#I’m a sucker for all things Star Trek

[jinxtheshadow]

went to a convention today: had to grab this even though I don’t have a record player currently.

Looking forward to being able to listen to it when i can get my hands on one~

Also i’m absolutely in love with the cover art- the blueprint aesthetic is just *chef’s kiss* 🤌

[anonymousboxcar]

TTTE Headcanons: Engines’ TV Habits

This is pretty goofy, but I’m thinking about what sorts of TV the engines might watch if they had a TV or a streaming device in their sheds. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far!

—————————————

Henry loves nature shows, of course. In addition, after his fireman lamented his spilt hot cocoa, he wanted to understand why humans care so much about food. This led him to cooking shows, which he found very relaxing. He likes to watch raw, disparate ingredients become something beautiful and complete.

Edward goes for mysteries — lighter, cozier shows like Midsomer Murders, Rosemary & Thyme, and Murder, She Wrote. He’s also a fan of Granada Studios’ 1984 Sherlock Holmes. It tickles the same part of him that enjoys ghost stories, giving him a slight thrill alongside a pleasing mind-teaser.

Gordon watches the news every morning and evening. He likes to feel up-to-date on important events, expounding on them to his colleagues. Any program about opera and orchestral performances also appeals to him. There’s some snobbery involved, but he does enjoy hearing and learning about musical genres.

James likes game and talent shows, often shouting answers and opinions at the TV. He’s so attuned to these shows’ editing that he’ll guess a season winner, set up a betting pool, and rake in all the favors after the finale with a smug grin. (Gordon and Henry only keep placing bets because they want to show him up someday.)

All three big engines indulge in the guilty pleasure of soap operas. They think nobody else knows about this. Pip and Emma “obliviously” intrude on their watch parties to make them squirm.

Thomas and Percy watch ghost hunting shows together. They scoff at the idea of ghosts, accuse each other of being ‘fraidy-cats, and huddle close in fear as an episode progresses. They also watch late-night airings of schlocky films with Toby, whose sly commentary cracks them all up.

On his own, Thomas watches motorsport broadcasts. Bertie hooked him on it not long after they started racing each other. He’s a fan of some F1 drivers and their cars, often comparing notes with Bertie in serious (and sometimes heated) discussions.

Percy has a soft spot for period dramas. He’ll laugh at historical inaccuracies, get invested in all the characters, and ponder common tropes. He’s not afraid to ask about the servants who have to endure the wealthy protagonists’ dramatics.

Toby doesn’t watch much TV outside of what he sees with Thomas and Percy. However, he and Henrietta are partial to some late-night talk shows. If the show’s interviewing someone they’re interested in, or if they think the host is funny, they’ll give an episode a try.

Duck adores How It’s Made. It’s very satisfying for him to watch a bunch of moving parts at work, slotting pieces into their rightful places to assemble something. Other nights, he watches travel shows. They explore locations all around the world, scratching his itch to see what’s beyond his horizon.

Donald watches stand-up comedy specials, going for a good laugh at the end of the day to decompress. Ever since Duck “gifted” him Dilly, he also watches nature programs and shows about training/caring for pets. (He and Dilly are working on some tricks.)

Oliver picks sci-fi shows, with Star Trek and Doctor Who as his favorites. He’s drawn in by the pulpy adventures, moral dilemmas, and complex protagonists. It all makes him feel better about himself: you can mess up on an astronomical scale, but still be capable of good things. You don’t have to be a perfect hero to be a good person.

Douglas enjoys shows about antiques and vintage items — things in the vein of Antique Roadshow, or American Pickers. He’s a sucker for knickknacks that meant something to someone, for all the stories behind each one, and for their loving restorations.

Bill and Ben think fitness shows are hysterical. They’re forever amused by the odd ways the instructors contort their bodies. But they also scheme for their crews to watch these shows, hoping they’ll participate and stay healthy for years to come.

Daisy’ll watch any program about fashion or body art (tattoos, piercings, etc). Being so attentive to her swerves, she’s curious about the ways that humans adorn themselves. She’ll sometimes take inspiration from what she sees, but she’ll always argue that fashion is an art form, pointing to these shows for examples.

——————————————

What are your guys’ thoughts/headcanons? I’d love to hear them!

[sshbpodcast]

Character Spotlight: Kathryn Janeway

By Ames

Finally, we’ve made it to the Delta Quadrant in A Star to Steer Her By’s character spotlight series, as we turn our focus to the crew from Voyager. And who better to start us off than our intrepid Intrepid-class leader, Captain Kathryn Janeway? She stalwartly leads the crew through uncharted space, wheels and deals with new alien species, kicks countless asses, and drinks copious amounts of coffee. What’s not to like?

Well, some things, as you’ll see below in our patented list of all Janeway’s Best and Worst Moments throughout the series (and beyond!). What’s in the Delta Quadrant doesn’t actually stay in the Delta Quadrant, you see. So count the number of times Janeway self-destructs the ship as you read on below and listen to our countdown timer over on this week’s podcast episode (T-minus 57:33). There’s coffee in this blogpost!

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Best moments

Ralkana? He said you’d been shot. One of the early gems of Voyager is “Resistance,” and Kate Mulgrew is on high display throughout. When she comes to understand Caylem’s tragic history, Janeway embraces his cause with compassion and empathy. And when the poor, senile man is dying and continues to mistake her for his daughter, Janeway lets him believe his delusions because they’re all he has.

Hello. I’m Captain Kathryn Janeway. Welcome to the Bridge. We joke a lot on A Star to Steer Her By that Janeway’s go-to tactic is self-destructing the ship. And she gets to actually carry that through for the first (but not last) time in “Deadlock,” taking out a whole bunch of Vidiians with her. Lucky for us, a spare Voyager crew (including a bonus Harry and Naomi) are saved as a result, since any other time it’s a trick you can only pull once.

There’s nothing to fear… except Kathryn Janeway Throughout the sensory-overload nightmare fuel that is “The Thaw,” Fear the Clown torments the people within his holo-environment until he crosses paths with Captain Janeway and she proves to be the most cold-blooded of them all. She cleverly tricks him into releasing the hostages before ripping the rug out from under him with the reveal that she isn’t really there.

You’re part of a family now, and you have obligations Watching the crew become more of a family as the seasons progress is a highlight of Voyager, and the way Janeway comes to trust Neelix is lovely to watch. In “Macrocosm,” she makes him an ambassador, and an episode later in “Fair Trade,” her “you’re part of our family” speech when Neelix admits to feeling like he no longer has a purpose on the ship proves how she values him.

Time’s up Not only is “Year of Hell” one of the best two-parters in all of Star Trek, but it also has yet another instance of Janeway destroying the ship! She takes it upon herself to save her crew from the Krenim and their very pretty, very powerful timeship by plowing what’s left of the Voyager directly into that sucker. And she even gets a great sendoff line to go with it!

For what it’s worth, you made a tempting offer If we’ve learned anything from the first several seasons, it’s don’t cross Janeway or she will double-, triple-, or quadruple-cross you right back. Evidently, no one clued in Kashyk in “Counterpoint” because he tries to use her to find a wormhole and nab some telepaths, but she’s been prepared for that the whole time. Pity, the two of them were almost cute together.

I’m a little busy right now, helping a friend It takes her quite a while (most of the series even), but Janeway slowly makes steps to accepting the EMH as people. By “Latent Image,” she’s agreed to let him process his trauma, even though it would be much easier to deal with if she just erased it (again) like the program he is. She even sits with him while he has existential crisis after existential crisis.

