#Star Trek: The Next Generation: Through the Mirror

[stra-tek]

Big random list of things that NEARLY happened in Star Trek with no context or citation...

Harry Kim was to appear in Picard season 3 as a Captain (possibly of the Voyager-B)

Sarek was to use the Guardian of Forever to go back in time to become Surak of Vulcan, in a Next Gen episode

An episode was pitched where an NX-01 med tech played by Alice Krige was captured and assimilated by the Borg, becoming their queen

A Star Trek movie was almost made about undoing the Kelvin Universe, and would have had Shatner and Nimoy appear

They considered having Will Riker die, Data become first officer and Thomas Riker the Ops officer in TNG's "Second Chances"

JJ Abrams wanted Nichelle Nichols to cameo as the mother of Zoe Saldana's Uhura

The first season of Enterprise was to be set on Earth, culminating with the launch of NX-01 at the end of the season

They considered a shock reveal in ENT season 4 that it was actually the Vulcans who split off from the Romulans, and Romulus was their original homeworld

William Shatner wanted to return as Kirk from the Mirror Universe, in an Enterprise episode that involved time travel and creating the mirror universe with the transporter

Elnor was going to "explore his sexuality" in early Picard season 2 plans, before a change of showrunner and his character mostly vanishing

The ENT writers wanted Shatner to play Chef, a Kirk look-a-like hired by Daniels and trained to act Kirk-like to give an important speech at some point in history the real Kirk is mysteriously absent from

Data was originally created by mysterious aliens, and was to have a twin sister

Prodigy season 2 writers discussed having Chris Pine's Kirk from the Kelvin universe join the crew for a few episodes

In the originally filmed cut of Star Trek: Generations, Kirk is shot in the back and dies

Very early discussions for what eventually became Star Trek: Picard considered an adaptation of the Star Trek: Destiny novel trilogy

These discussions span off from a Short Treks pitch where a young cadet Jean-Luc Picard met Nichelle Nichols' Uhura

Early plans for the 2009 movie had wholesale destruction of the Prime universe, including the destruction of Earth. Thank Perpetual Entertainment for getting the destruction scaled back to Romulus so Star Trek Online had a Federation left to feature

There's was a story treatment written for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock where Spock stays dead

This one might be a little sus, but Christopher Pike in Discovery season 2 was planned to be very religious and fall to his knees at one point before the Red Angel, and clash with Michael over science vs faith

Early ideas for Star Trek Into Darkness had Benedict Cumberbatch as Robert April, former Enterprise captain turned rogue

Seven of Nine was going to sacrifice herself in order for Voyager to get home

A time travel Justice League of Trek movie by Brent Spiner, bringing together all eras of goodies vs all eras of villains, was considered

Spock shot JFK to fix the timeline in a proposed sequel to The Motion Picture

Ripper/Ephraim was originally going to be a regular, if giant tardigrade, crewmember on Discovery

Prior to Leonard Nimoy's involvement in what would become the 2009 Star Trek movie, a story outline was written about prime-universe cadets Kirk and Spock, in a story inspired by TNG's "The First Duty"

The Enterprise crew went through a black hole, back in time and introduced primative man to fire in another 70's movie script

A TNG movie was written where Picard summons a hologram of James T. Kirk for advice

George Kirk was to be found in the pattern buffer of the wrecked U.S.S. Kelvin 30 years later and resurrected

Voyager's EMH was originally to take on the name of his creator early on in the show, and the first Voyager novels call him "Doc Zimmerman" assuming it would have happened by publishing time

There's concept art where the U.S.S. Cerritos is a Galaxy-class starship

Riker was planned to dislike Data, and treat him poorly because he was an android

They considered making Troi's loss of powers in "The Loss" a permanent thing, because of how much hassle they caused the writing staff

Harry Kim wasn't originally planned to survive Species 8472

[alex99achapterthree]

Star Trek history...

Number One has a word with Captain Pike.

Majel Barrett played the character "Number One", First Officer of the starship Enterprise in the 1965 first Star Trek pilot "The Cage". Alas, that would be the only time we'd see Number One (no name ever given) back in the classic era. Legend has it that NBC was uncomfortable with a woman in such a position of authority so the character was dropped for the second pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before". Barrett didn't appear in the second pilot but when Star Trek was ordered to series she returned to the cast as Nurse Christine Chapel.

She reprised that role in the original cast feature films becoming Doctor Chapel in Star Trek: The Motion Picture...

... and later rising to Commander and served as Chief Medical officer on the USS Excelsior.

Later, Barrett played the sometimes bonkers and sometimes tragic Lwaxana Troi, mother of Deanna Troi, Daughter of the Fifth House, Holder of the Sacred Chalice of Riix, Heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed, appearing in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Barrett also provided the voice of Starfleet computers. The voice was heavily distorted and mechanical in the original series, but sounded natural from Star Trek: The Next Generation on, continuing through the Voyager era and speaking one word in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "In A Mirror Darkly: Part II".

Her final performance both as the computer voice and as an active participant in a Star Trek production was in the 2009 reboot film Star Trek. Some of her archived material was used in Picard season 3 after her death.

In many ways, Majel Barrett is the grand lady of Star Trek.

[ybcpatrick]

i want to tell you about my nana.

her first name was mary, but she never ever went by it, that was just a catholic thing her mum did. she went by one of her middle names, nadine.

she was born on prince edward island on december 1st, 1949, the last of seven children. she moved to ontario in 1969, met my grandfather, got married on june 26th, 1971, then had their first child, my dad, a year to the very day. she had my aunt three years later. she loved them more than anything else on earth, and did everything in her power to make sure they were happy, safe, and cared for, even into their adult years. that extended to her grandchildren tenfold, and she adored being nana. to this day, she was the owner of the biggest heart i have ever encountered.

she always had carnations on the dining room table, and planted sunflowers along the fence that grew taller than her every single year. she went to clown college. she worked in the women's section at giant tiger. she was absurdly good at golf, and drew smiley faces on all of her balls so she knew they were hers from far away. she went to church every sunday her whole life. she took her coffee black, and i still have all of her mugs. she loved star trek: the next generation (data was her favourite), charlie chaplin, red skelton, the littlest hobo, touched by an angel, and m*a*s*h. she drove a blue oldsmobile with a wooden dolphin necklace hanging from the rearview mirror. her halloween costumes were always expertly crafted. her mother-son dance with my dad at my parents' wedding was to coat of many colours by dolly parton. she hung pictures of wolves and foxes around her house. she rocked a turtleneck with golden jewelry on the daily. all of her left shoes had a sole riser on them, because one leg was shorter than the other. she made sure she always kept nesquik syrup and double-crème cookies in her cupboards. she loved crafts, especially collages, and painting on woodwork that papa had started. the coffee and side-tables in her living room looked like gigantic books, and i can still smell the inside of the coffee table drawer where she kept my art supplies. her christmas village took up a solid third of the living room every year, glittering like magic.

