#source: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

[incorrectlooneytunesquotes]

Dr. Weisberg: Are you out of your Martian mind? No human can tolerate the radiation that's in there! Marvin: As you are so fond of observing, Doctor, I am not human. Weisberg: [grabs Marvin by the shoulder] You're not going in there! Marvin: Perhaps you're right. What is Mr. MacRory's condition? Weisberg: Well, I don't think he's -- Marvin: [nerve pinches Dr. Weisberg] Sorry, Doctor, but I have no time to discuss this logically. [grabs MacRory's gloves and mind melds with Weisberg] Remember.

[spocksbestfriend]

Here is concrete evidence that James T. Kirk and his first officer S'chn T'gai Spock are soulmates and lovers. If you disagree, fight with the wall.

1. Vulcans kiss with their hands. According to this, Kirk and Spock have kissed many times according to canon. I have included sources to back this up.

2. The creator of Star Trek himself said that he created Kirk and Spock’s relationship to be a “love” relationship and based it off of two gay lovers. I have included the source for this too.

3. Also, just take a look at all the longing looks Kirk and Spock always give each other. Look at how Spock, a Vulcan who has been learning to control his emotions since birth, smiles when he sees that Jim is alive. Also see how Spock touches Jim often even though touch is seen as intimate for Vulcans and so it is rarely used. Read between the lines!

4. Spock literally tells Kirk “I am yours” in Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan. Don’t forget how Spock tells Jim that he makes him believe in luck, and Jim replies and says that Spock makes him believe in miracles.

5. Also, there’s a scene where Kirk thinks he’s getting a massage from Spock (because he can’t see where Spock really is). It’s actually a female crew member massaging him. He’s enjoying the massage and says “dig it in there, Mr. Spock,” until he sees Spock walk beside him with his peripheral vision. He immediately gets flustered and tells the female crew member that she can stop massaging him. Do I even have to explain this one? This is so gay.

6. Also, in an episode of Star Trek Lower Decks, a picture is shown of an engraving made that says “Kirk+Spock”.

7. As a final nail in the coffin, don’t forget the scene in the one Star Trek movie where Jim leans in to kiss Spock and Spock says “please captain, not in front of the Klingons.”

If you are still in denial that Captain Kirk and Spock are lovers, then that’s a you problem.

https://www.reddit.com/r/startrek/comments/52b5je/roddenberry_commenting_on_kirkspock/

[dasmuggler]

I saw mentioned in a recent comment that the USS Reliant in the film Wrath of Khan was originally designed to face the other way (upside down). This made me curious, so I did a little research.

The story goes:

[quote]

The three ultimately came up with a compressed version of the Enterprise. “We had long postulated that the circular saucer said, ‘This is Starfleet navy,’ and it used engines that looked pretty much like those on the Enterprise.” They eliminated the engineering hull and attached the nacelles to an extended saucer section instead.

Except the nacelles looked over the saucer in their design. Lee Cole remembered how they ended up underneath it. Harve Bennett, the film’s producer, was working abroad before they began filming Star Trek II. “We were mailing everything over to him and getting him to approve it and mail it back to us,” she told Star Trek: The Magazine, “so we did our first sketch of the ship and mailed them off to him.” Bennett was supposed to sign for approval at the bottom of the sheet. “When he got it in the mail he took it out of the package upside down, I guess, and wrote out on the bottom, ‘Yes, this looks very good, proceed.’ So when we got it back we realized he’d approved it upside down.”

Rather than bother Bennett again, the three decided to make it work that way -- and it did. Jennings and Lee added what Minor dubbed a “roll bar” to support the dropped nacelles. Phaser banks were put in this supporting structure.

[Source: CBS’s Star Trek web site]

[brian-in-finance]

😂 Received this meme from a goofy pal via text this morning, and not yet having enough caffeine in my system, I wondered about its origin. Did Spock and Kirk actually wear Christmas jumpers? Don’t know who created the meme, but I found the source of the image.

But first… here’s an original image of Spock and Kirk (same pose, without their hands in their pockets):

Star Trek, S02E01 Amok Time, 15 September 1967, ©️1967 CBS Photo Archive

And here’s the original photo manip from right here on Tumblr (note the blog name changed):

I saw the manip reposted, and “memed” with a variety of text, on various sites, and very rarely did I see the oh-so-faint watermark. #Fail

Happy Ugly Christmas Sweater Day to all, and to all a good night. 🐑🐏🐑

Remember… the energizer's bypassed like a Christmas tree, so don't give me too many bumps. — Scotty, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, 1982

Manip Original-Source-on-Tumblr

[rabbitcruiser]

Star Trek Day

“I haven’t faced death. I’ve cheated death. I’ve tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity; I know nothing.” ~ James T. Kirk, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Long ago, in the depths of the cold war, America had a prophet arrive. He spoke not of religious texts and damnation, but instead provided us with a vision of the future so hope-filled, so compelling, that it has indelibly marked the imaginations of man-kind ever since. Star Trek Day celebrates that vision, and the man who created it, Gene Roddenberry.

