadowed by... hair.

In conclusion...

I think the people making this show loved the source material. I can see that love. I think they tried very hard to make the best show possible. And I also know they are probably going to get a lot of hate. I still haven't looked at the reviews because I didn't want to be influenced when writing this. But I can feel the review bombing as we speak.

But this was not a Witcher situation where the writers didn't respect the source material. This was displaying how incredibly difficult it is to convert one of the most beautifully animated shows in existence into live action. Maybe that is an argument for not making live action versions. Though I usually love them when they work and am happy both versions exist.

I really hope people can remember the original still exists and they can completely disregard this and watch the cartoon any time they wish. This doesn't have to "ruin their childhood." These two things can exist and everyone is perfectly capable of ignoring all of the live action material.

But I do hope this gets another season. I think that final episode showed the potential. I think the cast was getting comfortable in their roles and they deserve another chance to show what they can do.

I love Paul Sun-Hyung Lee and I think he was a great choice for Iroh. But Mako's shoes are probably the biggest shoes in the existence of shoes to try and fill. I do not envy the task he was given. But every once in a while I saw that Mako spirit come out in his performance and I think he could use another season to really find that and show us what he is capable of.

This felt a lot like The Phantom Menace to me. There was actually a ton of amazing stuff to love in that movie. But it didn't quite work the way the original movies did. But I think this was good enough to hope for the future.

[byooregard]

Things I think happened between x-men first class and days of future past in the Xavier mansion:

one time both Charles and Hank are drunk and sad and Charles tries to make a move on Hank because this is what he does but Hank being Hank gets so freaked out and then spends the next month thinking oh god does this make me homophobic I'm not homophobic but I'm also not gay I can't be gay because being blue is already bad enough and shit I didn't know the professor was gay but I'm not homophobic though I need to be supportive so loudly that Charles decides that hes never bringing it up again

Hank gets mad at Charles for being some sort of bitch (as he is frequently) but Charles spends like a week entirely oblivious to this because hes shit ass at reading people's emotions when he can't actively hear them

all of star trek the original series airs and is cancelled. in dofp they have a bit where you can see star trek playing on a TV in Hanks lab which means that hes a star trek fan. I think he and Charles watched all of TOS together but I think Charles Xavier is a fake ass nerd who doesn't like watching TV especially sci fi stuff. he spends the entire time pointing out possible scientific inaccuracies and makes the viewing experience generally worse

they also do this with doctor who. which started airing the day after jfk was assassinated

they definetly have a lot of late night emotional conversations in which they reveal far too much about themselves and don't solve anything

Hank tries to bring up the substance abuse problem exactly Once after which they don't talk for a month and it is never brought up again

Hank IS getting payed through all of this for the job he had when the school was still open . he's thought about bringing it up but a) that sounds awkward as hell and b) he doesn't actually want to stop being payed. he thinks he deserves a salary

stonewall happens in 1969. Hank, who has done a lot of growth and self reflection over the years keeps up with it because he thinks the queer community and mutants share a lot of struggles. he tries to bring it up to Charles but Charles goes hmm why should I care and Hank goes I don't know why I even try

Hank does go to the first pride parade it's really great for him he meets a group of queer mutants. it's really big in his journey towards self acceptance

[prettyboysdontlookatexplosions]

medialog may 2k24

not me being on time...

watched

the pilot of star trek: deep space nine - i normally would not list a single episode of television here but (1) it's almost two fucking hours long and (2) i watched this in some ways as one might watch a movie, i.e. at a friend's behalf without any expectation of continuing. i'm not sure that i will continue because as we all know i'm not the biggest fan of space, but i will say that my friend had been on me for ages about this and i truly could not imagine what he thought the appeal might be and then it turned out to be literally about colonialism and trauma so i was like.... okay..... points were made......

i saw the TV glow - on letterboxd i called this "beautiful, aching, strange," which i think sums it up. the visual look of this movie has really stayed with me, as have certain scenes (the neck-drawing scene - one of the most intimate, tender, & vulnerable moments i've ever seen in a movie), as has the way that i didn't really know how to watch it or what it was doing until the very end, which made it sort of curious in the moment but felt right in the end because it's about people who don't know what story they're in (made me think a little, weirdly, of the green knight, which i had a similar experience with). i also just appreciated its loving fidelity, even as that affection is complicated by the text itself, for the aesthetics of the first nickelodeon generation, and the fact that one of the things it's about is the idea of being life-changingly obsessed with something that's objectively kind of stupid.

