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#fun fact: that is an actual star trek episode
mylittleredgirl · 3 days
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Least favorite Star Trek character in each series?
i love all my children equally how could you do this to me!!!!
slightly more rational answer: i have been thinking about this since yesterday when i got the ask and it's like every time i think i have an answer i immediately go "oh but i love them for XYZ" and they move up in the ranks. ultimately most treks are ensemble shows and removing anybody from the ensemble makes it all fall apart!
gun to my head, though, bearing in mind that i love all of them:
tos: gun to my head it's chapel i'm afraid and i feel bad about it. she doesn't really get to grow much and the other most-static character is probably chekov and i had a massive crush on him. in 1967 when they went "you know this show should add a mop top for the teenyboppers out there" they were talking specifically about me 30 years later.
tng: i would take the bullet for real.
ds9: man i'm going through main characters and then secondary characters and then tertiary characters and how are they all so essential and good????? literally i have gone thru a list of characters and a list of episodes and am coming up blank. even the villains are fantastic. eddington is annoying but he's supposed to be and his episodes are all great. sloan himself is fun it's just what section 31 did to star trek in general that sucks. like????? there's not a single name that shows up in the credits that doesn't make me go YEAHHHHHH.
voy: if we can count recurring characters i'm saying barclay. i liked him a lot as a character in tng and but go "for fuck's sake" whenever i see "guest star dwight schultz" on the voyager credits. i dislike pretty much every earth-contact episode after "message in a bottle" so maybe i don't like voyager-barclay because he just happens to be there?? for main cast it'd be neelix shut up shut up i love him in the ensemble but sometimes when they give him his own episode it's too much.
ent: sorry malcolm lovers this was the only show that was an easy choice. like we SHOULD dig into the fact that essentially his greatest wish is to sacrifice himself and he won't be happy until he dies on the job. klingon behavior but not at all for the fun and glory of it just because he kind of just doesn't enjoy being alive???? archer is terrible in so many ways but he's also much more enjoyable to watch being terrible.
disco: this is actually a very weird show to even know who to choose from. the cast changes every year! we barely even know the bridge crew! who is interesting enough to count as a main character?? of the main title cast i'm kind of hot and cold with adira. i like them but the sheer amount of anxiety radiating off them at all times makes me tense up whenever they come on screen. (i just realized it's kind of ironic to say adira because they're basically a mix of wesley and ezri, who would probably make this list for most other trekkies but are two of my absolute faves.) (i will think long and hard about this)
snw: i don't know that i have enough of a read on any of them? i still haven't finished it. chapel (again?? oh no) is the one i had the hardest time warming up to early on because she seemed the most wink-y and out of place in a franchise that usually takes silly things very seriously, but i did warm up to her!
lower decks: if we can go with guest characters i hate badgey (only one on here that gathers the "hate" rating!!). i don't find him (it??) funny and i know i SHOULD find it funny which means whenever it shows up i am both not having a good time and feel bad about not having a good time. the main characters are all brilliant. gun to my head it's boims but it's a close one i love them all.
i don't even know what other shows we have i've run out of steam???
oh right picard. captain shaw??? why is such a large subset of fandom so horny for him??? and shipping him with seven of nine of all things???? is it just White Guy With Trauma because there are like. a lot of other white guys with trauma in this franchise to choose from.
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larsthefishoil · 2 years
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I will never shut up about this. If in 12, the writers hadn't restricted April to being Donnie's crush to drool over, she could have had a really cute friendship with Leo.
When she got his number, she tracked down a picture of his dumb, obscure show so she could make it his profile picture. Then she calls him "Ichiban" which I researched and it basically is a comparison word used in the context of the best, the most, the number one. She probably did this cause he's the oldest and the leader, but is adorable as hell.
I don't know exactly why I get this gut feeling that they could have had a really cute friendship. Maybe because she radiates nice sister energy that creates a balance next to the four brothers and their individual relationships that are still loving, but much ruffer. April in 12 has this bland niceness to her that is hilarious to watch. She's the kinda person that, when faced with ramblings and hyper fixations, would look around awkwardly and then give a thumbs up even though she doesn't really understand either way. And Leo would definitely dump all of his Space Heros ramblings on her.
"And then there's my favorite episode where chief engineer Liory gets scratched by this alien bug thing, and he starts to turn all blue and luminescent-"
"Really? That's what was going on?" Raph interrupted.
April snapped out of her haze from listening to a topic that bore her to death. She swatted at Raph's leg and gave him a stink eye. "Go on, it sounds interesting." She said, looking back at Leo. He got stars in his eyes and went back to spouting nonsense about the show. April's mind soon left the conversation to other things, but she caught enough to ask the right questions.
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katierosefun · 4 months
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yes every single day is a reason to start anew and no, i will not be setting incredibly high expectations for 2024 because the unfortunate truth is that life is all about rolling with the punches, even if they really hit hard, but also. something fantastic about how people still choose new year's day to go "ALRIGHT. NEW YEAR. TIME TO SHAKE OFF THE COBWEBS"
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quasi-normalcy · 7 months
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Which Star Trek series should you start with?
The Original Series: Advantages: + The one that started it all + Has some sophisticated and socially conscious science fiction that has held up exceptionally well + The lead characters all have really good chemistry and fun to see play off of one another Disadvantages: - It can feel very dated and kind of sexist, particularly in its treatment of women - The sci-fi and social commentary may have held up, but damn it, the special effects really haven't - When TOS is bad, it's really, really bad.
The Animated Series: Advantages: + Basically just more TOS. Disadvantages: - Basically just more TOS, but substituting extremely cheap animation for bad special effects
The Next Generation: Advantages: + Probably the most popular one at this point + The crew is full of interesting characters and they're fun to spend time with + Just really smart people solving Space Mysteries + Socialist space utopia + Geordi-And-Data! + Lots of cool sci-fi concepts and social commentary Disadvantages: - Although not in the same way as TOS, it can feel dated at times, particularly in terms of its treatment of women and it's near complete refusal to acknowledge queerness - Without wanting to bias viewer opinion, the first season is widely considered to be pretty bad - The series makes no bones about the fact that the socialist space utopia is better than every other society that has ever existed and will reiterate this point over and over again
Deep Space Nine: Advantages: + The most popular Trek series on Tumblr + Has a complete story arc, as well as arcs for all of its characters, including the extremely minor ones + Plain, simple, Garak. The humble tailor. + Garashir, if you're into that + Seriously has a really sophisticated treatment of things like post-colonial politics, anthropology, worldbuilding, and the horrors of warfare + Just the characters in general + Is the only Star Trek prior to the 2010s to even look meaningfully at queer representation Disadvantages: - Has an absolutely massive inferiority complex with respect to TNG and this drives a few poor writing decisions that seemingly exist just to poke the Socialist Space Utopia in its eye - Introduces a space religion and then just slowly turns it into Christianity with the numbers filed off - Seems to think that sexual harassment is just a quirky eccentricity - There's no women in its writers' room, and frankly it shows
Voyager: Advantages: + Probably the clearest instance of found family in space + Lots of really good episodes + Lots of fun new characters + Strong female role models + "Set a course...for home." Disadvantages: - Continuity? I never knew her! - Probably about 90% of Trek's reputation for technobabble comes from this one series - Even less queerness than TNG. - Only like...3 characters actually get arcs. - The first few seasons lean very hard into bullshit fake "Native American" spiritualism with one of the characters - How do these guys have warp drive but can't find any water?
Enterprise: Advantages: + Chronologically the first series + 90% less technobabble + The only series to plausibly frame our heroes as astronauts...on some kind of...star trek. + Still has probably the best production values of any series + Makes alien cultures of the week feel somehow richer and deeper than other series + Faith of the Heart is good, fuck you. Disadvantages: - Oh my god, the decon scenes - Seriously, if you've ever wondered what a "sexy" series written by a 14 year old boy who's only ever seen a bit of scrambled softcore porn on late-night cable would be like, this is the show for you - Somehow feels more sexist and racist than the show from the '60s - Seriously, the POC characters mostly exist to fill seats on the bridge; the women constantly have to undress themselves - Hellooooo, Bush II-era political analogies - Scott Bakula is a good actor but you wouldn't know it from this series - In season 3, they add a tambourine beat to Faith of the Heart and ruin it
Discovery: Advantages: + Noticed the lack of queer characters in the first 50 years of Star Trek canon and decided to make up for lost time + Seriously, the "Bury Your Gays" tally for this series is like...negative two + Just incredible representation in general + Some really good science fiction plots, particularly in later series + Some really fun, memorable characters + It's still running, so it has an active fandom on Tumblr Disadvantages: - Makes Elon Musk out to be one of the great visionary geniuses of history - Not really representative of Star Trek as a whole - The series swerves wildly in tone because of constant, behind-the-scenes churn in the writers' room - Offputtingly grimdark first season - Let's be honest, none of the season-long arcs have actually had satisfying conclusions - Half the cast feels like it's just there for exposition and to be killed for cheap drama
Picard: Advantages: + Has the best dramatic acting of any Star Trek series by a fair margin + Has the best musical score of any Star Trek series + Introduces a whole crew of fascinating new characters + Introduces all kinds of fascinating transhumanist concepts + AGNES. JURATI. Disadvantages: - You know all of those fascinating new characters that I mentioned? Yeah, it unceremoniously gets rid of all of them to bring back the old TNG gang. - You know that all of those fascinating transhumanist concepts that I mentioned? Yeah, it gets rid of those too so that to give us some generic action - Oh my god, someone teach the set designers to operate a fucking light switch - Grimdark - Nossssstalgia - Each season is basically unrelated to every other season - Depends so heavily on TNG that its final season is basically unwatchable if you haven't already seen a 30-year-old TV series
Lower Decks: Advantages: + It has probably the most efficient storytelling that I've ever seen; seriously, it's incredible how much it can fit into a half hour episode + It has a bunch of delightful, archetypical characters you get to know and love + You like hanging out with these people + The ship is kind of crap and you will learn to love it that way. + Basically a sitcom version of TNG. + Has a big fandom on Tumblr Disadvantages: - The art style is pretty Rick & Morty-ish - It takes most of its first season to really strike a good balance between being a sitcom and being a Star Trek series - The main character, Mariner, is kind of unlikable for the first season or so (she gets better) - Lots of callbacks to other series (though always either incidental or clearly explained) - Given that it's the first Star Trek sitcom, the comedy is honestly kinda the weakest part? Subjective I know.
