#I like to imagine that the episode was actually mostly data and geordi being there a little detective duo trying to solve how to cure Riker

[aquamonstra]

No offense to OP but you're going to stop the clip before it gets to the "those android reflexes" part?? Come on that's ULTIMATE DaForge right there 🥵

data worrying about him...

[invisible-brandy]

morning thoughts about tng bc otherwise ill forget

1) i need to slow the fuck down bc it got better and now im swallowing episodes while only screaming about them @ my bestie. which is great, but i do wanna keep a bit of a record on tumblr and i do like going into the tags of each episode and seeing what people have to say

2) the measure of a man is a VERY good episode, but statfleet is a pile of hot garbage. you're telling me that Data graduated the Academy, went on to actually serve, but it still wasn't determined fully whether he's property? Or was it stated before, and they just didn't inform him of his lack of rights, deciding to let him have this delusion that he's free? I understand that it's a complicated and new situation, but HONESTLY. Legally speaking, Starfleet is not doing their best, but i guess i didn't expect them to lmao

(and i somehow don't feel like that hearing fully resolved his issues with being legally considered less than human. maybe im just pessimistic)

data having tasha's tiny hologram makes me physically unwell.

i did feel a bit uncomfortable that they had to bring up them having sex, bc like...... that's not a measure of humanity. but i get why.

all data's other trinkets and gifts also make me unwell. geordi not being able to put on a brave face and stand with the rest of them too - i really wanna see more geordi in general, i feel like despite him having some moments, i dont know him that well yet.

riker in this episode looks so fuckable idk why. i like that he Explicitly states that Data is his comrade and a friend, so maybe i like him more for the character reasons, but also he looks more um thick than before.

Guinan in this episode provides a much needed point of view, and in general I've been really enjoying this character.

i just found out there is an extended cut of this episode hold the fuck up:

- aw fuck he gave geordi the SH pipe ;—; geordi doesn't seem to be as concerned yet

- they cut a scene where everyone looks at maddox like he's absolutely despicable after he suggests that data works at a carnaval. it's such a good scene though!!!! worf steps forward looking murderous, riker stops him but then roughly manhandles maddox out of the room. that's what ive been really wanting to see, the crew visibly coming together being protective over data.

- ooooh i think that's the first time data used "will" for riker

ooof. 10/10 episode

3) went into watching The Dauphin thinking eh I'll be normal, it's just an episode about Wesley falling in love. was indeed not normal and giggled a lot about Worf talking about courting and how everyone tried to be generally helpful but mostly really weren't. Also Worf having all these protector conversations with Anya was interesting. (anything worf does is interesting to me. show me this guy sneezing and ill be glued to the screen) (it's a little funny that I don't remember the girls name, but I remember Anya. it's 100000% bc it's a more familiar name)

anyway, when Wes was rejecting Salia in the end I couldn't stop thinking about trans allegories even though they definitely didn't mean it that way, and I was about to be sad, but then Wes came around. yay

4) contagion was also a very nice episode. watched it in bed at like 1.30 am so i might've missed something, but i have zero negative things to say about it.

the romulans are interesting to watch, data being incredibly helpful even when blind and dying is amazing and touching. USS Yamato being destroyed in front of them was... Well. I wish Picard would got to finish his conversation with Wesley about it, not because i needed to hear it - it's nothing particularly new. but for Picard and Wesley i think it was an important moment.

riker asking for stones to throw at the romulans was funny. that whole scene was kinda hysterical to me, especially bc i imagine the romulans were having similar frustrations.

again, it's funny but also pretty realistic that they don't actually have anyone on board who would be able to help data when something actually happens. geordi is not an expert in soong type androids and they're just lucky that data basically restarts himself.

[thegeminisage]

tng update time!! we're back, baby. sunday we did "the masterpiece society" and "conundrum" and last night* we did "power play" and "ethics."

*by last night i mean earlier tonight, but i'm typing this at 1am and letting it post tomorrow

the masterpiece society: this one was okay. i was very endeared at first to this guy flirting RESPECFULLY with deanna after the ordeal of 3 rape scenes in one episode but then she shot him down and he kept flirting. WILL my misery never cease

that said, i like that picard was nice to her when she fessed up about fucking with him. i am so fond of saying "treat him really niceys" about data but perhaps we should also be treating DEANNA really niceys. instead of raping her repeatedly.

one hilarious detail i noticed about this episode was that they went out of their way to show us a lot of extras in this episode (sometimes we don't even get this many extras in ten forward scenes) and show us that the extras were. diverse. because if the society is "genetically engineered to perfection." and then you only show white people. THAT puts a whole new spin on things. i'm imagining some joker on the production team looking at a shot of mostly-white extras and frantically calling the casting director on the phone

i was EXTREMELY worried when they asked geordi to work with this woman but he was professional the whole time to my huge relief. actually, geordi had a little bit going on in this ep that i really enjoyed - when these "perfect" people kept implying he would have been aborted as a fetus in their society he gave as good as he got EVERY time and his blind ass DID in fact wind up saving all their lives and GOOD FOR HIM!

i dont really get what the big deal is about 23 people leaving = destroying their society. if you can't plann for people being out then it's your managerial skills that need work. also, they were kinda freaks, so maybe they needed to have their little cult broken up. sorry

conundrum: EPISODES FOR MEEEEE. this episode was just like tabula rasa, except this predates tabula rasa, so really tabula rasa is just like IT. anyway, amnesia. i was gleefully rubbing my hands together the entire time

hands down funniest bit was everyone just assuming worf is captain despite the fact that he's bloodthirsty and insane but the second funniest bit was data the bartender. "where's the android?" "serving drinks in ten forward." "[as data speed types] you must have been one hell of a bartender." 10/10 no notes

also his little chess game with deanna!! wah.

actually no the other funny bit was riker lowkey running around on deanna with ro. and i abslutely LOOOVED he and deanna being flirty with each other. it's ABOUT TIME we got some real food. it's been so sexless up til now that all she did was play with his hair a little and we both went bananas

and then the scene at the END? riker more flustered than we've EVER seen him and these two ladies ganging up on him...mwah. 10/10 perfect.

