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tailsrevane · 1 year

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ships i ship the hardest

one of the things i've always loved about tumblr, and a big part of why i'm so happy to be back, is that (and yes i know i'm dating myself here) it feels like a spiritual successor to livejournal. and frankly, i fucking miss livejournal something fierce.

so it seems like a bit of a waste to just reblog stuff & write the same reviews of media i've been writing wherever my online presence has existed for the last half decade or so. it's about time i get into that really cringe bullshit that i always used to post on livejournal. and this seems like exactly the kind of thing I woulda posted on there back in the day.

cringe is dead, long live cringe.

now, just to set some limitations on myself so this post doesn't become totally unreasonable (just reasonably unreasonable), i'm going to make a genuine effort to limit myself to one entry per show/game/whatever (i fully reserve the right to just flagrantly ignore this limitation when i so choose). i will also mostly focus on couples rather than just putting all my favorite characters in a giant polycule. cool? cool.

(cw: some of these characters will have canon age gaps and/or are minors in some canons, just assume there's an element of au-ification or time skipping here. cool? cool.)

sontails

my profile on every social media site used to include "and yet, be it cruel or comforting, this machine unerringly writes sontails angst & fluff. that's what it does." so, yeah.

i also happen to believe that they're in a big ol' gay polycule with shads & knux, and recently i've especially had QUITE A FEW THOUGHTS about shadtails (do i share that fic here? hmm. i'll think about it.)

but yeah. for me, sontails has always been the central relationship of this franchise, even before I shipped it. i got super annoyed when the franchise did dumb shit like when sonic x gave chris almost exclusively emotional beats that should've gone to tails, or when sonic unleashed gave sonic a substitute sidekick (ok tbf i was already a shipper by the time i played unleashed), or just the games increasingly deemphasizing their relationship in general.

but, yeah. probably needless to say, this one is super important to me.

godzilla/mothra

godzilla is a bratty bottom, mothra smacks him around every now & then when he gets out of line. this is just canon.

riker/worf

a lot of this is just the fact that frakes' charisma is totally off the charts, and riker is such an outspokenly openminded dude that you can kind of imagine that literally every single conversation he has with a sentient, physically compatible, appropriately-aged character has a non-zero chance of ending with them in bed. he's like a non-predatory kirk. just total throwback pulp-inspired sexually adventurous explorer dude.

and as worf is canonically his best friend, and we see several instances of them sharing a deep, emotional bond, it's kind of hard NOT to at least see possibilities for shipping here.

what really cemented this for me was when we got to season 2 in our most recent tng rewatch. this is a season that early on features riker being extremely excited to serve aboard a klingon ship as part of an officer exchange (to learn about his boyfriend's culture!), and closes with the scene i screencapped at the top of this entry of riker making worf his first officer during the wargames. also somewhere in there riker joins worf on the holodeck for his klingon calisthenics program. they just do everything together, it's so sweet.

also worf dating troi towards the end of tng & riker having clearly had a fling with dax in thomas riker's ds9 appearance really put the icing on this polycule. it's basically just canon. if picard season 3 doesn't give these two some good moments together it's gonna have some 'splainin' to do.

catdora

yes, yes, i'm being boring and shipping a canon couple. here's the thing, though. i literally started watching this show because i knew the central protagonist & antagonist were canonically gay for each other and i'm sorry but i fucking love that shit.

every time catra captures or beats up adora i feel squirmy. and then catra shows up to princess prom in a messy tux and homoerotically/threateningly dances with adora culminating in dipping her??? and guys, my little gay heart can't take it. it's too yummy. HELP.

but then season 5 happens and there's that agonizing apology AND THE RESCUE??? where a swordless adora nevertheless transforms into she-ra THROUGH SHEER FORCE OF GAY WILL & GAY ANGER to protect her kitten???? and i'm sorry, THIS IS EVERYTHING I'VE EVER WANTED OUT OF MAINSTREAM MEDIA, PUT THIS GAY STUFF DIRECTLY INTO MY VEINS.

so yeah i kinda ship them or whatever.

adiray

yeah, yeah, i’m being boring and shipping another canon couple. but i'm sorry??? they're the first trans/nonbinary characters in the history of star trek??? and they're dating each other??? and they're part of a big queer chosen family???

also the episode where we first meet gray is just one of the best episodes of the whole damn franchise? the scene where all of tal's past hosts embrace adira is just so fucking wonderful. and then once gray is literally brought back from the dead he picks just the most epic, wonderful nurturing life direction.

i love these two so much and i want them to be so happy & safe. protecc at all costs!!

lumity

i mean yeah again they're canon but fuck you i only recently started actually getting canon queer couples in shit i watch!!

but yeah seeing these two bring out the best in each other and just being absolute badasses whenever they're fighting to protect each other and also they're powerful witches, just, YEAH this shit rules. and they're so dang sweet.

flick/cj

i'm not nearly as into cj as i am into my beautiful enby punk/goth lizard boy, but i gotta admit they're hella cute together and i want flick to have all the happiness their little gay scalie heart can contain!!!

karai/leo

this is basically down to the fact that in literally every iteration of the two characters, karai bullies the fuck outta leo, and as someone who used to intensely relate to leo because he’s got “the good kid” syndrome something fierce, obviously i always enjoyed seeing her be all femdommy towards him.

nowadays, i tend to relate to donatello more than leo, but i still really enjoy every iteration of karai playing with her food with leo.

also, honorable mention to karai & april from the 2012 cgi series. the episode where karai beats the shit outta april definitely made me feel feelings the first time i saw it. and every time karai defeats or captures her she always calls her “princess” & is all condescending in general, and it’s just, fuuuuuuuuck, it’s SO gay.

also also obviously i ship basically every combination of the four turtles. i mean, duh.

russian winter

i was shocked when rewatching babylon 5 a few years ago how upfront the show was about the relationship between commander susan ivanova & talia winters. in her last appearance on the show, talia slept with ivanova, and in a later episode when everyone on the crew has to tell a deep, personal secret ivanova says that she loved talia. considering we’re talking about the 90s here, that was pretty fucking explicit.

and yeah, there’s an unfinished fic sitting on one of my harddrives about ivanova rescuing her. maybe i’ll try to get back to that at some point, idk! i haven’t been writing much fic lately.

jake sisko/t’lir

jake sisko/enby vulcan, jake sisko/enby vulcan, JAKE SISKO/ENBY VULCAN.

aragorn/legolas/gimli

it’s that thing where you take a very homosocial book and add expanded roles for some of its female characters to make it less homosocial but you change exactly nothing about how emotionally intimate the homosocial relationships are and also both gay people & people who are more conscious of the fact that gay people exist watch your movie, so like, yeah this is kinda inevitable?

gashir

i don’t even give a shit about bashir when he isn’t interacting with garak. he might as well be a non-character.

i fucking love garak he is such an amazing bratty dom. i love watching him play with his food (his food being bashir).

milippa

i mean, burnham has more feelings about georgiou than she does about any of her actual on-screen romantic partners, whether it’s for her gentle mommy domme prime universe georgiou or her badass mean domme mirror universe georgiou. i like michael with book, don’t get me wrong, it’s just hard for me to get as excited for heterosexual relationships as i do for queer headcanons, especially when one of the two participants is a mommy domme.

jaydick

i’m not super invested in this one, especially since it requires dick to be a service top and i think he’s at his most natural as a bottom, but yeah their dynamic has always been pretty charged to the point that the first gay fic i ever wrote was about these two.

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ltcommanderandroid · 11 months

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Headcanon: Emotions

Rewatched Generations recently (for the first time in a really long time) and it made me question just how the emotion chip functions in relation to what I maintain were preexisting and developing emotions already there.

Without the emotion chip (TNG 1-7)

What Noonien Soong could never have anticipated when he designed Data not to have emotions was that he would have been able to develop them on his own, which is precisely what was occurring throughout Data's time on the Enterprise and, to a lesser extent, before.

Hampering this was that, at many times during his life, particularly early on, Data had been told that as an android he couldn't have emotions. So convinced by this, while still on the Tripoli, he wrote a subroutine which sought to provide other explanations for emotional reactions and to repair circuits if reporting such blatant examples of malfunction. In essence, he dampened his own ability to feel, he internalized people's prejudice towards him. This is why, when clearly demonstrating emotional responses, he will adamantly deny them.

However, in the area of his positronic brain designated for emotional responses and meant to be dormant (essentially, Noonien hadn't removed the section of his mind dedicated for that purpose, just deactivated it, not uploaded any emotional programs, and removed the connector nodes to it), Data's own emotional programs began to form. This was particularly true after he uploaded Lal's memories into his own, as this included the emotional programs she was developing. His automatic self-repair systems began to form connections to that isolated part of his mind, increasingly allowing emotional responses. However, they tended to be quiet and elicit no physiological responses, only behavioral ones.

With the emotion chip (Post-Series, Canon)

The emotion chip, in many ways, functioned exactly the same way as the forming circuits. It provided a connection to that isolated part of his mind and was designed, as Noonien had assumed that he would not have any emotional reactions, to inflict emotional context onto given situations and input emotion programs into those supposedly empty processing centers. However, it actually did more harm than good.

The proximity of the chip to the unexpected circuits were what caused it to overload and fuse. Eventually, the chip burnt out the existing circuits and Data was left only with the imposed emotions of the chip, which often did not access the emotional programs he had already developed correctly as they were designed to interact not with those but with the ones which had come 'pre-installed' on the chip. In many cases, both the existing emotions and the chip's ones were activated at once. The combination and, in some cases, contradiction, of emotional responses resulted in those emotions often being overwhelming and difficult to manage.

With the new positronic brain (Picard S3)

The upload of Data's consciousness included the emotional programs he'd unknowingly been developing, but separated him from the damage done by the emotion chip. When placed into the Daystrom android, which had emotional circuits already included, he was able to, for the first time, access those emotions without 'outside' influence of the emotion chip. As those programs had, in some cases, been left half-formed or partially overwritten by the chip's programs, the integration of Lore served to patch the code and complete him. It was, even though Data was not solely Data any longer, truly the first time he'd felt emotions that were truly his own.

With the emotion circuits (Post Series, AU)

In this verse, the emotion chip is never installed, which results in a dramatic shift to many of the events of the films, most notably that Data's original body is not destroyed and he goes on to be First Officer alongside Captain Riker.

Given the opportunity to continue to develop those delicate circuits to his emotional center, Data begins to become aware of its presence. He eventually decides to delete the long-standing program of denial and, in doing so, reworks his responses from 'I cannot feel' to 'I believe that I feel'. Unlike canon, where the emotion chip provides false physiological responses, the emotion circuits begin to connect emotions to his existing physical responses and sensors.

While more muted, these responses are more integrated and, in many instances, easier for him to process. For instance, he has learned that fear is a sudden shift of all processors to vital systems and danger assessment programs, which can often result in slight overheating of these sections. Happiness and pleasure are a chorus of positive responses from all systems. Frustration is an overactivity of processors... and something he feels whenever attempting to achieve humor, for he has yet to realize that what he finds funny isn't the same as what other people would. Some, alternatively, are almost entirely based in mental reactions and elicit no physical response at all... yet.

