#Voq

[evviejo]

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY // S1E11 The Wolf Inside I can't rest here. Not really. My eyes open, but it's like waking from the worst nightmare I could imagine. Even the light is different. The cosmos has lost its brilliance, and everywhere I turn, there's fear.

[knightotoc]

Season 1: 23rd century, mutiny, Federation-Klingon War, T'Kuvma, Ash/Voq, L'Rell, Captain Lorca, giant tardigrade, Sarek, logic extremists, Vulcan Expeditionary Group applications, Admiral Cornwell, time loop Harry Mudd, Pahvo, Mirror Universe, Captain Killy, Culber dies, Emperor Georgiou

Themes: betrayal, trust, good vs evil

Season 2: Captain Pike, Red Angel, seven signals, Spock's nightmares, Jett Reno, Terralysium, Amanda Grayson, L'Rell and Ashvoq's baby, Section 31, Leland, the ghost of May, the Sphere's data, Culber gets better, Kamina, Talos IV, Control, Airiam dies, Klingon monastery, time crystals, Queen Po, jump to the future

Themes: motherhood, secrets, corruption

Season 3: 32nd century, the Burn, Book, trance worm, Aditya Sahil, Zareh, Captain Saru, Tal, Adira, Gray, Trill, Admiral Vance, seed archive, Nhan, Ni'Var, Qowat Milat, T'Rina, Kwejian, the Emerald Chain, Osyraa, Carl, goodbye Georgiou!, Su'Kal and the holograms, Burnham demoted then promoted, dilithium deliveries

Themes: grief, scarcity, transphobia?

Season 4: Captain Burnham, President Rillak, the DMA (cough covid cough), Kwejian destroyed, Gray resurrected, J'Vini, cadets stranded on the moon, Ruon Tarka and Oros's parallel universe, Felix and the orb, Gray and Zora play a Trill board game, Species 10-C, Book's betrayal, hydrocarbon emotion math language

Themes: misunderstanding, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" references

Season 5: Progenitors, Moll and L'ak, solving riddles to make a map, Q'Mau, Fred, Rayner, Lyrek, Adira and Gray break up, Jinaal possesses Culber, time bug, the Breen, atheism on Halem'no, racer Tilly, Ravah, Ruhn, Eternal Gallery and Archive, Hy'Rell, Tahal, wedding and finale

Themes: romances, religion, power

[phantomstatistician]

Fandom: Star Trek

Character: Christopher Pike

Sample Size: 2,032 stories

Source: AO3

[startrekwintergiftexchange]

The 2024 Star Trek Winter Gift Exchange is here!

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[biblioflyer]

I don’t know how to properly explain this, but the most Roddenberry thing ever is Tilly and Detmer sitting with Tyler as if he was a different person than Voq and the consciousness that controlled the hands that murdered Culber belonged to someone else,

[stra-tek]

Lorca's tribble didn't out Ash because they hadn't decided he was a klingon yet.

They knew that from the beginning...

So much so that Voq was credited as "Javid Iqbal" (his father's name) to disguise the fact he wasn't Shazad Latif. But die-hard Trekkies were onto it immediately😆

It may well be a case that they didn't quite know where they were going with the reveal as Discovery season one had a LOT of change in the writer's room and was essentially finished by different people who started it. I suspect the Tribble being forgotten was part of that, since the set-up is so obvious. Or maybe it was a red herring all along.

I can't wait for non-disclosure agreements to run out and people to tell the behind-the-scenes story in full, since I suspect it'll be up there with TNG's Chaos on the Bridge. The bits I've heard across all of Discovery's seasons have been wild.

[mxtomituck]

Soooooooo, did I mention I finally watched Star Trek Discovery?

[jordanlafordan]

A Chancellor's Loss

[raurquiz]

#Happybirthday @shazad #shazadlatif #actor #ashtyler #voq #StarTrekDiscovery #TheDarkCrystal #ageofresistance #BlackMirror #thesecondbestexoticmarigoldhotel #pennydreadful #toastoflondon #FallingforFigaro #ThePursuitofLove #ToastofTinseltown #RogueAgent #Magpie #Nautilus

[autisticburnham]

If I were to do one of those "spin the wheel to get a character and then fmk" polls for Discovery, should I count Ash and Voq as one character or two?