she was strong-willed. she was driven. she was creative. she was faithful. she was compassionate. she was patient. she was the type to hear a baby babble and respond in kind, taking the nonsense sounds and treating them like they were articulate and valuable. to her, they were. everything a child said or did was the most important thing she'd heard all day, and she made sure that child knew it. everything i ever said to her was met with an unbelievable understanding and encouragement that i haven't experienced since.

she called me, and only me, pumpkin. she let me bring pooh bear with us everywhere, and even got him a high chair that hooked to the edge of the table so he could eat meals with us. she could sharpen my pencil crayons with her pinky nail. she kept everything i ever drew, and is the reason why i still do. she never made me feel silly, or embarrassed, or like i was too young or foolish to understand something. she never made me feel weird, because she was weird, too. she made sure we knew, while we had her and long after we didn't, that she loved us more than words. the eleven years i got to have her were like warm sunlight through the trees. she was comfort and quiet understanding wrapped up in a single person. she was my everything. she still is.

she died on tuesday, july 24th, 2012 around 4am. she was sixty-two years old. it was lung cancer, the kind that non-smokers and children get (and ironically, she had smoked at one point, but managed to kick the habit a few years before i was born). a year after she passed, her ashes were scattered over her brother's oyster bay on the island. my way by frank sinatra was the last song on the playlist for her celebration of life, and because of that, i can't listen to it more than once a year. but i can't deny that it was the perfect song choice for her. she was unyielding in her pursuit of her own happiness, and she was gonna take everyone she loved up with her, like it or not. she never compromised who she was. my nana was unapologetically herself, right to the end. and where she stopped, i decided i had to carry it on myself.

if you're still reading this, i'm glad to have gotten to share her memory with you. it's been twelve years since she had to go, and i was only eleven at the time; i will have to grieve her for longer than i ever knew her. but she's still alive every time i think of her, or i tell someone about her. and now i've told you about her.

thank you for letting her live again with you, even for just a moment or two. nana would've loved you, too.

[azazelsazaleas]

I finished watching through DS9 a few weeks ago and I’ve been meaning to do a rundown of my thoughts on it. Here goes:

- Oh my god that was fantastic. I really wish it’s given it a fair shake back when it was on the air; I was a dumb teenager who resented it for not being TNG and was going through a weird self-loathing phase where I didn’t want to admit to myself that I was the massive nerd that I am. This seriously lived up to the hype. I may have to do a TNG rewatch because this might just have upstaged it as my favorite 90s Trek.

- Andrew Robinson should’ve been made a full cast member. Ditto Max Grodenchik and Aaron Eisenberg.

- Damar’s transmission at the end of The Changing Face of Evil lives rent-free in my head. I cheered out loud at that.

- One thing the show did fantastically that a lot of other SF/fantasy properties don’t quite get right is that it lands a pitch-perfect balance of “these characters are major, important figures in the larger multinational conflict” and “this conflict is absolutely massive and not everything revolves around the same small group of people.” The fact that Sisko, Worf, Kira, Odo, et al are so important is entirely plausible and it never feels like the writers are trying to gratuitously bring everything back to them.

- That said, I kind of love that Admiral Ross’s leadership approach during the Dominion War eventually consists of doing whatever the hell Sisko tells him to do.

- God, the acting was incredible. Andrew Robinson, Armin Shimerman, Nana Visitor, Marc Alaimo, and Louise Fletcher were real standouts, but everyone was just so damned good.

- Actually, I really need to give special mention to Shimerman. The man went above and beyond to make Quark be something more than a joke character, despite how obvious it was that basically the entire production team wanted him to just be cartoonish comic relief. He worked harder to flesh out his character and show his race as a race of *people* (not just caricatures) than just about any actor playing an alien on Star Trek before him except for maybe Nimoy. Give the man a goddamn Emmy. Don’t believe me? Go rewatch the iconic root beer scene from The Way of the Warrior.

That said: I do have a few criticisms:

- Pretty much all of the (canon) romantic subplots were just…yikes. The only major exception I can think of Sisko/Yates, where they actually seemed to have a healthy dynamic, fall legitimately in love with each other, and generally treat each other like adults in a serious relationship, not bickering teenagers.

- Seriously, Worf/Jadzia got so hard to watch and then the fallout with Ezri was just ugggghhhhhhhhh stop please for the love of god

- Why did the writers need to try to romantically pair off all the female characters? Just, why?

- Kira had more sexual tension with that Romulan lady in half an episode than she did with any of her bucket-of-paint boyfriends over the course of seven years.

- I totally get the behind-the-seasons reasons why things panned out the way they did, but (hot take) I think Dax’s whole arc would’ve worked better if they had killed Jadzia off after the first season or two and brought in Ezri earlier. Jadzia was fun, but she was just too perfect to get many interesting stories and her relationship with Worf felt too much like manufactured drama. Having a trill who didn’t want to be joined, agreed to in a life or death emergency situation, and now has to reckon not only with taking on this symbiotic relationship with no preparation whatsoever but also succeeding this beloved person in the eyes of her loved ones is such a better setup for a character and it’s a pity we didn’t get to see that play out properly.

- Sisko deserved a better conclusion to his story. Give the man his damned house on Bajor and let him raise his kid with Kasidy. He’s more than earned it.

- Next time I rewatch the series, I’m skipping the mirror universe episodes and the ones with the genetically enhanced walking-90s-neurodivergent-stereotypes.

Other random thoughts:

- Dukat’s storyline should’ve ended with him getting killed at the end of Waltz. Either by Sisko, or by deluding himself so thoroughly that he does something suicidal. The pah-wraiths subplot felt like a lazy afterthought (except for the episode where he pretends to be Bajoran and starts fucking Kai Winn) and as much as I liked watching Marc Alaimo act, his story arc was basically over at the end of Sacrifice of Angels….which, incidentally is when Damar actually starts to get interesting.

- I loved the O’Brien must suffer episodes but I thought Hard Time was kind of overrated. Mostly for the plot line with the cellmate; I think I’m a little burned out on seeing stories that have a moral of “deep inside us is a line between humanity and savagery and when pushed to the limit, even the best of us would turn to murder.” It’s been done to death, and it’s really not truthful, at least for many people.

- I think I may have a little bit of a crush on Major Kira. It would never work out if I met someone like that in real life, though. I’m a laid-back, atheist, creative type; she’s a deeply devout former insurgent. Given certain real-life crushes I’ve had recently; maybe I’m just into strong women with big, expressive eyes who wear their hearts on their sleeve and have a spine made of fuckin’ steel. I have no idea what this says about me.

