#can you tell I’ve been watching ds9 lol

[deerpun]

Getting the designs down of a couple of new sci-fi ocs! These guys are located on a space station.

Pel’s species is brand new to my lineup of aliens, so expect some more concept art :)

[olderthannetfic]

So I’m a Gen z-er and got into Trek about a year ago (I was raised in a pure Star Wars household, so I got zero exposure before I decided to try it out)… Funny enough what got me into DS9 was when there was a brief period of Garashir wank on your blog many, many moons ago, when I was in the middle of TNG s2 and decided I’d skip to DS9 and give it a try, because gay scaley aliens seemed right up my alley. I am supremely glad to be here, because the show plays into all my interests— including war novels, lizards, and the USSR. There’s so much fic, which is awesome, because I’m still in that wonderful honeymoon period of being perfectly satisfied and not yet driven to write my own. I’ve been watching it with my family, and my mom not only hates Garak, but also is a Gul Dukat stan and thinks he should get together with Kira, which is really funny and I almost want to tell her she’d be cancelled on tumblr for those opinions, lol.

My one complaint thus far is that the tumblr fandom, at least for DS9 and ENT, kind of… isn’t great? Most people seem to just be interested in talking about how horrible the gender politics of such-and-such episode is, or how such-and-such villain is irredeemable, and while I can understand why you would write those types of analysis, I guess I just don’t get why you would dedicate your entire fandom experience to being frustrated.

My very late take on the garashir v siskoshir wank is that a) Garak need his cloaca ate and b) Dukat is very obviously flirting with Sisko in every single episode they interact in.

--

Valid.

Also, if you want to watch TNG without your brain melting from the idea that this kept getting new seasons, skip to where Ro Laren shows up. I haven't watched since it originally aired, but my memory is that S1 is actively bad, and 2-4 are only okay.

[sniperct]

I’ve never watched Star Trek. I’m a trans lesbian, big SFF reader, enjoy Star Wars quite a bit with my wife and a kiddos. Where do my wife and I start?

There are a number of different ways you can watch it. If you like a bit of camp with good stories, starting with TOS is never a bad bet. You could also start with Strange New Worlds which is like TOS with more modern progressiveness(but TOS was incredibly progressive and transgressive for its day. We're talking when mini-skirts were so much the height of feminism that the female cast members insisted on it and plots such as 'this alien is half white black and hates the alien who's half black white for looking different and that's bad' among others.

TNG had a rough first season, but there are some gems, 2nd season is better than many people remember and 3rd season onward is generally gold. That's also a good onramp point as they don't lean too heavily into trek nostalgia. DS9 is my favorite trek for a variety of reasons and with both DS9 and Voyager you don't really need too much prior knowledge, they're good at explaining things as they go. DS9 is a direct spin off of TNG so there are some concepts (bajor, the cardassians, sisko's backstory) that spin out of that but they explain that in the first episode. VOY spun out of DS9, the biggest thing being a group called the Maquis, which I don't remember if they fully explain them enough.

Discovery is GREAT, but the first season is heavy and i don't recommend it as a starter series. I also don't recommend Enterprise until you've watched everything (and tbh I don't recommend it at all except for the 2 mirror universe episodes, but a lot of people like the show so more power to them.)

Picard is good once you've watched TNG and the four TNG movies.

There are three cartoons. The Animated Series has terrible animation but there are some amazing episodes with great writing hidden in there. Generally something to try after watching TOS, before the TOS movies. Lower Decks I think is great for newbies but is mostly a love letter to fans and geared for adults. Prodigy would be a good onramp as it does a good job of introducing starfleet and the federation and explaining the ideals of both. Its a bit like the clone wars as an animated show for kids with some deeper themes.

For the most part you can't go wrong starting just about anywhere, but my personal preferred watching order when I do the yearly 'turn on star trek while working' marathon is mostly chronological.

But I really don't suggest watching discovery first, so a good order would be Original series, animated series (okay to skip tbh, the animations is really hard to get through), the first six movies(you could probably skip 5 but then you'd miss a reference in strange new worlds lol), The next generation, the first TNG movie, DS9 seasons 1-4, the second two TNG movies, DS9 seasons 5-7, the last TNG movie, Voyager 1-7, Lower Decks, Prodigy, then skip back to discovery and strange new worlds, then finally finish with Picard.

That said, my gut tells me strange new worlds, TOS or TNG would all be good starting points for you, but I can't recommend DS9 enough once you've dipped your toes in, so maybe even start with that one!

I know this answer sucks but I've been a fan so long I'm not sure I can honestly answer for new people coming in as to what they might or might not like as a starter.

Actually going back to star wars, DS9 is one of the more actiony series, discovery is too, but very heavy first season (all of the new treks make good use of modern effects to give starships the manueverability you'd want/expect, but DS9 is where they started doing that first). Both series explore the darker side of the universe, or rather the more morally grey side, while also willing to embrace the hope and beauty of the universe (discovery especially has that become the main theme of the series. hope, unity, exploration, wonder)

TLDR: there's so many places to start is there anyone who is a newer fan who might have better advice?

[krazys-ass-emporium]

8 Shows to know you

@j-ellyfish​ tagged me and my slow ass is finally filling this out.

1. Star Trek (Mostly TOS, but also TNG, DS9, and Voyager. Sorry, but the new stuff just doesn’t look like Star Trek to me.)

This was my first fandom I guess?? I didn’t actually interact with anyone since this is before I ventured onto the depths of the interwebs. I was 10 years old and everyone kept calling me a Vulcan because of how literal I was. I did not know what a Vulcan was but soon found out and got my grubby hands on every piece of media I could find at the local library. I probably watched every VHS and read every novel they had. Spock is still my favorite to this day. I wrote my freaking GED essay about him.

2. Redwall

I might have been even younger when I got into this than when I got into Star Trek. This is just so unknown no one knows what I’m talking about lolol. It was more the books than the show, but it has a short animated series so it still counts. I was obsessed with this. I made forts out of logs by the stream across the street from my house and swords out of wood and play-fought my brother with them.

3. Teen Titans

This was probably my segue into anime. Yes, this isn’t actually an anime, but since it incorporates anime aspects it got me used to them?? I was very into superheroes in general when I was like 12 to 15 or so, but these were my top fave. Controversial opinion: DC is better than Marvel. I made my very first OC based on Teen Titans I think she might have been partly Star Trek too lol. I also started drawing people because of this show. Before that I only drew horses and wolves.

4. InuYasha

My very first anime. It all started when I saw a manga at the library and then looked up the anime on YouTube. Ah, the memories of watching an episode in three parts and you’d never know if it would be the dub or the sub. This was the first fandom where I actually joined the interwebs and interacted with human type people. The internet in 2006 was a very different place lol. I got my first email address (which I still have lol) to join this website called Fanart Central so I could post my InuYasha fanart. I found my first online friends there too. I miss them...

5.  Pokémon

I’m not entirely sure how I managed to watch as much of this as I did, but I only gave up when I got to Alola. The original is my favorite, but I also liked some of the newer stuff too. I drew art for Pokémon too and let me tell you, it’s the most toxic hell hole of a fandom ever. I’ve never gotten flames before Pokémon, all for liking an unpopular ship lol. The internet in 2010 was the Wild West.

6. Yu-Gi-Oh!

Holy crap was I into Ygo. I still have my room covered in it lol. I still love it to bits, but I’ve calmed down a lot. I have a lot of cards too and I do know how to play, but not competitively and I don’t know anyone in person who wants to duel me :( I got into cosplay because of Ygo and made my first cosplay (Joey Wheeler) in 2013. I apparently like to suffer because Ygo cosplays are NOT easy. I made my still best friend in this fandom. Seriously, this is one of the best fandoms out there, most everyone is so nice.

7. Supernatural

(Don’t look at me, I know pfft). I can’t deny how much I like this show... it’s honestly the one I’ve rewatched the most times. I no not know why. I guess it’s just easy to binge lol. You can blame my group of gay guy friends back in 2013 for me getting into this. It’s also why I got Netflix, and tumblr. And here I still am...

8. Hetalia

Oh wow, a Hetalia blog having Hetalia on the list, weird. Got into this at the crusty old age of 28, so I don’t have the nostalgia for it like a lot of y’all. I fell hard pretty fast. I also have made way more friends than probably any other fandom I’ve been in? Probably because I stuck my head out of my shell for a bit lol.

I tag no one because I’m lazy, do it if you want and you can blame me pfft.

[earthstellar]

star trek transformers dream, but make it deep space nine, but also make it IDW 1: I had an AU dream and actually it was pretty good

so I’ve been super busy and it’s been rough, hence lack of updates-- swear to god I will be posting some actual content soon LOL 

but for now, here’s a summary of an insane IDW 1 dream I had last night: 

tl;dr: star trek ds9 but it’s transformers 

okay so I think this was the result of me watching DS9 before bed, and TFP Ratchet’s VO is Weyoun, and this clearly polluted my subconscious mind 

everyone was some kind of non-human Star Trek species, and the whole “episode” was taking place on some kind of crossover between TNG’S Ten Forward bar, a Holodeck, and the Promenade on DS9 

the dream seemed to be sort of like switching channels and jumping into watching an episode of a show halfway through, so I have no idea what any “setup” may have been, this was a weird dream lol 

but! here’s what I can remember after waking up: 

the Scavengers were all Vorta who were trying to figure out what to do after the Dominion finally fucked off, this involved some excellent shenanigans, also they are all cute as Vorta which is a bonus 

Ultra Magnus was an absolutely fucking ripped Vulcan (!!!) who was learning about Feelings from Bajoran!Rodimus 

let me tell you, Bajoran Rodimus was incredible. 