Prodigy: Advantages: + Absolutely gorgeous to look at; the most visually stunning Star Trek by quite a ways + Lots of fun new characters on a cool ship + Gives you clear on-boarding notes to the Star Trek franchise if you're watching it for the first time + Can be watched on its own, but also works as a direct sequel to Voyager and a prequel to Picard (making both of them retoractively better, in fact) + Kind of like the Clone Wars or Rebels of the Star Trek universe, I guess? + Found family in space! The next generation! + Soon to be running on Netflix, so if you already have a Netflix subscription, you don't need to pay for another service + Written for a younger audience. Not necessarily an advantage, but nice if you happen to like family friendly animation or YA. Disadvantages: - *sigh* You basically need to pirate it. Thanks, Paramount. - Has a second season that we may or may not ever actually get to see even through piracy. Thanks, Paramount. - Isn't airing on the same streaming service as all of the other ones. Thanks, Paramount
Strange New Worlds: Advantages: + Basically what the original series would be if it were released today, rather than 57 years ago; all of the cool, socially consciousness sci-fi adventure, none of the weird 60s sexism + Fun, awesome characters you get to like spending time with right away + Incredible visuals + Nifty sci-fi concepts, mostly without the 90s-style technobabble Disadvantages: - A huge cast with only ten episodes a season, so many of them feel underdeveloped - Unfortunately, a bunch of its characters are younger versions of the characters from The Original Series, and they hog most of the spotlight; and the characters whose futures aren't locked in stone are kind of treated as disposable - In general, it needs to spend less time being a prequel, and more time being its own thing - "What if Starfleet ran into the Xenomorphs from Alien?" "Well, they'd probably kill them." "Okay, let's spend several episodes on this."
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luckthebard · 1 year
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So a few thoughts on C3E51, and narrative and encounter design. First off - I loved the episode and thought it was incredibly exciting and engaging and a fun gameplay time. But to engage with a few of the criticism points I'm seeing, I will also say:
At this point I'm assuming the encounter was always planned to end with some version of the outcome we ended up with. Is that railroading? Sure, I guess, but it's also pretty standard D&D encounter design. The "win condition" here wasn't stopping Ludinus entirely, but rather to what degree they could mess up and stall his plans through sabotage. And frankly, I think they actually did pretty well! They destroyed the key in the Feywild and some of the batteries here, and it seems like Ludinus's plan did not go perfectly for him; so I imagine now they have time to react to a very slow and imperfect version of what he was trying to unleash. And that is the next narrative beat we had to get to in order to continue the story.
I know they rolled very low this encounter and many things did go wrong but even with that I came out of the episode thinking of this great quote from Star Trek: "It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness; that is life." And that's sometimes an important story beat to hit! It certainly propelled Vox Machina forward after the fall of Emon, and the Apogee Solstice events seem to be performing a similar narrative role for Bells Hells.
To back up my interpretation here, there are a few things Matt did as a DM to signal that a failure here was not an Ultimate Failure and the point moving forward would be reacting to something fixable. The first was Ludinus's reaction to the machine breaking and his quickly covered up fear and uncertainty - he's trying to convince himself he "won" by the end but not as confident as he could be. The second is the fact that Matt took a lot of pains to point out in detail that team Orym, Laudna, Ashton could still see the beam of red shooting up into the sky at Ruidus. The moon prison hasn't been broken, it is breaking, and their efforts likely determined how badly and how much time they have to address it.
Anyway, wanted to push back against the "the encounter was unfair" or "railroading is bad" I've been seeing - the encounter was the encounter and served its purpose, and I recommend highly listening to Matt, Brennan, and Aabria talk about "railroading" in their GM roundtable to get a sense of it as a neutral rather than negative game design strategy.
There's a part 2 to this post but it was also long so it's HERE
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electronickingdomfox · 7 months
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"The New Voyages" review
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This one is actually a collection of short stories by fan authors, which makes the stories seem more like episodes of the series. It has also the distinct honor of being introduced by Roddenberry and most members of the cast. The stories are generally well-written and in character.
Some spoilers ahead:
Ni Var (by Claire Gabriel; intro by Nimoy) takes the plot of "The Enemy Within", but applied to Spock and the division between his Vulcan rational part, and his human emotional part. Besides the fact that I'm not sure such division works at that biological level, the two Spocks aren't all that different really. And it's not a very novel concept, specially right after a similar plot in previous book "Spock must die". But bonus points for Kirk giving the middle finger to his own reflection.
Intersection Point (by Juanita Coulson; intro by Doohan) is one of the best stories. The Enterprise is seriously crippled while navigating through an anomaly cloud, which is quickly contracting and threatens to crush the entire ship. Anyone who enters the cloud to retrieve a crucial component of the ship, is mentally destroyed by its eldritch qualities. Great tension and difficult choices.
The Enchanted Pool (by Marcia Ericson; intro by Nichols) is an attempt to write a fairy tale with Spock thrown in the middle for good measure. A bit of purple prose, and doesn't quite work. The resolution of the mistery is ingenous, even when convoluted.
Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited (by Ruth Berman; intro by Barrett) is actually the other half of a fanfic (Visit to a Weird Planet, not published here) where Kirk, Spock and Bones end up in the real world, right in the studio where they're filming Star Trek. Here instead, we follow the actors, who appear in the Enterprise and have to improvise to avert a danger. The other story was more fun, since Kirk and co. are more clumsy and hilarious in our world (being even "attacked" by fans), while the actors are just slightly less competent than their counterparts.
The Face on the Barroom Floor (by Eleanor Arnason and Ruth Berman; intro by Takei) is a really fun story. Kirk gets into a fight in a bar while in shore leave, is detained, teams up with a ratty thief, and crashes a party, while his crew search for him frantically. In the line of TOS best comedy-adventure episodes.
The Hunting (by Doris Beetem; intro by the editors) is a bit "meh". Spock goes into a Vulcan ritual which requires to mind-meld with a wild beast, and McCoy accompanies him. When Spock goes wild in the process, the good doctor has to hunt him and give him back his sanity. There could have been a more homoerotic fight between them, as in "Amok Time".
The Winged Dreamers (by Jennifer Guttridge; intro by Kelley) is another high point. The Enterprise crew falls under the influence of some creatures that make their fantasies seem real. So real that people can actually die if imagining the wrong thing. Spock is less affected, but slowly begins to hallucinate too, and the triumvirate fall into paranoia as neither they (nor the reader) can tell what's real and what's not anymore.
Mind-Sifter (by Shirley Maiewski; intro by Shatner) drags a bit at the beginning, when Kirk wakes up in a sanatory, his mind almost destroyed. It gets more interesting once Spock and McCoy start a quest to search for him. Great interactions between these two, reminiscent of "The Tholian Web".
After the eight stories there's still a little poem about Spock and Leila.
Spirk Meter: 10/10*. Not all stories are equally slashy, but the parts which do, are slashy in spades.
Ni Var has Kirk worrying about Spock all the time, and "human Spock" wondering if what he feels for the Captain is friendship... or love (something which happens too in one of Roddenberry's story concepts for a movie, around this time).
Intersection Point has a clear parallel between the anguish of a female crewmember, after a man (obviously her boyfriend) loses his mind in the anomaly, and Kirk agonizing once Spock has to enter the same anomaly.
The Enchanted Pool, where Spock refuses to kiss a beautiful female time and time again. Even when the woman assures him it's the only way to break a spell and escape. Even when Spock is doing far more dangerous things ALL THE TIME to solve problems. Of course, he considers the kiss a total waste of time once it doesn't work.
The Face on the Barroom Floor: Kirk is invited to a bar by McCoy and Sulu, who have found three women to pass the time, one for each. What does Kirk do? He gets out the bar two seconds later, puts on a samurai costume, and goes instead to a bar full of muscular, rowdy men, to get thrashed by them. Of course.
