#ep. the icarus factor

[l3rking]

Brya's Love Breakdown

Finally got the pattern for the new Void Precision Scout Rifle, Brya's Love. So let's talk perks, stats, and buildcrafting.

First of all, it's gorgeous. I love the D1 scout models so this being a Void flavored Vision of Confluence was an instant win. And while the IS scope isn't my favorite, it's clean with a very prominent red dot. The ornate details along the edge of the sight can be a little obstructive especially when comparing it to its older sister, Doom of Chelchis, which has one of the best sights in the game.

Speaking of Doom, how does this new one stack up.

Comparing both with just Arrowhead Brake, Steady Rounds, a Stability masterwork, and Icarus, which is how I'd recommend setting either of these up, Doom is objectively the stronger of the 2. No surprise given it's a Raid chase and not a seasonal weapon you can grind out the pattern for in a week. But tbh, it really isn't that much better. And once we factor in perks both scouts are able to clear out a niche for themsleves.

Doom's strength comes from the ability to run Explosive Payload with a damage perk like Frenzy or One-For-All. Remember, EP deals a bonus 15% damage in PvE for free. While Brya's can get Explosive Payload as well, it is locked to the 4th column with the rest of the damage perks.

Where Brya's is able to catch back up is in the sheer value of the perks in both columns. While Doom can get some nutty combos, not every perk it has is valuable. Brya's literally doesn't have any bad options. I might even wind up crafting multiple rolls. So let's talk about it.

Barrels:

At base, Brya's has 78 recoil direction. Which is the highest natural RD of any 180 scout HOWEVER it is the furthest from a centered recoil pattern. Remember, if it's not 100, you want your RD to be as close to ending in 5 as possible. I.e. 55, 75, 85, etc. will tend to be more vertical. Something like 63 will bounce left; 78 will bounce right. So I recommend just going for Arrowhead to make it 100 and be done with it. The handling bump is nice too. If you don't care about RD, which is completely valid, go for stability or handling. Fluted and Smallbore are 2 favorites.

Magazine:

This one is a bit more to taste. I like the consistency Stead Rounds give and the AE bump is a nice bonus. Tactical Mag, Flared Magwell, or Appended are also great choices.

3rd Column:

Here's where it starts getting good. Keep Away is free Range (10), Reload Speed (30), and Accuracy (5%, 7.5% w/Enhanced) just for operating in your intended range (15m away from enemies). Even with perks like Rapid Hit and No Distractions this one is my go to for a PvP roll. The bonus Range reverses the -5 you get from Steady Rounds and the Accuracy bonus is actually very impactful imo. You'll hit shots you had no business landing.

Loose Change, while good in concept, isn't strong enough nor does it last long enough. Even when running it with a Gyrfalcon build. I'd love to see it buffed. It has good potential.

Perpetual Motion is a great perk. Just not on this scout. Especially if you're trying to use the Head Rush trait perk.

Perfect Float is a good perk especially when pairing with Frenzy.

Shoot to Loot is always solid. Especially now that it works with Orbs and Explosive Payload.

Rapid Hit will always be strong. Especially if you synergize it with a new 4th column perk.

No Distractions is a personal favorite. Use it with EP to become a dueling king. Literally an Energy Tears of Contrition.

4th Column:

Precision Instrument is crazy. Rapid hits will increase precision damage. It's literally precision Target Lock. And like Target Lock, it will reduce ttks against certain resiliences in Crucible. Non enhanced will let you 3 tap T4 res and below (enhanced will bump that up to T5) for a .67 ttk. Very strong. A free 3 tap with no activation cost. Think Luna's Howl but on a much stricter timer and res gated. However, the likelihood of running into T5 res or lower is very unlikely in the Crucible rn with Titans being as strong as they are. Still strong tho.

Explosive Payload. You know it. You love it. I will never fault anyone for picking it. It's always a good scout perk.

Frenzy. Also strong on the archetype. Will allow 3 crits while active. The bonus 100 reload and handling are the best parts imo.

Adagio. Sleeper pick. Reduces RPM to 150 but allows a 2 crit 1 body. Great post kill perk. Damage output of a Radiant 150 scout but with the stat package of a 180.

Pugilist. Skip it. Use Monte Carlo. Stab the Witness.

Golden Tricorn. The king of damage perks. 15% for 7s after a kill will allow a 3 tap at all resiliences. 50% for 10s if you get an ability kill with x1 is active. If you get Tricorn x2 and also Radiant, you can 2 tap. But good luck with that setup.

Destabilizing Rounds. New for a scout. Great choice. Synergizes well with all Void classes but especially a Stylish Executioner hunter or Controlled Demo titan.

Recommendations and Closing Thoughts:

All great perks. Any combination of which I would recommend but let me give a handful:

PVE: Shoot-To-Loot/Explosive Payload. Perfect Float/Frenzy. Loose Change/Destablizing Rounds. Rapid Hit or Keep Away/Golden Tricorn.

PVP: No Distractions/Explosive Rounds. Perpetual Motion/Frenzy. Rapid Hit or Keep Away/Precision Instrument. Rapid Hit/Adagio.

And that's it! It's a very strong scout. I was initially disappointed to see another craftable void 180 but I was so throughly impressed once I got my hands on it. It feels better than Doom imo. Sounds better too. This is one that won't be leaving my inventory for some time.

Good luck farming!

[thegeminisage]

okay i have TEN MINUTES to type out my thots about the last two tng eps i watched. day before yesterday was a surprise watch of "the icarus factor" together and last night i did "pen pals"

the icarus factor: i have nnnnever been more angry IN my entire life. riker's dad sucks so bad he sucks SO BAD

that being said the episode was horrifically sloppy. it could have been a must see but it was all over the place and committed so many crimes

firstly, i dont understand the point of offering riker a promotion in this episode when 1. he already canonically turned down a promotion to be here and 2. it didn't tie into his daddy issues in any way whatsoever

also, why did they have his dad DATE THIS DOCTOR LADY? not only is that extremely uncomfortable for everyone involved (can you imaaaagine your parent bringing home a coworker or vice versa seeing a coworker show up at work with your parent) but it ALSO served no function - pulaski didn't tell us anything about riker's dad that he didn't know and we didn't know

it also used up basically all of my goodwill that had been generated re: pulaski. she really is just a knock-off bones and she's actually so boring because of that and even her dating riker's dad and being a chronic divorcee didn't make her interesting. sigh. once again i'm sorry women.