Drift was also a Bajoran, which I guess my brain put together because if anyone would be out here worshipping the Prophets it would be Drift 

my brain generated weird yet fascinating lore for Ratchet: so he was a medbay hologram like the Doctor in VOY, and so was First Aid. (Velocity was an Andorian Starfleet medic.) 

but in my dream, there was a whole conversation between Bajoran Drift and Hologram Doctor Ratchet about Bajoran religious concepts of life and whether or not Ratchet qualified as being alive within the framework of Bajoran faith, and Drift said something along the lines of “there comes a point where artificial life simply becomes life, and only the Prophets can determine where that line is. as far as I am concerned, you are alive as any of your patients” and it was like actually fucking beautiful 

and then Tailgate and Cyclonus came in (Cyclonus was a Cardassian and Tailgate was also Bajoran) and Drift asked Cyclonus about what the ancient no-longer-really-practiced Cardassian religion may have covered in regards to definitions of sentient life (because Cyclonus knows all of that shit bc apparently he continued to practice despite Cardiassian Government cracking down on believers -- watch DS9 if you haven’t already it’s so fuckin good) 

and Cyclonus went into this amazing spiel that I wish I could fucking remember, this dream was great

but I remember at one point he compared Ratchet having created First Aid as a secondary AI for the med bay as being akin to an organic lifeform having a child, and that there may be a difference between being physically “alive” in the traditional sense, and being otherwise “alive” in non-tangible ways analogous to organic experiences of existence, and it was both very cute and extremely interesting 

ANYWAY I actually love this concept the more I think about it, so I figured I’d share for any fellow dual Star Trek/Transformers people out there lol <3 

[woodsfae]

Since I’m recovering from my wisdom teeth extraction v unfortunately at the same time as Partner is gone for ten days, I’ve decided to distract myself by watching Babylon 5. Less than halfway through the test movie and I have feelings!

Babylon 5: the Gathering

There’s no way Commander Sinclair is actually the one who poisoned the Vorlon ambassador. I suspect Del Varnar, Sinclair’s girlfriend Carolyn, and a telepath. The ambassador with the ring collection is pretty sus too, though.

I have a huge crush on Lieutenant Commander Takashima.

“Want some bootleg coffee that’s against regs?” (less than two minutes later) “It’s been a long time since I broke the rules.” Laurel, it’s been less than a second since you sipped your illegal coffee. I love you. You liar.

LYTA?! Two Lytas? I do not understand this. Nice visual effects, though, LOL.

Hologram shapeshifting - very cool.

“Take a recorder, you might need a witness,” Laurel my love, you are the only one on this ship station with a single functional brain cell.

the Babylon 5 crew’s ability to hold onto handrails while fixing the station’s rotation is a million times better than any Star Trek series’ crews. Handrails!

Ok, so it was not the Minbari ambassador, but another of their species. “You have a hole in your mind,” very ominous.

Carolyn is vindicated (for now), Del was actually dead all along, I adore the special effects, and if Laurel isn’t in the main series, I riot.

Faking a transmitter, hah. So Sinclair does have good ideas occasionally.

There are so many good lines in this movie. The doctor talking about the horror of a Vorlon’s face, and the Minbari Ambassador saying “I would never tell you anything that wasn’t in your best interest,” come to mind right now.

I hear the first season is painful but I made it through every classic Trek series multiple times (but DS9, of which I’m on S05) so I think I can handle it. On to the actual first season!

(how does HBO Max know I was trying to screen record and why won’t it play on firefox?! I am offended that I had to record these Laurel gifs by pointing my phone at my laptop. Not cool.)

S01E01 is up HERE!

Season 1 Table of Contents

[star-trek-dumb-comics]

I was curious - who are your top ten favourite characters through all of the Star Trek series and why? I really enjoy your art, great job! It's always exciting when your stuff comes up on the dash because it's just *that good* and another thrilling installment!

First of all, thanks a lot !! It always makes me super happy when I hear people are excited about my art :D

And uh.. Oh that’s a tough one. I could easily tell you my fave character for each show, but an overall top 10? Let me think…

1 - Doctor McCoy and Spock

Theses two have been my fave TOS characters since I first watched the show back in 2015. And TOS may not be my favorite Trek anymore, but it will always have this special place in my heart ‘cause I’ve been obsessing over it for so much longer than the other shows (I started watching them back in like September 2020). So yeah Bones and Spock come first. And they’re both number 1 bc I was never able to choose between them and I probably never will

2 - Doctor Bashir 

Hhhh Julian I love him I was part of the Elite Intellectuals who liked him even in the first DS9 season when he was annoying (maybe because him making the worst first impression on his future friends is something I find extremely relatable ? hum). I love his evolution too even if I’m not a fan of the Augment thing. He’s also very cute and hot I want to peg him

3 - Kira Nerys

Kira is hand down the best female character in all of star trek. Episodes focused on her were always interesting, and idk I’ve always loved characters that are very religious (without being zealots) ? Idk why, I’m a strong atheist so it’s super unrelatable to me but it makes me more interested and invested in them for some reason. Anyway she is also super pretty and hot and I love her smile and her voice and I’d let her step on me any day

4 - Tuvok

He’s just really cool and I love Vulcans. And also I think his actor is the only one beside Nimoy (and maybe the second actress who played Saavik) to really perfectly grasp how to play a Vulcan, and that makes him really compelling

5 - Will Riker

I really love this jazz himbo and I absolutely don’t know why ! By all accounts he shouldn’t be my favorite TNG character but for some reason he is

6 - Data

Ahh what could be said about everyone’s favourite android that hasn’t been said. He makes me very emotional for some reason, sometimes he’s so adorable I want to cry and every time something bad happened to him i’m just :’’’(

7 - Shran

This guy probably appear in like 6 episodes total (and I’ve only seen 3 of them so far) but he just carries Enterprise so much. He just makes the show 10 times better every time he walks on screen.he’s also played by Jeffrey Combs which gives him a bonus

8 - Q

Also a guys who steals the show every time he shows up. Less than shran tho but just because TNG is really much more solid than Ent. He’s just so damn fun

9 - Dukat

Ohh boy this is gonna piss off some people. But listen this guy is by far the best Trek villain. He’s ridiculously charismatic and makes every scene he’s in super entertaining no matter how wonky the writting is. It’s hilarious watching him getting in the most ridiculous situations but he can still be threatening when needed. He’s definitely an interesting character, he’s a gigantic asshole but as a character I just can’t hate him. Also, as many of you are aware, i’m a lizardfucker... so there’s that

10 - Worf

That’s it that’s just worf what else is there to say. I love this dude i’m so happy he got to be on both TNG and DS9

Honorable mentions who almost made it to the list : The EMH, Quark, Seven of Nine, Malcom Reed, Jadzia Dax, Captain Picard

Anyway that’s all I have sorry for the long post lol, I realise that my reasons for liking theses characters are always something like “I just love them and also i’m horny” but hey. When I love something I don’t always have a good explanation as to why okey

[smallblueandloud]

some leverage: redemption reactions

i finished leverage redemption today! and i don't have anyone to talk to about it so, here we have my reactions for all eight episodes, both positive and negative. please feel free to reblog/comment -- discussions are what i'm here for! (under a cut because spoilers and also this ended up being 2k. whoops!)

EPISODE 1: the too many rembrandts job

the "aww, this guy is trying to pull his first heist! how cute" job

what they chose to do with nate was... interesting. it might just be that i read too many of those cracky "here's how they should explain nate's absence" posts, but i was expecting something funny. the grief permeating this episode -- it makes SENSE, but it was still weird. leverage doesn't usually have sadness like this. pain, yes, rage, certainly, but sadness? not usually

the way sophie immediately spots the signs of a con and slips into a character? phenomenal. i'm here for EXPERTS BEING EXPERTS and this show does NOT disappoint

harry wilson is a really solid character! most impressively, he's not flynn, which is impressive enough that i'm making a whole bullet point about it. i was worried that noah wyle was kinda a one-trick pony, but it appears not! good for him tbh

i'm LIVING for the ot3 moments in this episode. "what happened?" "we happened" YESSSSS!!! i wish we'd had more domesticity, but i know they did what they could

"he gets it from his father" FUCK!!!!!

the discussion about redemption in this episode is FANTASTIC but personally i am still delirious with excitement about "my nana leads a multi-denominational household" so expect those thoughts in 3-5 business days

EPISODE 2: the panamanian monkey job

the "flash electropop concert" job

BREANNA INTRODUCTION! i love her so MUCH, y'all. we only got to see her dynamic with hardison in this one episode, but man, it manages to be one of her best dynamics anyway. i just! i love her! i love the way the team works with her!