The Winged Dreamers has Spock wishing to stay on a planet with Kirk, just the two of them, for ever and ever. McCoy totally gets what's going on.
And I thought that Mind-Sifter would be about the love between a (quite unproffesional) nurse, and her mentally unstable patient, Kirk. But oh man, where do I even begin!? For starters, we have Kirk using his mind link with Spock to cry for help, across the galaxy and several centuries. And later he's concerned about how much can Spock read into his mind. Then we have McCoy informing the nurse that no, Kirk can't stay with her, because his love is his career and his... (trails off, having said too much). Gallant Spock carries an unconscious Kirk in his arms, and tells the nurse that, no matter how much she loves him, Kirk DOES NOT love her back (bitch!). If that wasn't enough, there's a lenghty conversation at the end, where Kirk almost melts in love and appreciation for Spock, and the Vulcan blushes at his own emotional display.
*A 10 in this scale is the most obvious spirk moments in TOS. Think of the back massage, "You make me believe in miracles", or "Amok Time" for example.
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bengiyo · 6 months
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I am curious for your perspective on the way the OF creators are interacting with fans and have even admitted to editing the show based on fan reactions. It strikes me as an unusual level of interaction and capitulation, though of course TV is a live medium that is nearly always responsive to reactions to some extent. My preference is for a lot less of this kind of thing, but I know you have experience with direct interaction with media creators and have found it enhances your experience sometimes. What do you make of how these dynamics are showing up in OF and the effect it’s having on the show?
TV and Critic Background
So, I am actually the worst person to talk to if you think the creators should be quiet about their work, because I really enjoy talking to directors, producers, actors, cinematographers, and especially editors about their work. I often go to film festivals just to talk to the creators about their processes.
I've also been in the TV space a really long time, and I am used to this kind of behavior. I don't think a lot of folks who are in BL are used to being in the process of TV itself, and I think a lot of people have let the Netflix binge model inform the way they view TV. TV is not like movies. When you get a movie, you are seeing the end product of filming, editing, test screenings, re-edits, etc. TV is usually only an episode or two ahead of the viewers.
It's extremely normal for a show to respond to feedback when characters test well. The 100 did this with Jasper. He was supposed to die in the pilot when that spear entered his chest, but he tested well with audiences so they revived him.
Fun Fact: This is why Kiseki: Dear to Me didn't just move their release schedule up when episode 8 was leaked early. They probably weren't finished assembling episode 9.
I followed Sense8 through its entire development process all the way from rumors and then J. Michael Stracynski's posts about it, to the things Lana and Lily said about it, to the commentary from the cast.
I have a special hatred for Rick Behrman over Star Trek.
I absolutely hate Russel T. Davies because of Cucumber.
I bailed on Supernatural because of the way the writers condescended to us at comicon after killing Kevin.
I know some fans are upset about the idea that scenes they wanted to see got cut, but I was there for Noah Galvin opening his fucking mouth to talk shit about other actors at ABC who were playing beloved gay characters and that subsequently getting The Real O'Neals canceled. The show had a very short second season and I feel forever salty about that.
What does this mean for Jojo and Ninew and Den?
I actually think Jojo, Den, and Ninew are fine. I don't think they usually poopoo on valid reads from what I've seen, and mostly they're having fun with the fans, too. I just don't think people are used to the creators being so honest about how feedback affects the editing process.
I think this is the first time we've had a big show in a while where the creator was fairly active on socials about the show. Aof and Au are usually pretty quiet when their shows are airing, and only give small tidbits while they show is airing. Jojo is silly and likes to play with fans. Den is feisty and has a gay agenda to pursue.
Truly, I don't think Jojo and friends are that bad about anything with this show, because they're mostly just laughing and stating things that are obvious to people who pay attention to how the sausage is made.
Shipping
That being said, the biggest struggle OF is having is shipping. The FK girlies are so loud and their heavy breathing has likely influenced the way Jojo and friends decided to write Ray. The FB girlies are so into them that it's made Jojo and them dial back some of their Top content because the audience hates him so much. Only Boston and Nick feel like they've made it through the shipping gamut intact because Neo and Mark aren't bringing a bunch of preexisting shippers to the table.
Coming off of episode 10, you can see this plainly with the nasty4nasty dynamic with Boston and Nick. The emotional core of their dynamic feels true, even down to the way their moments in the store mirror their first interactions again. Boston came in for service about his phone and intentionally showed Nick something on it.
I don't think Jojo has ever had to work with multiple acting pairs that were big branded pairs prior to this, and this is only his second time really dealing with that. With Never Let Me Go, Pond and Phuwin weren't that big yet, and he wasn't threatening their ship with anything complicated. OF is challenging for people who just watch BL as fap material and have to deal with their faves not being easy people to parse.
As usual, we go back to that post that goes around all the time, thought I think the OP deleted it:
"Never ever be normal about fictional characters but please GOD be normal about the people who play them, I am begging you" -tumblr user mantorokk-writes
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curator-on-ao3 · 21 days
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Again, cool response to the last question, so I'll let you pick from these options:
And there are things I have fan-fixed in my head to the point that I have to remind myself that the fix-it isn’t part of the actual canon: favourite one of these?
Or
Your/a favourite part of actual canon. Like, maybe something little but it's just so lovely and fitting to you and you're just happy that it exists?
I’ve been a little down on Trek lately, so I’m going to type as fast as I can to brain-dump, in show order, the first things that pop into my mind that I absolutely love in Trek canon:
Kirk calling Nomad his son, the doctor
Christine Chapel’s snark to Roger Korby about schtupping the androids
Mark Leonard’s performance in Balance of Terror
the Horta (a great mama)
“Edith Keeler must die.”
Captain John Christopher, United States Air Force. Serial number 4857932.
Tribbles
the lesson of The Cloud Minders that we must have empathy and listen to others when they tell us about their lived experience in an environment unlike our own
the cheap-ass animation of TAS
Q
Bynars and Minuet
Beverly Crusher’s frustration in Arsenal of Freedom (and the episode’s Good Ship Lollipop joke)
Picard shooting the other version of himself in Time Squared (to clarify: out of respect for those times when we have to stop ourselves from getting caught in loops/doing stupid stuff and we summon up the courage to break a bad cycle and move forward)
K'Ehleyr
Picard out-lawyering the Sheliak
Rachel Garrett; Yar and Castillo
Lal (but I can’t watch the end anymore, it hurts too much)
the Shakespeare and “Set a course for Betazed. Warp 9.” comedy in Ménage a Troi
Best of Both Worlds, I and II (Shelby inclusive)
every conference table discussion in all of TNG
Beverly’s jump in Remember Me (such a damn good episode)
the reveal in Future Imperfect (which one? all of them)
The Dancing Doctor tap dancing with Data
Darmok. And Jalad. At Tenagra.
Ro Laren
Troi saying, “You could have easily been right” to Ro in Disaster
Hugh, Third of Five
the fact that The Next Phase has so many plotholes and they’re forgivable because the episode is so fun and great
Scotty on the holodeck version of the TOS bridge and Picard joining him
Rascals!
Deanna’s “Ancient West” outfit
the Jefferies tube music and make out session in Lessons
Attached. Oh, my heart.
the Enterprise with three nacelles … and that absolutely perfect last shot of the series
“You exist here.”
Sisko’s casual, everyday affection for Jake
“Old Man”
Rejoined. Lenara Khan. The love. That kiss. The emotional stakes. All of it.
the three Ferengi hitting their own heads to try to fix their universal translators so the 20th century Earth military people mimic the movement to try to communicate
every second of Trials and Tribble-ations including Sisko working overtime to stop fuckmaster Dax, tossing the tribbles, Sisko meeting Kirk, “We do not discuss it with outsiders,” and so much more
Kira blaming Bashir for putting the baby inside her when … you know … behind the scenes
The Sons of Mogh helping with the harvest in Children of Time
Far Beyond the Stars — some of the best if not the best science fiction I have ever seen
the monster fakeout (and kindness) in The Sound of Her Voice, even though the end makes me cry
“Computer, erase that entire personal log.”
Solok
Sisko and Kassidy discussing their comfort levels about a simulation in which the reality was segregation
Janeway waterfalling off the sofa to be closer to Mark on the screen
“Warp particles!”
the lizard babies
the two Janeways in Deadlock
Remember (a painfully good Holocaust episode that doesn’t get enough credit and, yes, I know the path the script took and I’m glad it ended up as a B’Elanna episode)
“I don't know what I'm seeking.” “Then I believe you are ready to begin.”
“The child you spoke of, the girl. Her favorite color was red.” Also, Tuvok’s meditation lamp in the window for Kes.
hot damn, Counterpoint, yaaas
everything in Relativity
“The Yankees, in six games.”
