#maybe that's why I like betazoids

[thresholdbb]

At the eye doc getting betazoid pupils

[overseer-picard]

tng characters and tattoos. go.

Ohhaughhhhohhh. I am scrunching up a curly phone cord into inextricable tangles I'm so deep thought.

Picard: Classical nautical/Navy. He'd do a mix of real historical sailor's tattoos with accurate meanings mixed with old style illustrations (lots of subtle references to The Tempest probably). He's a man with a plan and would refrain from anything too out of theme to maintain visual cohesiveness (but he'd sneak in a small, secret orchid for the woman in his life who loves orchids).

Riker: This man is a romantic. He'd have keepsakes from every person he's fallen in love with but instead of removing them, keep them as fond reminders of the people who meant most to him in his life. But he has one tattoo on his inner bicep that says "Imzadi" written in Betazoid script. He'd also have a cheeky Horga'hn on his inner thigh.

Data: He'd do extensive research on why people get tattoos, think deeply, then have Lal's positronic signature synthesized into pixels and then those pixels arranged into the words "I will feel it for both of us" put on his chest, over his heart. On his shoulder he'd have a stylized painting of Spot and a band around his forearm that looks a lot like Geordi's visor. On his inner wrist: 221B.

Beverly: Realistic watercolor medicinal herbs with Celtic undertones (for Caldos). Like Picard, she'd go with an organized theme to maintain an aesthetic. She'd have leaves and flowers snaking around her arms and shoulders, vine like, with their names printed in old fashioned script. Two flowers though (a water lily and larkspur), unbeknownst to the untrained eye, would not be herbs but the birth flowers for July, the birth month for both Picard and Wesley.

Geordi: A minimalist. He'd have the blueprint for Cochrane's Phoenix on one arm and a string of numbers on the other: the stardate he was promoted to Chief Engineer as well as NCC1701D. On the inside of his wrist: 221B.

Deanna: On her calf, she'd have a Western style rose and violet, a reference to: "Roses love sunshine violets love dew Angels in heaven know I love you", lyrics from "Down in the Valley", a song her father used to sing to her. Hidden away, she'd have a cowboy playing a trombone she got as a dare with the intent to remove it but... well, she kind of likes it.

Worf: the Mogh family crest on his right pectoral. Except it's not a tattoo, it's a brand. This is because it's how Klingon's did it several hundred years ago and that's a superior method to the painless (honor-less) laser injection tattoos of the present day (maybe they beam the ink in?). Beverly hates this monstrosity of scarring she has to see every year for his physical but Worf is very proud of it.

[woagopossum]

collection of old star trek au drawings that still fit my ideas sdfhlk. the headshots are about a year old at this point i was trying to do everyone,, got tired of that. pretty quick. The full bodies were take two but got even less far from august this year, i have little patience for line ups.

i want to make something sort of comprehensive at some point but idk if ill ever get to that so im just going to ramble ramble about the ones i did end up drawing:

Bdubs: he's an el-aurian, which means he is an empath. whos going to live forever. he's on the engineering team, but much to his chagrin he is mostly used as a rubber duck rather than for his incredible engineering talent. i mean i do think he's a good engineer but i think he's an even better guy to just talk at. Which is why I chose el-aurian as his species they're described as a 'listener' species (lore .) who have a deep contention with time. which just screamed bbubs to me.

Cub: I just think he would make a really funny Vulcan. Sorry I havent thought in depth about this one. It was mostly inspired by his like, his usually very consistent way of speaking, just the way he inflects feels like he could be a Vulcan. if they were from Chicago i guess. Science division ofc.

Doc: in my mind he is the perfect Orion. He's green pack it up. But also orions are usually used as like, stock mafia pirate insert villains and star trek, so it like doubly fits his vibe to me. He's something along the lines of a disgraced orion mad scientist who's found a second chance in the federation. He's the hermitcrafts current science officer.

Hypno: i think I've settled on him being a betazoid just for the hypnosis psychic powers sort of bit. He's on the security team and I think he works with Xb and Keralis to smuggle goods on the ship for fun. This is a very important role in star trek trust me.

Wels: I don't have a whole lot on him rn but he has such bajoran vibes to me. He's also on security.

Cleo: Borg are basically like zombies so Cleo as an formerly assimilated Borg just made sense to me. They're the ships chief medical officer. To me Cleo is like in the center of a triangle with Beverly Bones and Bashir at each point so it just fit in my mind. I think her backstory would be somewhat similar to seven of nines, getting assimilated young but instead of being thrown right into the horrors of voyager like seven she got to like, chill a little bit after being unassimilated.

Joe: Joe is a joined trill but he's the first host of the Hills symbiont. So e's still just like that it doesn't have anything to do with the worm. I've considered making him the ships counselor, to go in line with the star trek tradition of ship counselors who maybe should have a different job, but I'm not sure about it.

Tango: Tangos a catboy. I mean caitian. He's the chief engineer. I also don't have much else beyond that for him yet.

Impulse: he's impulse :) hes like impulse. but in space . He's another engineer. i haven't worked out much else,

[captainhattersvoyagerstuff]

Caretaker Part 1

Okay, so I just finished Caretaker, the 2 part season premiere of Voyager. It's been a while, so there's stuff I forgot was there. Some of it was good. Some of it was, omg. But let's see if I can post my review, which is a series of notes I made while watching. I hope for more discussion later.