#headcanon #Life is What You Make of It: Headcanon

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fortheloveoflatinum · 1 year

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Spoiler-Free Review of Star Trek: Picard - Season 3 (from what I've seen so far)

First of all, this is a spoiler-free review of Star Trek: Picard because I have no spoilers to give you! I haven't watched a single episode, but I do watch three to four of the 'Star Trek: Picard: Spoilers for Such and Such an Episode' videos that come up in my recommended feed every Thursday. So I haven't seen a whole lot of it, but let me tell you - I've seen enough.

There will be slight spoilers for earlier seasons of Picard; this could not be avoided.

Second of all, allow me to apologize in advance if you've liked ST: Picard from the start. Or at all. This is probably not the post for you. You've been warned. Now on to the review.

⭐️⭐️/5 (Two stars out of five)

Why? Let me tell you why.

I wanted so badly to like Star Trek: Picard. From day one, I mean, not just now that it's nearly finished and people are still in bed avoiding spoilers for the episode that aired today, which happens to be the penultimate episode if I'm correct, which I might not be because I haven't been following along that closely.

I wanted to like it so badly it hurt. It was one of the only Treks I hadn't watched, being new. And I loved TNG. BTW: there *will* indeed be TNG spoilers but you should be fine so long as you've paid the cable bill sometime in the last 30 years.

TNG was, as most of us agree, utterly amazing!

And that final episode. Where Picard goes to his officers, who are in the midst of a poker game - and they all look vaguely uncomfortable for a moment - and he asks to join them. They relax. Someone, probably Riker, pulls up a chair from him. And Picard looks around the table and he says, "I should have done this a long time ago."

And I was perfectly content to imagine them sailing off into the light of others days. I didn't want a sequel. Especially a sequel where Picard has learned nothing from that seminal moment in his existence. I now read the scene completely different.

The Jean-Luc of ST: Picard never went back to play poker with his crew. Or maybe he did, for a while, but slowly, he lost touch with his bridge crew. They were reassigned. First Worf, then others. And then he lost Data, too. He became bitter and angry and he doesn't even realize until Season 3 that he isn't alone. That he was never alone.

The Jean-Luc Picard I knew and loved from TNG learned that lesson in "All Good Things..." but the Jean-Luc Picard I've seen on my screen recently took three bloody seasons to even come to a modicum of his senses.

Now, there are several redeeming graces in this season. The character dynamics, for one, are very well-plotted and well-played. There's a lot of tension here, and it actually works, unlike in earlier seasons.

And no one can deny that we have a cast of stellar actors who in all likelihood deserved a better show to act out.

Ah, and the nostalgia~! I wasn't ready to watch my heroes grow up and grow old, but well, here we are.

But. And this is a big but. We were promised two things by Star Trek: Picard, by virtue of the very name. We were promised a Trek. And Trek is dark, at times. Trek can be grungy. Trek can grapple with the horrors of conquest and colonialism and cosmic villains. But it's not hopeless, and it doesn't rob the characters of their agency. There's always something that can be done. Some way to pick oneself up and power through. Hopeless is the antithesis of Trek. And a lack of hope is exactly what I see Star Trek: Picard. The entire world - no, the entire galaxy - has lost hope.

We were also promised 'Picard,' but the character we get is unrecognizable as such. He was a realist who used to live in a world of eternal optimism. Now, he's a pessimist who lives in a galaxy where people are afraid of the unknown, immortal cosmic entities can die, and 'the final frontier' has once more become that of the human mind, which is ultimately limited.

Star Trek: Picard boldly went where very few people wanted to see it travel. And it went not with a bang, but with a whimper.

#star trek picard #picard #picard season 3 #st picard #star trek picard spoilers #star trek spoilers #just in case

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hardynwa · 7 months

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Why I didn’t accept Tupac’s proposal – Jada Pinkett Smith

American actress and talk show host, Jada Pinkett Smith, said late rapper, Tupac Shakur, proposed to her while he was in jail but she declined. She said the late hip-hop star proposed to her because of the condition he was in then. Pinkett explained that she didn’t accept his proposal because she didn’t need to be his wife before she could help him. Despite describing the late rapper as her “soulmate”, the thespian maintained that they were not maritally compatible. She spoke on the latest episode of the Showtime Basketball podcast. Pinkett said, “2Pac proposed to me while he was in jail. I talk about this in my book when I go to see him in Rikers. When I wrote about that in the book and when I had to speak my words for the audio version of the book. That was probably one of the most painful parts. “Seeing him there, the condition that he was in, and having to leave him there. He was in bad shape. And so, when he asked me to marry him, he was at Rikers. And I knew at that time that he needed somebody to spend time with him. Which I was going to do anyway. He doesn’t have to marry me to do time with me.” She added that they would have divorced in no time if they had gotten married. DAILY POST recalls that Pinkett recently disclosed in a clip from her forthcoming NBC News primetime special with Hoda Kotb that she and her husband, Will Smith, have been living separately since 2016. “It was not a divorce on paper but it was a divorce. Since 2016, we have been living apart,” Pinkett said. Read the full article

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tracinginwardinvestigation · 9 months

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Note #43: Perry Mason’s The Case of the Lucky Legs: Battle over the authoritative narrative

(This post contain full spoilers of the novel)

I just finished Perry Mason’s The Case of the Lucky Legs recently, and it has been a fun read! Overall, the culprit, Bradbury, is fairly easy to guess early on just by examining meta-clues. For one, he is a 50-years-old “sugar daddy” who wants to help a young, beautiful girl half his age because he is in love with her; that alone is discriminatory enough. And two, in one of the early scenes, he forgets to bring a crucial evidence to Mason. In a clue-puzzle story where the implicit rules often forbid coincidence or chance from having a place in mystery, the fact that a character forgets about something is significant, which proves to be true when Bradbury’s forgetful moment becomes one of the clues Mason uses to prove that Bradbury is the culprit. Nevertheless, for being an easy culprit to figure out, he makes for a formidable opponent against Mason with his cunning capacity to establish narrative on the go.

In detective fiction, detective figures’ most distinct role is that they are often the only character that can theorize the true narrative of the crime: who committed it, why it happened, and how it unfolded. Generally, this process of discovery tends to operate under the assumption that the crime’s true narrative is usually left untouched by the culprit, only waiting to be discovered. However, this is not the case in Lucky Legs. Throughout the course of the novel, just as Mason is trying to discover the real narrative behind the death of Frank Patton, Bradbury is also trying to create a new falsified narrative by making additional false clues post-crime to hide his involvement. This active involvement is hinted at by how often Bradbury refers to himself as “a fighter”: he is not a passive culprit who is just waiting for the detective to find him; he can fight back. Thus, not only does Mason have to follow the traditional detective role in discovering the true narrative of the crime, but he also has to fight against Bradbury’s ongoing narrative in the present as well. What is usually a one-sided conflict turns into a duel where both of them are trying to establish their own narratives while feeding each other false clues.

This kind of conflict also leads to a change in the typical revelation scene of a detective story where the detective reveals the truth to a third party. Instead of having Mason spill out the revelation in an explanatory manner to the third party consisting of Riker, Johnson, and Detective Sergeant O'Malley, Chapter XVIII forces Perry Mason to have a final confrontation with Bradbury where he has to prove his version of the narrative is more credible than Bradbury’s version. As someone who enjoys reading debates between characters, this chapter makes for a fun read! In the end, the confrontation between the two fighters is resolved not with an action-packed chase scene, but with simply a logical trap that Mason lays for Bradbury: “I warned you, Bradbury, … not to lie about that telephone call to Marjorie Clune. I told you that it would be a confession of guilt" (Chapter XVIII). Where Bradbury fails, however, is that he is not a storyteller, only a bad bluffer. Once Bradbury is unable to dig out of his own lies, his falsified narrative falls apart and the victory is handed to Mason, who manages to provide a consistent narrative. As Mason says to counter Bradbury’s recurring imagery: “I, too, am a fighter”; the detective figure is capable of not just discovering true narrative, but also resisting against false narrative. To put it in another way, the process of discovering the truth requires the detective figure to prove the credibility of his interpretation AND defend it from other interpretations.

Hmmm, I wonder how to dig deeper into this idea of battling for authoritative narrative… I do find it interesting that the presence of the third party is vital for the revelation scene, not just in this novel but also in detective fiction in general. Is the concept of getting recognized in public or by a neutral party that makes a narrative authoritative? What could have happened if Mason perished before he could tell the truth? Would Bradbury’s full-of-hole narrative take over as authoritative because he is the only one left to tell the truth, something along the line “dead man tells no tale”? What is the bigger idea at stake here? If I want to look deeper, I think I should reread Danganronpa, a series that is well known for taking this debate idea to an extreme.

#tracingtheculpritstrack #tct_notes #tct_impression #tct_spoiler #tct_detectivefic

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jonathanarcher · 2 years

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Number One for Picard and number one in my heart

#tng #will riker #video #my video edits #this is why I have been riker posting recently #I hope you like this terrible song. I thought it was funny

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hybistrophile · 2 years

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Cletus Kasady | Carnage Imagine: Post-Symbiosis Edition

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

🔪 🔪 🔪

• you were watching a breaking news bulletin when you got the call you've been anticipating and dreading all at once; it was the NYPD detective who tracked down and arrested your kidnapper, former employee, and ex-lover;

• the fantastical report of his jailbreak turned out to be more fact than fiction; after serving only 2 years out of his 11 life sentences on Rikers Island, Cletus Cortland Kasady, the bloodiest serial killer New York City has known in decades, was back on the streets

• "I suggest you pack light," the detective continued; "a police car is on its way to pick you up. are you at Hatchet's or at the apartment?"

• "you've been at home all evening," you look over at Barry, who's already filling a duffle bag with whatever clothes of yours he can find; "I won't be needing my summer wear, babe," you call to him, calmly; so calmly, it chills you; "oh, and, Mrs. Hatchet," you hear the detective say through the speaker; "did you check your inbox? has he sent you anything recently?"