Janeway going after Seven in The Voyager Conspiracy
“This is Lieutenant Reginald Barclay at Starfleet Command.” “It's good to hear your voice, Lieutenant. We've been waiting a long time for this moment.” “The feeling is mutual. Unfortunately, the micro-wormhole is collapsing. We have only a few moments.” “Understood. We are transmitting our ship's logs, crew reports, and navigational records to you now.” “Acknowledged. And we're sending you data on some new hyper-subspace technology. We're hoping eventually to use it to keep in regular contact, and we're including some recommended modifications for your comm system.” “We'll implement them as soon as possible.” “There's someone else here who would also like to say something.” “This is Admiral Paris.” “Hello, sir.” “How are your people holding up?” “Very well. They're an exemplary crew, your son included.” “Tell him, tell him I miss him. And I'm proud of him.” “He heard you, Admiral.” “The wormhole is collapsing.” “I want you all to know we're doing everything we can to bring you home.” “We appreciate it, sir. Keep a docking bay open for us.”
“Nice hair.” (Live Fast and Prosper)
Janeway and Jaffen in Workforce
the spot-on legal concerns of Author, Author
“Set a course. For home.”
(Nothing from Enterprise or Prodigy only because I haven’t watched enough of Enterprise or any of Prodigy)
Burnham and Georgiou forming the delta with their footsteps
the CGI on only the shields protecting Burnham from space
“Are we in session? Because I didn't know you were practicing again. Because if I have your undivided attention for fifty minutes, I can think of a whole bunch of other things we could be doing.”
“That's as depressing a trait as I've ever heard.” “I don't give a damn … I still don't give a damn.”
Cornwell beaming in, phaser aimed, taking command of Discovery
Cornwell phasering the fortune cookies
Cornwell’s voice breaking: “So my Gabriel is dead.”
Detmer’s little bounce when Emperor-as-Captain Georgiou takes command
Pike beaming aboard and instantly being all like MOJAVE to prove to the audience he’s the guy from The Cage
New Eden. Everything. Oh my God (pun intended). The visuals. Owo’s backstory. Pollard patching Pike up after he’s shot. The light at the end. Oh my God, yes. That episode. Yes.
Number freaking One beaming aboard and having her lunch briefing with Pike (Chris and Una’s decades-long friendship wasn’t canon yet, but it shows here so beautifully)
Gabrielle Burnham
“In case the shit hit the fan.”
Michael Burnham on truth serum
Book
Laira Rillak, everyone!
Q&A
season 1 Raffi Musiker
Fleet Admiral and Commander-in-Chief Kirsten Clancy
“You owe me a ship, Picard.”
“You need a feather in your hat.”
Riker greeting Picard
Hugh greeting Picard
the separate trio of Raffi, Clancy, and Deanna all telling Picard he’s shit
Rios singing in Spanish
President Annika Hansen
everybody finding each other in the Confederation Universe
Liam Shaw — a character with incredible highs and lows
Majel Barrett as the computer voice when the crew gets to the Enterprise D
“Somehow I figured you might.”
everything in Ghosts of Illyria
Spock and La’an’s mind meld
Spock and T’Pring in Spock Amok
“You cannot resign. The loss to Enterprise would be unimaginable. To me.”
“If you’re going to steal a starship, do it correctly.”
Neera Ketoul
La’an normalizing needing to eat all the time as a teenager (especially important for girls to hear)
Pike and Una visually checking in with each other so often that it’s in their cartoon versions (that whole episode, actually, including, “Riker!”)
That’s scrolling through episode titles and jotting down stuff I love off the top of my head, fam.✨
Thank you so much for this ask, anon! ❤️ I needed this positive energy in my life.
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gabessquishytum · 9 months
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14 billion year old virgin dream in a "physical" (with literal bodies) relationship for the first time. Hob assumes hes had sex! I mean,, he has a son hes at least fucked ONCE. But dream is super nervous and skittish but still excited and hob asks him about it like:
Hob: youve had sex before right?
Dream: ..theoretically.
Hob: oh my god what does that MEAN
But basically hes only had metaphysical mild melding spiritual type sex with other supernatural beings who dont necessarily have a body. Have you ever seen that star trek voyager episode where two Q make a baby and they just touch index fingers and theres a flash of light and theres just a baby now? Yeah. Last anon was so right with hobs 14th century virginity kink and hes sooo hot for being the one to "show dream a good time" and being the one to Teach him and make all these fun new discoveries about what makes dream come so hard he screams and soaks through the sheets<3
-🔪
This is a great solution to the "bitchless virgin energy" Dream conundrum. We KNOW that he canonically fucks, so why is he Like That? Because he's been having freaky telepathy sex instead of actually getting down and dirty with bodies and stuff.
He knows how humans do it - he's even manifested genitals for himself (occasionally). It's just, when he actually gets to the point where he's in bed with Hob and they're getting naked together, he feels... nervous. He starts sweating.
Hob wants to know what's up, and Dream is like "I have literally only ever had THEORETICAL sex. And I have never sweated before." And the part of Hob that is still mostly 14th century peasant is like !!!!! He's a virgin !!!!!!! Technically !!!!!! Must deflower pretty virgin lordling !!!!!!!!!!
It means starting out very slow. Slowly jerking Dream off, finding out what he likes and doesn't like. Dream is initially horrified by the stickiness, the fact that his cock leaks, the fact that it feels like so much... but he slowly adapts to the sensations. Actual sex isn't so different to theoretical sex is terms of pleasure, its just messier and Dream finds himself making an awful lot more noises than he expected. He also finds that he really likes seeing Hob’s pleasure too - Hob is also very loud and very enthusiastic and seems so happy to be there with Dream.
Dream cries a bit. Which is absolutely OK because Hob also cries a bit. And Dream doesn't mind being sticky and sweaty and out of breath, because Hob is holding him tightly and kissing his neck very sweetly. Hob whispers very shyly that he's so grateful to Dream for trusting him, it means so much and he's very sorry but he really is very horny about it being Dream’s first time so they might have to go again in a minute 😉
Dream really doesn't mind.
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thegeminisage · 5 days
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ok, i'm getting behind on ym star trek updates. last sunday we watched ds9's "sanctuary" and tng's "parallels," monday we watched ds9's "rivals" and tng's "the pegasus" (out of order!!! 💔) and last night we watched ds9's "the alternate" and tng's "homeward." we were supposed to do "rivals" and "the alternate" monday, and then the "pegasus" and "homeward" last night and i really wish we had bc i was not in the correct headspace to really enjoy the alternate but that's what i get for forgetting to check my spreadsheet!! ANYWAY.
sanctuary (ds9):
i love sisko in this episode. he has the same vibe w his subordinates as he does with jake, that he will back them up even if they're breaking rules but also when kira didn't do her homework he does have to lay down the law a little bit. lovingly, but he does. and since he never does it w/o a reason and w/o compassion nobody really minds
i'm sorry but the reverse sexism was really funny. thank you 90s tv for being brave. especially with her having multiple husbands. get it girl
kira and haneek should have explored each others bodies also
quark picking up the nephew like yeah hes gonna do it again. poor odo
literally it was such a good little conundrum bc all the logical reasons they gave for bajor not being able to support more people were like correct or whatever BUT THEY WERE FARMERS. you get the idea they really could have helped and that kid didn't have to die but inherent, knee-jerk suspicion of new/foreign people just got in the way in both cases. like you had the solution right there!! unfortunately, as we know, people
why is it ALWAYS kira's episodes that go this hard also. it's always like "here's a thing about the complex and ugly truth of the human(oid) nature and how we just have to live with ourselves" and every time it pops off
parallels (tng):
we were just saying "there's no ways tng would have the pussy to do something like this" when tng came on and also was really good
first of all, my worf e deanna DREAMS are coming true. sorry to the actors ik they hated it but i know in my heart worf e riker e deanna is real..............
i read the episode summary for this one but it said AMNESIA not WORF SWITCHING REALITIES. so i had fun going wait the cake WAS chocolate earlier and being gaslit along with worf
his little surprise party hat. please.
i didnt notice data's eyes being blue at the time but going back and looking at the pics is WILD
my baby boy wesley crusher was there also........i missed him sm
the universe worf left was crazy. picard dead, geordi dead, deanna forever without her husband...jesus christ
but my FAVORITE part (aside from the romance) was the bit there the zillion enterprises showed up and the crazy borg-hunted riker was like NO NO WE'LL NEVER GO BACK girl i was like oh but i wanna see inside those other enterprises! actually no i didn't
worf finding out deanna began having the potential to develop feelings for him after the ritual suicide thing and then IMMEDIATELY turning around to seduce her when he got back to his universe...so true. i would have done the same thing. i know he's gonna get w dax later and deanna will eventually marry riker so he's GONNA fumble it but don't fumble it!!!