challengers - "is this movie good" wrong question. right question is "does this movie fuck" and the answer is ABSOLUTELY. i'm gonna say something very controversial which is the more i think about it the more i think the movie was correct to include no real actual sex scenes and that in this specific case i truly believe if there was more fucking it would be less horny. last moment maybe the most purely elation-producing thing i have seen in a movie all year.

thief - i continue to be so glad to have been gently michael mann pilled by @power-chords; he is such an incredibly reliable filmmaker for making movies that are incredibly entertaining and well-made scene-to-scene but always manage to be so much meatier and more interesting in their writing & execution than the plot summary might lead you to assume. like, every time i watch one of his movies about white guys doing crimes, something people make a zillion movies about each year, i'm like, how come they don't all just do it like this guy? this one doesn't quite have the kick-it-to-eleven-something-extra to land it in top-tier mann territory for me personally, but it's still great, with a killer lead performance. it really brought home for me how much his movies are driven by a firm belief in the fact that people have personal philosophies that matter to them in a real way, and that one thing that makes him interesting and distinct is his insistence (here as in heat & blackhat) that that applies not just equally but possibly more so to people who have been incarcerated, and in fact his insistence on viewing incarceration itself as a situation which forces people to develop and articulate their personal philosophies as a matter of psychological survival (while obviously influencing what that philosophy is).

trouble in paradise - my letterboxd review of this was "siri play cowboy like me" and i stand by that: girl and boy meet cute in a classic scammer4scammer relationship, things get complicated on a later trick but ultimately they'll be loyal to each other and no one else until the end. i liked that but lubitsch is also a filmmaker who has turned out a bunch of kick-it-to-eleven movies that really wowed me and this felt a little light compared to the deranged battle-of-the-sexes fantasia bluebeard's eighth wife, the unbelievably dark and unbelievably funny WWII farce to be or not to be, or the OG MMF threesome celebration design for living. this one is just a very nice time, although i do need to stress that if it had been my first lubitsch i probably would have been more impressed, and the highs against which i am measuring it are EXTREMELY high

the bourne identity - did you know that brian cox and julia stiles are both in this movie? think about that for a minute. anyway this is decently fun

the bourne supremacy - kicks like 200% more ass than the first one, much more concerned with delivering awesome set pieces happening as frequently as possible. crazy to watch the shaky-cam action scenes in this after 7 million incoherent shitty shaky-cam action scenes and really savor the fact that even though it FEELS out of control and wild, actually you can tell what is going on with perfect clarity the entire time!

perfect blue - this is like the most incredible movie i have seen in my entire life holy shit????? just an incredible exploration of celebrity, identity, projection, parasocial relationships, the viciousness and dehumanization women in the public eye experience within the entertainment industry and without, often from people who identify as their biggest fans... also one of the only movies (seriously it's like... this and eighth grade? what else is there?) to make meaningful use of the affective/psychological/metaphorical dimension of the internet (in a way that makes clear that with the internet it's hard to suss those three apart), despite the fact that it came out in 1997 and features a scene of someone explaining to the protagonist how to go online. like it came out THAT early and ALSO: features a scene where our constantly dissociating heroine whose grasp on reality is dissolving reads a blog an obsessive stalker has been writing in her voice and uses it to identify what she did that day... like satoshi kon (RIP) your mind... this is also probably the animated movie i've seen that makes the most interesting use of the fact that "real" and "fake" can plausibly look identical in animation. it's a dark and viscerally disturbing watch with some deeply cynical observations and yet ultimately feels very humane and not wholly depressing... it's a miracle to me this movie exists i really can't believe how good it was. everything i've ever wanted happening at once.

furiosa: a mad max saga - i'm so glad chris hemsworth got to be australian in a movie that rocked... darker and slower than fury road, both by design, but i really liked its heaviness, offset (and this is like fury road) by a core humanity that feels like a real commitment. but also it is filled with many scenes that whip unholy amounts of ass.