• Barry was bringing the bags into the hallway when you were being asked the question; "your inbox? that son of a bitch's been writing to you?"; "digital inbox," you answer quickly; too quickly; "can't you check my inbox for yourself, detective? why are you asking me questions you already know the answers to?"; "of course, of course. I'll leave you to pack. the car should be there in ten;"

• Barry wouldn't drop the subject, not even in the company of the officers driving you to safety; and you couldn't blame him for it; at least, you shouldn't;

• 2 years ago, he had been the one to welcome you when the NYPD brought you back to the crime scene your butchery had become; he was the one to give up on his California dreams to be with you in NYC during the trail of Cletus Kasady; and, most importantly, he was the one to give you a home again;

• fiddling with the wedding ring that's never fit your finger, you finally explained yourself to him: "there's more bodies," you started; "more grieving families; when he asked to speak to me, detective Mulligan hoped it would lead to confessions, locations, cases being closed; Barry, I should've told you;"

• "I'll tell you what you shouldn't have done," he kept his voice down, but you both knew he had every right to raise it; "you shouldn't have accepted to be pen pals with my father's, your father-in-law's murderer; hell, with a dozen other people's murderer; with your fucking r-"

• "he never touched me," you raised your voice, not caring that the officers could hear your domestic dispute; "he never touched me without my permission. ever;" "what a fucking dreamboat;" he hissed; "your bad romance might've gotten you a New York Times Bestseller, but me and your therapist both agree; you need to let it go; it's killing you; he's killing you;"

• you conceded, because he was right; he's always been right; however, as you quietly watched your husband hush the fitful baby with flaming curls in his arms, you silently concluded that you couldn't let go; Cletus Kasady was a part of you, now and forever;

• as soon as you boarded the flight to San Francisco, you covered the shock of red hair with a calming blue hat; you've already been spotted by what you assumed were readers of your autobiography or true crime enthusiasts, and you didn't want your son to end up on social media;

• "once we're all settled in, Daddy's taking you to meet Mickey," Barry began baby-talking and you finally stopped fidgeting with your wedding band; it's during times like these, during the pantomime of domestic bliss, that you feel like it fits; "that's right, Clive; we're going to Disneyland;" the boy's eyes were bright as he was bounced on your husband's leg and, for once, married life felt right; it fit;

• the feeling of being unfit sunk back into your stomach as soon as Barry started snoring; you wrote about him being your savior and your readers slurped it up; the murder of his father and the subsequent death of his mother had the two of you finding family in each other; the business he inherited helped the two of you build a new life; and the birth of your son prompted the two of you to make a home for all three

• Barry would talk about his great grandmother, or great aunt, or some other distand female relative having been a redhead, but he knew better; both of you did; actually, all three of you did; after all, in Cletus Kasady's first e-mail, he asked about Clive; or, as he called him, Cain

• Sweet thing,

It's been ten months since I tasted you. They served me strawberry pudding today, the first sweet treat I had since you fed me your blood. It didn't even come close. Nothing ever did, or ever will.

It's been ten months, so little Cain must be feeding on you as I type this. I know your tit is just as sweet and I know he's getting spoiled. Good. Spoil him. Let him have all the mother's milk he can stomach. He is his father's son, so I just know he has a sweet tooth.

Spoil him rotten and give him a kiss from Daddy, won't you?

Yours,

Cletus.

• re-reading his words wasn't what your therapist or your husband would've recommended, but your therapist was back in NYC and Barry was asleep beside you, so you read over his words again and again; their hunger fed your soul and devoured the memories of the monster you had come to know two years ago

• 2 years ago, Cletus Kasady was your employee; more than that, he was your lover; on the evening of what would've been your first date, a couple of police officers walked into your butcher shop and threatened him with an outstanding arrest warrant;

• "this must be a mistake," you said to the policemen; "this must be a mistake," you protested as they ordered you to lock the entrance and escort them to the back; "this is a mistake," you shouted as they approached your employee with handcuffs;

• "this can't be happening," you gasped when Cletus shoved the two of them in the cold room and locked the door; "this can't be happening," you protested when he grabbed your hand and pulled you through the emergency EXIT; "this isn't happening," you screamed as he shoved you in the back of the refrigerator van

• oh, but it was happening; you were being kidnapped by your employee, your lover; and, while you didn't know it at the time, mind frozen in fear and body frozen in place, you were being kidnapped by the bloodiest serial killer New York has known in decades;

• it was night when the van stopped and you were scooped out of the corner you'd been stuck in, cold and blind; "turned it off, but it's still chilly back here, huh?" he said as casually as ever, carrying you past hanging cow carcasses and the delivery driver's corpse; "don't worry, boss lady," he rubbed ar your back; "I got us a new ride. it has heated seats and everything;"

• the new car did indeed have heated seats, but the driver's was stained with fresh, warm blood; its current driver didn't mind, however, and the two of you were off as soon as he put on your seatbelt for you;

• "Cletus," you spoke softly through a tight throat; you'd been screaming his name in the back of a moving freezer, so you've never had it feel this sore before; "why are we doing this?"

• what he told you next sounded like a dream; or, rather, a nightmare; Mr. Hatchet hadn't been missing, and he's been in your cold room the entire time; what was left of him, at least; the morning he disappeared, he'd come to see you, but was greeted by Cletus instead; apparently, he was a pig in everything but appearance;

• "fuckin' hog thought we were in a lockerroom; he kept on askin' questions 'bout you, about you bein' late to work, 'bout how cock hungry you outta be," he spit all this out like fire, fogging up the car windows; and you shivered, but not from the cold still stuck in the marrow of your bones; "so I gutted 'im; then, I ripped out his heart; know that pig heart I cooked for you? it was that pig's;"

• his words were as red as the poem he wrote in Mr. Hatchet's blood; red like his ire; red like his lust; red like his love; and, worst of all, as red as the flame that burned in your womb when his hand, just as red, squeezed your thigh; and you shivered;

• the same red had colored the rest of this dream; or nightmare; red was the rising sun when you awoke, still strapped with the seatbelt and riding shotgun; red was the cabin door he kicked open and carried you in his arms through; red was the coffee cup he brought to you while you soaked in the tub; red was the bathing water after he scrubbed the both of you clean, and red was his hair between you thighs as he ate you alive;

• "sweet," he spoke against your lips as he laid on them a vertical kiss; "can't get enough of this sweet pussy," he shoved his tongue between your folds and they opened up for him like flower petals; "can't get enough of you, sweet thing;"

• when he pulled you further down the old wooden bed, he also pulled you down further into this dream; or nightmare; and when he wedged himself between your trembling thighs, you wrapped your legs around his waist, pulling him down with you; "Cletus," you called out to him, grasping at his shoulders as if he'd slip between your fingers; but he was right there, burrowed inside you and closer than ever; "Cletus, don't wake me," you begged, burying your face in the crook of his neck;

• "this is real life, baby, and it ain't nothin' but red blood and white pain," he chuckled, his cock crammed deep in your cunt and teeth tracing your throat; "and this is the real me," he growled, grasping your hips so tight they hurt and sinking his teeth in so deep he draws blood; "this is the real Cletus Kasady," he snarls, teeth stained red, eyes blown black, and hips jerking as he comes; his tongue lapped up the blood trickling out as his cum stained you from the inside out

• "but I'm all yours," he rises to sit back on his haunches and look upon his work: the red collar around your throat and the white filling in your cunt; "and, now," he spread his palm across your entire stomach, "you're all mine;"

• these vows were your lifeline and you'd float on the raft he build from his words for the following week; when you felt like drowning, tears choking you as you struggled to face yourself in the mirror, he whisper those words and pull you back to the surface;

• when you questioned his motives, interrogating your own feelings, as much as his, he'd swear that he's been doing your bidding the entire time; "why did the delivery driver have to die Cletus? and the car owner? what about him?"; "you hired me to slaughter, didn't you?"

• the wood log cabin was your raft, and Cletus saw to it being as homey as possible; he wouldn't let you raise a finger, cleaning and cleaning for the two of you; he'd keep you safe, reinforcing the doors and locking them;

• he'd always lock them; when he'd taken you to the lake on a particularly hot day, he locked the door; you've never been skinny dipping before, never laid on a lake bank in the sun to dry, never got to mate naked in the woods like an animal; as you fled him, it wasn't to get away; where would you go anyway? the cabin with the red door was now your home and the man with red hair and blood under his fingernails was now your world; you fled him only to be chased down; he hunted you like a doe and fucked you like a rabbit; you couldn't get the stink of him off of you, but you didn't want to; how else was the red fox supposed to track you?

• he'd always lock the doors; even as he went out for supplies, he'd locked them; he'd lock your bedroom door, too; "it's for your own safetly, baby," he'd kiss your forehead farewell; you wanted to believe it so badly

• you wouldn't be awakened for another week, as he kept your head stuffed with dreams and your cunt stuffed with his cum; when you did wake up, it was by the NYPD; it was a rude awakening, too; in the middle of the night, in the middle of another mating session;

• the reinforcements didn't hold, and your red front door was kicked down; Cletus couldn't hold his own, not while his only weapon was his red-stained teeth; and he couldn't hold onto you either; "I love you," he sunk into the wetness of your blood; "I love you," he sunk into the warmth of your womb; "I love you," he shouted as he was being apprehended;

• by the time you arrived back in NYC, you noticed how deep the handcuffs he used to tie your hand to the bedpost had cut into your wrist; you also noticed how much it hurt; all the bruises you've begged him for did; and, what hurt the most, what cut the deepest, was reality; it hadn't been a dream or a nightmare; it had all been real and it had all been red;

• 2 years later, you are being shaken awake by your husband, Barry Hatchet, just as you land in San Francisco; he and your son, Clive Hatchet, look concerned; "you've been talking in your sleep again, babe," he dabbled the sweat off of your forehead; "have you been taking your pills?"

• since he was the one who threw the contents of your medicine cabinet into your purse, you assumed that he already knew; still, you answered him: "might've missed a day;" as expected, he didn't believe you;"

• for the next week, you had the excuse of having missed a day; for the next week, reality blurred with fantasy and the present, with the past; your mind was as fogged as the city skyline, so Barry had to take the remote from you; "babe, we agreed not to watch the news;"

• "can I get have some coffee?" you looked over to the closet door which was slightly ajar; from where you were laid back on the bed, you spotted a red dress; you had bought it back in New York, on a whim; or during another pills-free day;

• "it's almost dinner time," he reminded you; the baby also brought attention to this, cupping the breast his head lay against and cooing up at you; "chocolate milk then?" you made a compromise and so did Barry; "don't think we have cocoa, but I can go out and get some;" "I'll go get some, as soon as I'm done nursing;" sinking further into the pillows, you pull out the breast he ordered; "Cain says dinner time is now;"

• you hadn't realized what you just said, but your husband and the self-proclaimed father of your child sure did; "Cain?" he knitted his brows together; "his name is Clive, babe," you quickly corrected him; "I know that, but do you know that?"

• you laughed, and, even as his forehead smoothened, you knew you weren't fooling him; but you hoped that what you had in mind would; "I know you haven't seen me in my new dress yet," your voice was playful, but you weren't baby-talking; Barry allowed himself to be fooled, if only to have his wife seduce him again;

• it's been a while since you used the bed for anything but sleeping; "I'm gonna go out, get us some steaming hot cocoa, and I'm gonna be wearing that steaming hot number;" "alright, alright," he laid next to you; "cool off there, miss; little ears are listening;" then, he laid a kiss on your lips; after, the both of you laid a kiss on Clive's little red head;

• that night, while you were out, you took in the city lights for the first time; you even splashed into a puddle just because it shimmered red; you imagined this is what the world looked like through infant son's eyes; it was all colors; flushing your pills away for a week straight felt like the right decision;

• when you made it to the coffee shop the taxicab drove past on the morning of your arrival, you were free to undo the buttons of your coat and show off your red dress; as expected, it did turn a few heads; but there's only one man's head you cared about turning and he was in your new home, tucking your baby into bed; or was he back in your old home, in NYC, painting the town red?