rivals (ds9):
have only seen princess bridge 1 time when i was a teenager so i was not able to enjoy the biggest appeal of this episode rip
actually i thought the a plot of this episode kind of sucked ass. i didn't find the conman particularly funny or charming but i also didn't hate him enough to get invested in his downfall. also, it was so stupid that he took that machine when the guy explained that it had literally killed him............like, girl, are you stupid? obviously ds9 can save it with endearing characters and like, Acting, but i wasn't having much fun with it
i DID love the obrien bashir racketball matches though. first of all the fact that luck decided who won and not actual skill and no we'll never know...but secondly, bashir like Oh No I'm Going To Kill Him With Tennis. like, my guy, you could have just showed off less out of the gate. it went against his twink instincts though
keiko's go-get-em-tiger was really good. he would have won anyway i just know it
quark trying to DRUG A DOCTOR. his audacity truly knows no bounds. i hope those orphans got their blankets
i do like also that when they figured out the matches had been rigged they weren't even mad about it, they were both just curious and trying to experiment. i love when obrien and bashir hang out it's really great
the pegasus (tng):
TNG HAD PUSSY TWO EPISODES IN A ROW EVEN
picard day really good. yes. be miserable. i love riker getting to dunk on him
i really really REALLY enjoyed riker's energy when his old captain came aboard. jonathan frakes isn't the most technically accomplished actor on that cast, but he does such a fantastic job with that shift - riker is normally such an easygoing, funny, down to clown guy that whenever he gets :| you notice RIGHT away. episodes where he gets to be serious and angry wouldn't work if he got them all the time (though my lament for tng is that we don't get character stuff more often...), but BECAUSE they're rare, even a little too rare, you take notice all the more
i wish we had gotten to see riker sparring with worf <3
argument between riker and picard was FUNNNN i don't like picard but i DO like it when sir patrick stewart acts and i think him being on his game and jonathan frakes also being on his game was wonderful. first of all, i love it when they say the m-word, and secondly, riker grinding his teeth because he WANTS to tell and all his instincts are screaming at him to tell and he CAN'T because his loyalties are divided or whatever...delicious.
beaming aboard the ship frozen in rock with the perfectly preserved bodies. mwah. dead bodies won't even age. i know it was a budget thing and space probably wouldn't really keep them from decomposing THAT well but it quite literally took riker back to the scene of the crime and he was like yeah no i'm not having it. GOOD for him.
bonus when riker gets locked into the brig <3
the alternate (ds9):
ODO...................................
i recognized the scientist by his hair!!! he mentioned before he copied it from him
dr mora die challenge. it's not exactly that he "abused" odo in the traditional sense but he did put him in a cage, and he dehumanized him with his experiments, and every single word out of his mouth was either dehumanizing or patronizing. i love how quick they both were to correct the assumption about this guy being odo's dad - like yeah maybe an adoptive dad in a way but odo wasn't a "child" he was just so different from humanoids he had to figure out communication from scratch
like, this mf commenting on odo not having gotten the ears, or like wow you can tell what emotions people are displaying just by looking! say that again to my face i'll kill you.
dax was so weird in this episode. i kept wondering if she was possessed or something because she showed up out of nowhere and offered to buy drinks with bashir and said something about the pillar being moved. a red herring which was perhaps unintentional but unsettling nonetheless. her personality is still fluctuating a lot - at times she's prissy and at other times she's just one of the guys! but at least now she has one, from time to time. not in this episode though
i felt. SO BAD for that little life form they kidnapped. you suffocated it to death :(
i also felt terrible for odo. firstly, he deserves to kill that guy. secondly, how humiliating for him to be seen in goop form by half the station...he doesn't like being seen like that :(
i still blame dr mora though for basically triggering that last transformation...i was so mad at the end when odo was like yeah we can reconcile :) like i get loving the people who "raised" you even when they "abused" you but this wasn't quite that. i wish we had got more of a sense of them having, at any point, actually ever liked working together to solve the mysteries of shape shifters. i looked him up on imdb though and he DOES come back so maybe better luck next time
homeward (tng):
i fucking hated this episode.
firstly, who brought worf to his parents? i thought it was their adult son who was in starfleet, but was it worf's dad who brought him home? cuz this guy is worf's age and was not officially in starfleet...
secondly, there should be a clause in the prime directive about "if everybody is about to die save them with the least interference possible." i get that that runs the risk of like, being written down in their bible as jesus and altering their culture, but the idea that the culture is better off totally annihilated than altered is a little bit missing the forest for the trees. like, putting those machines on the planet in the first place would have been WAY less inference than having worf and his brother lead them to safety.
ALSO, I CANNOT BELIEVE WORF'S BROTHER KNOCKED THAT WOMAN UP. like, this kid is not gonna pop out of the womb with his surgical alterations!!
also, that guy who killed himself didn't get his special document delivered back to his people...worf KEPT IT as a souvenir? one of the only surviving documents from their old culture??
furthermore, his brother did not "won up to responsibility" by staying with those people. he's further contaminating their culture with his outside influence including the HALF HUMAN BABY and since he's marooned there he will never see his parents or brother ever again. because he got the awooga eyes. like, yes, he saved them when starfleet (picard in particular) were being horrible, but also, he didn't save their culture even a little bit, and he's lying to himself if he thinks he did. and WE COULD HAVE SAVED THEIR CULTURE WITH THE MACHINES. that was so much lower risk...................
redeeming factor of this episode was that worf is HANDSOME under all that klingon makeup. like i knew he was attractive because i've seen like headshots online but i like never saw him moving his face and acting without it. he's actually really expressive..........why do you hire a man this beautiful and then put him under all of that. like he's absolutely stunning i was so shocked
TONIGHT: ds9's "armageddon game" and tng's "sub rosa," which i have seen celebrated online for some reason? something about sexy ghosts??
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A Whovian Watches Star Trek for the First Time: Part 102 - Time Loop Party
Star Trek: Discovery - Season 1 Episode 7 - Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad
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We open with Michael's personal log as she's finally settled into her place on Discovery, and we're digging into how she feels distant to the rest of the crew socially. I heavily relate. Apparently, there's a party on the Discovery. Michael and Ash are pulled to the bridge to deal with a situation, however. There's an endangered creature called Gormagander, and because of it's endangered Status, Discover is required to take it to a sanctuary.
We're also clued into the fact that Paul has been acting strangely lately, either directly because of his connection to the Spore Drive's navigation, or because of the Doc's attempts to make the systems easier on him.
The Gormagander is brought aboard, but it turns out to be a trap. A masked figure, who we later find out to be the bearded guy from the Klingon Prison, is inside it's mouth, and opens fire on the science crew in the Cargo bay, and pushes his way towards the bridge. I wasn't expecting to see him again. He felt a one-off character last time her appeared, but I do love his over-dramaticisms, so I'm delighted to have him back. He takes sets of a huge explosion on Discovery's systems and then... We're back at the party.
A Time Loop story! Time loops are a fun trope, and I like the decision that our focus for the episode isnt the character who's aware of the loop. Specifically, Paul and Mudd are the characters aware, but our Focusses are Michael and Ash. Apparently, we're multiple loops deep, and seeing Paul and Mudd try to outmanoeuvre eachother across the loops is really fun, I love that a key part of Paul's solution involves Michael Opening up to both him, to get a secret to prove the loop, then to Ash about general feelings. It's actually a really interesting character study for Michael. Most time loop stories that build relationships across them end up feeling really one-sided towards the person aware of the timeloop. It's really refreshing that here that's not the case, both parties in the relationship are unaware of the loop, so both Michael and Ash are on equal footing, but they're relationship is built up across the loop beautifully.
Mudd as a villain is still amazing, I love his over-dramatic ass. I love that he takes over the bridge to do his own captains log, blares villainous classical music on the bridge.
The preparation for the Final loop to save discovery being purely music and no dialogue was a great way to show both that the preparation happened without spoiling the twist of exactly how the crew will win out against Mudd. The episode got to have it's cake and eat it too!
This episode was fantastic, I had a lot of fun with it. It's definitely my favourite Discovery episode so far.
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bumblingbabooshka · 5 months
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What sort of relationship do you imagine Tuvok has weith B'Elanna? During and after the maquis undercover ordeal. Side question: Favorite Tuvok episode and/or line?
X : Web weaving thing I did regarding B'Elanna & Tuvok's self-destructive habits (and secrecy regarding those habits) in the face of grief. X: A series of lines taken from the show which can be summed up as "What if your co-worker who you were trapped on a ship with for ostensibly the rest of your life reminded you of your estranged mother, your childhood bullies and yourself all at once?"
In the Maquis I doubt they would have had much of a relationship. Afterwards I can see B'Elanna being enraged at the betrayal but trying to keep it as professional as she can (I can also imagine Tuvok poking at this - 'I can see you're angry at me. You need to put that aside.') which only makes her angrier. B'Elanna is an incredibly passionate person and Tuvok is not. I imagine she'd see him handing them over to Starfleet as an extreme betrayal. They were fighting for something in the Maquis. They had values, they believed in something - how could he do this? The fact that the answer is 'easily and without difficulty, remorse or second thought' is -!!!!!!! There's a scene in an episode....I don't remember which exactly. Learning Curve maybe? Or Meld? When someone from the Maquis is angry with Tuvok saying something like 'you sold us all out to Starfleet' and Tuvok says 'It may be difficult for you to believe but I did not have to feel anything to do that.' <- I think this lack of passion would make B'Elanna confused and upset. I can see her thinking he doesn't truly BELIEVE in anything. Because of this and his earlier betrayal I think it would be hard for B'Elanna to trust him and Tuvok is not a comforting or particularly empathetic person. He isn't cruel but isn't 'sweet' you know? An example is when Neelix tells him about how a childhood trauma led to his fear of something outside the window Tuvok suggests he draw the blinds. He isn't saying this to make fun of him but he isn't connecting to the problem emotionally, bc he's Vulcan, but B'Elanna is an emotional person. Tuvok also in general doesn't seem to think highly of Klingons or B'Elanna in particular.