History of Star Trek Day To today’s audiences, the original Star Trek series can seem hackneyed, corny, and even incredibly racist when viewed through the modern lens. To view it in this way overlooks the incredible strides that were made during it’s production, and how unthinkable some of the elements found within were. Consider if you will, Lieutenant Pavel Andreievich Chekov, a officer of Russian descent serving on board an American starship. In the days of the ‘Red Communist Threat’ this concept was inconceivable, but Gene dreamed of a day where it would be possible.

Then there was Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, who stood out not only by being a female officer on the deck of a naval vessel (since all starships are considered part of the Navy) but by being of African-American descent. Both of these elements created an incredible story for her, her position as fourth in command of the USS Enterprise not undermined by her position as a glorified telephone operator.

Star Trek speaks of a hope-filled future where our nationality no longer matters, and yet each of our personal heritages is still something we can be proud of. We are all citizens of the same universe, and at the end of the day that’s all that matters.

How to Celebrate Star Trek Day The best and easiest way to celebrate Star Trek Day is simply taking the time to marathon the original series. Take care on the first episode, it is easily rated as one of the most spooky and unnerving of all episodes, and Spock is to blame. They hadn’t established that Vulcan’s lacked emotion at that point, so there’s a shocking surprise for those unfamiliar with the episode. Put together some themed snacks and pull your old uniforms out of the closet, no better way to get in the spirit of Star Trek Day!

Source

The American science fiction show Star Trek premiered with “The Man Trap” on September 8, 1966, launching a media franchise that has since created a cult phenomenon and has influenced the design of many current technologies.

[challengelascl]

Mac text file of file names in a folder

MAC TEXT FILE OF FILE NAMES IN A FOLDER MAC OS X

MAC TEXT FILE OF FILE NAMES IN A FOLDER PRO

MAC TEXT FILE OF FILE NAMES IN A FOLDER MAC OS X

The way it works is that I just "enable" the router functionality and then. Youll note that if you use vi on a text file created by a Windows notepad, for example, will show M characters at each newline, while text files created by Mac OS X will look all goofy using windows notepad. Many operating systems do not limit filenames to one extension shorter than 4 characters, as was common with some operating systems that supported the File Allocation Table (FAT) file system. Filename extension it is usually noted in parentheses if they differ from the file format name or abbreviation. Right-click the files, and select 'Copy' from the popup menu. This is a list of file formats used by computers, organized by type. Select the source files as you did earlier. Briefly, one other technique that comes to mind is: Have the same Mac Finder arrangement as before. There are a few other ways to copy files on Mac OS X, but this is the technique I use most often. Follow this answer to receive notifications. to write a list of files to a text file (files.txt) EDIT: dir /b to simply generate the bare file names. I recently realized that I have a switch configuration with an unintended potential side-effect.I have an Aruba 6300F with several VLANs on it. Mac file copying - A second way to copy files on Mac OS X. In the absence of any further information, c:> cd directory c:> dir > files.txt. Can I plug the mgmt interface of a switch into one of its own switch ports? Networking.Right-click in the folder and go to New > Text Document.

MAC TEXT FILE OF FILE NAMES IN A FOLDER PRO

What could an IT Pro do with superpowers? Which IT tasks would you use them in and how? Open File Explorer and navigate to the folder where you want to create the text file. Which Superpowers Would You Like to Have? Water Cooler.Satellite networks are at high risk, according to a new warning from the FBI and CISA. Snap! SATCOM Threat, IE End of Life, Bricked Macs, Planet 9, Lego Delorean Spiceworks OriginalsįBI and CISA warn over threats to satellite communications networks.But, they did something I've been wanting for years (decades?), so I guess there needs to be acknowledgement. Adding /b to the command causes the list to contain just the file and directory names, not the information on the number of files, when they were created, etc. so I can add options to the command to get just the names of the files. I could give a "He Tasks Me" speech like Khan in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan". The basic command to list the files in a directory and place them in a text file is seen below. Shout Out To Xfinity (Personal Home Internet) Networkingįirst, this pains me.

[star-trek-shallot]

*During the events of The Wrath of Khan*

Khan: You look better without your glasses.

Kirk: Thanks.

Kirk: You look better without my glasses, too.

[xenonarrow]

The real reason behind the slow elevator rides on the Citadel.