Her Royal Highness, Arachnia, Queen of the Spiderpeople! As far as comedy episodes go, “Bride of Chaotica!” is one of our favorites. You can tell everyone’s having so much fun, especially Kate Mulgrew as she throws herself fully into the over-the-top role of Queen Arachnia. Janeway pretending to be a B-movie villainess is just candy to watch, and she saves the invaders from the fifth dimension. All in a day’s work!

I make a better you than you Jake thinks he’s very funny in making me include this one on the Janeway list, but here we go. So Dala in “Live Fast and Prosper” isn’t really Janeway, but she does make cunning deals and schemes with the best of them. And hell, the bonafide Janeway delivers as well by foiling her counterpart’s dastardly plans and throwing her in the brig where she belongs.

I’ll start my own Federation, with blackjack and hookers When the Voyager is stuck in the titular void from “The Void,” everyone’s begging to resort to piracy – it just looks so fun! – but Janeway puts her foot down. Despite being so far from home, she has tried her darndest to unhold Starfleet ideals, and starting her own miniature Federation is her way of showing that people are better when they work together. Void friends forever!

Must’ve been something you assimilated While I could pick on Admiral Janeway for breaking the Temporal Prime Directive in “Endgame,” I’m just too impressed by how she so thoroughly owns the Borg Queen. She knows diplomacy won’t get her anywhere with the Borg, so she lets herself get assimilated to pass on a neurolytic pathogen that takes out the whole collective and saves Voyager!

Set your compass to Starfleet Finally, we’ve been pretty forthright about our love for Star Trek: Prodigy, and Admiral Janeway really gets some great moments to chew the CGI scenery. In the season one finale, “Supernova,” she stands up for the Protostar crew, especially sticking her neck out for Dal in a way that is so pure and supportive that you root for the whole group. We're so excited to watch season two when it’s up on Netflix!

—

Worst moments

And if you win you get this shiny banjo made of gold What the whole series boils down to is the long journey to get home from the Delta Quadrant… but it’s kinda Janway’s fault they’re stuck there in the first place due to her needlessly selfless actions in “Caretaker.” And then there are countless opportunities to get home after that that she squanders to uphold Starfleet rules. Who’s gonna know, Janeway?

The Trolley Problem solution for maximum murder Probably the most infamous action Janeway takes is the murder of Tuvix in the eponymous “Tuvix.” Sure, it’s to get two crewmembers back, and I’ve heard that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one, but it is straight-up cruel the way she forces Tuvix to medbay against his will, kicking and screaming the whole way that he wants to live.

I couldn’t help it, said the scorpion. It’s my nature. Boy, does Janeway know how to put her crew in needless danger by making snap decisions and then arguing about them a lot (a lot) with Chakotay. Her decision to team up with the Borg in “Scorpion” against the newly introduced Species 8472 is frankly insane. There’s no reasoning with Borg, lady. I’m with Chakotay on this one: you can only trust a scorpion to sting you.

You must comply In “Scorpion,” Janeway promises to return Seven to the collective when they finish the whole Species 8472 thing, but instead Janeway straight up kidnaps the poor drone and makes the decision to deprogram her in “The Gift” like the cult victim Seven is. It’s all entirely against Seven’s wishes and a little uncomfortable to watch because our new Borg has no agency yet.

Get down with your bad self Okay, Jake is being a pill again and insists we include Janeway’s fictional counterpart from “Living Witness” using biogenic weapons against the Kyrians. And yeah, it’s not actually Janeway – it’s a purely fabricated story the Kyrians concocted for their biased history program – but ya know what: I love how diabolical and ruthless this Janeway is so much that I’ll include it.

I’ll be benefiting from other people’s suffering Even more uncomfortable than watching Janeway force individuality on Seven is watching Janeway straight up ignore the DNR from Torres in “Nothing Human.” We sorta get that Seven can’t make her own decisions because she’s essentially a cult victim, but Torres is of sound mind when she refuses to accept surgery from Crell Moset and Janeway won’t hear it.

Sit in the corner and think about what you did We did a whole other blogpost about when it’s a good idea to break or uphold the Prime Directive after watching “Thirty Days.” Janeway refuses to let Tom save the Moneans and throws him in the brig for a month for trying to help them. It’s inconsistent to say the least when captains decide to hide behind the almighty Prime Directive, and Janeway is the biggest offender.

You’re malfunctioning, and you need to be repaired We praised Janeway a moment ago about how she respects the Doctor’s agency in “Latent Image,” but all through the series leading up to that, she struggles to think of him as a sapient person. It’s revealed in this episode that she’d ordered his memories of Jetal wiped as a way to deal with his trauma – something she’d surely never do to one of her solid crew members.

The Handbook on Personal Relationships is three centimeters thick Season 5 is well represented in this list, and you’d think that after that long, Janeway would have a modicum of respect for her forever ensign, Harry Kim. But in “The Disease,” she sets a double standard out of nowhere that crew members can’t bang aliens without permission. Hello? Janeway, everyone has already broken that, not just Harry, your special little boy.

Every captain gets a little torture as a treat! We get to watch Janeway go full Captain Ahab on the Equinox crew in “Equinox.” She hunts down Ransom like he’s her white whale. She tortures Lessing for information. And then she fires Chakotay for doing his job of being the most moral character in the room. It all feels out of character, but that’s kinda the point because this is what the Delta Quadrant pushes people to.

Delete the wife Speaking of seeming out of character. In “Fair Haven,” Janeway designs herself a holo-boyfriend and then falls head-over-heels in love with it. We fully support the captain going and getting holo-laid, especially since it’s unethical to bang her subordinates, but she should know better that this guy is just a sex toy and not a real person – she did program him that way!

Two Janeways are better than one There’s a whole new meaning to arguing with yourself in “Endgame.” Turns out, Admiral Janeway originally doesn’t want to wreck up the Borg as we gave her credit for above, but withholds her plan from her younger self and then tries to pull rank while everyone else is rallying to save millions by taking out the Borg. Ladies, can’t we just work together… to kill Borg!

—

And we’ve finally made it home to the Alpha Quadrant! That’s all from Janeway today, but we’ve got her whole crew to peruse through for the upcoming weeks, so make sure you’re venturing through Voyager with us here, follow along with our Enterprise watchthrough on SoundCloud or wherever you podcast, sip some coffee with us over on Facebook and Twitter, and lift your mugs to a toast: to the journey!

[cinnis]

I am very slow! And because I’m technologically incompetent I haven’t actually mastered how to do any fun formatting/font work on tumblr, so my answers will look worse. Regardless I was tagged by @sideguitars and @iglowindark so I will endeavor to answer!

Last song: As I type this, I’m listening to Sucker by Marcus King. If completed listens only it would be talking small by Brian David Gilbert!

Favorite color: I have a really hard time choosing. I love blues and grays, especially with a nice pop of yellow!

Last movie: I don’t actually watch many movies! I think it was Star Trek Beyond before that got taken off Netflix. I intend to finally watch Glass Onion at some point though.

Last show: Supergirl! @sideguitars gets to hear all my rambling as I slowly work my way through the show. I’m on S5 episode 11 ish now!

Sweet/spicy/savory: Savory>Spicy>Sweet but I really do love them all.

Relationship status: Very happily single!