"in our field, you're one of the best. but there, you're the only one." god we have ELIOT/HARDISON rights and i am NOT OKAY. just!! them!!!!!! being supportive!!!!!! they have learned how to be sweet with each other! they work together so much better (in part because we're seeing them from harry's outsider pov instead of nate's insider pov, but STILL)

midway through this episode, i thought "huh, leverage always focuses on specific people, when really the problem is systematic, and pretending it's anything different is just an excuse to not fight for change". and then at the end harry talks about how the system itself is broken! i love knowing that john rogers and i were reading the same tweets last summer. it's a good feeling to trust the people making a piece of media

who let noah wyle speak spanish. whoever it was, they need to rescind their permission

god, the parker/hardison in this episode. THE PARKER/HARDISON IN THIS EPISODE! they KILL me friends they KILL ME!

also just like, hardison in this episode in general. he made a star trek reference! he made a doctor who reference! he decides there are other people who need him more! the way they wrote around gina bellman's maternity leave in s2 was good but this was phenomenal.

also i'm here for ot3 crumbs so "is this like the time when eliot wanted us to say no" is going on my ot3-is-canon conspiracy board

this is a tiny detail but eliot taking out the drone with a goddamn ORANGE was so good. he's so good at his job!! they're all so good at their jobs!! i know i literally just talked about this but AAA

EPISODE 3: the rollin' on the river job

the "sometimes you just want to rob a vault wearing a floofy dress, and that's valid" job

i did... not. like. how the villain in this one was an immigrant whose exploitable weakness was a "desperation" to be included in the upper crust. and the fact that they beat him with a literal southern belle who explicitly beats him BECAUSE her family has been in the area for "hundreds of years"? it just feels Iffy.

also iffy about this episode was breanna's characterization. it felt inconsistent. she feels inconsistent across the whole season, but this episode in particular... she tells harry she's only with the team because she's desperate, that she doesn't believe in hope, and then at the end of the episode she tells parker she wants to be there to change the world. and like, even in the first place, she's not here out of desperation! SHE asked to join the team! like, i can see how it all kinda fits together, but it just feels... inconsistent. idk. i think these scripts all could've benefited from an extra round or two of editing.

anyway! i loved the way they tied hardison into these episodes, even though aldis hodge couldn't be there. he has binders! breanna doesn't want to read them! parker did! he put in big letters, "when in doubt, trust the person in the van". i'm just so !!! about how much i love him and how much he loves his team and how much his team loves him. FOUND FAMILY, BABY!

all inconsistencies in breanna's characterization aside, i really liked her speech at the end. i know how she feels! it's really nice to have someone on the team who's from -- not my world, really, but a lot closer than any of the others. it's a nice feeling! i love her a lot. i hope her writing gets more consistent

lol, parker ate eliot's carrot cake. i love the parker/eliot rights we get in this show, they're so domestic and it's wonderful.

EPISODE 4: the tower job

the "hardison made his partners learn klingon" job

watching this episode was what made me go "they're not going to make us sit through a harry/sophie romance... right? right?"

i'm still not sure they're gonna let us avoid it but it COULD work so... i've decided to just not worry about it for now

i liked the number of ways the con goes wrong! it was fun to watch them work on the fly like that. i think them not having a dedicated Mastermind(tm) is a good watsonian explanation for their plans being pretty haphazard in general, but it's good, they think well on their feet

nate was a chessmaster. he had the whole situation in his mind from the beginning, accounting for every possible outcome. parker and sophie are much more adaptive, and it's cool to see. they can rely on their respective skillsets a lot more than nate could

a really solid episode! probably one of the strongest ones in the season. i liked it a lot.

(ALSO as mentioned above the klingon lines were fantastic and not just because they were a star trek reference -- every time eliot and parker both mentioned hardison, together, it added a year to my lifespan)

EPISODE 5: the paranormal hacktivity job

the "sophie was worryingly prepared to fake her death" job

i know why they characterized the client as a skeptic, i really do, and i loved the format of this episode, but also. But Also. she should've been a love interest for breanna and I'm Right.

having a girl's episode was the CORRECT choice. they do crimes in their free time! they fleece newbie, cruel criminals! it's so good!

it would've been cool to have eliot around for the assassin guy, but it was also cool to see the others take him out without having eliot to rely on. it's like getting to see how they'd take out eliot, if they were ever on opposing sides.

PARKER CANONICALLY USES SCRIPTS IT'S THE BEST THING EVER

breanna bristling about letting the criminal into the theater's electric system was so good god i love her so much. she knows hardware! i bet she likes to work with her hands. i bet she stims. i bet she has adhd

actually, sidenote, but i LOVE these headquarters. they look so nice! the stage is so nice! i loved having an episode set in and around it, it was such a good choice.

EPISODE 6: the card game job

the "FINALLY AN EXPLICITLY QUEER LEVERAGE CHARACTER" job

QUEER BREANNA QUEER BREANNA QUEER BREANNA QUEER BR

UNFOLLOW ME NOW THIS IS GONNA BE THE ONLY THING I POST ABOUT FOR THE REST OF TIME

GOD, what a good way to reveal it. it's fully about her! i love queer romances, of course i do, but i don't think i've ever seen a character come out without a romance being their reason for doing so (however indirectly). i still think she should've gotten a date with the client from 1x05, but i really liked this too.

this episode just felt like a love letter to fandom, and i love that. i love how much it shone through. i'm used to writers specifically going out of their way to make fun of fans and laugh at them, so it was just. really nice to have someone stand up and go, no, this is important for a reason! people love this for a reason! it MEANS something!

very fun to watch eliot swordfight. very fun to watch sophie recite a sonnet in her classic fashion. very fun to watch parker work at being a good mentor. breanna was so excited about the card game! they're all so good!

oh, and i guess harry's here too.

EPISODE 7: the double-edged sword job

the "harry is addicted to mobile games, which is a mood" job

hot take alert! i think this is the weakest episode of the season by a LOT. it needed so much more editing. it felt so disjointed, so all over the place. the plot was haphazard but in a muffled way, where you had no idea why they were doing what they were doing. the climax was sudden and didn't make any sense. it was just weird.

i'm not the person to comment on this but it feels kind of lazy to cast an east asian guy to play a socially-awkward tech genius. just a thought.

oh, of course jonathan frakes directed this episode. sometimes his stuff is really good but other times (ahem, ds9 3x02) it's disjointed and all over the place. i'm not even surprised it was him.

idk if i have anything else to say about this. oh! some of the team moments were great -- mostly involving eliot. i loved the moment of him recognizing the headshot, i LOVED the ten seconds of everyone teasing him. he and parker talked about the wellbeing of their friend, the woman whose ex tracked her down!

separate bulletpoint to say how much i LOVED his conversation with breanna outside the house. he's so good at reassuring! he could go deeper there, talking about being better than your worst day, but he knew when not to push! it was so good.

"first off, this guy can't TOUCH hardison" deserves its own bulletpoint because like. y'all. Y'ALL.

EPISODE 8: the mastermind job

the "eliot is more than just a pretty face" job

oh man this post is so much longer than i thought it would be. okay just one more episode and then i'm done.

the callbacks to original leverage were SO well done and made me feel emotions without feeling overbearing.

i didn't like the central premise -- that nate would share so many details with a random insurance agent -- in the first place, but i did like how it allowed them to bring back nate without actually hiring timerty mcasshole.

i liked eliot's insistence that he's more than just the muscle! he is, and it's really good to know, textually, that the writers do too!

me, watching the resolution of the episode: ah, yeah, insurance fraud. a classic!

harry bonding with his guard had "they don't even have dental!" energy and i am SUCH a fan. i know it was all for the con but also give me harry, unable to stop advising people, even when they're actively holding him hostage

parker! on the phone with hardison!!!! ADORABLE

is it just me or was someone else expecting the accountant's name to be something significant? with the way they led up to it, i was waiting for a "sterling" or something else. my sensors were pinging for another tara reveal. i'm still convinced we're gonna get this guy dramatically revealed in the season finale.

a really nice episode! i had a lot of fun with it. and now i want to rewatch the rashamon job, but tbh i ALWAYS want to rewatch the rashamon job.

and that's a wrap! overall, a fun season, i enjoyed it a lot. not as solid as original leverage, but it's the very beginning, and it was put together during a global pandemic, so i'm cutting them some slack. also levar burton is gonna show up at some point. that's a big reason of why i'm cutting them so much slack.

my personal ranking of the episodes is 1x04, 1x06, 1x08, 1x01, 1x02, 1x03, and finally last (and least), 1x07.

what did you guys think of the new season? what was your favorite episode? do you agree with any of my opinions? disagree with any? let me know, please, i'd love to discuss!

[discotreque]

LwD 1.10, “No Small Parts”

Well, that was the most fun I've had watching Star Trek in literally a quarter of a century.

I had high hopes for this series. I love TAS, largely because of its wacky outsized concepts that could only have worked in animation—not that they all did work, but the potential was so apparent to me, even as a kid reading the Alan Dean Foster novelizations—and as an adult, there's something about the imagination of Lower Decks's FX setpieces that transcends even the glorious CGI bonanzas of Discovery.

Pause for a confession. I've long pushed back against criticism of serialization in new Trek. That's just how TV is now, okay? Might as well complain about it being in widescreen. But I'm backing down a little, because I've realized there is something about Star Trek that's inextricable from at least a partially-episodic format. And while Picard was telling a different kind of story, I can't deny that my favourite episodes of Disco have been the ones with a mostly self-contained A-plot. After 10 delightfully episodic instalments of LwD, its focus on long-term development of characters instead of a season-spanning puzzle-plot (okay, mostly just Mariner, but we only have 10 × 22 minutes and she is the star) has been downright refreshing.