[sshbpodcast]

Star Trek Parents Just Don’t Understand (Part 2)

By Ames

Last week, you’ll remember we covered a whole lot of parents from the classic Star Trek series and just how much they tended to ruin their kids’ lives. Well, this week A Star to Steer Her By is finishing out the topic with parental units from currently running Trek series and the Kelvin movies. Expect this one to not be nearly as far reaching, partly because SPOILERS WILL ABOUND below the cut and partly because we’ve not covered much of this on the podcast yet, so frankly I don’t remember a good deal of it.

But some of our major players have or are noteworthy parents to talk about in this period of wide-screen Trek (seriously, everything looks like a movie now and it’s impacting my screengrab game). Give your parents a hug for us as you see them listed below and also in probably the most spoilery episode of the podcast we’ve ever recorded (discussion starts at 59:37). They only raised you from tadpoles.

(Again, some mega spoilers for Star Trek 2009, Discovery, Lower Decks, Prodigy, Strange New Worlds, and especially [seriously!] Picard are below.)

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Kelvin George Kirk

George Kirk was a parent to literally newborn James for all of thirty seconds before saving his life, Winona’s life, and the lives of the crewmembers of the USS Kelvin. While we have no idea if he’d have been any good at raising the youngster had he lived (apparently so since this alternate Kirk ended up being quite the ruffian compared to that walking stack of books from The Original Series), we know what he valued by his actions, his sacrifice, and his refusal to name him Tiberius.

Kelvin Sarek

In pretty much all timelines, Sarek is a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to raising a half-Vulcan, half-human son like Spock. Why he can’t get it through that Vulcan bowlcut of his that having a child with a human will dilute that cherished green blood of theirs is absolutely beyond me. I thought you hobgoblins were supposed to be logical, after all. Maybe if Amanda hadn’t blown up, things would have gone better for Quinto-Spock.

Discovery Sarek

Speaking of Sarek, in Discovery we actually see that he very much seems to prefer raising his ward Michael Burnham to raising either of his natural sons. Go figure. Apparently all his progenies had to do was follow in his footsteps, join the Vulcan Academy, and literally have a chunk of his katra from a past mindmerge-thing for daddy to love them.

Gabrielle Burnham

Michael’s relationship with her birth parents is something much more complicated. This is Discovery, after all; “It’s complicated” is the subtitle of the series! When we learn that Gabrielle is still alive, having saved Michael by becoming the Red Angel, it’s a bittersweet reunion that can only be made stranger by their second reunion in the 32nd century when momma has become a space nun of some kind. As if Michael didn’t have enough of this Vulcan stuff growing up!

Voq and L’Rell

On the subject of space nuns, we learn that Voq and L’Rell’s child Tenavik got to be raised by some time monks in the Boreth Monastery. Which, frankly, is probably the best that kid could ask for! The combative Klingon Empire was no place to raise a baby, and good on his parents for finding a child-rearing solution that, at the very least, kept him alive. Ya know, after just a little bit of faking his death. Q'apla, I guess!

Stamets and Culber

What is sweeter and purer than two gay space dads mentoring a nonbinary sorta-Trill sorta-not adolescent? I didn’t realize that Adira is supposed to be 16 when we meet them (probably because the actor was like 23), but regardless of age, they are struggling with their identity in enough ways to make a Vulcan weep, and having the support of a nurturing queer family is just what they need.

Ephaim

An easy example of a good parent from the Discovery era comes in one of the Short Treks, “Ephaim and DOT.” Sure, she’s a tardigrade and mostly just following that biological impulse to keep one’s seed alive, but she does better than a lot of other Trek parents. Go, tardigrades, go!