Last thing I googled: Hannah NCIS New Orleans based on someone’s recommendation on tumblr

Current obsession: Supergirl and Arcane are taking up about equal amounts of my brain at the moment!

Looking forward to: That new Superman movie looks pretty good! And I can’t wait for Baseball to start up again!

[wingboundwarrior]

TOA Anniversary Munday

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is.

Repost, don’t reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing!

Happy anniversary, TOA! Here’s to many more years spent together.

Name: Serena

Pronouns: she/hers

Birthday (no year): February 3rd

Where are you from? What is your time zone? US, EST!

How long is your roleplay experience? I’ve been roleplaying as long as I can remember... I have vivid memories of creating characters with my friends as a small child and pretending to be them. From there, I moved to forums, paper and pencil RP, texting and email RP, and the like! I’ve been roleplaying on Tumblr specifically for over 10 years.

How were you introduced to roleplaying as a whole? I think it really just came naturally to me and my few friends as a kid, haha! My first forum was a Harry Potter one as a child... and then I got into Tumblr RP with my introduction to Star Trek!

How were you introduced to TOA? I found TOA while in the “fe rp” tag, as they’re really frequent in there!

Do you have any pets? I have two cats, a 4 year old gray cat named Jasper, and a less than a year old black cat named Jacinth! They don’t get along 💖

What is your favorite time of year and why? (Season, holiday, general period) Winter by far! I grew up in a humid environment, and I find the colder weather and environment so magical! Even though I’ve moved, I still do 💖

What is your IRL occupation? I’m disabled!

Some interests and things you like/enjoy? I love crocheting, playing farming sims, and watching anime!

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? Fields of Mistria is my favorite game rn!! I’m also a sucker for a game I’ve been playing since I was young called Mabinogi! But a good rule of thumb is, if it’s a farming sim available on the computer I’ve heard of it and have an opinion on it.

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: I never really got too much into Pokemon buuuuut my favorite TemTem is Vulffy 💖

Tell us some fun facts and trivia about yourself!

How did you get into Fire Emblem? I met Havoc in another roleplay space and when we moved away from that space I wrote with his Fire Emblem characters, and then I was curious about the source material, so!

What Fire Emblem games have you played? FE7 and a little tiny bit of Three Houses! 👍

First & Favorite Fire Emblem games: FE7 for both JKLFAJKL

List your 5 favorite Fire Emblem characters across the series! Ohhhhh I mean. Definitely Serra and Fiora but also Florina? And Erk? And Heath? And... ohhhh tbh it’s so hard. They’re all so good.

Who was the first character ever to make you go “ooh I like this one in particular” and why? Can be any context and reason! The first time Serra opened her mouth she had reached through the screen and grabbed me by the throat.

Any Fire Emblem crushes? I’d marry Eliwood tbqh....

If you’ve played (or are familiar with) the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? Wheezes.... I haven’t.... ever gotten that far :softsmile:.....

Favorite Fire Emblem class? I actually love Mages sooooo bad.... But I do rely on my Cavs for. Everything ,

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class and stats? Would you be playable? I’d be a healer!!! Probably a mounted healer actually!!!

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? (Black Eagles, Blue Lions, Golden Deer, Church of Seiros, Those Who Slither in the Dark, unaffiliated civilian, other - for example Almyran) Probably Church of Seiros!!

If you were an Officers Academy student, what would be your boons, banes and potential budding talent? Boons: Faith Banes: Everything else 😅 Budding Talent: Maybe Reason?.... ha ha.... Deep down I want it to be Bows, though

If you were an Engage character, which nation would you originate from? (Firene, the Kingdom of Abundance; Brodia, the Kingdom of Might; Elusia, the Kingdom of Knowledge; Solm, the Queendom of Freedom; Lythos, the holy land of the Divine Dragon; Gradlon, the desolate land of the Fell Dragon) I really have no clue but I’ll say Lythos for fun 🙏

How do you pronounce TOA? 🤔(separate letters, to-ah, other?) Separate letters!

Current TOA muses: Fiora and Serra!

Past TOA muses? I wrote Limstella for about seven seconds but actually still muse them in another server!

Who was your first TOA muse? If you no longer have them, can you see yourself picking them up again? Serra! Yes, I still got her!

Do you believe you have a type of character you gravitate towards writing? YES I write Sunshine Girls or Melancholic Girls. Sometimes both at once. 🙏

Do you have characters or types of characters you don’t think you can handle writing, but wish you could? Honestly not really, I think I could figure out how to write other muses but these are the ones I enjoy most!

What kind of scenes, situations etc do you believe you enjoy writing the most? (If you filled this out last year, has this changed in any way?) I really love delving into emotionally or physically charged things... I’m a little angst demon.... I really want our characters to feel and feel deeply....

Do you have any scenario in mind for your muse(s) that gets you thinking “man I hope I get to write this one day��? For Fiora, I hope to confront her feelings of failure and sorrow over her losses. I want her to be called out!!!! For the self-sacrificial shit she does!!!! I want her to be honest and emotionally vulnerable!!!

Favorite TOA-related memories? I feel like every thread I write is my new favorite thread 🫶

Present or past tense? Present tense recently, honestly!

Normal size text, small text, no preference? I actually like small text the most but I’ll do anything!!

Got any potential muse delusions to share? 😉 Nope! I’m happy. 😌

[ezrisdax-archive]

Do you have more thoughts on Star Trek: Aventine? I know your pinned post is older but I’m always so enchanted by it when I visit your blog

oh! thank you! it's still my pinned post cause I love it so much.

I do have a few more ideas, like Ezri having to visit her brothers again when something she's investigating leads back to them and I wanted to really go more into a deep dive with Trill and explore Ezri eventually getting rid of symbiosis commissions laws in some areas. I know Discovery goes into it with Adira but I want Ezri to feel something about the fact that she has to keep this secret that any Trill can be joined as shown with her. also she's vocal about that time she was a murderer, hey symbiosis commission remember when you fucked that up? And talk more about the other hosts, we know a little about some of them and a bunch more about others but my god am I curious.

I def wanted to do a thing where Harry and Ezri worked their way to Captain together on Geordi's ship and thus have this camaraderie but Ezri hadn't met Seven before she was assigned to her ship and is like 'wow you're so different than Harry's stories' 'Captain Kim has a tendency to embellish', I think Ezri would set up little things with her command crew for bonding but when it comes to her and Seven it's just complaining about having different voices in your head and coming to terms with it a) suddenly being gone for Seven and b) suddenly existing for Ezri. and when it came to Seven being there it's because the Borg had shown up in the Gamma Quadrant for unknown reasons. I don't wanna make them the big bads like in TNG and VOY but I wanted some throwbacks to them, just in here and there episodes. I think if I was gonna make a big bad it'd be that Odo's talks with the Changelings created a division down them (look I'm not immune to the Geth division from Mass Effect) and now some of them are wondering why they're still not controlling what they had.