That thingy you're running into means you're screwed, Chakotay

Star Wars Crawl

Okay we start out with words on a screen. There’s this group of federation citizens called the Maquis who didn’t agree with Starfleet’s moronic treaty that are fighting the Cardassians and some say they are heroes and the Federation says they are outlaws.  Yay I saw the Maquis on Ds9!  I can’t wait to see more of them. (cough)

Scene 1: Maqui Ship. Chakotay and Maquis crew trying to outrun Cardassians.  Yay!  Chakotay is a really assertive leader here.  I’m excited. We have a coherent tetryan beam.  I hate those incoherent ones.

Wave hits them and light and we have Voyager credits.  Good theme song. Love the orchestra.

Scene 2: Federation penal colony.  In New Zealand?

That's right, bitches, I'm here.

Janeway shows up at the penal colony to find Tom Paris who could maybe find the Maquis cause he served with them before they kicked him out just like Starfleet did.

I'm really tough. I don't have Daddy issues.

She tells Tom he is an observer and he whines about being a good pilot. Except for the pilot error that got three people killed, oh nevermind. Just wait five minutes, Tom.

Scene 3 Tom is annoying on the shuttle to Voyager

Okay I have a question. Tom is wearing a Starfleet uniform. Why do observers still wear a uniform?  Don’t you need to earn that?

Also: Pretty Betazoid Ensign Stadi (don't get used to her) informs Tom that Voyager has bio-nueral gel packs.  They are so much more efficient.  Unless there is cheese on board.

Scene 4 Harry is nearly conned for first time on space station ds9. Harry's theory: get con artists off your back by buying everything. Tom saves him cause he's as big of a con as Quark.

Oh, hey, is that Quark from Ds9 that other show you should watch?

Scene 5 Tom and Harry meet the Doctor

The Doc is super bitchy to them. I met he's gonna make stuff hard for Tom.

Scene 6 Janeway talks to fiancee

His name is Mark Johnson. Really. Unknown Truth: Tuvok's real last name is Smith. Anyway, the show has a few minutes to tell us who Mark is and why Janeway loves him. So they talk about her dog.

Nice knowin' ya, Mark

Janeway's dog is named Molly. She is expecting puppies. She likes her doggy bed. I am officially more invested in her dog now.

Scene 7 Junior High mess hall

Doctor and First Officer Cavitt, two of the most nondescript white guys ever (doctor isn't even named), gossip with Harry about what Tom did cause it's junior high and oh no these guys don't like Tom what will he do?

Scene 8 Wonder why it's called the Badlands

Plasma storms, more coherent beams, stuff is fine. What could go wrong? What's that bright light?

Scene 9 Voyager go boom

This is going to take FOREVER to fix!

Ship is transported 75,000 light years to the Delta Quadrant and they hit the breaks kinda hard. The ship is all messed up. So is Janeway's hair.

Where is my HAIRSPRAY?

A couple of shots later:

Seriously? It's hair magic!

Turns out that all command officers (including that pesky doctor and first officer) except Janeway and the entire medical staff are dead. What kind of bad karma does Janeway have? They get scanned and beamed off the ship.

Gonna stop here for a break so it's not so long. Stay tuned next time for Farmville and the evil corn on the cob lady.

[starrylol]

Day 8 - Past

Varek and Leia’s first meeting, I felt like this was perfect for this prompt and I really love how it came out.

Drawing them younger is fun and Varek has changed a lot but at heart he’s still an emotional person despite what he might show, they met when they were in starfleet academy and from then on became the bestest of friends! I’ll provide the rest of the short story I wrote underneath.

"You look like you need some company," a serene voice said behind him

Varek glanced behind him, a betazoid woman with long curly hair and friendly eyes. She sat down next to him, ordering a glass of rose wine.

"Is it that obvious?" Either his mental shields had dropped after consuming hot chocolate, or he looked depressed.

"Maybe… Would you like to talk about it? My name is Leia Vai, by the way. "

"Varek," He sighed. "I just… feel like an outcast, I suppose that's why I joined Starfleet."

"What makes you say that?"

"I'm considered too emotional"

"There's nothing wrong with that." He glared at her. "What I mean is, so what if you don't conform to Vulcan standards. Being expected to show little to no emotion is a massive burden, at least I imagine not everyone wants to do that, and that's totally okay but to condemn someone just because they're different is cruel. "

"I suppose so."

"I can't say I know what you've been through because I don't. All I can say is that you can only be what you are. I can sense that you're a good person. "

"Thank you,"

"How about I buy you another round of… Hot chocolate?" She frowned

"Vulcans are more sensitive to sucrose, it tends to mimic the effects of alcohol on humans"

"So basically, you get drunk off chocolate?"

"Yes." He rolled his eyes. "What do Betazoids drink?"

"Well, I personally like any type of wine, I prefer sweeter drink, but it really depends on the person." She took a long sip of her wine and smiled at him

They lapsed into a comfortable silence. He thought more about their spontaneous meeting. The Betazoid must have sensed his strong emotions. He found that he didn't mind.

"So what're you taking at the academy?"

"I am studying command and control and Xenolinguistics. What about you?"

"Oh, sweet! I'm doing Xenoanthropology and, of course, psychology. I'm surprised we haven't met before!"

"Perhaps you and I should become more acquainted." He quirked an eyebrow

-

"I'd like that,"

[slivensays]

Trick or Treat!

A small comic or fic drabble maybe? :3

Oh, fun! Thanks for the ask!

I wrote a little something, sure hope you'll like it! It's not my usual fandom, but I tried to get it right. 😊

My mind to your mind Star Trek Voyager Tuvok and Lon Suder General audiences

Lon Suder really wishes to experience the Mind Meld once more.

¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨

Tuvok visits him sometimes. The officer doesn’t see it fit to delegate such a task to anyone else, and so, Suder tries his best to behave in a way that the Vulcan will find agreeable.

