#they like. kind of tried to do something there with Picard and the Romulans

[youngpettyqueen]

alright, thats Picard in the books. what to say about Picard...

overall? I wasn't impressed. the first season had the potential to be intriguing, but failed to live up to that potential and instead felt like it dragged. the second season was stronger, with stronger writing, but was again bogged down by some pretty stupid writing choices. still, I think the second season was the most strongly written. the third and final season was also fairly strong with most of its writing, but unfortunately where it was weak, it was really weak, and made it difficult to enjoy what I thought would be the easiest season to enjoy

the character writing in this show, when it came to the new characters, left a lot to be desired. season 1 was the worst for this, and things improved in season 2, but season 3... it was alright, in season 3, except for Jack. I could go on an entire rant about Jack, but ill spare you. it was just overall not great, the character writing, and it made it difficult for me to get invested in these new characters

Raffi was the best of the bunch of the new characters. her writing was also the best, and she really got to shine. I came around to Agnes in the second season, and enjoyed her. I never, at any point, cared about Rios. his entire thing bogged down season 2. I was glad to see him gone. Laris and her arc turned out to be entirely pointless, which. thats a whole other rant. lmao. Elnor was good, I really liked him, wish we got to see him in s3

I won't go on the Jack rant just know I hate him from a writing standpoint. Shaw was annoying and I didnt care for him. I did, however, quite like Sidney. and I wish we could've seen more of Alandra, we didnt get much so I dont have much of an opinion about her

there were good elements of this show. I enjoyed the focus on Picard letting himself feel, and express his feelings. I enjoyed the callbacks, and some of the cameos were really cool- I loved seeing Wesley, and Guinan, and even Moriarty. there were some good moments of closure, like Data and Lore, and Ro and Picard. I particularly loved Q and his role in the second season. the dynamics and interactions between the original members of the TNG crew were great, there was a lot of love, and I laughed a lot- shoutout to "I hope we die quickly! :D" and every single interaction between Worf and Riker. and, again, Raffi- cannot praise her enough. absolutely loved her, and would love to see more of her

this show could've been something really good. unfortunately it doesnt quite get there. I find it took itself far too seriously, and the writing often felt like a cop out. the changes to established lore were also annoying- trying to make Picard's father out to be more sympathetic, Picard having been infected by the Borg, etc- and felt like they were shoehorned in. I also wasn't a fan of how they kept bringing in more minor characters- Icheb, Hugh, Ro- just to kill them off. felt cheap

overall, im not a fan. I won't be rewatching this series. I wouldnt call it terrible, it has its good moments, but I wouldnt call it good. pulling off a sequel for a 30+ year old beloved series must be difficult, and I wish Picard had hit the mark, but unfortunately it falls short and fails to live up to TNG's legacy

[fractalcloning]

In the shadow of Ganmadan.

It was a little offensive, the clear sky and beautiful weather. It should be raining, thundering, like in her dreams--red and scary, foreboding--but it isn't. Jean Luc Picard died and it is...just another day. She knows that Alton Soong and Dr. Jurati are working on it, maping and copying his neural patterns into the golem Soong had reserved for himself. There's no guarantee it will work, that they can take the patterns off a dead man and expect them to function. He may not be restored at all, and Soji feels terribly lost. She has siblings here, dozens of them, but she's the odd one out. Not one of them can really comprehend what she's been through in the last few days. None of them can even start to relate. Dahj is gone. Her mother is an AI, a holo construct that was meant to keep her from breaking her cover. Narek is--somewhere outside. In a cell? The fact that she'd even consider talking to him only enhances her distress. She's all alone. Again. And the Romulan fleet is gone, but so is most of the Starfleet one. They are defenseless, completely out of orchids, and only Soji seems to recognize that the danger hasn't passed. That they aren't actually safe from anything. Another nudge to her bedrock could topple everything again, and again, and again and she chose to let the guarantee of safety go. She hates herself for giving that up, for shutting down the transmitter, and then hates herself in another way for even considering summoning the extra-galactic synthetics. Her life isn't worth every organic one. It's objectively true but so very hard to remember when the threat of death and destruction seems to hover over her like her own personal raincloud. So Soji sits, miserable and distraught, on the edge of Alton Soong's desk and tries not to think about it. Unfortunately the only distractions she has are the synthetics littered around the office. Alton Soong had been so proud, so excited to show her his prototypes. The golem, the next set of fractal clones, mice for Spot II to chase. Each one was meticulously designed and he loved them, truly. His crowning masterpiece was the reproduction of Data. It took up the center of the room and all Soji could do was stare. He looked peaceful, like he was sleeping and not just an empty, expertly sculpted husk in a stasis chamber. She was almost jealous, that he got to sleep so softly while she was vibrating with anxiety about the next calamity, the next loss, the next inevitable, crushing death. She runs both hands through her hair, tugging it to try and clear the maudline catastrophizing. It half works. "I wish I could have met you," Soji says to the stasis chamber and her arms drop back to her sides. "If half of what everyone said was true, you'd probably have something profound to say."

"Or...at least you might give me a hug."

She was tearing up, thinking of her Dad, the fake ghost in her dreams. He never existed but she had memories of him saying profound things. She recalled her mom trying to cheer her up--or Dahj, who may have actually done that before they were separated. Picard had even tried to comfort her, in his own way--and now she comes back to Narek again. The last man standing. God, her life was pathetic if the Tal'Shiar were her best choice for a hug. She wipes her eyes and tries to stop thinking again. It doesn't work any better this time. "Fuck," Soji says to the empty room. To the construct that is not her kind of father. It required a quantum computer to hold what they had of Data's neural patterns--if the code, the information, were any less she might have been able to boot him up, to talk to him through holograms like she did her mom, but even Soji understood that he was too complex for that. Data required a body and Soong had never completed the method to transfer-- "Wait--Agnes fixed it," Soji says, largely to herself, partly to the construct. Alton Soong had lamented how his masterpiece copy of Data would forever lie dormant. Because Bruce Maddox hadn't finished the work to make transfering consciousness possible. But Dr. Jurati had finished it. They were using it on Picard right now. Which meant-- Soji shot up from the side of the desk and all but darted to the stasis pod in the center of the room. Now, looking at the unoccupied copy, she saw something other than a hollow body--she could--she could put him back, right? If it were a copy of Data, he could work in this body? She immediately pulls up the controls on the stasis chamber and snatches a data slate off Soong's desk. Data was kept in the computer, he was the cornerstone of it, she should be able to just...run Jurati's protocols and put him into the duplicate, right? The tiny thread of hope that wrapped itself around her heart was as cutting as it was fragile, but Soji was desperate and so very alone. If she thought anything could work, anything at all, she couldn't have stopped herself from trying it.

[thebibliomancer]

11 Days of Comics! 2/11: Star Trek Special #2 (1995) "Raise the Defiant" and "A Question of Loyalty"

It's a Star Trek! Published through DC!

It's kind of funny that Star Trek and Star Wars, sci-fi sorta rivals, ended up at DC and Marvel, comics rivals.

Although, that's drawing random points of time to make the dichotomy. Although Star Wars is published through Marvel now and when it was first in theaters, there was a middle span where they were with Dark Horse instead.

And a time where Star Trek had a Marvel comic. And even crossed over with the X-Men.

Fun fact: even before Patrick Stewart was cast as Xavier in the Fox-Men movies, the Star Trek/X-Men crossover had people comment that Xavier and Picard looked alike.

This has been: random thoughts about not much.

This special has two whole stories in it. The first "Raise the Defiant" relevant to the TOS episode "The Tholian Web" apparently. And the other "A Question of Loyalty" relevant to the in-universe reason why Saavik was replaced by Valeris on the Enterprise before Star Trek VI.

It can be fun to expand on stuff.

"Raise the Defiant" has the Enterprise sent on a very dangerous mission to raise the Defiant from the fracture in space it fell into.

Dr. Juram comes to the Enterprise to oversee this mission and tries to throw her weight around to have everything done the way she thinks it should be, including keeping the crew in the dark about the mission.

Tries. Kirk just refuses.

It is revealed/retconned that the Defiant didn't just fall into a random negative space wedgie. It was testing a dangerous piece of technology, a phase inverter.

The phase inverter would allow a ship to see right through a cloaking device. By messing with the fabric of space-time.

The test didn't work out. See also the way that the Defiant fell into a negative space wedgie. But the phase inverter was never turned off so it's threatening to bork both Federation and Tholian space.

So the Enterprise will have to recreate the experiment successfully and retrieve the Defiant.

Long story short, they do.

But it turns out that Dr. Juram is an imposter. A Romulan who wants to sabotage any attempt to make the phase inverter technology work.

She sabotaged the Enterprise so they couldn't stop her and stole a shuttle to attack the defenseless Enterprise.

But whoops, Scotty suspected her the whole time from various clues and sabotaged the shuttle. When she tries to fire on the Enterprise, she blows up.

Then the Enterprise tugs the Defiant back to its home universe.

Its interesting that most of the story is discussing the problem and how they'll get the solution to work. Kirk even tells the Tholians the whole story to get their cooperation to recreate the original conditions of the incident.

The action of the story is only three pages. It adds some suspense but its not the focus.

Its also interesting that this story goes back and explains something that was originally just a negative space wedgie into being a big Federation whoopsie.

I don't know how big Star Trek fans feel about that.

I also can't believe that the writer said "hey you know what pop culture juggernaut I should reference? Raise the Titanic!"

The second story "A Question of Loyalty."

Ensign Valeris is on a training cruise with the Enterprise, supervised by Lieutenant Saavik.

Valeris is like stereotypically jackass Vulcan. Calling everything that's not strictly her duties as illogical and anyone not Vulcan as inferior.

Saavik: "Humans do not like to be called inferior." Valeris: "Then they should endeavor to improve themselves."

She pretty much rubs everyone the wrong way except Spock who is following her career with interest.

In a maybe illogical move of her own, this includes being pretty racist at her supervisor Saavik, who is half-Vulcan and half-Romulan.

After an incident where Saavik risks her life to save people on another ship from a radiation leak, Valeris tells Saavik that she's no Vulcan and she objects to her claiming the heritage.

Because of Spock's own esteem for Valeris, Saavik gives the ensign a favorable performance review despite all her everything.

But the whole thing makes Saavik realize that her loyalty to Spock over is holding her back in some ways. That she's clinging to the familiar instead of growing.

So despite Spock wanting Saavik to succeed him as Science Officer on the Enterprise, she puts in a transfer for a deep space mission.

Spock feels some kind of way about her doing this but when Bones needles him about this, he pretends to feel no kind of way.

Thaaaaaaat's Spock.

And Valeris went on to join a conspiracy to sabotage peace talks with the Klingons.

If only someone had given her a brutally honest performance review when she was an ensign?

[tea-earl-grey]

!!!! You’re writing a post-Picard Raffi/Seven story?!

Yeah!! To be honest it's less writing and more planning/sketching out ideas I like. It's technically an AU because it's set on an original ship called "Perseverance" rather than the Ent G (I started writing some of it before Picard s3 ended and didn't feel like reworking it especially because I really enjoyed making a bunch of OCs and didn't want to sideline them). It's mostly a project to take a lot of the Picard era worldbuilding that I think is super cool (the destruction of Romulus, xBs, synths) as well as some original ideas and putting it in the style of a more 90s era mostly episodic show that swings from darker character studies to lighthearted romps and has some canonical characters (obviously Seven & Raffi as well as Janeway, Naomi Wildman, Soji, Elnor, etc making appearances) but also with a strong focus on OCs.

I became really fascinated the past few months with how hopeless the Federation and Starfleet became after the Romulan supernova/destruction of Mars in Picard season 1 and how they might realistically recover so a lot of the stories have a focus on the flaws of Starfleet/the Federation and how to solve them from the point of view of people like Seven & Raffi who have been screwed over or subjected to prejudice while still maintaining the optimism that should always be in Star Trek. (As well as just having fun developing Seven & Raffi's relationship, worldbuilding, and doing my take on ridiculous stock trek plots.)

I have the first "season" (20 episodes) planned with two episodes fully written + a bunch of random excerpts and some ideas for future seasons including one episode fully written for season 2. It's one of those projects that I know I'm not actually going to end up drafting and posting because I should really be working on other things but it's fun and tbh a good writing exercise to at least write notes for what every episode would look like.

Some of my OCs for this include:

Chief of Security Lt. Cmdr Hannah Nguyen: a human who as a teen/young adult was haunted by her dad's death in the Dominion War and acted out but eventually was given a chance to join Starfleet and has tried to bury her fears under layers of eccentricity and jokes and is now having a hard time adjusting to being a leader

Ops Officer Lt. Kelen Taan: a Trill who gains a symbiont halfway through s1 and realizes that even though they achieved what every Trill's dream *should* be, they feel even less like a complete person than before they were joined

Chief Engineer Lt John: John is from a pre-warp world that was devastated by the Romulan supernova and only escaped because of a crashed shuttle. His people are entirely telepathic and don't have a concept of language so he often feels unable to communicate and form lasting relationships (but he works on it!)

Pilot Ensign Isha Kulhari: a human and recent Academy grad who is Idealistic and Determined to do the right thing but sometimes her faith in inherent goodness wavers as she really sees the universe but still chooses kindness and hope.

Dr Sovel Dahir: a half-human half-Vulcan who was raised by humans on Earth and has a lot of issues connecting to their Vulcan heritage and culture because they don't believe that logic can solve everything.

Counselor Lt Cmdr Mateusz Binkowski: an old friend of Raffi's from before she was discharged (and subsequently reinstated) who's had a lifelong Starfleet career but harbors a dark secret about something he did in the Dominion War as a young man.

Some of the ideas I'm particularly proud of are:

a courtroom episode involving a legal case about whether xBs as a group should granted asylum into the Federation. Seven is called to testify but is hesitant to go because she's spent so long trying to distance herself from being an xB because of her trauma and to gain others' respect and now she doesn't know how to connect to this huge group built on a shared trauma

the tried and tested sex pollen episode. it's cringe and silly but it was so much fun to write a ridiculous comedy that also digs at some of the complexities of Seven and Raffi's relationship and whether it can work out for them as captain and xo

the ship is dragged through to another universe where there's a version of the Federation that's obsessed with scientific progress at any cost with no consideration for morality. We find a version of Seven (or rather Annika) never assimilated by the Borg who's leading a project to break through to other universes to explore but might be endangering the walls of reality. (similar to the mirrorverse this becomes a recurring setting)

breaking away from our main characters, we follow a group of Romulan refugees turned pirates as they plan to break in to and loot the ship. it'll be one part fun genre heist story and one part stark look at how refugees are demonized and forced to turn to crime

a Borg cube is discovered in Federation space and Seven is sent to investigate (and destroy it) along with her chief of security, Nguyen. Nguyen has a deep fear of the Borg which she's never admitted to Seven (or anyone) and spends the story combatting her fears and trying to come up with a way to save the drones as proof that she can act beyond her fears. Meanwhile Seven, battling her own demons and self-hate, insists that the cube needs to be destroyed. It's told in media res through a therapy session.

sorry this was so atrociously long. props to anyone who read this far!! i would also be more than happy to share my gdocs of everything i have written and outlined if anyone is interested or to just chat in dms!