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Here he's speaking about something that took place decades upon decades ago but more recently concerning B'Elanna he makes comments about her which make me believe he doesn't think very highly of her.
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This is from 'Random Thoughts' and it's possible to argue that Tuvok is just providing a counterpoint to Janeway as like a good investigator explores 'all logical options' (as he later does tell Nimira that he has a responsibility towards both B'Elanna and actually doing his job which supersedes his admiration for the Mari's culture) but his admittedly personal comment about the Mari is interesting. A facet of a Tuvok's personality is that he's pre-disposed towards relating more to Vulcans and Vulcan-ity thus seeing it (and himself) implicitly as better. Humans also do this. Really, most star trek Vulcans vs Humans arguments are just both of them thinking they're superior because that's the way they live their lives. There's a certain unwillingness there (especially demonstrated by Humanity BECAUSE we see Humans interact with other species much more) to see other points of view as equally valid. Basically like: 'This [alien] is good because it shows [Humanity]' <- thereby subconsciously labelling Inhumanity as bad. Here, Tuvok does the same thing but for Vulcans. I think what I'm seeing implicitly in his exchange above is more explicitly stated in the exchange between him and B'Elanna below (same episode: Random Thoughts)
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Really saying the quiet part out loud with the line "Burdened as you are by your Primitive Klingon psyche" eh, Tuvok? B'ELANNA.....KILL HIM!!!! HE SAID 'YOU'RE WELCOME' !!!! IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A COMPLIMENT??? KILL HIM!!!!
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He does say in 'Juggernaut' that Emotion itself is primitive so he COULD be saying 'Your [emotional] Klingon psyche' but it's still a HUGE red flag to be going around calling an entire species primitive. Tuvok isn't the only person who basically does this exact thing - attributing all of B'Elanna's perceived faults with her Klingon side and condemning them or feeling more threatened by any negative emotion she expresses than other crewmates BECAUSE she's Klingon but it's insane to me that the writers just have Tuvok SAY that to B'Elanna STRAIGHT up and she THANKS him????? KILL. HIM. !!!!! AND THE WRITERS!!!! In 'Juggernaut' we see them interact more than we have before. I think this might be the only time we get scenes that are B'Elanna-Tuvok other than that one where they captured and held in a cell together? She tells him a story about a time she fell into a rage because of constant bullying from another child who kept calling her turtlehead.
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Tuvok seems to grasp that her lashing out at the time was a coping mechanism. It protected her, gave her strength and courage. However he has no qualms with immediately throwing what he's learned back in her face to provoke her. I can see what he's doing - he's trying to show her: "This USED to be a source of strength but now it's a weakness. If you can be provoked so easily you're at the mercy of others, not strong" but his methods don't seem like something that would mesh well with B'Elanna. I'm sure this would just be hurtful and irritating to her.
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Again B'Elanna's surrounded by this type of behavior. Even the man who supposedly loves her sees her this way.
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Again in the same episode Tuvok plainly expresses that he has no faith in her. How is he supposed to be mentoring someone he doesn't believe in? There's also no (to my recollection) scene or moment after this where he realizes he was incorrect not to have faith in her and so I can't say for certain whether this has changed his opinion of her. Which is also wild because the episode STARTS with them but has no conclusion to their meditation or relationship plot. Unfortunately I don't think we really have anything that shows how B'Elanna views Tuvok other than her dream in 'Barge of the Dead' where she sees him as the arbiter of what is and isn't a Proper Klingon which I imagine stems from him being so staunchly a Proper Vulcan. Basically Tuvok & B'Elanna are so conceptually interesting...one is desperate to not be perceived as part of her species, estranged intentionally from her culture and associating it with all that is 'bad' about her ("My father left us because we were Klingon") and Tuvok is someone who is very much part of and proud of his culture BUT he also views B'ELANNA'S people as lesser which B'elanna also believes?? What would happen there - a feedback loop? They also have similar backgrounds in that they were forced into monasteries, were rebellious teenagers and have had poor experiences with Humanity & Starfleet but Tuvok...'recovered' from these experiences and B'Elanna did not? In that B'Elanna is still clearly ashamed of herself and self-conscious about others and angry and hurt and rejecting her Klingon culture while Tuvok is fine with those aspects of himself and found peace through embracing them. Given his distaste for Klingons it really is difficult to imagine him canonically doing anything except encouraging her to be more Vulcan while negging her the whole time which, you know, I'd kill him for. Humans & Vulcans shaking hands and in the middle it says 'Thinking Klingons are violent barbarians full stop' - finally some common ground between them! Hitting them all with hammers. That's more of a Star Trek in General issue but it applies here. I don't see how they could have like...a healthy dynamic, even JUST as mentor-mentee let alone friends or father-daughter as I've seen some people portray them. On paper it works because Tuvok is a Vulcan so who better to help control her emotions AND B'Elanna had an absent dad and Tuvok's a dad so he must be fatherly towards people! But given their canon interactions it would probably be a very condescending and bad mentorship. And honestly her having issues with her father would probably only make it worse since Tuvok doesn't believe in her and sees her as lesser because she's Klingon. For canon (meaning their canon regard for each other) the best I can imagine is them being strictly professional or B'Elanna falling into a mentorship with Tuvok which essentially just becomes her trying not to 'fail' another father figure by being too Klingon. If I were to write their relationship improving there would have be SO much unpacking of ALL of that which I showed above...like I don't even know dude it'd take YEARS and it'd effect the entire ship because again, just because this is centered on Tuvok given the nature of the question - Tuvok is NOT the only one who does this!!! EVERYONE does!!! It's infuriating once you start to watch for it v_v One of my favorite Tuvok lines is his big windup about how easy it'll be to win at pool like so easy, logically it'll be a goddamn breeze and then he loses at pool and is like "Hmm maybe the ship is off balance" or something. Sore LOSER!!!
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mostlymaudlin · 5 months
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Twenty Questions for Fic Writers 💫
thank you @decaflondonfog for the tag !! ill tag @sillyunicorn @starwarned @urban-sith @tea-brigade
1. How many works do you have on AO3?
98!! (woah) plus an unrevealed t&n fest fic, so 99. wow i need to do something rly crazy for 100 lol. what if i do a ridiculous crossover of all my fandoms and everyone in the fandom tags will hate me. 
2. What’s your total AO3 word count?
544,914. (again. woagh)
3. What fandoms do you write for?
mostly all for the game and simon snow series, have dabbled in & posted even less for check please, captain america, and one direction! i feel like i’m missing something but regardless my fixations are hardcore, so all except like 4k of that posted wc is for either aftg or ss hahahha
4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
all are andreil! boyfriend privileges (4k, T) / Trigger (62k, E) / flashes of intimacy (10k, t) / Would you still love me if I was a worm? (6k, T) / Inside Thoughts (1k,T)
man this is long, rest is going under the cut lol
5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?
not very often, but i wish i did. i am stricken with a combination of being really awkward when people are nice to me & being bad at interacting with anyone in ways i fear could be perceived as ingenuine. im not sure if that makes sense LMAO. and sometimes when i put a story out, i kind of feel like i’ve said my piece — i’ve put so much into it that i don’t really know what else to say!
anyway, i always reply to questions, because that’s got clear social boundaries hahaha, and i DO love talking abt my stories!! and sometimes i’ll reply to comments that really get me thinking. but yeah, i know i reply less than i could, and i want to like double down on the fact that i am endlessly grateful for everyone who has ever left a comment on my work <3
6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
i have killed simon snow twice lmfao. i’d actually classify icarus as rather hopeful — it’s about grief & healing. but legacies is just fucked up lmfao
7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
oh man, i write a lot of happy endings haha. i feel like even when my story is tonally darker (rare), it still has a happy or at least hopeful ending. this is probably not the correct answer, but i think sing of the moon has a really vividly happy ending. like — the sun rises for the first time in the whole fic! amazing. or maybe my high school au, We Can Live Forever, which is just the happiest thing i’ve ever written. 