So here we are, at the end of the most consistent and well-executed Season 1 of a Star Trek series since, arguably, Those Old Scientists. And sure, if they'd had to produce another... yikes, 42 episodes? Then sure, they probably would have dropped a clunker or two—but they didn't, and winning on a technicality is still winning. I'm practically vibrating with excitement for Disco to come back next week, but damn, I'm going to miss this little show while it's on hiatus.

Spoilers below:

Something I've been keeping track of finally paid off this week! (Which never happens to me, lol.) The destruction of the USS Solvang marked the first present-day death(s) of any Starfleet officer on Lower Decks, the only other on-screen killing at all being a flashback in "Cupid's Errant Arrow". Which makes sense, being (a) a comedy, and (b) about typically "expendable" characters: it hasn't been afraid to flirt with a little darkness here and there, but killing people off at Star Trek's usual pace wouldn't just be wrong for the tone, it would be downright bizarre.

But... people die on Star Trek. That's one of the core themes of the show, really: space is full of knowledge and beauty, but also danger and terror, and believing that the former is worth the risk of the latter is (according to Trek) one of humanity's most noble traits. I'm the least bloodthirsty TV watcher I know, but the longer we went with a body count of nil—ships completely evacuated before they were destroyed, main characters hilariously maimed without permanent consequences, etc.—well, I didn't mind per se, but the absence of truly deadly stakes was definitely getting conspicuous.

Turns out they were saving it up for maximum impact. And holy fuck, I've never felt such a pit in my stomach watching a ship get destroyed that wasn't named Enterprise. It felt grim and brutal and somehow both much too quick and dreadfully inevitable—and yeah, it looked extremely fucking cool—and I'd like every other Star Trek property for the rest of time to take notes under a large bold heading labeled RESTRAINT.

Comedy doesn't need to do this, but my favourite comedy does, and in a way that few other art forms can even approach: lower my emotional defences by making me laugh, endear character(s) to me with goofy-but-relatable antics—then BAM, sucker-punch me in the motherfucking feels. M*A*S*H is probably the classic example on TV, Futurama was notorious for it, and even Archer has pulled it off a few times; it's also a staple of some of my favourite standup. I wasn't sure if Lower Decks was going to go there in Season 1—and wasn't sure if they'd earn it—but I knew if they did, that they'd nail it, and damn. Feels good to be right.

Last batch of notes for the season!!! I rambled enough already, so let's do it liveblog-style:

I fucking KNEW they were going to use "archive" visuals from TAS at some point, I KNEW IT :D

"THOSE OLD SCIENTISTS" ahahahahahahahahahahahaha

I like chill and confident Boimler a lot? You can really see—

oh bRADWARD NOOOOO

That opening shot of the Solvang tracking down to the red giant was extremely Discovery-esque... minus the motion sickness, that is

A lady captain AND a lady first officer? That's—oh hey, it's Captain Dayton's brand-new ship. Hahaha, that means they're totally fucked, right?.

Yep! They sure a—umm, wh—shit, okay, but—oh no—no, you can't—wait DON'T

...fuck

FUCK.

Narrator: "And then Amy needed a five-hour break."

[live-action Star Trek showrunner voice] "Gee, Mike! Why does CBS let you have two cold opens?"

Okay, yes, the bit with Rutherford cycling through all the different attitudes in his implant was transparently an excuse for Eugene Cardero to vamp while waiting for something to do in the story, but as far as I'm concerned they can contrive a reason for him to do a bunch of different silly Rutherfords in a row any time they damn well want, because that was classic!!!

EXOCOMP EXOCOMP EXOCOMP EXOCOMP

AND THE EXOCOMP IS PAINTED LIKE THE EXOCOMP IS WEARING A LITTLE EXOCOMP-SIZED STARFLEET UNIFORM

EXOCOMP!!!!!

The slow burn and now the payoff of the Mariner-is-Freeman's-secret-daughter plot has been executed so well. I'm beyond impressed with this writer's room, y'all—they are threading a hell of a needle here

"Wolf 359 was an inside job" would have been a spit-take if I'd had anything in my mouth

...how many memos do you think Starfleet Command has had to issue asking people to stop calling the USS Sacramento "the Sac"?

CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW THEY'VE DECORATED THE SHUTTLECRAFT SEQUOIA THOUGH

Is, uh, is it weird if I'm starting to ship Tendi and Peanut Hamper a little? It is weird, isn't it. I knew it was weird...

Coital barbs??? I take back everything I said about wanting to know more about Shaxs/T'Ana.

The "good officer" version of Mariner is... kind of hot, tbh! But Tawny Newsome has done such a great job of building this character all season that her voice getting uncharacteristically clipped and martial and "sir! yes, sir!" is also deeply, deeply weird

Ah, so this is literally exactly like when TNG (and DS9) would bring in, and then blow up, a never-before-seen Galaxy-class ship, just to underscore that we're facing a real threat this week, baby. And hey, it fucking worked—my heart was in my throat, omg, for the reveal of the—

PAKLEDS?????????

The fucking PAKLEDS have been gluing weapons to their ships for the last 15 years. GREAT.

(We interrupt the SHIP BEING SLICED INTO SCRAP for an interesting bit of world-building: on Earth, the traditional First Contact Day meal is salmon!)

"I need a dangerous, half-baked solution that breaks Starfleet codes and totally pisses me off! That's an order." I'm starting to think Captain Freeman might actually be overqualified for the Cerritos, y'all—she's REALLY awesome

OH SHIT IT'S BADGEY, this is a TERRIBLE IDEA

"How much contraband have you hidden on my ship?" "I don't know! A lot!"

Awwww, Boims!!!

AHAHAHAHAHAHA, FUCK THIS, PEANUT HAMPER OUT

BADGEY NOOOOO

AUGHHHHH WHAT THE CHRIST DID HE JUST—BUT—RUTHERFORD'S IMPLANT????

RUTHERFORD!!!!!!!!!!

SHAXS!!!!!!

F U C K ! ! ! ! !

ahaIOPugdfhagntpgjrq90e5mgu90qe5;oigoqgw4ouegrw5SP;IAEHURVa IT’S THE TITAN???????????

IT'S CAPTAIN WILLIAM T. RIKER ON THE MOTHERFUCKING TITAN??????????

i'm screaming I'M SCREAMINGGGGGG​TGGGTGQER;​LBHAOIBVNV;​OAPBIJNVagr;h;​oagruipuwtnaetbaetgq35ghqet

I'M SO GLAD THIS WASN'T SPOILED FOR ME WTF

I AM WEEPING LIKE A CHILD

...

(Just a brief 20-minute pause this time)

And oh wow, seeing Will and Deanna hits different after Picard too, in a few different ways, which I may even get into later now that my heartrate is back to normal, lmao

Oh, I am always here for some jokes at the expense of the Sovereign class. The Enterprise-E sucked. They should have built a new bigger model of the D and new Galaxy-class interiors for the TNG movies, and I will die on that hill

OKAY, FINE, YOU GOT ME, RUTHERFORD × TENDI WOULD BE ADORABLE AND THIS IS ACTUALLY A PRETTY GOOD SETUP FOR IT

Awwww, Shaxs though :( Congrats on the single most badass death in Star Trek history, dude. The Prophets would—well, the actual Prophets would probably be slightly confused about most of it, but Kira Nerys would be proud of you and I feel like that probably counts for more. RIP, Papa Bear

I am here all damn DAY for the Mariner–Riker parallels, ahahahahaha

Pausing it to record my prediction that Boimler's commitment to not caring about rank anymore is going to last 3... 2...

Yep.

Bradward, how DARE YOU.

"Those guys had a long road, getting from there to here." OH FOR THE LOVE OF—

What a brilliant way to resolve and renew the various character arcs and relationships moving into Season 2! The writers could easily have brought everything back to status quo—chaotic Mariner fighting with her mom and being a bad influence on Boimler, etc.—and done another 10 just like these, but I suspect that wouldn't have been ambitious enough for these writers. What a blast. I cannot wait for more.

Thanks for following along, friends! Stay tuned for my (similarly patchy and amateur) coverage of Discovery, starting next week!

[quarksdumptruckass]

hi! new blog!

you can call me mac and/or antoine and i’ve been a big ol’ star trek nerd since i was a very small child so this series means a whole lot to me! 

I’ve watched DS9, TNG, and Voyager many many times. I’ve also watched Enterprise, TOS, Picard, and all the movies, though i’m much less into them. i guess at some point i should watch Discovery but right now i’m rewatching DS9 for the gazillionth time lol

my favourite characters (in no order) are probably Paris, Harry, Data, Geordi, Spock, and literally every single character from DS9 (though i am especially partial to the fruity space fascists)

can you tell DS9 is my favourite... because it is

idk what else to say umm i’m not entirely sure how active this blog is gonna be but i hope i’ll be able to keep up posting somewhat regularly! very excited! 

(also in terms of pronouns, any and all please)

[captainrandomstranger18]

My dearest Captain,

The story of Thaddeoso is much less exciting than one might think. Basically my grandpa told a story of this huge frog that hung around when my mom was young and they called him Thaddeus. Then then my cousins and I found this huge frog by the spring and my sibling suggested we call him Thaddeoso, so we did.

