#hypnotic tbqh

[kindahoping4forever]

Ash on TikTok

[spinchip]

Random question! How do you feel about mind control/hypnosis tropes? Also, follow up...hypnotized by the hypnobrai Kai, Jay or Zane? We've seen Cole, I wanna see the others xD

Hypnosis/mind control is okay, but not usually what I go for or am interested in tbqh. I enjoy more of like, amnesia/altered mental state type deal. Like the ice emperor vs hynobrai Cole, where IE is still his own person making decisions vs Cole just taking orders if that makes sense? Adds a little je ne sa quois 🤌 a different type of emotional turmoil and fallout

[voxxcd]

I'd really like to see you hypnotize Alastor tbqh

               Anonymously tell me what you want to see happen to my muse.

"I think that's something I can keep in mind,"

[malfromtheblue]

of course hon!! i see you've started reblogging things; that's awesome! 💕

fantastic genres!! anything in particular that you've read or been reading lately that you've enjoyed?

that is so sick, tbqh! rock music is such a classic, it's hard to find someone who doesn't like it. have you ever listened to sleeping at last? it's more soft and slow, and some of the songs don't have vocals. i wish i could hear you play your guitar, i bet it's awesome.

those girls are bonkers, hon. people and their biases are so 🙄 anyone can write smut! imagine if only certain people could write specific genres. that would be remarkably boring. i bet your writing is awesome; it's fun to dabble in different styles! i need to get back to writing poetry and short stories myself. i've burnt out on working on my original works.

poetry is especially important to have that raw emotion in it. if we aren't pouring our hearts out in each stanza, then it's not going to leave a lasting impact.

even the most basic of tea preferences are important! tea can really soothe a person, even if it's just one cup. i don't think i've ever put honey in my tea, though. maybe just once? usually, i'm a sucker for some cane sugar when i want a sweeter cup.

a tea date sounds so cute!! especially as we move towards cooler weather. i hope you have the opportunity to do so in the near future 🥰

- 🐰

lemme just say it makes me SO happy to have someone who relates to me! ive always been into The Maze Runner. Newt was my mate, rooted for him till he died. Then i rooted for Minho and was thrilled when Teresa died (she was annoyin, okay?). that's a series that ill never get sick of! i just started readin the Percy Jackson series. its okay, i dont quite see all the fuss about it? maybe it gets better further in. there was one book that i haven't read in the longest. called, Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane. it was from a series. that was the only book i had and i read it over and over. also, The spiderwick chronicles is an amazing series too! its also a movie

Rock music is good, i agree. i dont think ive heard of Sleeping At Last, but ill check em out for you, darlin!

poetry is quite literally my way of life? people tend to get freaked out when they see me?? i either get compliments or complaints. in the UK people kinda shyed away from me cuz i wear eyeliner and am more what would be called 'punk'. but people here are pretty cut throat. some old man said that i was the child of Satan since i dressed like a demon? but a girl that same day said i had a "sexy slut waist"? and an old french lady called me "Yeux de sirène" or what she said was Mermaid Eyes. she said i could hypnotize anyone because my eyes are a really light blue. what i was getting at with this is, no one expects me to be as down to earth as i am? possibly because of my looks?

now, mind you im not necessarily a nature person but if im spendin time outside its because im readin, writin, or takin care of my plants! and or of course, drinkin tea like a good UKnian.

m really excited to be able to go on a tea date as well! i think its a cute idea and it would be perfect for a first date. even if im obsessing about her, i want my Doll to feel as though it isn't going too fast. even if my mind is sputtering wildly, i want to try and go slow... dont wanna freak her out? m sure ya understand, Bunny anon?

~Mal 💕

[dread-knight]

You and me both don’t worry

[dakt37]

Which buckies are w natasha, steve or tony????

Tbqh I'm not particularly interested in Bucky and therefore don't have much in the way of shipping thoughts for him. The only two that come to mind are:

1. In the Marvel Future Avengers anime, I got big ex-bf vibes off him towards Steve. So in my Meetings AU they have a history.