the villain this episode was good. when he first showed up cathy was like who tf is that and i was like idk some rando im sure he doesnt matter but then the computer named him first officer and it was like !!!!!!!!!!!! they tricked me !!! it's a VERY rare day when tng manages to trick me i was so pleased. i do kinda wish they hadn't theo teennwolfed him though (made everyone else a bit dumber to make him seem smart)

power play: deannna was so hot in this episode she should play male characters more often

i really REALLY wish i had been riker deanna and worf that had been possessed. data's not as much fun when he's someone else and not data. obrien could have come too if he wanted though i guess

PLEASE do not tell rosalind chao to shut her baby up. the last time someone told anyone to shut a baby up in a property she happened to be acting in. well. mash fans know. they know.

i genuinely believed those guys were ghosts until the last second. probably because prisoners makes no sense. also, i think prison for 500 years is too much. can we not just let them die

i love when possessed data tried to prove worf and worf was like lol no. he knows data is 10x stronger than him lmao

i wish guinan had been in this episode it's been ages and i miss her

after how tense and fun the beginning was the end and middle of this episode were kind of anticlimactic. still, it was fun and so it gets a pass. more people should get possessed on the enterprise

WHY DO I ONLY GET 4K CHARACTERS PER TEXT BLOCK staff i'll fucking kill you. anyway

ethics: RIKER/WORF/DEANNA IS REAL IT HAPPENED ON MY COMPUTER SCREEN!

ok, first of all, sorry i have to go ahead and get this out of the way before i get to the good stuff, picard advocating for assisted suicide is NNNOT his best look. in fact it's literally such a fucking bad look. actually. uhh tw for talk of suicide here on down

i understand what they were trying to do. they wanted to present both sides of the ethical dilemma here "equally." but there are some problems with this. firstly, in the real world, assisted suicide is for people with like. terminal illness. worf was fine. yes, he was paralyzed, but he was healthy and had the change to regain a great deal of his mobility. so picard already looks like an asshole because he's advocating for a disabled person killing themselves because they "can't" adjust to the loss.

SECONDLY, the use of "can't" was very poorly done here. if picard had said, worf is too stubborn to change his beliefs, he WON'T adjust to this because he will refuse to try, that would be a LOT BETTER than saying "worf CAN'T adjust to this, it's too many lifelong values to change."

and finally, if we really wanted to be "equal" about the debate, it wouldn't be about worf's ability or inability to adjust to being disabled, it would be about his BELIEFS. like his society and heritage, which he cherishes so deeply because he felt disconnected from it for so much of his life. instead picard was just like "worf is way too much of a pussy to do this just let him die lmao"

like he seriously tried to persuade will to KILL WORF. worse, to help worf kill himself!! JUST BECAUSE WORF WAS DISABLED. he even guilted riker about it: "he wouldn't have asked if he didn't know he could count on you." girl what the FUCK

ok anyway, speaking of will: his reaction here was so strong i wonder if he knew someone who'd killed themselves before. NOT that i'm complaining about a strong reaction. FINALLY we are getting some solid worf/riker Content. maybe asking your commanding officer to kill you is romance or whatever. i loved their argument to little bitty pieces. compare to: riker in tears next to deanna's sickbay bed. ooough i am eating. according to the wiki they actually cut a scene of nose-to-nose yelling and i'm mad about it. LET THEM PUT THEIR FACES TOGETHER. give me something to live for

deanna in this episode too. her kneeling by the fallen worf and murmuring "let me help you." her making him talk to his son. him BASICALLY asking her to be his kid's new adoptive parent should he kick it

oh speaking of alexander. he said some really troubling things this episode. such as, "my mom always said klingons had dumb ideas about honor" and "i don't care about being klingon." HIS MOTHER WAS RACIST..............if alexander decides the klingon ways aren't for him that's fine but that should be a choice HE GETS TO MAKE what an insane way to be raised. meanwhile people are out here calling worf a deadbeat and he put aside his suicide plan for alexander specifically

other shocking things about this episode: beverly was sooooo good actually. she was channeling bones energy in her fury and i mean that as the highest possible compliment. that other doctor quite literally KILLED A PATIENT because she's so sketchy and focused on her own glory "oh i need tokeep a professional detachment" YEAH SO YOU DON'T FEEL GUILTY ABOUT KILLING PEOPLE. bones would have torn her limb for limb and i'm very glad beverly did too. i just don't understand why she was allowed to like leave the ship and go back to practicing medicine. she should have her medical liscene revoked. was this too also in the name of "both sides" of the debate girl this isn't fox news she KILLED A PATIENT for her own personal gain just space her ass!

the fake-out with worf dying was expected but them faking us out for so LONG was a surprise. i was like how are they gonna get him out of this one and it's literally the klingon anatomy. double of eeeeeverrrything. wow that sure is something. funny that worf has ridges on sooo many places. love that it took until season 5 to see it

also, that surgery scene was GROSS. im not normally squeamish but that little worm thingy they put into him looked awful

devastated there was no worf/riker reunuion at the end but other than that and picard and that other dr lady not getting fired it was extremely good. one of my favs so far i think actually.

tonight: "the outcast" and "cause and effect." i've started spoiling myself w/ episode summaries in order not to get surprised by 3 rape scenes in a row again and ik what both of these are about and im soooo excited for it

[writingpostmidnight]

TV Show Tag

thanks for taggin me @waterberry-strawmelon 🥰

Rules: Pick 5 shows, then answer the following questions. Tag 5 people.

realizing rn that i don’t watch a lot of tv shows???? i’ve been real into various youtubers lately & not watching actual tv

Star Trek: The Next Generation

The Umbrella Academy

The Good Place

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Disjointed (🤷‍♂️)

Who is your favorite character in 2?

i’m a simple gay. it’s klaus for sure. i mean come on.

Who is your favorite character 1?

data! he’s the reason i got into the show when i was a kid, and i still have a huge attachment to him. i see a lot of parallels in his “android trying to be human” plot and my experience as a trans person and as a mentally ill & neurodivergent kid.