i also don't understand worf's b-plot being about his ten year (although wesley trying to get them both into the dead dad club was HILAAARIOUS and maybe the most i've ever liked wesley so far, i'm allowed to say this since i'm also in the club). i feel like worf's >:( should have been something to do with riker's daddy issues either a disapproval of his parenting or a lack of understanding of why it's bad parenting or SOMETHING bc that needed to be the whole episode and the b plot was just so ??? like it's a b plot i would have enjoyed in a diff ep but not this one

and finally, after ALL of that, after outlining in detail what a shitty person riker's dad is, how he felt the need to compete with his own child who he was also emotionally and physically neglecting so much so that he CHEATED and felt proud for it, how he never put anything before his career, AND

AFTER HE SAID

"IT WASN'T AS HARD FOR YOU BECAUSE YOU WERE IN DIAPERS WHEN SHE DIED"

WHICH MADE ME SO ANGRY I ALMOST BLACKED OUT

the man didn't even apologize. the word "sorry" never left his mouth he just told his shitty sob story and that was it. they yelled some japanese at each other while doign this martial arts thing and will was like glad you came pops and they hugged and that was the end. and also he didn't take the promotion because we knew he wouldn't. girl come ON.

pen pals: the first half of this episode sucked real bad. picard and the horses was awful and i don't think he should be allowed to say the word "allah" on television

wesley getting his own command...eh. it was fine and he hasn't been nearly as annoying in s1 as he was in s2 but i don't care so i was tapping my watch and waiting to get to the ACTUAL episode. it was so tedious to watch everyone argue about his mental wellbeing and future or whatever. who cares. he shouldn't even be here there should not be children aboard starships

i liked the part with data's pen pal BUT i also think he knows better than to violate the prime directive like that. if he slipped and did it once and then confessed that'd be one thing but 8 weeks?? he wouldn't fucking say that

i was also ??? when he beamed her up and didn't leave her in the transport room...idk, i like that he has feelings, and she WAS cute if a little uncanny (the voice filter sounds like the one tumblr used in that one interview lol), but it seems like if you wanted an episode About Data he could have fugured out that third answer of how to both save her and obey the prime directive, instead of getting yelled at and/or ignored by picard and then picard doing it. (man when picard asked for tea first from the replicator while data was trying to get his attention...)

at least pulaski was nice to him i guess :/

tonight, "q who," which will sadly probably have q in it, but at least i get to meet the BORG. at long last...................................

[dangermousie]

Farscape rewatch: Infinite Possibilities, Part 1: Daedalus Demands, 3x14

One of my favorite episodes, but I think it will take me a bit until I can watch the second part.

But first off, about the ep title. I love Farscape ep titles entirely too much. Sometimes they are just appropriate or punny. And sometimes, they are brilliant.

I think this is brilliant. Because the possibilities are infinite here, for Talyn John, for one brief moment: knowledge of wormholes, ability to go home, Aeryn who loves him and wants to go home with him, Harvey gone. But of course, possibilities are infinite for badness, too, in the other direction.

And of course, the whole reference to Daedalus and Icarus. Because it's Ancient Jack who is the Daedalus here, who gets John drawn into trying to save the place to fix it (understandably so, it would be curtains for everyone if the Scarrans got their hands on the tech), but it's John who pays the price, for that shiny 'gift' the ancients installed in his head, the gift he didn't ask for and which turned into such a curse for him. Because in the Farscape world, kind gestures, good feelings, can hurt and trap you even more than unkind ones.

First off, I want to mention how much I loathe Furlow. I loathe, loathe, loathe her. Not even for her evilness, but because she is so stupid. All that drives her is greed, but it's simple, stupid greed, where she cannot understand the conequences of her playing with the big boys. She is just...it's like a person who slits your throat for a twenty dollar bill.

HATE.

I love Rygel in this ep, showing total ruthlessness, in torturing the Charrid to death. We see Rygel usually as the selfish comic relief, stuffing himself with food or what not, but he was a ruler of billions of subjects, and we are regularly reminded of it, and such job must have required a hell of a ruthless streak (as he told that religious fanatic in Suns and Lovers, he was a dominar so it would take him a long time to repent.) He can be scary. But he can have courage, too, when treated properly, as Aeryn knows how to do, appealing to his forebears' military honor (Zhaan was able to do something similar in early S1, I remember).

There is Ancient Jack and I love the tension between him and John: there is also always something less than human about Jack, and I love that feeling of 'otherness.'

And oh John. Oh Aeryn. We know it can be nothing good when the episode opens with them so perfect together, so functional, so amazing, easy intimacy (he is kissing her leg), her learning English. Through this two-parter they work as one: they run, they fight, they talk with their voices and their eyes, perfect unison. We know it can come to no good.

We won't see the same again, not after IP2, not until all the way in WSS at the end of S4. I love about J/A that they are fascinating, irresistible to watch when their UST has been resolved, they are just fascinating, period.

And of course, Aeryn is the most important. Harvey knows that: when he is afraid he will be deleted, he chooses to play on that one factor, nothing else, telling John if Jack finds out about him, he will kill everyone, even Aeryn, and does he want to risk Aeryn.

Oh, darlings.

And I love that Aeryn is always, always, always John's line to sanity. He kisses her before Jack undertakes to remove Harvey from him (because it might not work), just as he kissed her to clear his head in LGM, just as he will kiss her in IP2. He finds his center in her, his peace.

And of course, the removal, and Aeryn's worst nightmare back, the clone taking over and telling her to kill him (she must be reliving DMD). And oh Aeryn. I love her. She promised   John to kill him if this happens, and I love both that the fact that John asks and knows she will, and that she would.

Oh, I love them so much.

Also, because I don't want to leave him out, the stuff with Crais and Talyn, both going blind, was awesome.

[rikerxworf]

Also, while we’re at it -- isn’t it great how Riker is so into Klingon culture? That he basically shovels Klingon food into himself, in a show where everyone else is still all ew about it, and that he knows (his few scraps of) the language, and that he’s so eager to learn more about the people? That this picture book Starfleet officer does crazy Klingon calisthenics with Worf and talks to him in a way a Klingon would, when Worf is the only Klingon in Starfleet and often feels alienated about it?

[rikerxworf]

THE ICARUS FACTOR HMM yes hello fanfiction episode

The whole episode where Riker is offered to be a captain and Worf is pissy and out of sorts all episode and then asks to leave to serve with him on the new assignment

Like how else am I supposed to read that

[filmjunky-99]

s t a r t r e k t h e n e x t g e n e r a t i o n created by gene roddenberry The Icarus Factor [s2ep14]

[ithinkthingsaboutstuff]

A sharp knife and a broken heart (TUA)

Hi y’all 

with the new season on the way i thought i should re watch the first season and finish my little deep dive on the characters so far I have done Grace, Number 5 and Alison  I have focused on one aspect of the characters and expanded that to show how it shapes and even evolves over the season.

today i will be looking at my fav knife wielding mama’s boy, Diego.