[mogwai-movie-house]

The 100 Best Films of The 1980s

The second golden age of the dream factory, ranked and rated high-to-low:

1. Blade Runner (1982) ★★★★★★★★★★ 2. Stardust Memories (1980) ★★★★★★★★★★ 3. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) ★★★★★★★★★★ 4. Withnail & I (1987) ★★★★★★★★★★ 5. Raging Bull (1980) ★★★★★★★★★★ 6. The Terminator (1984) ★★★★★★★★★★ 7. Blood Simple (1984) ★★★★★★★★★★ 8. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) ★★★★★★★★★★ 9. Ghostbusters (1984) ★★★★★★★★★★ 10. Back to the Future (1985) ★★★★★★★★★★  11. Wings of Desire (1987) ★★★★★★★★★★ 12. Dead Poets Society (1989) ★★★★★★★★★★ 13. Airplane! (1980) ★★★★★★★★★★ 14. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) ★★★★★★★★★★ 15. The Fly (1986) ★★★★★★★★★★ 16. Tootsie (1982) ★★★★★★★★★★ 17. The Name of the Rose (1986) ★★★★★★★★★½ 18. Trading Places (1983) ★★★★★★★★★½ 19. Aliens (1986) ★★★★★★★★★½ 20. The Thing (1982) ★★★★★★★★★½ 21. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) ★★★★★★★★★½ 22. Zelig (1983) ★★★★★★★★★½ 23. The Dead Zone (1983) ★★★★★★★★★☆ 24. Dangerous Liaisons (1988) ★★★★★★★★★☆ 25. The Big Chill (1983) ★★★★★★★★★☆ 26. The King of Comedy (1982) ★★★★★★★★★☆ 27. First Blood (1982) ★★★★★★★★★☆ 28. The Shining (1980) ★★★★★★★★★☆ 29. Videodrome (1983) ★★★★★★★★★☆ 30. The Long Good Friday (1980) ★★★★★★★★★☆ 31. WarGames (1983) ★★★★★★★★★☆ 32. Angel Heart (1987) ★★★★★★★★★☆ 33. Splash (1984) ★★★★★★★★★☆ 34. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) ★★★★★★★★★☆ 35. The Empire Strikes Back (1980) ★★★★★★★★½☆ 36. Romancing the Stone (1984) ★★★★★★★★½☆ 37. The Man with Two Brains (1983) ★★★★★★★★½☆ 38. Coming to America (1988) ★★★★★★★★½☆ 39. ¡Three Amigos! (1986) ★★★★★★★★½☆ 40. Somewhere in Time (1980) ★★★★★★★★½☆ 41. Back to the Future Part III (1990) ★★★★★★★★½☆ 42. Jean de Florette (1986) ★★★★★★★★½☆ 43. Amadeus (1984) ★★★★★★★★½☆  44.  Big (1988) ★★★★★★★★½☆ 45. Blue Velvet (1986) ★★★★★★★★☆☆  46. Down by Law (1986) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 47.  The Killing Fields (1984) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 48. Stand by Me (1986) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 49. Return of the Jedi (1983) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 50. Das Boot (1981) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 51. Beetlejuice (1988) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 52. RoboCop (1987) ★★★★★★★★☆☆  53. The Princess Bride (1987) ★★★★★★★★☆☆  54. Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 55. Broadway Danny Rose (1984) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 56. The Naked Gun (1988) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 57. Manon des Sources (1986) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 58. Crocodile Dundee (1986) ★★★★★★★★☆☆  59. The Cat Came Back (1988) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 60. Rain Man (1988) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 61. Rumble Fish (1983) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 62. Witness (1985) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 63. Stir Crazy (1980) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 64. Blow Out (1981) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 65. Gandhi (1982) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 66. Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 67. Time Bandits (1981) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 68. St. Elmo's Fire (1985) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 69. Beverly Hills Cop (1984) ★★★★★★★★☆☆  70. Dead Ringers (1988) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 71. The Elephant Man (1980) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 72. The Breakfast Club (1985) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 73. Class (1983) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 74. Purple Rain (1984) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 75. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 76. Raising Arizona (1987) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 77. Scrooged (1988) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 78. Heathers (1988) ★★★★★★★★☆☆  79. Body Heat (1981) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 80. Blue Thunder (1983) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 81. Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan (1982) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 82. Brazil (1985) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 83. Batman (1989) ★★★★★★★★☆☆  84.  My Left Foot (1989) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 85. Cocoon (1985) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 86. Barfly (1987) ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 87. Starman (1984) ★★★★★★★½☆☆ 88. Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) ★★★★★★★½☆☆   89. Birdy (1984) ★★★★★★★½☆☆ 90. Wall Street (1987) ★★★★★★★½☆☆ 91. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) ★★★★★★★½☆☆ 92. Without a Clue (1988) ★★★★★★★½☆☆ 93. The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) ★★★★★★★½☆☆ 94. Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 95. The Vanishing (1988) ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 96. The Karate Kid (1984) ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 97. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985) ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 98. An American Werewolf in London (1981) ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 99. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 100. True Stories (1986) ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

[theyboldlywent]

Director Nicholas Meyer (with trademark cigar) addresses a group of background players in the torpedo bay set while filming Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan.

Prior to directing The Wrath of Khan, Meyer had previously written a screenplay for The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, based on his own novel of the same name, and handled screenwriter and directorial duties on the time travel epic Time After Time, based on a college friend’s uncompleted novel. 