What is your favorite episode of 4?

ooo okay this is hard ?? i do really like the coral palms episodes where jake & holt are in witness protection and being bc they’re dynamic is def my favorite of the entire cast. i also love almost all the doug judy episodes (except the most recent one ugh cops still be coppin).

overall though, i’d have to say season 5 Ep 9: “99.” we got rosa being confirmed bi. we got road trip content. we the squad supporting holt. good shit.

(also controversial opinion alert? i don’t like the last few seasons’ halloween heist episodes that much. i’m a Sensitive Babey and i just want them to be nice to each other. plus the way they get during the recent heists just feels kind of ooc to me?? idk)

What is your favorite season of 5?

Disjointed only has 2 seasons (or “parts” as they’re called on netflix) with ten episodes each 😔. i guess the first season, but there’s no dramatic shift in quality or whatever. the second season puts a lot more focus on romantic relationships and a realer plot & it’s fun, but i’m really just in it for the found family stoners & dumb little gags sjkssj.

Who is your favorite couple in 3?

chidi and eleanor. it’s the obvious choice, but i’m not exaggerating when i say that their romance completely changed the way that i viewed love, soulmates, and fate. before this how i used to believe hardcore in soulmates (not to knock anyone who does, i’m not the authority on the universe jsksjdks).

but chidi realizing that soulmates don’t exist in the good place when he spent his entire life wishing for one perfect person, and choosing to be with eleanor because he grew to be deeply in love with her was just *chef kiss.*

it made me realize that there’s something insanely romantic about just choosing to be with someone. maybe i didn’t know them in past lives long forgotten. maybe they aren’t a part of some cosmic plan. maybe it’s even lovelier that i’ve gotten to meet someone, to get to know them, to get close to them, to fall in love, to try, to choose them, to make them my soulmate. i’m rambling on i just loved that the good place explored that idea.

Who is your favorite couple in 2?

dave & klaus, obvi. klaus deserves l o v e

What is your favorite episode of 1?

oh there’s wayyy too many good episodes for me to figure out my absolute fave. i love love every data-centric episode tho. i also love the episodes where they time travel jdksks.

What is your favorite episode of 5?

i’d say part 1 ep 3 “rutherford b haze” (yeah this show’s about as intelligent as the ep titles would suggest). the gags and jokes in this one one crack me up tbh.

it does have a weird ‘did u just assume my gender’ seeming joke at the beginning that annoys me, but it has some trans rights jokes in other episodes so i can ignore it.

the commercial gags alway SEND me, & they’re real good in this episode.

What is your favorite season of 2?

there’s only one season out 😔

How long have you watched 1?

my family are all big fans of star trek, so i watched episodes here and there growing up, and i think i binged it in its entirety the summer after i turned eleven. i’ve rewatched it a Lot since then tho shdjshd

How did you become interested in 3?

everyone was hyped for it on tumblr, it was by micheal schur of parks n rec and b99, so made myself sit through the pilot, and then i was hooked. (actually i got bored halfway through the pilot and came back three weeks later when i finished binging b99 again and then i was hooked.)

Who is your favorite actor in 4?

andy samberg hands down. i mean come on. i think half of my sense of humor comes from watching him on SNL and thelonelyisland’s youtube channel as a kid. he’s hilarious.

Which do you prefer, 1, 2, or 5?

TNG. it’s a big comfort show. it’s interesting & immersive enough to distract, but fun enough that it’s not stressful.

Which show have you seen more episodes of, 1 or 3?

i’ve seen all the episodes for both! i’ve definitely rewatched TNG more tho.

If you could be anyone from 4, who would you be?

Gina because she’s not a cop jeksjsnsksn.

Would a crossover between 3 and 4 work?

imagine: jake peralta, rosa diaz, captain holt, amy santiago, etc., all arrive to the afterlife neighborhoods so they can confront their moral failing of being cops and ascend to the good place 😍 BDBSNSN

Pair two characters in 1. Who would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple?

honestly let geordi and data date. cowards.

Overall, which show has the better storyline, 3 or 5?

JDKSKSK THE GOOD PLACE BY A LONG SHOT. the good place gave me a spiritual, moral, emotional, and existential crisis. disjointed made me laugh when i was high. i love them both.

Which has better theme music, 2 or 4?

ugh. b99’s theme annoys me. so much brass. not a brass fan. uhh i think the umbrella academy’s theme is mostly strings and i like strings. also, tua has the best soundtrack jshdjsbd bops.

mkay i’ll tag: @winter-soltis @thelittlestspider @history-be-written @jorzuela @minniemao (ignore if u wanna)

[silverstrike]

Ezri Dax, Tasha Yar and Kilana for the character meme?

4O w O!!!

Ezri Dax

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: quite a bunch actually, with my tops being Weyoun 6, Kilana and, to some extent, also Ziyal (I’m still very much devoted to Ziyal/Lal ship so XD). I also like the idea of Ziyal in polyships, esp with the “Vorta polycule”: like I have these plotbunnies/HCs going about my head that Ezri somehow gets involved in an integrations exchange programme, through Odo, as a means to have the Dominion races coexist peacefully with the Federation, and this has a group of Vorta (Weyoun, Borath, Yelgrun, Kilana, Eris and maybe even Keevan? Idk) come to DS9... and hijinks ensue because all the Vorta (except for maybe Kilana who makes the first move) are flustered since they’re all attracted to this cutie-pie Trill councellor (I also like to HC that Vorta are usually down for poly relationships, as it stems from their instincts - ancient Vorta would often coexist in packs as a means of survival as it provided them with means to communally raise their offspring, and also for genetic variety in terms of breeding), but none of them has the idea how to approach her on the subject.