[rivertalesien]

I want to ramble about Picard season 3, episode 1, The Next Generation. Spoilers ahead.

The Wrath of Khan soundtrack and starfield/opening title ("In the 25th Century...") wasn't really necessary to lay on how thick it is referencing that film, which is odd, because it wasn't a Next Generation film. It sort of reaches back to the Old Glory Days and it's a little ill-fitting. Fun, but ill-fitting.

Because I'm not sure we needed Beverly Crusher's story to be, once again, all about a man.

In this case, her "son," whom we meet in the final moments of the episode.

And who is this young man, exactly? I'm hoping it's a red herring and that he's not her actual biological child (not that older parents aren't unheard of, but is the show saying Beverly went off and had a kid by herself at age 50+?), but maybe a plot thread left over from Nemesis: namely, another Romulan-created clone of Picard?

Since we learn Beverly cut off from her old crew mates just after the events of that film, this might be a logical direction and suggestive of the story she is currently dealing with, being chased by unknown (Romulan? Borg? I believe Jack mentions their faces kept changing?) villains who clearly have some kind of score to settle.

Has Beverly been on some decades-long secret mission (she seems to be flying around in a Starfleet vessel, interestingly named Eleos...after the ancient Greek goddess of mercy and compassion -- or angel of mercy -- suggesting this is/was a medical ship with a specific mission), or did she leave Starfleet and venture out on her own into some kind of major trouble? Does it have anything to do with Raffi's investigation into "The Red Lady" and the horrific attack on that Starfleet outpost?

Interestingly, "The Red Lady" turns out to be a reference to a statue of Rachel Garrett, Captain of the Enterprise-C, a ship that followed a rift in time and met with the Enterprise-D crew in the classic "Yesterday's Enterprise." In that episode, Tasha Yar lived through the alternate timeline created by that rift, only to join Garrett's crew and go back in time, and later, to Romulus. Couldn't be a coincidence, huh?

In Wrath of Khan, if you haven't seen it, Kirk is a haunted character: first by his own aging self, wandering aimlessly into retirement. Second, by the return of a lost love, embroiled in the creation of a great scientific invention that, unfortunately, is turned into a terrible weapon. He's also haunted by an old enemy, who just happens to get his hands on this weapon.

And in the midst of the story, Kirk meets the son he never knew (but clearly knew about).

Along the way, he loses his closest friend, mentor to a talented trainee of logic and skill, but lacking some experience.

In this episode, Picard is playing both Kirk and Spock, insomuch as he mentored Seven (their Borg connection making them almost familial), hasn't seen Beverly in years and there's clearly an enemy out there gunning after Starfleet and maybe it's using something Beverly made or found or tried to hide from them.

As for Beverly's "son," Picard is clearly surprised by the revelation. If he and Beverly ever had intimate relations (when asked by Laris if he and Beverly had been lovers, he only said "they tried"), and she got pregnant, why would she have kept it from him? Doesn't sound like their relationship at all. Beverly was, above all, a compassionate person and I doubt would have kept a child they had together from him.

Unless...the child would be in danger somehow? Did Beverly worry she'd have another Wesley who would turn out to be some higher being and disappear? There's a few possibilities, each one a little convoluted, but I can't picture her keeping this a secret, even if it were someone else's child. In any event, she named him Jack, presumably after her late husband (which is also the name of Gates McFadden's real-life son).

But the show is clearly setting us up to believe he is Picard's, (unlikely English accent and all), and maybe he is, but maybe not in the way we think. If he's another Romulan clone, that might make a little more sense: Shinzon had a similar accent, but he was also damaged goods, dying from his faulty RNA (he needed a blood transfusion from Picard in order to survive). Does Beverly's son have the same issue? If he is a clone, is there still a Romulan plot out there to destroy the Federation? Revenge for Shinzon's death, perhaps?

Who is Amanda Plummer's character? We know her name is Vadic, which sounds a little Romulan or Vulcan (didn't notice any pointed ears though), her ship looks much like the Romulan mining vessel the Narada from the rebooted Star Trek film (2009). Is she another Picard clone?

Or, if keeping with the themes of this series, a former Borg? Will this wind up being *The* Borg origin story? The new "queen," Agnes Jurati, warned of a major threat last season: looping this all around would make sense.

After all, why was Beverly playing Picard's logs from during TBOBW part 1? Trying to remember something? A detail missed that might help her?

She was clearly prioritizing saving her son during the attack on their ship: not just a mother's role, but maybe for a very specific reason. Is Jack wanted by the enemy? A new Locutus? She certainly made sure her enemies were DEAD (absolutely vaporized, and, therefore, unable to come back like some Borg have done).

What role do Moriarty and Lore play in all of this? Denise Crosby is back, but as Tasha or Sela, her Romulan daughter? With the Garrett mention, perhaps even her story ties into Borg origins.

In Wrath of Khan, Spock winds up sacrificing himself so the Enterprise can warp away from the soon-to-detonate Genesis device; in this first episode, Picard mentions he is not a man who needs a legacy, suggesting he has one he doesn't know about, or, maybe, comparing him to the egoless Spock, who felt his own legacy secure in his chosen student, Saavik.

In any event, someone is out to destroy the Federation (leftover plot element from Nemesis) and we have more questions: who is Raffi's secret boss (Sela? Moriarity? Lore? Some as-yet-unknown figure I've got a sawbuck on Worf, especially after the "You're a warrior" reference)? Is her cover now blown since she announced herself to the Starfleet base? How does an obvious bigot like Shaw get to be a Starfleet captain? Did season 2's alternate universe/time travel silliness create a whole new parallel universe? What's going on in the Riker-Troi marriage? How is the Enterprise's former Chief Engineer now a museum curator? Was Worf cut off from Beverly too or has he got some deets?

Anyone else glad Riker and LaForge had daughters because it seems like no one in this universe ever has them (Data had to build his own)?

Anyone else think Picard is going to sacrifice himself in the end? Maybe while helming his favorite love, now possibly housed in, oh, a museum, say?

Just as he was about to embark on a new adventure with Laris, his story comes full circle and, maybe, to an end.

Or maybe it all finishes with one line:

"Computer: end program."

[thegeminisage]

IT'S. sigh. tng update time. monday we did "the next phase" and "the inner light" and last night we did "time's arrow" parts 1 & 2. for once i actually am writing this the next afternoon lol

the next phase:

i LOOOOVED this one. wow <3 for so long i have been saying THOLIAN WEB and it's NEVER tholian web but THIS TIME IT WAS!!! i kind of wish it had been riker and worf but it HAD to be geordi because of data sorta kinda tracking him down

anyway i do love ro so much so i can't be too unhappy to have gotten her, and it's so nice to see geordi get to do things that arent be creepy with a woman...im really glad they didn't try to do any ro/geordi romance, they were just buds in a situation and they were thrilled to wiggle their way out of it

ro's thots on the afterlife were actually really poignant. it seemed stupid at first, when geordi knew and she knew that they weren't dead, but by the end it really was a nice subtle touch to have her acknowledge that the certainty of her beliefs can't compare to the vastness of the unknown, or the amount of things she doesn't and may never know

absolute BALLER of a time watching the enterprise plan these guys funerals. data doing geordi's was SO sweet because he loves him!!!!! he loves him!!!!!!!!!!!! meanwhile you get to hoot and holler over riker, having fucked ro while they were all amnesia'd, absolutely wracking his brains over something appropriate to say at her funeral.........and then he just plays his trombone instead and she invisibly shoots him in the head. iconique.

the invisible romulan really got me...i THOUGHT that extra was doing a bad job of looking like he wasn't listening to geordi and ro AND THEN HE GOT UP AND WALKED AFTER THEM. extremely cool moment. it was fucking stupid that he tried to shoot them instead of just work with them but it did lead to a cool and terrifying moment where they SPACED HIM??? by virtue of him simply phasing through the wall of the ship. i would have been so terrified of windows after that. like geordi just straight up killed that guy

also, fight scene while the romantic couple blissfully has their date. incredible.

some logistics questions: if they were alive why couldn't deanna feel their emotions? also, if they phase through stuff why do they stick to floors? more questions than answers...

the inner light

you know, this was good actually. i'll admit i was kind of bored at times during this episode, because i don't super care about picard As A Character, so all his tender moments with his wife and family were like eeehh. who cares. and since i like the side characters more the episode that pretty much didn't have them is a bit of a hard sell

THAT SAID. conceptually this popped off. it reminds me of the buffy episode where she's in the nut house or the r*ddit lamp story which hilariously references the star trek episode in the edit. the changes like the tree and the dead plants on their house and the skill involved in picard's flute playing (i wonder if sir patrick stewart can actually play...) were cool to track even if some of the interpersonal moments fell flat, and i REALLY like the actress who played his daughter, i think she did a great job

i normally hate old person makeup but picard's actually looked pretty good until the very end stage lol

one thing i wished for in the end was a little more emotion or even some fallout at all?? which i feel like i say about tng all the time, and i KNOW tos was also guilty of this sometimes, but some tng episodes spend AGES on the scifi technobabble (which is good only if it serves the plot OR adds to the scifi concept presented, and it often does neither) and then feel like emotionally they need another 5 or 10 minutes at the end and it drives me nuts. like, ik they don't cry in this show but he didn't even cry. deanna didn't come in and tell him those memories and that time were still real to him and it was okay to be fucked up about them. no one asked him how long he held onto the memory of his other life before he gave in completely and became kamin. we didn't even get any lines about like "i'll contact starfleet and do everything in my power to help revive their culture" or whatever. just flute scene (which was good!) and then we're done. sigh.

also, i really hate whatever riker has going on with picard. like he's so weirdly overprotective and it doesn't even speak to affection, they way it would with say deanna or worf or one of his other creew mates, it feels infantilizing (making picard seem even LESS competent and compelling than he already does), smothering, and, because it's ONLY with picard and ONLY riker that does this, it doesn't even feel like poignant platonic love-and-duty mixing like in the tos movies where each and every one of kirk's crew is willing to commit crimes and risk their lives to go after spock's body, just because that's how loyalty works. it's so awkward and uncomfortable, i hate it. like i always say tng doesn't have enough displays of affection and then the one time they regularly do have riker displaying concern for another character it's whatever he's doing with picard. like picard is his frail old man grandpa and riker's trying to keep him from wandering off with the car keys. sigh again.

time's arrow:

a massive disappointment. or maybe i can't say disappointment if my hopes weren't high to begin with. i remember reading the summary and thinking "cool, a data episode!" but also "19th century earth? yeesh, sounds holodeck-y," and i was right on both counts.

again it's a problem that we did the s5 finale and then s6 opening in a single night, because it made it feel MUCH longer, and it's also impossible for me to differentiate ebtween the two episodes now. hopefully this is the last time it will work out this way, but generally speaking, aside from the borg episodes, all of tng's two-parters (there may be an exception i'm forgetting) have been uh. not great.

star of this show: DATA'S HEAD. i remember being so disappointed we didn't get to see it in that episode where riker had to carry it around BEING SEEING IT WAS HORRIFIC. i can't believe they put that on television!!!

the emotion stakes of data's impending death were good. i wish they'd mattered! geordi trying to fix him could have had a little more desperation, a little more "i'll cheat fate itself for my friend if i have to." actually the person who showed the most worry WAS picard, and while this was nice, it made no sense that he allowed data to go down to the planet regardless of it, and then...also advocated that they forget data and focus on their mission, even against RIKER'S request to keep looking for him. riker showed concern for someone other than picard and picard was like yeah um whatever. today in picard crimes: advocating for leaving one of his guys behind. sorry to keep comparing him to kirk but EVERY time kirk lost a guy, you felt it. you saw HIM feel it. not even a guy he was close to like spock, even just a little red shirt, you knew he was thinking of the fucking letters he'd have to write to their families, you know? meanwhile picard is just like "um what concern? that was 20 minutes ago, we have scifi stuff to do now."

19th century earth sucked. it DID feel holodeck-y and was only marginally better because at least the stakes here were real, poorly illustrated as they were. like you know data's not gonna die, but instead of focusing on the enemies this episode (and that tall lady genuinely was a bit spooky...too bad she had no lines) we farted around with the most annoying portrayal of mark twain i have EVER seen in my life. we also got cool lines such as beverly saying "cholera wasn't THAT infectious" and the native american guy at the poker table grunting "pale face" at data. super.

guinan was a GREAT change of pace, but we had a golden opportunity to get more backstory on her and got absolutely none of it. that one line about her father intrigued me so much - is this before the borg ate her planet? does she regret not reconciling with him? did he die in that attack? why is she at odds with him? was this why she wasn't at home when they ate her planet? imagine if we had gotten some of it and picard had been tempted to save her whole planet by urging them to evacuate, or at least telling her to spend time with her loved ones while she could...but instead we had to focus on mark twain being ~quirky and randumb XD~

in the end, the consequences of data's head spending 500 years underground were...nothing. except that picard got to leave himself a back to the future 3 message not to shoot the aliens i guess

SPEAKING OF THE ALIENS. did he just WIPE OUT their entire species without a single fucking word breathed about the prime directive? genuinely the aliens who were eating people were cool and spooky. i'd have liked to see more of them and we barely knew what they were and what their purpose was. so much for working it out nonviolently. picard made half an attempt and the lady alien died and he shrugged and was like oh well! genocide it is. add to this to the list of problematic picard stances, including advocation for euthanasia of the disabled, conversation therapy, human trafficking, animal testing, and leaving your guys behind to die. THEY HAVE GOT TO STOP MAKING HIM LIKE THIS. this is killing me. i'm trying my very very best to like him and i hate his ass!!

next time: i, alone, am doing "realm of fear" which i am told is a barclay episode and "man of the people" which seems rapey. i am in total dread. tng is fantastic every once in a great great while, but most of the time i cannot wait for it to be over.

[sodiumlamp]

Picard

This is Season 1, episode 8, and the characters finally get around to explaining why the Romulans are so terrified of androids. It's boring and dumb, and it's not even the most boring, most dumb part of this episode. That honor goes to the extra long subplot where Rios locks himself in his quarters and Raffi tries to figure him out by conferring to his holographic crew. They waited eight episodes to pay off this guy's whole deal and I am so disgusted with this show that I don't even care. I just... I just want it to be over.