I dunno if you ever read this comics called Divided We Fall but in it Ezri has this sudden need to find Lenara after she goes missing but then the comic just...doesn't do anything with that, like Ezri finds her but there's never a conversation we get to see and the plot moves on which is why I wanted to ignore that completely and go with an episode where Ezri runs into Lenara, I just thought Lenara now going through the pain of losing a Dax twice and knowing neither that she loved can ever come back and meanwhile here's the new one in front of her is just something so interesting.

also I wanted to have anything where Molly or Naomi was the central character have a thing where it's them writing messages to Jake/the O'Briens/Kirayoshi or Samantha/Janeway. and an episode where Naomi works with Seven and makes a joke about it being just like old times and the two of them still get together for Kadis-Kot, maybe they've somehow found a technology that lets them get a message out to Neelix or Naomi has been writing all these reports to her godfather to one day share everything with him because Naomi believes in seeing her whole family again one day. meanwhile Molly's much more used to station life/earth life and is having some trouble adapting to the ship and wondering if she's cut out for it, I wanted to give her some more depth but not go full Barclay anxiety levels. It'd also be nice to have Molly get an episode where Kirayoshi is in trouble somehow and Ezri shares her wisdom when it comes to having a sibling.

Worf absolutely shows up too and Ezri is a little too gleeful he's admitting to all the changes that needed to be done on Q'onoS. 'Jadzia would not do such a vindication celebration' 'Yes she would'.

I also had a vague idea of a flashback where Ezri meets with Deanna and Deanna is the one who inspires her to make the move to join command and then she runs into Deanna again and thanks her. I'm a sucker for mentor-to-Ezri!Deanna type deal.

[redshoes-blues]

Alright, now that I’ve watched the new Doctor Who episodes, here are my thoughts (below the cut because it turns out I had a lot to say!):

First, Space Babies:

— I thought it was…okay? It was a serviceable first episode, though I do wonder what the thought process was behind starting an intro season with such a weird concept. Throwing new viewers into the deep end?

— Lots of exposition, and I feel it could’ve been done a bit more naturally, but it isn’t a big deal. I’m watching the show with my brother who is twelve and new to DW (he’s only seen Nine’s season), so that infodump was helpful for him and new viewers even if it could’ve been handled a bit better.

— THE RANI MENTION!! Obviously exciting, but I may be even more intrigued by the lack of mention of the Master. Clearly lots of hard feelings there.

— The butterfly thing. Okay. What was happening when Ruby transformed into that green creature? I have many questions. Maybe it was just an example of a butterfly effect, but why is she that creature? Because it was a Changling she was swapped with? Sometimes things fly over my head so who knows.

— Major uncanny valley with the babies, which kind of made me wish they went a bit more in a horror direction with them, but ah well.

— WAS THAT CORUSCANT?! Maybe not *literal* Coruscant, but it has to be a reference, right? I mean, they referenced Star Trek too!

— I immediately adore Fifteen and Ruby’s dynamic. They have wonderful best friends energy and Ncuti has already proven himself as an amazing Doctor.

— Very intrigued by both the snow (clearly a recurring thing) and the DNA scan the Doctor is doing at the end of the episode.

— In terms of the snow, I wasn’t expecting to get emotional so early on in this series, but that and the scene where the Doctor is talking to the baby about his past made me well up. Beautiful writing there in an otherwise pretty silly episode.

— The little call-out of how hypocritical anti-abortion people are. Love to see it.

— Also the babies never being hugged before?! I’m sorry but that’s so devastating oh my god.

— Clearly a major theme of the series is going to be adoption, where the Doctor and Ruby came from, as well as their found families. I’m a huge sucker for found family, so I’m quite excited to see this inevitably come up again throughout the season.

— I love RTD for refusing to ignore that the Timeless Child is a thing that happened, and not only for that, but also for actively working to make it a serviceable aspect of the Doctor’s character now. It wouldn’t have been my choice for a plot, but it’s here, and I’m glad it isn’t being retconned. And I love how it parallels Ruby’s story. Also: the line about the baby Doctor being left in the void of space was so sad.

— I enjoyed the callbacks to The End of the World!

— Overall, the episode was fine, nothing special, but there were some lovely moments.

The Devil’s Chord

— Okay. WOW. I loved this episode so much. This is by far my favourite of all the episodes we’ve gotten with Fifteen and Ruby, and I can see it becoming a new favourite in general too.

— I loved when Fifteen and Ruby stepped out of the TARDIS and we got a little Abbey Road moment. Expected? Yes. But it was very adorable.

— Maestro was an incredible villain and Jinkx was giving everything!! Are they a child of the Toymaker? I feel like that was sort of implied, but either way they’re definitely part of his liege. I’m sure we’ll be seeing many more of the people connected to him throughout the series.

— Conceptually, I loved this. I love when DW takes a big concept asks questions. Like what would the world be like without this thing that’s so integral to humanity that we take for granted? It reminded me a little bit of the Yesterday movie (“what if the Beatles’ music didn’t exist?”) if it was good and thoughtful lol.

— I loved the slight corniness of seeing the world without music and how devastating that is. It made me cry seeing Ruby and Fifteen in the 2024 post-nuclear earth without music. And then seeing the joy Ruby’s song brought to people?! That song itself was absolutely beautiful and I’m so thrilled Murray Gold is back because wow. Stunning. Made me cry!

— We also learn that it’s June (or July?) 2024 now, which means they’ve been travelling for about six months. That’s quite a substantial chunk of time that we haven’t seen. Which leaves a lot of wiggle room for Big Finish audios. And that’s always welcome!

— The Doctor’s soul is split in two?! Woah. That’s a big deal and was brushed over really fast? Which is fine, maybe we won’t come back to that. But that in itself is very interesting.

— The Harbinger again. Hmmm.

— Also: Susan Twist again? What is happening!! She appeared in the previous episodes too.

— Ruby and Fifteen’s outfits were so fuckin good, I know so many people will cosplay them and look incredible doing it. I need Ruby’s dress badly.

— The part when Maestro was trying to steal Ruby’s song inside of her soul (very cool concept) and CAROL OF THE BELLS PLAYED OH MY GOD. The callbacks to the church are crazyyy and I’m so intrigued. I’m loving the mystery.

— SUSAN MENTIONED! All of these classic who references…Susan, other Time Lords, etc. are making me wondering if they’re just unsubtle easter eggs OR if they’re building towards something.

— Maestro referred to Ruby as a “creature” which is another tidbit that may point to her not being human, which I’m very intrigued by.

— I enjoyed the fourth wall breaks, which were slightly unsettling and especially the theme song beginning in piano which was such a cool callback to the original DW theme.

— THE SNOW IN THE TARDIS?! What is happening omg. The collision of that memory into the current time where Ruby is…what’s going on?! I’m scared but so, so invested.

— Musical number at the end was so much fun. Was it necessary? Not at all. But it was good camp fun and that’s why I watch DW, so I’m here for it!!

— There’s definitely more I’m forgetting to mention because this episode had a lot packed into it, but basically I loved it so much and am adoring Ruby and Fifteen as a duo. This was strong writing and a great episode for me!

[you-remind-me-of-the-babe]

I have not shared in a bit but I’ve finally got a lil’ something today. This is another snippet from something I was previously calling a secret project, but now that the prologue and first chapter of the series has been shared and my name is linked to the series, I can reveal that this is from my episode of Star Trek: Redemption, a birthday gift for the lovely @raenestee 🎉

Also going to take this opportunity to plug the intro @facewithoutheart has written. You do not have to be a Trek fan to read it, either. It’s an adventurous, fun and sweet ride, and the rest of the series promises to be amazing as well. Lots of wonderful people working on it and bringing some fantastic ideas to the plate.

Anywho! On to my excerpt. (With nothing redacted this time! )

“Traveling the universe isn’t as glamorous as the Starfleet pamphlets made it sound, is it?”

Baz exhales through his nose by way of an answer.