Has he been meditating? Of course, it is the one tool he has access to that will help with overcoming his violent impulses, which, when supressed for too long, threaten to take over.

It was the ultimate result of one such impulse that landed him in here; lacking a proper outlet for his compulsive aggression, he beat a man to death for looking at him the wrong way. Not the way to behave in a social context, he always knew this. Which is why he tried to hide the body and deny his involvement, when it was discovered.

It would have been different, had he still been in the Maquis, where skirmishes were a regular occurrence and could always be used as an excuse to get the aggression out of his system. He didn’t always find it necessary to kill, in those days, but would readily volunteer for missions whenever possible, in order to release the tension that would inevitably have built up inside him. He didn’t always need to kill. But when he got the chance, he would; the feeling of relief an instant reward. He had made a good soldier. But a good crew member on a peaceful Starfleet ship? No, something was bound to give way.  

To the best of his knowledge, Suder will be confined to his quarters until the Voyager reaches the destination called ‘home’ in the Alpha Quadrant. Suder isn’t sure, however, that he still regards it his home. Stranded in a strange part of space, well, but he’s been adrift for most of his life. It was always hard, being the odd one out, unable to learn or understand the proper responses that everybody else knew instinctively. Betazoids are known for their ability to read and connect with the minds of others. Not so Suder; he fails to connect with anyone at all.

That is, until the Meld.

Abandoning all sense of self to the Vulcan, thinking (no, hoping) he would surely perish in the process, is the closest Suder has ever felt to another. Understood another. Surrendered to another.

The first time he has ever felt relieved without first resorting to violence.

Remembering the Meld is… well. It’s something. No. It’s everything. It’s… connecting for the first time with another person. Truly connecting. With someone who sees you, who reads you, and who allows you to see them in turn. Someone who even leaves a little bit of themselves behind for you to marvel at once they are gone.

In this case, an ability to compose himself. To store away his impulses just like putting them neatly into a box, then close the lid. And let it sit. And sit, and sit for days at a time, with Suder feeling next to no need to lift the lid or let any of those urges out. And then, when finally he did, there was the meditation to aid him.   

But the meditation is of course a poor substitute for the instant alleviation offered by the Meld. Which is why he’ll ask for it again, even though he understands that it takes a toll on Tuvok. The Vulcan doesn’t get to walk away from such an encounter feeling well at ease, since he’s at risk of receiving some unpleasant tendencies of Suder’s in turn. Still, such tendencies should be much better contained now that Suder has worked hard on his focus and his composure. Enfolding his little box in layers and layers of neat wrapping, as it were, he’d happily tie a bow on it and gift it to Tuvok so he could be rid of it forever, were it possible. Hiding it away in a dark room, then throw away the key seems to be the alternative.

He wonders sometimes what dark urge Tuvok got in exchange for sharing his interest in orchids. Or if it even works that way, but Suder assumes that it does. You share one aspect of yourself, you get another in return. It seems rational.

The orchids, when first they entered his mind, seemed random and out of place. Difficult things to grow, even given the right conditions. When given the wrong; well. It is a demanding hobby, and it takes skill and dedication to succeed. Suder feels the need to concentrate, measuring out the right amounts of water and gently pollinating the flowers in his attempts to create a hybrid. But, as he shifts his focus from the ongoings in the darker parts of his mind to the care of the orchids, Suder finds it almost as rewarding as the meditation; he feels calm.

It will not be enough, Tuvok has warned; the techniques that Suder has learned will not keep him indefinitely from repressing his inherent violence. He must keep practicing them daily, cultivate himself by adding to them in order to retain his composure. And Suder does. He closes his eyes, controls his breathing, he directs his thoughts to the orchids and how proud he’ll make Tuvok when he finally manages to produce a hybrid flower of his own.

Still, all of that will not be enough. Which is why he keeps asking for the Meld, to feel again that sweet connection with a mind that seems to understand him. And for the chance that Tuvok might leave another little piece of himself for Suder to immerse in.

This, as it turns out, is a great argument for getting Tuvok to agree, finally, to try the Mind Meld once more. By offering Suder some additional aspects of himself, Tuvok can provide him with new tools which Suder can use to improve, thus making him less of a hazard. Though Suder is hardly threatening these days, the Vulcan is in charge of security and will always keep safety one of his main priorities.

And so it is, at long last, that Suder gets to feel Tuvok’s hands on his face again. Gentler, this time; when last it happened, it was an intrusion. And although Suder did welcome it at the time, this is so much better.  

Finding the right position for his fingers, Tuvok looks into Suder’s dark eyes; searching his face for any clue that he might be in the wrong state of mind for the Meld. But no, Suder emits only anticipation, and as the Vulcan seems satisfied with his examination, he closes his eyes in concentration; “My mind to your mind.”

It is soft, this time, hardly more than a whisper, and Suder lets out a long sigh of relief as he feels Tuvok’s mind tenderly enclosing his own.  

The end

Hope you enjoyed! If you want to, I could post it as a gift for you over at Ao3?

