#like Star Trek straight up has a mirror universe full of evil versions of the characters that’s literally just Amazing Mirror | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mylittleredgirl · 3 years

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trekathon: enterprise “in a mirror, darkly”

season 4 episodes 18 & 19:

oh my god, the first contact music 💗😭

the opening sequence to the enterprise mirror universe eps really is inspired. i also like to imagine the composer metaphorically tossing it down on a table in front of all the fans who’ve been complaining for four years like “HERE’S YOUR FUCKING INSTRUMENTAL OPENING THEME” and storming out

i’ve been breaking up the discovery recaps because there are 19 concurrent plots and i’m trying to keep them straight, but i feel like a stream-of-consciousness bullet point experience is appropriate here:

those of you watching today will never know the special delight that mirror captain forrest brought to internet nerd fans back in the day. the site television without pity used to write snarky tv show recaps, and keckler, who wrote the enterprise recaps week to week, decided early on that admiral forrest was such a boring character that he must be evil -- and so after 3-some years of calling him “evil admiral forrest,” him showing up in the mirror universe was like prophecy coming to pass

mirror phlox and reed developed the agonizer booth!

apparently non-terran rebellions against the empire are a recurring concern

mirror!travis is REAL hot

they’re all hot but travis? with that earring? and that hair? dang.

i think we can all agree that phlox is the creepiest mirror version, just casually performing live vivisections of random animals with a smile 😬

i’m glad discovery went the full-on sexy leather uniform route instead of just slapping some pins and patches on the existing uniform style and putting the ladies in crop tops

mirror!t’pol going through pon farr (and ~ahem~ asking trip to help her out) raises my continuing question about how and when pon farr affects female vulcans

does it just kick in at some point, like with vulcan men? is it connected to their bond-mate? should i be worried about tuvok’s wife is what’s behind my question

mirror archer is such a hopeless disaster and hoshi very obviously like “wow... those orgasms... so great... 🙄” really gives me life

vulcan bowl-cut rebellion!!

the vulcan science directorate has found no evidence of alternate realities

given it is ALSO going to be time travel, the vulcan science directorate’s about to take a double hit

okay okay space science time! tricobalt device + gravity well of dead star -> interphasic rift to other universe

i don’t know why trip saying “so what?” is so funny

i totally forgot the suliban had cloaking technology by the way

i also forgot how great the enterprise transporter effect is!!

okay now i want to watch “the tholian web.” star trek marathons are not linear

mirrror!malcolm getting horny for future phasers is very on brand

tos sound effects 🥰

honestly impressed they even have escape pods in the mirror universe

i assume they’re all on the evil line of the alignment chart, but i guess that makes captain forrest lawful evil, hoshi neutral evil, and archer chaotically unhinged evil

part ii!!!

“release the ducking clamps!” bakula why

t’pol’s orange eyeshadow is quite a look

on-screen text falls into the “canon if i feel like it” zone as far as i’m concerned, but i love that archer’s profile starts with: “charming, bold,”

apparently he was the starfleet chief of staff, the ambassador to andoria, and the president!! of the federation!!!!

the best part is that when i paused it to read, the closed caption says [LAUGHING]

our babes look so good in velour

GORN!

disaster mirror archer hallucinating prime!archer is an entire thing i’m not even sure how to deal with

a cgi gorn was a bad call from start to finish. this isn’t a 16 years on thing. they did their best, but it was ridiculous then too.

shakespeare’s plays are “equally grim in both universes”

omg travis high-kicking the admiral

archer parading around the shuttlebay of the admiral’s nx-01 ship, making a dramatic speech to about 18 people all looking either bored or concerned. i love that they chose to make this entire episode about what a clown mirror archer is

those 18 people include two vulcans, an andorian, a denobulan, and an orion, and we saw a tellarite officer earlier. during this period in history there are a significant number of aliens serving on starfleet ships -- as opposed to Just T’Pol in the prime universe. they’re all second-class citizens, but they hold officer ranks. in the discovery era, i don’t think we see any non-terrans holding military positions.

okay actually given that they successfully take over a ship i can see why that policy doesn’t last

i have a specific desire to see t’pol with hyper realistic disco spock style ears

i love that even mirror hoshi protects phlox 🥺

i would like to thank the director of this episode for the artistic decision to only show archer and hoshi hooking up in silhouette form

“it may take centuries, but humanity will pay for its arrogance” YES i love that connection to the ds9 mirror universe eps

they really can design the heck out of a negligee in the mirror universe can’t they

hoshi and travis making out!!!!

honestly i don’t think hoshi had a long game here? i buy her being content as forrest’s captain’s woman, but then archer betrayed forrest and she wanted revenge, and then forrest died so she had nothing to go back to, and then it’s like “well i was going to go for tenure but now that i’m here i might as well rule the empire”

#trekathon #enterprise #i need a mirror t'pol icon

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bookmawkish · 6 years

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Seeing double, part 2

@worldoftherandom this did not want to get written for some reason. But I persevered. And kicked the crap out of it with no shoes on. XD

Part 1

All the Loki/Heckyl stuff

The newcomer has a tattoo.