[note I did not finish this one and I can’t find the strength too, so I’ll post the draft, so whatever]  

I have touched on Diego in another post, here! basically this post was about the time line of events that lead up to and after the funeral. to summaries, Diego was the first to the house after hearing that their ‘father’ died, and then covered up for his mom before everyone even got to the house. now that is just a logistic’s post.

what i am looking at today, is the main or at least one of the main parts of his character. A deep dive into one thing, I will be looking at Diego’s broken heart.    

now its no secret that Diego feels and cares more then he lets on (especially with Luther but i will get to that). 

lets lay out what we know about Diego 

1- he was the first to leave 

2- he was a cop

3- he was and still is the only one still in the ‘hero’ game

4- he loves Grace more then anyone else

1- he was the first to leave 

now on the first point, he leaves when he is about (what i assume) is 16-17 basically a short time after Ben died. As Diego was one of the first to not take their “fathers” bullshit (5 was the first and got stuck in dooms day prison) 

but i think, both of these events shaped the man he is in more ways then one.

when 5 is gone Hargreeves can “pass it off” as 5′s fault like making him an Icarus tale for the rest of them, and since they where still prepubescent (12-13) they were more incline to believe him. also in ep 2 (run boy run) this scene shows that none of the kids (other than 5) were willing to stand up to Hargreaves and the way he runs things. they all follow the rules and then 5 disobeys and then he is gone. So if that doesn't put the fear of god into then what would.

but i think this was different for Diego I think is when he started to understand that their father didn’t care about them at all. I think he suspected but this was the first sign of the cracks forming.  so he stepped away from his ‘father’ and went towards his mother, as shown in this scene here

gif link

Diego feelings about grace are very sweet and shown really well in the show. and it says a lot about Diego that he does not see her as a ‘robot’ but as mom. i would say that it is very likely that Diego was the first to call her that, and the last, (ouch i hurt my own feelings). moving back to the point. Diego feels very deeply but about a few people his family (not Hargreaves tho) and Patch, and that’s it. but what his is willing to do for others is pretty amazing (but more on that later).

now we don’t know much about Ben in tua but (and i am going off the comic description as well) he was said to be the kindest and most gentle of all the siblings. so basically he was a good/nice person (or at least the best of them, or on how they would measure it anyway). 

so when Ben died that was the last straw for Diego, my money is on that Hargreeves tried to pull the same thing he pulled with 5, by making it seem like it was Ben’s own fault for being weak and soft. And that was Diego fully understood how little he cared about all of them and so even tho he would not see Grace (which i believe was the only reason he stuck around so long). that trick was not going to work twice so he left.

because if someone as good as Ben meant nothing then what was is he.

2- He was a cop  

now the biggest part about this is two fold 

1- he still wanted to help people he just wanted to do it another way to Hargreeves way.

2- when he realised how little good he was doing and how corrupt the whole thing was so he walked away and started doing things his own way.

the fact he wanted to be cop (and went through training for it) shows that Diego truly wanted to make it on his own. he did not want special treatment and wanted to prove to himself and everyone else he could stand on his own two feet.

now we are not sure of the exact reason why he left the force but it is suggested that he could not stand how little justice and results was actually getting done, however i think there is another factor.

Vanya’s book. this exposed Diego to everyone around him so everything he did for years to prove himself was undermined in just one whole day. But he didn’t give up he still helped people and did whatever he could to protect people from harm.

3- he was and still is the only one still in the ‘hero’ game

we know that he was still very much involved with the vigilantly thing. and the only on who is. So despite is hate and anger towards Hargreeves (and Luther to a degree) he still believes in the ‘mission’ of The Umbrella Academy, at least the part about saving people. he is very dedicated to this, to the point that his whole life revolves around it, with 

1- his living situation / employment are at the same place and he would also train there. 

2-  has no real relationship other then the one he has/had with patch (and grace, but i will come back to that)

3- he literally wears nothing else other then his hero suit.

now why would he keep up fighting like this, what is the motivator, i think its two fold.

1- he wants to prove Hargreeves wrong.

he was number 2, second best and second rate (to Hargreeves anyway), and he cared about people more then the ‘mission’ so my money is on Diego ‘letting’ some bad guys go in favour of saving the public or his family. Hargreeves saw that as weakness and “you can’t save the world by helping one person” type thinking on Hargreeves part (cause he is a dick).

so in other words Hargreeves always thinks of the bigger picture the number 1 priorities (much like Luther to a point) but Diego looks at the ‘little’ picture, like family’s, peoples lives and actual justice for people who are suffering/in danger.

so when he does leave he makes a point to still be a hero but does the opposite of what Hargreeves wanted for him which was to ‘save the world.’

So Diego decided to save individual peoples worlds instead.     

2- he never wants any other family to lose ‘their’ Ben 

I think a key driver for all of the siblings was Ben’s death (as is canon), But in Diego it hit home that a family can be broken by losing a single piece of it. and Ben’s death really broke his heart in a way that he would not wish it on anyone and would do everything in he power to prevent. his first line in the series is “Your family is safe now” 

we don’t know who he is addressing with this statement as the family is to close together, and we don’t see his face when he says it. But (and i am reaching here) I think he said it mostly for his own benefit, as this is a family he could save unlike his own. 

and i think he uses and carriers that pain to make sure no one else has to feel it.

4- he loves Grace more then anyone else 

now this is somewhat obvious, but i wanted to break it down more.

1- like i said before i believe he was the first and the last person to call her Mom 

2- he makes an effort to truly understand her (asking her if when she talks is it like Hargreeves telling her things and if she was angry with Hargreeves) 

3- treats and sees her as a real person (not wanting her shut down, validating her feelings)

4- he covered up a murder for her (or what he thought was one) cause he knows if anyone deserved to die it was his ‘father’ and Grace was the one who deserved to do it ( “he treated you worse then anyone” line for example) .

5- when he saw she was broken beyond repair (or when he thought it was) he shut her down to save her anymore pain.

6- when she wanted to leave his response after asking a question was “you can do whatever you want Mom”   

now all of this paints a distinctive picture about Diego. But the question still somewhat remains, Why does he love her so much? and Why does he care and devotes so much of himself to her?  now Grace is an great mom as I covered in her deep dive so look at that for more, but lets focus on Diego.

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #450

Top Ten Characters with the Best Star Trek: The Next Generation Episodes

As I’m writing this, it’s officially Star Trek: Discovery day; the first episode of the new season is up on Netflix and ready to watch. Given how little time I manage to find for watching anything that I want to watch, I’m cautiously optimistic that I can get to see it this weekend, but we’ll see; my lovely wife might want to finally catch up with Star Trek: Picard first, which for some reason she never finished. Regardless, I’m excited, and I wanted to write about Star Trek again.