[thetruthbetween]

So I had a thought just now and bear with me because it's absolutely not fleshed out at all BUT

Okay so in TNG, one of the things that people make fun of a lot is how Deanna talks about that she feels empathically, right. Like "I feel pain" well great, how about being a touch more specific? Now I always had the theory that the Betazoid languages had like 20+ words for "pain" because it's a highly specific language, and when you have a people who can feel others' emotions, you're gonna end up with a metric fuckton of emotion words that confuse and distress every single non-native speaker

However

I was thinking just now about how I tend to use a lot of metaphors and similes when I'm talking about my emotions, because I'm autistic and I need to express myself as accurately as possible and the words English has for emotions are SO VAGUE that in order to paint an accurate picture, I have to ramble on about my feelings for ages. Unless I use metaphors, which are much faster and based more on vibes than anything else

So to bring this back around to Deanna. It's a thought to consider if the entire reason she used short descriptors of what she felt ("I feel pain" and the like) was because most people are incredibly impatient with long description, even if that description increases accuracy

We see it all the time in TNG with Data getting cut off, sometimes even when he's still giving actively useful information. So maybe Deanna realized that more detail on what she felt wouldn't actually be appreciated. After all, everyone always did seem more interested in things like the where and why of what she felt, so maybe more detail wasn't even necessary

[unhumanrights]

Thoughts on my brewing Mariner/T'Lyn fic

I keep putting off talking about this, but hey, it's my day off, so I have time. Here's what I have in mind for the fic. I'll put it under a cut for courtesy. Read if you dare. It's long. I'm kind of working through it as I write it.

I know I have talked about this before, so if you read something you've read before, apologies in advance.

I'll start with the original idea. T'Lyn, aware of the danger of Starfleet away missions (and just living on the ship, apparently), asks Mariner to train her in combat. Mariner agreed, if T'Lyn teaches her the nerve pinch.

The very first version of this idea had the punchline of T'Lyn not knowing the nerve pinch, so it was deception for her own gain. It was a simple gag. Maybe not the best characterization, though.

I eventually changed it to T'Lyn admitting that she didn't know the pinch, but they could try to learn it together. Bonding experience, so nice. Still funny to think of Mariner getting "tricked." Also, Vulcans aren't supposed to lie, I guess? I'm sure they can use loopholes.

Canon made this version impossible. Also, from her fighting stance in "Empathalogical Fallacies," it looks like T'Lyn isn't COMPLETELY defenseless. Not that she might not still want training, of course, hence why this idea is still viable with tweaks.

So, then the idea evolved into Mariner wanting to build up her resistance to the nerve pinch, “for reasons.” So, instead of combat training, it would be stealth training, because she would insist that T’Lyn try to sneak up on her throughout the day and try to pinch her. I still like this idea, and it might be what I end up doing. I changed it from learning the nerve pinch itself because I've decided that it's something that Mariner just can't do for whatever reason.

But if I DID still do the combat training, what form would it take? This is still a mystery. Another reason I'm second-guessing the combat training is because I don't really know anything about combat, so it probably wouldn't end up very good.

That being said, I came to a realization yesterday. I was a little sleep deprived, and I was riding my bike to work. Sleep deprivation combined with road brain to reveal a truth to me. Why would T'Lyn ask Mariner for training? Yes, she might have read about it in her file, and we know she reads files. However, she hasn't witnessed Mariner's combat prowess firsthand yet. She HAS, however, witnessed TENDI'S. Now, I think T'Lyn knows it's a touchy subject for Tendi, but she might ask anyway, if she can properly frame the question as education and friendly sparring rather than combat. So, either T'Lyn would just ask Tendi, or she would ask both of them instead of just Mariner. GIRL SPAAAR!

And this is the scenario I currently have in my brain: T'Lyn has made a holodeck recreation of her encounter with the Betazoids. She's trying to figure out where she went wrong in order to correct herself for future battles. She asks Mariner and Tendi to observe and give their impressions. I imagine T'Lyn as something of a perfectionist, and she will obsess over this in her quiet way.

This might become two different ficlets at this point. First with the nerve pinch resistance training, second with the holodeck Betazoid attack. Maybe combine them into two chapters? Or better to keep them separate, perhaps.

I guess that's everything that's in my head at the moment. I really need to start writing the damn thing/things. Maybe just start one and try to figure it out as I go, even if I'm more of a planner.

If you read all that, bless you.

[spocksbrainworms]

New trek’s problems literally all stem from the shows’ insecurities. They don’t trust in the fans to tune in because they don’t have faith in new ideas. They use nostalgia and love of the same characters as a crutch.

The only reason Michael Burnham is in any way related to Spock is because they didn’t trust fans to want to watch a black woman captain. Then when they finally realized the show could stand on its own they wrenched away that story line and basically made it not matter.

SNW is the absolute definition of this problem in full force. They want more TOS but we can’t just write more but what if it’s a prequel but what if they’re all totally different because they’re not them yet but oh wait they’re still them when it’s convenient but no you’re never allowed to speak of this trauma again and that’s why it’s never brought up later. LOOK! ROMANCE! YOU GUYS LIKE THAT RIGHT? Like Jesus just pick a thing and be that. Not to mention how much Spock is being flaunted around in Season 2. It’s almost like it’s his show and not about the enterprise and not even about Captain Pike for that matter. They rely too heavily on peoples love of Spock so they don’t do anything else.

Lower Decks even relies on Boimler to not just be a goofy little guy, but functions as a self-insert for most fans because of his own obsession with Starfleet’s past.

Not to mention why have we literally only had shows about Starfleet ships? Why don’t we have a show yet where humans aren’t the main cast? We end up with these formulaic cast set ups where it’s mostly humans and then one or two aliens thrown in every single time. We know other species have their own ships but we don’t know how they work!

When will I get a show about a science ship full of Vulcans and the small crew of crazy human engineers stinking up the engine room??? What if only two Vulcans work on a ship of humans orions and betazoids and those two Vulcans fucking hate each other but no one else can tell so they assume they’re friends.

What about betazoids? What would a ship be like and how close would a crew become if literally all of them were telepaths. And how would they interact differently with a new Klingon security guard? Or a Vulcan who literally always has their shields up! OR AN ORION THATS MAYBE JUST AS OPEN AND EXCITED FOR INTIMACY AS THEM!