“No, it isn’t.”

“You know this trade agreement is important,” I say quietly.

He nods. He’s got his arms crossed tightly and he’s looking at his feet, his toes pushing pebbles along the path. He looks so young all of a sudden.

“I know.”

“And just because our first few encounters in this quadrant were disastrous, doesn’t automatically mean this one will be too.”

He clicks his tongue. “Yes, but don’t those other experiences mean we should be cautious?” He turns and looks at me finally. His look is defiant. Challenging. But I’m not here for a fight.

I keep my tone gentle and do my best to coax him with my words.

“Cautious, yes. And I think we are being so. But Baz, we can’t just close ourselves off from everyone just because there’s a possibility we may get hurt. We won’t survive that way.”

A small update on my progress, if you like reading about these things. I got a good bit done on this sucker in later April/Early May but ended up chopping a good 5k (nearly everything I wrote in the last 5 weeks) recently because it was a lot of slow moving and boring exposition that I’ve decided to just recap instead. This seems to be the story of my writing these days. :vibin:

But! This bit I am determined to save and rework somehow. Wish me luck!

Thank you to all the wonderful people tagging me lately. Tagging y’all back today and then some:

@fatalfangirl @facewithoutheart @cutestkilla @artsyunderstudy @aristocratic-otter @mostlymaudlin @tea-brigade @technetiumai @ebbpettier @ileadacharmedlife @imagineacoolusername @ivelovedhimthroughworse @rimeswithpurple @shrekgogurt @confused-bi-queer @forabeatofadrum @martsonmars @hushed-chorus @valeffelees @nightimedreamersworld @aroace-genderfluid-sheep @ic3-que3n @blackberrysummerblog @palimpsessed @theearlgreymage @nausikaaa @captain-aralias @larkral @thewholelemon @letraspal @mysterioussheep @whogaveyoupermission @sosoapi @johnwgrey And anyone else who sees this and wants to share 💛

[hylianengineer]

Fic rec friday

Welcome back to fic rec friday! This one includes three whole fandoms because I finally dug myself out of the rabbithole that is my PJO bookmarks.

1. I Thought Animals Hated You? by prettyboydotexe (Percy Jackson)

“I’m not hurt, I’m fine,” he gently swatted Will’s hands away. “Look,” he untied the fabric, revealing the tiny, half shriveled face of a little creature tucked between his elbow and his chest.

It's Solangelo with a baby bat, it's so cute I'm gonna cry, what's not to love?

2. the apple to my pie by Rosyredlipstick (Percy Jackson)

They weren't always a 24-hour pie diner. There were few factors that had led to this present 24-hour fact, events that had been placed in motion and happened that were now long over, but the aftermath remained. And the aftermath made these three facts - Nico di Angelo now owns a 24\7 pie diner on the corner of Main and Keystone. Nico di Angelo has several loyal employees who help run said pie diner. And one unloyal. (Leo always swears he's going to defect and franchise a Denny's across the street which - disgusting) And the last - Will Solace is a midnight customer, and this might all be because of him.

It's fluffy, it's funny, it's romantic, and I am such a sucker for restaurant AUs - don't ask me why, I have no clue.

3. Get Some Rest by EtherealSpaceJelly (Star Trek The Original Series)

When you get back from an unexpectedly long and taxing away mission, uninjured but completely exhausted, Jim and Spock put you to bed. There is no use of Y/N. Gender-neutral pronouns are used, and there is no physical description of you. There are some romantic undertones, but it can easily be read as platonic, too. This is very fluffy and self-indulgent lol.

Star Trek TOS reader-insert (ambiguously romantic or platonic) with gratuitous fluff anyone? It's fucking adorable.

4. Vess 'Verse by jadrea (M*A*S*H)

A nameless newcomer arrives at MASH 4077 and is tight-lipped about their origins. Set around Season 3.

A series of fics, everything from fluff and humor to heavy angst and hurt/comfort, centered around a nonbinary war correspondent and dedicated rule-breaker who finds their way to the 4077 by breaking several laws. You know, as you do.

5. Last Request by destiny919 (Batman)

"Any last words, Replacement?" Red Hood casually crouches down in front of him. "Or how about a last request? I'm feeling generous. I'll do you one last favor before I clip those little wings. Whatever you want. Sky's the limit." There's only one thing he's ever really wanted from Jason Todd.

A Titan's Tower AU with tons of emotional whump and also some hugging. It's heartbreaking and sweet and if you check out the related works, there's also a really great sequel in which there is more hugging and some fluff.

[allisonreader]

Mmm, since I just excitedly explained my current love of Star Trek Strange New Worlds to @fictionadventurer and ever so vaguely @e-louise-bates in the notes of fictionadventurer's one post, I thought that I now need to further explain my thoughts about the season now that it’s wrapped up. (All of it will be below the cut, so if you don’t want spoilers before watching, wait until then. Though I don’t really go into explaining what each episode was about.) Otherwise my thoughts on some of the episodes of season two.

I am going to start off with the fact that I don’t actually remember much of season 1. Enough of it to keep track of what happened, but not enough to give details at all. (I will also note that for some reason Star Trek horror episodes don’t really freak me out, thankfully. The Strange New Worlds ones have been more gory than anything. Which isn’t pleasant and there are some intense moments, but it doesn’t really scare me. I know that can be different for other people as we all have generally different sensitivities from each other. Though generally I am fairly sensitive to horror but it does depend on the type of horror. Like I don’t know if Lockwood and co. Is considered horror in any way or just paranormal, either way I’ve avoided that and Stranger Things because I think both of those are closer to things that actually freak me out and I don’t need to try going to sleep scared/freaked out. Anyways back on topic to Star Trek.) I know I enjoyed season 1, but not nearly as much as season 2 this year. So season 2 is what I’m focusing on.

Episode 1 of season 2, I would say wasn’t the strongest. It was okay, but I don’t think that it was anything special to rave over. There were certain parts that were better than others during it. Overall this particular episode was lower on my list. I’d rewatch it, but it wouldn’t be the first one I would chose or even recommend. I might think differently after a rewatch of it, but I’m in no rush to do so.

Episode 2 on the other hand is a different story. (I’m too lazy to look up the episode names.) This one was one of the episodes that felt like pure unadulterated Trek. The ever a classic courtroom episode. Is it preachy and hinting towards certain political views today? Of course it is. But it was well done and engaging and there were moments where you could see exactly how the case was being brought forward to get the wanted conclusion right before it was fully finished. It is an episode that I would be most willing to watch again.

Episode 3. Context before I state anything about this episode. This was one of the TWO time travel related episodes this season, that being said, I’m a sucker for a time travel storyline. If you know me at all, then you know that I have a major soft spot for almost anything time travel. (Hence Tales Of A Frozen Sailor being time travel when I got team Tolkien in the inklings challenge…) So this episode already had a leg up for me. This episode has ended up being in my top three episodes of the season. Mainly because I love the dynamic of La'an and alternate timeline Kirk. I was about ready to burn canon for these two with the chemistry they had on screen. This episode also really started to sell me on Paul Wesley for Captain James T. Kirk in a way that hadn’t been quite as convincing in season 1. And Toronto actually got to play Toronto instead of *insert big American city here*, which was a nice change for once.