2. Fandom osmosis has made me amenable to MCU SamBucky. That gif of them rolling around a field is hypnotizing 👀

Beyond that though, as long as it's not interfering with any of my other ships, I don't really care what Bucky does. Or who he does, I suppose 😂

[david-box]

This isn't intended to be like baity or whatever but I really don't see Guillermo's line about nothing ever changing or even how that relates to this being a line in a sitcom on a meta level making the finale an example of the type of meta/existential horror where the characters are trapped in a narative. I'm not sure how to word this but first off, those kind of stories kind of need the characters to be at least partially aware of a sort of magical or cosmic futility about their situation. Like, yes, literally speaking, characters being forced to fail because they were written that way is horrifying in a certain light, absolutely. But it's not really horror for you to not pass a test if you don't know it's because you're written that way. Devoid of consequences or framing that's just... Not getting a C grade. Stressful, important, life altering maybe, any other adjective you could use about yourself (as characters presumably would do about their own life within the text) or from a writing perspective yeah. It's not just not automatically cosmic horror to write a story.

Also, a horror story where the characters are forced to return to status quo every episode or season or so on requires a lot more force against the characters from the narrative to really make it a part of the genre. Characters need to fail because they can't succeed even if it'd realistically work, not because they were written to fuck up. WWDITS returned to it's status quo because most of the character's attempts to change fundamentally revolved around flawed wants and needs, and some of those attempts were more or less stumbled in and out of without the characters even entering their arcs on purpose. Nandor absolutely did try to change and fail, but he didn't change his sense of grandeur or his selfishness (he's not shitty with Guillermo anymore because Guillermo set a boundary. Also he should have checked on Guillermo but on that note wtf did Guillermo do after he landed in England? Like he couldn't find Nandor?) or really analyze why he's lonely and disconnected beyond "Vampirism makes me feel bad." He failed at becoming more human because he's a cunt. Lazlos successful arc of his relationship to Colin Robinson (successful because things changed in this case) shows his vampirism has nothing to do with his bullshit. Guillermo stumbled into becoming more confident by accidently tapping into literally genetically coded abilities to do stunts and shit and actively used that to his advantage but ended up just an ignored familiar again because his solution to the proble.s with his codependency was getting more respect and stealing money, not disengaging with this nightmare of a household. Nadja only got into trying to get more power because the Baron showed up and her ventures failed because she doesn't like acknowledging her deficits in the kind of skills you need to run a nightclub. Remember how boss she was in s1? Yeah, maybe she could still run a nightclub. That could be a good idea, if done right. The nightclub when it was running properly was fun as fuck. But if she wanted to run one she can't just bully it into working - if she just wanted to terrorize people she could fix the house by hypnotizing a bank into wiring a couple thousand. Or, like, find the bank account. Maybe consider the fact no one else knew that damn pin number to the bank account. Or why she didn't know. Etc. Etc.

Tl:Dr I don't think Guillermo's line about nothing ever changing isn't a clever build up, reference to, or attempt at existential horror tbqh. Also idk if it's really "everything goes back to normal and nothing changes" horror if one of the characters gets his own supernatural kill count and another one raises a whole ass child like Lazlo's not the same! Guillermo's not the same! Lol

[kinetic-elaboration]

September 1: 3x06 Spectre of the Gun

Okay so, it might be a little early to declare myself a S3 apologist, since there are still a lot of eps I’ve never seen, but I feel like I’m pretty close..

This ep was so good!! Honestly I think it’s one of my faves. And perfect to usher in Spooky Season.

Honestly, this show really is my happy place. Just all the characters together on the bridge, on some kinda adventure, looking at weird space buoys and investigating stuff.

Again, this buoy looks like a Windows 98 screensaver.

Kirk keeps referring to Spock as “Science Officer.” Is he mad at him? Full of some particularly intense longing that requires him to put extra distance between them?

Excuse me, you address US as aliens? YOU’RE the aliens.