1. Could you maybe stop judging others and let them enjoy things in peace please?

2. All the ones I’ve seen so far (tos, aos, tng, and voyager)

3. That’s a hard one. I like all of them Janeway and Q and Geordi a lot though

4. I don’t know, I actually haven’t thought about it

5. Yep! I like most musicals, but I think my current favorites are Sweeney Todd, Singin in the Rain, and Cats (not the newer movie though)

6. Maybe maple cus we used to make maple syrup back at the first place I lived

7. You know what should be a thing? Space mythology. Like dragons who live in black holes and hoard light and sirens that mimic distress signals to lure spaceships into asteroid fields and vampires that steal the oxygen from your lungs (I have been thinking about this a lot today)

8. It’s currently tied between a black pair with neon kinda flowery/geometric shapes and a white pair with jellyfish

9. I haven’t been in public lately and I tend to tune out most of the other people in school so I don’t really have anything for this one. I hit my creative writing word count goal though! (8,000 words (everyone set their goals at 8,000 except this one kid who set his at 8,001))

I have never had a brookie, but it sounds amazing.

Yours,

L

Dearest L,

To continue the pattern of answering my own questions:

1. I would probably do 1 of 2 things (depending on my mood). Either I would tell everybody to treat all people with respect or kindness, or I would just rick roll everyone on the planet.

2. My favorites are also all the ones I’ve seen so far (I swear it is so hard to pick a favorite Trek! They are all so beautiful and wonderful and unique in their own ways, and its hard to compare them to each other.) These include TOS, TAOS, DS9, and TNG.

3. Data would probably be my #1 favorite, and my second favorite would be everyone else because I can’t choose.

4. I relate to Data’s curiosity and not understanding humans all the time, and I relate to Julian Bashir’s awkwardness. But the character I probably relate to the most is Reginald Barclay. Like every time he comes on screen and so much as breathes I’m like “MOOD. THAT’S ME RIGHT THERE.” I also relate to Riker because I like to put my leg up on random things.

5. I like a lot of musicals. My favorites would probably be Hamilton, The Fiddler on the Roof, and Bye Bye Birdie (I was in that one for my high school’s theater program. I was a background character.) Singin’ in the Rain is also really good, although I haven’t watched it in a while. I do remember my first time watching it, though. I was a little kid and I was at my grandma’s house and she got out an umbrella so we could dance along to it. :D

6. My favorite tree would have to be the Rainbow Eucalyptus: 

I’m sending pictures of the most amazing trees, you’ll be obsessed with all my forest expertise! (Sorry that was a Dear Evan Hansen reference) (I’m not even that big of a fan of the musical, that line just popped into my head right now) (Although Sincerely Me is sincerely a bop in my opinion.) (Dang that was off topic, where was I?) 

AH, yes. TREES!

I just-look at its colors. Asfshdjkds. I kinda want one tbh. Ok, fine, I really want one. The only issue is that they live in tropical climates and I DON’T live in a tropical climate so it probably wouldn’t do too well if I were to plant one here. Oh well. At least the internet exists so I can admire them from afar.

Here’s the wikipedia article on them if you want to learn more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucalyptus_deglupta

7. First of all, can I just say that I LOVE THE IDEA OF SPACE MYTHOLOGY. That’s brilliant. And you’re absolutely correct. Why isn’t that a thing? THAT SHOULD BE A THING!!!! (Side question: do you mind if I use your space dragon idea in that Existential Crisis: The Musical that I’m sort of on a hiatus of writing? Like that,,,, is such a cool idea. The musical mostly takes place in outer space btw. Also if I do use it I’ll be sure to credit you! Even though I’m not actually planning on getting the musical published anywhere any time soon. Side-side question: should I credit you as “Mysterious Anonymous Tumblr User L” or something else? Side-side-side question: I actually forgot what I was going to type here but “side-side-side” is fun to say. OK I JUST REMEMBERED. Actually I just forgot again. Goshdarn adhd. OH I REMEMBERED AGAIN. Would you like to hear what my musical is about in a future letter? That is all.)

Dang i just went off on a tangent there (This is what it’s like when my adhd medication has worn off). What was question #7 even supposed to be?

*checks previous letter* Oh, to go on a rant of any sort. I think I just kind of did that on accident. Whoops. (Sorry you had to read my stream-of-consciousness ramblings about whatever the heck that was.)

ANYWAYS, I liked your space dragon idea so much that i drew this picture based on it, here you go:

sorry the camera quality is really bad lol. I tried (and failed) to make the dragon look galaxy-printed if that makes any sense. 

But dude- space mythology is my new favorite thing now.

8. My current favorite pair of socks are a pair I have that are fluffy with unicorns on them.

9. I haven’t been in public lately either lol. But congratulations on your writing goal! That’s a lot of words! :D

Brookies are, in fact, amazing.

Now for some new questions!

1. Since you mentioned previously that you liked Unnus Annus, and since I basically missed out on most of it, what happened in some of your favorite episodes?

2. Do you think reality is a simulation?

3. Do you have any cool random facts about anything? (it can be about LITERALLY anything. I like any and all cool random facts.)

4. Do you know what your hogwarts house is?

5. Do you have a motto of any sort?

6. Am I allowed to guess who you are, or should I wait for you to tell me? (I’m fine waiting, it’s just that I have a few guesses already)

7. Would you like to read my horrible Star Trek crack fanfiction.

8. Semi-Philosophical Question Time: How would you define freedom?

That is all! Thank you for continuing to write/read these letters. I look forward to them every day! To quote another musical, “Now my life gets better every letter that you write me!” (Sorry if that was dumb lol, im bad at this)

Yours Truly,

Captain

[cnrothtrek]

2019 fanfiction retrospective, part 2

For a list of my fave fics this year, see the previous post. Thanks to @mia-cooper for these questions!

Best fic I published all year:

I’m gonna go with two fics because one is the sequel of the other, and they are “When we all fall asleep, where do we go?” and “The world we made.”

Why? I’d had the idea for a femme fatale, space pirate mirror!Janeway in my head for a while, and @angrywarrior69’s @voyagermirrormarch event was the push I needed to finally make it happen. With some inspiration from Billie Eilish, I was able to really nail down KJ’s character and the theme that would come out of the story. I had no idea it would become what it did, but I’m really pleased with how it turned out. I was able to apply a lot of I’ve been learning about story structure. It made the plot and the pacing so much better than other fics I’d written before, and helped me realize how much my skills have improved since I started writing fanfic back in 2016.

I also think these stories added something fresh to the fandom. Mirror universe stories for Voyager are out there, and there are some deliciously evil ones. But for this I wanted to write sympathetic, morally gray, dystopian versions of the prime characters we know. Despite being mirrors, they are just as human as their utopian counterparts—just as capable of love and just as vulnerable to heartbreak—only they have been shaped by a much less kind universe. And given the wonderful response I got from readers, it seems I was able to pull it off.

Favorite opening line:

Nothing fired Kathryn up like getting a little blood on her hands. (from “When we all fall asleep, where do we go?”)

Why? First sentences aren’t something I worry about perfecting, so I don’t have many great ones that can stand apart from the first couple paragraphs of a story. This one, however, just sort of came out. It felt like a good way to immediately pull readers into the mirror universe and make mirror!Janeway distinct from prime!Janeway.

Favorite closing line:

“And if she does give you any problems—“ He smiles. “She’ll have to come through me.” (from “Air”)

Why? I love it when fics flesh out characters who don’t get explored a lot in canon. @jhelenoftrek and @klugtiger did such a good job of that for Joe Carey in their B’Elanna/Joe AU. Those stories made me really like Joe a lot, and so it just felt very right to include him in this fic to support Marla. He really shines throughout the story, and this final line just tops off all that we’ve seen from him—his compassion for Marla when everyone else probably hates her, using things he learned as a parent of a son with panic disorder, and just being an overall gem of a person. But here we see that not only is he willing to defend a pariah, he is one of a few people who can stand up to B’Elanna without breaking a sweat. And I love that.

Favorite overall line (bonus question):

Kathryn scowled at her console, the faint, distorted reflection of her face like a wraith mirroring her expression. (from “When we all fall asleep, where do we go?”)

Why? This is the point in the story where mirror!KJ’s arc really takes off. One of her monikers was “the intendant’s monster,” which is a thematic thread woven throughout this story and the sequel. Is she merely perceived as a monster, or is she truly one? What is it that makes someone a monster? At this low point, she sees a macabre version of herself reflected back at her—a wraith, a ghost-like creature that appears just before death. It’s a telling image.

Fic that was best received & my favorite comment on it:

There are a lot of ways to define which fic was best received. “A Very Bad Doctor, Indeed” (Garashir) has the most kudos. “Game On” (K/7) has the most comments relative to length of the fic. “Aye, Captain” got several non-J/7 shippers to enjoy a J/7 fic. (All of these are Bad Ensign Stories and wouldn’t exist without @curator-on-ao3’s brilliance.)

But I want to give the nod to “When we all fall asleep.” I’m not sure I could pick one favorite comment, but the most meaningful comments were some variation of “I don’t normally like mirror fics, but yours are great.” Honestly, I’m not sure I could get a higher compliment than that.

Fic you wish had gotten more love:

“I’ve got a bullet for a tooth.” This is a short fic between the first and second main parts of the MU series, and it focuses on Ezri. I’m sad that people didn’t seem interested in this one, cuz I actually really like it. Mirror!Ezri is fucking awesome, and her dynamics with Harry and KJ are fun.

Fandoms I wrote for:

Voyager primarily, with some DS9 (one exclusively DS9 and a few crossovers in the mirror universe series)

Favorite pairings to write for:

Obviously, my main ship has always been J/C. But lately I’ve been straying some from them, though I haven’t settled on any one pairing to write copious amounts on. I just write what I feel like writing—whatever I feel the need to explore. I like changing it up, playing with different characters and ideas in ways I haven’t seen others do.