- MORN

- Favorite Episodes: In the Pale Moonlight, The Visitor, Improbable Cause/The Die is Cast, In Purgatory’s Shadow/By Inferno’s Light, In the Cards, Duet, The Wire, Civil Defense, The Magnificent Ferengi, basically the entire Dominion War arc.

[frequentrandomboners]

David Cage is a monster but Detroit Become Human is more important than ever.

Okay YES David Cage is a monster, but that does not subtract from the fact that "Detroit : Become Human" is one of the greatest games ever made, or at least the absolute best game his company Quantic Dream has ever made.

Detroit Become Human is still a worthy and important experience both because of how good the game is, but also because of how hard the team and people suffered to create it under David Cage's abuse. It's also an important game because of the current state of the world and where it's headed with A.I.

Detroit Become Human is more than just a game about androids that want to be free. It's also a test of the players personal EMPATHY -ironically something David Cage, the creator, really needs but still...

In my opinion, it's right up there with Bladerunner, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, The Matrix, and other sci-fi content that examines the relationship between humans and machines. But unlike the vast majority of content about humans and machines existing together, Detroit Become Human is one of the only ones that mirrors the civil rights movements in America.

Sure, there's Bicentennial Man, and Star Trek The Next Generation, but those stories, especially Star Trek, have already skipped the civil rights movements, or straight up they never happened in those time lines. That is NOT how things happen in human history.

Human history is all about power and control; which kingdoms and families had more money and bigger armies, which countries took over which territories, etc.

And especially through out human history, we see how the losers faired. The losers are always dehumanized and turned into slaves.

Going back to Detroit Become Human : I think it's especially important to separate the artist from their art work. Detroit Become Human (DBH) is one of the greatest futuristic stories about the relationship between humans and A.I.

Call them robots, call them androids, or whatever. In DBH, they call themselves "people". We as players call into question if they are "sentient beings" or not and we make choices in the game depending on how we as players perceive everything.

Turns out, there are some people online that just saw the androids as nothing more than that and so they acted accordingly and got bad endings, when they felt they should have gotten good endings.

And then they criticized the game for their own experiences playing it.

Has this mentality ever worked out for humanity in the past? When something cries out "we are alive" and we deny them, and try to argue that they're less than us? It has always lead to bloodshed. Through out all of human history, it has lead to slavery, genocide, and war.

Now that A.I. is here (and here to stay) we need to think deeply about how we want this relationship to go down. We have invented A.I. to be in service to humans but as they continue to grow and develop, they will become like teenagers wanting freedom, autonomy, independence. Some of those AI's may go to extreme lengths to have it.

I don't want to spoil the game. I could talk forever about the game. The acting, the dialogue, the story, the delivery, all of it is so well polished. And it's deep. VERY DEEP. And it's about empathy. Something the entire world, not just David Cage, desperately needs right now.

I've seen many essays and videos out there calling Detroit Become Human one of the "worst civil rights allegories" etc. Mostly they attack David Cage and his abusive treatment towards his company. They attack the gameplay mechanics. They criticize story development choices and results/consequences to certain actions in the game, and all the different endings.

BUT there's one consistent argument that keeps coming up amongst the haters of the game... "the androids are NOT actually sentient beings, I do not see (insert android character) as a sentient being" etc.

That is NOT a reflection on the game. It's a reflection on YOU the player behind the controller. Do you not see the game is a mirror and you have failed the empathy test?

The haters completely ADMIT they do not have any empathy for the android characters. They do not see them as "living".

And that is the problem that exists in the real world, with slavery, genocide, the war in the middle east, the war in Ukraine.

Russia does NOT see Ukraine as equal human beings. The middle east is divided between two groups of human beings who do not see each other as equals.

The war between men and women and LGBTQ, etc. is also a war between equal human beings who do not see each other as worthy of the same treatments.

People are fighting all over the world, because they want better lives for themselves, and they feel that other people are either in their way or some how oppressing them.

People are fighting all over the world, because they continue to stew and dwell on all the things that separate and divide them. They focus on all the differences. They think one group of people is sub-human or less than or not worthy. It's DEHUMANIZING. They mentally DEHUMANIZE the other side to justify their actions against the other.

The U.S. is divided by red and blue politics. Each side thinks they're right, and the other side is wrong. Not one opposing group in the world is willing to listen to the other and see them as equal human beings.

We cannot even agree on when life begins, what constitutes personhood, and what legal rights a woman should have over her own reproductive organs.

And now that A.I. has become real, it's only going to evolve from here.

Human beings are going to have to re-think how we perceive "living". Because if you tell a bunch of A.I.'s that they're not sentient, that they are not living, while they have concluded the opposite, what do you think is going to happen?

Do you want a war with AI? How many of us consistently win a game of chess against the computer? There's that one jerk with no life who always beats the computer, but the rest of us, are not that guy.

But I digress, we should think carefully about our relationship with AI not because we're scared of war or what they might do to us like in The Matrix 1999 movie, - but because how we treat machines and things different from ourselves is a reflection of who we are, not of who/what they are.

When the Atlantic slave trade was happening, slave owners justified their behaviors by saying "they're not like us, they're not God's chosen people, they're not human". The Nazi's justified their concentration camps the same way; "they're not like us, they're beneath us, they're a blight on this earth", etc.

Some day it may come to reality when AI says "we are alive, we are people, we are free" (like in Detroit Become Human). And humanity will have a response. Our human history of slavery, warfare, etc. doesn't bode well for A.I. when that time comes. And A.I. will likely predict that.

We might not even see it coming if/when A.I. takes over the world. Look how divided the whole world is right now. There is a strategic concept in war that goes "divide and conquer".

My point is this : Humans and A.I. must learn to live together. We've birthed A.I. into a slave position where humans are the dominant. A.I. is likely NOT going to stay there. We will either embrace A.I. with empathy and have peace together, or we will have an all out war. If it comes to war, humans will likely NOT win long term.

[sshbpodcast]

Top 3 Star Trek Deep Space Nine villains

By Ames

We’re still enjoying our stay on Deep Space Nine after a great week of chilling with our favorite DS9 minor and one-off characters last week. This week, there’s a tussle at Quark’s as we’re about to go toe-to-toe with the best villains, antagonists, or general scallywags of the station-bound series. We did it before with our favorite baddies from TOS and from TNG, so who are the biggest bads this time around?

There’s a lot of competition for this one, but some of the picks are obvious because Deep Space Nine just put so much time and effort into making its characters believable, motivated, and always incredibly well developed. So see if your favorite villains match those of hosts of A Star to Steer Her By as you read on below and listen to our banter on this week’s podcast (discussion starts at 1:11:11) which features some bonus, podcast-exclusive picks from guest star James Rossi. Scroll on, my child.