Hmmm, so it seems they’re not friendly.

It’s addressing them in different languages!!! I love it. Love the reminder that Uhura’s first language is not English,also.

“True telepaths are dangerous.” As opposed to fake telepaths like Vulcans lol?

The Melkotians withdrew immediately. They invented space travel, they saw space, and they said “not for us” and they turned around and left. McCoy would like them; they’d have a lot to gripe about together.

The welcome mat is NOT out.

“Unlike Mr. Scott’s transporter, this unit is not functioning.”

It legit looked like Spock put his hand on Kirk’s back there. Like he clearly raises it, but not far enough to be seen above Kirk, so like.. what was the point? Where did it go?

LEE CRONIN--oh no, flashbacks lol.

“We come in peace”--immediately pulls out gun.

I should have watched this when writing my Western fic.

Just bits and pieces of a Western town... and a completely red sky...

The guns are “crude but dangerous.” If only Sulu were here; he’d love this.

An announcement with a specific time and place on it--that’s a very precise detail to just pull from their minds. Must have come from Kirk’s, that nerd. Maybe Spock. But probably Kirk.

“Because my ancestors pioneered the American frontier.” I mean did they really get to the frontier? Or just... the Midwest?

Maybe it’s actually because he’s a cowboy at heart?

Aliens using his own ancestral sins as the pattern for his own death for breaking their law IS a great (possibly partially unintended) idea. Oh also, if they think that Kirk and co. are here to ‘tame’ or colonize them, then the Western setting makes even more sense--you’re no different from your ancestors, you came somewhere new and brought lawlessness and violence and death, but not this time!

Can you believe Kirk knows all of these details about the OK Corral? NERD.

Spock is so proud of himself for knowing the phrase “had it out.” Look, I used slang correctly!

These are some creative aliens.

“We know death is real here.” Or is it? They’re literally telepaths guys.

Hmmm, this building doesn’t need a roof I think. - The aliens probably

Can’t believe Scotty thinks his usual is his actual usual lol. You’re going to drink bourbon and like it!

Kirk and Spock look so good together.

They’re obviously Chekov’s disapproving parents.

“The day is still young, Ensign.” I don’t remember the exact context of this but Spock is SO judgmental.

What is Kirk doing? This guy is a hallucination; he won’t be convinced by touching some cloth. There’s nothing to convince! He’s only a Concept.

“Have you seen clothes like this?” / “Yes.” / “Where?” / “On the Claytons!” Comedy gold.

Kirk really thinks he can charm his way out of anything. Hmmm, maybe if I just talk nicely to the Earps, they won’t kill us.

“In small amounts, it [bourbon] was considered medicinal.” Lol.

Scotty is becoming a bourbon guy!

“Mr. Chekov is inVOLVed” lol. Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

“A lot of people and things have tried to kill me.” No need to brag.

THAT’S how you make a city limits sign. Put a dead animal skull on top. I live quite close to a city limits sign and I think it could use a cow skull.

Western Cossacks!!

Poisonous snakes and cactus plants. That really distills the Aesthetic down to its core.

This is a good Kirk episode. He’s really being a good Captain: coming up with different ideas, being creative, pushing his crew to brainstorm.

Bones and his tranqs again.

Bones meets his old nemesis: Old Timey Medicine.

Why was Doc Holiday just...chilling in his own dentist chair? (My mom suggested: power nap. Let’s go with that. Power nap + ability for optimally dramatic entrance.)

Also I can’t believe McCoy just goes into this guy’s practice and starts helping himself to all the serious drugs.

Chekov definitely isn’t the marrying kind.

RIP Chekov.

Bones does not sound very sympathetic here. Jim, get over it, he just died, whatever.

And then two seconds later he turns around and tells Spock he’s not sad enough! You can’t win.

“We all knew the risk when we joined the service.”

“My feelings are not a subject for discussion.” !!!!!!! This line!!

“You worked closely with him.” Yes! Chekov is his protege!