Episode 4…. I don’t actually remember exactly which episode this one was. Which meant it was good, but had nothing in particular to really stand out above the crowd. Okay, scratch that, it was the episode that I was thinking that it might be, which had the crew returning to a planet that they had visited previously. It was a very Star Trek-y episode, didn’t hate it, but wasn’t my favourite. But also wasn’t something to turn my nose up at either.

Episode 5, this one had a very classic Star Trek trope told in a slightly new way. 'Oh no one of our people (Spock in this case) has been in an accident (shuttlepod) and is not himself because part of what makes him him has been removed!' (Shocked face). All is figured out after much trouble has been gone through. (Also I both love and feel sorry for T'Pring's father. He’s so clearly enjoying himself, but his wife has higher expectations and he follows her lead in that regard.

Episode 6… I had to look at a blurb about this one because I was blanking out about it. If episode 3 is what finally sold me on Paul Wesley as Kirk, this episode cemented it. Especially since it showed friendships being started between a certain set of characters that were in the OG series. Also Kirk and Uhura were really sweet together and it showed how much respect the two have for each other. So while I didn’t remember this episode at first, it really was a good one, even if it isn’t in my top three.

Episode 7, finally. This was my most anticipated episode for the season. The crossover episode and not only that but time travel beloved. This episode had surprises and references galore AND the cast was actually allowed to ad lib in the episode. So some of the moments are absolutely priceless and well worth the wait. This is one of the other ones that makes it into my top three episodes. They also pay homage to Star Trek Enterprise, mentioning Archer, Travis Mayweather, and Hoshi. Which was wonderful for them to get some acknowledgment since most other Star Trek shows had come out before that one. It was only 40 minutes long, but they packed a lot of fun into that episode.

Episode 8. This is the only episode that I truly despised. It just wasn’t a good episode and if I wrote it, I would have chosen a different way to end it. I didn’t like the way it was put together. I didn’t like how dark of an episode it was thematically and it was the least Star Trek-y of all the episodes. I think the main issue was with the characters they chose to tell this particular story with, were the wrong ones. For how the story went, I don’t think it should have been Dr. M'Benga and Nurse Chapel. If they told it a bit differently and changed the one aspect at the end, then maybe it would have worked better. As it was, I think it was the wrong “moral” (using moral loosely) to choose. To go more into a spoiler-y direction, it would have fit better into Star Trek's original theme/premise better if instead of the Klingon being killed, differences and the past could have been put aside for them to work together or at least have come to some sort of understanding instead of what happened. It just left a sour taste in my mouth and wasn’t an episode that I appreciated in any form. It could have been much better done.

Episode 9. The musical episode. The mentioned episode that got me started on this full train of thought in the first place. And also the other episode that makes it into my top three. Because this really is such a fun episode and is the perfectly corny type of camp that you expect from Star Trek and is reminiscent of certain other events that break out among the ship in other shows. The very fact that everyone on board is perfectly aware of how odd of a situation that they’re in and is working together towards finding a solution. The songs are catchy and one of the best moments has to be the surprise and shock of how the Klingons end up singing. My dad had to pause the show until I could catch my breath from laughing so hard. It was also extremely emotional at times as well and further included lore from TOS and the movies. Honestly it’s got to be among the best Star Trek episodes just in general. It’s just *chef’s kiss.*

Episode 10, the last one of the season and it ends on a cliffhanger, unfortunately. On the good side, we get Scotty for the first time properly and he sounds just right. Looks on the other hand will take getting used to as the actor doesn’t really look like James Doohan, but that will come in time, because he does fit the part and I love him. It’s the seasons horror (gore) episode. I’m still not sure what to think about what they’re doing with the Goran… only time will tell with that one.

[jackiehicks]

hi!

i haven’t done this in a LOOOONG time. i used to write on here under the url imaginesxyou when i was like 13, but i miss writing and shipping and general tumblr shitposting so bad. i figured i’d do a little introduction to let you guys get to know me, and i’ve put my fandom list here too so you guys know what stuff i might write for!!

so i’m jackie. i’m 20 years old and based in the uk. i’m queer and genderfluid (any pronouns) so i’m happy to write any lgbtq+ requests you guys have. i’m an apprentice travel agent at the moment, and a lot of my time is eaten up by work. however i’ll try and pop on here and answer some of your requests when i can!! my hobbies generally include writing, watching tv and movies, and singing! i sing at my local open mic night and i really love it. i listen to all kinds of music, but i perform strictly 60’s music at the moment. i’m hoping to branch out into 70s and 80s stuff too when i have time. i’m also autistic and my hyperfixations can change quite often, so i’ll likely close some fandoms on my list depending on what i’m fixated on at the time. I’ll also probably add stuff on too as time goes on!

i’ll be writing little drabbles and self inserts (i’m a sucker for all that y/n shit), but also ships! this was a big thing that i did back in the day and the people seemed to love it. you guys probably don’t need it but here’s a quick rundown on how to request!

SELF INSERTS:

just pop a fandom and character into my ask box and a description of what sort of thing you’re looking for - it can be as long or as short of a description as you want! i’ll do my best with the given material. there are some things i probably won’t write but i can’t think enough to have a list of those here. if your ask includes something i’m not comfortable writing i’ll just reply and let you know.

SHIPS:

similar process - pop a fandom and a description of yourself into the ask box, and once again it can be as brief or as detailed as you see fit. try to include stuff like looks, personality, interests, gender and sexual preference, etc.

as it currently stands, here’s my fandom list that you can request from! requests will be open for all fandoms to kickstart the blog a little. it’s split into movies, tv shows, and music!

TV SHOWS:

high school musical: the musical: the series (current hyperfixation)

grease: rise of the pink ladies

community

sex education

stranger things

ted lasso

mech x4

kickin it

heartstopper

julie and the phantoms

my babysitter’s a vampire

MOVIES:

disney’s zombies

harry potter (but not in a way that supports jk rowling obvs)

ferris bueller’s day off

young guns 2 (specifically the sequel)

sky high

the mighty ducks

newsies

dead poets society

undrafted

lord of the rings

top gun

everybody wants some!!

star trek (2009-2016)

the breakfast club

narnia

x-men

bottoms

metal lords

star wars (probably just the movies at the moment, i’m a little behind on the shows)

disney’s descendants

MUSIC:

the monkees

the hollies

the beatles

the byrds

wham

nct dream (the only kpop group on here - sorry!)

backstreet boys

the doors

tokio hotel

the jimi hendrix experience

pink floyd

don broco

queen

and that’s my introduction done!! requests are officially open! thank you guys so much, this is gonna be so much fun.

for the first time, this is jackie signing off!

[kuwdora]

Latest things meme... (Two posts in one day? Wonders never cease. Enjoy the ADHD flavor rambling below.)

Anyway, thank you always for the tag @kiriele!

Last song:

I have to again preface that most of my music consumption is for vid-related purposes these days.

I came across this hilarious meme that gave me my latest vid idea. It’s a photo of Paris Hilton picking out some ice cream treats, and overlaid on the treats are one Cassian Andor from Star Wars and John Silver from Black Sails. The captain reads “Actually, can I have five more of these [can’t escape the narrative] bitches?” And the OP writes “finally figured out why these two makes me so feral.”

I saw that and I felt like my third eye opened. Like. 🤯 Because there is a perfect thematic vid there showcasing these two’s specific struggles. Especially in the context of resisting an encroaching empire and and and... they really got sucked into the narrative and can't! fucking get out!! And then they end up believing in the cause (in their own ways) and ah ah ah...ahhhhh..