The new Star Trek series have been a bit of a roller coaster, because whilst they’ve both generally been very good, they’ve certainly had their odder and more controversial moments, and neither of them has consistently felt like classic Trek. If I had to be critical, I’d argue that there are plenty of darker adult-tinged sci-fi shows at the moment, including ones set in space, but not that many that follow the day-to-day travails of a starship crew, which as always been Trek’s raison d'être. However, both shows have succeeded in giving us some compelling stories and – especially in the case of Discovery – a fantastic cast of new characters to celebrate. Great characterisation has been the cornerstone of Trek since the beginning, and no doubt one of the reasons why it still resonates to this day, from the “Holy Trinity” of Kirk, McCoy, and Spock, through to the wonderful and insanely empathetic Saru in Discovery and Captain Sexpot Rios in Picard. The fact that we’re now in a new time period, with no established history to try to tie the narrative to, means Discovery 3 is in a great place to give us some great new stories.

Anyway, to celebrate all of this – the new season of Discovery and my overall love of Star Trek characters – I’ve decided to go back to the Next Generation well and talk about just that: characters. TNG famously hit its stride when it started focusing each story through the lens of the different characters on the show, so that we tended to get a “Worf episode” or a “Riker episode”; even the best eps, the biggest and most epic, really had a tendency to hone in on one or two characters specifically, such as the all-time classic “The Best of Both Worlds” really being about Picard and Riker, or “Yesterday’s Enterprise” being a much-belated Tasha Yar episode.

But which characters have the best episodes? That is, if you know an episode is focused on a particular character, how likely is it that it’s going to be a belter? Can you reasonably say one character was better served than another in terms of the quality of “their” episodes? Well, yes. Yes you can. That’s this list. That’s the whole thing.

So this list is basically which characters have the best episodes, or are more likely to. It’s not a list of my favourite characters, or even really a list of the best episodes overall; it’s just, well, who got to chew scenery the most on the bridge, basically. Now, I really feel like I should end this blurb with an appropriate Star Trek quote, but I must have used “Make it so” and “Engage” before, so I’m not sure what else to say.

May the Force be with you, I guess.

Picard: Yes, of course; he’s the star, he’s the stand-out actor of the bunch, he gets the best episodes. If it focuses on the captain, you can rest assured you’re in for a treat. Whether it’s an epic mythology-enhancing saga or – even better – a slower, sadder meditation on life, Picard’s episodes are engaging. Chortle. Also if there’s room for a classic Picard Monologue, all the better; I don’t know if you’ve noticed this about Patrick Stewart, but the guy can chew scenery. Key episodes: The Best of Both Worlds, The Drumhead, The Hidden Light

Worf: Worf’s complex backstory offers a lot of opportunities for great stories, with the caveat that pretty much all of them focus on Klingon history or the contrast between his heritage and his place in Starfleet. Issues of familial loyalty rub up against quasi-Shakespearean dynastic dramas, often with high adventure. You can assume a Worf ep is a good one, despite the fact that quite a few of them are also about Alexander. Key episodes: Sins of the Fathers, Redemption, Birthright

Data: everyone’s second-favourite emotionless nerd on Star Trek, Data’s eps are almost uniformly great, and often poke at what it means to be alive. There may be a bit of ground retrod as we examine the notion of humanity, or sentience, or emotion, but his episodes are always interesting, and often very funny, and Brent Spiner is a continuing delight. Key episodes: The Measure of a Man, The Offspring, Brothers

Q: is it cheating to include a recurring guest star? Maybe, but I don’t care. John de Lancy is just phenomenal as Q, one of the best Trek characters, and so good he became a My Little Pony. He’s arch, he’s hilarious, he can take the show into new directions; he raises questions of fate, or of the concept of divinity; and underneath it all there’s a malevolent streak, a genuine sense of danger exemplified in his first appearance. Pairs very well with Picard, naturally. I didn’t like the Robin Hood episode, though. Key episodes: Deja Q, Encounter at Farpoint, Q Who

Riker: he’s a Kirk-esque horn-dog ragamuffin with a heart of gold and a fist of steel, so there’s always a lot to love when William T. takes the helm (see what I did there?). Often issues of loyalty, or duty versus personal wishes, arise; he’s frequently putting his life on the Enterprise above his career. But he’s also a very moralistic character, so quite often he’ll be trying to do the right thing in tough circumstances. Key episodes: The Pegasus, Future Imperfect, Frame of Mind

Crusher: always a stand-out supporting character, Crusher has some great episodes focused on her too; usually quite a self-righteous sort who puts the immediate moral obligation above her own safety or duty to Starfleet, which raises lots of interesting, thorny questions. She’s a smart cookie, exemplified in the astounding Remember Me; her relationships with her son and with Picard are good to explore too. She also shagged a ghost, but let’s try to forget about that. Key episodes: Remember Me, Attached, Suspicions

Wesley: pigeonholed somewhat unfairly due to a few ropey first-season episodes, Wesley Crusher is actually an interesting character whose stand-out storylines offer a good deal of nuance and intrigue, as well as exciting hi-jinks, insights into the Federation, and – should you go that far – weird magic Jedi stuff. He gets a nice romance with Ashley Judd, we unpeel his relationship with Picard over multiple episodes, and the bloom comes off the rose in spectacular fashion when he gets to Starfleet Academy. Wil Wheaton was a good young actor and was sadly underserved by the show, but at least we get these eps. Key episodes: The Game, Final Mission, The First Duty

Pulaski: say whaaat? Yes, she’s only in the show for five minutes, but Doctor Pulaski gets a few crackers under her belt in that time. A bit like Crusher would later, she often excels when standing up to authority and presenting herself as a moral arbiter. Interestingly, she’s not always right, and it’s a fun dance to watch. She’s also been round the block a bit, adding facets to her relationships with other characters, particularly Riker. And, of course, she flirts with a bunch of polygons when Geordi and Data cock up the Holodeck. Key episodes: Elementary, Dear Data, Unnatural Selection, The Icarus Factor

Troi: sadly suffering in the face of a bunch of soppy romances and storylines involving her mother that are, shall we say, an acquired taste, Troi still gets some good stuff, mostly later in the series’ run. Taking her out of her comfort zone, making her a spy or an investigator, or giving her some proper dramatic meat, works wonders. Also once she was a cake. Key episodes: Face of the Enemy, Eye of the Beholder, Dark Page

LaForge: oh, Geordi. I love Georgi, but he kinda got done dirty a little bit. Always an interesting and dependable secondary character, unfortunately the bulk of his episodes as a primary character tend to revolve around him being a bit of a jerk or a bit of a creep. Obviously the most heinous sin is making a computer program based on a real person and then, well, trying to shag it, but he also has a tendency to be a dick to anyone new in Engineering. He’s even a bit of a dick to Scotty! I sometimes think the writers never quite had a handle on Geordi’s character; is he a young tech genius with poor social skills? Is he supposed to be arrogant? A wannabe lothario who’s just really unlucky? Anyway, like I say, I still love the guy to bits, and LeVar Burton is fantastic, but of all the main ensemble, his are the flakiest solo episodes. That said, the three listed here are all belters. Key episodes: The Next Phase, The Enemy, Relics

Anyway. There we are. I’ve still, as of going “to press”, not watched Discovery season 3, and my wife’s still not watched the end of season 1 of Picard. Any day now…!