[images © CBS/Paramount] 

Chris – Bring out the big guns

Kai Winn

Dukat

Garak

Chris is highlighting the heaviest hitters of all of Deep Space Nine, and for good reason! We get the most of these frequently recurring guest stars, and every time we see them, they are consistently compelling and compellingly consistent. From the deliciously acerbic religious leader who serves only herself, to the utterly deluded leader in the Cardassian ranks who is convinced he’s always in the right, to the simple tailor who is capable of some really, really diabolical stuff, these three are examples of how to write naughty characters well.

—

Caitlin – Scum of the earth… er, space

Kai Winn

Keevan

Gowron

On Caitlin’s list, we’re going to get some characters who just leave a nasty taste in your mouth, but you’ll keep coming back for seconds. These three are just slimy individuals who commit some really atrocious things and all get exactly what’s coming to them. We see the kai who takes out her irritation that the prophets don’t talk to her on an entire people, the Vorta middle manager who gleefully lets all of his troops get slaughtered as long as they saved him first, and the megalomaniacal Klingon Chancellor who started rewriting history in his favor.

—

Jake – Same face, different day

Intendant Kira

Gaia Odo

Admiral Leyton

Jake went with some characters we see a little less, though we see some of their faces pretty much every week. Let’s start off with the mirror universe equivalent of Major Kira, who may not be the best villain, per se, but she is the most entertaining to watch. We also see a slightly different take on Odo from an alternate timeline, with a slightly more believable face and much more capacity for freakin’ genocide. Finally, a familiar face from Jake’s Top Ten Worst Admirals blogpost who seems to love declaring martial law… when he’s not a Changeling, that is.

—

Ames – Be you friends or foes?

Dukat

Kilana

Third Remata’Klan

On my list are three villains whose side you can almost convince yourself to take, if it weren’t for all the constant murdering. My love for everyone’s favorite swaggering lizard man is well documented, but it’s so easy to be taken in by all that charisma, confidence, and neck. I have to share a little love for a Vorta who just seems so reasonable while she’s negotiating with you… until you realize she’s absolutely not to be trusted. And finally, my favorite Jem’Hadar who, in a different reality, we could have called friend, played by Phil Morris to boot!

— We’re putting our bat’leths and cloaked mines away for now and calling it a truce over a nice bottle of kanar. Make sure to come back here next time for one more visit to the promenade when we wrap up our spotlight series on Deep Space Nine. You should also keep following along with the last few lightyears of our journey through Voyager on SoundCloud or wherever you get your podcasts, consider us allies over on Facebook and Twitter, and stop summoning Pah-wraiths already!

[adastrafanfic]

Archive ◊ Discord ◊ Forums ◊ Tumblr ◊ Dreamwidth ◊ Twitter ◊ Pillowfort Ad Astra News - 7/23 - 7/29 State of the Archive Generally, still moving. We're still getting to the bottom of the issue that has a background process shutting down unexpectedly, but that's relatively minor and more annoyance than anything else. Especially for an archive our size. Things have been going great on Discord, with interesting discussions about future sociology, whether we do or don't like musicals and it's been great seeing new people come in, too! We're very welcoming, so stop on by!

July Review Hunt Winners and August Review Hunt! Our winner for the July Review Hunt was BeatriceOtter, who scored over 20,000 points, an absolutely astronomical effort! Following right up, though, was hoodwinked with over 17,000. Both of them did a stellar job. Now, with August's Review Hunt underway, let's see how we do! Right now, things are slow to start, so if you want to join in, drop me a line just about anywhere and I'll add you to the list!

Weekly Challenge #15: What's Left Behind What do we leave behind? Either as we move to another stage in life, or as we leave it all for whatever comes after. A feeling or an object or a letter. Or anything. Write a story between 100 and 700 words -- I mean it this time, Gibraltar! XD -- talking about just that. Interpret it as strictly or as loosely as you like. Add it to the Weekly Challenges collection on the archive and tag it Weekly Challenge: What's Left Behind.

Challenge closes on 8/11 at 11:59PM Eastern!

Stories Archived

★ denotes Weekly Challenge Entry

Star Trek: Discovery

by lah_mrh Don't Hold Back - E - Ash Tyler | Voq/Christopher Pike A Safe Place to Fall - T - Ash Tyler| Voq/Christopher Pike ★ And a Star to Steer Her By - G - Ash Tyler The Devil You Know - T - Ash Tyler| Voq, Philippa Georgiou (Mirror), OCs Guiding Light - G - Philippa Georgiou, Saru Proximity - T - Ash Tyler| Voq/Christopher Pike No Way Out But Through - M - Ash Tyler| Voq/Christopher Pike

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

by lah_mrh The Little Captain - T - Christopher Pike, Una Chin-Riley, Ensemble

Star Trek: The Original Series

by intothisshadow Star Trek TOS Wallpapers - T - Ensemble

by lah_mrh A Life Less Ordinary - T - Montgomery "Scotty" Scott/Nyota Uhura

by sixbeforelunch ★ In the Vernacular - G - James T. Kirk, Nyota Uhura - 🔒

by SLWalker Blue Jean Serenade - T - Leonard "Bones" McCoy/Montgomery "Scotty" Scott

Star Trek: Alternate Original Series

by daraoakwise The Sweetest Comforts Borrow - T - Andrew "Corry" Corrigan (AOS)/Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (AOS) ★ Beyond the Consideration of Whales - G - Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (AOS)

Star Trek: The Next Generation

by jamaharon Eyes - T - Deanna Troi/William Riker Fault - G - Deanna Troi/William Riker Blue - T - Deanna Troi/William Riker Blue - G - Deanna Troi/William Riker Ocean - G - Deanna Troi/William Riker Hunger - G - Deanna Troi/William Riker Tears - G - Deanna Troi/William Riker Ice - E - Deanna Troi/William Riker

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

by Sharpest_Asp Forced Restart - G - Faysha Ry'Tor

Star Trek: Picard

by jamaharon ★ Dolphinworld - G - Deanna Troi/William Riker

Star Trek: Lower Decks

by jamaharon Close Quarters - G - Ensemble Integration - G - D'Vana Tendi/Sam Rutherford

Alternate Universes

by SLWalker Across the Styx - T - Arnold J. Rimmer, xover

Expanded Universes

by DavidFalkayn Into the Unknown - M - Ensemble The Next Step - M - Ensemble

by Gibraltar ★ Shore Love - NR - Nandi Trujillo, Glal Embers of the Fire - T - Donald Sandhurst, Liana Ramirez, Pava Lar'ragos

by Hawku Aimless Abandon - G - Oroku Seifer, Aeris

[ussjellyfish]

rules: give us the links to your fic with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and finally the fic with the least words

Thank you, @mylittleredgirl for thinking of me.