Basically, the Romulans learned of some Lovecraftian horror a long time ago and they learned of a terrible horror thanks to an ancient warning left by some long-dead civilization. The warning is so mind-blowing that it drives most people insane when they experience it. That Borg cube the Romulans were working on through this series, the one Hugh was doing his Reclamation Project on? The reason it shut down was because it assimilated a Romulan who had been driven mad by the warning. This feels like something a teenager would write.

The short version is that the Romulan double-secret police are thoroughly convinced that artificial life forms are dangerous, because if the technology progresses far enough, they will bring about some sort of calamity, the kind of calamity that brought down an ancient civilization powerful enough to engineer an solar system with eight suns, just so they could warn others not to repeat their mistake.

So when Data was invented, the Romulans began this long-game plot to infiltrate Starfleet. Their end goal was to stage the attack on Mars and make it look like androids were to blame, so the Federation would abandon and outlaw further research on androids.

I guess that tracks. The Romulans behind the plot were so terrified by the warning that they would orchestrate a catastrophe like that even while the Federation was helping the Romulans recover from a supernova. At first it sounds like an unthinkable, almost insane kind of treachery, but from their perspective it was a desperate act of mercy.

There are a lot of problems with this. If the Romulans felt this way about artificial life, then you'd think they would have gone to great lengths to assassinate Data during his lifetime. Maybe they tried, and it just took until Star Trek: Nemesis to finish him off, but they never seemed that worried about him in the TV show. And they weren't worried about Lore, either.

Also, the Romulans don't seem concerned about other forms of AI, like holodecks and holographic characters. The Federation banned synthetic life forms, but we see lots and lots of holograms in this show, from the ones at the Starfleet archive to Rios's crew, to the holo-ads at Freecloud, to the holographic mother Dahj and Soji would talk to. Some holograms are more sophisticated than others, sure, but they seem to be widespread, and legal. Do the Romulans just think the ancient warning is only about synthetic life forms with humanoid bodies? If a computer becomes self aware and takes control of a starship, isn't that just as dangerous?

To be fair, only a handful of Romulan agents seem to know all the details of the warning, and they've been working on this plan for decades. They weren't going to jeopardize the whole thing just to shoot Data. Killing him wouldn't necessarily solve anything. Still, the anxiety towards artificial life forms seems to be baked into Romulan culture in general, like this has permeated their mythology for a very long time. But the Romulans never seemed fussed with holograms and talking computers.

There's a decent idea buried in all of this, but it's wasted on this show, which reveals it in such a tedious and circuitous fashion that you end up rooting for whatever it is to just hurry up and destroy the galaxy.

[qwertyfingers]

we know that bobby only watched ds9 and dean watched the tos movies for sure which implies he's seen tos as well (plus he calls jack spock). so what do you think everyone's favorite trek is? sam is without a doubt a tng fan first and foremost. i think out of all tos movies cas prefers the wrath of khan because he Feels Things when kirk and spock do the ta'al through the glass. charlie has definitely seen some trek (we've seen her llap), do you think she's into tos first and foremost? anyway let's talk about star trek nights in the bunker.

OKAY SO I HAVE. MANY MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS. SORRY THIS IS SO LONG.

like. like of COURSE bobby only likes ds9 of course he does i could have told you this without the show becuase like. bobby is That Bitch. i think rufus will have watched TOS at least because leonard nimoy worked hard on linking jewish faith and practices into the vulcan lore and i think that would mean something to him. bobby will catch rufus smiling at him sometimes while they’re watching ds9 and ask him what all gruffly and rufus will smirk at him and say something about sisko with jake and bobby with dean and bobby will just cough and take a swig of whiskey and rufus will raise his eyebrows but let it slide. rufus definitely makes a comment once about dean&cas being like jake&nog that totally flies over dean’s head but bobby is all knowing eyebrow raise about.

i think cas and jack would really like discovery. while it has some issues with inconsistency, pacing, being a little dark, it also does better than the other TV treks at utilising the nature of film as a medium to instill a sense of wonder, at space and the world, and that’s something they’d really appreciate. i have my own issues with disco, but an obol for charon is as close to the central core of trek that disco ever gets. cas and jack also like that one in particular because they like listening to all the different languages being spoken. they all love michael (everyone loves michael). cas’ faves are stamets and reno because they’re mean and gay, jack’s fave is tilly because she’s excitable and bright and he latches onto that. dean likes reno because she’s got spunk. sam’s fave is airiam and he will never forgive them for killing her off. sam, cas and dean all feel an uncomfortable kinship with both ash and culber - they’ve both been the one with monster teeming under the surface, controleld by something not themself, but they’ve also all spent that time in hell/purgatory, separated from everyone they love.

thinking about episodes that would really get to them all, darmok is. THE ONE. i have a whole unfinished essay about darmok as the platonic ideal of star trek; the perfect distillation of everything trek is SUPPOSED to be about. it doens’t always get there but by god it tries! that speech michael gives in the disco s2 finale - “There's a whole galaxy of people out there who will reach for you. You have to let them. Find that person who seems farthest from you and reach for them.” - that’s what darmok is about!!! it’s all about a situation where real communication seems impossible, where everything we know about talking and learning has broken down. and picard says, okay, i will find another way. i can’t relate to you, you can’t relate to me, but by god i’m going to try. we all meet people we have trouble communicating with in our lives, and often, those people will not care about changing their own ways to accommodate us. for people with autism, adhd, psychosis, the list goes on, this is a very common occurrence. it’s exhausting and frustrating and alienating. darmok is all about crossing that barrier. about reaching for someone through a world of difficulty and learning how to talk. learning how to share something with someone who seems out of our reach. it’s beautiful, it’s heartwrenching, it means more to me than i can easily put into words! 

anyway i think the bunker fam would experience a lot of emotions watching it together. there’s defintiely a lot of hugging eachother, sam cries a lot and won’t look at anyone until after the episode ends. jack just asks a lot of questions and talks about his progress learning sign language with cas. dean snakes his hand into cas’ halfway through and doesn’t let go. doesn’t show the emotion on his face, but he clutches harder at the emotional beats. cas runs his fingers through jack’s hair and thinks a lot, and decides not to say anything unless dean talks first. its just a Lot for everyone. 

dean def makes them marathon all the TOS and TNG movies. it’s an experience everyone needs at least once. i think you’re right about cas and TWOK with the ta’al through the glass, but also ‘this simple feeling’ and the hand hold would make him feel crazy. bones being the one that spock entrusts with his katra DEF makes dean feel some type of way because as much as destiel is kirkspock-coded, dean IS bones, and seeing spock trust bones so completely despite how at odds they were when they first knew eachother would dig deep into dean’s psyche and make him more than a little bit nutso. the movies are way too long for jack so he mostly sits and plays animal crossing while they watch and looks at the screen when everyone else gasps or when something exciting is happening that holds his attention for a while. sam’s fave is nemesis precisely because it’s terrible and he loves how camp it is.

dean has definitely seen all of trek. i refuse to believe someone who watches as much tv and films as dean wouldn’t sit and watch the whole shebang. i think he’s probably seen TOS and the TOS movies more than the others because its easier than sitting through 7 seasons, but i think rather than that being his favourite he’d just have really strong opinions about the best episodes of each one? like if you asked him what his favourite is he’d say you can’t answer that because they’re all so different from eachother

VOY - bride of chaotica, non seqitur, macrocosm for the favourite episodes. seven, janeway and tuvok would be his favourite characters. he think toms a bit of a knob but also feels a kinship with him for the similar brand of bab dad-ism but he wouldn’t be able to put that into words. he’s also a fierce defender of threshold being a good episode (he’s right for that)

DS9 - our man bashir it’s our man bashir. he doesn’t dislike ds9 but its very plot heavy and he didn’t care for it when he was younger. rewatching it after living through multiple supernatural wars he’d probably appreciate it more. i know for a fact he cries every time there’s an episode about sisko being a good dad. jadzia and garak are his faves

TNG - he LOVES q. he also absolutely will not be caught dead referencing how much loves q after cas comes into his life because sam will do the little brotherly knowing eyebrow raise at him and he will die of embarrassment. he regularly references ‘there are four lights’ because he’s a fucking nerd. he has made cas watch elementary my dear data and fistful of datas a half dozen times each at LEAST. cas KNEW how dean was going to be about the cowboy hat he’s defintiely got into full cowboy getup at home just for watching movies and in cas’ head star trek is fully to blame.

TOS - oh there are so many good TOS eps to choose from. obv he loves most of the series becuase TOS has MANY banger eps, his favourites are probably like. mirror mirror, amok time (baby dean defintiely had some kind of crisis watching it for the first time; i know the rituals are intricate). i know deep in my bones that dean watched the conscience of the king (introduction of the tarsus iv massacre) once and then spent his entire teenage years writing fic about that in his head, whether he posted it or not. dean related too much to those experiences of shared hunger. city on the edge of forever is one of everyone’s faves for a reason (and i’m STILL mad we never got a closer take on that episode in spn it could have been so fun). 

ENT - he definitely thinks enterprise is stupid and he’s not wrong but he has also definitely watched it and been very repressed about the whole thing. mans was like oh i feel a kinship with malcolm reed the obviously repressed queer man. i will never examine this feeling ever again thank you <3 he also makes fun of archer for being obsessed with, of all sports, water polo. shran is his favourite character because he’s a little shit and makes him laugh, and t’pol, because t’pol is a badass and he’d appreciate that. i can’t remember the title of a single episode off the top of my head though lol.

i can see what you’re saying about sam being a TNG stan. i’m conflicted though, I feel like TNG’s generally the favourite of 1) obnoxious nerds who think knowing trivia facts makes them smart, 2) men desperately trying to seem masculine and 3) people who’ve watched it three times and have extremely complex thoughts on the personhood and rights of robots. i could see sam fitting into the third group, but people who are in it for the robot feelings are a coin flip between voyager and tng being the fave, and i just have a feeling that voyager would be his favourite. i know kid sam is getting gender envy watching voyager in shitty motels while dad and dean are out, trying to find the words for it. his first semester at stanford he talks a friend into giving him the janeway haircut and rides that high for months. sam’s favourite characters are seven and EMH. 

sam and dean have definitely had dozens of long drawn out debates about philosophical topics in star trek. do the holograms deserve rights and if so which ones. are the romulans and vulcans still meaningfully the same people. was spock right for trying to foment reunification by going undercover on romulus. can the borg be redeemed. etc etc.

i haven’t seen any of picard at all so i can’t comment. i also think sam and dean probably read a lot of the trek books? they’re pretty common to find in secondhand bookstores and cheap, would have been even cheaper back in the day. sam probably doesn’t care for them much, dean has a few solid faves though. i’ve only read the disco books so i can’t comment anything specifically (besides the fact that i think dean read dead endless and cried like a baby), but some of the TOS and DS9 books are gay as hell and i know dean was eyes emoji-ing that shit. 

[starfleet-jelly]

We’re Still Friends - Simon Tarses x Reader

Word Count: 1412

It had been almost a year after the trial where Simon had been accused of being a traitor and his Romulan heritage was reviled. It had been almost a year since he had stepped foot onto the Enterprise-D, but he almost felt relief when he did. Simon’s punishment for  lying on Starfleet documents had been temporary suspension. He though he’d certainly be sent to some remote starbase when he was allowed back, however, Captain Picard had been kind enough to ask for him back. Simon nervously walked down the corridors of the Enterprise towards his quarters. He wondered what his crewmates would think of him now. They knew he was part Romulan, not Vulcan. He was especially afraid of what (y/n) would think of him. They were pretty close before the whole fiasco. Simon’s chest tightened a little. What if she didn’t want to be around him anymore? After all, he lied to her, he lied to everyone about who he really was. He was lucky Starfleet Command didn’t place him in jail for fraud.

Simon entered his quarters and dropped his belongs onto the floor. He sat down on he edge of his bed and placed his hands over his face. He felt relief when he first stepped onto the Enterprise, but the longer he was here the more he felt dread and guilt coming over him. Guilt that he no longer belonged here, hell never belonged here! He was a lair! A Romulan. Someone more qualified, more confident should be here instead of him, he messed up by lying. Simon rubbed his face and sighed as he tried to control his emotions. Even only a quarter Romulan, his emotions were still all over the place, hard to control and hard to ignore. Simon stood up and began to unpack his things. He shouldn’t be sitting here wallowing in guilt, that isn’t what Captain Picard brought him back for. As Simon unpacked his things is console beeped. Simon walked over and answered it. “Crewman Tarses,” The voice belonging to no other than the Captain said. “I would like to speak with you in my Ready Room please.” Simon swallowed hard. “Yes, Captain, right away, sir.”

                                                         ______

Simon stood stiffly as he entered the Ready Room. “Captain.” Simon greeted and Picard stood and smiled. “It’s good to see you again Crewman Tarses, welcome back.” Picard walked from around his desk and leaned against it. “It’s been a year since you were last on the Enterprise, I have a few PADDs for you about all the updates to code..”he started and handed Simon a couple of PADDs. “I have to inform you that I was unable to reassign you to your duties you had, and you’ll be doing research instead of the hands on duties you had before your temporary suspension.” Simon knew this already, it had been in the communique he received when he was first informed of his return to Enterprise. Picard locked his hands in front of him and looked up at Simon. “It may be difficult to reintegrate yourself back into the crew, if you cannot handle it, I will transfer you to a starbase if you would like.” Simon looked down and then back up at Picard. “Uh, N-no, Captain, I believe I’ll be fine, thank you.” Picard gave a quick smile and patted Simon on the shoulder. “Good, good. Your shift starts tomorrow” Simon nodded as he was lead out by Picard. “I’m glad to have you back Tarses, I hope to see good things from you.”

                                                        ______

He stood nervously at his station. Simon was supposed to be writing down and monitoring bacteria but he couldn’t focus, (y/n) was going to walk in any minute. The young man might have looked at the crew schedule sometime yesterday to see when she would be working. In 6 minutes she would come strolling through that door. The first time the two had met was his third day on the Enterprise, Simon had gotten horribly lost. All of the corridors looked the same and he was only trying to find storage. (y/n) found him on the completely wrong level and was nice enough to take him to the right area. When he first saw her his chest felt like it may concave. Again, two days later, Simon found himself lost and bumped into (y/n). She helped him again and proclaimed herself to be his new guide to the Enterprise, seeing as how he kept managing to get lost.

“I thought Vulcans had something like photographic memory, how is it you get lost so often?” she teased him, pushing his shoulder lightly.

“I’m only a quarter Vulcan, I guess impressive memory wasn’t one of the traits I was afforded.” Simon laughed shyly as they walked down the corridors.