“Bones, Scotty, stop bullying Spock.” <-- not an actual quote but it might as well be.

If this were AOS, Spock would already be choking Bones out.

Whoops, no one told Chekov he wasn’t supposed to die!

“Let’s organize! Let’s form an anti-Earp union!”

“I can’t kill them!” he says in a mad rage.

I mean, it is important, though. That’s not what he does.

Kirk is /disgusted/ by lawlessness and frontier justice. What a Rebel TM.

I feel like Bones was waiting for the gotcha moment when Spock compliments him. “Saying nice things about me? That’s not how this relationship works!”

“Nothing can go wrong.” / “Up to now, everything has gone wrong.” He has a point.

That pause before Spock admitted it hasn’t been tested lol--they don’t want to admit it.

“[The bourbon’s] for the pain.” / “But this is painless.” / “You should have told me that before.” The unexpected comedy stylings of Scotty and Spock.

It doesn’t work--guess Spock’s got to take back that compliment now.

“Captain, you don’t understand--they’ve been telepaths the whole time which we already knew!”

“We’re not going to move from the spot.” * is immediately in a different spot * Well I mean at least he’s trying. He’s doing his best!

Love the OK Corral sign also. Weirdly creepy. With its accompanying horse.

Spock doesn’t have any hips for the holster to rest on.

“What did Chekov die of?” / “A piece of lead in his body.” That would do it.

If the tranquilizer should have been effective, does that mean Scotty is actually passed out right now?

Honestly, this is all so spooky. TRUE Western Horror Ghost Vibes.

Also very trippy. If you don’t believe it... it’s not real... some kinda weird chicken and the egg argument regarding our belief in the truth of physical laws idk but it sounds good. Spock brings it home.

Even with the wind whipping around him, Kirk is SO in love. His absolutely adoring expression... So soft...

“Very well, Sir, I’ll meld with you again. Not that I particularly want to. It will be a sacrifice. But I’ll manage. Even though you’re such a dynamic individual haha ha I’m fine I’m cool.”

I feel like Scotty is NOT into the mind meld. He looks terrified. Maybe he should have saved the bourbon for this occasion.

I know the mind meld is supposed to be a replacement for on screen hypnotism...but is this not hypnotism? Like even more than past uses? In this case, Spock is leaving them with suggestions that he wants to continue AFTER the meld, as opposed to, like, efficiently sharing information or giving immediate suggestions. And the scenes themselves are very creepy and...hypnotic.

Kirk’s patented move: WHOLE BODY ATTACK.

Well, we wrapped that up right quick.

Did they... never actually leave the bridge? Or even navigate past the buoy? This actually brings up a lot of questions as to when the aliens started the hallucinations, what their bodies looked like to the rest of the crew, and how they woke up--since there’s obviously been a bit of a time skip, as Bones is already examining Chekov.

Lol at Chekov, saved by horniness. “Nothing but the girl was real to him.”

“A vast alliance of fellow creatures who all believe in the same thing...”

Kirk’s vision of the utopian future is so powerful, he’s effectively gotten the welcome mat put back out.

A personal question? Kirk is intrigued.

Ah, but it’s just another excuse for Spock to be a hypocrite--how did humans survive? How did VULCANS survive? And for the show to remind us of its utopian vision of the future... we will move past violence, we will prove ourselves attractive to and worth of new alien friends.

Then McCoy walks out so Kirk and Spock can have their Moment. He undoubtedly knows what’s up.

So this ep was shown one day before the anniversary of the shootout at the OK Corral AND on Halloween week. It is very much a spooky season episode. So surreal and strange. Ghostly.

I know using sets rather than on location shoots, and not even building whole sets, was a budgetary issue but tbqh I think it worked in the ep’s favor. It added to the alien feeling of it and was an accidentally creative way of showing that these images were pulled from Kirk’s mind.

This felt like a very Classic S1-ish ep to me. I think it’s because Kirk was foregrounded as the Captain/hero and we get to see not just his intelligence and creativity and leadership but also his compassion and his moral core. He IS the values of the series, personified, and that was clear here.