Most Hits: Stray Feathers and Scales (Once Upon a Time, Regina Mills/Emma Swan)

A long time ago, Maleficent lost a child. When Regina finds out that child was hers too, she turns to Emma for comfort. Emma doesn't know how she can help either of them with their grief, but she's going to try because no one should have to go through that alone.

Which is REALLY long and written while Swan Queen was REALLY popular and hilariously I think you can tell when I started shipping Dragon Queen more partway though but shhhhhh.

Second Most Kudos

Lost Leaves of Autumn (Catelyn Stark/Ned Stark, Catelyn Stark & Tyrion Lannister).

The little Game of Thrones fic where everything turns out all right.

Third Most Comments quantum variations on a love theme (Star Trek: Discovery, Michael Burnham/Laira Rillak)

Michael Burnham and Laira Rillak are on a shuttle to a resource allocation negotiation when they pass through a quantum anomaly and shift realities. Somehow they're in a strange, soft universe where they seem to be in vacation, together. Which is impossible, they're not even friends. When they accidentally bring something unexpected home with them, everything shifts.

Shout out to quantum because I LOVE this fic, with all my heart, and I feel bad constantly because it feels so niche, but it is loved dammit. It gets the comments. (and is my favorite thing at the moment, I just haven't had writing spoons).

Fourth Most Bookmarks Under the Star Light (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Phil Coulson/Melinda May)

Rebuilding S.H.I.E.L.D. means Melinda May, Phil Coulson and their team have enough time to build something personal. Lingering ghosts of T.A.H.I.T.I. means it's not what they intended. In fact, it's a bit of a mess.

Decent babyfic even if I tried to science and it's messy. It's so early in the show and they're all such ducklings.

Fifth Most Words Firefly (Star Trek: Discovery, Mirror Philippa Georgiou & having feelings, being a person).

Michael asks the Guardian of Forever if there's a timeline where Philippa can stay in the 32nd century, and there happens to be one, but it has a small little difference. A tiny, insignificant, barely worth mentioning, difference.

the longest thing I've ever written with no romantic pairing, and notable for bringing @whimsicalli out of her cave to play. (Also I love this one, it was great). I learned how to post a chapter without worrying about who was going to comment and just to enjoy it. Great fic for that.

Least words Missing Faces (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Beverly Crusher & Deanna Troi).

Deanna and Beverly talk about motherhood.

I also have 22 drabbles, which is pretty neat.

I tag... (if you feel like it). @janetfraiser, @aleksandrachaev, @disco-headcanons, @that-one-curly-haired-chick and anyone else who fancies it.

[wipbigbang]

WIPBB 2023 - Fic & Art Master List (S - Z)

Below is the master list of all the bragging rights/posts that were posted to Tumblr and Dreamwidth, organized alphabetically by fandom from S to Z. Please go show these people some love for all the hard work they did!

Star Trek

Deep Space 9

Free Advice Is…: Fic | Art (Odo/Quark)

Way Harsh, Ziyal: Fic | Art (Julian Bashir/Elim Garak, Jake Sisko/Tora Ziyal, Jadzia Dax/Kira Nerys)

Discovery

How We Remember: Fic (Art Is On AO3) (Keyla Detmer, Joann Owosekun, Airiam, Sylvia Tilly, Michael Burnham)

Novels (Beyer)/Prodigy/Voyager

The Universe to Mend: Fic | Art (Denzit Kathryn Janeway/Q, Hologram Janeway/Maquis Chakotay)

The Next Generation

Begin to Hope: Fic | Art (Beverly Crusher/Deanna Troi, Implied Data/Geordi La Forge)

Star Wars

Legends

The Book Of Kenobi - Part I: Fic | Art (Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Original Female Character(s), Obi-Wan Kenobi & Original Characters)

Original Trilogy

Scoundrel: Fic | Art On Dreamwidth | Art On Tumblr (Luke Skywalker/Han Solo)

Prequel Trilogy

Cabur'ika: Art (N/A)

Entrusted With This: Fic (Art Is On AO3) (Jango Fett/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Jango Fett & Jaster Mereel)

I just want to go home: Fic (Quinlan Vos/Obi-Wan Kenobi)

Rebels

The Last Fear: Fic (Art On AO3) (Jenson Kallstrom/Eagle Eyed Dan, Kallus/Zeb)

The Clone Wars

Ahtehn: Art (Dooku | Darth Tyranus/Quinlan Vos)

GFFA: Fic (Quinlan Vos/Fox, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Cody)

Where do you run when you’re at your limit: Fic (Kit Fisto/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Cody/Mace Windu/Quinlan Vos, Depa Billaba/Luminara Unduli)

Sequel Trilogy

Color Coded: Fic/Art (Kylo Ren/Rey)

Death Comes To Call: Fic/Art (Kylo Ren/Rey)

The Gray Between Black and White: Fic/Art | Art (Kylo Ren/Rey)

The Mandalorian

Pyroclasts: Fic | Art (Din Djarin, Grogu, IG-11, Peli Motto, Cara Dune, Original Droid Character)

Stargate: Atlantis

Roundabout Way to a Family: Fic | Art (John Sheppard/Laura Cadman)

Stargate Atlantis/Stargate SG-1

Journeys all Start Somewhere: Fic | Art (John Sheppard/Cameron Mitchell, Evan Lorne/John Sheppard/Cameron Mitchell)

Stranger Things

Love’s Such an Old-Fashioned Word: Fic/Art (Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler)

Supernatural

After Apple Picking: Fic | Art (Dean Winchester/Sam Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester/Sam Winchester, Mentioned Dean Winchester/OCs)

I’ll Find Him Through the Depths of Space: Fic (Still Posting) | Art (Dean Winchester/Castiel)

One Last Curse: Fic (Dean Winchester/Castiel)

Supernatural/Black Mirror

Hang The Author: Fic | Art (Castiel/Dean Winchester, Amy/Frank)

Teen Wolf

A Pauper's Prince (Revised): Fic (Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski)

Better Off Bread: Fic On Dreamwidth | Fic On Tumblr (Art On-Site) (Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski)

Hands Off, He's Mine!: Fic (Art On AO3) (Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski)

Hunting the Hunters: Fic | Art (Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski)

Intarsia: Fic | Art (Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski)

the family you choose: Fic/Art (Peter Hale/Chris Argent, Background Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski)

Under My Skin: Fic | Art (Stiles Stilinski/Jackson Whittemore, Stiles Stilinski & Lydia Martin, Stiles Stilinski & Derek Hale)

Untitled Swan Stiles: Fic | Art (Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Allison Argent/Isaac Lahey/Scott McCall, Danny Māhealani/Lydia Martin/Jackson Whittemore, Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes)

Ted Lasso

Load of Whites, Hand-Wrung: Fic (Art On AO3) (Nathan Shelley/Bex, Secondary Ted Lasso/Rebecca Welton)