Instead of the only dark and gritty storylines coming from war maybe make a show about Orion pirates or slave traders who literally despise themselves for what they do but have to in order to survive.

We’ve moved passed the point where the one trailblazer opens the gates for their race to join Starfleet but what about the other way around? And what about big ships with small communities of aliens instead of just one. Like that one corridor is where all the Vulcans live next to each other so don’t go down there unless you wanna sweat. Or remember a sweater when you come to the Andorian potluck tonight, they keep it chilly in there.

I’m tired of talking about humans. Let’s get crazy with the scifi whimsy again and not just use Star Trek as a vaguely familiar vessel for the same plots over and over.

[southernbluebellereader]

You read my mind!Which is why I wanted to combine these 2 together: A betazoid and a vulcan!But SNW version (because I like Ethan Peck, his granpa was THE GREGORY PECK!)

OMG STOP NO WONDER HE LOOKS SO FAMILIAR. This is such a cool idea!

A/N: I'm not 100% familiar with the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Plot since I just started watching the show. I took a little inspiration from Star Trek: The Next Generation because I'll pull most of my Betazoid knowledge from there. Also, Betazoids have telepathic abilities. As far as I know, Vulcans have telepathic abilities through the Mind Meld, but for the sake of this fan fiction, Spock also have regular telepathic abilities, though perhaps not as advanced as the readers. Purple text is telepathic thoughts.

A/N 2: I hope you like it! It's kind of wonky, but I may write a part 2 because of it. I hope it's not too vague!

MASTER LIST

Pop of Color

Spock x F! Betazoid (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds; Inspo from The Next Generation)

Word Count: 696

Summary: Y/N is the ship's quartermaster - while serving as the ship's emergency seamstress, aside from Lieutenant Kirk constantly finding himself at her office, Spock tagging along with him to ensure that his Lieutenant actually gets his clothes mended - and maybe start bringing his own clothes to be mended.

First Officer Spock. “Lieutenant Kirk, you’re not here because you need to switch your quarters again, are you?”

Ms. Y/N. Sorry for Intruding. Again. Spock sighed as Y/N chuckled, both of them watching as Lieutenant Kirk unloaded a bag of ripped-up uniforms and trousers, and handed them to her.

“Oh Y/N, you know me!” Lieutenant Kirk chuckled bashfully as he handed her.

“You know me, I’m the ship’s seamstress at this point, gentlemen.” Y/N briefly looked through the uniforms and placed them to the side, “I’ll have them done by the end of the week, Lieutenant.” 

Smiling at her, the young Lieutenant gave her a thumbs up, then turned around and went on his merry way, leaving Spock and Y/N in her office, Spock sighing once more.

I don’t understand how you don’t find him amusing, Mr. Spock. One thing Y/N appreciated about Spock was his telepathic abilities, though perhaps not as great as hers, she found that it reminded her of home.

His behavior is very illogical and carefree, Miss Y/N. Spock shook his head slightly. But I have to get back to the bridge. Spock started to turn around but stopped when Y/N spoke to him again.

You don’t need anything mended, Mr. Spock? Y/N smiled gently at the Vulcan, who turned his head back to her, the corner of his mouth curving upward ever so slightly.

Not today, Miss Y/N. 

—

“Captain Pike, I know you’re nervous about this ceremony, but I need you to please stand still,” Y/N exhaled sharply as she placed several pins in her mouth, one by one sticking them through the Captain’s green dress uniform so that it would fit him more snuggly.

“I’m sorry, Miss L/N, but are you sure I need to be here for this? You couldn’t have gotten my measurements from my file.”

“Yes, I could’ve, but remember what happened last time?” Y/N stood up from her stool and beckoned him to undress, Spock looking at her and Captain Pike in amusement as the Captain undressed, mumbling under his breath, “Your other green dress uniform ended up being too small, Captain.”

Y/N wrote down the correct measurements of her Captain, then turn towards Spock, “Alright, Mr. Spock, your turn.” Y/N beckoned the Vulcan to step up before her. C’mon, Mr. Spock, I might as well take your measurements too, just in case.

“I assure you, I do not need my measurements taken, Miss Y/N.” An eyebrow rose, which did nothing to hide the ever-so-slight green flush of his cheeks that Y/N manage to catch. She shot him a small smirk and beckoned him once more to step in front of her as she sat back down on her stool. No need to be shy, Mr. Spock. You know I don’t bite. It’ll be quick.

“Make it quick, Miss Y/N,” Spock chuckled as he approached her, allowing her to line her tape measure along different parts of his body, Captain Pike enjoying the scene, “No, please take your time Miss L/N.”

—

See, doesn’t it fit better now? Y/N approached Spock and stood beside him. He’d opted to wear his formal uniform that she’d previously made alterations on, and added a few touches of her own.

Yes… But you could’ve done without the… embellishments, Miss Y/N.

Y/N chuckled at the telepathic groan that Spock gave her. A ‘thank you’ would suffice, Mr. Spock. Wouldn’t you rather be overdressed than underdressed? I know I would. Y/N met the Vulcan’s eyes and winked at him. His eyes traveled quickly from Y/N’s eyes to her colorful and embellished attire. He couldn’t help but agree, accepting her point. Point taken, Miss Y/N. Care for a drink?

An ensign walked up to them with a tray of alcoholic beverages.

Oh please!

Nodding, Spock took a hold of two glasses, one for himself, and handed the other to Y/N, “Thank you, my dear.”

When did we get so acquainted, Miss Y/N?

When you admitted that you like the embellishments I added to your uniform, Mr. Spock.