When asked by Allen Asherman about how he was contacted about directing the second Star Trek feature film, Meyer recounted: “The project was offered to me by a woman named Karen Moore. She was not empowered to confirm the offer; she was the first person who broached the subject. I’ve known her since she was about twelve...she’s a friend of mine, and she was at my house for dinner. She was working at Paramount Pictures at the time, and she said there were two very nice fellows making this movie, harve Bennett and Bob Sallin, and they had a good script...would I be interested. Then I went in to meet Harve and Bob, and got along very well. Then they showed me the first movie and I thought, ‘I’ve got to do this, because I’ve got to be able to do as good as this.’”

(Quote source: Allan Asherman’s The Making of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, published in 1982 by Pocket Books.)

Photo scanned from my personal collection.

[apolesen]

As there’s been some discussion of the nature of canon in the DS9 fandom, I wanted to chip in with my own take on the subject.

My way of looking at canon is very much informed by the bon mot that used to go around among old Doctor Who screenwriters: “the only canon is that there is no canon”. The way I take it is that canon is malleable and often in flux. 

Let us use this line of Bashir’s from the episode Melora as an example: 

When I was ten, my father was a Federation diplomat on Invernia Two.

So is it canon? From where I’m sitting, in 2021, having seen all of DS9  - no. It is well-established in Doctor Bashir, I Presume that Richard Bashir is not diplomat material, and that Bashir has a very complicated relationship with him, to say the least. With that in mind, the line from Melora looks like a lie, told to make childhood match the image of himself that Julian has created. However, Doctor Bashir I Presume is in series 5 - Melora is in series 2. Was that statement canon in the years until Doctor Bashir I Presume aired? Can we truly say that it isn’t canon, even now? There is no point at which Bashir says ‘my father was never a Federation diplomat’. Indeed, if you look up Richard Bashir on Memory Alpha, it says: “In 2351, Richard was a Federation diplomat on Invernia II." But Memory Alpha’s approach to canon is one of believing all statements that are clearly not lies. I will not say that that approach is not valid (and Memory Alpha can be a great source, and looking up random stuff on it is a favourite pastime of mine), but it is hard to follow through on it completely. Either you will end up with a picture of canon that contradicts itself and is largely unruly, or you will have to pick and choose. This picking and choosing might not even be done consciously. We tend to put aside information that directly contradicts an idea we already have, so it may be hard to think of something that you have decided to not bother with. Even Memory Alpha, due to the fact that they concentrate mainly on the dialogue and not on the visuals, pick and choose. Take for example the robe that Saavik and David Marcus find in the empty coffin in Search for Spock: 

(Image description: a screencap from Search for Spock, of a black robe with silver Vulcan writing on the front, lying folded in a metal coffin.)

In the article on Vulcan language, the above image is captioned with “Spock’s burial robe”. But it’s not - it is the same robe that Spock wears in both The Motion Picture and Wrath of Khan, when he is very much alive.

(Image descriptions: two screencaps, one from Star Trek: The Motion Picture and one from Wrath of Khan. Both show Spock in the black robe with silver writing.)

So why is it described that way? Well, when they find the robe, and David Marcus asks what it is, Saavik says “Spock's burial robe”. We must take this as “the robe Spock was buried in” - it’s supposed to give us as viewers information that the coffin they’ve found is Spock’s, and that his body is gone. 

This is why I tend to see ‘canon’ as an overarching category encompassed by alpha canon and beta canon, rather than making the distinction between canon and beta canon. Beta canon is rife with contradictions, inconsistencies and downright weird stuff, but so is alpha canon. 

So what do we do? Well, the only canon is that there is no canon - by which I mean, a divinely appointed set of facts that are static and constant. You choose which bits works for you. I think there might be a great story behind that line from Melora - maybe Richard was the driver at the embassy and was never a diplomat, or he was a diplomat and he was terrible at it, or maybe it is a lie, and it can lead us further insight into the fact that Julian, the man without secrets, is as good a liar as Garak. There are so many possibilities, and that’s the point. We should not let canon strangle our creativity and our enjoyment. Sometimes when I watch newly released episodes of Star Trek, I get a knot in my stomach, because what if there’s a contradiction with my headcanons, or some world-building that I don’t like…? That is when I have to stop and tell myself: canon should never hold us hostage. What is canon is in fact arbitrary. Do what works - the sky’s the limit. 

(Quotes from transcripts from Chakoteya, images from Memory Alpha and Trekcore)

[sucede-es]

CIENCIA FICCIÓN ¿Cuántas películas de todas éstas no has visto?