But we also got to see lots of him and Spock, casually working as a pair, and the use of the rest of the landing party crew was very deft also. I loved that there was time to mock Chekov’s horniness, to talk about Spock and Chekov’s professional relationship, to joke around with Scotty, to show more of the Spock and Bones dynamic.

Again, great sci fi concept. I think this would have been another possible inspo for my Pirate AU if I’d seen it in time (although I think I picked a good mission-concept ultimately). I’m fascinated by the Melkotians: who are they? What do they really look like? Do they communicate any other way but telepathically? Are they corporeal? What is their planet like? And most importantly, what experience lead them to be so isolationist? They specifically refer to the aliens as “disease” coming into their home. And it’s when Kirk shows himself to be fundamentally nonviolent even in the face of his own death, they let the Enterprise through.

Basically, I always enjoy hints of alien societies that bring up more questions for me than answers. I love speculating about it.

The next two eps I’ve seen and remember well and I know they’re classics. I’m really looking forward to them!

[imasradiantasthesun]

i just rewatched the first thg movie and i have a few thoughts

i spent a good amt of it just pointing out differences from the book, which is understandable given the fact that the movie has only a certain runtime. it goes w/o saying that some of the casting/character design is a bit disappointing (haymitch is blond like the merchant class, whitewashing of ppl from the seam (ok sure the book just says olive skin, but it’s a common hc that katniss is a woc and that adds a layer of meaning to the story), peeta doesn’t have blue eyes, the height difference, etc), and i still wish they included peeta’s prosthetic at the end

tbqh i really liked the larger role that seneca crane played in the movie, though i think unfortunately that did detract from actual book moments. thats why i think itd be really cool to have a longer form series abt the trilogy; that way we could get a lot more book moments & details and get the other side of things

overall i think it’s a real good movie, though i don’t think it would be without the score. i just... it’s So Insanely Good. rue’s death scene still brings me to tears, and that’s because of how moving the Rue’s Farewell piece is. this scene of seneca with the berries is by far one of my favorite scenes ever b/c i Love how the song matches the tension and then the cut from the berries to caesar. and DONT even get me started on War by hypnotic brass ensemble... it’s an absolutely fantastic song (i do have a preference toward brass bands) and i love the use of it as caesar’s theme song + how it fits well w/ the cuts (especially in catching fire)

i also have a theory, but i’ll put that in another post

[yuurivoice]

The way you say Vitya is hypnotic tbqh? Like, who gave you the right? I'm shook

TBH I give the name itself all the credit, it rolls off the tongue like milk and honey. Yuuri is the same type of name. That’s legit the only thing I’d be confident about saying in a “Victor voice”. 

[selfinsertmermaid]

I wrote a (probably way too detailed) outline of a Little Mermaid AU and of course had to draw it, because mermaids, man

(au under the cut if anyone’s interested) ((friendly warning that this is not Serious Writing and I cursed a lot))

Diana is the princess of an underwater mermaid kingdom called Themyscira or Paradise, the names are p much interchangeable so whatever. Themysciran mermaids are Magic so they used to magic themselves up some legs and hang out with humans, but the humans wanted the Magic and there was fightin and the mermaids got mad and retreated to their kingdom and getting legs was Banned.

Even though everyone disapproves, Diana likes to go up to the surface, not really out of curiosity for humans but bc she likes looking and the sky and it's kinda hard to see the sky from the bottom of the ocean. I'm a human princess (random human would've been more accurate but i'll be a fuckin princess if i wanna) on a ship for whatever reason and one night when Diana goes to the surface Shit Goes Down and she watches the boat start to sink.

A lot of the sailors and passengers make it to the lifeboats but I'm knocked off the boat and into the water, and Diana of course is like "hell no im not gonna let someone die".  So she swims and swims and brings me up to the surface, but there's still a storm and its bad and it's too far from any shore to risk trying to swim to land with me in tow. She decides to heck with the rules, uses a Magic Kiss (!!!) to let me breathe underwater, and brings me back to Themyscira.