Tony has no idea why this fact in particular stands out as he picks himself up off the ground from where Evil Twin Heckyl’s attack has thrown him. A blue curl of tattoo, just below his ear, which seems to glow, and if that isn’t evidence of some kind of Star Trek Mirror Universe shit going on here, Tony doesn’t know what is. Jesus, that had hurt. Taken by surprise and now bruising from the impact, despite the suit. He needs to work on the cushioning inside this thing, especially around the hips. Ouch. He picks himself up and takes stock.

His Heckyl (and damn if Tony thought he’d ever use that kind of possessive terminology on the man, but there you go, it’s not every day you have to differentiate between two versions of the same idiot) is looking dumbstruck and increasingly (oh shit) frightened. Terrific. Tony had hoped that his huge alien ego and vanity would be so piqued by the sight of someone wearing his face that he’d go all-out crazyperson on the intruder. Instead, he seems to have a Heckyl with a nasty case of the ‘Nam flashbacks on his hands, and that’s nowhere near as useful or fun. Also, it makes Heckyl vulnerable, and vulnerable team members need to be protected at all costs. Because although Steve has the official Captain title, Tony has the unofficial Dad title. Nobody picks on the kids.

“Okay,” he says, facing the advancing Tattooed Bad Guy with a renewed sense of annoyed purpose. “Okay. You wanna play, Mister Hyde? Let’s play. Don’t think having that face is gonna make me go easy on you. I’ve wanted to slap Goggles over there many times for being a smug little dick, you’re just offering me a golden opportunity to act out my revenge fantasies that won’t get me beaten up by his godly boyfriend.”

For some reason this little speech makes the invading Heckyl blink, and pause, and that gives Tony the in to blast him with the repulsors. Score. Knocks him off his feet, but holy crap if he isn’t back up and still coming within seconds. What the fuck do they make these bastards out of, vibranium?

The elevator doors ping again, and Bruce frowns his way out into the sunshine. It takes him a moment to drink the scene in: Tony and Heckyl locked in deadly mortal combat, streams of energy clashing and shrieking as they attempt to overpower each other. Oh boy. The Clash of the Titan Egos. This probably wasn’t wholly unexpected. Bruce wonders vaguely who started trying to kill whom first - and then slightly off to the side, he notices another Heckyl, this one’s expression being what Bruce can only describe as frozen, horrified embarrassment. He looks back at the fight. Yup. Definitely one Heckyl here, one Heckyl there. And just over there - another damn interdimensional portal.

Oh. Oh, okay. Right. So, this is...this is fine. Just another typical day, really. Bruce resists the urge to simply turn around and go back downstairs: instead he heaves a sigh, and approaches the shell-shocked-looking Heckyl carefully. He’s pretty sure this is the one he knows: the one who got blackout drunk on his bed that one time, the one who punched Clint for a danish. For one thing, he’s pretty sure evil dimension-hopping invaders don’t come dressed in their own “I Heart NY” shirts.

“Hey,” he says. “Heckyl.“ When this doesn’t immediately elicit a response, he moves to more drastic measures. “Bro. You okay? What’s going on?”

Heckyl comes out of it enough to give him an awed, haunted look.

“That’s me,” he says, in a whisper. “I can see him, all of him, what’s coiled up inside. He’s intact.”

Something about his choice of the word intact gets through to Bruce. If their Heckyl counts as partly neutered, domesticated in terms of his attitude, adjusted moral compass and core power, then a fully intact Heckyl is probably something they should really be wary of. It also serves as an uncomfortable reminder that, for better or for worse, their Heckyl counts himself as broken. In more ways than one.

“Okay, so that’s you.” Heckyl nods in response, miserably. “A you from the past, or an alternate universe you kind of deal?” Heckyl shrugs, as if this is really not the thing he’s focusing on right now. “Right,” says Bruce, slowly. “I’m guessing Old You isn’t as nice as New You, huh.”

Heckyl meets his eyes and holds his gaze, and the sheer depth of his unamusement is horrible. “Oh,” he says, bleakly. “I’m a complete bundle of joy compared to him.” He looks away briefly, before continuing: “We talked before. About monsters.”