• "you okay, ma'am?" asked the barista; "I'm good," you nodded, not fully comprehending why she was now sitting next to you at a table; you didn't even begin to comprehend why both the drinks you orders to go were now cold; "we're closing in half an hour," she smiled, and you knew how difficult that was for customer service workers; "can I get you another drink, or...?"; "no, I'm good," you lied, launching yourself off the chair and startling the girl; then, as you checked your phone for the time, you saw that it was dead; "I'm good, I just...just lost track of time, I guess;"

• "do you live far from here?" she asked as you buttoned up your coat; "I could call you an Uber;" you turned her down by thanking her, left the shop without even checking the hour of the night; as a woman, she knew how dangerous it was for the likes of you out there; not only were you alone, you were also wearing the color that drove all men mad; or, at least one man; and it just so happened to be your man;

• "damn it," you spit out, startling the group of young boys loitering on the steps of a skate shop; "damn it, woman," you berated yourself as the boys laughed at the crazy bitch running down the street; "you were supposed to be remembering, not forgetting," you whispered to yourself, all of a sudden aware of just how man you must've seemed;

• 2 weeks earlier, after your arrival in San Francisco, your therapist had warmed detective Mulligan about your recent refusal to take the pills; "your doctor says you'd just be putting yourself in danger, but, with supervision, I think we have a chance," he spoke through the speaker; "I won't lie to you, Mrs. Hatchet; we're desperate; he's been leaving blood trails and blood graffiti and we still have no idea where he is; if you can remember something, anything call me;"

• 2 week later, as you skipped the puddle you were all too happy to jump in before, you swore you would stay on your medication; no worth memories are trading in for reality; and the reality was that you were Cletus Kasady's victim, not his other;

• Sweet thing,

My new roomie can't shut up about his 'other'. He's trying to convince me that this 'other' is an ET who bonds with him, mind, body, and soul. He's trying to say that while they are together, they are Venom. You remember that weirdo the friendly, neighborhood Spider-dude was trading punches with, right? That was Eddie Brock and he's my roomie now.

When he isn't talking about his other, he's asking me about mine. He's read your book and wants my side of the story.

And I don't want you to worry, baby girl. I won't tell Brock, or any of your fans, how you lied about us. I won't tell him about my Other, or about the two of us together being the 'Carnage' in the title.

P.S. Give Cain a kiss from Daddy, won't you?

Yours,

Cletus

• as soon as you reached it, your saw that your door was slightly ajar; you were ready to dismiss this anomaly as you have forgotten to close it on your way out; stepping into the apartment, you called to him; "Barry, babe, my phone died;" you take off your boots, then your coat, and then you take the drinks into the kitchen; "I wasn't ignoring your calls," you popped his drink into the microwave;

• you got no answer from your husband, but you did get one from your son; "oh, baby," you softened your voice on your way to his room; the sound of you stomping all over the place must've woken him up; when you reached his room, you saw that his door was also ajar; and also painted with streaks of red;

• you weren't so willing to dismiss this disturbance as your doing; but you were a butcher's daughter, and you were used to the smell and sight of a slaughter; so, when you walked into your son's room and spotted the bleeding body of your husband, the red of it staining the blue carpet, you could stomach it; you had to stomach it, for the sake of the survivor; for the sake of your son;

• through the sound of your panicked panting, you heard him crying; and, through the tears forming in your eyes, you saw him in the arms of the monster nobody has managed to get a good photo of, and you saw that it was red;

• "no, no, no," you begged the beast who was cradling Clive in its long limbs; "please," you reached out your own limbs; " please don't hurt him," you let the tears fall freely, feeling like you were drowning, like you were dreaming; but it wasn't a dream, or a nightmare; it was real; so, you sought out empathy in its big, white, and empty eyes; "he's...he's just a baby;"

• "he's not just a baby," it spoke, softer than you would've supposed a creature made of slaughter could've; its tone was low, and it almost hissed when it spoke again; "he's my baby;"

• as its eyes sunk back into its head, it revealed a second, smaller pair, but just as empty; they were green and a familiar red; "no," you collapsed in front of it; in front of him; you were on your hands and knees in front of him; Cletus Kasady, your former employee, ex-lover, and the bloodiest serial killer New York has known in decades; and the father of your child;

• "hi, honey," he cradled his baby boy in his arms, trying and failing to calm him; "I'm finally home;"

#Cletus Kasady #Carnage #Cletus Kasady x Reader #Carnage x Reader #Cletus Kasady x You #Carnage x You #This qualifies as a darkfic #though I'd argue it's always been one

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Star Trek Doctors, Ranked By Crankiness

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This Star Trek: Lower Decks article contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 3.

In the very first filmed episode of Star Trek: The Original Series — “The Cage” — Captain Pike drinks itty-bitty martinis with the Enterprise’s chief physician, Dr. Boyce (John Hoyt.) And although it remains to be seen if we’ll be seeing Boyce in Stranger New Worlds, the tradition of the cranky — but wise — Starfleet doctor was started right there. After Boyce and Piper, Star Trek set the standard for cranky, wise-cracking doctors in space with the introduction of Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy; as played by the wonderful DeForest Kelley.

While Kelley passed away in 1999, the spirit of Bones lives on. Not just in the Karl Urban version of Bones in the reboot films, but also in the foul-mouthed, utterly hilarious Catian medical officer, Dr. T’ana (Gillian Vigman) on Star Trek: Lower Decks. In the most recent episode of Lower Decks, “Mugato, Gumato,” T’ana demonstrated some next-level crankiness, as she avoided her own physical examination, something Bones had to prod Kirk to do all the time, including his first-ever filmed episode, “The Corbomite Maneuver.” But is Bones actually still the crankiest Star Trek doctor? Has T’ana dethroned him?

The only way to find out is to rank all the Trek doctors from least cranky to most cranky, and find out who is the hardest to please, and as a result, possibly the doctor we paradoxically love the most.

(Note: With some exceptions, we’ve excluded characters who were Starfleet doctors who weren’t regular recurring characters. This is why Dr. Selar from TNG isn’t on this list, even though as a Vulcan, she’s inherently cranky.)

10. Dr. Tracy Pollard (Discovery)

The least cranky doctor on this list is easily Dr. Pollard on Star Trek: Discovery. This woman even puts up with Georgiou, a dictator from an alternate universe who wants to die. As played by the fantastic Raven Daudu, it’s very possible Dr. Pollard is the best doctor on this list. She also may never be recognized as such, because she’s really even-tempered, kind and way too busy saving people’s lives to complain.

9. Dr. Phlox (Enterprise)

Phlox isn’t just one of the nicest Star Trek doctors ever, he’s actively one of the most likable characters in the entire franchise. Played charmingly by John Billingsley in all four seasons of Enterprise, Phlox projected a childlike curiosity of the universe combined with a ton of knowledge and wisdom of having seen more of the quadrant than most of the other characters. Phlox is also, perhaps, the most tolerant Star Trek doctor, insofar as he never pushes his cultural views onto others, even though, in some episodes, like “Dear, Doctor,” he’s torn apart by his own set of ethics. Oh, and he saved the life of Porthos, Captain Archer’s dog in “A Night in Skybay,” AND while doing so, managed to make a joke that Porthos would develop lizard-chameleon powers in the process. That’s bedside manner!

8. Dr. Hugh Culber (Discovery)

Who doesn’t love this guy? Since Season 1 of Discovery, Culber has put up with shit from everyone, and very rarely has he snapped. Yes, in Season 2, after coming back from the dead, he was pretty pissed off at everyone. But, as he said in Season 3, “My murderer and I are good now!” In episodes like “Su’kal” and “Die Trying,” Culber is one of the kindest and simultaneously most practical Star Trek doctors of all time. He doesn’t lie to anyone, but he does know how to make you feel better. Out of all the Discovery regulars, Culber feels cut from the same cloth as someone like Deanna Troi or Guinan. He’s smart, insightful and empathic.

7. Dr. Beverly Crusher (The Next Generation)

Crusher certainly has the ability to sass her patients, but she’s basically a nice person. Whenever Crusher freaks out on anyone it’s always because she’s either in love with a ghost that lives in a candle (“Sub Rosa”), her feelings are being manipulated by a nearby Vulcan (“Sarek”) or Jean-Luc is messing around with her emotions. (All of The Next Generation.) Crusher suffers the fools she works with, but she does it with grace and dignity. That said, you kind of know she hates certain people in certain moments, which can probably just be attributed to Gates McFadden’s flawless talent.

6. Emil, Rios’ EMH (Star Trek: Picard)

Rios has a lot of cranky holograms in Season 1 of Picard, but his medical hologram is not even close to being the most difficult of all of them. In fact, he’s pretty cordigal, and reasonable, which is odd considering the situation he’s in. Clearly, among the holograms on the La Sirena, Emil is one of the most well-adjusted. You wouldn’t want him as your primary physician in real life, and because he’s basically connected to the personality of Rios the possibility that he might become super cranky is certainly there. But, so far, he’s right on the line.

5. Dr. Julian Bashir (Deep Space Nine)

Okay, we’re crossing over into slightly cranky territory here. Bashir began his journey on DS9 as a cocky jerk, which isn’t the same as the kind of crankiness we’re talking about here. The Bones-style of crankiness is the kind of crank we can get down with. Bashir’s off-putting personality was — at first — not something anyone admired or liked. That said, as Alexander Siddig evolved the character, Bashir didn’t become more cranky, but he did develop righteous indignation. When Bashir got his indignant buzz on in episodes like “Past Tense,” or “Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges,” he was really at his best. To be clear, Bashir isn’t a nice doctor, and this is where we cross the threshold.

4. Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy (Star Trek: The Original Series)

Although he set the standard for crankiness, in the entire canon of Trek, Bones is somehow not the most cranky Star Trek doctor. The reasons for this are threefold: First, there are three characters on this list who are much crankiner than him. Second, Bones is actually a sweetheart deep down, and demonstrates his love for Spock over and over again, despite his terrible, terrible comments. Finally, Bones can’t be the crankiest doctor on this list because Dax heavily implied in “Trials and Tribble-ations,” that one of her previous hosts — Emony Dax — totally hooked-up with him. For some reason, this detail makes it seem like he’s a lot nicer than he comes across. And again, The Search for Spock exists.

3. Dr. Katherine Pulaski (The Next Generation)

In 1988, Pulaski would have easily been number one on this list. She mispronounces Data’s name, doesn’t feel bad about it, and proceeds to kind of make everyone else on the ship feel awful. Pulaski is a pretty good doctor, and not remotely a bad person, but she’s pretty damn cranky. The brilliant Diane Muldar plays Pulaski like someone who has been transferred to a job she doesn’t really want, which is sort of amazing considering at this point, Roddenberry didn’t want Starfleet characters to have interpersonal conflict.