 After the Magic Kiss I wake up and am amazed bc mother fuckin magic underwater mermaid kingdom right but all the mermaids are like “shit, a human, someone’s gotta take her back to the Human World”, so there’s this competition to see who is worthy of being the mermaids’ Champion. (This is basically a mix of Wonder Woman’s origin story, w/ me replacing Steve Trevor, and the Little Mermaid.) Anyway Diana’s not allowed to compete but we spent a bunch of time together and she wants to be the one to take me home, and see more of the world along the way.

So Diana wears a mask and enters the competition, wins, and reveals herself to the Queen (her mom) and the Queen’s like “fuck I told you not to but that was impressive so i guess you can go. I’m not mad jus disappointed.” So Diana and I get to basically take a Magic Underwater Roadtrip, except we’re swimming the entire way so it takes awhile oops. And we’re just. Fallin in love along the way.

I guess they decided it’d be okay to give me a mermaid tail so the trip goes faster, since humans can’t swim anywhere near as fast as a fricking mermaid ofc, and also I just,,, want to be a mermaid at least for a lil bit.

Anyway so we get to my kingdom and on the shore I get my legs back n Diana and I look at each other like…I guess this is goodbye? Except we really don’t want it to be. So I suggest that, before she goes, I show her around my kingdom, like as a token of my gratitude and all that. Diana magics herself up a pair of legs and I introduce her to the royal court as my savior and protector. We spend even more time with each other, we’re super in love, but Diana holds back from making a move bc she knows her duty is to Themyscira and I hold back from making a move bc I’m shy af.

So to introduce some plot, this woman, let’s call her Minerva, witnessed Diana doing Magic on the beach with me, so she steals some magical objects Diana keeps in her room and tries to use them. The problem is that she’s a terrible person so even though she can use magic now, Magical Karma decides that she will also be cursed to turn into a monster cheetah person. Like Ursula however she can use her magic to turn herself pretty again for a short amount of time, and she uses this skill and other magic to start climbing her way to the top of the royal court.

Minerva hypnotizes me into thinking I’m in love with her and not Diana, but it causes a huge behavioral shift and Diana’s like “WTF that’s not right.” She realizes some of her magical stuff has been stolen and connects the dots, and then tries to tell me except I’m still hypnotized so I don’t listen. Suddenly I’m about to get married to this woman I barely know, and Diana’s like oh fucking HELL no and tries to find all the magic stuff Minerva stole except the only one she knows about is this one magic necklace, which Minerva happens to wear a la Ursula. Diana interrupts the ceremony and rips away the necklace and crushes it, which takes away all Minerva’s magic and turns her back into her cursed cheetah monster self.  Then there’s a huge (cat)fight between the two of them, and ofc Diana wins bc she’s Strong and Magical.

So that’s over, and after I thank her for saving me Diana’s like “Kenzie…I have to go now. Magic is too dangerous for this world.” And I’m like “fuck please don’t leave I really like you.” But the problem is Diana was always going to leave, because she’s the only princess of Themyscira, and I have to stay because I’m the oldest and therefore the Crown Princess of my kingdom, and I don’t want to force my younger siblings to take over my responsibilities.

ANGST ALERT before Diana leaves I work up the nerve to finally kiss her, except its a goodbye kiss so its all sads, and then Diana swims back to Themyscira and is. Gone. We’re both miserable and tbqh if this was reall life my mental health would’ve been out the fucking window but it’s not so we’re gonna pretend that it’s just normal ‘missing you’ sadness. It lasts for a long time.

BUT THEN Diana realizes that there were other magical objects missing, and that they’re still on land in my kingdom, and she goes to the Queen/her mom, and the Queen is like “Diana I love you and I know you’re unhappy now so I will let you go to the surface to retrieve the magical items, and you can also stay there with the human princess with my blessing. I’m basically immortal anyway so it’s not like you need to take my place anytime soon.”  Then Diana comes back and REUNION SMOOCHES and there are some Magical Adventures collecting the other magic stuff Minerva stole and hid all over the place, and non-shitty people getting to learn magic bc Magic, but mostly it’s just Good Times loving each other. 