Yes, they had. And there’s the evidence of that broken bit. Taking that monster out of this Heckyl had pushed him over the edge, left him with some...interesting...psychological quirks which Bruce tries not to think about too hard. The whole work-in-progress that is Heckyl on his somewhat haphazard redemption arc is still hitting far too close to home for him - and the Other Guy.

“That monster’s still in him,” Heckyl says. “He doesn’t remember anything. He doesn’t remember how to feel anything that isn’t rage, envy or desire to possess. He doesn’t know what I know about what happened to our planet.”

“You feel sorry for him,” says Bruce, because there’s an edge to the tone and Heckyl’s expression, and it’s obvious, really. Of course he feels sorry for him.

“I remember what being him was like,” is all Heckyl says. “I remember how good it felt to be him, but how empty. So much pleasure. So much purpose.” He tilts his head, ruefully, and his eyes are blank, and his tone comes out almost sing-song through an odd, creepy little smile. It makes the hairs on the back of Bruce’s neck stand up. “How...very...emp…ty.”

Bruce regards him dubiously for a moment, then:

“W-would you mind?” he asks. “If I, uh - “

And he makes a vague, punching gesture at the air.

“Not at all,” says Heckyl, coldly, although Bruce is pretty sure he won’t watch.

Tony absolutely isn’t getting the worst of it. Not at all. In any way. It’s not even remotely a relief to see the massive green mobile wall that is the Hulk come bellowing into the breach. Honest.

But like Evil Loki before him, Evil Heckyl doesn’t seem to fully appreciate what he’s up against, and goes full-on psycho killer at the big new target, chortling like a maniac because really, what’s more fun than a good afternoon’s massacre when you’re an insane alien bent on taking over the world. The Hulk doesn’t seem to like being hit by the lightning, but only in the way that most people don’t like wasps: they’re irritating, persistent and can sting a bit, but you can easily smack them aside. However, after putting up with several minutes of being fried with blue energy, the Hulk seems to have had enough.

And Evil Heckyl gets smacked. Boy, does he ever. The Hulk lunges in with a proper fish-wife’s backhand, full force, and Tony swears he can hear the impact of green hand on torso as loudly as if someone’s dropped a ten-ton weight. He follows up with a quick blast from the repulsor, for good measure.

Evil Heckyl goes down like a sack of potatoes, skidding backwards across the roof, and Tony bites back on his instinctive cheer, because he can see that their own Heckyl is looking the other way. Even to Tony, it strikes as bad form (outside of approved therapy) to throw a party for the defeat of your former self. And this time, Evil Heckyl stays down, evidently dazed all to fuck. A few smacks from the Hulk could take out Loki, after all - Heckyl’s tough, but he’s not Asgardian tough.

Hulk regards the fallen body at his feet with a triumphant curl of lip, then he glances over to where the other Heckyl is standing and doing everything he can (short of actually sticking his fingers in his ears) not to know what’s happening. A big green finger taps him gently on the shoulder to make him turn.

“Got your back,” the Hulk rumbles. “Stupid Spice Boy.”

Heckyl looks up - and up - at the big green man, and smiles: a broader version of that creepy-as-fuck little smile he’d been wearing earlier. He cranes his neck so that he can take a good long look at his other self lying smashed into the ground. He bends down, slowly and deliberately, and takes off first one green sock, then the other, folding them carefully and setting them to one side. Then, without a single ounce of warning, he charges straight at his fallen other self (who is groaning, starting to come around) and starts kicking the crap out of him, barefoot, while screaming a stream of abuse, some of which doesn’t seem to be in any language common to Earth.

Tony flips up the faceplate, looks at the Hulk: the Hulk looks at Tony. The Hulk shrugs, and ambles off towards the elevator.

“Well, you’re no help,” Tony says. “JARVIS? Get Loki on the line. Feel like we‘re gonna need him. And make the usual order from Cinnabon. But double it.“

And he strolls over in unhurried fashion to drag his Heckyl off the other one by the scruff of the neck. Gotta be a responsible dad, after all, and break the kids up when they’re trying to murder each other.

#bruce banner #the hulk #tony stark #Heckyl #heckyl/loki #canon heckyl #evil heckyl #MCU #avengers family #avenger loki #crossover #FANDOM FUSION #power rangers fanfic #power rangers dino charge #Avengers #dino supercharge

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jonathanmentmedia · 7 years

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There are more ‘cameras’ out there than ever before, but not every smart-phone slinging shutterbug knows a lot about shot composition.

That’s alright. It’s why there are photographers.

We’re supposed to understand a bit about what make an image more than good and where the possibility exists to move the observer, to make them ‘feel’ something other than mere recognition.

It’s the difference between ‘that’s a nice picture of those two’ and ‘wow, those two must be in love.’