Raffi Musiker

Moving on to Star Trek: Picard, we see another negligent parent in the conspiracy theory–obsessed Raffi Musiker. She might rival Worf as a parent whose absence has screwed up their kid the most, as we see that Gabriel is downright hostile to her when she tries to reconnect. And then in season 3, she yet again chooses Starfleet over her family. Perhaps we’re lucky we haven’t seen Alexander in Picard, since he and Gabriel could have some stories to tell.

Troi and Riker

Say what you will about the Troi-Riker relationship, but they seem to be doing pretty okay raising their daughter Kestra. She’s a nifty kid with her head on straight, so they must be doing something right. Also, it’s very clear throughout their appearances in Picard that these parents did everything they could to save their son Thaddeus from his mendaxic neurosclerosis, and his loss affected them in the way only losing a beloved child could.

Maurice and Yvette Picard

We were teased a bit in TNG with just enough information about Jean-Luc’s upbringing to let us know his relationship with his father was strained and that with his mother was loving, but then the second season of Picard had to go spelling things out for us in ways we didn’t really need. Maurice becomes that much more terrible because he evidently did nothing when Yvette was going down a dark path. And Yvette… what the hell were the writers trying to say about Yvette? Freakin’ yikes. 

Adam Soong

Also in season two of Picard, we get YET ANOTHER Soong ancestor for Brent Spiner to play, ya know, for reasons. Evidently all the Soongs except Data (see last week’s inclusion!) are just terrible parents because they’re effectively just trying to prolong their own legacy instead of actually caring for the needs and wants of the child. Kore, in this case, lives a life so sheltered she can’t even go outside without bursting into flames. Much like that whole damn season…

Teresa Ramirez

We do, however, get one solid parent in season two of Picard, and that’s Teresa Ramirez, the divorced mother who Rios is totally thirsty for. Actually, we don’t see a lot of children of divorce in Star Trek, do we? As we established last week, it’s far more likely to have one parent get killed off than it is to have people amicably separate because, of course, that makes for more drama. There’s Torres’s parents, and Rom and Prinadora but that’s just their Ferengi contract, and that might just be about it? Anyway, Teresa’s cool.

Jean-Luc Picard and Bev Crusher

Season three, however, is just a straight up family reunion show with lots more literal family members that get introduced to boot! Somewhere after Nemesis, evidently Bev and JL got down to clown and then Bev ran away and hid the pregnancy from him for however many years this boy is old. Sure, we all agree Picard would make a father that might rival Worf’s awkward sense of child neglect, but is Bev any better never telling him? Discuss amongst yourselves.

Geordi La Forge

Geordi’s been busy too, cranking out at least two daughters. Like Sarek’s relationship with his various kids, it seems much easier for Geordi to play favorites. Alandra is the favored daughter because she followed in his footsteps and seems like she was generally passive, while Sidney is the black sheep of the family and La Forge has trouble connecting with her because she can’t just be controlled like certain holoprograms I could name.

Carol Freeman

Let’s get out of Picard and into some animated stuff. The relationship between Captain Freeman and her daughter Beckett Mariner is at the core of Lower Decks, so much so that it’s kept secret from the rest of the crew for the drama of it all. Most of the show treats their relationship like ones we’ve seen before in which the child lashes out because they don’t want to follow in their parent’s footsteps. There is love there, but their failure to communicate does dominate.

The Diviner

In our other animated Trek, The Diviner definitely falls into that category of just the worst kind of parent because he will sacrifice Gwyn a hundred times over to get his way. He never listens to what she wants, chooses the Protostar over her, and leaves her to nearly get killed on vine planet. All this and the only reason he created her in the first place was to continue his work. Rude, bro.

Joseph M’Benga

Finally, we have Dr. M’Benga in Strange New Worlds, whose dedication to caring for his sick daughter Rukiya is admirable and incredibly sweet. Every time he reads fairy tales to her in sickbay is a beautiful little scene, and the end of “The Elysian Kingdom” is a tear jerker that we were honestly surprised to get so early in the run of the show. I kinda hope we see more from Rukiya in future, but who knows what’s written in these fantastical pages?