Epilogue, eventually we get married and adopt children and become Queen and Queen Consort (or Princess Consort, or whatever sounds better).  And they all live happily ever after, The End.

[lazrvs-a]

fcult replied to your post: SHUFFLE   TAG      //      you   can   tell   a  ...

bubble gum and haunted are my shit

fcult replied to your post: SHUFFLE   TAG      //      you   can   tell   a  ...

i’m sorry not haunted, hypnotized LOL

I’ll be honest I thought to Haunted by Disturbed which is definitely my shit as well-  Honestly though I haven’t been listening to half of what came up on my shuffle, and I forgot how much I loved Bubblegum Bitch tbqh whoops.

[kinetic-elaboration]

December 23: 1x29 Operation Annihilate!

I’m very tired but at least I’m done with work for the year! Now to...set about furiously writing because I’m behind on like 3 different events, including, most egregiously, Chopped. Woah well. Here are some thoughts on the FINAL EPISODE of TOS season 1.

This ep isn’t messing around with the drama. Very first scene involves chasing a ship that’s flying into the sun.

Sam! I have a lot of Kirk brother feels even though tbqh they’re entirely about a relationship made up in my head. Like, there’s not really a lot of canonical Kirk brothers content, in either TOS or AOS (okay, nothing in AOS...technically...) but in my head it’s like this whole Thing and I’m obsessed.

This is one of the most beautiful planets in the galaxy I guess? Looks a lot like generic California to me. Cool architecture though.

I think I missed the explanation of what this planet does lol.

Sam is a research biologist.

His wife has such a weird name that I sometimes think of her as an alien but I guess they are all human. Less interesting lol. She might become an alien in HAICG but probably not.

All the people are in their homes, hiding out. I know this is to save money on extras, and then in-universe I guess because people hide from that which scares them, even when that’s pointless, but all I could think was “they’re self-isolating.”

Kirk and co. go to Sam’s lab to find him, but his whole family is there... do they... live in the lab?

We finally meet Sam...and he’s already dead. So bitter about this.

I remember a specific close up of just Sam’s face where it’s super obvious it’s Shatner with a mustache but this seems subtler... has it been edited, or am I mis-remembering?

Spock doesn’t know what to say. Does he really “understand” lol? He wants to be comforting though.

Guess Aurelan calls him Sam too. Thought that was only Jim.

I remember someone on tumblr pointing out that Jim beams down to the top of the stairs just so he can walk down them dramatically and now I can’t unsee it.

I’ve also heard people make fun of the aliens but I legit think they are alien looking and scary and gross. “It’s not life as we know or understand it.”

Been a while since we saw Christine and here she is.

“Spock’s readings are strange... even for him, which is saying something!”

“If you can’t do this, get another nurse!” What other nurse lol? This whole ship has a medical staff of 2.

“His body’s full of tentacles.” That is legitimately disgusting.

This is a very bad day for Kirk.

Spock’s on the loose, we must catch him--oh how convenient, he is here on the bridge!

Must...pinch... Captain...

“I apologize for that mutiny attempt back there. We’re all good now.” And miraculously, he actually is.

I HAVE MY OWN WILL. LET ME HELP. Interesting phrase there!

The needs of the few do outweigh the needs of the many. He MUST save Spock. And his nephew.

Is Spock, uh, hypnotizing himself? I don’t know if I believe that Vulcans can just stop themselves from feeling any pain.

“I was confined to sick bay. I unconfined myself.” He is really determined to run this errand. This needs to be the attitude I take toward my errands.

Bad ass Scotty. “Captain, your space husband is trying to escape.”

Kirk is so in love. “Your logic, as usual, is inescapable.”

McCoy just wants his patients to stay put.