In “The Icarus Factor ” (which the latest Lower Decks also referenced) Pulaski also thinks Riker’s deadbeat dad is hot and tells Riker this point blank when he’s reminding her that his dad is the worst. This alone gives her deeply strange tastes, and makes her super cranky and weird AF. Don’t mess with Pulaksi! If you talk about how your friend is mean, she might throw it in your face and say she likes them better than you anyway!

2. Dr. T’ana (Lower Decks)

Okay. So Dr. T’ana is almost the most cranky Star Trek doctor ever. Combining the best qualities of Bones, with that weird go-shove-it-vibe from Pulaksi, Gillian Vigman turns it all up to 11. It helps that T’ana is a cat-person (I.E. the Catian species) but her crankiness is more than that. She’s kind of sadistic, and isn’t afraid to use boulders to knock “strange energies” out of people when the time comes. T’ana is sort of burnt-out, but also, is kind of unflappable too. Like, you get the sense that she’s sick of all this space sickness stuff, but she’s got too much proffensionality to say she can’t do something. The secret crankiness of Dr. T’ana is that seemingly she can fix anything that is wrong with anyone. But, she’s going to make fun of them for it, and get pissed off if you look at her the wrong way.

That said, like Bones, you get the sense that none of it is personal. Which is what makes her Starfleet all the way.

1. The EMH (Voyager)

Robert Picardo’s Emergency Medical Hologram is the best cranky Star Trek doctor. There are many reasons for this. His arrogance. His constant complaining. The fact that he has good reason to complain, considering he’s a hologram that has to do other people’s bidding. But the reason that tops all other reasons is the way that Picardo can make his crankiness clear with the simple inflection of his voice. It’s not what he says. It’s how he says it. And if you need proof, all you have to do is go back to the very first Voyager episode ever, “Caretaker.” When the Doctor has to start triage on the wounded crew, he asks somebody to hand him a tricorder. He looks at it, and realizes it’s not the right kind of tricorder, and hands it back and says “medical tricorder.” The amount of venom in this comment cannot be communicated in print. The way Picardo says medical tricorder is so dismissive and frustrated, that he basically created a new level of crankiness with one single utterance.

T’ana may be creeping up the EMH from behind, but this cranky crown will be hard to swipe. Especially from a hologram.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

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musingsofsaturn · 4 years

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Just Imzadi Things™

Fandom: Star Trek The Next Generation

Ship: The Enterprise Will Riker/Deanna Troi (no I’m not going to stop making that joke)

Rating: T because adult themes are lightly suggested. There are also mentions of death.

Words: 2,100+

Summary: Five things that become perfectly normal when you share a telepathic bond with someone you’re pretending not to be in love with.

Author’s Note: Okay so I read this post from trekkingamongststars and loved the implications of them anticipating each other’s needs and just... the accidental intimacy of their bond? So I was thinking about all the lovely little ‘I’m in love with you but trying not to be because I value our friendship’ things that probably happened as Deanna and Will reconnected. Anyways I am just so soft for these two so I hope you enjoy this fluffy little collection of Just Imzadi Things™.

~ Saturn

O N E

Betazed was a warm planet. Its climate was almost tropical, and the air was often thick with hot humidity that nurtured the vibrant plants of the gardens and natural spaces of the planet. Deanna loved the sensation of sunshine on her skin, enveloping her in comforting warmth. She’d grown up with it, and a sunny day would always remind her of home.

In contrast, the Enterprise was a decidedly chilly starship. With so many people from all different cultures and climates, she understood that the temperature on board had to suit the average comfort level of the crew, but Deanna still sometimes wished that that average level was just a few degrees higher.

Fortunately, she was able to adjust the temperature in her own quarters. It was kept high, and she loved the flood of warmth that escaped when she opened the door and stepped into her private space, where she was free to suit herself and be properly comfortable.

The first few times she’d been in Will’s quarters, the rooms had been the same temperature as the rest of the ship. And why wouldn’t they be? He was familiar with Alaskan winters. He hardly needed the level of warmth she did in order to be comfortable.

But as she started to visit more often, and as their telepathic connection strengthened, the temperature in his quarters had started to increase over time. She knew why; he’d commented on how warm her rooms were the first time he stepped inside, and had begun to pick up on her mild discomfort at how cold the rest of the ship felt. Whether that was telepathy, or just him reading her body language, she couldn’t be certain.

What she could be certain of though, was that Will was gradually raising the temperature in his quarters, even if she wasn’t there to appreciate it. Over a series of weeks, so he himself could acclimatise to it, he’d successfully adapted his own living space to suit her needs and make her comfortable.

That thought made her feel warmer than any Betazoid sun ever could.

T W O

The first time Deanna brought Will some food without asking, he hadn’t even realised that he was hungry.

He’d been writing reports and reviews for an hour that had slipped into two, then four, until he didn’t even recognise that time was passing. The chime of his door pulled his mind away from his work abruptly, and his voice was hoarse from lack of use when he invited the guest inside.

Deanna entered tentatively, carrying a bowl of something that smelled fantastic. “I brought you some soup. You need to eat.”

“That’s very kind but I’m not hung-” The statement was interrupted by a ravenous growl from his stomach as she placed the bowl in front of him on the desk, pushing the PADD to one side as she did. She smiled knowingly at him as he quietly said, “Thank you.” He tucked in.

After that, it became a regular occurence between them.

It wasn’t a conscious thought; they never asked the other to bring them food like a waiter. Sometimes, like the first time, they didn’t anticipate that it was needed at all.

But they could sense the subtle need for sustinence within each other. Will knew exactly when to turn up at her office with a chocolate mousse when she’d had a difficult appointment. Deanna seemed to arrive on the Bridge with perfect timing to deliver a coffee when she could sense his focus wavering. And once, they’d met in the corridor on the way to each other’s quarters, carrying food that they hadn’t wanted to eat alone when they knew the other would benefit from some company.

More than the food, it sustained them both to know that the other was thinking about them. To know that their needs were recognised and that someone cared about relieving them, that was the kind of nourishment that would last a lifetime.

T H R E E

Starfleet officers are trained to accept that they and their colleagues are at risk while serving. Everyone aboard the Enterprise has a tale of losing someone in the line of duty, whether they be a friend, family member, or lover.

For more senior officers, they even accept that their decisions and orders could be the reason that someone dies. It is a great burden and responsibility, and it takes its toll more than anyone ever seemed to admit.

In front of others, she accepted his cool and collected demeanour with regards to a recent mission. No one could have anticipated that there was an explosive device from a long-ended war still buried at the entrance to a small cave. And Will never could have predicted that ordering a member of his away team to quickly investigate that cave would have caused an explosion that knocked them to the floor and killed the young ensign instantly.

A young Bajoran, the ensign had only been assigned to the Enterprise that week. She had just begun to form friendships, and had shown that was a friendly and compassionate member of the crew. Will had sensed that, with experience, she would have climbed through the ranks of Starfleet. She had a promising career ahead of her.

Had.

The whole time he was discussing the incident with the captain, he maintained his composure. He filed the necessary reports, wrote a sincere statement to the ensign’s family, and later returned to the surface to continue their investigation of the area. To the outer world, he seemed measured; not uncaring and detached, but not emotional and defeated either. He was the model of a First Officer coping with a hard situation.

Deanna recognised his inner turmoil, however. She could sense his guilt, the feeling that he should have been the one to die, not the one who gave the order that snuffed out the woman’s life when she’d barely had chance to live it. She could tell that he was reeling from the terror of being caught on the outskirts of the blast, and the horror of realising that a member of his team hadn’t survived. There was an aching sadness in him; the knowledge that a loving family was about to learn that their daughter wasn’t coming home weighed heavily in his mind.

Later, when his shift had ended and he finally had a chance to return to his quarters and retreat into his thoughts, he barely got through the door before the weight of the day slumped his shoulders and made his large frame seem to collapse in on itself.

But Deanna was waiting for him. Her inky eyes met his as he started to cry, and he knew that she was the only person in the galaxy who could understand how he felt in that moment.

Wordlessly, she wrapped her arms around his body, pressing as much of herself into him as she could. The pressure was good, reassuring, and he returned her embrace with shaking limbs.

His face burrowed into her shoulder as sobs racked through him. She didn’t say a word - there were none that would help anyway. Instead, she continued to hold him close, permitted him to be vulnerable and exposed without any judgement or expectation.

There was nothing she could do to relieve him of his grief, but standing in her embrace, crying like a small child for the first time in years, Will felt the closest thing to peace that he’d experienced that day.

F O U R

Deanna awoke with a start.

It wasn’t the first time she had suffered from a nightmare, and it wouldn’t be the last. Gasping for air, she sat up and ran her hands through her hair. The images that had haunted her were already slipping away.

In the dark, she fumbled towards the replicator and quietly got herself a glass of water. Her heart was still racing slightly, adrenaline coursing through her veins, but it had only been a dream and she knew she would be alright.

After finishing her water with slow sips, she went back to bed. She felt calmer, and knew she was tired, and it seemed liked the sensible thing to do. With a few deep breaths, she closed her eyes and tried to empty her mind of thoughts.

Almost an hour later, she was still awake.

She hadn’t been able to get herself comfortable - the material of her pillowcase seemed to scratch at her cheek, it seemed she had one too many limbs to arrange them in a way that suited her, and a sudden leg cramp in her calf had been the final straw.

Deanna didn’t really know why she chose to leave her own quarters, a robe wrapped over her nightgown for propriety’s sake. It was a short walk to Will’s quarters, and it seemed as though no time had passed at all before she arrived at his door.

Hesitating, she almost turned to return to her own rooms. Will was definitely sleeping, and she felt guilty about waking him. Not to mention it seemed so pathetic to go crawling to him because she couldn’t sleep after a bad dream.

However, in the instant that she decided to leave, the door opened for her. She hadn’t pressed to ring for permission, hadn’t overrided any security systems, and there was no way Will had known she was there and just opened the door to let her in and stop her dithering.

No, he had programmed it to open automatically for her, just as it would for him.

Touched at this unexpected display of trust and familiarity, Deanna stepped into his quarters. She made her way to his bedroom, and quietly climbed in to lay beside him.

He didn’t wake up as her arm wrapped over his chest and she snuggled into his back, seeking warmth. Deanna was lulled to sleep at last by his soft breaths, and the knowledge that she was safe and welcome here.

F I V E

As the pair of them strengthened their Imzadi bond, it seemed that their feelings throughout the day had become shared.

Will would be sat on the Bridge and feel a sudden rush of satisfaction. He smiled to himself every time he realised where it had come from. He knew that Deanna had had a long day full of appointments with members of the crew, and she had decided to treat herself to a chocolatey dessert. That satisfied burst he felt had been her tasting the first bite of a sundae or piece of cake, perfectly balanced with chocolate, cream, and fudge.