ball of fire - THIS MOVIE WAS SO FUCKING GOOD I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! okay this is a screwball romcom from 1941 and the premise is: "stuffy but sweet grammarian currently serving as the only hot member of an eight-person team of encyclopedists realizes after a chance encounter with a loquacious garbageman seeking trivia help that his entry on slang is hopelessly outdated and ventures out of project headquarters to learn the language of the people on the streets, where he also finds a nightclub singer with a smart mouth who unbeknownst to him is a gangster's moll tangled in a web of her own." IS THAT NOT THE BEST IDEA FOR A MOVIE YOU HAVE EVER HEARD IN YOUR LIFE???? everything about this movie is SO delightful. gary cooper is so funny and so cute and sweet blushing his way through a belated sexual awakening, barbara stanwyck is charismatic and sharp winning over both him and the seven old nerds who are silly and cartoonish in the best way (but also one of whom gets a monologue that is genuinely moving but whose obscenity is so thinly veiled i TRULY could not believe the board let it through in '41 lmao). this was screening as part of some partnership with the academy where different branches choose movies to highlight and it was selected by the writers, which makes sense because the screenplay is INCREDIBLE, both structurally and line by line. it's somehow both gonzo and intimate, weaving a goofy gangster plot that in the screwball setting reads almost like a parody of noir (the chief goon is named "pastrami" lmao) in at the edges of a genuinely tender love story of the very very best kind, which is two people who surprise each other and consequently themselves, who mutually change each other but not in a way that suggests either of them ever needed to be fixed... and the way this happens is largely through LANGUAGE!! the script is sooo in love with language itself, seeing poetry both in fast-talking street-corner patter and in a line from richard iii that appears in a scene that remains hilarious even as it's also so heart-rending that it elicited not one but two vocal oh's from the person behind me. like, it's so crucial that cooper's character's attitude towards all the slang he's missed while holed up with his books is the excitement of a botanist discovering a new species of fern, totally devoid of condescension or scorn (there's a scene where he tries to understand the meaning of "corny".... it's just so good). this movie felt like a magic trick!!! i just coudn't get over it!!! i was floating on air!!! i was thinking about it all day!!! love yourself and watch it as soon as you're able!!!

ONGOING: interview with the vampire season 2 - Finally Some Good Fucking Food

read

andy greenwald, nothing feels good: punk rock, teenagers, and emo - when i was working on the taylor post i asked nick if the starting line qualified as emo and he responded by pulling this book off the shelf and seeing if they were mentioned (they are, several times). i flipped through it for some additional context and decided to read it for real because i was in the mood for some light nonfiction and it seemed fun and also i know andy greenwald as half of one of the ringer podcasts (the watch, which discusses TV; i had no idea he used to be a music guy). anyway i liked this more than i expected to honestly! you can tell that greenwald genuinely admires the work of many of the bands mentioned, both in emo's hardcore antecedents and in the scene/movement/trend itself (and he devotes a lot of space to the ways emo is all three of those in different ways or sometimes all at once), but you also get the sense that he's approaching this more as a journalist than as a critic, and his primary interest is less the music than the experience of the bands and especially of the fans; it's an oversimplification to say that his argument about emo is that it brings the catharsis of punk to uncool normie teens (given the origin point of my journey with this book, yes, i did constantly find myself stumbling across sentences that sounded like things a person could write about taylor swift lmao), but that's kind of the idea, and crucial here is that greenwald thinks it's good and special that these kids have something that means so much to them, and that's true regardless of the music's artistic merits, which obviously appeals a lot to me, a person whose now deleted perblog had a running tag called #avril lavigne was my kathleen hanna. the sections where he interviews actual teenagers made me choke up... multiple times. i was also kind of pleasantly surprised by how well most of the musicians he interviews come off. a lot of attention is given to chris carrabba of dashboard confessional (not really "of," apparently it's like the mountain goats where the name refers to A Guy and other people also appear variously...) who comes across as sincere and also sincerely actually kind of tormented and unwell to the extent that i found myself like concerned about his mental health, which was not an emotion i expected to ever feel... also the final two chapters are about the internet and the last chapter specifically is about livejournal and as someone who got on liveournal as a teenager the year this book came out, greenwald is more astute about the draw of blogging for young people with many feelings than basically anyone i read pontificating on the topic in high school and maybe anyone since - i'm really hard-pressed to come up with something About The Internet i've read that made me feel "yes! this is true and resonant to my experience of Online!" as much as this did.