Simon found himself smiling at the memory. After that encounter (y/n) and Simon spent a lot of time together. They most meals together, laughing and talking about work and things. He remembered one day he went to meet her for lunch and saw the cast that covered her right arm.

“What happened here (y/n)?” Simon asked worriedly motioning to her injured arm. She just shrugged and gave a giggle.

“Well, there was an accident in Engineering and one of the patients had gotten radiation poisoning, he was hallucinating, I was thrown across sickbay! I’ll tell ya, nothin gets the heart a pumping like being thrown effortlessly like a bag of potatoes!” (y/n) flailed her arms in the air dramatically. “Thank goodness you weren’t there Tarses!”

Simon’s chest tightened and he frowned, “If I were there, you wouldn’t have gotten thrown (y/n).” he said as he sat down and took her covered arm. “Does it hurt?” (y/n) gave him a half smile and shook her head.

“No, Tarses, it doesn’t hurt.” (y/n) playfully patted his shoulder and Simon felt is face heat up a bit.

Simon looked up from his station as he heard the doors his open. His chest tightened like it had so many other times he saw her. She looked the same as the last time he had saw her. He quickly looked down to his station before she could see him looking at her. Simon was so focused on not looking at her he didn’t even notice that she had walked right up to him until he felt someone shove his shoulder. He looked up with slightly wide eyes to see (y/n) giving him a wide grin. “Tarses! It’s good to see you again!” she chirped. Simon gave a half laugh and smiled. “(y/n) its good to see you again too.”  She walked past him a bit “We should have lunch together Tarses” Simon looked at her and nodded, “I would like that.” (y/n) walked over to her station and began her work.

                                                       ______

Simon nervously sat down beside (y/n) in Ten Forward and she smiled at him. “Tarses, its been a while, how are you?” she asked. Simon gave a small smile. “I’ve been good, I was on Mars for a while, helping my mother with her practice.” She gave a nod. “It’s good you kept yourself busy.” she stabbed her food and moved it around her plate. “It’s kind of been a little dull since you left. There was like a whole thing with the holodeck, like there isn’t always something goin on with those damn things!” she rolled her eyes with a grin. “so many injuries, unique ones too, don’t often get to see dolphin bites, or head trauma from a coconut.” Simon looked at her in shock and then began to laugh. “I’m jealous I missed that. I bet it was a mess in sickbay.” Simon’s smile faded when (y/n) reached over and  touched his arm gently. “I really wished you were there.” she gave him a smile. “I missed having you around, I really did.” Simon gave a smile and looked down at his hands and looked back up at her. “You’re not mad at me for lying to you, are you?” (y/n) shook her head. “I’m not mad, I’m a little sad you didn’t trust me, but I understand why you would lie about that, Romulans aren’t well liked, are they?” Simon nodded. “We’re still friends?” he asked. “We’re still friends, Tarses.” She gave a peck on his cheek. “Now lemme tell you how to treat a dolphin bite!” Simon’s face lit up and smiled.

[aion-rsa]

The Star Trek: The Original Series Episodes That Best Define the Franchise

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

By the time my generation got to watch Star Trek: The Original Series, the episodes often were being presented in top-ten marathons. When I was ten-years-old, for the 25th Anniversary of Star Trek, I tape-recorded a marathon of ten episodes that had all been voted by fans as the best-ever installments of The Original Series. Later, I got lucky and found Trek stickers at the grocery store and was able to label my VHS tapes correctly. But do I think all the episodes that were in that marathon back in 1991 were really the best episodes of all of the classic Star Trek? The short answer: no. Although I love nearly every episode of the first 79 installments of Star Trek, I do think that certain lists have been created by what we think should be on the list rather than what episodes really best represent the classic show. 

This is a long-winded way of saying, no, I didn’t include “Amok Time” or “The Menagerie” on this list because, as great as they are, I don’t think they really represent the greatest hits of the series. Also, if you’ve never watched TOS, I think those two episodes will throw you off cause you’ll assume Spock is always losing his mind or trying to steal the ship. If you’ve never watched TOS, or you feel like rewatching it with fresh eyes, I feel pretty strong that these 10 episodes are not only wonderful, but that they best represent what the entire series is really about. Given this metric, my choice for the best episode of TOS may surprise you…

10. “The Man Trap” 

The first Star Trek ever episode aired should not be the first episode you watch. And yet, you should watch it at some point. The goofy premise concerns an alien with shaggy dog fur, suckers on its hand, and a face like a terrifying deep-sea fish. This alien is also a salt vampire that uses telepathy that effectively also makes it a shapeshifter. It’s all so specifically bonkers that trying to rip-off this trope would be nuts. Written by science fiction legend George Clayton Johnson (one half of Logan’s Run authorship) “The Man Trap” still slaps, and not because Spock (Leonard Nimoy)  tries to slap the alien. Back in the early Season 1 episodes of Star Trek, the “supporting” players like Uhura and Sulu are actually doing stuff in the episode. We all talk about Kirk crying out in pain when the M-113 creature puts those suckers on his face, but the real scene to watch is when Uhura starts speaking Swahili. The casual way Uhura and Sulu are just their lovable selves in this episode is part of why we just can’t quit the classic Star Trek to this day. Plus, the fact that the story is technically centered on Bones gives the episode some gravitas and oomph. You will believe an old country doctor thinks that salt vampire is Nancy! (Spoiler alert: It’s not Nancy.)

9. “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield” 

There are two episodes everyone always likes to bring up when discussing the ways in which Star Trek changed the game for the better in pop culture’s discourse on racism: “Plato’s Stepchildren” and this episode, “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield.” The former episode is famous because Kirk and Uhura kiss, which is sometimes considered the first interracial kiss on an American TV show. (British TV shows had a few of those before Star Trek, though.) But “Plato’s Stepchildren” is not a great episode, and Kirk and Uhura were also manipulated to kiss by telepaths. So, no, I’m not crazy about “Plato’s Stepchildren.” Uhura being forced to kiss a white dude isn’t great.

But “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield,” oddly holds up. Yep. This is the one about space racism where the Riddler from the ‘60s Batman (Frank Gorshin) looks like a black-and-white cookie. Is this episode cheesy? Is it hard to take most of it seriously? Is it weird that Bele (Frank Gorshin) didn’t have a spaceship because the budget was so low at that time? Yes. Is the entire episode dated, and sometimes borderline offensive even though its heart is in the right place? Yes. Does the ending of the episode still work? You bet it does. If you’re going to watch OG Star Trek and skip this episode, you’re kind of missing out on just how charmingly heavy-handed the series could get. “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield” is like a ‘60s after-school special about racism, but they were high while they were writing it.

8. “Arena”

You’re gonna try to list the best episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series and not list the episode where Kirk fights a lizard wearing gold dress-tunic? The most amazing thing about “Arena” is that it’s a Season 1 episode of The Original Series and somehow everyone involved in making TOS had enough restraint not to ever try to use this Gorn costume again. They didn’t throw it away either! This famous rubber lizard was built by Wah Chang and is currently owned by none other than Ben Stiller.

So, here’s the thing about “Arena” that makes it a great episode of Star Trek, or any TV series with a lizard person. Kirk refuses to kill the Gorn even though he could have, and Star Trek refused to put a lizard costume in a bunch of episodes later, even though they totally could have. Gold stars all around.

7. “Balance of Terror”

The fact that Star Trek managed to introduce a race of aliens that looked exactly like Spock, and not confuse its viewership is amazing. On top of that, the fact that this detail isn’t exactly the entire focus of the episode is equally impressive. The notion that the Romulans look like Vulcans is a great twist in The Original Series, and decades upon decades of seeing Romulans has probably dulled the novelty ever so slightly. But, the idea that there was a brutally cold and efficient version of the Vulcans flying around in invisible ships blowing shit up is not only cool, but smart.

“Balance of Terror” made the Romulans the best villains of Star Trek because their villainy felt personal. Most Romulan stories in TNG, DS9, and Picard are pretty damn good and they all start right here.

6. “Space Seed”

Khaaaan!!!! Although The Wrath of Khan is infinitely more famous than the episode from which it came, “Space Seed” is one of the best episodes of The Original Series even if it hadn’t been the progenitor of that famous film. In this episode, the worst human villain the Enterprise can encounter doesn’t come from the present, but instead, the past. Even though “Space Seed” isn’t considered a very thoughtful episode and Khan is a straight-up gaslighter, the larger point here is that Khan’s evilness is connected to the fact that he lived on a version of Earth closer to our own.

The episode’s coda is also amazing and speaks of just how interesting Captain Kirk really is. After Khan beat the shit out of him and tried to suffocate the entire Enterprise crew, Kirk’s like “Yeah, this guy just needs a long camping trip.” 

5. “A Piece of the Action”

A few years back, Saturday Night Live did a Star Trek sketch in which it was revealed that Spock had a relative named “Spocko.” This sketch was tragically unfunny because TOS had already made the “Spocko” joke a million times better in “A Piece of the Action.” When you describe the premise of this episode to someone who has never seen it or even heard of it, it sounds like you’re making it up. Kirk, Spock, and Bones are tasked with cleaning-up a planet full of old-timey mobsters who use phrases like “put the bag on you.” Not only is the episode hilarious, but it also demonstrates the range of what Star Trek can do as an emerging type of pop-art. In “A Piece of the Action,” Star Trek begins asking questions about genres that nobody ever dreamed of before. Such as, “what if we did an old-timey gangster movie, but there’s a spaceship involved?”

4. “Devil in the Dark”

When I was a kid, my sister and I called this episode, “the one with giant pizza.” Today, it’s one of those episodes of Star Trek that people tell you defines the entire franchise. They’re not wrong, particularly because we’re just talking about The Original Series. The legacy of this episode is beyond brilliant and set-up a wonderful tradition within the rest of the franchise; a monster story is almost never a monster story

The ending of this episode is so good, and Leonard Nimoy and Shatner play the final scenes so well that I’m actually not sure it’s cool to reveal what the big twist is. If you somehow don’t know, I’ll just say this. You can’t imagine Chris Pratt’s friendly Velicrapotrs, or Ripper on Discovery without the Horta getting their first.

3. “The Corbomite Maneuver” 

If there’s one episode on this list that truly represents what Star Trek is usually all about on a plot level, it’s this one. After the first two pilot episodes —“Where No Man Has Gone Before” and “The Cage”—this was the first regular episode filmed. It’s the first episode with Uhura and, in almost every single way, a great way to actually explain who all these characters are and what the hell they’re doing. The episode begins with Spock saying something is “fascinating” and then, after the opening credits, calling Kirk, who is down in sickbay with his shirt off. Bones gives Kirk shit about not having done his physical in a while, and Kirk wanders through the halls of the episode without his shirt, just kind of holding his boots. 

That’s just the first like 5 minutes. It just gets better and better from there. Like a good bottle of tranya, this episode only improves with time. And if you think it’s cheesy and the big reveal bizarre, then I’m going to say, you’re not going to like the rest of Star Trek. 

2. “The City on the Edge of Forever”

No more blah blah blah! Sorry, wrong episode. Still, you’ve heard about “The City on the Edge of Forever.” You’ve heard it’s a great time travel episode. You’ve heard Harlan Ellison was pissed about how the script turned out. You heard that Ron Moore really wanted to bring back Edith Keeler for Star Trek Generations. (Okay, maybe you haven’t heard that, but he did.)

Everything you’ve heard about this episode is correct. There’s some stuff that will make any sensible person roll their eyes today, but the overall feeling of this episode is unparalleled. Time travel stories are always popular, but Star Trek has never really done a time travel story this good ever again. The edge of forever will always be just out of reach.

1. “A Taste of Armageddon”

Plot twist! This excellent episode of TOS almost never makes it on top ten lists. Until now! If you blink, “A Taste of Armageddon” could resemble at least a dozen other episodes of TOS. Kirk and Spock are trapped without their communicators. The crew has to overpower some guards to get to some central computer hub and blow it up. Scotty is in command with Kirk on the surface and is just kind of scowling the whole time. Kirk is giving big speeches about how humanity is great because it’s so deeply flawed.

What makes this episode fantastic is that all of these elements come together thanks to a simplistic science fiction premise: What if a society eliminated violence but retained murder? What if hatred was still encouraged, but war was automated? Star Trek’s best moments were often direct allegories about things that were actually happening, but what makes “A Taste of Armageddon” so great is that this metaphor reached for something that could happen. Kirk’s solution to this problem is a non-solution, which makes the episode even better. At its best classic Star Trek wasn’t just presenting a social problem and then telling us how to fix it. Sometimes it was saying something more interesting — what if the problem gets even harder? What do we do then? 

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The humor and bombast of “A Taste of Armageddon” is part of the answer to that unspoken question, but there’s also a clever lesson about making smaller philosophical decisions. In Star Wars, people are always trying to rid themselves of the dark side of the Force. In Star Trek, Kirk just teaches us to say, “Hey I won’t be a terrible person, today” and then just see how many days we can go in a row being like that.

What do you think are the most franchise-defining episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series? Let us know in the comments below.

The post The Star Trek: The Original Series Episodes That Best Define the Franchise appeared first on Den of Geek.

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

[mirrorhunt]

Talking is overrated

Garrote | choking | gagged |

Rios wakes up from a nightmare to find Soji on the bridge

Soji sits in the nav-chair, looking up and humming along with his playlist. Cris smiles sadly, trying to make more noise for not to spook the kid. Even though she'd probably heard him when he got out from his cabin.

“Hey,” she turns to look at him hearing him stomping towards his seat.

“Hey,” he replies as quietly.

“Couldn’t sleep?” she asks lightly, and Cris notices the cup in her hand and another one on the control panel.

“When you’ll be my age you’ll understand,” playfully quips Cris, trying to banish the bloody stains from his memory.

“You’re not that old,” giggles Soji taking a sip. Cris wishes for a cup himself to warm up the clammy chill somewhere where his heart is supposed to be. Maybe aquardiente would be better, but not in front of la hiha.

“Exactly what a young one would say,” teases Cris halfheartedly and sees the result – Soji’s eyes shine with laughter. Good. “Why are you up?”

“Don’t know,” she shrugs, careful not to spill whatever is in her cup. “Maybe my programming is kicking in, remembering that I’m not human and don’t need eight hours of sleep.”

Cris wants to joke “In your age you need ten for growing” but can’t. That’s not the time, not when Soji again is in the faze of hating who she is. He thinks how he can help her. He’s not a synth. He wasn’t even close to her experience. Maybe he should call Seven, maybe she’ll understand better if Picard is so closed off with sharing his experience as a Borg.

But isn’t he himself closed off? Isn’t he scared of his past? He is, and his nightmares proves this every night he decides to succumb to sleep.

“You know I knew one of your… sisters,” he starts, not knowing where it will go, but he’ll try to figure it out on the go. Damn, he wishes desperately for a drink now.