[setyourphaserstoslutty]

top 5 star trek episodes (either from each show you've watch or just in general depending how much writing you want to do lol)

Oooooh this is very fun let’s go with five from each

(These are not gonna be in order because it fluctuates like every day lol)

Also I take Foooorever to finish series’ so usually I’m stuck on season 1 or 2 or maybe even 3 so that’s why most of them are from those seasons

TNG

The icarus factor s2 e 14 god I love episodes that have wonderful character development which this one is definitely a poster child for it

Datalore s1 e12- it’s such a fun ep like Lore is seriously the worst and I love it

Symbiosis s1 e21 I’m aware it’s basically an after school special on drug abuse but it gives Tasha some really good character development

Unnatural selection s2 e7 I ADORE HOW WE GET TO SEE HOW PULASKI AND PICARD ARE ACTUALLY FOILS plus she and data have a good interaction this times

The measure of a man s2 e9 fuck Bruce Maddox but again a wonderful episode for my boy data

DS9 (the first Star Trek show i watched I love this one the most )

Dramatis personae s1 e17 I literally based a fic off this ep it’s one of my favorites (also because I enjoy Miles showing emotion and I feel this ep shows a side we don’t see often also it’s a O’Brien/Sisko and it’s my fave rare ship

Duet s1 e18 it’s a Rough Fucking ep because it has a lot of heavy themes but personally I enjoy those when done well

Armageddon game s2 e13 yes it’s the foot ep but miles obrien in pain is again my favorite trope

Blood oath s2 e19 I really wish that they had kept the character development they gave Jadzia but meh. I’ve watched this one like 20 times lol

The wire s2 e22 the wonderful garshir ep I love how Elims secrets come together

Voyager (this was so hard because I love so many of them)

Emanations s1 e8 Harry gets kidnapped (which is also something I have used in a fic) it also has soft lesbians which I appreciate

Learning curve s1 e15 wonderful character development for characters we never seen which is tragic also has an obvious autistic character (gerron)

Initiations s2 e2 i talked at length about this ep last night because it’s got a great character they did nothing with (an unfortunate trend in voyager)

Threshold s2 e15 enough said

The thaw s2 e23 it’s a fever dream of an episode and that’s what appeals to me

Enterprise (god this is awful but a few eps that are okay)

Strange new world s1 e3 it’s fine like I enjoy the Travis/Trip vibes and that’s really it

Dear doctor s1 e12 I like the moral questions it gives and I’m also a huge ass fan of Phlox

Sleeping dogs s1 e13 it’s really only because of the scene that T’Pol and Hoshi have Hand sex

Desert crossing s1 e23 trip whump is the best whump

Cold front s1 e10 again it’s really just the characterization and the fact we get some more story

[tsaomengde]

Tiny Viewing Guide to Star Trek: The Next Generation

Just found out one of my oldest friends, a huge sci fi guy, has never actually seen TNG, or indeed any Trek. He asked if I wouldn't mind writing a viewing guide. Not all that tiny, but the blurb for each episode is tiny. YMMV.

S1

Encounter at Farpoint - Goofy but iconic, series premiere

The Naked Now - Bad but hilarious and a little important

Code of Honor - terrible racist horseshit

The Last Outpost - first time we meet the Ferengi, they're not impressive

Where No One Has Gone Before - interesting enough

Lonely Among Us - I have no memory of this place

Justice - terrible outfits, Wesley episode

The Battle - Picard episode, not terrible

Hide and Q - Riker-centric Q episode, not the best Q episode, not the worst

Haven - first time we meet Lwaxana, don't remember anything else

The Big Goodbye - first of many holodeck episodes, pretty good

Datalore - important!!!

Angel One - totally forgettable

11001001 - meh

Too Short a Season - weird, generally meh

When the Bough Breaks - Wesley episode, don't remember it much

Home Soil - no clue

Coming of Age - more Wesley (can you tell Gene Roddenberry liked the character?), but not bad

Heart of Glory - first time the Klingons get real character, important

The Arsenal of Freedom - automated weaponry is bad, mmkay

Symbiosis - nope, no idea

Skin of Evil - dark, nasty, generally unpleasant episode, important for character reasons

We'll Always Have Paris - genuinely do not remember this one but wiki says there's time travel and that's always fun

Conspiracy - real mixed feelings about this one, it's tense and interesting TV but not really good Trek and it has huge implications that are never revisited

The Neutral Zone - Romulans are reintroduced, pretty cool

S2

The Child - pretty decent Troi episode

Where Silence Has Lease - interesting space puzzle episode sprinkled with Picard philosophizing

Elementary, Dear Data - first Sherlock!Data holodeck episode, excellent stuff

The Outrageous Okona - weeeaaaak, but kind of funny

Loud As A Whisper - cool deaf character, cringey late-80s implementation

The Schizoid Man - Data episode, good acting, cringey dialogue

Unnatural Selection - Pulaski-centric, and I dislike Pulaski so this is a pass for me

A Matter Of Honor - Riker serves on a Klingon warship, some good stuff

The Measure of A Man - Easily a top 10 Trek episode of all time

The Dauphin - Wesley has a crush, receives terrible romantic advice from entire crew

Contagion - interesting lethal archaeology

The Royale - love this episode, it's terrible and bad science but I love it

Time Squared - weird time-travel stuff, not one of the best

The Icarus Factor - lot of good character stuff, terrible future martial arts

Pen Pals - excellent Data episode, thoughts about the Prime Directive

Q Who - WATCH THIS ONE

Samaritan Snare - bad episode, funny moments

Up The Long Ladder - holy shit the Irish racism

Manhunt - Lwaxana Troi at her best, love it

The Emissary - Amazing Klingon stuff

Peak Performance - good episode, lots of fun character bits

Shades of Gray - TERRIBLE CLIP SHOW AVOID AVOID AVOID

S3

Evolution - Wesley episode, not bad but not great

The Ensigns of Command - Mediocre Data episode

The Survivors - space puzzle episode, OK

Who Watches the Watchers - more prime directive stuff, mildly interesting

The Bonding - interesting stuff about grief

Booby Trap - another space puzzle, high stakes, cool payoff

The Enemy - Pretty good, Romulans

The Price - fun episode

The Vengeance Factor - ehhhhhhhh

The Defector - More Romulan stuff, is good

The Hunted - will 100% make you scream at how terrible security is in the future, not a bad ep though

The High Ground - ugh, just not great

Deja Q - good Q episode

A Matter of Perspective - let's use the holodeck to prove Riker couldn't have committed this crime!