I’m also toying with the idea (and please don’t hate me for this weyountalag shippers) of having Ezri in a polyship together with Weyoun 9 and Rotan’talag. Idk how, but I personally find the idea interesting to explore.

favourite friendship: I think I mainly enjoy Ezri’s interactions with all the main DS9 cast. I think her friendship with Julian had the potential to be something truly sweet and adorable and I honestly HATE the fact that it had to venture into the romance territory. As for the completely non-canon stuff... I like the idea of Ezri trying to find out whatever happened to Virak’kara (the Jem’Hadar from the episode “To the Death” - the one who has the friendly exchange with Jadzia), and the two of them meeting/running into each other after many years. It honestly would’ve been so sweet, like she recognizes him and is all friendly and Virak’kara’s like “who are you?” and is completely astonished/bewildered at the whole story. Also if their meeting took place like when Virak’kara was made into an Honored Elder (which would be twelve years I suppose), I could imagine Ezri being super happy and proud, and insisting on celebrating the occassion.

general opinions: at first I was kind of conflicted what to make of Ezri, since I really adore Jadzia and her death is something that I refuse to accept as being part of the canon. But as I started to get more into DS9 I started loving Ezri more and more. On top of being adorable and being a precious, at times awkward, little bean, I find her easy to relate to in quite a few ways. I also think she and Six have a lot in common in terms of their similar experiences and feelings of uncertainty and awkwardness. Tho I’m still conflicted what to do with her, because on the one hand, when I come up with my AUs and HC I wanna keep Jadzia alive, but at the same time it’d mean there’d be no Ezri or at least not Ezri Dax...

Tasha Yar

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: my fav ships with her are probably either Ro Laren or Kira Nerys - due to the fact that they have so much in common, tho I also love her with Deanna Troi. She and Jadzia also would’ve been an item.

favourite friendship: Data, Geordi and Worf are the ones that come to mind first and foremost, tho it honestly makes me wish that she was alive for the rest of the series because I would’ve also loved to seen her interacting with the Bajoran characters (seeing as she came from a war-torn world herself so she’d more than likely be familiar and understanding towards their struggles) and maybe even join DS9 at some point and become friends with the crew - she would’ve fit in the setting perfectly, as she’s a Federation officer that doesn’t necessarily fit the mold, plus it’d have been such a joy to see both her and Kira completely roast Gul Dukat.

general opinions: Tasha should’ve lived. I think we can all agree with that. The character had such a potential, and interesting backstory and a wonderful personality to work with... and honestly it makes me so upset that none of the TNG writers ever stopped and thought that they could do something with her (and I mean other than have her star in that racist piece of shit of an episode). Same goes for alternate-timeline!Tasha too like... man... that character doesn’t get a breather does she? I also find it baffling that Tasha left her homeworld and left her little sister behind like??? NO. That didn’t happen. Like I wanna retcon this idea it’s so bad.

Kilana

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: Ezri Dax, Weyoun and the two other girl Vorta (Eris and Luaran).

favourite friendship: speaking based on HC, fanon and beta-canon stuff mostly (since we don’t get to see anything of that in the actual series), I like seeing her interact with other Vorta. One of my favorite ideas originated from @mostlyhydratrash ‘s fics is the idea that the first Weyoun and Kilana clones were kept alongside each other during their early, vulnerable days, with Kilana being protective of Weyoun. That’s honestly super sweet. I also like to imagine she’s on friendly terms with her Jem’Hadar soldier, inspite of the fact that she’s their commander.

general opinions: I honestly wish we got to see more of her... the ending to the episode she was in honestly broke my heart, and I’m hoping that the implications weren’t that Kilana would get executed and her line terminated for her failure to retrieve the Founder. I also find Kilana to be super beautiful like??? (tho same can be said for any Trek lady out there).

[sttngfashion]

Interface - 7.03

You guys. Basically we are in a place where we have a few juicy episodes left--mostly two-parters--that I feel like Anna and I are saving for... Anna, what are we saving them for? Maybe a sleepover. Anyway, we have those and then a few of these, mostly-uni eps with like, one or two crazy things.

Also this is a case of I watched this episode a while ago and now am finally getting around to writing it up, so forgive me if I blow past some of the plot points.

Also also, it’s a GEORDI episode, and all the poor thing that that entails. 

But you don’t have to take my word for it. (BA DUM DUM)

Another Saturday night, another smoky Jeffries’ Tube.

But wait a second, something’s not right here... Geordz is missing his headband VISOR! What the WHAT

Oh, that’s much less cumbersome than the VISOR

Obviously this is supposed to be a high tech outfit but to me it looks like the board game The Omega Virus just vomited all over a patchwork Kevlar top. I mean, the black background with primary color highlights is very on brand for the early nineties, along with a large, chunky chestpiece. Maybe this thing will look a little less awkward when we step back. 

Hm. Hard “no” there.

He’s literally trapped inside a dancer’s cage. Riker seems pretty into it. This looks like it’s the same weird cage thing they kept Hugh in while he was learning to be a human. WE’RE ALL TRYING TO LEARN TO BE HUMAN, EVEN GEORDI.

Okay what actually is happening is that this is some VR rig that allows Geordi to control this probe that is on another ship that is trapped in a planet’s poison atmosphere and the crew isn’t responding and this is a way for them to search the ship without dying. The reason Geordi has to do it is because of the VISOR implants in his brain. See, Geordi, you are special!

But also he has some PERSONAL DRAMA that is making this mission ALL THE MORE IMPORTANT.

Crystal ball and metal party hat -- must have decorations for any bachelor pad.

Who’s he talkin to?

MAMA, OOOOOOOH...

Yeah, so weirdly we get a data dump about the LaForge family in this episode. This is probably me not being imaginative enough but her hair reminds me of the saucer section of a kid’s version of the Enterprise. Just let me have it guys. She seems sweet!

She’s the captain of the Hera and it apparently the ship has gone missing. Everyone except Geordi seems pretty ready to concede that she’s definitely dead, but G is, like, not so sure? Which like, seems reasonable? Because it’s his mother?

He ends up pouring all of his mom anxiety into trying to find survivors on the ship the Enterprise is trying to help with its probe. But he’s putting a good face on it.

This is fine.

Because this is narrative television of course this system by which Geordi controls this probe is DANGEROUS, but of course he wants to keep doing it. He’s hooked on the junk. This time, because it’s the end of Act I, while he’s in the thing something catches ON FIRE and he tries to touch it or something and THIS happens:

I mean really it just looks like he tried to make a PB&J on his hands. With chunky, not creamy.

Either way, kinna gross.

So, like, clearly Geordi is not dealing great with his mom’s probably death. His dad tries to talk some sense into him.