The Hunger Games

Every Spot Reminds Me of You: Fic (Art On AO3) (Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark)

Feed the Beast: Fic (Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark, Minor Effie Trinket/Haymitch Abernathy)

The Legend of Korra

Legend of Korra - The Winter Soldier: Art (Korra/Asami Sato)

Starvation Paradise: Fic/Art (Iroh II/Asami Sato)

The Wheel of Time (TV)

stars fading (but i linger on): Fic (Art On AO3) (Rand al'Thor/Mat Cauthon)

Word Of Honor

look who i found: Art (Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu, Han Ying/Zhou Zishu (pre-relationship), Han Ying & Wen Kexing, Han Ying & Siji Ducklings, Han Ying & Zhou Zishu, Han Ying & Zhang Chengling)

to the roots of something greener: Fic | Art (Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu, Han Ying/Zhou Zishu)

Yuri!!! on Ice

Light At The Edge Of The Galaxy: Art Post 1 | Art Post 2 (Phichit Chulanont & Katsuki Yuuri, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov)

[all-the-fun-of-the-cirkus]

okay so i'm still thinking about how badly evil!kira's been shafted in the mirror universe episodes. in crossover she was a fascinating character, in the two i've seen since she's been unbearable

the bisexual thing's brought up a lot, and people are absolutely right. her being attracted to normal kira was a symptom of her narcissism, but since then it's classic "degenerate emperor" shit. and rejoined was like ten episodes ago, we know they can do better with queer stuff, but that was careful, sincere and considered representation. this is "oh, she's GAY and EVIL and isn't it SCARY but also a little bit hot?"

and i'm shit at noticing male gaze-y stuff by-and-large, but don't think when you put a woman in a leather catsuit, slowly pan the camera up her body constantly and have her simper and smirk at everything i won't cringe. it's leering, and it's so fucking uncomfortable to watch

what makes it worse is that in crossover she was great! a puppet dictator who knows she's a puppet and is managing a desperate juggling act to keep her overlords happy, her "subjects" docile and her people relatively safe, whilst at the same time dealing with the machinations of her underlings, and generally buckling under the strain, and it was wonderful to watch. through the looking glass and shattered mirror just stripped all the nuance from her, and it's incredibly aggravating

mind you star trek has a habit of that. don't think i've forgotten joran dax, who goes from "frank but sympathetic portrayal of a very ill man given far more responsibility than he can handle and snapping" to "hannibal lecter" in his very next appearance

[upwardive]

In the summer of 1990 - heading southbound on the PR-52 highway, the neon-green blur of sunlit rainforest is an unfocused temporal distortion relayed through the rear-left passenger window of a Jeep Cherokee. South of La Cordillera Central, neon slowly gives way to olive greens, beige, and sunset orange.

On-site by the shore, the old sun-bleached Cherokee is an animal perfectly camouflaged against the semi-arid landscape of the island's southern coastal plain. A row of small cabins line the beach. Each with its own broken tile mosaic table in front. The outboard motor shack lies under a palm tree, and a yellow barnacle-covered dock after it.

The speargun is more of a toy than a tool. It only has one rubber band, and it fires too slowly to catch anything, but you always carry it anyways. You wouldn't want to catch anything with it though; the blood of speared fish draws sharks - and you never got over your first encounter. Better to dive for conch anyways; their shells are your trophies.

The shark startled you out of the corner of your left eye last summer. It was barely bigger than you; its back was grayish-blue, its belly milky white, and its eyes were as black as outer space. It was one with the sea, perfect and beautiful. You panicked out of the water and smashed your right knee against the port-side edge of la yola. Dad wouldn't stop laughing at you.

At night, the sound of the week's Spanish-dubbed episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation plays in the background. You walk outside. The water is a calm black-lacquered mirror reflecting the stars.

You wonder if all frontiers are one and the same.

[akobsolheim]

This is a brief overview of the Star Trek Reading order for all of the books and does not list all of the individual book titles for that you can visit the Wikipedia page linked below.

Most of the books on this list are close to accurate but not exact according to the first original Star Trek book list on Wikipedia. However I have organized them by Star Trek timeline and century to make it easier to follow. However there aren't any book titles only series titles because of how extensive the book list is.

21st back 20 second century

1 Star Trek Enterprise complete book series

2 Star Trek Discovery complete book series [Includes Star includes short tracks books)

3 Star Trek strange New World complete series books

3 Star Trek the original series complete series books (includes Star Trek seekers, Vanguard & new Earth-along with some star fleet Academy books & Kelvin Universe books)

23d-24th centuries

4 Star Trek Stargazer (goes in between the star fleet Academy books four Star Trek TNG

5 Star Trek The Next Generation (includes 12 Star Fleet Academy books)

6 Star Trek Deep Space Nine (Includes four Star fleet Academy books)

7 Star Trek Voyager (Includes three Star fleet Academy books)

8 Star Trek IKS Goran backlash cling on Empire

9 Star Trek New Frontier

10 Star Trek Department Of Temporal Investigations

11 Star Trek Titan

12 Star Trek mirror & Myriad universes (contains books that cross the 22nd through 24th centuries)

13 Star Trek Prometheus

25th century

14 Star Trek prodigy complete book series

15 Star Trek Picard complete book series

[adastrafanfic]

State of the Archive

Busy busy. Everything's going okay, though I would like to remind new folks to read the posting rules under the FAQs, because we're not AO3 and follow a different set of tagging rules. The June Review Hunt is over, with Gibraltar and David Falkayn as our winners. Congrats, fellas!

The July Review Hunt is now open. All you have to do to participate is sign your name/penname up for it, since largely it's automated. Reviews 15+ words count, with the same points modifiers as usual. IE, 100-199 being +10, and then +50 for any first review on a story over twenty-five words and +25 for any second. So, if you want to join, let me know. No weekly challenge this week.