I love when McCoy just randomly examines people.

“Your affection for Spock.” That’s one way to put it.

I feel like it took them way too long to figure out that the sun produces light. “What are the properties of the sun?” / “It exists.” Starfleet’s finest minds, everyone.

These creatures are sort of...like vampires. In a way.

Cool specs. I want a pair of those (prescription).

“The best first officer in the Fleet!”

“I am also quite blind.” What a drama queen. He knew he was blind already, obviously, he just needed to bump into something and make a big production out of announcing it.

And then literally seconds after blinding Spock, the tests they were ALREADY RUNNING come back and they realize that they never needed to use the blinding light. Like... I appreciate the drama but omg you dumbasses. And you call yourselves men of science. It wasn’t even like they hadn’t thought to do the tests. They were doing them!

Jim’s mad now.

Ew, gross, disintegrating vampire creatures. Clean up is going to suck.

I feel McCoy’s grumpiness about the weird eye thing lol. Unexpected...optic nerve...thing. Except actually it’s the eyelid? Developed to respond to “the brightness of the Vulcan sun”? That Spock just FORGOT he had? Very suspicious. I suspect more manufactured drama.

Uhura’s really enjoying this banter.

YOU FORGOT ABOUT HIS VULCAN EARS.

This whole last scene is so good. If you’re going to go on hiatus for 6 months, this is the way to do it.

I legitimately love this episode. Yes, there were moments when Kirk and friends were kind of dumb: taking forever to think about light (not buying McCoy’s line about how “light isn’t harmful” because first of all, there are nocturnal creatures on Earth so the idea that a living being might not like the sun isn’t weird, and second, even if it WERE weird, these are ALIENS so--think more broadly!); and being so quick to test out the light on Spock (while the results from the first test were still ongoing!) but I’ll forgive them that. Everyone has blind spots. Even very smart people can get caught up and not think about stuff that seems obvious as soon as they realize it. Plus, with the tests on Spock in particular, I can see how the urgency of the situation, the excitement of coming up with a potential solution, Spock’s desire to be free of the pain and also to be Dramatic again, and Kirk’s general commanding presence, might have all combined to lead them to jump the gun.

Also they totally forgot about Peter by the end lol. I mean we assume he got the same light treatment that Spock and the planet did but he’s also an orphan so...where does he go lol?

But other than that, pretty perfect episode! Got some good K/S moments. Some Kirk family stuff, even if it’s not a big element and also probably superfluous given that Spock being injured gives Kirk exactly the same personal stake as a family member being injured does. GREAT alien: I’m always here for any ep that can reasonably sneak in an “it’s not life as we know it” line. I like that they’re one giant organism, but spread out over a great distance; they’re using people for their bodies, to build ships and basically be their colonizers for them; they infect people in a gross and scary way; they’re defeated in an unusual manner. Basically, a great combination of Alien, as in unusual, and frightening.

And it’s a PERFECT triumvirate episode. A lot of focus on all three, and on their strengths. A philosophical problem that puts the difference between Spock (we must destroy the comparatively few to protect the many) and McCoy (we cannot kill that many people for any reason) into stark contrast, and then sets up Kirk as the fulcrum between them (we’re not killing anyone, now or later, just find my a solution--that great combo of optimistic and commanding). Kirk gets a special spotlight appropriate for him as Captain: he has to make these big decisions that could lead to a million deaths, while also thinking about the people important to him. Spock gets a spotlight that emphasizes his Vulcan nature. Mccoy gets a spotlight that emphasizes his role as doctor. They all get to interact together in a way that shows their real affection for each other. There are great moments like them all squashed in the doorway, or when Spock is blinded and Mccoy has to hold Kirk back from helping him TOO much. The banter at the end is easily among the top end-scene bridge dialogues of the season. And it’s a good note to end on because it sets up the importance of the triumvirate going to S2.

I am not going to take a 6 month hiatus lol. Next time, probably next week, not really sure, is Amok Time! Truly a wild choice to start out the season.