“Jana?” Soji nods, interested. Cris nods too.

“Yes. Her. I didn’t have much time to befriend her, but she looked human. She was human. She was a talented artist, had a sharp humor, and was a great debate opponent. She was warm and kind. Just like you,” he says hurriedly, scared of his memories getting the best of him. He wants to give her this. A piece of light he remembered of that day before it went to shit.

“She was programmed to be,” quietly defies Soji. Cris shakes his head and gets up.

“No. She improvised. If I tell computer to lay the course to whatever it wants, it’ll try to specify or find a pattern from the logs. If I tell a human to pick a planet to visit, they will name one most interesting to them, not me. See the difference?”

“Laying the course to Vorex III,” calls out computer and Rios with Soji jump from suddenness.

“What, no! Computer, stop laying the course! No! Damn it! Enoch!”

ENH shimmers through air near Soji making her squeak in surprise.

“Yes, captain?”

“Cancel new course, and lay us on the previous one,” orders Cris, frustrated. The smartest AI in the market, yeah. Sure.

“Yes, Captain. Excuse me”

Soji gets up, taking two cups with her and leaving the seat for Enoch, watching him with fascination. Everyone, apart from Raffi, was in wander of his holos, trying to sneakily find out why are they all presented with his face. So he keeps quiet and swears not to drink too much so not to give Seven a chance to winning their competition “who’ll find out Rios’ holos secret first”.

“Lets go downstairs, I want a snack,” sighs Cris. He’s tired. But he’s done with nightmares tonight. May as well talk with fellow friend in sleepless night.

Soji disposes of her empty cups and makes a new one. Hot cocoa. She looks back at Rios with his sandwich, and makes another cup.

“Without peppermint. Classic. Two sugars. Right?” she half-smiles, setting the cup near him.

“Right” he frowns, surprised. “How did you…”

“Read the logs,” she shrugs. “You usually take your coffee with two sugars, and tea too, and prefer desserts so sweet you have no right to claim my love for peppermint taste disgusting.”

Cris huffs a laugh. He will never get rid of the scent of peppermint off his ship. Sometimes he thinks even his lunch has a slight peppermint aftertaste. It’s like eating after brushing your teeth. But if the kid loves it, he’ll suffer a bit. It doesn’t mean he won’t complaint though.

“Romulans tried to kill me because of who I am,” Soji says after Cris finishes his sandwich. She stirs her drink thoughtfully. “Made me trust one of them, fall in love with him, only to put me in a room, promising to help, and put a poisonous gas inside. To watch me slowly choke and die, crying for him, and begging to come save me. He never did. He stood there, turning his back to me, hearing me, and he did nothing. I thought I’ll die right there. I couldn’t breathe, and even if I could – it would’ve been a breath full of poison, and I’ll choke again. I wasn’t even panicking. I just knew – here I die, not knowing why, betrayed and naïve and scared with no-one to help me. And then something shifted. Something changed. Like something finally was set free. And I saved myself.”

Cris wants to hold her hand, but is unsure. She’s strong, there’s no doubt, but he wants to support her in her battle with her past, like Agnes and Raffi do it for him. He hesitates one more moment, before gathering his bravery.

“All done, Captain!” cheerfully reports Enoch, scaring them both again.

“Dismissed,” winces Cris, feeling how the moment has passed. Enoch disappears like he had appeared, and they sit in silence once more.

“They didn’t tried to kill you because of who you are,” he says, carefully choosing his words.

“You think?” sharply and clearly hurting responds Soji.

“Yes. They tried to kill you for what they thought you are. And they were wrong,” Cris takes a hold of her twisting fingers, warm from the cup, but quickly losing the warmth from wary.

“I tried to destroy the galaxy,” reminds him Soji.

“Yeah, you did. I would too. The galaxy is shitty place and deserves it sometimes,” Soji laughs a little at this. “But you thought better of this. And here I am. Still alive. Still having nightmares of your sister. Drinking cocoa with you in the dead of the night. So,” he tips the rest of his drink, wincing at the sludge on the bottom, “not so bad of a galaxy.”

Soji huffs a laugh of her own. Damn, he really rubbed off on her already, Raffi was right.

“Not so bad,” agrees Soji, nursing her cup.

“Try to get some sleep, hiha. Synth or not, you’re still three years old,” Cris hurries to get out of the way in time to dodge a sticky, partially melted marshmallow in his hair.

“You too,” Soji smiles content and calm. Cris smiles too.

[writingsfromstarfleet]

Narek - One In The Same

♫ - The Great Pretender - Freddie Mercury

For a lovely Anon, thank you for requesting some Picard! I loved this show a lot, and I hope you all enjoy this one! Hugs! ♡

our life had never been easy sailing. Your father was a Romulan, your mother Human. You never truly fit in anywhere. People often looked upon you in either disgust or fear for your Romulan side, and you couldn't blame them. Romulans had been known to choose conquering over cohabiting with other species, though if it suited them then they were very happy to engage in diplomacy. For this, a wide view of Romulans was that, as a race, they were despicable. You, however, had never met any others of your kind.

When you were younger, your father had left, leaving you with your mother on Earth. Why, you didn't know. All you had known of him was that he was Romulan and that he worked for an intelligence agency, one that was responsible for so much destruction and hatred. Therefore, you weren't surprised when people turned from you for your heritage. Being raised on Earth, you were around humans all your childhood and younger years, and eventually landed in Starfleet Academy, with every intention of making a good engineer of yourself.

You did indeed have every opportunity to make something of your future, to use your capacity for knowledge to help people. You could have been something so wonderful, had your name up in lights with the likes of James T. Kirk and Matthew Decker. Everyone around you always had the highest hopes for what you would become. Which is why, as you sat in a prison cell, you thought about the decisions you'd made that got you here. All through life you had tried not to become what they said your father was, and slowly but surely you had, you were now just as bad as the stories of him.

Remorse did not flash through you, however, you had no regrets for anything you had done. So lost in your thoughts you were, you had failed to hear the footsteps coming from the cell on your right, only noticing upon hearing someone speak.

"Well,"  the voice from the cell adjacent to yours was low, tone almost mocking. "What do we have here?"

The question didn't require an answer, and still you did.

"Nothing of your concern."

"Oh," you heard the persons voice change, this time it sounded as though whoever it was did not expect your remark. "Sassy."

Your head whipped round to see the stranger, and your eyes lay upon a man who defied every expectation of what you had assumed you would see. A man stood before you, clad in all black clothing, a tight coat hugging his form. His hair was messy, but in an almost neat way, and it hung just above his eyes.  You noticed his ears and that was when it clicked for you. He was a Romulan.

"Have we seen something we like, e'lev?" The mans voice pulled you out of your thoughts, glancing at his face to see his brows raised and a smirk on his face. He sat with his back against the wall next to the bars that separated you. Now next to you, you took in his eyes which were a striking shade of blue.

"Don't mock me, Rihana."

"Apologies," he spoke, most definitely not apologetic, but rather continuing the theme of biting remarks. He couldn't care less, knowing exactly what he was doing with his words. "My name is Narek, might I have yours?"

"You might," you spoke, your turn to test his wits this time. "If you tell me how you got here."

Narek scoffed. Something about his aura told you he knew who you were, and yet you couldn't put a finger on it. The feeling persisted.

"The same reason as you, no doubt. Some crime or another. You're very inquisitive, I must say. That comes from your human side no doubt-"

"How do you know about that?" You cut him off, now confused and rather annoyed at his statement.

"You think I can't see that you're not fully Romulan? What do you take me for.."

You sighed, narrowing your eyes at him. "Y/N."

"Y/N," he finished his sentence, and you liked the way he spoke your name. "Y/N.. hmm.."

"Yes?"

"Oh, nothing." His smile unnerved you, and you turned to face him properly, curious as to why he seemed so familiar with you.

"No, tell me, what is it?"

"I never thought I'd see the muse behind all of Jarak's stories, and yet here you are." Narek was now eyeing you with wonder, a glint in his eye that seemed to spell danger. Still, he went on. "I hadn't realised you'd be so.. you."

Brows furrowed, you stayed silent as he analysed you, baffled by the whole of the last half an hour. He laughed a little, and shook his head.

"I take it you know me then, Narek." Your statement ended in a way that let the young Romulan know that you required some form of explanation. Whether you got one or not was still out for the jury.

"No, but I knew your father. Jarak, he was a great man, he did so much for us."

"Who is us?" You were fully engaged in his conversation now, hoping that he could shed some light on your father for you.

"The Tal Shiar. I work for an organisation called the Tal Shiar, and your father did a great deal for us to help us out with information and weapons. Renowned he is among Romulans. He spoke of you often, the child he had left behind, he had hoped one day to reunite with you. I only recognized it was you from the not-so-traditional name, of course."

As Narek spoke, you hadn't taken your eyes off him, listening to his every word as he reeled off story after story about your father. The rumours you had heard were true, he was indeed a horrible man. Though you could hardly judge him, the things you had done were of equal distaste.

"Are you alright?" he asked, a slight hint of concern in his voice. Your face was now looking down at the floor, your hands idly twiddling away with each other as thoughts ran amok in your head. You looked up to Narek, locking eyes with him once more.

"Yes, I just wasn't expecting this today."

"You seem like a rather intelligent person, dear Y/N, we could use someone like you if what I have heard about your doings is true."

So he did know how you got here.

"I could help you, we could be brilliant," he started again, looking at you with a small hint of hope that you would agree. "I know you haven't been around Romulans much, if at all, but I can show you our culture, our planet, our people. You could be home. We're one in the same you and I, Y/N. Think, you could be one of our most legendary operatives with that Starfleet training of yours. What do you have to lose?"

Silence fell around you both as you pondered Narek's words. You had a disdain for the Federation and the way they treated the Romulans, that much was true. The way they treated your people, your kind. You remembered all of the anguish you felt watching UFP officials each night talk of their victories against your race. Narek had mentioned home, something you had never truly had. Being amongst those similar to you, Narek included, sounded heavenly. He was absolutely right; what did you have to lose?

Pulled from your thoughts as Narek took your hand in his through the bars, you glanced at him once again. Smirking at him, he sent one of equal mischief back, though there was definitely something more held within the looks the both of you gave each other.

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

Narek placed a small kiss on your hand and you felt yourself blush. The two of your stood, walking towards the fronts of your respective cells. Excited for your life ahead, you heard Narek's voice from beside you, low and full of cunning.

"Then let's get out of here."

Translations:

e'lev: my dear/darling

Rihana: a Romulan person, from Rihan meaning 'something Romulan'.

Website: Common Romulan Words from Federation Space Wiki

[phantom-le6]

Episode Reviews - Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 (2 of 6)

Again, this is bit later in being posted than I’d planned, but here’s my second round of episode reviews for season 4 of Stark Trek: The Next Generation.

Episode 6: Legacy

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise, responds to a distress call from the Federation freighter Arcos, which has suffered engine failure and taken emergency orbit around the planet Turkana IV, the birthplace of the Enterprise's late chief of security, Tasha Yar. The Enterprise arrives just as the Arcos explodes, and finds a trail left behind by the freighter's escape pod leading to the colony. Turkana IV's government collapsed 15 years before; and the last Federation ship to visit, six years earlier, was warned by the colony's warring factions that trespassers to the planet would be executed. Because the freighter crew's lives are in danger, Captain Picard decides to attempt a rescue.

 Commander Riker leads an away team to the surface, where they find the colonists initially unperturbed by their presence, but soon end up in a standoff with one of the colony's two remaining warring factions, the Coalition. Their leader, Hayne, reveals that the other faction, the Alliance, holds the Arcos survivors hostage, and offers the Enterprise the Coalition's support in exchange for Federation weapons, a proposal that Riker rejects. Hayne, however, after learning of Tasha Yar's service aboard the Enterprise, instead offers as a liaison Ishara Yar, claiming she is Tasha's sister. Picard accepts Ishara aboard; although the crew is initially skeptical, DNA tests support her claim, and she gradually gains their trust. Commander Data, who was especially close to Tasha, becomes friends with Ishara, who seems ready to leave behind her life in the colony.

 To find the hostages, Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge suggests using the crashed escape pod's instruments; Ishara recommends that she beam separately to a nearby location as a distraction, because her implanted proximity device will set off the Alliance's alarms. The crew executes the plan, but Ishara is wounded in the attempt. Riker rescues her, and is impressed by her bravery. Later, Ishara privately tells Hayne "It's working."

 When the Enterprise receives a message from the Alliance announcing that they are preparing to kill the Arcos crew, Picard's crew decides to execute Ishara's proposed rescue plan: Dr Crusher removes Ishara's proximity device, which she gives to Data as a memento. Riker leads an away team to the planet, where they rescue the hostages, but Ishara disappears in the confusion. Data finds her trying to disable the Alliance security grid; Ishara reveals that a large Coalition force is just outside the Alliance perimeter waiting to attack. Data concludes that all her interaction with the crew was a ploy. Riker arrives to distract Ishara just as she fires at Data, who dodges and then stuns her and reverses her attempted sabotage. Riker notes that her phaser was set to kill.

 With the away team and Ishara back aboard the Enterprise, Hayne demands that Picard return Ishara and challenges his jurisdiction. While Riker argues that they have cause to hold her for firing on two Starfleet officers, Picard decides to allow her to leave. As Data escorts her to the transporter room, Ishara claims he was the closest thing she had to a friend. Data considers his relationships with both Ishara and Tasha, as the Enterprise departs. Data then discusses the recent events with Riker; while Riker states that trust always carries the risk of betrayal, and that that risk has be taken to have friendships, Data suggests he is lucky to be spared the emotional effects of betrayal.  However, as Data leaves Riker’s quarters, he finds himself still carrying Ishara’s proximity device.

Review:

When it comes to get posthumous mileage out of the late Tasha Yar, I think this is the best effort TNG has offered us so far. Discounting minor allusions in episodes like ‘The Measure of a Man’ and ‘The Most Toys’, the only other episode prior to this to really try and utilise Tasha again was the over-rated ‘Yesterday’s Enterprise’, and that was just trying to re-do her death a bit better. This time, however, we get to see something of where Tasha came from and explore her in a more interesting way by having her crew-mates interact with her former home-world and her sister.  There is also some allegory to gang violence and gang culture in the episode, but with Tasha’s sister Ishara being involved and having a connection of sorts with Data, that allegory is largely missed behind an inadvertent plot point that the episode brings up.