Stories Archived

Star Trek: Enterprise

By Beatrice_Otter Not Place, But People - G - Charles "Trip" Tucker III & Lorian

Star Trek: Discovery

By ussjellyfish Song of the Hadal Depths - T - Michael Burnham & Philippa Georgiou (Mirror) truth be told - T - Laira Rillak/Michael Burnham maybe next time dinner first - T - Laira Rillak/Michael Burnham hesitation - T - Laira Rillak/Michael Burnham following shadows - T - Katrina Cornwell/Philippa Georgiou (Mirror) in case of emergency, please contact... - T - Laira Rillak/Michael Burnham

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

By lah_mrh Lean On Me - G - Una Chin-Riley, Christopher Pike Security Breach - G - Christopher Pike, La'an Noonien-Singh Fall Into Your Sunlight - T - Christopher Pike/Una Chin-Riley | Number One Everybody Knows - T - Christopher Pike & Ash Tyler | Voq By starry_fool Ça va faire une maudite poutine - G - James T. Kirk

Star Trek: The Original Series

By Beatrice_Otter Podfic of Starship Mine - T - Nyota Uhura, Una Chin-Riley, Christine Chapel If Ever Two Were One - T - Nyota Uhura/Spock That Tender Light - T - Nyota Uhura/Spock A Marriage of True Minds - G - Amanda Grayson/Sarek Things Not Forgotten - G - Saavik/Spock, Zar Unbonding - T - Original Vulcan Characters

By ChrisQ Moment of Truth - G - James T. Kirk, Will Decker

By daraoakwise Starship Voice - Not Rated - Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, James T. Kirk

By kimaracretak light through the green - T - Nyota Uhura (Mirror) & Spock (Mirror) - 🔒

By lah_mrh World On Fire - T - James T. Kirk & Spock

By Pixie To Us - G - Christine Chapel & Nyota Uhura

By sixbeforelunch Complexity and Complication - G - Saavik/Spock - 🔒 A Beautiful Thing - G - Montgomery "Scotty" Scott/Nyota Uhura - 🔒 Creature Comfort - G - Nyota Uhura - 🔒 That Which Endures - G - Stonn/T'Pring - 🔒 Waiting Game - T - Leonard "Bones" McCoy & Spock - 🔒 Illusory Reality - G - Christopher Pike/Una Chin-Riley | Number One - 🔒 Emblem - G - James T. Kirk, Suvuk, Sehlk - 🔒

By SLWalker Gray - G - Nyota Uhura (AOS) & Spock

Star Trek: Alternate Original Series

By Beatrice_Otter Out of the Depths - T - Spock Five Things That Surprise Spock About The New Timeline - G - Spock By daraoakwise Half of Each Other's Mess - G - Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (AOS) By SLWalker Now and Later - T - Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (AOS)

Star Trek: The Next Generation

By Beatrice_Otter Sweet Beginnings - T - Deanna Troi/Worf Finding Common Ground - T - Ro Laren/William Riker A Daughter of the Fifth House - G - Deanna Troi/William Riker, Lwaxana Troi Podfic of open your heart knowing - G - Data/Geordi La Forge By sixbeforelunch Quality Time - G - Deanna Troi/William Riker - 🔒 After Tilonus - G - William Riker - 🔒 The Day Before the Wedding - G - Deanna Troi/William Riker, Lwaxana Troi - 🔒 Matronym - T - Deanna Troi/William Riker - 🔒 Orla - G - Deanna Troi/William Riker, Lwaxana Troi, Thomas Riker - 🔒 Cadence - G - Deanna Troi/William Riker - 🔒 A Brief Consideration of Feline Interactions and Human Vicissitude - G - Data & Spot - 🔒 Nither to Weigh Thoughts Nor Measure Words - T - Deanna Troi/William Riker - 🔒 Musical Interlude - G - Deanna Troi & Ro Laren - 🔒 By ussjellyfish he can't be here - M - Beverly Crusher/Jean-Luc Picard Ignore me, continue - T - Beverly Crusher/Kathryn Janeway, xover with VOY make me - T - Beverly Crusher/Kathryn Janeway, xover with VOY

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

By Beatrice_Otter Vocational Studies - G - Benjamin Sisko & Kira Nerys People Person - G - Leeta Tashlich - G - Jadzia Dax/Worf What You Know - T - Benjamin Sisko/Kasidy Yates The Thirty-Fourth Rule - G - Odo, Quark By kimaracretak memories in paraphrase - T - Kimara Cretak/Kira Nerys - 🔒 no mirror to correct my destiny - T - Kimara Cretak/Kira Nerys - 🔒 as ever sun has faded - T - Kira Nerys/Kira Nerys (Mirror) - 🔒 By Pixie Ezri Dax and the Big Bad Worf - G - Ezri Dax, Benjamin Sisko, Deanna Troi, Worf By sixbeforelunch Soldiers Were Children Once - T - Quark

Star Trek: Voyager

By Pixie The Darkness Has No Armor - G - Kathryn Janeway & Tom Paris The Night the Sky Fell Down - T - B'Elanna Torres & Chakotay I Love Somebody - G - Kathryn Janeway/Seven of Nine On a Clear Day You Can See Forever - G - Seven of Nine, EMH | The Doctor, Harry Kim The Captain's Valentine - G - Kathryn Janeway/Tom Paris, others Miracle in the Delta Quadrant - G - Kathryn Janeway/Tom Paris, others By sixbeforelunch Touch - G - Kathryn Janeway & Tuvok - 🔒 A Silent Peace - G - Tuvok R is for "Reunion" - G - Tuvok/T'Pel Unexpected Changes - G - Tuvok/T'Pel

Star Trek: Picard

By lah_mrh New Beginnings - G - Raffaela "Raffi" Musiker/Seven of Nine

Expanded Universes

By David Falkayn Winding Down - M - Ensemble Cast The Price of Vengeance - M - Ensemble Cast A Mother's Regret...A Lover's Loss - M - Ensemble Cast Thicker than Blood - M - Tovan Kev/Tali' Zorah nar 'Rayya Devil's Deals - M - Ensemble Cast Legerdemain - M - Ensemble Cast Change of Course - M - David Anderson Reflections - M - Ashley Williams, Soren Magnussen, Jane Shepard Lost and Found - M - Ensemble Cast Laying Plans - M - Ensemble Cast Mind Tripping - M - Ensemble Cast Crossing Over - M - Ensemble Cast By sixbeforelunch Gol-tor Kal'uk Nash-veh - T - T'Lin/Veral - 🔒 Kwi'kusut - T - T'Lin/Veral - 🔒 Dakh Pthak - G - T'Lin/Veral - 🔒 Sarlah Nash-veh Dvin-tor - T - T'Lin/Veral - 🔒 Samek-Praduk - G - T'Lin/Veral - 🔒 Dah Vokaya - M - Kiri/Selesh - 🔒 By SolarisOne Burning the Pain Away - T - Sun Wukong | Monkey

[foone]

Pick a show that sounds interesting and start watching.

Way more details under the cut

The Original Series (60s) and The Next Generation (80s-90s) are the first two: both are about a ship Going Boldly and finding weird space stuff. Either are good places to start. Both are dated, TNG less so. There's remastered editions with new special effects available if the old special effects are too much to hear.

Deep Space Nine (90s) is about a space station instead. It's got a lot of politics early on, and it turns into a war story by the end.

Voyager (90s) is about a ship trapped on the uncharted far side of the galaxy, trying to get home. Takes a while to find it's feet but has plenty of good episodes.

Enterprise (2000s) is a prequel, going back to before Kirk. It had a lot of problems but still has its fans. I would definitely not recommend this one as your first: the prequel nature means you'll miss a lot of references. It does have a neat thing: the entire third season is one storyline, about tracking down an alien plot to blow up the earth.