What you’re writing now/next:

Right now, I’m trying to pull the rest of my counselor AU (“Far From Their Bones”) out of my brain and onto the page. I’m slowly making progress—one chapter is completely done, three chapters are partially done, and my outline is getting more fine-tuned all the time.

Next on my list is a fic that explores Tom Paris’ backstory through a lense of bipolar disorder which, after being diagnosed myself a year ago, I have learned a great deal about. And of course there’s always more on my running list of ideas, including that K7 “Someone to Watch Over Me” AU that I keep saying I’m going to write but never do lol. So we’ll see what happens.

Writing goals for 2020:

FINISH FAR FROM THEIR BONES. I’ve never wanted anything more lol.

[hiighwarlock]

@wordbound sent: fandom! Multimuses: send me the word “Fandom” and I’ll tell you which of your muses’ canons I’m familiar with.

          Well, obviously I'm familiar with The Shadowhunter Chronicles fandom, as it's the focus of this blog as well! But beyond that, I actually know quite a few of the canon universes listed in your multimuse blog! Like.... a lot! So many so, that I am going to have to put this under a cut, good heavens. Let's see:

Good Omens - ohhhhhh my, how I love Neil Gaiman and Sir Terry Pratchett. I was a massive fan of this book for years, and when the show came out, I loved it too. I even wrote in this fandom, because how can you not?? Ugh, Michael Sheen and David Tennant were sublime, I adore them both. That show gave me LIFE.

Sherlock - I was a massive fan of the BBC Sherlock series up until series 3, and I do still think series 1 is a true masterpiece. I'm also a massive fan of Martin Freeman, and adored him as John Watson (so much, that I wrote Watson for a brief time in an RP group!)

RENT - I have loved/obsessed/cried over RENT since I was in highschool. I can literally sing the entire musical from memory, start to finish. I sob like a baby every time I see it live (and I have seen it live alot) and I will go to my grave loving the filmed version because at least it had most of the OBC. Also, one time Anthony Rapp responded to my tweet and it made my whole life valid.

Star Trek - ST is actually one of my original homebases for roleplay! One of the first blogs I ever created for RP on tumblr was a Leonard McCoy rp blog. Even before tumblr, I was obsessed with various Trek universes, from TOS to DS9 to Voyager. TOS is a big part of my childhood and my relationship with my mother, and NuTrek let me recapture that relationship in recent years, so I owe so much to Roddenberry, I can't even tell you.

Doctor Who - I am a Whovian, and my whole heart belongs to David Tennant (although, Vincent & the Doctor is still the best Dr Who eps I've ever seen)

Tolkien - I literally hollared when I saw you were writing Elladan! He and Elrohir are two of my favorite characters from Middle Earth and I will forever be big mad that they left them out of the Jackson films. (don't tell me that random cameo was sufficient, it was not). LOTR is another universe "homebase" for me, being one of the first fandoms I ever roleplayed in. Here's the fun bit.... figuring out which character I wrote! ;)

DnD - I'm an avid DnD player, and I cannot speak highly enough of the lore

Mythology - lol, fun fact, I used to write in a Mythology group RP. This was years ago now, long before the likes of Lore Olympus or Percy Jackson. I penned the sun god, Helios, and it was loads of fun. Because of this, I know a good amount about Greek and Roman Mythology!

Marvel/MCU - Another fandom I've RPed in! I've actually been a comic book reader since about the age of 7, so I've been obsessed with the storylines of the X-Men/Avengers/Luke Cage/Alpha Flight/Mrs Marvel for a loooong time. When the films started getting really high quality, I couldn't resist writing in the MCU. I still love the characters, but that RPC is a bit... rough... so now I just admire from afar!

Glee - Hoo boy. I was such a Gleek when this show originally aired. God I loved Lea Michele and Mark Salling.... at least back then. Suffice to say, that show did not age well, the later seasons were almost painful to watch. And with everything that happened with some of the actors working on it.... ah, well. I still appreciate the early seasons, and the impact that Glee itself had on shaping musical Television for future shows.

Repo - Is this Repo the film? Or Repo: The Genetic Rock Opera? Because I am a big fan of the Latter! I thought it was a stunning and peculiar musical!

Kingdom of Heaven - if you can believe it, I really loved this film when it came out. Largely because I had a massive thing for Orlando Bloom, but also because I thought the movie was aesthetically gorgeous. I haven't watched it in perhaps ten years now, but still consider it a film that deserved more love than it got.

Jurassic Park - I'm an 80s kid, so of course I loved the first Jurassic Park film. I'll even admit that I love a lot of the sequels (though, not all). I’ve never written in this fandom, but I enjoyed the book(s) tremendously when I was younger. 

Buffy - I loooove Buffy, that show was my jam in high school. I haven't gone back to do a rewatch in ages, but suffice to say, I thought Angel was *chef's kiss*

And... wow. There you have it. Apparently we have a lot in common, at least in regards to our fantasy/sci-fi interests! I’m so glad I met you on here and that we are now friends on discord! Thank you for being such a great writing companion! 

[randomnessunicorn-imagine]

Could I get a Don't ever do that again prompt with Weyoun from DS9 and a female security officer who always gets into trouble? Perhaps fighting a Jem'hadar in order to protect Weyoun? :)

{ I know I’m verylate but I’m still watching DS9 and I was unable to write it before since Ididn’t know the character.

Then his name lookslike Korean, don’t know why, lol, but it’s kind of funny!

If you want a secondpart of this, let me know but you have to tell me a plot, because I’m too lazy to think about it - }

✨ WEYOUN ✨

Peace could not lastforever. Impossible.

For years you hadbeen obsessed with the heaven on earth and the idea that the earth was an Edenbut it was not true. Paradise existed only in the imagination of men, theirillusions. These illusions made them blind.

The earth was apurgatory like any other place and now hostile, mysterious and fickle enemies werecompromising the human race’s safety. Enemies who could take any form, even theshape of your best friend or mother. They did it to know every secret and thendestroy everyone and take any form, take people’s place in the world, and commit crimes and conspiracies under a false name. Sneaky, extraneous, and combative enemies.Enemies similar to the human being of the past when it was still a savage and stilldiscriminated the other human beings just because they had a different skin colouror a different love aspiration. The human race was losing its integrity becauseof these ruthless enemies.

The Earth was notheaven, no planet was because the universe was hell and there was no mercy foranything or anyone. Anymore

You did not want to behavethe same and become like those violent men who had spat on peace and so youdecided to stay on DS9 and help your Captain as much as possible.

The Dominion hadbrought problems everywhere and the panic reached every corner of the space. Noone was safe and no soul could sleep peaceful in the night.

Maybe you were notthe only one who had believed in an awful lie because there were so many otherpeople who still held onto illusions.

They were other kindsof illusions but they still had the same definition: lies told to itself, liesof honey that tasted so good. Beautiful lies that made their lives meaningful,inestimable but they were still lies, and would have dissolved like the morningmist, they would have melted like snow in the sun. Someday, they would havevanished.

At this time, somefanatic aliens who believed that their god was inimitable, fair and perfect, hadinvaded DS9. However, these believers had not even had the possibility ofchoice because the said gods had decided to be worshiped and had decided tochange the original DNA of these races; they modified every individual of thesespecies to reach their dirty and dishonourable purpose. Without consent and morality,defining themselves as gods.

You could not imaginethe changelings, the family of your boss Odo, could be so insensitive andcruel, they only searched for revenge and there was no honour or logic in whatthey pursued. They were only brutal and merciless assassins, anything more. Itwas the horrible truth and truth never tasted like honey, it was bitter anddisgusting.

One of the Changeling’sblind believers was now walking briskly, almost running, on the promenade, hisgaze was focused, serious and composed but you were able to glimpse anotheremotion on his pale face, a feeling that you would define as anxiety. You hadno idea why he was so nervous, but since your duty was to keep the spacestation safe, you decided to keep an eye on him.

The name of thisindividual was Weyoun and you still did not understand if you hated him or ifyou felt sympathy toward him since he was an enemy, but he did not seemthreatening or dangerous, he was not a warrior but a mere diplomat. He lookedso innocent, but you had learned that nothing was as it seemed, you no longerlived in lies and therefore you could not think that he really was innocent.

Nevertheless, youfelt sorry for Weyoun because he continued to obey, believe and submit to thefounders even though they were not real gods because they played with the Vortas’DNA, they genetically modified the Vortas. People who acted in this way couldnot be defined as deities but you also knew that Weyoun and his race would havenever understood this concept and would have continued to adore those changelings,their deities, their masters and jailers.

Afterward, youunderstood why he was running, in fact, he was chased by a Jem'Hadar and thiswas not the first time something like this happened. A Jem’Hadar had alreadykilled Weyoun and so it could have happened again.

You did not helpWeyoun because you were worried about him, you did not want to be a friend ofyour enemy but you helped him anyway because it was your duty. At least, you keptrepeating this motivation to yourself.

You could not feelcompassion for a person like him, just because he had not freely chosen hisfaith and his means and intent were wrong, it did not mean you had the right to be cruel.

Therefore, you ran towardthe Jem'Hadar, you screamed, “Stop! You aren’t allowed to run on the promenadeand any act of violence and harassment is prohibited.” Your voice was authoritative,serious and loud, you pointed your phaser at the Jem'Hadar.