 As I’ve noted in the previous TNG reviews I’ve posted, Data is often a metaphor for many aspects of autism, and the way he above all others is deceived by Ishara in the episode is an inadvertent, ahead-of-its-time allegory of mate crime.  For anyone unfamiliar with that term, mate crime involves the offender pretending to be someone’s friend in order to set up that friend to be injured in some way. This can vary from being lured into a physical ambush to being set up to take the blame for something the victim hasn’t actually done.  It often depends on the victim of this mate crime not having a full grasp of friendship and/or deceit, so people on the autistic spectrum and with other mental frameworks that make this difficult are heavily affected by it.

 This being the case, one can easily see in Ishara Yar the exact kind of person who would commit such an offence in real life; selfish, ruthless and with no real regard for others.  What she does to Data is every bit as heinous as any mate crime committed against an autistic person in the real world.  It is inexcusable, and frankly I think Picard should have locked her up instead of letting her go.  Nothing justifies her being let go at the end of the episode; not being Tasha’s sister, not the crew wanting to see something of Tasha in her, nothing. Honestly, I was hoping for a transporter accident to kill her when she was beamed back down at the end.  Overall score for this episode, 9 out of 10; a transporter death some other suitable retribution on Ishara would have netted this episode top marks.

Episode 7: Reunion

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise is met by a Klingon Vor'cha class battlecruiser, and Ambassador K'Ehleyr requests to speak to Captain Picard on an "urgent matter". When she beams aboard, she brings a young Klingon boy; based on his previous romantic experience with K'Ehleyr, Lt. Worf suspects the child is his son. K'Ehleyr warns the senior staff of a power struggle occurring within the Klingon Empire and implores Picard to meet Chancellor K'mpec aboard the battlecruiser. On the Klingon ship, K'mpec acknowledges that he has been poisoned and is slowly dying, and insists that Picard become the Arbiter of Succession and identify his assassin. K'mpec dies shortly afterward. In a private moment, K'Ehleyr confirms to Worf that the Klingon boy is his son, Alexander, and she did not tell Worf for fear he would try to have a deeper relationship with her; Worf, already burdened by his discommendation, fears for Alexander's future, given the stigma of his family name.

 The two challengers for leadership of the council, Gowron and Duras, arrive for the Rites of Succession. Worf still harbors hatred for Duras, who had (falsely) revealed Worf's father, Mogh, as a traitor in the Khitomer massacre and stained Worf's family name. Both Gowron and Duras attempt to quickly end the proceeding, but a small explosion erupts in the assembly hall. Picard and K'Ehleyr are safe but decide to draw out the Rites using an archaic ceremony while the Enterprise crew perform a forensic analysis on the explosion. Though both resent the longer form, Gowron and Duras have little choice but to agree to continue the Rites.

 The Enterprise crew discover that the explosion came from a Romulan bomb implanted in the arm of one of Duras's guards. K'Ehleyr, aboard the Enterprise, has become intrigued and tries to find out why Worf was discommended. She accesses the Klingon records, and comes across evidence of Duras's father being the true traitor in the Khitomer massacre. Duras, notified of K'Ehleyr's access to the records and already aboard the Enterprise, goes to K’Ehley’s quarters and mortally wounds her. Worf soon discovers K'Ehleyr, dying, just in time for her to reveal that Duras is her killer; then she has Worf promise to look after Alexander. Returning to his quarters, Worf grabs a bat'leth, leaves his combadge behind, and transports to Duras's ship. There he challenges Duras to the Right of Vengeance. Initially, Duras rebuffs Worf, claiming that his traitor status denies him any rights, but Worf declares K'Ehleyr was his mate; since even discommendated Klingons may claim vengeance for a loved one's death, Duras accepts Worf's challenge. Worf easily gains the upper hand, but Duras taunts him; if Worf kills Duras, Worf can never regain his honor. Worf nonetheless strikes the killing blow. With Duras dead and no other challengers present, Gowron is presumably named Chancellor of the Empire.

 After the Klingons leave, Picard takes Worf to task for killing Duras. Though Worf defends his actions as valid under Klingon law (as does the Klingon government), Picard reminds him he is first of all a Starfleet officer and places a formal reprimand on Worf's record. Worf and Alexander mourn their loss, and Worf places the boy in the care of his own adoptive parents, Sergey and Helena Rozhenko, finally admitting to Alexander himself that they are related.

Review:

The first appearances of the Vor’cha class Klingon battleship, the Bat’leth, Gowron and Alexander, plus a combined follow-up on both ‘The Emissary’ and ‘Sins of the Father’.  This episode has not only huge impact on this series and the wider Trek franchise with all that it does, but it’s also very well-performed and, unlike the previous episode, the villain of the piece gets immediate comeuppance. There are numerous occasions up to now where Trek has been a bit too willing to let their villains off a little too easily, so it was good to see Duras finally go down, and to do so in proper Klingon style.

 Now I know some fans were disappointed, upset, even out-raged that K’Ehlyer gets killed off because they all loved the character so much, and some even thought it was a bit sexist of the show to kill such a strong, independent female character on only her second time out. However, let’s put this in a bit of context; first, K’Ehlyer is one of three named characters to die in this episode, the other two of whom are Klingon blokes.  This means that actually it’s not all that sexist because the episode’s body-count, and I believe that of TNG in general up to this point, favours male guest characters for croaking in tried-and-true red-shirt tradition.

 Second, if K’Ehlyer doesn’t die, Worf has no reason to go blade-to-blade with Duras and ultimately bury his Bat’leth in the petaQ’s chest.  K’mpec’s death is hardly going to justify Worf going to such lengths, and I don’t think violent child death would ever be acceptable within the world of Trek. Third, you’re supposed to be upset and out-raged over K’Ehyler’s death, and you’re supposed to direct those emotions the same way Worf does; at Duras.  The idea is to be rooting for Worf, to cast aside the normally high, often too liberal sensibility of the Federation ideology and be rooting for Duras to get slaughtered.  It’s fine to have a visceral reaction this time round; just focus it on the guest character where it belongs.

 My one issue with this episode is Picard’s speech to Worf in reprimanding him for acting against Star Fleet’s code of conduct, or more specifically the line “If anyone cannot perform his or her duty because of the demands of their society, they should resign.” Taken out of the context and applied to real-life military organisations in societies that are highly backwards in their standards of tolerance, this line seems to imply a condoning of societal demands that impede inclusion.  After all, if a society frowns upon certain groups of people serving in a military organisation and makes the life of anyone from those groups who tries to serve harder, Picard’s line could be used to justify forcing that person out of the military.  Frankly, the idea that people have to ‘leave their culture at the door’ seems totally anti-Star Trek.  What’s next, asking Deanna to leave her empathic powers in her quarters? Overall, this episode nets 9 out of 10 for me; Picard’s backwards line robs the episode of top marks.

Episode 8: Future Imperfect

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Commander Riker's birthday celebration is interrupted as he, Geordi La Forge, and Worf are sent down to a huge cavern on Alpha Onias III, an uninhabited Class M planet, to investigate unusual readings. After their arrival, the cavern suddenly fills with toxic gases, and the three officers fall unconscious.

 Riker awakens in sick bay to find that sixteen years have passed. He is now Captain of the Enterprise with Data as his first officer, and Picard has been promoted to admiral, with Deanna Troi serving as his aide. Riker cannot remember any event after the Alpha Onias III mission, which Doctor Crusher explains is a side effect of a viral infection he contracted on the planet, and his memories of the intervening events may or may not return in time.

 Riker learns that he was married, is now widowed, and has a son named Jean-Luc (named after Picard). He is further startled when Tomalak, a Romulan commander who was formerly an archenemy of the Enterprise but is now an ambassador, beams onto the ship to negotiate a peace treaty with the Federation. Despite Picard's reassurances, Riker is hesitant to reveal sensitive Starfleet information in negotiating the treaty.

 As Riker struggles to adjust to his new life, numerous inconsistencies arise. The Enterprise computer is uncharacteristically slow, numerous systems experience minor technical glitches, and Geordi is unable to correct the problems. Finally, Riker discovers that his late wife "Min" is Minuet, a fictional holodeck character he fell in love with (in the first season episode "11001001"). Riker realizes that the entire "future" he has been experiencing is a charade and confronts Picard and Tomalak on the Enterprise bridge, with more inconsistencies arising as he does so, proving his suspicions. Suddenly, the false future fades away, revealing a Romulan holodeck. Commander Tomalak is revealed to be behind the simulation, the object of which was to trick Riker into giving away the location of a key Federation outpost. The Romulans, Tomalak explains, were fooled by the intensity of Riker's memories of Minuet and had incorporated her into their fantasy on the assumption that she was real.

 Riker is put in a holding area, where he meets the boy whose image the Romulans had used to create his "son". The boy identifies himself as "Ethan". Together, they manage to escape and briefly elude their Romulan guards. However, as the two are hiding from their pursuers, Ethan inadvertently refers to Tomalak as "Ambassador", instead of "Commander". Riker realizes that he is still in a simulation; confronting Ethan over it, he demands that the game end immediately and that he be allowed to leave.

 Everything disappears once more, leaving only Riker and Ethan back in the cavern on Alpha Onias III. Riker is then able to contact the ship and learns that Worf and La Forge had beamed up without incident, but the Enterprise was unable to locate him. After Riker advises the captain that he will presently report back after learning more about his situation, Ethan confesses that he had created the simulations, using sophisticated scanners to read his mind and create the "reality" they experienced. Ethan's planet had been attacked and his people killed; his mother had hidden him in the cavern for his own safety, with all the simulation equipment, before she died; and Ethan, all alone, had been yearning for real companionship. Realizing Ethan's intentions were not hostile, Riker offers him refuge on the Enterprise. Ethan accepts Riker's offer and after Ethan reveals his true form as a grey alien named Barash, the two beam up to the ship.

Review:

This episode is interesting to start off with; alternate timelines/futures can often be quite fun, and according to Memory Alpha’s page on this episode we also get some uncanny prescience in many of the predictions this episode makes, which would become apparent in later episodes, films and series within the world of Trek.  It also very cleverly distinguishes itself from ‘Remember Me’ earlier in this season by having the alternate realities that Riker experiences nested within each other, as opposed to Beverly’s scenario where it was just the one alternate reality.  However, once the second layer of deception gets revealed, I became a little disappointed.

 Why is this?  Well to be honest, I don’t like episodes that try to play on a character’s sense of reality part-way through a TV show that has long since established what its reality is.  It can work by implying an alternate future and memory loss as this episode initially does, but the number of illusions need to be left at one and not keep going. I’d rather the rest of the episode been a straight-up action-adventure where Riker has to escape the Romulans with the aid of the Enterprise crew, possibly with some interrogation room dialogue between Riker and Tomalak beforehand as a means for Riker to play his captor, stall for time, whatever.

 As it is, the ending ends up feeling like a cliché of Star Trek rather than anything truly Trek-oriented.  Certainly there’s no deeper issue exploration or major character development in Riker himself.  Overall, it’s really just a bit of a filler episode when taken on balance. I give it about 7 out of 10.

Episode 9: Final Mission

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise has travelled to the Pentarus system where Captain Picard must mediate a dispute among some miners on the fifth planet. Wesley Crusher receives word that he has been accepted to Starfleet Academy and, for his final mission on the Enterprise, he will accompany Picard on his shuttle trip to Pentarus V. A distress call comes in from Gamilon V, where an unidentified vessel has entered orbit and is giving off lethal doses of radiation. Picard orders Commander Riker to take the Enterprise to resolve that situation while he and Wesley travel in a shuttle sent by the miners, commanded by Captain Dirgo.

 En route, Dirgo's shuttle malfunctions and they are forced to crash-land on the surface of a harsh, desert-like moon. Though they are unharmed, the shuttle is beyond repair, and its communication systems and food replicators are disabled. Dirgo admits he has no emergency supplies on board, so they are forced to search for shelter and water. With his tricorder, Wesley identifies some caves and a potential source of water some distance away, and the three set out across the desert. Reaching a cave, they find a fountain-like water source, but it is protected by a crystalline force field. Dirgo attempts to use a phaser to destroy the field, but this activates a burst of energy from the fountain which encases the phaser in an impenetrable shell and causes a rock slide; Picard pushes Wesley out of the way but is severely injured in doing so.

 Meanwhile, the Enterprise has arrived at Gamilon V, finding the unidentified ship is an abandoned garbage scow filled with radioactive waste. Their initial attempt to attach thrusters to the barge to propel it remotely through an asteroid belt into the Gamilon sun fails, and Riker is forced to attempt to tow the barge themselves using the tractor beam, exposing the crew to the lethal radiation.

 As Wesley continues to analyse the forcefield, Dirgo becomes impatient and attempts to breach the field again, but this time the energy burst encases him as well, killing him. Picard, weak from his injuries, gives Wesley advice about the academy, and tells him he is proud of him. Wesley refuses to give up. Meanwhile, the Enterprise, despite the rising radiation levels on board, manages to get the barge through the asteroid belt and on course into the sun. The Enterprise then speeds off to help in the search for the shuttle.

 Wesley continues to study the fountain, and devises a plan to disable the force field. He fires his phaser at the fountain to attract the energy defence mechanism, then uses his tricorder to disable the mechanism and is finally able to access the water.

 Shortly thereafter, the Enterprise locates the wreckage of the mining shuttle, and Picard and Wesley are rescued. As Picard is carried from the cave, he tells Wesley that he will be missed.

Review:

It’s with this episode that Wil Wheaton finally left TNG as a main cast member in an effort to try and expand his acting career, and given how poorly his character of Wesley Crusher was written in many episodes, it’s not unreasonable or a bad idea that he did so.  After all, Wesley had to get off the Enterprise at some point if he was ever going to attend Star Fleet Academy, and you couldn’t do the show that TNG was if it was all about Star Fleet characters on Earth.  That said, a spin-off about Star Fleet Academy might have been an interesting thing to see.  In any event, this episode is better than most Wesley-centric plots and features a bit of coming-of-age narrative within the story.  However, it has a few bits of less-than-stellar dialogue-writing for Wesley in some of the earlier scenes (Wesley coming onto the bridge and the argument with Dirgo by the crashed shuttle being key examples).

 The b-plot makes for an ok diversion, but part of me wonders why it took the Enterprise so long with that waste barge.  I mean space is three-dimensional and the asteroid belt looked to only be at a certain height, relatively speaking.  I therefore fail to see why the Enterprise couldn’t have pulled the barge above the ‘top’ of the asteroid belt, while keeping it on course for the nearby sun (which, being circular and massive, the barge would easily hit even going over the asteroids and not through them).  If there’s one thing I really hate, it’s stories where people go through an obstacle instead of round when the only reason to go through is because the story is too short otherwise.  Honestly, it’s just as well Wesley gets to return as a guest character a few times after this because it’s not a great episode for him to go out on.  I give this one a score of 6 out of 10.