— We’re ducking out from this family reunion before someone whips out the photo album. Catch us next time for more, and definitely keep listening to our watchthrough of Voyager over on SoundCloud or wherever you get podcasts. You can also post family in-jokes on our Facebook and Twitter, and would it hurt to call once in a while?

[trekdilfs]

[best-star-trek-character]

Round One

[startrekwintergiftexchange]

The 2023 Star Trek Winter Gift Exchange is here!

Q: What is the Star Trek Winter Gift Exchange?

A: This is an anonymous fanworks exchange for any fandom within the Star Trek universe, from The Original Series to Strange New Worlds!

-

Q: How does it work?

A: When you sign up, you’ll make three requests. Once sign ups close, the mod will send you the url of the person you’ll make a fanwork for and their requests. You’ll have the month of January to fill one of the requests. Make sure your ask box is open so I or your Secret Santa can contact you!

-

Q: Do I have to make fanart/fanfic for the exchange?

A: Nope! All types of fanworks are welcome :) Fics, art, edits, moodboards, podfics, among other things! As long as you’re creating it, it’s welcome.

-

Q: What are the important dates I should know?

A: December 29, 11:59 pm EST: signups close

January 1-3: I’ll let you know who your recipient is

January 21-31: Post your gifts! Details here.

-

Q: Sounds awesome! How do I sign up?

A: Fill out this form!

-

Q: What if I only want to be a pinch hitter?

A: If you ONLY want to be a pinch hitter, fill out this form!

-

If you have other questions, check the about or send an ask. And don’t forget to spread the word! LLAP <3

[biblioflyer]

Burnham is not "always right": The Vulcan Hello (Rewatch)

Just a snap reaction. I'm struck by the sense that yes, in some sense, this first episode is headed to deconstruction. Starfleet is definitely depicted as extremely decent. To the point where Burnham and Georgiou are on a mission to discreetly dig a well that is beyond the capabilities of the local species. Its very much a setup for an innocence lost, but ultimately regained - at least in part story.

More to the point, and this is going out on a limb here, without having rewatched the next episode, my gut is telling me I've been right for a long time. Namely that this is an example of a situation where Burnham was objectively wrong and narratively wrong. Which also undermines one of the most prolific critiques of the series.

Had she backed Saru and persuaded Georgiou to withdraw the Shenzou there is a good chance they lose track of the coffin ship if it decides to cloak again which is a very serious risk, but - and Burnham doesn't know this yet - it will probably undermine T'Kuvma. Had T'Kuvma lit the beacon and the Klingon armada met empty space, there's a strong possibility that the other House Leaders grouse about him screwing around with ancient artifacts, if not outright blaspheming to try and assert moral authority over the other Houses. Maybe he gets a chance to bribe them with his cloaking technology and maybe he doesn't, but the way I remember it, its the fleet battle and his subsequent martyrdom that unites the Klingons.

On the other hand, if Burnham got her way, there's two scenarios. One is that she gets the shot off before Voq departs to light the beacon. The chronology is a bit ambiguous but I don't even think T'Kuvma decloaks until Voq is away. But lets say that T'Kuvma decloaks because he needs to for Voq to depart or as a distraction to buy Voq time. So IF Shenzou's sucker punch works, the bridge neck is hit, the ship is crippled or destroyed and the beacon isn't lit, then its all sunshine and roses. Mission accomplished.

Maybe.

I still think there's a good chance that maybe someone comes along later, discovers that T'Kuvma got himself killed messing with the Federation, and it provokes a Klingon blood debt or something something honor. We're led to believe T'Kuvma is a savvy operator in politics and religion. We have no earthly idea why he's lighting the beacon now as opposed to years ago (maybe it was lost, due to the whole scattering field thing) but perhaps it has to do with internal Klingon dynamics. Maybe he's spotted a Gordian Knot in Klingon society and has decided never to let a good crisis go to waste, so he's going to start a war with the Federation because his instincts tell him that if he plays his cards right, this is a doable thing.