8. Do you get hate on fics?
not really, thankfully! people are smartasses sometimes but overall ive been lucky. there have been a couple of fics where ive winced before hitting post, but it usually ends up fine
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?
yessss. i guess i mostly write tender smut, bc i write tender things in general. i think my smut tends to be rather exploratory/playful as well? intentionally sloppy and awkward choreography hahaha
10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?
sort of LOL. once upon a time i was betaing @tea-brigade's medieval snowbaz au, Reliquary of an Arsonist, and there’s this part where three highway bandits mug simon and baz and then get blasted by simon’s chosen one magic. i am sick in the head so im in the google doc like “lol what if its kandreil.” and then i was like… what if it was kandreil….. and so i wrote Reliquary of a Bandit
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
i don’t think so
12. Have you ever had a fic translated?
yes!!! and i’m really thankful for everyone who has done so <3333 shoutout to russian aftg translators, yall go HARD
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
i recently collaborated with @thewholelemon on our episode of Star Trek: Redemption, Heart-Shaped Box. by which i mean: i wrote the outline & a few scenes, got really overwhelmed, and jenny turned it into something worth reading! 
i also wrote Good Boy in the snowbaz stoner verse with @starwarned, which was rly fun — we sat in the google doc for like, 5 hours trading back and forth on POVs as we wrote pure porn together LOL. it’s funny to think about this, because lauren knows like everything abt me now but we did not know each other as well back then!!! and we were just like “yeah lets write porn together” hahahahha 
14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?
right now it is deeefinitely andreil… they are everything to me for reasons i just cannot possibly be brief about LOL so ill just leave it at that
15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
i have a postcanon snowbaz time travel/time loop wip that i was going to try to write for COBB this year but i fucked up the deadlines then the brainrot was like “guess that means more andreil !”. i did SO MUCH research for it and i think it’s rather clever and smutty and fun bc they are yeeted back to watford era! but it’s also dealing with snowbaz, who are in their late 20s and are like in a relationship low point/actively fighting when they end up in the loop… so they are dealing with that tension at the same time as they are trying to get out of the loop. and also fucking around watford to fulfill fantasies HAHAHA
16. What are your writing strengths?
characterization is the thing i care most about! and i think that’s the draw of fanfic in particular to me — i love getting such a grasp on a character that i can translate them into endless situations while still making them feel true to self. i rarely let myself publish anything until i can read through the whole thing without any he would not fucking say that moments hahahha. this is of course pertaining to my own interpretations of the characters, which is the only thing i care abt lmfao
17. What are your writing weaknesses?
i rely a lot on body language because im always writing abt reticent fuckers who cant use their words. but i think i sometimes overcompensate, or describe actions that don't actually fit the scene. i've seen this described as "cheek-biting" -- like, throwing in action during a conversation just to delay the pacing/further the tone, but when you really look at it, it's not necessary. (cheek-biting being like, "character bites at their cheek" in the middle of a tense conversation)
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?
i don’t really know any other languages! i think i’ve put a little bit of french in neil/kevin/baz POVs before, but my french knowledge is elementary at best. love the idea of it though.
19. First fandom you wrote for?
one direction babyyyyyyyy !! i wrote quite a bit of it in like 2012-2015 but published very little. there’s 1 on my ao3, some lost somewhere on fanfiction.net (i dont rmr my username lol), and tons in my folders from my old laptop lol.
20. Favourite fic you’ve written?
hmmmmm. im gonna cheat bc i cant pick a single favorite. i always say i think No Turning Back is some of my best writing from a craft standpoint, and it also includes my favorite type of conflict (andrew self-destructing lol). however, i reread both that fic & We Can Live Forever on a plane trip recently after not having touched either for 6+ months — and the solidness of We Can Live Forever actually surprised me, especially because i wrote the majority of that fic while i was stoned and also view it as just exceedingly silly. the world of it is just very rich, and also very very different from the typical character backstories, and i’m very proud of how much that reread played with my heartstrings.  
ok last one — there are several installments of my flashes of intimacy series that i come back to a lot, because i’m proud of what they each accomplish in 500 words. especially because i often turn to those when im trying to express my own emotions lol. specifically, my favorites are picking fights, i don’t mind, swimming lessons, and practicing gratitude.
that was such a bullshit and cocky way to answer this lmfaooooo. but tbh i am my own biggest fan and that is by design — i write stuff so that i can reread it months later and have it be perfectly catered to my tastes. i love all my fics <3
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strangertheories · 1 year
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The Stranger Things Q&A panel at a convention today (actors of Chrissy, Alexei and Karen)
I was not able to ask any questions, sorry guys! The queue was long and I dislike crowds a lot so I avoided it. However, the panel host pointed at me when talking about the cosplay in the fandom and complimented my cosplay- people clapped! Except she said "oh my goodness chips ahoy!" (I am a Robin cosplayer) and I am in fact not cosplaying chips ahoy.
I've included most answers here, nothing really about S5 though except confirmation that filming begins in June for Cara, what they'd like to happen and no Byler. There was a lot for the Hellcheer shippers as well since Grace got asked about that. There were a few questions they refused to answer, most of which were about their fellow cast members. Except for when the crowd wanted to kill Mike when asked which of the party should die (bit harsh). One person said Will and Grace was outraged.
Cara (Karen)
Her daughter cosplays anime
Audition - started in 2015, in person followed by a series of auditions, only one to meet Duffers before set
Huge Walking Dead fan, loves Star Trek, anime vicariously through child, Genshin Impact
Likes the nostalgic bits - happy it's introducing 80s music to younger generation
Favorite part to act was the scene where she first met Billy as it was fun to shoot and they were laughing between takes
Cara never learnt to swim so had to get lessons to film a shot of backstroke in S3
Sad that Benny died, as well as Eddie and Chrissy because she wonders what could've been
Her daughter was 2 when she started stranger things so she grew up with the cast and it's bittersweet to see kids grow
Thinks pineapples DO belong on pizza
Wants Angela to die in S5 (because she's mean) with a whack to the face from another roller skate
S5 shooting begins in June!
She was surprised at how gruesome Chrissy's death was even though she'd read it in the script but thought it served as a good departure from previous seasons
Carnival scene was best location to film on as they built a carnival and you could go on the rides when it wasn't being filmed
Grace (Chrissy)
Audition - sent in a tape, only had to try once because she was the only one to play her nice
Grace is a big Doctor Who fan, particularly number 10
Would be a demodog if she could play anyone else
Favorite part of shooting was working with Joe Quinn as he's super talented and fun
Most stressful scene to shoot was running from Vecna (crying, screaming, running, etc was exhausting) especially since Jamie Campbell Bowers walks super slowly
Would kill Vecna to save Eddie
She thinks Eddie and Chrissy would've been together but says that "they are [together] now" (💀💀) which got a huge laugh
Says third season is the best
Would be a potato if she could be a food
Not tired of Chrissy Wake Up. Was asked to sing Chrissy Wake Up but she didn't
Was nervous people would be glad she died so she'd be out of the way so was pleased people love Chrissy
Dear Billy (04x04) is the best episode in her opinion
Thinks pineapples don't belong on pizza
Enjoyed dying for the first time but actually found it hard to watch. They wouldn't let her keep snapped Chrissy to hang from her ceiling
Alec (Alexei)
Audition - just generic scenes, wrote the character around him
Big anime fan (Demon Slayer, Hunter X Hunter)
Says the 80s nostagia shows the power of music (and marketing)
Favorite people to work with were David and Winona (mother and father figure of set)
Favorite part to shoot was the scenes with the slushies. It was cherry "because it was in the script" (he was asked why he chose a cherry slushie)
Would be "Cool Dustin" if he could have played anyone else (he is his favorite character, loved Gaten's performance from S1 as he's unique)
First shot outside of Murray's house was very scary to film as he wanted to impress the cast
He says the first season is the best season
It was unexpected that people clung on to his character and the reaction from social media although he did anticipate people would be sad from the death
Doesn't want Eddie to come back, says more main characters should die
So that's that! I got to speak to Cara as well and she was lovely, I'll be seeing them later today as well for photos/autographs (:
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mihrsuri · 22 days
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20 questions for fic writers
I was tagged by @isagrimorie - thank you darling <3333.
1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 234
2. What's your total Ao3 word count? 364,199
3. What fandoms do you write for? Currently: The Tudors (TV), Shadow and Bone/Grishaverse, Tamora Pierce (largely Tortall at the moment but also Emelan), West Wing, Hunger Games (mostly in the form of a lot of Fandom AUs set in the Hunger Games) and Narnia. But I’ve written for a lot of others including Criminal Minds, Pundit RPF, Band of Brothers, Scarlet Pimpernel (1998), Spooks/MI5, The Hour, Doctor Who (Nu!Who) and Star Trek Discovery.
4. What are your top five fics by kudos?
Undertow (co-authored) (Criminal Minds, Rossi/Hotch) - The very short version: Dave gives Aaron a back-rub.
It’s not because of you (it’s because of me) (Ted Lasso, Jamie Tartt) - Brian Symonds was - fuck is one of the best youth talent coaches in the country it’s just he’s also been arrested and all Jamie can think is fuck (one take on Jamie’s backstory)
Five times out of many david rossi realised he was happily doomed (Criminal Minds, Rossi/Hotch) - Basically what it says on the tin. Five ways David Rossi knew that he was totally totally doomed in the best possible way in regards to the way he loved these kids
To dwell in enchantment (Criminal Minds, Rossi/Hotch) - It doesn't make the world any less messy, but it does make a balance, this family he has. David Rossi, coming home from work.
If i could go back (co-authored) (criminal minds/ncis/csi: ny, rossi/hotch) - It's the day of Derek's high school graduation, and Jason Gideon is standing at the bottom of the porch steps, trying not to hope.