Episode 10: The Loss

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Traveling through deep space, the Enterprise stops to investigate an odd phenomenon of phantom sensor readings. Meanwhile, ship's counsellor Deanna Troi experiences pain and loses consciousness as her empathic abilities suddenly cease to work.

 The crew discovers they cannot resume course, as the Enterprise is caught up in a group of two-dimensional lifeforms.

 Without her powers, Troi suffers a tremendous sense of loss, and goes through several classic psychological stages, including denial, fear and anger. Ultimately, despite the reassurances of her friends, she resigns as ship's counsellor, believing that without her empathic abilities she cannot perform her duties.

 Lt. Commander Data determines that the two-dimensional creatures are heading for a cosmic string, with the Enterprise in tow, and that once they reach the string the ship will be torn apart. Noting that Troi's training makes her the most qualified to assist, Captain Picard pleads with her to try and aid Data in communicating with the strange creatures.

 After attempting to warn the creatures of the danger posed by the cosmic string, Troi posits that they are seeking out the cosmic string in much the way a moth is drawn to a flame. Working from this hypothesis, Data and Lt. Commander La Forge simulate the vibration of a cosmic string, using the deflector dish at a position well behind the Enterprise. The simulations eventually cause the creatures to briefly reverse their course, breaking their momentum long enough to allow the Enterprise to break free.

 Freed from the two-dimensional creatures' influence, Troi's empathic ability is restored. She discovers that her powers were never lost, but were instead overwhelmed by the two-dimensional creatures' strong emotions. Troi returns to her old job with a renewed confidence.

Review:

I get that this episode is Next Generation trying to identify with what people who suddenly become differently abled go through when they lose their regularly abled status, and it’s a sound idea in theory. In practice, it’s ruined because they put it across through Troi spending most of the episode being a whiney cry-baby about it.  I mean ok, granted, as someone who has been differently abled all their life and who has been aware of that from a very young age, I don’t easily empathise with those who end up differently abled later in life.  More often than not, they’ve had experiences and opportunities that someone like me has never had, and for that matter may never have.  For instance, having to go to schools away from where I lived means I’ve never been able to grow up with friends I could met outside of school or walk to school with, and being an adult now I can never have that childhood experience everyone else takes from granted.

 Moreover, in the episode ‘Tin Man’ Troi notes that Betazoids are born with their telepathic abilities inactive in the vast majority of cases and develop them during their adolescence, so having her lose her empathic powers doesn’t warrant this level of response.  She’s only been psychic since she was a teen, for crying out loud, and it’s an extra sense rather than one of the five ‘core’ senses most humans/humanoids have by default.  The level of wigging out she experiences would have been far more appropriate if she’d been blinded or deafened, and speaking of the former, why was Geordi not among those who spoke to Deanna about what she was going through?  The one time another member of the TNG main crew loses a sense and you don’t have them compare notes with the one TNG main crew member who was born one sense down on everyone else?  Talk about a ludicrously squandered opportunity.

 Frankly, this episode is a howler of such dire magnitude that it feels like we’ve stepped into a time machine back to the first season.  Frankly, I’d sooner go for any Marvel lore featuring Daredevil or the M*A*S*H episode “Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind” for a good sensory loss story than watch this shipwreck of an episode again.  3 out of 10 here, and that’s mostly for Guinan; it’s amazing how good Whoopi Goldberg can be at making even the worst episodes worth something.

[annoying-lucy]

Evan Evagora did an AMA involving the Star Trek Shitposting Facebook Group - the questions and answers below were copy/pasted direct from the collated master post. Evan is a member of the group, who participates under an unknown pseudonym.

———————————————

AMA Master Post!

Thanks so much to Evan Evagora for taking time out of his day for our AMA earlier. To make the questions and answers easier for ya'll to find, here they all are together below.

Q: How does my love of cats compare to Elnor?

A: Im actually more of a dog person, there was a scene that had Elnor and spot 2 unite briefly but unfortunately it didn’t leave the editing room

Q: How familiar was I with Star Trek before and did I have to do research?

A: I grew up with TNG, I’d have to say either worf, Guinan or Q are my favourite characters. And I was given episodes to watch that were to help with information before filming Picard

Q: How was I prepped to deal with the crazy fans?

A: I got told to join Star Trek shitposting 😉. Not but in all seriousness, it was Jonathan Frakes who gave me advice on entering the world of fandom from the other side and he said it’s been nothing short of a pleasure

Q: So if Hugh had survived would they have made out?

A: what happens on the cube stays on the cube

Q: My favourite moment of s1

A: getting to slice that romulans head off

Q: How did I hear about Star Trek shitposting?

A: most of the crew is either a part of the group or knows about, one of the amazing hair and make up ladies got me into I think my first or second day

Q: If I had to be Tuvixed with someone excluding elnor?

A: mirror verse Elnor, nah worf to be honest

Q: What is something I’d like to do in season 2

A: Id like to see Elnor and spot 2 together

Q: How am I passing my time woth quarantine?

A: ama for the gronp! Nah I’ve just been reading, writing and also the contact I’m having with the fans too has really helped a lot

Q: If I had to quarantine with any of my costars who would it be and why

A: I’d go with hardy treadaway he’s got the nicest place

Q: What am I hoping to see in Elnor’s future

A: Inner peace, contentment and possibly shorter hair?

Q: Am I intimidated by working on a show with such a big fan base?

A: no I grew up with Star Trek, you’re really in a bubble of filming when you’re making the show, it all didn’t really hit home until the first trailer at San Diego

Q: Would I consider playing Elnor as non binary

A: I’ve seen a lot of debate and discussion about not only my character but others in the series, if there is something that connects you with a character on this show and it resonates with you, even if it’s shown, not shown or hinted at I’m all for it. I am not for the constant belittlement, bullying and criticism of not only the characters on the show but also other fans. It really does break my heart reading comments where people aren’t welcoming of one another, because that is the whole reason why Trek has bought so many together and by spewing these disgusting cruel words out your not only showing the world you don’t understand the meaning behind the show, you also are destroying the thing that makes us all love it

Q: Is there Australia on romulas

A: yeah they have a down under I’m sure of it. No the accent can easily be explained with, Elnor left romulas at a young age, moved to a planet with different species and languages spoken so that influenced his accent

Q: Have I seen Elnor fan fiction and art?

A: yeah some of it has been really amazing! And some others have been...creative

Q: How excited am I to make home movies with my action figures?

A: my plan is to buy everyone’s, make them record audio and then film shit using the dolls and their voices

Q: Are you playing animal crossing?

A: I’ve preordered it because they’ve sold out here in aus, but in playing civ 6 to pass time and Mario party

Q: Did I get to try Romulan ale?

A: no I wish, I’m kind of hoping for a scene next year where Elnor gets drunk for the first time

Q: What character did I wish would appear in our show?

A: one word, one letter Q

Q: What’s my background have I been acting long?

A: Picard was my third acting gig, and the first project to release, so I have got some experience acting and I have previous work but it has either just aired or is going to next year

Q: Please my friend choose a charity you would like us to donate to

A: food bank

Q: Favourite ninja turtle

A: it’s always been Raph and always will be

Q: Do I know much about Elnors background

A: I know things that haven’t been mentioned yet, but also given his character is new and season 1 just finished, hopefully some of those things are explored

Q: How would o feel about the fan theory that Spock is my father

A: I mean, I’m not really sure, I can always shoot Ethan a message and ask him what he thinks too

Q: Which classic episode trope would I like to see?

A: mirror universe

Q: Can we look forward to more ninja representation?

A: is Elnor not enough? ☹️

Q: Were there any particular characters I drew inspiration from, any elves?

A: there’s a particular group of people I think Elnor might have been inspired from. Can I just say how cool it would be if Elnor is just cosplaying as an elf because Picard left him a copy of Lotr when he was young

Q: Would I be open to exploring Elnors sexuality in s2 and what would it be?

A: I am totally open for that, and as for Elnors sexuality, I’m not sure he’s only 17 he’s just left his planet and gone off on an adventure where he openly knew the success may lead in his death or others he hasn’t had time to figure himself out so seeing his sexuality explored would be amazing

Q: What stories did you hear about working on precious trek series from the OG actors?

A; So we found out Michael Dorn used to muddle his lines up because he was normally the last close up of the day. They used to put bets on to see how many takes he’d have to do. All I must add in very fun spirits nothing ever malicious or mean

Q: My long term career goals

A: id like to keep pursuing more roles I’m acting, I’m a big writer and have some projects I’m looking at getting created but right now I’d say I’m just here to learn and grow

Q: What do I write?

A: right now I’m working on three screenplays and two pilots most of the stuff I’ve written is just sitting on my hard drive just waiting to be used

Q: Ever fried an egg, buttered and vegemite'd some toast and eaten it like a sandwich?

A: what I just read, scared the crap out of me, I love vegemite but the most I’ll do is add cheese to it

Q: What is one of my favourite stories about s1

A: Jeri Ryan and I had a scene together in the borg cube (what a queen she made!) it was shooting at night and I think it was the final shot of the day, we couldn’t keep a straight face and just laughed through about fifteen takes

Q: Are you a big fan of fandom besides Trek?

A: Star Wars, lotr, the magician series Raymond e feist, a song of fire and ice series, avatar last air bender and legend of Korra (would love to play zuko) and of course Batman (fav Jason Todd as the hood)

Q: Could I see myself playing Elnor for six or seven years?

A: as long as there’s a good story that myself and fans will enjoy, but if it didn’t meet my expectations no. And also hopefully the writers and creators would want to

Q: My top TNG eps are in no particular order

I borg, all good things, tapestry, the measure of a man and all good things

I’ll also add I borg especially because it’s just cool seeing where Hugh began and how he ended up

Q: How did I land the role of Elnor?

A: I was on a break from filming Fantasy Island (a movie based off the old tv show) and I was home for pilot season which is when they cast for shows, I had two weeks of daily auditions before I was due to fly back and start filming again, two days before I was meant to leave I got an audition for Picard, the script had a code name and Elnors name was Kbar on it, but I was told it was Star Trek. I went into the room and thought I didn’t do a very good job, then I flew to film and two days later I was told I’ve made a list of people being considered, after a few more auditions and a couple of phone calls from producers and everything I found myself on a plane to LA five weeks later

Q: Have I made friends among the cast?

A: no, we tried really hard to become friends, but unfortunately we ended up becoming a family instead. Everything we say in interviews about us getting along is all true and not fake. I’m the newest to acting out of everyone so I was kind of of shocked to find out that how close we all are isn’t necessarily how it will be when I shoot other projects, so I think we just got lucky or they casted really well

Q: Have the Picard people seen your memes?

A: yes I’ve shown them the memes from the page, I’ve shown everyone including Patrick we find most of them funny (some shocking)

Not shocking in a bad way

Unexpected I should say

Q: How do I feel about the ears?

A: I wore them so much they came up in my dreams, but they were the easiest thing to apply onto me

Q: Which non tng character would I like to see return?

A: I wouldn’t mind seeing the doctor

Q: The most relatable Star Trek character?

A: Look for me growing up it was Wesley, i just picked anyone who was the young one. And I grew up with my sisters and was always being told I’m either wrong, an idiot or just to shut up

Q: Did I have previous martial arts experience before the show?

A: I have a background in boxing which helps when it comes to movement, reflexes and just all around fitness for stunts. I didn’t have any sword fighting experience before we began training for the show however

Q: How do you think being raised by an order of women affected Elnor?

A: I think it gave him a healthy understanding of not only the strength and resilience of women but I think he understands not only gender equality but just equality in general and I think that’s directly to do with growing up in a sect of all female warrior nuns

Q: What is a type of meme you would like to see more of in the group?

A: I love all the memes in the group, I hardly like any of them now incase someone figures out who I am though ahahah

Q: Favorite recent memes?

A: See my comment below

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

Birthday prompt #6

Read on Ao3 Birthday prompts masterlist

@phenixy-dunnhart​

[Sinon, j'adore l'amitié juste excellent entre Rios et Raffi, si tu veux une variation (Cris qui se sacrifie pour protéger Raffi) -> Cris getting hurt protecting Raffi] 

Some time after leaving Coppelius to gallivant around the cosmos with their motley crew, Raffi collapsed in the ops seat next to Seven and Cris and loudly announced that they had to go out for drinks, and not replicated ones. They had to find a suitably shady Space Station, go out, find a bar, and get absolutely smashed.

“We’re tired, we have time on our hands, and your replicators can’t get Romulan ale right for some reason,” she told Cris as an explanation.

(It was true, he’d messed that up the one time he had drunkenly tried to disable the Hospitality Hologram’s ability to talk.)

The dark circles under her eyes alone would have convinced him anyway. The last week had been tiring. They had spent it avoiding uncharted asteroid belts that really had no business being so large (seriously, what the hell), fixing navigation issues that Enoch swore had nothing to do with the corrupted 23rd century holos he’d helped Soji illegally download for Elnor, and chasing around the four neutered tribble-rabbit hybrids the kids had smuggled aboard.

“Why just the three of us?” Seven asked with a raised eyebrow, legs propped up on the console and disinclined to move, even for drinks.

Raffi snorted.

“Well I wasn’t going to invite JL, obviously.”

That got Seven and Cris to roll their eyes in concert. Yeah, obviously. Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, retired, was too posh and too old to have any concept of fun – or, more specifically, to be able to understand the appeal of marinating your liver in real alcohol and crawl your way back to your quarters to pass out for a day straight.

“But what about Agnes and the kids?” Cris inquired, gracelessly sprawled on the Captain’s seat with a cigar in one hand and a book in another, feeling just as lazy as Seven.

“I asked, she offered to babysit,” Raffi replied. “I don’t want to be responsible for Elnor and Soji’s first hangover.”

“Not to mention that we’d have to keep an eye out for them,” Seven agreed with a nod. “Fair enough. Let’s go to DS 11.”

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Whoever had deemed synthehol an adequate substitute to good old ethanol was a complete fool with appalling taste. That was Raffi’s professional opinion, and she told Cris and Seven just that as she finished her third glass of that vibrant blue liquor that made green sparks when you shook it.

(What was it again? A Bajoran jungle beer?)

Cris snorted in his own glass, full of plain Earth liquor. Seven smirked as she gulped her cocktail down, an unholy mix that was part Klingon mead, part Romulan ale and part cranberry juice. The stuff of nightmares, honestly.

“I get drunk faster on synthehol,” Seven commented idly. “Don’t produce enough of the enzyme that breaks it down into smaller molecules. Hate the taste, though.”

“Yeah, because taste is clearly of capital importance to you,” Cris snorted again. “What’s in your glass right now? That’s toxic waste, that’s not a beverage.”

“Pssht,” she slurred. “First time I got drunk, it was after one flute of champagne. Forgive me for having learned to handle my drink.”