HARD SCI-FI INTERSTELLAR > CHILDREN OF MEN > GATTACA >  SOLARIS > 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY > PRIMER MOON > THE MARTIAN > GRAVITY EX_MACHINA > SUNSHINE > EUROPA REPORT STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN > STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT > STAR TREK

SPACE OPERA FIREFLY (SERIE) > SERENITY FLASH GORDON > THE LAST STARFIGHTER > DUNE (del 84) GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY > GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2  > THE FIFTH ELEMENT > JOHN CARTER STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS > ROGUE ONE STAR WARS > THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK > RETURN OF THE JEDI

ACTION LOOPER > EDGE OF TOMORROW > TERMINATOR INDEPENDENCE DAY > STARSHIP TROOPERS > ALIENS INCEPTION > TOTAL RECALL > SOURCE CODE

COMEDY GALAXY QUEST > BACK TO THE FUTURE > SPACEBALLS ATTACK THE BLOCK > WORLD'S END > IDIOCRACY

CYBERPUNK MATRIX > MINORITY REPORT > 12 MONKEYS > BLADE RUNNER GHOST IN THE SHELL > PAPRIKA > APPLESEED

HORROR THE THING > THE FLY > UNDER THE SKIN ALIEN > EVENT HORIZON > PITCH BLACK

[yel-halansu]

Spock’s robes from Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The search for Spock.

Source

[i-will-physically-fight-you]

A Singular Cog in the Machine Chapter 3

Chapter Title: Soul and Emotion

Summary: "It was pure logic when it came down to it. Why allow harm befall the others if Logan could stop it? Surely, it was much more beneficial for only one to be harmed than for all to undergo excruciating pain and misery. A broken cog is more easily replaced than if the whole machine fell apart.“

Logan adheres to the belief that needs of the many far outweigh the needs of the one, the latter being himself. Or in other words, Logan tries to sacrifice himself for the sake of the others. Fortunately for Logan, they won’t let him get away with that.

Chapter Word-Count: 2k

Pairings: platonic lamp

Warnings: Injuries, Referenced Torture, Crying, Misunderstandings, Angst With a Happy Ending

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | End       AO3 LINK

As promised, here comes the comfort! I want to give a quick shout-out to both @delimeful and @today-only-happens-once as their own sci-fi aus helped inspire me to finish what I started with this one heh <3

-

Logan woke up alone for the first time in a long while. Approximately sixty-six cycles, five hours, thirty-two minutes, four, five, six seconds ago. 

‘Internal Clock program is running functionally,’ Logan thought as he closed his eyes, running a quick diagnosis scan. It was not...completely optimal. Parts of his code had been ravaged, leaving him vulnerable and exposed. His biological body still suffered grievous breaches. His artificial eyes were damaged, only working at 70% efficiency. 

This made viewing things from a distance rather difficult. However, it was clear enough to recognize he was not in his own quarters. Rather, he was still in the ship’s common recreation area. The “living room” as Virgil referred to it. 

He laid on the couch, swaddled in soft blankets and cushioned with a plethora of pillows. Both he expected came from Patton’s hoard in his quarters. He was almost surprised not to see a stuffed animal in the crook of his arm. The television was on, the volume lowered to only a pleasant murmur could be heard. Images of animals flashed onto the screen. A nature documentary, one that Logan had previously found to be captivatingly informative.

 “--we’ll take care of you, we’ll watch all your favorite nature documentaries, how does that sound?”

Patton had said that, he recalled. But when? He tried locating the source of the memory file. Except--

ERROR MEMORY FILE CORRUPTED.

He dug a bit deeper, finding more and more memory files in a similar disarray. He’d known this problem was occurring. But that didn’t explain the chill that swept through his body just then. A fever perhaps? No, his body temperatures remained at their normal regulated levels.

Before he could contemplate this further, his ears picked up on noises in the distance. Too far away to make it out from his position. There was a simple solution to his quandary. The ship computer. Or Odysseus as Roman insisted on calling it. He could request an audio transcript. 

Pinging...pinging...pinging…

He couldn’t reach the ship computer. That was not optimal. His only option was to investigate the noises himself.

Logic dictated he was wounded. He should remain on the couch unless absolutely necessary. He remained put, concentrating on the television. The urge to find the source of the noises would not go away. It festered, growing rapidly like a disease until he could not withstand it any longer. 

Standing up from the couch proved far more difficult than he anticipated. His torso flared in pain, his legs shaky and unstable. He gripped the side of the couch, breathing in deeply. His vision spun, distorted and decorated with bright spots of light. It took a moment for it to completely clear.

He looked down the corridor, the distance stretching into oblivion. No, that was a falsehood. It was only ten meters long. However, in his current physical state it might as well be a thousand meters.

It didn’t cause his pressing curiosity to fade in the slightest. He took a step forward, his foot stinging like pins and needles to quote an idiom of Virgil’s. He didn’t collapse. Granted, he heavily leaned onto the couch for support. He took another step forward and then another.

 He held onto the corridor wall the whole way, a small grunt of pain leaving him. The dizziness returned, but he pushed through it. All that mattered was reaching the end of the corridor. If Logan’s memory was still accurate, it should lead to the ship galley. Perhaps the others were engaged in re-energizing through fuel consumption? 

As he drew close, the noises crystallized into recognizable speech. 

“Are you sure?” Virgil’s voice asked, pointed and edged. Someone responded, much too low for Logan to catch. He gritted his teeth, propelling himself onward at an accelerated rate. His vision frizzled and crackled, everything becoming a blobby mess of colors.

“Maybe we should--Logan!” 