Okay that context being given, I went and spent all 5 minutes going “I need a song. I need a song for these two. Two sources, two voices? Maybe, maybe not. Male vocalist? Raging against the authority is punk, but I love mash-ups and pitting parallels and contrasts of with multiple musical sources. Wait, I already had a DJ artist who made this other mash-up I loved am going to use for a vid…surely he has something that could be… interesting or great for Cassian Andor and John Silver. Surely??”

Friends. Friends. Even those of you who don't know or care about vidding, this is just a sort of beautiful mini-nirvana moment when you discover the perfect song (especially so quickly).

BEHOLD. My Cassian Andor and John Silver vidsong that I may or may not make but you hear it first:

I can see the whole vid unfolding before my eyes. Frantically trying to download Black Sails and searching my 3 hard drives to make sure I had in fact nabbed Andor earlier for a different vid idea. Yet…I have so many other vid things in my queue and only so much hard drive space and brainRAM.

Currently watching:

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. I want to like it more than I do. I like elements of the characters, (La’An and Chapel are extremely compelling, Ethan Peck is bringing a great human cheekiness to his portrayal of Spock, Pike remains a great Space Dad) but there’s still something that’s not gelling fully with me. Which is sad because I am so on board with the more episodic angle again and some of the classic themes and motifs from TOS but it’s just…idk, I think I need a whole post to think aloud on it.

Currently reading:

Ahsoka by EK Johnston, Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski. Almost done with Spin State by Chris Moriarty.

Currently obsessed with: Oh, I’m burbling with obsession…

In my reading I’m still losing my mind over how much I love Baptism of Fire. Milva sucker punching a peasant. Regis’ entrance to the narrative. ZOLTAN, sloppy drunk. Geralt dreaming of Ciri…Ciri dreaming of Geralt. 😭

Ahsoka learning how to pretend to be a Normal Twice-Orphaned Teenager. How do people interact outside wartime situations and executing battle strategy?? Honey… (I need to go look for some post-O66 Ahoska fic novels…)

ALSO!!! @dragneto has also infected me witcher fic idea that’s got me foaming at the mouth. I want to tackle the idea but I’m also dying to finish my WIP chapter first before I can play. I’m so obsessed with this ridiculously horny and sad idea.

I also have 4 vid ideas I’m chewing on like a rabid gremlin and it is definitely to the point of obsession. Mad that I won’t be able to follow through in the short or medium term…too much on the brain, lack of focus, stress from life stuff, other WIPs eating away at me.

Two Witcher ones vid ideas: my Phil vid…she’s so bad, I love her. Sexy song, lots of bad. And I am revisiting an old pan-canon humor/thirst/thematic vid about Geralt… Which is more about how the characters see him.

Then I got my Star Wars Rebels idea which I’m having technical problems that’s keeping me from starting.

…And then this Andor/Black Sails thing…

tagging @deerna and @danegen and @shetiger and @simuran and @whatkindofnameisvolta ...and anyone else who wants to go.

[minecraft-archive]

Found this on someone's blog saying "Entertaining, but.."

This person said "Star Trek was an awesome movie experience. It had phasers and transporters and cores and “I’m a doctor not a physicist” and Simon Pegg and pissed off aliens destroying everything in sight.

JJ Abrams really knows how to entertain the audience. I’ve been a total lost sucker since the start, and I loved Cloverfield. It certainly shows that he tried so very hard to be true to the original Star Trek movies in this one. The lingo makes sense, the characters are recognizable (if a bit flat, but I guess they always were) and modern.

But my god, the plot.. It’s possibly the weakest plot I’ve ever suffered through. I don’t mind the fancy action sequences or the unlikely weapons at all, that’s the “fiction” part of “science fiction”, but what I DO mind are the horrible and frequent total coincidences in the movie. It’s never explained why certain insanely improbable things happen, and sometimes it’s even suggested to REALLY be coincidence. I assume these things are in there because it makes for a more entertaining movie, which kind of makes sense, but when writing science fiction, you really have to be able to answer the eternal question:

Why?

Deus ex machina is usually not entertaining, and it’s even less so when it’s just used to set up the basic plot in a movie several freaking times.

Still, other than the plot, the movie kicked ass. Overall score 3/5."

[sshbpodcast]

Won’t someone think of the children?! A Gwyndala Appreciation Post

By Ames

Okay, I meant to only do a Rok-Tahk appreciation post because a) she’s the best and b) who has the time to write all these blogposts? But I just can’t help myself. The community’s efforts to #SaveStarTrekProdigy have motivated me to keep the posts going, so here’s some more love for Star Trek: Prodigy. These installments probably won’t be as intense as the Rok post, but check out what makes Gwyndala such a great character.

[images © CBS/Paramount… I guess? For now? Yikes.]

Gwyn has parent baggage

As we mentioned back in our parents of Trek blogpost, a lot of characters get the backstory of having terrible or absent parents that forms the foundation of their personality. And The Diviner does just that for his progeny Gwydala. His shitty parenting forms so much of her character’s journey. She’s started off with so much pressure on her shoulders to complete his life’s work even though she doesn’t even know what that is yet. Like those put on Wesley by The Traveler in “Where No One Has Gone Before,” the expectations are really hard to live up to, especially when Gwyn learns they are at odds with being the kind of person she naturally wants to be. Writers out there take note: Now that’s some good inner conflict!

Gwyn is Vau N’Akat

I’m a sucker for some good time travel stories, and the whole backstory of Gwyn’s race the Vau N’Akat is sure to win someone like me over. I’ll be honest, this plotline is a little complicated for a kid’s show, but once you wrap your mind around it, it’s absolutely fascinating. The Federation somehow botched first contact on the planet Solum in the near future, and the Vau N’Akat nearly destroyed themselves in a civil war. It’s really a refreshing twist to see the Federation blow something this badly, and for a society to not prance willingly into joining up. Time passes, and Chakotay stumbles through a wormhole in the Protostar fifty years into a future in which this species has nearly destroyed itself, so they all go back in time to try to destroy the Federation. The season one finale of Prodigy sets it up for season two to put even more responsibility on Gwyn to try to save her people… Fingers crossed that we get to see it.

Gwyn starts off on the wrong side

For the first few episodes of the season, Gwyn is at odds with the rest of the Protostar crew. The conflict within her is between doing what she perceives to be right and what would make her father proud of her, and those two things are rarely the same. It takes until “Terror Firma” for Gwyn to see that her father has never had her interests in mind, and then she’s able to cross to the good side. Starting a character off with an entirely different goal than the other characters (they all want to leave Tars Lamora and she wants to return to The Diviner) is Storytelling 101. It gives the characters natural tension and an opportunity to either come together or split apart. Happily for us, Gwyn proves to be at her best when she is with her crewmates.

Gwyn makes up for her years of silence

There’s an excellent scene in “Starstruck” in which Rok tells off Gwyn for standing by for so long while the prisoners on Tars Lamora were treated horribly. And Gwyn really struggles with this! She’d been stuck under her father’s boot for so long, unable to act according to her own wishes. Even when she tries to stand up for the young pink cat thing in “Lost and Found,” you know it’s not going to go anywhere. I complained in my Children in Star Trek post that kid characters too often are props for the episode to make a point, and Gwyn fights against that plot device to become her own character. She finds her voice (a really appropriate character journey for a natural linguist like Gwyn) when she finally speaks up for the unwanted of the prison planet and ultimately helps to free them. Now that’s a person I want to be in catboots with!