[fancy-a-dance-brigadier]

4, 17, 20, 28, 35 - pick your favs if you don't wanna answer all :)

At this stage, I think you should know me well enough to know that I will absolutely answer all these questions without hesitation 😂

4. Favorite alien species?

Probably Betazoids - I feel like empathic characters open up so many interesting avenues for storytelling which, at least on TNG, they capitalise on decently well? And I always enjoy writing for Deanna in fics because Betazoids have such a fundamentally different way of moving through the world and it’s a fun challenge to capture that in writing. Ocampans would come at a very close second, though - I love me a telepath hehe.

17. What role would you have aboard a starship?

Assuming I would actually willingly join starfleet (which I imagine I never would), I think the only job I’d be suited for is ship’s councillor. I was rubbish at science at school, so that rules out science officer, medical, and engineering. I could maybe do ok in a command position, except for the fact that I’m too much of a people pleaser lol. My first officer would be like “what do you want to do captain” and I’d be like “idk 🥺 whatever works for you 🥺” and NOTHING would get done. I’d be too much of a wuss to do security or tactical, and navigation or pilot is out of the question because I can’t even drive a car. So yeah, I’ll be the councillor and deal with everyone’s trauma, why not.

20. Which piece of technology do you wish existed in reality?

I think medical tricorders would be Really handy. Just one wave of the magic space wand and boom! You’re diagnosed! It would make medicine a lot more objective, I think.

28. Character(s) you want to cosplay as?

Ooh this is a good question! My hair is a pretty similar shade to Beverly Crusher’s in the first season of TNG, so I could maybe pull that off? Or maybe Wesley, but only so I’d have an excuse to wear a big sweater lol.

35. A minor character you wish had become a main character?

Ok you know I’m going to struggle with this question because minor Star Trek characters with no lines are my favourite 😭 I think I’ll have to choose Selar for this one, because Suzie Plakson as a Vulcan could’ve really given the TNG cast the oomph it so desperately needs. Nothing but love for Miss Selar always 💙

[40cleverways]

Betazoid Alien Fanlore/Headcanons: Sight and Hearing

[I have a lot of thoughts when it comes to Betazoids and Deanna Troi. I hope you enjoy my ramblings and overuse of brackets.]

Okay but what if Betazoids have really big black eyes and small ears. They're great at picking up on psychic noise but they have poor physical hearing. That's why they communicate mostly telepathically, because they're partially deaf (Maybe their hearing became weaker as they became more reliant on telepathy). They have really good eyesight to pick up on threats in the area.

Betazoids can usually just read the minds of those around them so interacting with verbal species isn't much of a problem. But as Deanna is half human and can only pick up emotions she’s hindered when communicating with others. So maybe she has cool hearing aids. Most betazoids' hearing is practically nonexistent, but Deanna had better hearing than most.

She's viewed as disabled in both psychic (this is addressed in the novels) and nonpsychic communities, but starfleet is a lot nicer and accommodating about it than betazoids are.

Betazoids for the most part just read the minds of others so they don't usually need/use hearing aids. It's like their equivalent of lip reading. However, as Deanna can't do that she would need hearing aids.

Betazoids think visually, and without the use of words, while the majority of humans "hear" their thoughts, allowing for Betazoids to hear the words being thought as their spoken. This begs the question: Would their mind reading convey language or would they need to speak the language to understand those thoughts? An alternate theory would be that as Humans (and presumably other species as well) associate words with their meanings, Betazoids may be very good at picking up languages because they would know the pronunciation and the meaning instantly upon reading someone's thoughts, allowing they to understand thoughts even in a different language.

With Ferengi and other species that are impervious to mind reading, Betazoids wouldn't be able to communicate because they would become reliant on understanding the spoken language. They would need hearing aids and a universal translator of some sort when communicating with such species.

Betazoids have large, all black eyes that are great at absorbing light and I imagine pick up ultraviolet light as well (similiarly to how bees see flowers). A lot of their flashy clothes look very different to other species. Sometimes they can look really ugky to humans while they're quite pleasing to betazoids. [Geordi’s VISOR can pick up on all the subtle color choices and always compliments Deanna's off duty wardrobe.]

Betazoid ears are nearly vestigial and are much smaller than human ears. Because of this Ferengi often either try to take advantage of them or avoid business dealings altogether because they don't have the "lobes for profit". Betazoid ears are lower and farther back than humans. It's very rare for a betazoid to have poor eyesight and even rarer for a betazoid to be born with little or no psychic ability. For this reason Deanna was a topic of much scorn.

[Mrs.Troi refused to hear any of it and responded to the comments by always talking about how amazing her child was. While privately she was a bit controlling and always pushed for Deanna to reach her full potential.]

[Secretly Mrs. Troi always felt that Deanna's lack of telepathic abilities was a punishment for what happened to her first child (who didn't show any sign of underdeveloped telepathic abilities)]

Many Betazoids who enter into Starfleet or professions that have them interacting with non telepathic species need to undergo speech therapy. The betazoid "accent" is actually rather close to a deaf accent. Mrs.Troi has a nearly undetectable accent as she had decades of practice not only as an ambassador but living with a human husband as well. Deanna has a much more apparent accent than her mother, as when she was young she was not encouraged to speak. At home she would speak with her father but when in public it was frowned upon. After the death of her father she communicated solely through telepathy with other betazoids until she entered Starfleet academy. [It would be really interesting to go into Deanna's relationship with the mediator guy and his interpreters through the lense of her being part of the deaf community while he’s mute. Their varying life experiences etc.]

[Singing is very uncommon on Betazed, however humming is not. Deanna's father would sing Earth songs and Deanna would hum the tune to herself.]

[authortobenamedlater]

My thoughts on Picard.

(This is later than expected. I had it in my drafts and forgot to hit post.)