courtney summers, the project - summers is one of a handful of authors i actively follow, and this is the first of two books of hers i've missed while having several off-years for reading. like a special gift for me personally, it's about cults, and she nails it; the book has two timelines, one in the present and one in the past, each following one of a pair of sisters drawn into the cult at a different time, in a different way, for different reasons - but to horrifying ends just the same. summers has talked in interviews and in her newsletter about wanting to write books that push at the empathy gap for imperfect victims, and this one pushes it as far as she's ever gone; i just think it's so, so, so great that she asks the reader to watch two different vulnerable people fall for manipulation she knows the reader will be able to spot a mile away and refuses to judge her characters for being manipulated. (also as someone with Some Interest In Cults, but no personal experience... for what it's worth, i think she really nailed the organization, which she says is inspired primarily by the people's temple but will ring familiar to others as well because on a certain level all these places are the same, as well as the charismatic figure at its center. and i thought it was kinda baller to make it an explicitly christian cult.) it's also her plottiest book yet, even more so than sadie, but still retains her knife-sharp interiority. at one point in this book a character who's a journalist says something like "the closer to the bone you get, the less you can be denied," which is an apt a mission statement as she's ever written for herself, and a pretty good one if you're on the market.

listened

dula lipa, radical optimism - dua lipa is to me the living embodiment of that line from the other two, "thank you, john legend! another b-plus!" and, indeed, this album is: Fine

billie eilish, hit me hard and soft - i really wanted to adore this the way i adored happier than ever, which totally blew me away, but i didn't - it's a little too polished, a little too respectable as Well Crafted Pop (as opposed to happier than ever which sort of flirted with respectability vis a vis its subject matter and the oldies influence on its several slower tracks, but which as a project was so eclectic and brimming with ambition that it still felt really electric). but, i mean, it's still good - i really think eilish is top-tier as a songwriter and her lyricism remains distinctive (who else would open her sweetest and most joyful love song yet with a verse saying essentially "kill me if you're gone because i would have no reason to live"?),, and finneas's glossy sheen is never anything less than pleasant to lsiten to - and obviously one of the most famous figures in pop right now putting out a single about how she loves eating pussy and spoiling the shit out of her girlfriend is an unmitigated win. my favorite track is probably the after-album release of the extended cut of the bizarre eurotrash song tucked into the last two minutes of some other normal song, which makes no sense to exist but delights me.

[dduane]

hello! i've never read your work before (i'm a lil french boy and your stuff has never come up before, i really just saw your reblog on the star trek screenshot and got curious) but ive been meaning to get into reading again, and you seemed so nice so i felt comfortable to ask:

do you have any recs in your work in fantasy ; magic is very cool but i really dislike the harry potter style magic (i really enjoyed brandon sanderson's work tho, such fun and interesting magic styles and world building!!) i've always loved good dark steampunk too, my favourite game franchise is Dishonored if you know of it

i'm always too hesitant to pick up books on my own and rely on recommandations 😰

i hope you feel better soon too! Food poisoning is so exhausting, so sending you my best wishes

(waving at you) Hey, thanks for the good wishes. The food poisoning seems to be over now. (I had a run-in with a salad that either had dodgy lettuce or dodgy dressing: the jury is still out on which.)

About those fantasy recs: My fantasy at the moment (excepting various standalone books) comes in two flavors—the LGBTQ-centered Middle Kingdoms works, and the YA-oriented Young Wizards series. At the moment I'd suggest that the YW books might be a good place for you to start, particularly because the first two of them are available in France from Lumen éditions, which brought them out some years back. (These were also translated from the newer, 2011/2012-revised editions of the books, and are presently the only traditionally-published versions that were set from the NMEs.) Amazon.fr has them here and here.