5. Do you respond to comments? I do my absolute best (sometimes sadly spoons :/) but I appreciate every single one of my kind comments.
6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
I think it might be Hope Deferred Maketh Something which features Jason Gideon/Toby Ziegler, an apocalypse set in a diner in New York (I actually think the larger world is hopeful but these characters specific corner of the apocalypse is Very Much Not).
Oh no wait also In Pardoning That We Are Pardoned which is a Spooks fic in which a certain episode The Thing Is Real.
7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
Hi Tudors OT3 Verse. Just in general. It’s not that there’s a conflict free path but it’s very very much a happy ending.
8. Do you get hate on fics? Very little but I have, yes and I will be honest it did get to me. And I am still working through it but moderating comments has helped a lot. And it was honestly barely anything compared to what so many people have to deal with.
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yes and also kind of no. I used to write it more and then uh, Trauma Brain. I can’t have sex because of CPTSD reasons and apparently writing sex is also triggering except sometimes the fictional people (or the fictional representations of fictional depictions of historical people) still do in fact have sex and so I write it. But it’s Weird (I think I do okay for never having had consensual sex though).
10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? I think I actually write more fusion AUs than crossovers in some ways but I have in fact written a Sherlock-L&O: UK-Thick Of It-Pundit RPF-Modern Tudors-Criminal Minds Multiverse cc @bibliothekara
12. Have you ever had a fic translated? I was going to say I have but I actually don’t know/recall for sure so I’m going to say no. I have had podfic made of my fic though which is So Cool. (I would be delighted if anyone wanted to translate though).
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? I have! Fantastic experience. Also just tossing AUs/ideas back and forth in general is So Much Fun and one thing I really loved about LJ fandom.
14. What's your all time favorite ship? I mean there’s Faramir/Eowyn my beloveds.
15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Into The Fire (The Tudors Scarlet Pimpernel AU). It’s going to get so dark and I’m not sure I actually want to go there because a bunch of people are going to die.
16. What are your writing strengths? Characters and like, description and emotion.
17. What are your writing weaknesses? Dialogue.
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I’d want to double check really carefully with someone who actually speaks the language in question (I’m currently checking about thou/thy formal versus intimate usage and that’s for English which I speak) before I did.
19. First fandom you wrote for? The first fandom I published fic for was The Bill. It was, perhaps not surprisingly angst and whump centric (before I knew what that was but) and may survive somewhere on the internet via the Wayback Machine.
20. Favorite fic you've written?
Several:
With Snow Far Below (Band of Brothers, Roe/Renee) - Renee thinks in terms of snow and chocolate
Monuments, Historical & Contemporary (Criminal Minds/Pundit RPF, ensemble) - How they could build statues and memorials and think that by paying homage after the fact, they were doing an honor.
I Am A Princess On The Way To My Throne (Skyfall 2012, Severine) -Severine. And the way it could have been (written because aspects of her story are mine and I unashamedly wanted a different ending for her)
Such A Time As This (Tudors, Anne Boleyn) - "You have come to your royal position for such a time as this" or a retelling of the story of Queen Esther with Anne Boleyn as a Mizrahi Jewish lady.
We Rise Together (TWW, CJ Cregg) - CJ was kidnapped, not Zoey.
Once I Fall In Love (It’s Forever) (Kushiels Legacy, Phedre and Delaunay) - She loved him as she did me. The realisation had come suddenly, a shock [AU mini fic for Kushiel's Dart]
Karma Is My Family (Grishaverse, Inej) - Inej smiles at her friends who are her family, warm and full of love. Smiles at her husband, who has never possessed her or owned her - has never thought of their love that way - only as two hearts shared. [Inej and her power, her kindness, her love and the way karma comes for Tante Heleen]
Rewrite The Stars (Tudors, Anne/Henry/Thomas) - In another world this is how it might have gone between the three of them. The story of how the love between three extraordinary people change the world for the better and made it the kindest. The story of a fight for a fairytale. [An expanded version of the Tudors OT3 verse fic Rewrite The Stars]
Tagging: If you want to (and if you want to do consider yourself tagged): @bessemerprocess @endoftheworldhere @unseenacademic @emilykaldwen @shes-a-voodoo-child @onekisstotakewithme @claudiajcregg @holy-ships-x-red-lips @quillington @theladyelizabeth @naurielrochnur @eidetictelekinetic @dr-dendritic-trees @boleynecklace @nocompromise-noregrets @herawell @sarking
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thedreadvampy · 8 months
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so I have been thinking about why I hated the Spock Is Turned Human episode of SNW so much and I think I've nailed it down
cause like. Vulcans are a specific flavour of autistic, right?
Throughout 60 years of Star Trek, and particularly through Strange New Worlds, we've had it impressed on us that Vulcans absolutely do not feel less than humans. On the contrary, the reason that Vulcans prize logic, ritual and objectivity is that their emotions are deeply intense and overwhelming. In fact, like one episode prior and in the fuckin. Previously On... for this episode, Spock's saying "Vulcan emotion is too intense to handle and what might happen if I don't suppress it scares me."
It's made repeatedly, explicitly, clear that Vulcan emotional detachment is a choice and a cultural practise. It's made directly clear as well that Vulcans don't experience the world as less intense or emotional than humans; they work from birth to suppress it, it's a learned practice.
And they've leant into this really hard elsewhere in SNW! They've talked about Vulcans choosing to reject logic and act on emotion, Spock's seasons-long arc is about his fear of his own emotions - he's even specifically brought up that he hasn't undergone Kolinahr and therefore is suppressing his emotional state only through conscious practice.
but this episode. is a story about someone who's physiologically less able to feel being "humanised" - experiencing touch, taste, laughter and feeling more strongly than they have before.
That's a Data story. Not a Spock one.
Like I get what they're trying to do - push Spock into dealing directly with his human side, empathise with Amanda's strength, etc - but the way they do it conflicts really directly with everything we know about Vulcans, and also kind of confirms Vulcan bias against Spock's humanity by establishing that yes actually regardless of upbringing humans just Are Wired Wrong for Vulcan society. which is weird actually because both Amanda and Michael, humans raised outside Vulcan, can handle Vulcan societal expectations, but Spock, raised fully in the culture, struggles to and has to have everything explained to him.
And also the way they do it I found really uncomfortable and, you know, dehumanising. We're shown a version of Spock who isn't managing his emotions through discipline and will, but who just Doesn't Have Them That Much and, when given the Normal amount of feelings, goes hog wild and is functionally a child with no self-control.
There's a scene where they explicitly say he's functionally a teenager! As if he's not already been through a human adolescence!
Everyone of every species, not just human, is suddenly lecturing him on the nature of Feeling Things, which he receives as new information! despite the fact we know that managing his emotions has been a constant struggle for Spock! and we know that Spock (like other Vulcans) likes food and music and has a sense of humour and experiences friendship and anger and frustration and love.
and I think it speaks to a deeply neuronormative kind of infantalisation - he isn't reacting to emotion the way Normal (here: human) people do so it must be because he doesn't feel it at all. he isn't vegetarian he just hasn't experienced how Bacon bacon is. he isn't suppressing his distress it just isn't there. he doesn't have a different cultural relationship to humour he just Can't Laugh.
like the 'inhuman entity experiences human emotion' plotline is a Star Trek classic and it's usually a fun time - it's fun with Q and with Data and with Odo et al. but it doesn't work with Spock because we know that Vulcans aren't less physiologically capable of emotion than humans, they're less culturally willing to engage with emotion. And that's specifically because they're more sensitive to strong feeling than humans.
like yeah this is nerd griping, but it's also just very galling from an autistic perspective (the same way that having Spock go bacon-mad this episode seems to have been pretty galling from a Jewish perspective). Something that's always been very resonant about Vulcans and Spock specifically with a lot of autistic people is that experience of feeling things so deeply and strongly that you have to develop a sometimes overly-strict discipline of emotional management and cut yourself off from them entirely, and it is often mistaken by those around you as being unfeeling or numb. And the way Spock is portrayed consistently acknowledges that that's not what it is, that it's an (often maladaptive but necessary) practice that's active work in order to fit into a society that doesn't have space for the scale of your emotions or where your emotions might be a risk. And that you can learn to retain the parts that help you but still make close emotional connections through that barrier.
Idk this episode doesn't understand Vulcans which is really frustrating particularly for an episode entirely about Vulcans. It doesn't make sense that being turned human would fully undermine Spock's ability to behave as Vulcan the way it does unless your position is that Vulcans are inherently more numb to feeling than humans, which is explicitly not the case - and the message of the end of the episode partially rests on the idea that it's bigoted to assume his humanity makes him less Vulcan, especially since Amanda is able to perform Vulcanness well, except the entire precept of the episode and its shenanigans are that his humanity does intrinsically prevent him performing his cultural heritage properly and make him irrational and reactive. Like, the episode's failure to understand Why Vulcans Work doesn't just conflict with the rest of the show, it also leaves this episode a chaotic mess cause A doesn't in any way feed into B.
also unrelatedly T'Pring Did Nothing Wrong and she's so right, Spock is a wee bitch.
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