The Offspring - WATCH THIS BUT BRING TISSUES

Sins of the Father - first of many Klingon Politics episodes, I love these with a fiery passion and my wife is bored to tears by them so YMMV

Allegiance - space puzzle, not a great one but not bad

Captain's Holiday - WATCH THIS, IS AMAZING

Tin Man - literally put me to sleep once

Hollow Pursuits - First of many Barclay episodes, my beautiful autistic space boi

The Most Toys - alright, worth one watch

Sarek - SO IMPORTANT WAAAAAAAAAATCH

Menage a Troi - bad episode, worth it for the payoff

Transfigurations - Jason Ironheart called, he knows he came after this episode chronologically but he was better

The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1 - YAAAS

S4

The Best of Both Worlds, Part 2- YAAAAAAAAAAAAAS

Family - So important

Brothers - Very Important

Suddenly Human - meh

Remember Me - very interesting space puzzle, one of the Crusher episodes where she gets to be awesome

Legacy - not the most jaw-dropping ep but important

Reunion - KLINGON POLITICS YEEES

Future Imperfect - interesting enough

Final Mission - Wesley episode, not bad

The Loss - v. good Troi episode

Data's Day - fun, wholesome Data times

The Wounded - SO GOOD AND SO IMPORTANT

Devil's Due - I love this episode even if it's not that important or good

Clues - Awesome space puzzle

First Contact - eh? okay? sure?

Galaxy's Child - fine, whatever

Night Terrors - uuuuugh, no

Identity Crisis - this one scared the fuck out of me as a kid and may be responsible for my deep-seated body-transformation-horror triggers, now it's just kind of weird

The nth Degree - BARCLAY, LOVE HIM AND THIS EP

Qpid - YES SO GOOD

The Drumhead - This is Michael Dorn's favorite episode and it is worthy of the title

Half a Life - Lwaxana is great, the episode not as much

The Host - introduction of the Trill, kind of cringey almost 30 years later

The Mind's Eye - brainwashing stuff, meh

In Theory - Data tries to date, hilarities ensue

Redemption Part 1 - GIVE ME THE KLINGON POLITICS

S5

Redemption Part 2 - MOOOOOOOOOORE

Darmok - One of my top 5 episodes in the series

Ensign Ro - so important, introduces the Bajorans and Ensign Ro

Silicon Avatar - important for Data, not a terribly interesting episode otherwise

Disaster - Troi gets to shine! cool episode

The Game - by far the worst Wesley episode. everyone is seduced into acting like a brainwashed idiot by a terrible space future video game. fuck this episode and everyone who wrote it but especially Brannon Braga.

Unification 1 - WATCH

Unification 2- THESE

A Matter of Time - So good, waaatch

New Ground - I am not a fan of Alexander but he is so important to Worf's growth, so... yeah

Hero Worship - more stuff about grief, eh

Violations - I don't remember this one that much but I do not think I enjoyed it

The Masterpiece Society - read the above description

Conundrum - amazing space puzzle episode. easily one of my favorites in the series

Power Play - meh

Ethics - very important, good Trek

The Outcast - THIS EPISODE COULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH BETTER IF THE LOVE INTEREST WAS MALE. JONATHAN FRAKES PUSHED FOR A MALE ACTOR. watch it anyway

Cause and Effect - fun space puzzle, a little repetitive but totally solid

The First Duty - one of the best Picard Speeches ever, watch

Cost of Living - fun Lwaxana episode

The Perfect Mate - pretty meh but Famke Janssen is fun as Kamala

Imaginary Friend - so bored

I, Borg - INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT

The Next Phase - interesting episode about the afterlife

The Inner Light - THIS IS MY FAVORITE EPISODE OF THE ENTIRE SERIES AND I CRY EVERY TIME

Time's Arrow 1 - Such good time travel

S6

Time's Arrow 2 - Such great Mark Twain

Realm of Fear - Yay more Barclay!

Man of the People - bad Troi episode

Relics - WAAAAAAAAAATCH

Schisms - space puzzle, kind of lame payoff due to effects limitations but the journey is worth it

True Q - By far the worst fucking Q episode ever written

Rascals - uuuuuuuugh. half the crew is regressed into children. Ferengi are involved. you are missing nothing.

A Fistful of Datas - amazing dumb holodeck episode, watch

The Quality of Life - boring episode, good message

Chain of Command 1 - So dark, so difficult, so totally riveting and important

Chain of Command 2 - See above

Ship in a Bottle - Sequel to Sherlock!Data, amazing

Aquiel - could have been written much better

Face of the Enemy - by far the best Troi episode, Marina Sirtis was incredibly happy when I told her it was one of my favorites

Tapestry - fantastic Q/Picard episode

Birthright 1 - Basically exists to set up DS9 but is pretty good and has important bits

Birthright 2 - See above

Starship Mine - DIE HARD ON THE ENTERPRISE

Lessons - Very important Picard episode

The Chase - amazing space puzzle episode, has one of my favorite one-off Klingon characters

Frame of Mind - is Riker's entire life a delusion he has created to mentally escape his imprisonment in a mental asylum? spoilers: no

Suspicions - Good mystery episode, Crusher gets to do stuff

Rightful Heir - Very important Worf episode, good Klingon stuff

Second Chances - uh, kind of bad, but it gets referenced later in DS9

Timescape - super interesting space puzzle, amazing character bits

Descent 1 - WAAATCH

S7

Descent 2 - as above

Liaisons - okay. not great. not bad.

Interface - OK Geordi episode

Gambit 1 - Amazing stuff

Gambit 2 - More amazing stuff

Phantasms - Psychological horror? in my Data? it's more likely than you think. watch

Dark Page - one of the few Lwaxana episodes I don't love

Attached - great Picard/Crusher episode

Force of Nature - environmentalism! is! good!