And just in case you're concerned—the magic style and general ethos of these books are absolutely nothing like what appears in the Potter books (which I guess is no surprise, since the first book of the series came out when certain other writers were just starting college). I have absolutely no patience with the wave-your-wand-and-shit-just-happens style of magic... or with wizardry that only happens on one planet, or to one species. So I think you're in for a very different experience here. :) And there are plenty of YW fans around if you want to discuss what you've found.

Meanwhile, thanks for asking! À bientôt.

[trillscienceofficer]

Behind the scenes on season four [of Star Trek: Voyager], things continued to evolve. Jeri Taylor, after a long and successful career in television, announced her plans to retire at the end of the year, and Brannon Braga, who had started as an intern on The Next Generation, was now being groomed to take her place as showrunner (the first time he would hold that position). Braga, for his part, wanted to put his own stamp on the series, though it wasn’t always an easy thing to do as Rick Berman remained firmly in charge of the franchise. BRYAN FULLER: I was coming into Voyager in Jeri Taylor’s last year, and so she was handing the baton over to Brannon, and Brannon was very much a new showrunner. There were things that he really wanted to do and should have been able to do, and which would have made the show even better and bolder and bright, but he was not allowed to. Rick Berman more or less told him, “No, you can’t do that, because I can’t control Ira Behr on Deep Space Nine and I have to control you.” The influences of Rick on Brannon’s instincts sort of dampened what the show could have been. Brannon was a great showrunner and had great, bold ideas, but he was working for Rick Berman, who was a daughter of the syndication era. And the show had to be very specifically traditional in a certain sense, and he really squashed some of Brannon’s better ideas. I would love to go back in time and see Brannon do the Voyager that was his instinct to do. [...] You know, my experience with Star Trek consisted primarily of highlights. It was so fantastic to be able to walk onto a Starfleet ship and walk through the corridors. Being in those corridors was surreal and transportive. It was also an interesting time, because I was terrified of screwing it up and yet I was also fascinated with the politics of Rick Berman and Brannon on one show, and Ira on another show. Looking at somebody who had been a showrunner before and had the confidence and the ability to say no with someone who was still reporting to someone and still fulfilling a portion of someone else’s vision. BRANNON BRAGA: I thought Voyager could be a big, expansive, cinematic show. I wanted to up the ante from the production point of view. I would eventually get that chance. I remember Joe Menosky and I went to Jeri Taylor and said we wanted to start doing a series of two-part episodes that would let Voyager make its own stamp. Every single two-parter we did was fucking great and a barn burner. Real scope, and from a really high concept. I always thought Voyager could be high concept. BRYAN FULLER: Despite Rick’s determination to have a stronger hold on Voyager than he could on Deep Space Nine, I’d not deny how much Brannon actually did achieve with the series. He very much was eager to get into more high-concept science-fiction storytelling, like harder science-fiction storytelling. The great stuff with Species 8472, the Borg arc, the “Year of Hell,” the Hirogen and “The Killing Game.” There was a lot of iconography brought back into the world of the storytelling, and less sort of diplomacy and navigating new species and more “Holy shit, we’ve got to fight these guys!” And that was really Brannon coming into his own. Actually Brannon and Joe Menosky were really the creative voices of those last few seasons.

From “The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years” by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman (2016)

[raquellemonsta]

accidental perfect match (kirishima eijirou x reader)

masterlist

happy halloween!

this is my first mha related post! I love kiri so who better than him <3 hope you like it :)

----

so far, college had been the most draining experience of your life. that's why you were relieved when it finally came time for halloween: the quintessential college holiday. it being your freshmen year, you were excited to get a taste of your first official 'halloweekend'. in fact, you had spent the past hour getting ready with a few of your friends, now making the trek down to the frats.

for your costume, you had gone with the totally-not overdone barbie from the new movie (that you'd gone to see three times when it first came out). specifically, you chose the one from the rollerblading scene, mostly for the cute, bright colors. it was a win-win because it kept you somewhat modest while also exposing enough skin that you wouldn't be entirely overheated.