Recently I updated my mug (face) across most social media. I won’t go into why (some do as often as the weather), but I will explain how.

I took the image I’d been using, which I was happy with, and flipped it horizontally in Photoshop. That’s it. I cropped it basically the same way and uploaded.

What struck me, after Facebook friends were notified of this breaking news, was the feedback I received on my new profile pic – specifically the lack of a particular type of comment. On a related note, I do ‘maintain’ a Facebook page for my photography, though – the profile pic isn’t there… Go ahead and follow or like me on Facebook. I don’t bite.

Perhaps folks were just being kind, and who doesn’t appreciate a little flattery, but nobody wrote “That photo looks familiar,” or “Is that the same photo just backwards?”

I know, I know… when you update your profile pic, folks don’t get to see it side by side with the old one like here.

Still, I wasn’t expecting any feedback – and once it began, I thought someone would mention it.

If you’ve been using a shot for six months or more and you’re active online, I’d assume people would recognize your profile pic.

O.K. Let’s put that all aside. Perhaps nobody looked at my pic since May, and were sincerely complimenting me on the new image.

The response however, dozens of likes and the related comments, got me thinking my reasons for flipping the photo were valid.

It got me thinking about mirrored images and inverted images, though turning folks into their negative sometimes produces scary results. Nonetheless, Mirror:Mirror is this week’s theme.

(Tangent Warning/TW) coincidently the approximate name of a favorite episode of Star Trek TOS about an alternative universe. No, we’re not writing about Star Trek – though I can’t help sharing this shot of alternate-universe Spock -straight and half inverted.

What the hell, for those of you unfamiliar with the show (you’re probably out there) – here’s what Leonard Nimoy’s character usually looked like, next to ‘evil Spock.’

If you’ve got to have more on the Star Trek thing, you can read this piece by R.S. Guthrie who sums it up nicely

Back to this reality.

Perhaps because of my film and video training has conditioned me to notice continuity errors such as unbuttoned shirts between takes, or line-of-sight conflicts, I often notice – or think I notice flipped photos. Sometimes the give away is in the background. Sometimes it’s as simple as a T-shirt with backwards content.

A photo might be flipped so that it will read better on the page (or screen).

A sequence might be ‘flipped’ day for night, as in the filming of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Pscycho.”

Or, an image might be flipped artistically, purely for arts sake – possibly even paired with the original in kaleidoscope fashion.

Here’s a example that works well – I see butterflies in the mirrored shot of ice crystals

Here are two shots that probably shouldn’t be flipped – even if advantageous for the layout.

Here’s a shot that’s flipped to no end. It’s a throw-away snap of a bird and nothing is really gained in this instance by flipping it on it’s own – but when paired with the original it starts to become something.

In this split-screen sundial from Five Rivers which I wrote about a few weeks back, the left side retains the natural patina. The right half, which is inverted, looks more like vintage brass. I think it looks better than the original in some ways, because the dreadful mortor applied to deter thieves is less obtrusive. I’m amused at how completely natural the boulder looks on both sides. It seems like there might be a use for this anti-aging effect on old metal in photographs.

My wife, the whitewater guide, first asked if this was a real reflection shot then, after I showed her how it was achieved said “that can’t be real, because the water would be rippled from the waterfall.” Water-smart, she is. She also corrected me on location. It was North Carolina, not Maryland. I knew there was a wedding involved.

It could be interesting to look at and share your ‘mirrored’ images in a future post, and I’d like to pursue it as a way to extend the conversation

I’m going to borrow some guidelines from Leanne Cole, who absolutely sets the bar for this sort of community activity. Full disclosure: While writing this I discovered Cole recently published “Reflections” for her Monochrome Madness blog.

(Madness indeed! Have I any original thoughts?)

I’m blushing at the similarities, but stress I’m interested in manipulated images not naturally occurring reflections.

As such, I invite you to email your manipulated photo(s) to [email protected] when I have enough to proceed, I’ll revisit Mirror:Mirror and share. I’d like to revisit in a week or two. Let’s see if interest grows.

Preparing your photos:

For the sake of my Internet connection and the needs of the web, images should be resized to low-resolution with the largest size 1,000 pixels or less and saved with a new file name (protect your originals!).

Please modify the file name to include your name or blog or website. Include a link to your blog or website in the body of the email.

If you have something great to share, but prefer to remain anonymous in the blogged version, that’s fine too. Just let me know.

Any questions? Drop me a line.

Mirror:Mirror There are more ‘cameras’ out there than ever before, but not every smart-phone slinging shutterbug knows a lot about shot composition.

#Catskills #Inspiration #Photography #PhotoManipulation #Photoshop

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