The second scenario is that Shenzou gets her sucker punch in only after Voq lights the beacon or Voq is able to light the beacon after T'Kuvma gets himself blown up. Maybe the other Houses arrive and decide T'Kuvma was a mad lad and he got what he had coming to him. On the other hand - and maybe something will come to me a few episodes later - I'm not aware of anything at this juncture that alters the fundamentals of T'Kuvma being martyred. I'm not at all sure why it matters if it was from giving Shenzou taking him out or from a Starfleet boarding team offing him in a rescue attempt that turns into an accidental assassination. Clearly while T'Kuvma is some sort of outsider type, his death at the hands of the Federation is hugely significant - if not to the House Leaders, then to their constituents who must have a fair number of devotees and sympathizers in their ranks.

Given that by the end of the season, Burnham will have disavowed preemptive violence and doubled down on Starfleet's original mission and ethos, I feel very confident in saying Episode One Burnham is wrong and she's not just wrong from a Watsonian standpoint, we are supposed to understand from the narrative that she's wrong. She will spend the entire season and maybe the next three seasons even trying to live down this mistake because I think its rather critical to understanding the character and her trajectory that had she taken Saru's side, Shenzou and her crewmates may have lived and a war might have been avoided.

That it might take three years and saving the Federation three times and the galaxy twice to get herself to a place where she really thinks she deserves to be in Starfleet, let alone as a Captain, really puts things into context. A context that the comment sections of the usual places are content to ignore because they are stuck on the idea that Burnham is right because of narrative fiat.

Also Sarek is a terrible, terrible father and this is one retcon that I think doesn't work. Maybe it will improve. Spock and Sarek had their differences yes, but prior to Discovery, I think it would be fair to read it that they were deeply principled individuals that clashed at the level of application of those principles. Like a PHD whose profoundly gifted child decides to join the military rather than joining a think tank to draft policy. This version of Sarek and his obsession with making a human into a Vulcan is difficult to watch and kind of less interesting, personally.

On the subject of retcons, if the idea is that an aggressive response to T’Kuvma’s ship prowling inside the extreme edge of Federation space and potentially menacing colonists is supposed to be objectively correct or at least more narratively ambiguous, this is where the TOS setting conceits actually would work way better. Namely that Starfleet is spread “age of sail” thin and comms with the nearest higher authority take hours or longer.

This is actually really reminiscent of the scenario in Master and Commander which I rewatched over the weekend with Shenzou as HMS Surprise and T’Kuvma’s ship as the French heavy frigate Acheron. What compels “Lucky Jack” to hunt a ship that’s faster, more resilient, outguns, and out ranges Surprise is that Surprise really is the only one who can conceivably run down Acheron before she takes more British merchants. Even though it’s suicidal, there’s no backup coming it’s just Surprise trying to pull off a desperate win or choosing life but condemning every civilian in Acheron’s path.

Shenzou being in real time contact with Starfleet and half a Wolf 359’s worth of ships being two hours away makes the idea of a preemptive strike against a game changing major threat noble, assuming it doesn’t start a war or war is inevitable unless this incursion is decisively defeated before it can get going, but ultimately undermines the whole idea that Shenzou must be decisive in order not to show weakness. Taking a big risk and staying to monitor this new cloaking dreadnought or regrouping with the fleet to rapidly deploy to at risk colonies are both very sensible with the information Georgiou has. For the conventional Starfleet thinker, Burnham’s historical analogy doesn’t seem to map to a Federation that has spent the last century having the luxury of trying to unravel the cultural ambiguities that can lead to conflict because apparently it can whistle up a task force pretty darn fast.

The weird bullying of Saru on the bridge also doesn't sit well with me. If he's that timid, how did he advance in Starfleet? He must be extremely competent and deserve his position, so why set everyone up to act like he's a coward? I really think they would have done him more justice by making him a stronger and more articulate advocate for deescalation. If the narrative needs to prove him wrong, then the narrative proves him wrong, but at least give him a good argument. I suppose he got stuck being the weenie because Georgiou needed to be the cooler head mediating between him and Burnham, but I think it could have been handled better.