It’s starting off strong, but last season did too and then it fell way the heck off the cliff. Last season however did not have the entire TNG cast going for it.

I am HERE for Picard and Riker’s grumpy old Starfleet officers routine. I’m here for ALL OF IT. I could watch it for an hour straight every week and consider that quality television. If you want to reply to this and tell me I have bad taste, I already know that and you won’t shame me into not having bad taste.

Something is up with Captain Shaw. The show deliberately made a point that he’s rude for seemingly no good reason. The guy is a jerk to everyone including his own first officer which makes no sense because…he’s the captain. If he doesn’t like Annika Seven Shots he can get a new XO. I expect he knows something about Crusher’s predicament and that Picard and Riker are going after her. And maybe Shaw’s also in on why she’s out there in the first place.

Marina Sirtis is in the trailers so Deanna’s feud with Will can’t be THAT bad, but what is it? What did he do to make his wife AND his kid want a break from him that he hasn’t already done in the past three-plus decades? Or is Will faking the spat to get Picard to feel less guilty about this little jaunt?

Even though she has her struggles, it’s nice to see Seven of Nine made a sort of life for herself Alpha Quadrant. I always loved her character even though I didn’t love how Voyager used her.

On the other side of the coin is poor Raffi who can’t seem to catch a break. Obviously she’s with Starfleet somehow, but I get the feeling she’s still kind of disgraced. I hope by the end of the season she gets some happiness and gets to meet her granddaughter. She’s so maternal and nurturing under all that toughness and she would be such a fun grandmama.

Raffi is my favorite of the new Picard characters if you can’t tell.

The Neo-Constitution class callback to TOS? I love it. Maybe it’s cheesy. I still love it.

The latest in the unending parade of reinvented Starfleet uniforms is sharp too.

GEORDI HAS A LITTLE GIRL. ❤️ Mr says Memory Alpha lists another daughter working at the Fleet Museum and a son somewhere. So where is Mrs. La Forge? Will we meet her? Geordi the family man makes me smile.

Now the biggest question: How did Beverly end up with a son the crew didn’t know about? I have two possibilities.

First, her attempt to be lovers with Picard was more successful than anyone realized including them.

Second, and this one is Mr’s, Beverly’s “son” is really an android and because synths are illegal in the Federation now, she had to go into hiding with him and not tell anyone what happened.

How Android Jack came to be is anyone’s guess. First option is simpler, second is a more obvious explanation for why Beverly has been out of contact for two decades.

I do feel the need to point out though, if Jack is only 20 years old Beverly would have been near- or post-menopausal when he was born. Menopause miracle babies do happen and space magic medicine can do a lot but I don’t think it can hold off The Change indefinitely.

The same can be said of the Riker kids, but Deanna is half Betazoid so maybe that has something to do with it.

[icepixie]

SNW 2x01

Spoilers ✨

Not bad. Definitely a more interesting episodic plot than almost anything in season one. Maybe they've finally found their legs.

Sad we got only two minutes of Una and Pike, but I liked what we got. "You cannot resign. The loss to Enterprise would be unimaginable. ...To me." (I'm reading it as "loss to me would be unimaginable," not "I can't imagine the loss to Enterprise." Because of course I am.) Hopefully more next week.

Everybody looked friggin' amazing in their undercover gear. A-plus costuming. Christine especially looked fantastic. Very D&D chic.

The special effects feel so different than what I mentally associate with Star Trek, even the later series that used CGI. I think it has something to do with the "camera" angles they're using to show said special effects, like spiraling down Starbase 1 at the beginning. I recall prior series doing more of things just moving around onscreen while the camera stayed in one place. (I could totally be misremembering, though.) I like it a lot; it feels very cinematic. It clashes a smidge with the set design, which is much more old school/almost 70s and 80s sci-fi movie (especially the predominantly white corridors, all the angles rather than softer curves), but that's fine.

M'Benga and his actor were outstanding here and he's secretly becoming my favorite character. "Nice guy must do violence" is old as the hills, but I liked that they acknowledged that he would take any other choice besides what they do, and he chooses it deliberately. So often that trope comes out of left field because the nice guy gets too emotional or whatever. I also really, really like his and Chapel's father-daughter-type relationship.

But Pelia. PELIA. BEST ADDITION TO THE SHOW. PERFECTION. I still miss Hemmer and wish we could have them both, but goddamn I love her character already. We needed something to lighten up this episode and she did that well. The concept of these Lanthians living undiscovered among humans until quite recently is interesting and I would like to see how that went down when they were discovered.

On the downside: Spock/Chapel is grating in just about every way possible. There is just no there there for me. Logically, I get it--Christine I'm sure has some kind of alien kink and half-breeds are even more entertaining, Spock released his emotions or whatever last season and I think it involved Chapel (don't care enough to check). But it's kind of like Archer and T'Pol, something in the interaction between them just screams "nope" despite how the PTB are writing it.

I honestly don't understand why I find Spock's journey towards feeling things so off-putting. This should be something I like. B'Elanna's human/Klingon stuff was cool. Troi's human/Betazoid stuff was cool. Why is this not? Is it because the thing he's struggling to accept is feeling emotions and I just don't really give a shit about that? Or is it that Spock is by far the character we already know the most about and any time spent on him is time we could be spending on any other character?

...Sorry, Spock-lovers. A little of him goes a long way for me.

On to the next episode. Next week. Like the heathens we were when watching network television, ugh. I don't absolutely hate spacing them out, especially when there are so few, but I definitely prefer being able to go at my own pace.