Inheritance - important Data episode

Parallels - SUCH A GOOD WORF EPISODE

The Pegasus - very important Riker episode

Homeward - Interesting Worf and Prime Directive episode

Sub Rosa - so cringey and terrible, oh my God

Lower Decks - a fun change of pace from the main cast

Thine Own Self - I don't love it, but it is good character stuff

Masks - weird space puzzle episode, I love it but I wouldn't call it Great

Eye of the Beholder - space mystery, it's not fantastic

Genesis - look. this episode is not good. but it has amazing costumework by Michael Westmore. and has some great Picard/Data stuff. watch it.

Journey's End - super important stuff. sets up a lot of stuff for DS9 and VOY

Firstborn - Good Worf/Alexander episode

Bloodlines - More Ferengi stuff, kind of lame

Emergence - space puzzle, weird but interesting

Preemptive Strike - So so so so important

All Good Things... - it's the series finale. and some of the best Trek ever. obviously you're going to watch.

[bakagamieru]

hi! ive been out of the fandom for a year so i dont know whats happening, can you help me? what the boys were up to recently? what about louis' album? larry? any updates on niall's projects and life and stuff? did the boys have any contact recently with each other?

I’ll do the best I can, but I may miss a few things:

Niall:

He was supposedly in a relationship with Hailee Steinfeld from sometime around March until December.  He had his first kissing pap walk and other than that, it was never actually confirmed except by unnamed “sources” in the papers.  More than likely this was a benevolent PR deal for mutual promo.

Work-wise, Niall finished his first solo tour, released the single “Finally Free” because someone working on the movie Smallfoot has a massive crush on him and would have preferred the whole soundtrack to be Niall if he’d had the time to write it.  He also recently released the orchestra version of 9 (I think?) of his Flicker songs.  He’s currently working on writing his 2nd album, so he’ll probably be pretty scarce for awhile.

Harry:

Harry also finished up his first solo tour and has been seen in and out of Japan quite a bit.  People assume he’s working on writing his 2nd album there, although it’s not confirmed.

I’m honestly not too sure what else to say about him.  He’s popped in and out of the fandom’s awareness on social media, but I think he’s mostly remained under the radar since his tour ended.

Liam:

Liam has continued putting out singles here and there (still mostly collabs) and we did get his EP “First Time” in August, although we still don’t have his actual album that should have been done a long time ago.  Most think that the album will be out this year, although it’s hard to say for sure.  Supposedly Liam hasn’t had any tour dates yet because they “can’t find the right venues”, but that seems like a really weak excuse and some people have noted that he only seems to perform at festivals and other events that maybe he doesn’t get paid for like a regular concert?

Liam has come out and said he’s interested in acting in the near future, but there’s been no announcement of any roles.

The Liam-Cheryl relationship finally ended in July, thankfully.  Again, fake relationship and not nearly as benevolent as the Niall-Hailee one.  No big movements on babygate 2.0 though.

Louis:

Louis put absolutely no music out this last year.  As far as we can tell, he was ready to and wanted to and then got drafted into being a judge on The X-Factor UK instead.  He did the best he could to be a good mentor and one of his acts did, in fact, win.  Surprisingly, Louis came out of The X-Factor looking a whole lot better than anybody assumed Simon was going to let him.  He also made his primary purpose on that show to wear coded clothing pretty much every chance he got.  

Liam showed up on Louis’ judge’s house episode and also came on to perform.  Niall showed up in the audience during the finale episode (or maybe the one right before?).  Unfortunately, we didn’t get almost any public interactions when Liam performed and none at all when Niall was in the audience.  Louis and Liam did end up doing another Gogglebox-based charity video together after the judge’s house episode though.

Despite Louis’ music being delayed, fans are hopeful that Louis will have a single out this month and an album out this year, preferably with tour dates to follow.  Both Louis and Liam’s music releases have been so delayed at this point that no one wants to get too excited until it actually happens.

I think Eleanor has been showing up periodically with Louis, but generally she’s in the background.  Louis hasn’t mentioned Freddie at all this year and some interesting things have been going on with Briana’s family and friends deleting social media posts or starting entirely different social media accounts recently.  People are wondering if this is leading up to the end of babygate or if it might just be cleaning house in preparation for promo for Louis’ album.  We’ll see in time.

Zayn:

Zayn finally released his 2nd album after several years and a tweet a few months prior accusing his label of blocking the release of his music.  The first part of the album is mushy af and is commonly assumed to be an ode to his love for Liam.  The second part of the album is darker and seems to be about Zayn’s struggles in the industry/life, as befits the concept of “Icarus Falls”.  Unfortunately, this album is getting little to no proper promo.  I don’t think there’s been one interview since it came out in any medium.

Zayn and Gigi have recently been reported as having split (again) and hopefully it sticks this time.  Again, fake relationship, not benevolent.  The break up stories are blaming the break up on Gigi not being able to fix Zayn’s mental health issues.

After hinting heavily he wanted to tour in 2018, his team claimed he wasn’t touring because of his anxieties, but now he’s hinting heavily about touring soon again.

I want to be respectful of mental health issues, but I do find it very suspicious that Zayn’s so-called issues are only ever brought up in order to explain away why he gets no promo or why his management “dropped” him or why his “girlfriend” can’t stay with him.  In other words, his team is sabotaging him and is either making up mental health issues to use to blame Zayn or is using pre-existing mental health issues to blame Zayn even though it’s still not his fault.

As far as Zayn and 1D goes, we’ve reverted back to a more negative narrative yet again.  It makes no sense at all, but this isn’t the first time we’ve yo-yo’ed between a more positive and more negative narrative with no particular event or reason driving it.  Zayn and Louis officially reconciled over a year ago and no other members of 1D were ever actually fighting in the first place, and yet here we are with this ridiculous fighting narrative still.

Larry and Ziam:

Both are still going strong.  

We haven’t had as many hints from the Ziam side (except for Zayn’s love declarations in “Icarus”) since Zayn is so often MIA, but Louis being on The X-Factor provided plenty of fodder.  In particular, Louis wore green and blue stripes and has been wearing a lot of clothing from Japanese lines (when Harry has coincidentally been seen in Japan a lot recently).

You can try checking my tags for “larry stylinson” and “ziam mayne” for more details although some of the posts might not be about recent events.

[commandercrusher]

okay the whole icarus factor ep with Will's dad makes me SO MAD. both Pulaski and Kyle act like Will is the one being rude and unreasonable for not wanting to forgive his dad. his dad literally abandoned him at such a young age and took so little responsibility as a parent, and Kyle just wants Will to forgive him for that so easily??? like what the hell. that kind of abandonment is not something you heal from quickly, and it's bullshit for Pulaski and Kyle to assume otherwise

[rikerxworf]

I will follow you to the end, like I always have.