An arm wrapped around his waist, hoisting him up. Logan opened his mouth to protest when a wave of nausea hit him. He quickly shut it in favor of keeping his stomach contents down. The person guided him to a chair, careful and steady. He sat there, grimacing as the nausea gradually subsided from his systems.

When he glanced up again, he met the furrowed brows of Roman, Patton and Virgil. They gathered around him, forming a semi-circle. He examined them, scrutinizing every detail. His drive whirred from the amount of tests he processed in the matter of nanoseconds. Each one proving the validity of his suspicions every single time.

“You’re real.” He croaked.

They all exchanged a glance.

“Yes, we’re here Logan, you’re safe now,” Patton confirmed, laying a hand on Logan’s shoulder. A gesture meant to be reassuring except it wasn’t reassuring at all. 

“No,” Logan shook his head, “You should--cannot---I don’t--it does not make sense!”

“Why does it not make sense?” Roman asked, dropping down on one knee. He acted odd,  more muted than usual. The way his head bowed indicated a sign of exhaustion. Logan shook this thought aside in an attempt to formulate a response.

“To quote Spock from the movie Star Trek II Wrath Of Khan, ‘The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one,’” Logan said. Upon their blank stares, he elaborated, “A singular cog in the machine is more easily replaced than if the whole machine falls apart. As the ship engineer and navigator, my role is vital but replaceable, therefore--” 

Patton drove into Logan, embracing him firmly around his middle. The titekan’s whole frame shook as deep, guttural sobs fell erupted from him. Logan blinked, almost short-circuiting from this unexpected turn of events.

“I...do not understand.” Logan admitted. He glanced up at Roman and Virgil only to find them in similar states of malfunction. 

“You colossal intelligent idiot,” Roman murmured, his face dripping with ivory tears. He shoved his head against Logan’s shoulder, placing his arms around both him and Patton. “Did you really think we could function without you?”

‘‘Yes,’’ Logan wanted to say, but he couldn’t. The word wouldn’t come out of his clenched throat. Virgil was the only one left standing at this point. He was the captain, the system administrator. He was a much-appreciated source of reality.  Surely, despite his human emotions, he understood the logic. 

“Lo,” Virgil sighed, running his hand through his hair, “When you disappeared, we searched all over the galaxy looking for you. We looked for weeks. And after we found you, we’ve been taking care of you in shifts. You know why?”

Logan shook his head.

“Because you’re not a broken cog to us. You’re more than that--you’re a kraffing sentient being. You’re--” Virgil’s voice wobbled. He inhaled harshly, pushing on, “Dammit, you’re family, Logan. And it’s cheesy but we don’t give up on one another. Never.”

“Captain Fearless is right,” Roman said, and Patton made a rumbling sound of agreement.

“Oh,” Logan managed, swallowing, “Oh.”

He’d thought so much about the others’ and their importance to the system. He analyzed and calculated it all. He saw how removing any of their variables would be detrimental. But in all his calculations, he never considered how he himself affected the equation. 

“I did not--I made a slight miscalculation--” Logan breathed in, “I am sorry.”

“No,” Virgil said, stepping closer, “I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I should’ve told you, I assumed it was an understood thing. We could’ve rescued you sooner if I hadn’t second-guessed myself--”

“Virgil.” Logan said, the clenching feeling in his throat tightening. Wordlessly, he reached out a hand to Virgil. He wasn’t quite sure what he was attempting to convey. Fortunately Virgil seemed to understand. He leaned over and joined the entangling of limbs and bodies. 

‘A group hug,’ Logan’s dictionary program informed him, ‘an instance of three or more people embracing one another simultaneously, typically to provide support or express solidarity.’

They held onto one another for quite a while, not moving a single muscle. Great globs of tears were shed amongst them all; even Logan wasn’t immune to it. He rationalized it was his body reacting to the others’ emotional displays. It probably did not have to do with the strange, tingly warmth lit up inside his chest.

He would worry about this sensation if not for the melatonin in his system starting to take effect. He closed his eyes, a long intake of oxygen following this action. 

“Logan?” Patton sniffled.

“Yes?” 

“Th...there’s something we need to tell you about.”

Logan’s eyes fluttered open. He looked expectantly at Patton, waiting. The titekan opened his mouth to continue, but Virgil and Roman beat him to it.

“Patton, are you seriously going to tell him--”

“We should wait--”

“No,” Patton said, interrupting them both, “we can’t keep this from him. He deserves to know.”

It didn’t increase in volume, but Logan’s heart was the only thing roaring in his ears. Deserves to know? The only scenarios Logan could come up in his mind was his tests were faulty, wrong wrong wrong about this being real. It was all fake. A simulation, surely or worse; an experiment. The thousand eyes watching him behind a screen, shattering his hopes once more.

“Logan?” A soft hand touched his cheek, “you with us?”

“Yes,” Logan heard himself saying, “Yes, I’m here. Go on, Patton. What is it that you’d like to divulge?” 