Strong Larry Wilmore No-Nonsense Vibes from this guy

Dad is already planning the funeral and Geordi is not ready to handle it. Also, fun fact, Geordi’s dad is an “exozoologist” which means he studies animals from other planets, but that seems like a pretty Terra-centric term to use and I would like to posit that 24th Century twitter would be all over this shit. On the other hand, Geordi’s mom outranks his dad so, take that, patriarchy.

Geordi heads back into the machine even though Picard wants to give him bereavement leave and GUESS WHAT HAPPENS.

Oh hey, I’m not missing, I’m a bajillion light years from where I was supposed to be on this ship. Makes sense, right?

In Geordi’s defense, this would screw with my head too, and not in a pleasant way. Once he tells people his mother is on this ship that is otherwise filled with dead people, it’s time to bring out the big guns.

Okay, well, “big guns” was probably the wrong term to use.

I pulled this image for the tiny model of an Area 51 spaceship on the sponge spackled plinth, but, Deanna’s look is on point, so, hey girl. Not much to say about the uggo art other than I find it weirdly aggressive. The plinth has too much texture.

Shockingly, this also does not persuade Geordi to not go into the eird machine that is now definitely killing him anymore, and in a strange moment, Geordi does some ethical philosophy level shit to convince Data to help him get back into the machine even though everyone else is like DUDE, DON’T.

So he goes back into the other ship and there’s a huge fire.

Whoa.

What’s the source of the fire???

She looks like her son just offered her a dead rat as a present.

Around this point we figure out that something is really not right, and then this happens.

(wait for it) THIS. MOM. IS. ON FIIIIIIRE...

So you could probably fill these blanks in yourself but in actual fact this moms is just a manifestation of an alien life force from the planet that was stuck on the damaged ship and the only way it could manifest itself to Geordi was by using his memories of his mother or whatever, blah blah blah. How is Geordi feeling about it?

UUUUGGGGHHHH MOOOOOOOM

Actually he’s, like, stroking out or something because of the DANGEROUS MACHINE he’s wearing. Fortunately, we have a cure for that.

Bev’s tresses don’t hurt either.

That’s all I got, folks! Happy first night of Hanukkah!!!

[mailorderfictionalcharacter]

Malcolm Reed, Geordi LaForge, Kes, and Janice Rand

Seven years and two plagues later; I respond. My apologies. Life. Y’know.

1. Sexuality Headcanons:

Malcolm - oh how I wish the powers that be didn't cowardly back off on the original plan, wherein Malcolm was openly gay. Oh well, let's Headcanon him in anyways. 

Geordi - bisexual, demisexual(just a vibe, not a very serious headcanon)

Kes - let's say bisexual. For reasons.

Janice - This is probably because I've only seen Janice in a few TOS episodes (I'm only doing a proper start to finish watch of the series now) and thus haven't reached the inevitable het romance, but as far as I'm concerned Janice Rand is a lesbian. If at any point she shows romantic interest in a man it's obviously an elaborate inside joke with Uhura. Janice Rand, very lesbian.

2. OTPS

Malcolm - I don't have one. I don't think Malcolm is the sort of person to want a relationship with a crew member and none of the men on the ship seem like a good romantic match for him. (If Malcolm got a love interest, they should probably be a civilian, more emotionally expressive). If I had to choose an otp Malcolm/Travis might work.

Geordi - I'm not super serious about it but Da Forge is a good ship.

Kes - I don't have any preexisting ideas about Kes' relationships other than "c'mon Neelix be the better person we know you can be," but, to make something up; Kes and B'Elana could be interesting because they're both very passionate and principled people but externally they present themselves very differently: Kes is caring, subtle, and calm whereas B'Elana is expressive, and a bit judgemental. Also Kes's morality is more about caring while B'Elana has a warrior's moral code, resisting injustice.  (There's a running theme in these asks because only interesting character foils can get me interested in romantic plots).

Janice - I enjoy the idea of Uhura/Janice Rand. Both are talented and Janice seems more level on and off duty whereas Uhura is a capable woman but an incorrigible flirt.

3. Brotps:

Malcolm - I would enjoy seeing a Malcolm/Hoshi friendship, mostly because Malcolm is very militaristic whereas Hoshi is more of the Civilian Science Nerd Who Got Swept Up In All this Rubbish. On the whole Enterprise forgot to do what tng/ds9 did well and allow their side characters to actually *gasp* interact, so pretty much any platonic relationship is up for grabs. Malcolm is an interesting character to work in contrasts; his disciplined nature compared to Phlox, or his close to the belt nature compared to Travis' comfort with his roots.

Geordi - Also Data and Geordi; they're so affectionate and supportive. I also really enjoy the dynamic between Picard and Geordi in the tng relaunch novels, considering Geordi is one of the remaining original crew members.

Kes - canonically, Kes and the Doctor all the way. So good. Remember when she extended his flu? Good scene. For an au take, I would enjoy a purely platonic Kes and Neelix friendship. They did have some nice dynamics canonically and I'd like to see a relationship without the squicky romantic possessiveness.

Janice - Rand and Spock. No good justification it's just that Spock goes well with everyone.

4. Notps:

Malcolm - Malcolm/Hoshi, Malcolm/T'pol, Malcolm/Archer. Not really established ships but in my mind each of these pairings are  a Bad Idea.

Geordi - I don't remember any established canon or fan popular relationships that made me cringe, so here's one: Geordi/Q. Awful idea.

Kes - Kes and possessive!Neelix. So many cringe moments

Janice - Rand and every damn person who falls in love with her and then tries to force her into sexual acts against her will why is this a plot multiple times for goodness' sakes. (Also not big at all on the idea of Kirk/Rand).

5. First Headcanon that Pops to Mind:

Malcolm - So based off the pineapple thing, let's say Malcolm has a ridiculous amount of personal experiences he never talks about. Like he had a steady boyfriend back on earth and never brings it up because it's not relevant. If prompted he has all these prank stories but you basically have to drag the information out of him.

Geordi - Geordi is also friends with Felix, who sent the Chief Engineer on Starfleet's flagship a sample program because he knows just how good he is.