you didn't fully commit, as you were without the rollerblades themselves, though the entire walk down to frat row made you thank your lucky stars you weren't barreling down any hills. there were tons of other people out walking, and the closer you got to the houses the more people there were. it was nice to see everyone in costumes

you ended up getting in to a house through one of your friends (who claimed she knew a "mirio"), even though the guy at the door probably would've let you in anyway. your friends were much quicker than you and made it through the door faster than you.

upon walking in, you decided to head for the living room. the room was bathed in a deep purple from led lights, along with random 'spooky' decorations thrown haphazardly all over the space. there was beer pong set up on some cheap folding table to the far side of the room, while in front of you some people were playing flip cup. you decided to just watch, not really in the mood to get start drinking just yet.

you were intently watching flip cup for who knows how long, when there was a commotion from the beer pong players. a blond dude was raging and threw down one of the plastic cups (it looked like he had missed), while his teammate on the other side was standing there typing away on his phone. the general volume of the room caused the already chaotic scene that the blond guy was making to amplify, reaching a high when you heard an excited yell and watched a guy wearing rollerblades barreled into the table and broke it in half.

he was wearing a costume almost identical to your own.

the angry blond looked like he was going to murder the man that was now sprawled out over the table and now-crushed cups. he started telling him off, and even over the loud music and dozen other people talking you could hear him yelling obscenities, as the man on the ground only laughed and removed the skates. that was when the blond somehow felt unfamiliar eyes staring at him and looked up directly at you. his eyes widened for the briefest second before you saw his eyebrows knit in confusion, looking between you and the guy on the ground. you could barely make out the way he began talking to him in a much more level tone and-

he looked over at you. you barely registered as he rose to his feet and started to walk over to you. your eyes widened, and you started to look around the room for either of the friends you came with. to your horror, they were nowhere to be found. you shift your eyes back in front of you and your stomach sinks as you make direct eye contact with the redheaded stranger.

"i like your costume" he grinned. you were immediately drawn to his smile, with strangely sharp teeth that seemed slightly unnatural. you couldn't ignore how attractive he was though, even in the dark room you were entirely captivated by him. his gorgeous red eyes caught your attention, and you couldn't help but notice a tiny scar above his right one.

"i wasn't brave enough to actually wear the skates" you quietly laughed, causing his smile to become even brighter. he leaned in closer to hear you better, and you felt your heart skip at the close proximity to such a handsome man. sure, lots of guys at college were somewhat attractive, but this one was entirely sexy, for lack of a better word. "that was quite a stunt".

"would you believe me if i told you i'm completely sober right now?" you looked at him incredulously. no way…

"i believe you" you blurted out before you could even think of a response. he chuckled at the slightly embarrassed expression on your face, and you swore you could see a slight pink tint to his cheeks.

"i'm glad i have a beautiful barbie's trust" he smoothly responded, though not in a creepy, overly-flirty way. it was sweet.

"well this barbie's name is (y/n)" you attempted to flirt back, though you slightly cringed at the unnatural way you said it. you were literally acting like a character straight out of a cheesy rom-com. he didn't seem to care though,

"eijirou" he slightly bowed. you were coming to find he was quite the gentleman. the two of you shared some more small talk, though most of it was spent intently gazing into each others eyes and feeling your heartbeat against your ribs.

"can we get a picture?" you finally asked. you had been thinking about it for most of the conversation, that this was just too perfect a coincidence to pass up. he gave you another one of his big grins before pulling his phone out and taking several pictures. it was definitely going to make your instagram. you quickly typed your number into his phone and smiled when your phone buzzed, looking down to go through the pictures.

"will you dance with me?" he suddenly spoke again. you looked up in slight shock and then nodded your head, unable to keep the involuntary smile from breaking out over your face. you had been smiling so much with him tonight that your cheeks were on fire. it was so worth it though.

"yes" you were able to verbalize, just loud enough so he could hear you. you were suddenly so aware of the speakers booming in the backyard, the structure of the house vibrating and filling your body with an exciting rush.

"give me a second". you watched him in slight confusion as he turned around, staying in the same spot he was in. he pumped his fist in happiness and yelled:

"sublime!"

you definitely have a big, fat crush.