We love you, Gwyndala! We love the other crew members of the Protostar too! We love Star Trek: Prodigy! Check out the other character appreciation posts for Rok-Tahk, Dal R’El, Jankom Pog, and Zero while you’re here. I know I can speak for not only the other hosts here at A Star to Steer Hey By but for myriad other fans when I seriously hope someone picks up this wonder of a show. We’re really looking forward to seeing more from these amazing child characters, and we’re seriously wishing we get that opportunity. #SaveStarTrekProdigy

[lionofstone]

getting to know you game! stolen from @loyalhorror

last song: not including the work radio bc idk the names of things there, it was how many things - sabrina carpenter

favourite colour: green!! if you couldn’t tell by the. everything about my blog/website/socials

currently reading: rule of wolves - leigh bardugo is the only thing i’m actively reading right now, but i have the midnight bargain - c. l. polk out from the library so i’ll start that soon, and i’m keeping up with moon knight comics as always

last movie: transformers: rise of the beasts and we are not going to talk about what it is doing to my brain

currently working on: training for my promotion at my day job, editing the current draft of my fantasy horror novella, and beginning to write a short story or two, but barely

sweet/spicy/savoury: always spicy, i love love love spicy food. i am also a sucker for chocolates

relationship status: single and for the most part okay with that lmao

current obsession: see above about transformers, but also the old standbys of moon knight, venom, and star trek, with a sprinkling of call of duty, because in the words of my oldest friend, all my interest lately are stereotypically “boy” interests that i approach in the least stereotypical way possible

last thing i googled: technically it was the google reviews for the place i work, but on my personal device it was “what we do in the shadows season five episodes” because i wasn’t sure if the finale was tonight or next week

tagging: if you see it, go for it, and tag me so I can see ✨

[republictrooper]

TOMORROW AND TOMORROW AND TOMORROW

Didnt get a chance to watch Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow until tonight for various reasons, so pardon my late review!

Anyway, for the 2nd week in a row we get that most classic of Trekisms - a really flimsy metaphor for something presented in a way that's kind of insulting if you think about for more than a minute, but this time, also wrapped in some absolutely top tier character torture porn (complimentary)!

Like, the metaphors get a bit tiring and insulting, but... it's nice to have a Star Trek that's doing them again in a way we havent seen since DS9 and Voyager.

Anyway, Viewing Notes:

Who kept my sweet sweet spock from playing the music of his soul? WHO ARE THEY I JUST WANT TO TALK

(also damn starfleet couldnt spring for the noise dampening walls?)

Poor M'Benga. You tried ;_;

"You don't have to bear this alone" OH DOESN'T SHE?????????????

Kinda funny (as in sad funny) M'Benga said that too, since I think he STILL hasn't been able to reveal that he was smuggling Rukiya for years, even if Una eventually found out and agreed to keep his secret.

NGL, Exasperated Kirk in the Alleyway kinda had me laughing a bit. To say nothing of the clothing scene. And the Chess Scene. And the Hot Dog scene. As much as I didnt want to like La'an/Kirk, this is a pretty classic screwball romance setup and I am a SUCKER for those. So. Fine. You got me. I kinda sorta ship it.

Oooo, so THAT'S why this Kirk says he's from Space. Oof. There's a kicker.

I gotta say, New Kirk is making a believer out of me. He's not Shatner at all, which I think he doesn't need to be, but even in this "Earth is kinda Xenophobic" AU, he has that kind of quiet confidence and latent nerdiness of classic TOS Kirk. He's got the sassiness (That little one of us has got to change look he gave to Laan and the Heck yeah I'll just hustle people at chess for money thing) combined with the chivalry (Immediately changing so La'an can have her preferred outfit, charming the people he vanquished at chess with a handshake and a smile) that really works for me.

"Get to the Bridge" oh my gosh SNEAKY AS THE DICKENS.

Pelia remains an absolute delight in every appearance. I kinda love how she just... wasnt a great engineer though? Why would she be? She's immortal, but she's also just a person trying to survive, and she has hundreds of years to live! We need more Immortals who are just this guy (gender neutral), to be honest. Why would she have kept up on engineering stuff for a few hundred years? That would probably get boring! Hell, maybe that's why Scotty replaces her, she gets bored of engineering and decides to try something else! It makes perfect since she didnt learn it yet!

Aaaaand now we get the part I'm not sure I like: What if you went back in time to Defend Baby Hitler from the people who came back in time to kill him, because if you didnt, the future would be worse? Also it's implied Baby Hitler is being, if not actively tortured, at least definitely imprisoned against his will and separated from his friends and family.

I mean... Listen, I get Khan is fictional, as are the eugenics wars, but the metaphor is... I dunno man, the comparison is there and it's kind of iffy, and I while I understand how it kind of adds more dimensions to La'an's struggle with her ancestry, the whole "Millions of people have to suffer and die because thats the way the timeline has to be" sticks in my craw. It'd be like if Past Tense made the twist that the DS9 crew had to kill Gabriel Bell instead of impersonating him at the right moments. I just don't think this was the right story to tell.

I think I can kinda deal with it because you know, this is Star Trek. But gosh, this will not replace Past Tense as my favorite Star Trek time travel story any time soon, no matter how charming Alternate Kirk was.

Sera's rant about the timeline is interesting. One one hand, the clever little "Timeline reasserting itself" to explain plot holes like that Time Voyager travelled back to the 90s and there was no sign of Eugenics Wars was kinda fun, but on the other hand, it smacks of the same kind of overexplaining I disliked with having M'Benga introduce Spock to the harp. Sometimes its enough that Spock plays the Harp! Sometimes its enough that when a single universe lasts for half a century and is written by hundreds of people over multiple series and mediums, little continuity errors slip in!

(nitpick time: You're telling me she cant at least talk to Pelia about this? If they "fixed" things and this is her timeline Pelia should remember her, right? Hell, they outright implied La'an's visit was the reason she became an engineer in the first place! Maybe she mentioned the bunker in Vermont specifically so La'an would know to go meet her there whenever the time travel happened, and threw in the "That painting is a Fake" because she remembered talking about it with La'an! TALK TO PELIA, LA'AN!). I suppose the idea might be that Pelia doesn't know exactly why La'an was in the past and cant be allowed to know more, but. Ugh.

Cuz like, listen, I know the dramatic weight requires La'an not to talk to anyone, but like. The Temporal police dont employ any counselors? If they're saving Mass Murderers from assassination on the reg, La'an can't be the first temporal agent to have mental health issues over that, even as a temporary recruit pressganged into service to save her own ancestor. And it's not like Pike could change anything if she told him, that stuff happened IN THE PAST!

BASICALLY LA'AN IS SUFFERING AND SHE DESERVES SOME COMFORT COME ON I EXPECT BETTER FROM STARFLEET EVEN THE DUMBASS SECRETIVE TIME POLICE DIVISION

Like gosh, that lady was ice cold i think even if Alt!Kirk had survived and hopped a ride over on that little device she would have killed him just to preserve the timeline or some shit.

I dunno. Time travel stuff. Ugh.

Anyway, OK Episode, I loved alternate Kirk, loved La'an and Kirk's shenanigans in modern Toronto/Vermont before things got real, kinda shipped La'an/Kirk in spite of myself, and the temporal intrigue was... intriguing, but "Let's Save Baby Hitler" left a sour taste in my mouth. On to the next Ep!