Kes - Since Kes starts canonically developing her telekenetic abilities, let's imagine Kes as an absolute telekenetic prankster.

Also, after she leaves Voyager I like to imagine that some of what she got up to would be protecting the vulnerable, considering her past. (I don't think this directly contradicts canon but I actually try to forget that episode).

Janice - Janice Rand is so professional that no one expects her to have wild musical tastes. Like death metal, weird atonal music, lots of instrumentals, music from non-human planets etc*

*My lack of musical knowledge is showing, isn't it.

6. One Way I Relate:

Malcolm - I would also refuse to marry and copulate with my coworkers if we were stranded on a planet in an alternate timeline. My mom is also largely unaware of my food preferences.

Geordi - often interacts with people with an understated sort of humour. I would also subtly lecture ableist aliens and befriend the local android.

Kes - This example is more about admiration than relating, but I really enjoy Kes's compassionate curiosity and the sense of wonder that comes with her character.

Janice - In the episode Charlie X we see her being mature to someone who is A) probably quite traumatized and B) currently sexually harassing her. I relate to that sense of "oh, this situation is kind of worse for me and I'm still going to handle it fairly and levelly because of moral principles and rational empathy." Also even though she's backed into a corner she still tries to pass emotional labour off to Kirk and that's A+. ("Ask the Captain, he'll explain.") I'm sure lots of women (although not all women and not just women) could relate to that.

7. Something that Gives me Second Hand Embarrassment:

Malcolm - I have a distant memory of an episode where Archer, Trip, and Malcolm were all trapped in a pod, thought they were going to die, and Malcolm got about 10% sentimental? That always makes me unjustifiably embarrassed, but I don't even remember if that episode was real, so.

Geordi - nothing? I think Geordi may be the perfect human being?

Kes - the episode where she came back and tried to hurt all her old friends was pretty embarrassing. Also her relationship with Neelix.

Janice - From what I've actually seen of TOS, nothing beyond those damn impractical uniforms. If we have to see people in dresses at least show me Spock in a dress, c'mon.

8. Cinnamon Roll or Problematic Fave?:

Malcolm - I want to call him the problematic fave because he was somewhat militaristic, but nah, cinnamon roll. Let me see only the best in people like some sort of naive federation citizen. (Also Archer made way more questionable decisions and I don't remember enough about Enterprise to say that Reed ever did anything less than an exemplary job).

Geordi - Clear cinnamon roll

Kes - Clear cinnamon roll. No controversy there.

Janice - Definitely a cinnamon roll. Too good for this world.

[megers67]

What is Wrong with Who Watches the Watchers?

I love Star Trek, I really do, but I think this episode really shows that the interpretation of the whole Prime Directive is off. Whether it’s by the characters or the writers, it just goes past the good intentions into offensive imperialistic ideas. The Next Generation’s season 3 episode Who Watches the Watchers is the best example of this. 

So let me break it down for you. Why is this episode so frustrating to me? Mostly it revolves around this right here.

This is the duck blind that the “anthropologists” use to study the Mintakans. Thing is, apparently, this is a common anthropological method in the Federation. This is implied from what Geordi says in like, the fourth line in the entire episode.

“A hologram generator. Oh, a duck blind. Right. They’re anthropologists.”

And that’s troubling. Why? Because most modern cultural anthropologists prefer other methods of data collection, particularly participant observation. Participant observation is when the anthropologist goes and lives with the group of people, noting their experiences with them. This is such an effective method because it allows for hands-on work with the people. You can talk to them, ask them questions, but also work, eat, and sleep like they do. The point is to understand their perspective of the world in order to get a sense of why they do the things they do. If you’re just watching from afar, you get none of that intimate experience. These anthropologists seem to want to avoid contact at all costs. It baffles me! There is so much information that you’re missing out on! Why are they hiding themselves away from the Mintakans? 

I would almost forgive them if their reason was to avoid the natural interviewee bias (not sure of the exact term at the moment if there even is one). Basically when you interview someone, you can’t actually be 100% confident that what they tell you is the exact truth. They could either be intentionally deceiving you and telling you what they think you want to hear, or be doing so subconsciously by giving you an idealized version of the truth. But as an anthropologist, you are supposed to take this into account. By spending time with the people, you minimize the first as you gain their trust. As for the second, it’s actually an interesting area of study in itself to compare what they say and what you see. It gives a good look into what their values as a society are.

But I know that’s not what these anthropologists are avoiding. They want to avoid violating the Prime Directive. What exactly is the Prime Directive?

You know? That’s a damn good question.

As Archer put it, there needed to be a directive to spell out how you can and can’t interact with alien species (clearly meaning the Prime Directive), but until that was made “I’m going to have to remind myself every day that we didn’t come out here to play God.“ 

For a directive that is so often used and referred to and held to so high a reverence, I haven’t actually seen much of actual text of it in canon. However, I was able to dig up something said in TAS episode The Magicks of Megas-Tu as far as official phrasing goes: “No starship may interfere with the normal development of any alien life or society.” Sounds simple, but apparently it’s actually pretty complicated as well because as of Voyager, it has at least 47 sub-orders. As far as I’m aware, these aren’t then listed, but they would assuredly follow the same philosophy, one that is derived from an anthropological perspective.

The anthropological perspective means that every culture, now matter how different it is from your own, is just as valid as your own. This means that other cultures may have different values and customs that are neither better nor worse than yours, just different. This is also the basis for the Prime Directive. As the Federation is its own collection of cultures, it has no right to just impose its set of values on new ones they encounter. It is for this reason it is often referred to as the Non-Interference Directive. 

But it is often misused. Not by the characters exactly, but by the writers. Moral dilemmas are often an intriguing and engrossing way of creating conflict in a story. However, it can be really hard to pull off because the writers know the solution already. It may not be the right or wrong choice, but for the character(s) to make it, it must be right for them to make it. Usually this also means we as the audience are supposed to believe they made the right choice because they writers want us to root for the character unless this is something the character(s) involved are going to learn a lesson on. That exception however, can’t happen every single time. It just isn’t sustainable in a long series or franchise like Star Trek is. But when you have a lot of potential moral dilemmas, how can you be sure to pick the “correct” choice as a writer that your audience will be on board with?