— Eternals (2021)

ID: Three gifs from TNG. The first one shows old Riker and Worf with the quote “I will follow you to the end...” The second gif shows several scenes from their time on the Enterprise. The last gif is Worf standing in Riker’s quarters with the quote “... like I always have” laid on top. The words “you” and “always” are connected throughout the gifs by a white line. End ID.

[dream-beyond-the-fantasy]

Favorite Riker episodes? And bonus question: favorite Riker ships (since there are literally hundreds to choose from :D)

Sorry that it has taken so long to answer this.  I just haven’t watched TNG for at least a few, maybe two?  So, I had to look them up by season and summary.  There actually might be more.

Season 1: “Encounter at Farpoint”, “Hide and Q”, “Angel One”

Season 2: “A Matter of Honor” (one of my most favorite Riker eps), “The Icarus Factor”

Season 3: “A Matter of Perspective”, “Menage a Troi” (I love the Troi women and Will), “The Best of Both Worlds Part 1″

Season 4: “The Best of Both Worlds Part 2″, “Future Imperfect”, “First Contact”

Season 5: “The Outcast”

Season 6: “Frame of Mind”, “Second Chances”

Season 7: “Gambit Parts 1 & 2″, “The Pegasus”

**EDIT: I forgot the bonus question! My only true Riker ship is Will Riker & Deanna Troi.  But I did like Will and Minuet from “11001001″.

[gumnut-logic]

I have to say that I adore Icarus for this and many other reasons. Our boys are getting acknowledged for the heroes they are, except poor Johnny. And we get scenes of three of the ‘birds launching with wow factor.

This scene is perfect. IR is moving, activated, watch them go!

Also, Tracy bois! Commander Scott Tracy is at a loose end until this scene where he can DO SOMETHING. Poor Scotty was not in a good place for most of this ep. Virg’s Scotty radar was screaming.

I am a sucker for a great launch scene and Thunderbirds always delivers 😁💙

Thank you for the opportunity to watch this all in great detail 💚 Repeatedly.

Nutty

(Who finished breakfast some time ago yet for some reason hasn’t gotten up yet…I wonder why…)

[riffrelevant]

Article By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker, Senior Writer/Journalist ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway, Owner/Editor

It’s almost Fall again and, more importantly, music festival season! It goes without saying, but I will say it regardless, Riff Relevant takes great pleasure participating in bringing great bands to the masses.

This has happened annually, thanks to our untiring auricular coverage and Editor’s partnerships with organizers, as well as fellow sponsors, in presenting several regional cultural gatherings. One of them is the blue collar, gritty city of Pittsburgh’s promenade of heaviness, DESCENDANTS OF CROM… and we are roughly a month away from its glorious third year occurring.

Like the previous pair of DESCENDANTS OF CROM happenings, I plan to be in attendance for the upcoming third round to be held the weekend of September 20th and 21st, as well as the Pre-Gala event on September 19th. In fact, it is the latter that will be the first provider for scratching off some “bucket list” type bands – ones that I have never seen live and hope to remedy soon.

Just remember this, there are numerous bands I look forward to seeing live at next month’s DESCENDANTS OF CROM, some seen before, some not, and it is the Have-Not factor essential to what follows. That is why we are here now, right now, as we take a look at my latest round of Must-See Bands, via the 2019 DESCENDANTS OF CROM III edition.

The aforementioned Pre-Fest Gala, taking place at Howlers in Pittsburgh on Friday, September 19th, will be ground zero for my witnessing a long running quested contender for me. In other words, this band ranks rather highly on said list of bands that I have sought to see perform live for many a year, in fact, and they are none other than Pittsburgh’s very own ICARUS WITCH!

  (Photo By: First Angel Media)

  With their return by means of a new line up and a then-new 2018 studio offering ‘Goodbye Cruel World‘ from Cleopatra Records, this revered representative of U.S. Power Metal inspired fans to take notice. These actions came after a lengthy six-year absence and ultimately revealed this iconic act was more than making up for lost time. Long running members, founder Jason Meyers (bass, keyboards) and Quinn Lukas (guitar), welcomed vocalist Andrew D’Cagna (Brimstone Coven, Ironflame) and drummer Jon Rice (Scorpion Child, ex-Job For A Cowboy) into the coven and in doing so relaunched this classic band.

Truth is, ICARUS WITCH are no strangers to change nor have they ever been a band to back down from challenges and believe me, they have seen their fill of both. Formed in 2003, with the arrival of their first recording two years later, the ‘Roses On White Lace‘ EP (title track is a take on the Alice Cooper classic), made quite a mark for ICARUS WITCH with metal fans.

That mark would become a scar as they cast one incredible studio-borne spell after another, bewitching metalheads around the world with 2005’s ‘Capture The Magic‘, 2007’s ‘Songs For The Lost‘, 2010’s ‘Draw Down The Moon‘, and 2012’s ‘Rise‘. Their knack for crafting technically masterful songs rife with traditional heavy metal elements, solid playing throughout, and instilling a wide range of emotion and aural textures in them, is second to none.

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  Be it the beyond respectable list of ICARUS WITCH original compositions or the amazing reinterpretations of classics from greats like Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne, or Def Leppard, this is one band that does not disappoint. As a longtime fan of theirs since the earliest days of ICARUS WITCH making themselves known, I am not drawing it down. Instead, I am OVER the moon about seeing them onstage for my first time.

It will have only taken 15+ years for me to do so, but nevertheless that is the exact plan I intend to enact in the City Of Steel a month from now. I suggest that you get your ass up, come out, and get down with ICARUS WITCH, myself, and all the spectacular bands that will be doing their thing at DESCENDANTS OF CROM III next month. Find all the information, details, and other particulars you may need to know below.

    – DESCENDANTS OF CROM III Schedule –

Friday, Sept. 19th – Pre-Fest Gala @ Howlers [info]

Icarus Witch, Fox 45, Enhailer, Void King, Motometer, Submachine

Saturday, Sept. 20th – Day 1 @ Cattivo [info]

ASG, Valkyrie, Brimstone Coven, Argus, Foghound, Kingsnake, Sun Voyager, Potslammer, Witchkiss, Tines, Pillars, Night Vapor, Action Camp, Coma, Old Dream

Sun., Sept. 21st – Day 2 @ Cattivo [info]

Brown Angel, Solace, Black Pyramid, Backwoods Payback, Irata, Frayle, Leather Lung, Spacelord, Lightning Born, Killer Of Sheep, Pale Grey Lore, Riparian, White Alice

  Tickets can be purchased on DESCENDANTS OF CROM website or via this LINK.

    DESCENDANTS OF CROM III – Pat Riot’s Top Must-See Bands: ICARUS WITCH Article By: Pat 'Riot' Whitaker, Senior Writer/Journalist ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway, Owner/Editor It's almost Fall again and, more importantly, music festival season!