Deanna discovered that watching Will play poker was almost as entertaining as playing herself. When she had folded her hand, and it no longer mattered if she used her empathic abilities, she loved to zone in on Will’s feelings, and he opened his mind to hers when she was no longer playing. In many ways, she became his ‘tell’, as she had to work hard not to grin when she experienced a rush of mischevious energy when he bluffed, which was only amplified when the bluff worked.

Will came to recognise how the people Deanna interacted with could affect her mood. He knew when she was with Beverly, because he could physically feel her mind relaxing over their telepathic link. He also knew when the two were engaging in salacious gossip, as a feeling of giddy curiosity came over her as Beverly disclosed various secrets. The Imzadi bond between Will and Deanna made it so he knew exactly who she liked and disliked, and to what extent. And he once learned just how strong that bond could be when Lwaxana Troi made a comment that was so intensely irritating to Deanna that it made Will’s eyes roll without warning from four miles away.

Deanna learned that she could always get an honest opinion on her outfits, whether Will knew he was sharing it or not. She never minded the flood of attraction that leapt from his mind to hers when he saw her in some of her more flattering dresses. People can’t control their natural impulses of attraction like that, and she had learned not to read into it. However, she knew that Will would be embarrassed if she ever acknowledged his more lustful feelings, so she politely pretended not to pick up on those feelings when they arose.

Will spent years being convinced that he was learning to empathically block his more erotic feelings from reaching her mind. Since she never even flinched when his feelings became far more than friendly when she walked into a room in a certain blue dress, he was certain that he could appreciate her beauty and his own fantasies without it reaching her.

It was only when he arrived at her quarters in a particularly revealing v-neck wrap one evening and she wasn’t quick enough to mask the warmth of attraction that filled her mind (and by extension, his), that he realised just how much their telepathic bond had probably been betraying him all along.

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green-blooded · 4 years

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So, the TNG episode Sarek. If you haven’t seen it, there are some content warnings for terminal illness and dementia, because that’s what the episode is about. And it’s real sad, and I feel like a lot of people discount it when talking about Sarek as a character, so here goes.

First, a very brief summary.

The episode starts with Picard and Riker going to greet Sarek, who is completing one last mission before retirement. He’s been working on a treaty with the Legarans for 93 years, and he’s the only one they’ll talk to. He’s accompanied by his current wife Perrin (also Human), a Human chief of staff, and a Vulcan personal assistant named Sakkath.

Unbeknownst to the Enterprise crew and Sarek himself at this point, the three people with Sarek all know that he has Bendii syndrome, which causes him to be unable to control his emotions. The symptoms have been slowly getting worse over the years, and the stress of this particular mission aggravates it to the point that Sakkath can’t help him. A bunch of stuff happens (which I’ll be talking about later) and Dr. Crusher and Troi figure out what’s wrong with him, and Picard has to confront him about the problem. They determine that they only way to complete the diplomatic mission is for Sarek and Picard to mind meld for a couple of hours, so Sarek will have the emotional control to complete the treaty negotiation. The negotiation is successful and Sakkath assures Picard that he’ll be able to help Sarek keep his emotions under control until they get to Vulcan. The disease is not reversible, so it will only get worse with time.

There are a few parts of this which I think are key to understanding Sarek at all times of his life, and that��s really my motivation in making this post. I think some of his actions make more sense if you understand where he’s coming from.

First of all, Sarek loves Mozart.

Sarek loves Mozart, and this is well known enough that Picard et al. have planned a Mozart concert for his visit. Not a Vulcan composer, a Human one. He’a also remarried at some point after Amanda’s death, and chose to marry another Human woman. His chief of staff is also a Human. Perrin states that he’s taken an interest in Picard’s career, yet another Human.

Sarek does not appear to consider Humans inferior to Vulcans. Maybe Sybok would like us (and Spock) to THINK he does, but that’s just not reflected in any of his actions.

On a side note, the scene where he is moved to tears by the Mozart concert is one of the scenes that has stayed with me since I was a child. Not because it’s Sarek showing emotion--I didn’t know who he was the first time I saw this episode--but because it’s so rare for a man to show that kind of emotion on television. It’s really interesting how jarring it is to the viewer because he’s a dignified older man while also being jarring to the characters because he’s a Vulcan, and specifically he’s Sarek.

Maybe that’s why I have a different view of Sarek than people who didn’t start with TNG, because this is the scene I have always associated most with this character. Like, the way a TOS fan feels watching Pike in Discovery knowing what direction his life takes? This is how I feel about Sarek, too. This well-respected Vulcan ambassador who isn’t supposed to feel emotions, moved to tears by beautiful music... then rushed out of the concert because the others are trying to shield him from realizing that his health is failing. Just heartbreaking. And when Picard brings it up later in the episode, Sarek’s reaction is even more heartbreaking.

PICARD: But you needed his help at the concert. Or is there possibly some other logical explanation for what happened that night? SAREK: What happened? PICARD: I saw you crying. SAREK: I do not cry. PICARD: I was there I saw the tears. SAREK: You exaggerate, Captain. I recall only one tear. PICARD: So you were emotionally affected by the music. SAREK: That is not possible! PICARD: You still haven't answered my question, Sarek. Is it logical for a Vulcan to cry? SAREK: It was late. I was fatigued. Nothing more. The Legarans trust only me. They will not meet with any other member of the Federation. I must be allowed to complete my mission! There are no other logical solutions!

And this is the part where I say that if you haven’t seen the episode recently (or ever), please, please watch it. Nothing I could say would really spoil the episode. The performances are so good, and there’s no way to express that with only the dialogue. Sarek is trying so hard throughout this confrontation to control his emotions, and you can see him deteriorating. You can see how sick he is. It’s so much worse for him than the illness he was suffering in Journey to Babel. This illness strips him of his control, which has always defined him. Look at his face when he finally admits to “one tear.”

This is the point where Picard keeps pushing him until he... basically has a breakdown.

PICARD: No other logical solutions? But Ambassador, there are always other solutions. You have said so yourself many times. SAREK: What I meant was that... PICARD: Sarek of Vulcan would never be afraid of looking straight at something he did not want to see. SAREK: I warn you! Your efforts to discredit me will not succeed! PICARD: Sarek of Vulcan never confused what he wanted with the truth. SAREK: I will not be spoken to in this manner! PICARD: Do I hear anger in your voice? SAREK: It would be illogical for a Vulcan to show anger! It would be illogical! Illogical! Illogical! Illogical!

I think it’s important to note that moment Sarek really starts to lose his temper completely is when Picard says that he never “confused what he wanted with the truth.”

This cuts to the heart of who Sarek is. He has always denied himself things that he wanted (as we’ll see later in the episode) in favor of what he believed was the truth, what was best for everyone.

But then he realizes that he’s become angry about this very reality, and he just breaks and it’s so sad. You can see tears in his eyes.

After this, it’s clear he can’t handle the negotiations, so Perrin begs Picard for help, and Picard goes to Sarek with her suggestion that they mind meld. The whole conversation is great, but I’m going to bold the parts that are most important to this discussion.

SAREK: A mind-meld? Between the two of us? Do you realize the dangers involved in what you are proposing, Captain? PICARD: Yes, I do, Ambassador. But I also realize the potential benefits. SAREK: We would be linked telepathically, sharing our thoughts, becoming in essence one mind. PICARD: Which, for a few hours, should provide the emotional control you need. In that time, you can meet with the Legarans and conclude the treaty. SAREK: It is a generous offer. But I must warn you that while I would gain your stability, you would experience the fierce onslaught of emotions unleashed by my condition. Vulcan emotions are extremely intense. We have learned to suppress them. No human would be able to control them. They would overwhelm you. The mind-meld can be a terrible intimacy. I cannot allow it. PICARD: I'm aware of the risks. But it is the only logical solution. SAREK: Your courage honors me, Captain.

Again, the text really doesn’t do justice to Mark Lenard’s performance. It’s so good. The way he catches himself becoming emotional and stumbles over words is so spot on and affecting.

Anyway, here’s his face when he says “The mind-meld can be a terrible intimacy.”

Which I highlight not only because it’s a beautiful line, but also it gives me a chance to remind you that Sarek never mind-melded with Spock.

And I think that says a lot on its own, but in the context of what Sarek is saying here, it’s really enlightening about some of his behavior. According to Sarek, Vulcans have such powerful emotions that a Human COULD NOT HANDLE THEM. So, what does that say for his half-Human son?

I don’t know, maybe all those times he pushed Spock to be more Vulcan and to maintain more control over his emotions had something to do with his concern about his VULCAN emotions harming him, not because he didn’t like the Human part of Spock. I’m not saying he did it the right way, but I think it makes it a lot more clear why he was so hard on Spock about certain things.

Then we get to the real intense part of the episode, where Picard has to take on Sarek’s emotions so he can complete the treaty. While Picard has pretty good control for a Human, we see what Sarek is actually going through that he hasn’t been expressing.

There’s a lot, so I’m going to break it down.

PICARD (as Sarek): No! It is wrong. It is wrong! A lifetime of discipline washed away, and in its place bedlam. Bedlam! I am so old. There is nothing left but dry bones and dead friends. Tired, oh so tired.

We see here, again, discipline is how he defines himself, and having it taken away is the worse possible thing for him, and the transition to talking about his age and his dead friends isn’t coincidence. Remember, he is close with Humans, and he’s over two-hundred years old, which is old even for a Vulcan. It’s not only Amanda he’s had to watch grow old and die while he kept going, but probably ever Human friend he’s had.

PICARD (as Sarek): No! This weakness disgusts me! I hate it! Where is my logic? I am betrayed by desires. I want to feel. I want to feel everything. But I am a Vulcan. I must feel nothing. Give me back my control. CRUSHER: Jean-Luc! PICARD (as Sarek): Perrin. Amanda. I wanted to give you so much more. I wanted to show you such tenderness. But that is not our way. Spock, Amanda, did you know? Perrin, can you know how much I love you? I do love you!

He sees his desire to feel as a weakness, and views being a Vulcan as “feeling nothing” even though we know that’s not actually true of Vulcans. He’s even said himself that Vulcans have powerful emotions that they’ve learned to suppress. Judging by every Vulcan we’ve ever seen on the show, and Sakkath in this very episode, Vulcans still feel their emotions and have to regularly maintain their suppression through meditation, etc. Meditation which Sarek has been unable to do for weeks, as mentioned early in the episode, while Sarek is deep in denial about his condition.

And then of course the part about Perrin, Amanda, and Spock. If Sarek never felt anything, how could he have wanted to show them tenderness? How could he have loved them this whole time? That’s where he’s always struggling. He sees being Vulcan and being unfeeling as the same thing, yet he never achieves that. He feels deeply while also needing to maintain the appearance of total lack of emotion. As he said when Picard first mentioned that he suspected Sarek of having Bendii Syndrome “I have been accused of many things in my life, never an excess of emotion.”