[nebulouscoffee]

Ok for the series ask game thingy I shall ask you… TNG and Enterprise

Ooh, this should be fun! Thank youuu :D

TNG

Favourite character: ahh this is legitimately hard! I love all the main seven leads so much. Maybe Deanna? I think she's heaps more interesting and complex than she comes across at first glance- I love her difficult relationship to her Human and Betazoid halves, I love her complicated dynamic with her mom, her state of cultural drift, her very nebulous sense of self that she's always just a little too afraid to confront head on, her compassion, her self-awareness, her warmth, and of course her occasional barbs that just never miss

Second favourite character: gosh this is even harder!! I feel like it's either Data or Geordi, but then I remember Worf. I adore Worf... but then there's also Beverly.... Okay, okay, I'm reasonably sure it's Data. I just really love his arc, his multifaceted relationships with the other characters, and the complexity of the questions his existence and chosen life raise. Some of the series' best episodes are centred around him. Not much else to say- I just love the guy! (And I am laughing so hard picturing your face while reading this. Sorry Fancy! Lmao... Unfortunately I am a Data girlie😂)

Least favourite character: uhhh maybe that Okona guy from 'The Outrageous Okona', I haven't actually rewatched that episode in sooo many years and I think he might be why haha (also every single guest character in 'Code of Honour' though that's not so much a case of me hating them as wishing the writers had never come up with them)

The character I'm most like: None of them!! They all joined the space military lmao I would never join the space military!! Also they're all very smart, like top-of-their-fields smart. TNG where is the representation for us mediocre dumbasses. I demand more mediocre dumbasses on the Enterprise! (OKAY if I had to pick, it would probably be Geordi but only when he's goofing off- or Riker when he's rejecting a promotion so that he can remain with his besties)

Favourite pairing: Beverly and her lamp🥰 okay, okay, Troisha from the non-canon ships, Troi/Riker from canon

Least favourite pairing: Deanna/every man she was ever sent to single episode romance hell with, special shoutout to that one dude from 'The Price' for making me watch that looooong as hell foot massage sequence *strained laughter*

Favourite moment: Gonna be a cliche and say that poker scene from the finale. Yup, they actually managed to end the show on... my favourite scene from the whole show. Good job, TNG! (If I'm being honest it's everything from the climax with the three Enterprises working together to Q's line on how exploration is not about conquering or charting territory but discovering new depths of the soul (good stuff👌) and the gang vowing not to let themselves drift apart like they did in that possible future. This is where TNG ended in my heart tbh! Every other appearance is like schrödinger's canon to me; it's canon when I need it to be, and fanfic generally lol

Rating out of 10: Objectively, it's a 7.5/10 from me. Its highs are SO high, but its lows are just so hilariously low- it had a rough start, there's no getting around that, and it's frequently clueless about the inherent imperialism and colonialist undertones of its premise, plus it almost never lets its female characters shine the way they deserve to. However this show also turned my life around so it gets a 100/10 by the power of the blorbolense😌 thank you for existing TNG!

Enterprise

Favourite character: Hoshiiii we love an overworked gifted child prodigy who grew up learning to speak soooo many languages but never had anyone to talk to, only now learning to relax and make friends and figure things out as an adult on the ship of the unhinged

Second favourite character: I mean it's gotta be T'Pol! She is far and away the most interesting character on the show imo, and despite the constant terrible horrible so-bad-it's-funny attempts to objectify her she manages to surpass the material and contain so much depth. She's an alien among humans and a deeply scandalous weirdo and pioneer among her own people, and I love her struggles navigating those two spheres throughout the show <3

Least favourite character: the ever-present air of post-9/11 military propaganda. And if you're going to argue that that's not an actual character on the show, I beg to differ. Straight up had more lines than Travis Mayweather!

The character I'm most like: Maybe Phlox? I'm not much like anyone on this show honestly, but in general he's a chilled out dude just doing his own thing. I feel like that's me right now

Favourite pairing: T'Poshi hell yeah!!! I know the characters barely interact in canon but it really is actually that deep you guys. I love it! For some reason all my favourite ships seem to involve these eager young super smart friendly compassionate officers falling for much older buttoned-up aliens who are obviously culturally isolated, and then connecting in a way that reveals the older alien (who might have a drug problem) is actually a social outcast in their own society whose superiority they won't shut up about and the younger officer actually has a more complicated relationship to their culture than first apparent thanks to an overbearing family, and they are strikingly similar shades of lonely. Hmmm....

Least favourite pairing: I don't think I have one lol! I don't feel strongly enough about any of the canon pairings and fanon ships don't affect me because I don't really engage with that side of Enterprise fandom (not saying this like a snobby thing, I'm sure it's great! I'm just not interested enough in this show that way hehe)

Favourite moment: T'Pol's speech standing up for the crew to the Vulcan High Command stands out in my memory... I'd probably have to rewatch to answer this question properly tbh

Rating out of 10: gonna be generous and overlook the nightmare of its place in history and all the ensuing xenophobia baked into its very premise and give it a solid 6/10. These characters deserved to come into their own, and the show is often good fun!

[radical-zelenka]

🌹🌹!

Ooh thanks for the ask! I've only got one WIP I'm working on so these will both be from the same one. :)

First snippet:

“He’s got an uncanny sense of perception, almost like he knows exactly what another person is thinking or feeling. Makes him deadly at cards!”

“Oh, maybe he’s part Betazoid!”

“Nah, the talent in cards? That’s a dead giveaway. Clearly he was switched with a Ferengi at birth.”

Second snippet:

"I signed up for Xenogenetics.”  

“Why the hell’d you do that?”

Jim’s face broke out into a wicked smirk. “Alien biology,” he answered with an exaggerated eyebrow waggle. Then, “Ow Bones! — what the fuck?”