[countesspetofi]

Today in the Department of Before They Were Star Trek Stars, Leonard Nimoy guest stars in "Production and Decay of Strange Particles," episode 30 of the first season of The Outer Limits (original air date April 20, 1964).

Nimoy plays one of a team of scientists carrying out an experiment in a nuclear research facility, where a strange accident dissolves two team members inside their radiation suits and turns them into pure energy. Unfortunately, there's no handy transporter to bring them back. Nimoy's character is the second to die, making his screen time relatively short.

Other Trek Connections: There are a lot of connections between the worlds of Star Trek and The Outer Limits, and we may not get to all of them.

The first scientist to die is played by prolific character actor Joseph Ruskin. His first appearance in the Star Trek universe was as Galt, the Master Thrall in the Original Series episode "The Gamesters of Triskelion." He also played small roles in episodes of Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise; played a Son'a officer in Star Trek: Insurrection; and voiced characters in the Star Trek: Hidden Evil and Star Trek: Away Team video games.

Robert H. Justman served as Production Manager for this episode, and directed and produced many other episodes of The Outer Limits. He is also one of Star Trek's elder statesmen, considered by many to be second only to Gene Roddenberry in creating and setting the direction of the Trek universe. He served as a producer on both Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation, as well as performing several small voice-over roles on the former. After he left the Next Generation production team, one of the Enterprise-D's shuttlecraft seen in seasons 6 and 7 was named "Justman" in his honor.

The Outer Limits' producer, Joseph Stefano, was also a prolific sci-fi screenwriter, and wrote the Next Generation episode "Skin of Evil."

[mrcowboytoyou]

Star Trek: The Fotonovel

So TOS fotonovels are a thing that exists. If you've never heard of them- they're comics composed of stills of the show episodes. A couple of the first six movies were also made into fotonovels BUT they're both a little different than the ones based on TOS episodes and I will get to them in due time.

Right off the bat there are a couple of things that need to be said. For one, why do these exist? Well I imagine they made for a good way to consume your fave episode without having to wait for it to come on TV again. With that in mind, these fotonovels work perfectly. They're very true to the episodes with some exceptions. These differences come from the fact that these aren't comics drawn based on an episode, they just take stills directly from the show and the show was not intended to be read/viewed in this way.

Some things cannot avoid being abridged or compressed in favor of this new format but for the most part this is never really distracting and nor does it take away from the reading experience. After all, it's supposed to be a very detailed reminder of the episode you already know, so you can just relive it with the pictures.

Additionally, sometimes the fotonovels have extra lines and these are mostly found in the way of thought bubbles the characters have. Overall they're very charming but don't have a lot of utility now a days. I own some because I have problems.... They make up almost a fourth of my ST TOS book collection.

If you are interested in them my general thoughts are that the ones made from the episodes are really well done for what they are. They're also basically just some of the most popular episodes from the show using only episodes from the first two seasons. They're delivered in their own order adhering to neither the release of the show nor its intended release.

TITLES (ones i own)

The City on the Edge of Forever

Where No Man Has Gone Before

The Trouble With Tribbles

A Taste of Armageddon

Metamorphosis

All Our Yesterdays

The Galileo Seven

A piece of the Action

The Devil in the Dark

Day of the Dove

The Deadly Years

Amok Time

Star Trek: The Motion Picture Photostory

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Photostory

Now, you'll notice I said that the ones made for the episodes are good, and so far I have been sure to separate the ones done for the movies. This is because there's a bit of a quality drop.

For starters, they kept them the same length as the fotonovels of the episodes. Right away that presents a pretty big quandary because the movies are over twice as long. So if you're looking for something that adds to the experience of seeing the movies, these last two fotonovels will not do that- rather they will take away. A lot of scenes just don't make it into them and neither of them are adding from the novelizations either.

And then we have their page quality. All but one of these have shiny, coloured pages. Wrath of Khan is unfortunately in black and white and not even composed like a comic but is rather movie stills with accompanying dialogue. That's sort of like a massive let down given how big of a deal that movie is.

I intend to really get into the nitty gritty with each of these- especially the movie adaptions.

And, if you're worried about the loss of homoerotic subtext- you're all good... plus its just a tad funnier this way.