You instead create a false moral dilemma. This is when a situation is presented and treated as a moral dilemma, but really isn’t. That way you get all of the tension of the debate and discussion, but little risk of doing the wrong thing because there really wasn’t a big issue. This is how the Prime Directive is used most of the time. The formula is that something bad happens on a planet. Perhaps some crisis involving a natural disaster or something. Then Starfleet gets wind of it then goes through this whole debate of whether or not they should keep these people from dying because by interfering, they are violating the Prime Directive. Then they usually decide to help anyway.

As an anthropologist, you’re not supposed to interfere. But what it means in that context is that you’re not supposed to just go running around telling people of different cultures that they’re ass-backwards and are doing things wrong and while your way is best way. It doesn’t mean that you just sit there and watch people die because doing so will ruin some abstract sense of purity of culture. 

That’s playing God.

There’s a few reasons why:

1. It’s highly colonialist thinking. If you see a group of people and decide that you know what’s best for them because you are from a “more advanced” society, that’s colonialist. You are treating this other culture like children who can’t be trusted to make decisions for themselves and that it is up to you to be the adult in the situation and solve it for them without their input or consent. Why are you more qualified to make that choice for them? What gives you the right? That you’re from the Federation? That’s like the USA trying to “civilize” the Native Americans. It’s an extreme example and not like the situations we see in Star Trek, but it is the SAME LINE OF THINKING. 

2. It assumes that culture progresses linearly, a very outdated anthropological idea. You may have heard according to sociocultural evolution that cultures progress from band, tribe, chiefdom, state. These are now only the names of organization sizes/relationships, not stages that go one to another. Sociocultural evolution now refers to a broader sense of how cultures change over time, not necessarily in any particular direction. There are many different theories now on how or why cultures change, but they can all agree that they are always in a state of flux. They might also stay more or less the same for long periods of time, changing in ways we can’t quite recognize. Some might see these people as being “behind the times” or in need of help in some way because they are not “civilized” in the way that we are. No. Again, just because we are different, doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with how or what or why they do things the way they do. To assume that they will follow the same path that Western civilizations took also assumes that we are a goal worth pursuing, that we are at the top right now. Can you see why that can be a major problem despite good intentions? Like, yeah. That alien species might never reach the point of space travel. They might be perfectly fine with that. Is there anything wrong with that? They might have been the way they are for thousands of years and advanced in other ways. Why is that arbitrary criteria something that makes them ineligible for being considered equal to you?

3. It assumes that any interaction will ruin the cultural purity or natural progression of their culture. Goes with the last one. It assumes that your culture is soooo awesome that they will abandon your own just to emulate yours. Thing is it assumes that these people would be willing to just abandon their own cultural norms because you (purposefully or accidentally) shown them the light and error of their ways. Which is really just silly and unrealistic. Yes, they might indeed change parts of their culture. That does happen when two cultures collide. It happens a lot. But is that a bad thing? Can you imagine how much technology and knowledge and other ideas the West has borrowed from other cultures? We literally wouldn’t be where we are today without that cultural diffusion. Yet each of the countries that make up The West are all culturally unique and complex not only between each other, but also the rest of the world. If everyone copied whole-cloth from a single culture that had any good ideas, then the entire Earth would be one damn culture. But it’s not. The reason is that we borrow what we want, and don’t borrow what we don’t like. It’s that goddamn easy. Other cultures made up of sentient beings can do just the same. The only reason they might borrow things they don’t want is if they are forced to. This also goes for things they want to borrow that you, for some reason, don’t want them to. That’s wrong for the reasons I have gone over already. Taking away people’s choice in their own lives for arbitrary reasons is wrong.

4. What do the people want? That’s the main issue. You can hee and haw back and forth all you want about whether it is ethical to intervene, but taking action (or specific inaction) without input at all from the people whose lives you’re affecting, is making a choice on their behalf. You are taking away their autonomy. Their ability to make choices about their own lives. When you do that, you are in fact playing God. If they ask for your help (even if it’s just spit out into the cosmos, distress signal style), that’s all the permission you need. They are explicitly asking for intervention. Plain and simple. If they don’t know if there’s a problem, the moment you notice, it’s your responsibility to figure out if they want your help. If there isn’t time to figure that out, you should assume that they want you to try. It’s a general assumption that might end up being problematic, but most things want to live. However, there is also a flip-side. If they don’t want your help, then you must honor that. Failing to honor that is then breaking the Prime Directive because you are overriding their wishes because you think you know better than they do. That’s hard, but you have to let it go.

So where does that put us in terms of how the Prime Directive is used in Star Trek? Well most of these moral dilemmas come when the main characters are forced to choose whether or not to save the aliens or follow the Prime Directive. In other words, the choice is to save the lives of a sentient race of creatures, or to preserve the purity of their culture, however short lived it now may be. Do you see what the easy choice is now? The writers present this as an extremely difficult debate. They save the aliens if they want their main characters to be shown as heroes, or let them die if they want to give their characters easy drama and sadness or mope about how hard the job is sometimes. 

Bringing it back to the main point, here’s how all of this applies to Who Watches the Watchers. The anthropologists are observing the Mintakans from a duck blind (wrong). The duck blind’s camouflage then fails, allowing for a pair of natives to see the high tech (nothing wrong with that). One of these Mintakans is then injured and has to be saved by the Enterprise which is a big problem (not it isn’t). He is healed, given a memory wipe, and returned to the village (okay but Crusher had to defend her decision to save him). The memory wipe isn’t 100% apparently because he remembers Picard and tells everyone about his experience (nice going). The village interprets Picard as a god (okay this is a problem because you never should want this power dynamic). Also one of the anthropologists is still down there (not a big deal like everyone is making it out to be). After great debate (where the actual phrase “cultural contamination” is used for fuck’s sake), he sends Riker and Troi in disguise to pretend to be from over the mountain to rescue the anthropologist. The villagers debate among themselves about what “The Picard” wants them to do with the anthropologist and now these newcomers (really Riker and Troi did not do a great job). Stuff happens and eventually, after refusing to send a sign to make his wishes known to the Mintakans, Picard beams one of them aboard to show her he isn’t a magical god figure (the one time the Prime Directive is used reasonably albeit in probably not the best way). After he shows her that he cannot prevent people from dying sometimes, she understands that he and his people are just that, people (because she is capable of basic understanding like an actual sentient being who is an adult and not just a large child). Meanwhile, the other Mintakans are about to sacrifice Troi (because sure why not) when he returns the one he beamed aboard AND IS THERE IN PERSON HIMSELF (?????). He convinces them to stop (only after proving he’s mortal by being hit with an arrow because ugh), collects Troi, and fucks off. With the anthropologists. Because apparently now that the Mintakans have been “culturally contaminated” there’s no reason to stay and research them any more despite it being the perfect opportunity to do good ethnographic research. 