On the other hand,Weyoun did not seem surprised by your reaction but he was relieved because thissituation was stressful, the Jem'Hadars were ignoble slaves, he could not trustthem. While he was listing in his mind all the reasons that made the Jem'Hadar stupidand savage beings, Weyoun hid behind you, without shame or shyness.

Weyoun was sure youwould help him and not just because this was your job but for some other reasonhe was still analysing, he thought you could be particularly interested in him butit was still a mere theory.

Maybe you were drowningin another lie, you were deluding yourself once more but you would never haveadmitted it, or maybe he would have admitted it for you, he would have made yourealizing the truth, your true feelings. 

The Jem'Hadar, beforeleaving, looked at Weyoun doggedly, the Vorta would not have escaped forever,and his fate was to dying for the rest of eternity. Actually, Weyoun did notcare about it so much but all these deaths made him wasting a lot of time hecould dedicate to complete his job and help his beloved changelings.

“Oh, Y/N, thankyou very much. That savage Jem'Hadar didn’t want to leave me alone.” Weyoun said,smiling amicably and settled the collar of his jacket that had frayed duringhis ridiculous run.

“I only did my job.”You answered seriously.

“Of course, likeeveryone here.” Weyoun said, looking around with a scrutinizing gaze.

“But why was thatJem'Hadar chasing after you?” You asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow.

“Ah, I don’tknow, Jem'Hadars have no manners. Many of the things they do make no sense.Maybe he wanted his ration of ketracel-white, it is not the first time theydisobey to a superior order.” Weyoun said, smiling innocently or perhaps insidiously.

“Or he justwanted to kill you. It seems it’s become everyone’s hobby lately.” Youshowed his same smile, talking sarcastically. Maybe you hoped to hurt him withyour words but it did not happen because he chuckled at your joke.

“Is my presenceso unpleasant?” Weyoun asked and you almost heard a charming tone of voicevoice but you knew it was impossible, he could not flirt with you, and then hecontinued, “People only waste their time, they are not like us, verypassionate about their duty, judicious and willing.”

“The presence ofstrangers and people who are threatening the station is not definable as pleasant.”You said firmly. You were exactly the opposite of him: you always said thetruth, nothing but the truth and as a member of security, you had to be honest.“And we’re not the same.” You answered to his last sentence and said, “Otherthan that, don’t do that again!”

“Doing what?” helooked at you with an innocent confusing look.

“Run through the promenade.It’s not allowed, you know, even if they are chasing after you. You can’t doit!” you declared with a cold tone of voice.

Actually, Weyounreally appreciated the way you spoke and behaved, you possessed a charm, maybe it was your courage or maybe it was your blind honesty, which fascinated him a lot. Hesmirked, gently and then he nodded because he did not want to disappoint you.

“I understand and Iwill be more careful next time a wild Jem'Hadar attempts on my life. I did notmean to offend you, mine was just a compliment, anything else. The care and theperseverance you put in your job is laudable, I wanted to expose myappreciation. I am desolated for this misunderstanding.” He said with a softtone of voice, he half closed his eyes, his smile so gentle and you wonderedwhat his real intentions were.

Secretly, you foundhis deceptive ways very alluring, attractive somehow but it was wrong, you felt inadequateand you could not fall for his fake kindness.

You could not even fallfor his sinister and weird games because it made no sense, he was certainly lyingand he had something in mind but the only way to find it out was playing hisown game and see where it would bring you.

“No, don’t worry, I’veexaggerated.” You said politely, but Weyoun could understand you were forcing asmile. You were unable to hide your true feelings and thoughts. He could read you like a book.

“You know I candistinguish lies and truth.” Weyoun said calmly, since you were a bad liar, thenhe kept saying, “You don’t have to be anxious or preoccupied of me, noreason to be.” He tried reassuring you and he looked you in your eyes as if hewas reading the secrets written in your soul, you were hypnotized and lost inhis purple, deep eyes.

You just nodded,unable of speaking or thinking rationally and you loved every word he said.Indeed, Weyoun never stopped talking with his candid and delicate tone, “I’dlike to show you my appreciation, since you have been so kind with me, you havesaved me from that mad Jem'Hadar. Would you like to spend some extra time in mycompany?” His voice so gentle, low and only you could hear his words, nobodyelse even if the promenade was not so crowded but you already forgot abouteverything, about your job, your thoughts of mistrusting and hatred toward the changelingsand you only saw his bright, wide, insightful eyes, nothing else.

You did not havereasons to refuse his invitation and you did not want to do it, even if yourbrain kept warning you that Weyoun was your enemy, you could not trust a liar but somerisk had never killed anyone and so you followed him wherever he would havebrought you.

And then you decided to fall for another illusion, to believe in another lie that tasted like honey, so sweet, gentle and ephemera because it was human’s nature, to live under the dome of delusions.

[missroserose]

I swear I thought I'd sent you asks last night, lol. I have some questions! What's one thing you love about Chicago? Miss about Alaska? Favorite comfort foods? What's one hobby you enjoy outside of fandom? What's your fav Trek series? Lol okay okay I'll stop!

Never stop, lovely. 💕

Love about Chicago:  Oh man, so many things.  World-class museums.  Parks everywhere.  Good (not great, but great for America) public transit.  The food!  The architecture!  The fact that no matter what time of year it is, there’s always something going on.  People love to complain about the taxes, but let me tell you:  I spent four years living in southern Arizona, paying every bit as much in tax (seriously, the sales tax had been bumped to almost 10% in the wake of the housing crisis, which had wiped out all the property taxes the state depended on, plus the state tax was the same) and for that money I got a big fat Nothing—it all seemed to go to building golf courses in Phoenix.  So yeah, I’m okay with paying that same amount to live in a city with a functioning infrastructure that helps to build this kind of vibrant community.

Miss about Alaska:  Honestly?  I never saw this coming, but…the mountains.  There’s no mountains in the Midwest, and I didn’t realize how fundamental they were to a sense of a place until I’d been here a good year and a half.  I remember looking out at the lake multiple times and thinking “that’s pretty, but something doesn’t look quite right…” and it wasn’t until I went back home to visit and was driving along the Seward Highway when I realized what was missing.

Favorite comfort foods:  Hrm.  I have a weird relationship with food—I resent the time it takes to prepare and eat, so day-to-day I will happily just live on the same five or six items that don’t take long, keep me going, and don’t tweak my blood sugar—but I love really well-prepared delicious meals, especially as a social experience.  So the answer might be “anything someone else makes for me”, haha.  I do love Mexican, especially good seasoned refried beans and carne asada.  Ooo, and queso fundido—there’s a place in Lincoln Square that has a chorizo variety.  Literally just a giant plate of melted cheese piled high with spiced sausage, greasy and artery-hardening and delicious.

Hobby outside of fandom:  I do a lot of various crafty things—sewing, embroidery, knitting, scrapbooking, what have you—but I tend to go on six-to-twelve-month benders with them and then set them aside for years at a time.  The two things I’ve kept picking up consistently are writing and music, though I’ve come to terms with the fact that I don’t have the drive to “do” anything with them—but hey, that’s what makes them hobbies!

Favorite Trek series:  Just going straight for the jugular, there, aren’t you? :P  Honestly, I like (and dislike) parts of all of them—with the possible exception of Enterprise, which I tried but truly could not get through the first season.  I tend to be drawn more to characters than specific series.  Growing up I loved Deanna Troi, which maybe isn’t surprising given the fields I went into (even though as an adult I recognize that she was underutilized and badly written and generally suffered from all kinds of sexism—if you haven’t seen the clip of Marina Sirtis telling the story of her various costume changes, you’re missing out).  Still, a sci-fi show acknowledging the importance of empathy and mental health was (and kind of still is) so unusual and I loved that.  As an adult (and now having access to Netflix so I can watch all of the episodes in order, rather than trying to piece things together via syndication), I really love Kira on DS9—she still had some issues with the sexism but damn if she doesn’t portray a once-idealistic now-broken character struggling to figure out how far she can trust the new and improved but flawed community around her, which is, like, my life story.  And I completely adore several of the characters on Discovery, including Tilly and my new possible #1 favorite Jett Reno.  Oh god I laugh so hard every time she’s onscreen and I really really hope she gets to be a regular character next season.

[panic-flavored]

Get to Know Me Questions

I was asked by the lovely @vital-veriko to do this Get to Know Me thing, so here it is!

1. What is your full name?

Jessica Rowden

2. What is your nickname?

Jesse. (no one, NO ONE calls me Jessica.) online it’s Musa or Ostrich usually

3. What is your zodiac sign?  

Scorpio

4. What is your favorite book series?

oohhh hm. Honestly, the Wizard of Oz books by Frank Baum. It’s been a long time since I’ve read them but I just really love those weird old books

5. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts?

Aliens yes, (it’s more of a ‘I’m sure there is other intelligent life out there’ kind of thing, I don’t think they’re probing us or anything) ghosts ehhhhh not really (love the idea of them tho)

6. Who is your favorite author?

Jonathan Stroud / J.M. Barrie

7. What is your favorite radio station?

I’m gonna be real with you, I haven’t listened to the radio since I was a kid

8. What is your favorite flavor of anything?

Of anything?? ummmm probably chocolate

9. What word would you use often to describe something great or wonderful?

Amaaaazing

10. What is your current favorite song?

“Speechless” by Naomi Scott

11. What is your favorite word?

Do people have favorite words??