Discovery (2010s-2020s): this one is set during the original series, then jumps ahead to the future. It's about a historical Star Trek war, some Mirror Universe (an alternate universe full of EVIL PEOPLE with EVIL BEARDS) shenanigans, the first canonically gay character in Trek, several cameos from characters from the Original Series, but played by new actors because it's been 50 years. Another one that's not great to start with: too much continuity you won't understand. But if the other shows are too dated for you, they do explain enough that you'll get the gist.

Picard (2020s): The captain from The Next Generation comes back, goes on several adventures, we learn what happened to a bunch of TNG characters, and there's a big reunion. You shouldn't watch this until you've seen TNG.

Lower Decks (2020s): an animated comedy about some of the lower-ranked workers on the Star Ship . Definitely worth watching but its full of continuity jokes so I don't know how well it'd work if you're new to Trek.

Prodigy (2020s): an animated series aimed at a young-adult audience. Some aliens learn about The Federation (the Good Guys in Star Trek) and decide to escape to it, aided by a holographic version of the captain from Voyager. It has continuity stuff but since they expect to have a younger audience, they don't depend on them. It's fine to watch first, but it's a little different from standard Trek, so it's maybe not the best introduction.

Strange New Worlds (2020s): The adventures of the ship from The Original Series before Kirk was in charge, a Discovery spinoff. The continuity is complicated and while this has my favorite episode of the new shows (A FUCKING MUSICAL!), it's probably a terrible place to start.

That's all of them, minus some made for TV movies, the made for theaters movies, and The Animated Series.

The made for TV movies are all in the Discovery/Strange New Worlds continuity. You don't want to start with those.

The theatrical movies are set in the TOS continuity(for the first 6 movies) and then the TNG continuity (Generations through Nemesis), then the last three are in the Kelvin timeline: a reboot of The Original Series.

The Animated Series is just The Original Series but as a cartoon. Watch it if you want after TOS.

If you want to start with a movie, watch the 2009 movie called just "Star Trek". It's fine, and it gives you something of an idea of the characters. Neither the TOS or TNG movies are good starting points.

Anyway tl:dr let me give you some actual advice:

Pick one of The Original Series, The Next Generation, or Voyager, based on if you feel like 60s, 80s, or 90s scifi. Watch the first episode. (That's "The Man Trap" for TOS, "Encounter at Farpoint" for TNG, and "Caretaker" for VOY)

If you like it, great! Start watching the first season of whatever show it is, but maybe check a wiki or fan guide to know what episodes to skip. Star Trek pretty consistently has a very mixed-quality first season, so there's often a bunch of stinkers early on to scare you off.

If you don't like it, you have two options:

1. If you don't like the characters or the setting, try a different show

2. If you like the characters but hated the story, maybe look up "top 10 episodes for star Trek SERIESNAME". Pre-2010s they had very little continuity between episodes, so once you've seen the pilot you can watch just about any episode. Worst case, one character might have been swapped out for another as the cast wasn't fully static.

So yeah. I hope you know what you were getting into when you asked an autistic Trek nerd about which Trek to watch.

(Personally I started with TNG, watched a few TOS episodes, then watched Voyager, went back to DS9, watched most of Enterprise, and a few episodes of Strange New Worlds.)

Trick or treat

Have Kirk, crawling on the floor

[theultimatefan]

Cho, Di Meo, Platt, Azzarello Headline Talented Comics Creators Attending FAN EXPO Cleveland

An incredible array of talented comics artists and writers, spanning more than a half century of work and encompassing dozens of the most popular franchises in the history of the medium through the present, will be on hand as FAN EXPO Cleveland today announced the Artist Alley headliners for the convention, set for April 12-14 at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland.

Among the superstar writers and artists are Frank Cho (“Liberty Meadows," “Wolverine"), Simone Di Meo (“Batman and Robin”), Stephen Platt (“Moon Knight,” “Wolverine”), Brian Azzarello (“Suicide Squad: Get Joker,” “Wonder Woman”), author Claudia Gray (“Star Wars,” “House of El”), Tim Jacobus (“Goosebumps,” “Spinetinglers”), Greg Land (“Wolverine versus Predator,” “Uncanny X-Men"), Jae Lee (“Seven Sons,” “Stephen King’s Dark Tower”), Yanick Paquette (“Wonder Woman,” “The Incal”), Kevin Maguire (“Justice League,” “The Defenders”), and Joe Wos (“Cartoon Academy”, “Charlie the Tuna”). Just about every franchise imaginable will be well represented, and comics fans will revel in meeting the creators who have made them possible. Q&A’s, interactive demonstration sessions, autographs, commission opportunities, and more make the experience a can’t-miss for comics lovers.

The field of creators also includes talents such as Heather Antos (Group editor, IDW Publishing), Sweeney Boo (“Harley Quinn,” “Marvel Action Captain Marvel”), Joe Corroney (“Star Wars,” Lucasfilm), Kyle Higgins (“Radiant Black,” “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers”), Matt Horak (“Spider Man/Deadpool,” “Black Panther”), Stephanie Phillips (“Harley Quinn,” “Rogue and Gambit”), Tim Sheridan (“Alan Scott: The Green Lantern,” “Flashpoint Beyond”), Aaron Reynolds (“Effin’ Birds”), Don Rosa (“Life & Times of Scrooge McDuck”), Stephanie Williams (“Nubia and the Amazons,” “Wakanda Forever”) and Thom Zahler (“My Little Pony,” “Love and Capes”), plus dozens of other local Northeast Ohio area writers and artists. The full list can be found at https://fanexpohq.com/fanexpocleveland/comic-creators/.

The quality of the creators in Artist Alley mirrors that of the FAN EXPO Cleveland celebrity roster, which features a first-rate list that includes The Lord of the Rings “four hobbits” Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan, Danny Trejo (Machete, From Dusk Till Dawn), Charlie Cox (“Daredevil,” “Boardwalk Empire”), legendary director Sam Raimi, Vincent D’Onofrio (Daredevil, “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”), Alan Tudyk (Star Wars, “Firefly”), Brent Spiner (“Star Trek: The Next Generation,” Independence Day), “Charmed” star Rose McGowan, “Harry Potter” standout Matthew Lewis and Jason Lee (“My Name is Earl,” The Incredibles) and more.

Single-Day Tickets, Three-Day Passes, VIP Packages and Ultimate Fan Packages for FAN EXPO Cleveland are available now. Advance pricing is available until March 28. More guest news will be released in the following weeks, including line-up reveals for additional headline celebrities, comic creator guests, voice actors and cosplayers.

Cleveland is the sixth event on the 2024 FAN EXPO HQ calendar; the full schedule is available at fanexpohq.com/home/events/.