Lastly, even in this state, even with Picard unable to keep his emotions under control, notice that he can’t manage to direct anything AT Spock. Everything he says is to Perrin and Amanda. He says Spock’s name, but then says “Amanda, did you know?” Which can’t directly apply to Spock... Spock is still alive. He’s not able to say anything about Spock until the disease has progressed much further in the episode Unification, Part 1. There is the popular line about Spock disappearing into the mountains, but the last part of what he says often gets left out.

SAREK: No. I never knew what Spock was doing. When he was a boy, he would disappear for days into the mountains. I asked him where he had gone, what he had done, he refused to tell me. I insisted that he tell me. He would not. I forbade him to go. He ignored me. I punished him. He endured it, silently. But always he returned to the mountains. One might as well ask the river not to run. (lies down again) But secretly I admired him, the proud core of him that would not yield. PICARD: Sarek, we're a part of each other. I know that he has caused you pain but I also know that you love him. SAREK: Tell him, Picard.

So, if you didn’t know Sarek admires and loves his son, now you know!

And, now the last part of Picard during the mind-meld:

CRUSHER: I'm here, Jean-Luc. I'm not going anywhere. PICARD: It's quite difficult. The anguish of the man, the despair pouring out of him, all those feelings, the regrets. I can't stop them. (He falls, sobbing, into her arms) PICARD: I can't stop them. I can't. I can't. CRUSHER: Don't even try.

The way Picard describes Sarek’s feelings here is so important to me. Anguish, despair, regret. All of which are so intense that Picard sobs through this whole scene, something that is so far from how he usually behaves that it really drives home how intense these feelings are for Sarek all the time.

These feelings are not new. As Perrin said, the symptoms have been creeping up for a while, and after the mind-meld, Sarek says:

RIKER: And the Ambassador? SAREK: I am myself again. It has been a long time.

There’s no happy ending to this. No miraculous cure or surgery that fixes it. Sarek will become more ill and tormented by all the emotions he never allowed himself to feel when he was younger. There are still deep divisions between himself and Spock to the point that Perrin is angry at Spock for how he treats his father, but Sarek doesn’t seem to share that anger. Probably because he knows all of the mistakes he made with Spock. That’s part of why he has so many regrets, after all.

Basically, my point is this. I think it’s easy to look at Sarek as a Spock fan and see all of his faults. But he’s actually a really complex character who cared about his son a lot, and just didn’t always know what was best for him. He’s definitely not as unfeeling and uncaring as he can seem. It’s just an uncomfortable fact that parents aren’t perfect and can do harm no matter how much they love their children. Which is one of those themes that comes up a lot in Star Trek, but I think this iteration of it is extremely well done and moving through all of the various series and movies.

There aren’t any easy answers and barely any resolution. The relationship between Sarek and Spock never stops being tense and difficult. It’s just how things are with family sometimes, even when you care about each other.

#star trek #sarek #st: tng #meta #i just feel a lot #and maybe i get a little sad that people just see him as a shitty dad

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phantom-le6 · 3 years

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

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

Episode 6: Legacy

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

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

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

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

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

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

Review:

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

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

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

Episode 7: Reunion

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

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

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

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

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

Review:

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

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

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

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

Episode 8: Future Imperfect

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

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

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

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

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

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

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

Review:

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

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

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

Episode 9: Final Mission

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

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

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

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

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

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

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

Review:

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

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

Episode 10: The Loss

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

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

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

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

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

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

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

Review:

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

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

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

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celestialholz · 4 years

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Inspired by your recently posted Continuum story and if you still do the event: It ended with Q thinking, he will find out about the others secrets. So what if, in a positive turn of events, he does find them out and can blackmail himself to the top of the proverbial food chain of the Qs. Now he can do whatever he wants without any stupid council telling him no. Picard is torn between feeling glad for Q or unsure about one of the most morally gray beings he knows gaining absolute power.

Oh, excellent. Love a good follow-up! ^_^ Allow me to reward this wonderful ask with something rather different and a little longer than usual, though it may have to avoid our positivity tag just this once…

(Related to this, for context: https://celestialwarzone.tumblr.com/post/615422269797384192/the-continuum-is-not-entirely-sure-what-to-think)

Got any fun, fluffy or just Soft™ headcanons you’d like as fics for our positivity event, friends, despite this delightfully dark diversion? My inbox is open!

Seven o’clock creeps up on Jean-Luc Picard as though through treacle, slow, heavy and plodding; the problem with deep space, he’s been musing since morning, is that everything is so desperately far away, and inevitably, there are days where little of merit can be accomplished until they’re where they ought to be. With a sigh of something suspiciously like relief, he heads from the ready room and his sixth tea of the day to meet his First, deeply glad to leave the trail of electronic paperwork behind.

“Long day, sir?” Riker asks conversationally, though the question is rather rhetorical; he imagines the weariness will be etched into his features, plain for all to witness. Inactivity has never really suited him for any length of time, and this is their second day in a row of simply ‘boldly going’.

“At least we’re only several hours away from Deep Space Eleven,” he replies simply, expression quirking into reassurance. “Can’t imagine you’re faring any better.”

Riker’s lips twist into a warm grin. “Well, at least holodeck two’s been mostly free. You’re relieved, Captain.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” comes the dry riposte, the grateful smile. “Safe travels, Number One.”

“Is that an order, sir? I could really go for a battle fleet right about now.”

Amusement creeps into a smirk, head shaking.

“Yes,” he answers wryly as the turbolift doors slide shut. “Deck nine, officer’s quarters.”

Safe from prying eyes, Picard lets out a lengthy sigh; he’d always been more tolerant of steadiness before Q’s continued presence in his personal life, acknowledging it as something to merely accept as a drawback to the job he adored, but forty-nine entire hours of tedium had left him almost wishing he could snap them to their destination himself.

Well, at least he could finally sink his teeth into some delightful diplomacy tomorrow - and in the meantime, perhaps the god could whisk them off somewhere wondrous, full of exploration and academic curiosities to sate… though he’d seemed uncharacteristically distracted recently, and unusually unwilling to discuss the reasons.

An ancient city, perchance, he ponders quietly as he makes his way down hallways. Interesting enough to avoid eye contact, quiet enough to speak your mind.

He smiles, keying in his code on autopilot, and as the door opens to simple, vividly white nothingness, all hope of solving the enigma easily fades into the ether of his quarters. It’s uncomfortably familiar, and he’d rather thought they’d moved past such things…

“Q?” He questions softly, stepping in with a series of rapid blinks, beginning to simply wander for lack of a clear path. “Q, why on earth are we back here?”

“Earth, dear? Oh, hardly.”

His brow creases as he finds him, and the prickles race higher up his spine; it’s almost identical, down to his lover’s white robes, the metaphorical distance between them painfully obvious.

To hell with this, he thinks furiously, wasting no time in closing the symbolic gap; there aren’t realms between them now, simply things not yet disclosed, and his hand claims his lover’s in silent acknowledgement.

“What is this, Q?” He urges, grey gaze earnest. “Are you alright?”

Grasped fingers tremble then tighten, free hand flung out to the void.

“You see this, Jean-Luc? It’s mine.”

Something distinctly unpleasant splinters through the captain’s very being. “Yours?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t -” Picard swallows, almost dreading the response. “What does that mean, mon dieu?”

“Oh, whatever I feel like, really,” Q answers cryptically, unnervingly blank for a being usually so theatrical. “What do you think it should mean, mon capitaine - this, perhaps?”

He clicks sharply, and the void shifts instantly to space, pure black and twinkling.

“Or even this.”

Another snap sends them into chaos, swirls of brightly coloured gas spiralling madly around them, and every inch the commanding officer, Picard abandons his astonishment, frantically clasping his other hand in a pointless effort to cease his whims.

“Q!” He states firmly. “That’s enough!”

Disturbingly neutral eyes blaze with the scope of the universe; fire and stoicism, the ultimate parallel. “I don’t need to click, Jean-Luc.”

I know you don’t, but what else am I supposed to - he silences his inner desperation, focuses down.

“Tell me what’s wrong, dear,” he demands gently. “Please.”

Kindness is all it takes to strip down shields, both clasped hands squeezed almost to the point of pain as a shadow steals over omniscient vision.

“They threatened you.” His voice trembles. “Just before Utirion, they were keeping something secret…”

They’re back to the starkness of white in a blink, though the captain barely notices, too locked to those wondrous eyes, the unfolding, pained narrative.

“I found out, Jean-Luc. Oh, they can misdirect all they like, of course, but the right application of blackmail works wonders.” The faintest of smiles half-raises a lip. “And my son can’t lie to save his own omnipotence. It was written all over his vaguely ionised being.”

“Threatened me?” Picard repeats, desperate for full clarity, and the darkness only seeps further into an anguished deity.

“Oh, only for a moment.” He sets, rigid, livid. “More than long enough.”

An understanding shivers between them for a protracted moment.

“So, you -”

“Made sure it wouldn’t happen again.”

Picard curses himself for the shudder that braces across his shoulders; there was nothing to fear from this entity, he’d long since known that intimately, but that phrasing -

“How?”

A frown etches into an ancient expression for a second, distressed at the clear horror in his beloved human. “I didn’t kill them, I assure you. Oh, I was almost angry enough, but - well, I’ve learned from the best. Billions of years of acquaintance rather familiarises one with weak spots.”

Picard’s mind whirs as he slots together pieces of a bankrupt jigsaw, eyes widening.

“So this, the void, space, is truly - mon dieu -”

“Capital D,” Q expresses, brow quirking. “King of the proverbial hill, Jean-Luc. Captain of the starship Continuum.”

He glances pointedly down at his robes, and Picard balks, spontaneously letting go of hands.

“You are not God!”

His lover’s features flicker in recognition, almost entertained. “I wasn’t, then.”

Picard reels, stepping away, struggling to process the magnitude of what such a concept could mean; he’d always accepted the wealth of power that stood insurmountably between them, but one thing needles at him above all others, a nasty, clawing anguish he can barely describe before the words burst forth.

“… And you did all this for me? To keep me safe?”

Confusion claims the all-powerful entity, stare shining. “And I’ll do it over and over again, if I have to. Didn’t you know that, darling?”

A soft, strangled cry tears itself from Picard, dashing back solely to tightly embrace him.

“You can’t do that!” He protests furiously against a robed chest, even as arms encircle him fiercely. “This isn’t healthy -”

“Less of your human morality, thank you,” Q scolds quietly, eyes falling closed as he drops a kiss to his captain’s skull with a gentle shiver. “I’m reliably informed that homelessness is desperately bad for the soul, Jean-Luc.”

Tearful eyes meet his, divided almost perfectly by outrage and despair. “I’m not worth this, you fool.”

A head shakes in pure exasperation, expression almost unfathomably tender.

“Au contraire, mon capitaine,” he whispers, and they hover in an extended breath, fractured and ironically whole in perfect harmony.

“Now what?” Rises a deceptively simple question from his beloved, and the ashes of bitterness sweep across Q’s lips, crease into his face as he stares into eyes that believe he’s ultimately capable of using his absolute power for kindness.