“When we brought you back, I did a few medical scans, to try and see if there was any internal bleeding going on,” Patton hesitated, refusing to meet Logan’s eyes, “I found an AI chip in your brain.”

What? Impossible, his AI was supposed to be undetectable by scans--

“That disgusting buvah must’ve stuck it in you for the kriffs and giggles,” Roman growled, his scaled tail whipping with indignation. 

“As far we can tell, it doesn’t have a tracker,” Virgil said, “and removing it could be lethal.”

“Okay.” Logan said faintly. 

“Okay?” Roman repeated, squinting, “We just told you that you have a freaky AI chip in your brain and your response is, ‘okay?!’”

“Hey, lay off him, Princey,” Virgil hissed, “He’s been through a lot, you know that.”

“Well,” Logan began, “this is not how I expected to inform you all of the fact that I am an advanced artificial intelligence operating inside of a biological body.”

“What?!” Roman gaped at him. Virgil and Patton also stared at him, showing similar signs of duress. 

“I did not think it was imperative intel as it did not negatively impact my performance as neither an engineer or navigator.” Logan said. And while it was true, it was also a bit of a lie. The reality was that most people seemed to be wary of AIs. This was why he chose to clothe himself with a biological body to blend in, so to speak. All it took was working lungs and a beating heart for others to respect and listen as illogical as that may be.

“I admit, that perhaps that was another lapse of judgment on my part. I understand if knowing this...makes you uncomfortable,” Logan added, a weird twisting feeling settling in his gut. Perhaps he was ill? He could not find himself to meet their gazes. He tried not thinking about how that was a sign of nervousness. He was not nervous, after all, AIs do not get nervous.

“Freaky?” Roman let out a high-pitched laugh, “did I say freaky? I meant to say there’s a freaking fantastic AI chip in your brain.”

“I agree,” Patton chirped up, “You could almost say that he’s too cute to compute!”

Now it was Logan’s turn to gape at them. “It really does not bother any of you?”

“It’s like I said,” Virgil told him, a small smirk growing on his lips, “you’re family. We love you, AI or not.”

Logan blinked, slowly processing the others--no, his family’s words. It didn’t make sense. His systems struggled putting it in neat, quantifiable boxes. He feared trying would only result in his systems crashing. For once, however, he found it didn’t matter that didn’t need to make sense.

So his response to this was purely logical. In ways Logan refused to elaborate or share even within himself.

“I...find you all sufficient as well.”

[violethowler]

Between Light and Darkness

As I briefly touched on in “The Heroine’s Journey of Sora”, a major component of the Heroine’s Journey is the protagonist being pressured to suppress important parts of who they are in order to conform to a set of traits that the world around them sees as desirable. More often than not, the traits that the main character suppresses are ones which the audience associates with femininity, and the ones the main character conforms to coded as masculine. This is why Maureen Murdock’s template gives its stages labels like “Identification with the Masculine” and “Urgent Yearning to Reconnect with the Feminine”. 

In a story that correctly follows this version of the Heroine’s Journey, the protagonist of a coming of age narrative learns to balance these traits in order to grow into a mature adult. This makes the emphasis on the importance of balance between light and darkness in the Kingdom Hearts series and how neither force can exist without the other a perfect illustration of this theme of balance. Even more so when you take into account that light and darkness are each coded to represent specific traits. 

If you pay careful attention to the way that characters talk about light and their connections throughout the series, there is a recurring pattern where light represents and is generated by the connections between people’s hearts[1]. When Sora tells Kairi in the first game about what he remembered about his time as a Heartless, he says “Our hearts are connected. And the light from our hearts broke through the darkness[2].” When confronted before the boss fight of Toy Box, Young Xehanort says “if the light of friendship is a form of power… the darkness of being alone is a power… even greater,”[3] and talks about how Buzz’s tremendous darkness is the direct result of his separation from Andy. 

So if light represents people’s bonds and emotional connections, then darkness represents solitude and the absence of connection. It fits with what we have seen across the series thus far, as the antagonists who we have seen utilizing darkness were all focused on themselves with no concern for anyone else, and why darkness is not something inherently bad, but too much of it is. I believe part of the reason some fans still associate darkness with evil is because it’s more immediately obvious to casual plays how easily it can be misused. The consequences of relying too heavily on darkness are shown overtly throughout the series, while the consequences of over-relying on light have been a lot more subtle, and have only been shown more explicitly in Kingdom Hearts III. 

In the first game, Donald and Goofy openly tell Sora “no frowning. No sad face” and “This boat runs on happy faces[2]” when the trio agrees to travel together. Though Donald and Goofy mean well, they are through implication sending the message that the peacefulness of the group takes priority over an individual’s problems. And we see in future games how this early attitude has affected Sora, as we see him repeatedly hide his own sadness and frustration in front of his friends, the only negative emotion he displays without attempting to hide it is anger. This is very similar to the beginning of the 2015 Pixar movie Inside Out, where Joy does everything possible to keep Sadness away from the control panel at Headquarters in Riley’s mind.