Raffi hazily smiled at her and got herself another drink, letting her head fall on Cris’ shoulder as she leaned against him for balance. She didn’t think she could sit up straight on her own anymore. Seven studied her intently, blinking in surprise when Cris showed no sign of discomfort and even shifted his posture so she’d be more comfortable. Noticing Seven’s stare, he gave her a wry look but made no complaint about his demotion to human pillow.

Seven was getting a bit intoxicated, so she watched them for a few more seconds and returned to her drink.

“You guys are cute,” she chuckled.

“Hmm,” Raffi mumbled in turn. “Cris is very sweet. Very very sweet. He’s the best.”

Rios was silently laughing, still nursing his aguardiente. “She gets sentimental,” he mouthed without making any actual sound, a smile in his normally dark eyes. Seven smiled too, because she was getting quite intoxicated. And also, they were very cute.

“Hey, how’d you two meet?”

The question had been on her mind for a while now, but aboard la Sirena, you didn’t ask about anyone’s past. They volunteered finite amounts of information, and you had to be content with that. But Cristóbal and Raffi had always felt like kindred spirits, despite knowing them for such a short time, far more than any of the others. Picard was an xB like her, sure, and he was also a damn idealist with a Messiah complex who understood very little about her. Soji had trouble with her humanity, yes, but she was also a kid and a synth, and she had siblings, and she was ultimately nothing like Seven. Agnes was tiny and mousy and probably no good in a fistfight, with just enough teeth to not get eaten, and eyes full of stars and a bleeding heart that hadn’t learned to put on a shell. Elnor was young and innocent and very dangerous, reminding her of the ‘Annika of old,’ someone long dead and buried.

But Raffi and Rios…

They were older, they were more jaded, they were disillusioned with a fleet, a Federation and a galaxy that had completely screwed them over – and they coped with it by helping, by drinking like idiots and smoking nasty stuff, and helping some more. They were both broken and aware of it, not like the shiny kids, and they never offered empty words of comfort or grand and hollow speeches about hope and love.

(And they were badass.)

(Like her.)

(Seven was getting very intoxicated.)

So she watched Raffi drunkenly lean on Rios and she asked, because while their friendship seemed self-evident, she wanted to know how they’d found each other. How it was that they each made the other a better person instead of dragging each other down. It tugged at her own soul, brought about some memories of Icheb, and Voyager, and of the Rangers before Bjayzl.

It made her smile.

Rios and Raffi exchanged puzzled glances. They were both too drunk to delve into her reasons for asking the question, and Raffi just pursed her lips, assuming that it came from finding their interactions cute.

“Don’t think I remember,” she told Seven blearily, still nestled against Cris. “It was a while ago. S- six? Seven? Six or seven years?”

“Eight,” Cris corrected. “I don’t really remember either. We must have met in a bar.”

Seven frowned, dimly disappointed. The feeling was too fuzzy to dwell on, but she still sniffed sadly.

“You don’t remember?” She asked mournfully. “I’d remember meeting my best friend.”

“We don’t,” Cris said, carefully shrugging the one shoulder that wasn’t supporting half of Raffi’s weight. “She hired me for a job or two, I think. Then we were mostly drinking buddies. It wasn’t spectacular or anything.”

“But something must have happened,” Seven pressed.

People didn’t just casually adopt each other. (Didn’t they? She wasn’t sure. She’d kind of casually adopted them, when she thought about it. Were giant galactic conspiracies, reclaimed broken Borg cubes and synthetic apocalypses casual? Seven was completely intoxicated.)

“Oh yeah,” Raffi mumbled. “Saved my life one time.”

“We were already friends though,” Cris elaborated, adding to Seven’s ever growing list of questions. “Got upgraded to honey and babe after that.”

“An’ you called me hermana,” Raffi sighed contently.

Seven looked back and forth between them.

“Okay, you have to tell me that story.”

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“Raf,” Cris complained as she ordered her eighth drink of the night, “slow down on the drinks. You said you wouldn’t need to spend the night on my ship.”

“Piss off,” Raffi grumbled. “Don’t need your stupid ship. Don’t need your stupid hovering.”

Cris, because he was wise, never argued with Raffi. He didn’t try this time either. Muttering Spanish profanities under his breath, he got up and paced a bit, before throwing a credit chip at the bartender.

“If she spends it all, the rest is on her,” he told the Andorian.

The guy gave a noncommittal grunt, and Cris made his way to the exit. He was two steps from the door when he head a crash, the sound of a glass being smashed to the ground. He whirled around out of instinct, his hand going for his phaser. His eyes widened as he realized where the sound had come from.

Raffi was staring down at a Nausicaan twice her size (how?), the guy who’d been sprawled on of one of the corner sofas with his buddies up until a few moments ago. She was snapping at him – about what, Cris didn’t know, didn’t care – and the man looked ready to turn her into Raffi juice.

Cris ran to them without a second’s hesitation, heart seizing painfully as frozen sludge trudged through his veins instead of blood. There were ice spikes in his throat too.

“Hey,” he yelled, getting the Nausicaan’s attention, but not Raf’s, “hey! What’s going on here?”

“Get lost,” the man growled.

“No no no,” Cris refused, words tumbling out without him even knowing whether he was speaking Standard or Spanish. “Not doing that.”

“She you friend?” The Nausicaan asked as two of his own buddies slowly got up and walked to them, ready for a fight.

Raffi finally registered that Cris had come back and blinked in surprise.

“Yeah,” Cris gritted out, looking straight into the man’s eyes. “Yeah, she’s my friend. What’s the problem?”

“She needs to learn some manners.”

“Old news,” Cris muttered under his breath, but his gaze hardened and his hand went for his phaser again. “It’s fine, we’re leaving.”

“No, you’re not,” the second Nausicaan snorted, and the third one crossed his arms and smiled with that messed-up mouth of his.

“Your friend here should apologize to ours,” he leered. “And considering how rude she was, it’d better be a nice apology.”

“I’m not kissing his freak face,” Raffi spluttered. “I already told him!”

Cris would have facepalmed, except there really wasn’t time. Grabbing Raffi by the arm, he threw her behind him and pointed his phaser at the first Nausicaan.

“It’s not on stun,” he warned.

The man snorted derisively.

“I don’t much care,” he said, tapping a finger to his thick skin and metal plated clothing. And then he cracked his knuckles. “If you want to leave, you’ll have to make me allow it.”

Cris considered the mountain of muscles, the two goons behind it and the drunk Raffi behind him.

“Yeah, fuck that,” he muttered.

Whipping around, he snatched Raffi, threw her bony frame on his shoulder despite her vehement protests, and dashed for the exit. The Nausicaans were slower to react, but Cris’ superior speed wasn’t much of an advantage in a crowded bar where nobody cared enough to pay attention to the fight or help in any way. They had almost caught up with his by the time he reached the entrance.

So naturally, Cris did the only reasonable thing he could think of. He tossed Raffi out of the bar – the bar that was shielded against transporters for security reasons, like most of the buildings in the planet’s capital city – and barked an order into his communicator for Ian. The holo had been online dealing with an issue in the antimatter ignition chamber. As luck would have it, he hadn’t powered off yet, and Cris was gratified to see Raffi dissolve away.

And then he was pulled back and forced to turned around, and he was met with three very angry Nausicaans and the naked blades of their sword-sized daggers.

“Mierda,” Cris sighed.

“Shouldn’t have done that,” one of the men growled, and Cris had no idea if he was the first, the second or the third Nausicaan, because they all looked so damn alike. “You’re toast.”

Two of them had his arm in a duranium grip, making any escape attempt impossible.

“I told you, she’s my friend,” he said with defiant glare. “Go ahead.”

He didn’t care. They could drag it out, make it painful, make it frightening, but at the end of the day death was just the one comfort he’d been desperately awaiting for over a year now. He wouldn’t dream anymore if they pummeled him to death, and that was quite a reward for saving the life of his only friend.

(Maybe she’s miss him though. He didn’t think so. He hoped not. Raffi was too messed up on her own to add him to it.)

(Would she care? Please, let her not care.)

(He’d cared.)

(He’d cared that he had P— that he had somebody’s death on his head.)

(Please let Raffi not care.)

(She would care.)

Mierda, I can’t die.

The first kick slammed the air out of his lungs, snapping two of his ribs like twigs under a standard issue boot. It felt like he’d blacked out, but he couldn’t have – he hadn’t seen any bloody bulkheads.

The second kick caught him in the stomach and made him retch.

The third kick never came, because the transporter beam got him first. It took just long enough spiriting him away for one of the Nausicaan to throw one of his daggers though, leaving a bloody slash across Cris’ shoulder.

Cris materialized on la Sirena’s transporter pad, hurt and very confused, and was greeted by Raffi’s panicked face.

“Cris!” She yelped, falling to her knees next to him. “Are you alright?”

He groaned and tried to sit up, but his ribs wouldn’t allow so much moving around.

“Activate EMH,” he sighed.

It really fucking hurt.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You didn’t say when you called her hermana,” Seven pointed out as Cris finished his slightly slurred tale. “Or when she called you honey.”

Raffi was half-asleep by that point, but she still somehow managed to retain enough coherence to mumble an answer. Cris heard it, and smiled at Seven.

“It was after. She was so upset over the whole thing that we both slept in her quarters. She got very fussy. Didn’t ever stop fussing after that.”

“And you called her hermana,” Seven insisted, because it was the best part.

“I was too tired to remember other words,” Cris said, sounding amused. “I think I was trying to say friend, or something like that. Y’know, to explain why I’d done it. But my Standard was all messed up.”

“You ever found out if she was the one who started the fight or if it was the horny Nausicaan?” Seven asked.

“Never,” he replied, finishing his last drink. “She couldn’t remember. I did bump into the same guy once after that. Used three phasers to stun his ass into a nice nap and dumped him at the local authorities’ doorstep for weapon trafficking.”

Seven smirked and raised her glass to that, the smirk turning into a fond look when Cris turned around to gather Raffi in his arms and gently lift her up her seat. As he carried her like that, Raffi’s head resting against his chest trustingly, Seven noticed how alike they looked.

“Space siblings,” she giggled.

(Seven was smashed.)

[coco-little-rose]

Some thoughts about the Star Trek shows

I’m not a difficult person, I loved this show despite its flaws. Before focusing on just Star Trek Picard, I am the only one to think Star Trek Picard and Star Trek Discovery have the same problems and mostly because they have lot in common:

- Both show focus on one main character: Jean-Luc Picard and Michael Burnham

- Jean-Luc Picard left Starfleet and Michael Burnham made some kind of a mutiny and was throw in jail by Starfleet.

- Patrick Stewart and Sonequa Martin-Green are great actors.

- They both had strong connexion with an constiped emotionnal being like Spock and Data.

Even in the narration, there is a lot in common:

- The death of Dahj and PU!Philippa Georgiou

- The existence of Dahj’s twin Soji and MU!Philipa Georgiou

- I know a lot of people like to make comparaisons between Spock and Narek. But Narek’s plot looks like Ash Tyler’s plot. Except, Ash Tyler’s feelings for Michael were true and I’m not sure if we can say the same about Narek’s feelings for Soji.

Both shows like to bring popular characters like Spock, So9, Captain Pike, Captain Rikker...

Also, is Hollywood suffering of some kind of “post game of thrones effect “:

- Discovery and Picard need to stop killing off characters for shock value/ Killing characters like Hugh, Icheb, Airiam was unecessary for many reasons:

1) They didn’t have any development and the little they had was offscreen or in another Star Trek Show. Not every people knew who was Icheb and what he means for 7o9

2) Their death don’t change anything in the plot. Seriously, what is the meaning of Icheb’s death ? He’s replacable, they could have choose any ex borg. Also we get it Narissa was an evil fanatic Romulan no need to add creepy incestuous subtext or make her kill Hugh. Same goes for Airiam and Control;

3) It’s just shock value and lazy writing, it feel like the writers don’t have enough imagination to find what to do with side characters.

I really feel like many american shows tried to copy a “Game of Throne narration” with death of beloved character for shock value and incestuous plot. They need to STOP IT.

Picard and Discovery struggled with the connexion between side characters:

- We barely see Dahj and without her link to Data I doubt it would have been enough for Picard to leave Earth. I don’t feel like he had enough time to build something with Soji and sometimes I wonder if they should just have keep Dahj alive instead of killing her.

- We didn’t see much about PU!Philippa Georgiou and Michael Burnham. When I watched Discovery, sometimes it feel like they totally erased PU!Philippa Georgiou and really replaced her with MU!Philippa Georgiou. But they aren’t the same people.

- I really try to believe in Raffi and Picard’s friendship. When the show started she was angry at him, she had drug issues, she had lost her job, her family won’t talk with her.... honestly she had every reasons to be angry and I don’t understand how she let it go ?

- Same for Elnor and Picard. It feel like in a few scenes Elnor had a stronger friendship with Hugh than Picard.

- In Discovery, they tried to give Airiam a development in one episode and they build some kind of a friendship with Tilly and I was like “but we never saw them hanging around... like never”

- Michael Burnham’link with her adoptive family was well written and same for Picard’s connexion with his old friends like Data and Rikker.

Now, let’s talk about love story:

- In Discovery, Michael Burnham and Ash Tyler were actually well written: they had chemistry and it was interesting to see Michael deelings with feelings for the first time in her life. it could have been interesting to see the development of this relationship but an another path was taken... and well shame because for once I feel like we had an interesting ship.

- In Picard, Soji and Narek had some chemistry but the writing was awful. both character were limited and they became interesting only when they were apart. I think their relationship was too fast, I didn’t feel anything when Narek betrayed Soji... I don’t know they just don’t have anything. The writers didn’t take the toime to really build something like 1) friendship and 2) love.

Agnes/Rios wasn’t really good. It’s the same problem, they don’t have enough development. I feel nothing.

A balance between new characters and old popular characters needs to be find:

- in Discovery, Captain Pike took too many screentime while in Picard 7o9 was useless: in the last episode I wonder, what happened to the borg cube ?

But otherwise, both shows were really good:

- I believe in Rios/Raffi’s friendship, i even think they know each other before Starfleet.

- Tilly/Michael’s friendship is my favorite one and I really like Michael/MU!Philippa Georgiou’s connexion, even if I hope one day the writers will show us more about PU/Philippa Georgiou.

- They tried to make some solid background about Romulan and Klingon and I liked it. 

I just wish to have a focus more on the characters and connexion between characters instead of the plot. I mean, yes in the old show we had the Dominion war, the borg war but it wasn’t only about it. Star trek was an utopia driven by amazing characters.

And if they want to make a plot driven show, it shouldn’t be at the expanse of main and side characters. Discovery and Picard may have less episode but the writers should try a narration like Babylon 5 did. They should conceived their show like a novel for television.