12. What was the last song you listened to?

probably “Speechless” by Naomi Scott lmao

13. What TV show would you recommend for everybody to watch?

Star Trek TNG/DS9

14. What is your favorite movie to watch when you’re feeling down?

I don’t usually watch movies when I’m feeling down... It’s weird but I typically  watch lets plays to cheer myself up. Undertale and horror games are my go-tos

15. Do you play video games?

Oh yes. Almost every day

16. What is your biggest fear?

Pregnancy, or dying early/violently

17. What is your best quality, in your opinion?

My ability to retain information

18. What is your worst quality, in your opinion?

Overthinking. EVERYTHING. Getting easily overwhelmed.

19. Do you like cats or dogs better?

I’m a dog trainer, so I pretty much have to say dogs. But cats are great too!

20. What is your favorite season?

Spring

21. Are you in a relationship?

married to my amazing husband for 13 years :)

22. What is something you miss from your childhood?

exploring. everything was an adventure, everything was so new and fascinating 

23. Who is your best friend?

@trash-cardassian

24. What is your eye color?

Brown

25. What is your hair color?

Brown

26. Who is someone you love?

my hubby! I love a lot of people tho tbh

27. Who is someone you trust?

I trust all of my friends, but obviously I trust my husband the most

28. Who is someone you think about often?

if you guessed ‘my husband’, you guessed right

29. Are you currently excited about/for something?

I just binged Good Omens, so I guess I’m back in Crowley/Aziraphale hell for a little while. But I’m still not over DBH even a little bit

30. What is your biggest obsession?

My current obsessions change like the seasons but my most aggressive one is probably Star Trek

31. What was your favorite TV show as a child?

Star Trek lol specifically Voyager

32. Who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone?

*insert husband answer here*

33. Are you superstitious?

not really

34. Do you have any unusual phobias?

although I certainly don’t think it’s unusual, I suppose most people would find ‘fear of pregnancy’ to be a strange phobia.

35. Do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it?

BEHIND IT. Trying to get better about that.

36. What is your favorite hobby?

Writing & drawing

37. What was the last book you read?

“Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered” by Karen Kilgariff & Georgia Hardstark

38. What was the last movie you watched?

Aladdin (2019)

39. What musical instruments do you play, if any?

I used to play trombone, piano and clarinet when I was a kid

40. What is your favorite animal?

the majestic wolf! but I am also so weak for tortoises and elephants. and dolphins. and all animals really

41. What are your top 5 favorite Tumblr blogs that you follow?

oh gosh listen I don’t keep track of that stuff

42. What superpower do you wish you had?

invisibility

43. When and where do you feel most at peace?

calm evenings at home with my husband and fur babies

44. What makes you smile?

husband and fur babies! and anything gay

45. What sports do you play, if any?

I used to play basketball, volleyball and recreational football. Now a days I play tennis on occasion, whenever we can get out to a court

46. What is your favorite drink?

shirley temple, because I still have the taste buds of a child

47. When was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter or note to somebody?

oh gosh, I have no idea. Maybe in the last year or so to one of my clients.  

48. Are you afraid of heights?

Yep!

49. What is your biggest pet peeve?

One-uppers. 

50. Have you ever been to a concert?

Yep.

51. Are you vegan/vegetarian?

I was vegan for a while, it was awesome. I wouldn’t mind going back to that.

52. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

First a paleontologist, then a vet, then a comic book artist. But mostly I just wanted to work with animals. Dream achieved! 

53. What fictional world would you like to live in?

POKEMONNNNN

54. What is something you worry about?

what is something that I, a person with anxiety and a tendency to overthink everything, worry about? HA

55. Are you scared of the dark?

Nope, I prefer it 

56. Do you like to sing?

Only for fun!

57. Have you ever skipped school?

OH yes. That’s pretty much how I spent my freshman year of highschool.

58. What is your favorite place on the planet?

in my own home with my family :)

59. Where would you like to live?

well, I’m not really picky but honestly I’d just love to get out of the US right about now

60. Do you have any pets?

Yes! A dog named Ayana, two cats, Genavieve and Jadzia, and a tortoise named Ozzy

61. Are you more of an early bird or a night owl?

night owl

62. Do you like sunrises or sunsets better?

well I’m never up for the sunrise so sunset I suppose

63. Do you know how to drive?

yes, but I don’t drive. Oh crap, more phobias I forgot about!

64. Do you prefer earbuds or headphones?

earbuds

65. Have you ever had braces?

nope

66. What is your favorite genre of music?

literally anything but country

67. Who is your hero?

I honestly don’t really have one. Maybe Jonathan Van Ness?

68. Do you read comic books?

Yep. well, I used to

69. What makes you the most angry?

Nazis, racists, misogynists. The state of the world right now.

70. Do you prefer to read on an electronic device or with a real book?

real book. Not for hipster reasons, I just have a lot of physical books and I accidentally keep buying more

71. What is your favorite subject in school?

Science, writing

72. Do you have any siblings?

nope

73. What was the last thing you bought?

A summer jacket. It’s so breezy!

74. How tall are you?

5′7

75. Can you cook?

I do almost every day!

76. What are three things that you love?

animals, sushi, true crime

77. What are three things that you hate?

trump, people who like trump, people who voted for trump

78. Do you have more female friends or more male friends?

throughout my life I’ve always had more male friends than female, I think right now it’s about the same

79. What is your sexual orientation?

ace/demi/bi

80. Where do you currently live?

Nebraska

81. Who was the last person you texted?

Funny story, I MEANT to text my husband but I accidentally texted one of my clients. So my client got sent a screenshot from the show ‘Lucifer’ with an all-caps caption about a Star Trek actor who I spotted in it. She was understandably confused. 

82. When was the last time you cried?

A week ago to the day, actually. Just general anxiety and self-loathing.

83. Who is your favorite YouTuber?

I know it isn’t a singular person but my favorite channel is Achievement Hunter

84. Do you like to take selfies?

sometimes

85. What is your favorite app?

??? people have favorite apps??

86. What is your relationship with your parent(s) like?

HA. I’ve never had a dad in my life and my mother was really, really cool when I was a kid and is really, really psycho now.

87. What is your favorite foreign accent?

Scottish

88. What is a place that you’ve never been to, but you want to visit?

Japan or Ireland

89. What is your favorite number?

91

90. Can you juggle?

nope

91. Are you religious?

nope

92. Do you find outer space of the deep ocean to be more interesting?

honestly? I am scared shitless of both (but probably space)

93. Do you consider yourself to be a daredevil?

oh HELL no lol

94. Are you allergic to anything?

not that I know of, but my mother is terribly allergic to bees and I’ve never been stung, so

95. Can you curl your tongue?

yep

96. Can you wiggle your ears?

yep

97. How often do you admit that you were wrong about something?

I used to be terrible at this, but in recent years I’ve become a lot more comfortable with the concept. I do it when necessary

98. Do you prefer the forest or the beach?

forest

99. What is your favorite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you?

ummmm I’m gonna be real with you, I have no idea. My mom really drilled into me to never let a man control me or do anything I wasn’t comfortable with, and because of that I more than likely avoided lots and lots of unpleasantness in my youth, so there’s that.

100. Are you a good liar?

Yes. When I was younger I loved to lie, almost to a sociopathic degree. It was so easy and people were so gullible, but at some point I grew a conscious, realized my actions had consequences and even more importantly, that I risked losing the trust of people I cared about, and stopped all that.

101. What is your Hogwarts House?

Gryffindor

102. Do you talk to yourself?

too often to be healthy, probably

103. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

introvert, absolutely

104. Do you keep a journal/diary?

I try to

105. Do you believe in second chances?

of course

106. If you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do?

take it to some person of authority that could find the owner, or contact the owner myself if there was contact info in the wallet

107. Do you believe that people are capable of change?

yes, but I don’t think it’s as common as some people claim

108. Are you ticklish?

yes

109. Have you ever been on a plane?

yes

110. Do you have any piercings?

I used to have two piercings in each ear. I’ve let them grow over

111. What fictional character do you wish was real?

literally too many to count. 

112. Do you have any tattoos?

noooo

113. What is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far

when I was a kid I never did anything I didn’t want to do, and I was pretty good and identifying toxic/dangerous people, and I’m forever glad that I stuck to my guns

114. Do you believe in karma?

yes... and no? I don’t really see karma as some kind of spiritual force, I think that people shape their own karma by their decisions and lifestyles.

115. Do you wear glasses or contacts?

miraculously, no.

116. Do you want children?

that’s a BIIIIG no. Neither does my husband so I’m all set

117. Who is the smartest person you know?

Probably my friend Fiona, she’s just... a FOUNTAIN of crazy information and environmental science

118. What is your most embarrassing memory?

I have a few, none that I feel super comfortable sharing. 

119. Have you ever pulled an all-nighter?

oh yes

120. What color are most of you clothes?

I try to keep a varied color spectrum in my closet but I still end up with mostly blacks and greys

121. Do you like adventures?

heck yeah!

122. Have you ever been on TV?

once when I was a kid I was interviewed by the local news about ‘stranger danger’. I think I may have been on TV one other time but I don’t remember why

123. How old are you?

31

124. What is your favorite quote?

“I'm not young enough to know everything.” - J.M. Barrie

125. Do you prefer sweet or savory foods?

Depends on my mood, but I am pretty much addicted to desserts

...

I’m tagging @vital-veriko, since this was all her idea! <3