Sorry that last paragraph turned into an unorganized rant. I might post that discussion of the Prime Directive in its own post though.

[tessatechaitea]

Star Trek: The Next Generation: "Encounter at Farpoint"

I'm re-watching Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix. Before each episode, to prepare the viewer for what they're about to experience, Netflix gives the show's rating as "TV-MA: sex, fear" and I'm perplexed as to how they think that adequately describes the show. I suppose Tasha Yar fucking Data in the second episode ticks those boxes but otherwise, I don't find myself titillatedly screaming every few minutes. I wish I did but that just has yet to be the case! The first episode is called "Encounter at Farpoint" (which I noted in the title of this post) and it made me wonder if the titles of the episodes of the first series have a theme the way the titles of the first series of the original Star Trek were themed around the names of gay bars. I think these episodes might be the names of sex tapes. Look. I wanted to do an actual review of this pilot episode. I really and truly tried to watch it intellectually and without bias. But all I kept doing was trying to look up Deanna Troi's mini-skirt. It was just an hour and a half of me watching a scene with Q acting like an 18th century ship's captain and me thinking, "Oh! Deanna just shifted in her chair and moved a hand away from her lap! I think maybe I just saw some 24th century lady pants!" And then later when Q has them on trial for a reason that was unclear because I wasn't really listening to him earlier due to trying to see up Deanna Troi's skirt, Deanna squats next to a frozen Tasha Yar and I was all, "Oh my god! She's squatting in the mini-skirt! I'm bound to see a little butt cheek, right?!" Meanwhile, Tasha died or something and Jean-Luc was all, "I guess humans are guilty! Guilty of having great asses and erotic underwear!" Then Deanna stopped squatting and I wiped the sweat from my brow and fought the urge to rewind the episode. Part way through the episode, I confided to the Non-Certified Spouse that I couldn't concentrate due to the Betazoid's movements in the short skirt. She'd earlier commented on how short the skirt was but that was as far as it went for her for some reason. I guess she's not into upskirt erotica. Although she appreciated when I pointed out that Starfleet uniforms were never going to conceal a boner (mostly because I kept thinking about Deanna's skirt situation and what it was doing to my pants region). After I pointed out how I couldn't stop concentrating on Deanna's skirt, the Non-Certified Spouse started to notice how Deanna had to sit with her hands in her lap and, whenever she stood, she'd have to sort of make sure her skirt didn't rise up too high. I was thoroughly disappointed that Martina Sirtis did such a great job of wrangling that skirt to keep her dignity. At one point in the pilot, a male crew member walks by in a short skirt and I suggested the only way they could get Martina Sirtis to wear that short skirt was to put a guy in one and say, "See?! It's not a gender thing!" Of course by the next episode, Deanna Troi is in pants which shows somebody came to their senses. Not that I was happy about that person's frigid senses. And even though they got rid of the skirt, they lowered her neck line about ten inches. I guess her cleavage will distract me from the rest of the series. My favorite part of the episode was where Worf considers shooting the video screen when he feels threatened. Klingons are like cats, aren't they? Do they often distract Worf on the bridge with a laser pointer? "Oh shit! The Klingon's getting aggressive! Data, engage laser pointer!" Although I imagine getting a Klingon to flip the fuck out on the bridge is against Starfleet regulations. I tried to understand Q's motivations in this episode but they were beyond me. That makes sense because Deanna Troi stood up that one time and I'm certain I caught a glimpse of a fleshy lady part and also he's so far beyond human sentience and technology that he's practically Jean-Luc Picard's Great Gazoo. The way I remember it, Q exists outside of time. So while this encounter is Picard's first encounter with Q, Q has probably already experienced other interactions with Picard (possibly all of them at once? Is that how it would work?). Q understands this is Picard's first time meeting him so he keeps up the act. But it feel's like Q is teasing his big crush. Q totally wants to fuck Picard and part of me is glad my memory sucks so I can revel in the sexual tension of their Diane/Sam, Maddie/David will they/won't they relationship! Hell, since Q exists outside of linear time, maybe they've already fucked and Q is remembering/anticipating that first time Picard's blood-engorged penis shows through the Starfleet uniform! This episode, we learn that Beverly Crusher is a MILF, Commander Riker has a weird, lizard-shaped head (probably due to the terrible haircut), Tasha Yar can't stop comparing everything to Rape Gangs, Worf might be mentally disabled, Data needs moisturizer, Geordi is in constant physical pain due to his shoddy third-party visor, Deanna Troi has no visible panty lines, Jean-Luc Picard hates children, and Wesley Crusher has the worst style of the 24th Century. Maybe we don't learn that about Wesley this soon but I can't stop picturing that awful fucking ruffly over-sized sweater he wears in upcoming episodes. I think we also learn that casting hadn't gotten around to finding an actor to play the Chief Engineer. DeForest Kelley makes a guest appearance as a 127 year old who thinks he's Foghorn Leghorn. He must have owed Gene Roddenberry one more episode on his old Star Trek contract because I can't imagine any other reason for that scene being in the episode. Eventually, Jean-Luc Picard proves that humans aren't as savage as they used to be and Q is all, "Oh, darn! I guess I'll just have to torment you again during Sweeps Week! Ta-ta!" I don't remember how Jean-Luc proves it because of Deanna Troi's uniform but I think it had something to do with two enormous space squids finally being able to fuck again. And they do it right on camera! It was both titillating and scary!