It’s enough, he acknowledges silently. It’s always been enough, that belief; it doesn’t require further proof over time.

“Oh, now?” A finger runs up a cheek, smile warm. No regrets, Q. “An ancient city, perhaps… well, at least after you wake up.”

Picard’s gone in an instant after a tender touch to his temple, and God swallows fire.

Jean-Luc Picard has more than enough to deal with. He doesn’t need the burden of knowing the lengths a homeless, frightened entity will go for him, however many times he must.

————–

“Can’t say I’m not mildly offended. Infinite scope of time presented permanently to me, mon capitaine; I run ten minutes late in an exceedingly rare instance of miscalculation, and you fall asleep on me.”

A familiar voice permeates his consciousness, rouses him from a deliciously restful slumber; he blinks, briefly confused, and meets an amused gaze.

“I…” Since when had he ever come back to his quarters and instantly drifted off? “I was asleep?”

“The light was well and truly out, my dear,” Q assures him, eyebrow hitching. “Dull day at the office, I take it?”

He thinks of their seemingly endless trek to Deep Space Eleven and wrinkles his nose just slightly. “Rather, yes. Ought to have asked you for a lift.”

“Indeed,” Q murmurs, gaze piercing. “I’d have done it, too. I’d do anything for you, dear - do hope you know that. Capital of Tenhaglion, then? Rather delightful four millennia ago.”

He offers him a hand, and something in Picard pauses for a long moment as he meets the rich bronze of eternity, the absolute tenderness that resides there, that flashes with the most heated warmth and desperate trust.

… There’s something decidedly different about him today, he acknowledges to himself as he accepts the help, gifts him a bright smile. He’ll have to ask him about it later.

#qcard #jean-luc picard #q #writing #prompts #hello darkness my old friend <3

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burtonsdoodles · 4 years

Text

Where are all the villains?

A thought I had about the action scenes with the team verses Roman and Riker is that the ratio is all off - and it makes no sense why Roman and Riker aren’t defeated by the team. It’s 5 against 2. 5 very powerful super/bionic heroes, against 2 shapeshifters that are honestly way too angsty to get any done (I have a problem with Disney channel villains - mainly the younger aged ones.)

I feel like the show didn’t know how to balance all of the characters - which is why you have Skylar facing off with Roman while the 4 other heroes just stand in the background watching (‘The List’). It can’t work out what to do with them so they do nothing - which is ridiculous. What they needed was to give Roman and Riker followers, or henchmen, or anything to balance out the numbers better and give everyone in the scene something to do - since they insist on using everyone despite not knowing what to actually do with them. (But that’s another post in itself.)

Another thing that should have happened, is they should have involved other villains more - and that brings me to the title question: WHERE ARE ALL THE VILLAINS?!

Seriously, the show contains ZERO - Rodissius, Roman and Riker were original on the heroes side until recent events made them turn -which makes them new villains - but where are all the original ones? With all of the superheroes either dead or in hiding - shouldn’t that mean the villains have free run - since no ones around to stop them anymore. They can do whatever they want. Also with Mighty Med destroyed, doesn’t that mean that Might Max will have been destroyed as well - it was located below the hospital right? And even if it wasn’t destroyed I’m sure it will have been compromised - so where are all the villains who were there - are they dead, escaped, still there? Then there’s the villains that hadn’t been locked up - where are they - why haven’t they been causing trouble for the team? It makes no sense.

There should have been way more villain action than what was given (so basically nothing). They should have gotten rid of the penthouse shenanigans and put in some actual villains causing havoc - something for them to fight against that wasn’t each other or trivial. Something that actually showed them working as an elite force and wearing those mission suits that they put so much focus on - but never wear. Show them analysing the different situations and planning the best course of action - like who would be best suited - because they don’t all need to go on every mission that comes up - and show them working to their strengths and actually using their abilities against an assailant - another thing they never do.

But those are just my thoughts that came to mind and I can assure you they won’t be the last. So as ever -

There’s more to come...

#my random ramblings #lab rats elite force #lab rats #mighty med #villain #my random thoughts #disney xd #disney #show analysis #questions #writing #personal opinion #perspective #roman #riker #balance #text post #text #burtonsdoodles

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anotheruserwithnoname · 4 years

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(Belated) thoughts on Picard S1

Due to a mixture of (pre-lockdown) travel and other things, I didn’t get a chance to finish watching the second half of Star Trek Picard Season 1 till this weekend. I have some thoughts, but I’ll put a break here first as I’ll be doing spoilers.

In brief, though: for the most part I liked it and I don’t get a lot of the hate being thrown its way.

Looking at online reviews of Star Trek Picard, both by professionals and amateur YouTubers, you’d think it was the biggest abomination since Enterprise. I mean, I’ve seen hate thrown its way that even exceeds that directed toward Star Trek: Discovery.

I’m not going to turn this into a commentary on Discovery. I’ll just say that I agree with 99% of the criticisms about it and I have no plans on watching Season 3, nor do I intend to watch any of the Short Treks moving forward after being turned off permanently by the awful The Trouble with Edward.

Picard, however, renewed my faith that it’s still possible for good Trek to be made for TV.

Picard is being criticized for a number of things, like violating canon. Yet I didn’t see it. First, the show is the first Trek series set in “the future” of the Trek franchise since Nemesis back in 2002. So anything it establishes about Starfleet, Picard himself, and the fates of characters like Riker and Troi - there is no canon to violate because we’re moving forward. There is nothing in Picard that is of the same magnitude of, say, what recently happened with Doctor Who. We didn’t have them rewrite established history by suddenly finding out Jean-Luc was a Romulan spy, or that he wasn’t really the captain of the Enterprise, or anything to cause decades of storytelling to collapse into irrelevance or be contradicted. Nearly everything I saw was consistent with what I knew and remembered from TNG. They didn’t even try to retcon the appearance of the 1701-D like Discovery did to the original Enterprise.

That’s not to say everything that was done to the characters post-Nemesis was great. I didn’t care or how Seven of Nine was treated, and they did a few things with her that I think were in the “because we can, not because we should” category. So criticism is warranted there. I also felt a few characters were underserved - including Narissa, who is (or was, RIP) arguably the show’s best character next to Picard. She was a classic Trek villain - yet towards the end we started to wonder if she actually WAS a villain, or basically the Romulan equivalent of Jack Bauer from 24. She commits acts of outright savagery to pursue her ends, definitely - but the same can be said of other “ends justify the means” heroes and anti-heroes. I would have liked to have seen her developed more. (Mind you, the way she is killed off by Seven does leave an opening for a return - that was a long way down, with plenty of time to pull some macguffin out of her hat.)

Probably the main thing that I liked about this show is I cared about the characters. I can even remember their names - something Discovery failed to impress upon me. Rios and his crew of holograms were great and in Season 2 I hope they do another meeting sequence where they all interact with each other. Yes, I know Orphan Black did it first and probably did it better - but it ain’t Star Trek.

One of the biggest criticisms others levy on Picard is that Picard was a supporting character in his own show. First, that’s nonsense. Second, Picard is supposed to be a dying man throughout and in his 90s to boot. This is why I think the idea of bringing Shatner back as Kirk isn’t going to work because he won’t be running around with phasers blasting either! Stewart is not the same man he was when he made Nemesis - and they don’t make the mistake of trying to pretend otherwise. Even at the end where they basically make him a nuBSG-style Cylon to keep him alive, they didn’t turn around and make him 50 years old again. If Trek wasn’t a TV show, sure they probably would have, but the reality is the actor turns 80 this summer, and who knows when Season 2 will be filmed.

The big condemnation is about how Starfleet went dark post-Nemesis. People seem to think that Starfleet is always about goodness and light. They forget about the high command plotting the assassination of the Federation president in Star Trek VI. They forget about the black ops division Section 31 established in DS9 - or some of the things Sisko does during the Dominion War. Apparently, one of Picard’s showrunners says the original plan was to make it clear the “darkening” was part of the aftermath of the Dominion War, but this was cut. Yet they don’t need any excuse - the show clearly establishes that Romulans infiltrated the highest levels of Starfleet Command (if you think that can’t happen, go watch the final few episodes of TNG Season 1 when it happens) and were responsible for the Mars attack that set everything in motion.

And the show clearly establishes that there are till bastions of “goodness and light” in Starfleet - starting with Picard himself. And the season ends with the synthetic lifeform ban removed, signifying that Starfleet is returning to its old standards. It works. There were also people concerned that Picard was going to somehow tie-in with Discovery (due apparently to some of the cast members of both shows posing for photos together). Other than a few small references to things established on Discovery, Picard doesn’t go there.

Is Picard perfect? Hell no. Although I appreciated the “slow burn” style of storytelling, which has been adopted by a lot of other shows, it is a tough fit for Star Trek. But I didn’t mind because it was interesting. But I can see others’ points when they say the first few episodes drag a bit.

The show also suffers from the usual “continuity lockout” facing any newcomer to Trek. In this case, you need to know a fair amount about Seven of Nine’s story arc from Voyager, the Hugh story arc from the later seasons of TNG, the movie Star Trek: Nemesis, and have a working knowledge of the Picard-Data relationship from TNG. It also doesn’t hurt to know that Bruce Maddox appeared in one of the key “Data is a person” episodes of TNG as well. Unfortunately, knowing TNG may also result in one of the few major continuity issues of Picard, and that’s the fact Data already had a daughter, Lal, in “The Offspring”. The fact she’s never referenced is puzzling.

Other issue I had: I am not a fan of the use of F-bombs in Star Trek. While I concede they were better handled than the juvenile “because we can” attitude of Discovery, it added nothing other than to justify the TV-MA rating (without the F-bombs the show - eye-gouging included - would have fit under TV-14), which some has interpreted as an intentional attempt at alienating younger viewers (Torchwood ran into the same criticism). I already touched on the mishandling of Seven of Nine (which added in some unnecessary storytelling cliches, especially at the end), and I thought Narek could have been better handled - he vanishes without explanation in the finale and no one seems to care.

They also missed a few bets. I would have loved for the mysterious tech-alien species to have had some connection to Vger from Star Trek the Motion Picture (it makes more sense than Vger being found by the Borg, which is a longstanding theory). And while it was just a destination in the show, and never seen, rather than invoking the name of Deep Space 12, would it have killed them to say Deep Space 9? There was already a visual reference to Quark in one of the episodes, but mentioning DS9 by name, along with Seven’s presence, would have allowed Picard to have connected the three “future” Trek spinoffs.

But I enjoyed Picard, and if they still make DVDs after all the madness currently in the world, I look forward to buying the complete series when it comes out, and I hope they make a second season (it’s been renewed, but these days there is no guarantee when or if renewed shows will resume production and too long a delay risks 80+-year-old Patrick Stewart not being up to it). All in all, quite pleased, yet still puzzled at why so many people hate it. But then I know there are people who cannot understand why I cannot abide by certain shows, so I guess it evens up.

#star trek picard #picard commentary

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