So if relying too much on darkness translates to focusing only on your own desires and not caring about anyone else, focusing too much on light looks like focusing so much on other people that you ignore your own needs. Taken to its logical extreme a light-based villain in a Kingdom Hearts game would personify the words of the late Leonard Nimoy in his iconic role as Spock: “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.[4]” The best demonstration of this in the series thus far is Eraqus’ willingness to kill Ven and Terra in an attempt to thwart Xehanort, disregarding his own feelings for the sake of his perceived Greater Good. 

And the more one focuses on the light of their connections at the expense of their own emotional needs, the more their inner darkness is amplified. “The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes,” after all[2]. Putting on a positive front for the people around you only results in your negative emotions building and building until they finally explode out in a way that is harmful to both yourself and others. This is precisely what Young Xehanort speaks of in Re:Mind when he tells the Master of Masters about how the light of people he met on his world tour was a farce: every person has light and darkness in their heart, but denying their darkness only makes it stronger.

Sora has spent the entire series ignoring or refusing to acknowledge his own hurt, putting on a smile so that his friends won’t worry about him, and in Kingdom Hearts III the cracks in his facade are finally beginning to show. Even aside from his breakdown at the Keyblade Graveyard, we see his negative emotions explode out of him through Rage Form, and we see throughout the game how badly failing the Mark of Mastery exam has rattled him. He still has not accepted that his own darkness is not something inherently negative. 

As of the end of the Kingdom Hearts III Secret Episode, Sora is officially entering the Descent stage of the Heroine’s Journey. It is at this point that the protagonist must confront the parts of themselves they have been burying in order to find balance and move forward. It’s not unintentional that Riku is the character with the healthiest approach to handling one’s own inner darkness because in many stories I know of that follow the Heroine’s Journey the protagonist is able to achieve the necessary balance to move forward by learning from the example of their Animus.

Even if one ignores the metaphors or symbolism of the games and only looks on a surface level, the divide between light and darkness in the Kingdom Hearts series still aligns with the core themes of the Heroine’s Journey. Strip away all the literary analysis of what light and darkness in this series represent, and you still have a very literal depiction of a world that stresses the importance of balance between a trait that the dominant social group sees as desirable and one that the group does not. The contrasting traits whose balance is central to the Heroine’s Journey are presented in the Kingdom Hearts universe as metaphysical forces that have tangible effects on the material world, presenting through implication that in order to achieve true balance in the outside world, Sora must learn to achieve that same balance within himself.

Sources: 

[1] Reblog conversation between @kitsoa and @blowingoffsteam2 about the metaphysics of the Kingdom Hearts universe; November 16, 2018. https://blowingoffsteam2.tumblr.com/post/179836265129/kitsoa-blowingoffsteam2-sorry-this-post-is

[2] Kingdom Hearts; Square Enix, 2002. 

[3] Kingdom Hearts III; Square Enix, 2019. 

[4] Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Paramount Pictures, 1982. 

[rabbitcruiser]

Star Trek Day

“I haven’t faced death. I’ve cheated death. I’ve tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity; I know nothing.” ~ James T. Kirk, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Long ago, in the depths of the cold war, America had a prophet arrive. He spoke not of religious texts and damnation, but instead provided us with a vision of the future so hope-filled, so compelling, that it has indelibly marked the imaginations of man-kind ever since. Star Trek Day celebrates that vision, and the man who created it, Gene Roddenberry.

History of Star Trek Day To today’s audiences, the original Star Trek series can seem hackneyed, corny, and even incredibly racist when viewed through the modern lens. To view it in this way overlooks the incredible strides that were made during it’s production, and how unthinkable some of the elements found within were. Consider if you will, Lieutenant Pavel Andreievich Chekov, a officer of Russian descent serving on board an American starship. In the days of the ‘Red Communist Threat’ this concept was inconceivable, but Gene dreamed of a day where it would be possible.

Then there was Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, who stood out not only by being a female officer on the deck of a naval vessel (since all starships are considered part of the Navy) but by being of African-American descent. Both of these elements created an incredible story for her, her position as fourth in command of the USS Enterprise not undermined by her position as a glorified telephone operator.

Star Trek speaks of a hope-filled future where our nationality no longer matters, and yet each of our personal heritages is still something we can be proud of. We are all citizens of the same universe, and at the end of the day that’s all that matters.

How to Celebrate Star Trek Day The best and easiest way to celebrate Star Trek Day is simply taking the time to marathon the original series. Take care on the first episode, it is easily rated as one of the most spooky and unnerving of all episodes, and Spock is to blame. They hadn’t established that Vulcan’s lacked emotion at that point, so there’s a shocking surprise for those unfamiliar with the episode. Put together some themed snacks and pull your old uniforms out of the closet, no better way to get in the spirit of Star Trek Day!

Source

The American science fiction show Star Trek premiered with “The Man Trap” on September 8, 1966, launching a media franchise that has since created a cult phenomenon and has influenced the design of many current technologies.