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kinetic-elaboration · 3 years ago

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August 21: 3x04 And the Children Shall Lead

Okay, I’m finally going to write up my thoughts on And the Children Shall Lead. I think I’m (mostly) over all of my excessively-strong emotions about this ep lol. Maybe going through my notes will bring them back. Or maybe not. I’ve felt very tired and uninterested in everything today so it’s hard to tell. So far the process is not going well: tumblr ate my first attempt at a post, like literally I wrote a few lines, clicked to a new tab, and when I clicked back the post was empty so thanks for that, and I keep on just generally not being interested in the task. So, we’ll see.

The tl;dr is that I don’t see why this ep is considered one of the worst. I actually really liked it!

Single-color jumpsuits: the fashion of the future.

Another old Kirk friend! (This isn’t even important lol; it never comes up again or matters that Kirk knew this guy, but we must always be reminded that he is the best networker in Starfleet.)

“He’s dead, Captain.” Not “he’s dead, Jim”?? Sounds wrong.

“The enemy within.” I thought that was a S1 ep?

Ah, another bunch of creepy kids. In pajamas this time, apparently.

Kirk is not having fun being the center of their creepy little rhyme.

RIP to McCoy but my diagnosis is “alien shenanigans.”

“I’m sorry, Captain Kirk.” Such a polite little alien.

McCoy corralling the kids

This sounds a lot like Miri, except purposeful—something targeted all the adults but left the kids, just like the virus in Miri affected all the adults, but not the kids.

…A disturbance in the cave!

Lol at Kirk’s anxiety face. I feel you, man.

Spock’s never experienced anxiety? My first thought is ‘sounds fake’ but actually… maybe he really hasn’t.

“There has to be an explanation.” This is the MOST Jim line.

I like these kids. They’re actually pretty cute. Also love Kirk trying to relate to the kids.

Where are they? Is this Sulu’s greenhouse lol? I love it. They should have used this set more.

“That place is for adults.” Gotta say, I wrote this down but now have no recollection what it actually refers to. The bridge? I think it’s the bridge.

Are they performing witchcraft? Intriguing.

“Friendly angel”—nothing creepy about that at all.

Got a little alien cult going on here. Every time I feel anxiety from now on I’m going to assume it’s an alien cultist nearby.

“We’ll pursue this in my quarters.” Wink wink.

Can’t fool Uhura.

Never mind. Yes you can.

For someone who wanted the kids guarded all the time, Kirk sure was ok with them just traipsing around the bridge. I mean the guards are at the door but like…they’re only at the door.

Never really thought about how there’s apparently an…engineering component... to flying the ship? I don’t know, I don’t really get it but it’s cool.

"Evil does seek to maintain power by suppressing the truth." Damn. Great line.

BAND OF MARAUDES. That’s a cool backstory for the dead alien society. Basically, they’re ghosts. Greedy ghosts. Alien ghost pirates.

Great triumvirate scene. McCoy want to protect the kids and Kirk’s like “…but the ship, though?” Which is fair!!

What does the ghost want? Um, a ship to maraud in, were you not listening to Spock’s exposition of the back story?

No don’t beam anyone down!!

Love any time Spock pushes someone else out of the way so he can man the transporter. He’s somehow the second-best expert on it on the entire ship.

Eeek, low-key gruesome death there. Look, I know that this is one of the scenes that haters love to point out as a reason to despise the episode but I personally don’t think deeply enough into the transporter situation to wonder how much information they have or assume before they beam people anywhere. Also…weird alien stuff is happening, guys. Just attribute it to that. Also also, if you’re gonna nitpick like that, be prepared to hate all of TOS.

THE KIDS STOLE THE CAR.

“Sulu, what did you to do my ship?”

Uhura’s watching this little witchcraft scene from the background like ‘aw, so cute.’

“Call upon their beasts.” Metal.

“Go to your stations.” This little kid is a future Captain in the making.

SPACE KNIVES

Kirk's like "Oh no, my crew is deserting me, I'm gonna have to fly the whole ship by myself AGAIN.”

“Captain, why are we bothering Starfleet?” Et tu, Spock?s

How did they get to Spock? He doesn’t seem scared of anything…more like he’s under the influence of a general hallucination, like the others seeing the planet on the screen even after they left orbit.

I remember this part, with Kirk freaking out. Spock doesn’t like it one bit.

He’s just being a littttle Dramatique.

Cannot believe that all Spock has to do is say “Jim” in a quiet, intimate voice and Kirk is immediately okay. Just let it out of his system, grabbed onto his friend, heard his own name, and the beast is defeated.

“My Vulcan friend”? Lol.

Kirk’s face when he realizes they’ve got Scotty too…

“Go away or we’ll kill you.” That was legitimately creepy. Scotty gone rogue.

Aw, Spock was worried about him again.

“Without followers, evil cannot spread.”

“Where did you hear this order, Chekov?” / “The voices in my head.”

It’s interesting that Kirk and Spock can’t be manipulated—perhaps because they have each other?

Enough of this—fight time!

That guard sounded like he really liked that nerve pinch; he was kinda moaning as he went down.

“Spock, corral them to their rooms.”

Outta the chair, brat.

Is Kirk going to defeat the alien evil using logic?

Summoning the “angel” by using the old recording is very clever.

When did they decide to start calling him the Gorgon?

“It lost its power in the light of reality” = “I looked into Spock’s eyes and knew myself again.”

HE IS GENTLE. It’s true and you should say it.

And he doesn’t even dispute it. “AND we are ALSO very strong.”

"You are full of goodness. Such as you cannot be changed."

So the girl is Jankowski.

This is very Candyman. The alien needs their belief to live. When they cease to follow him, he literally disappears.

Honestly, this whole alien scheme starts to look equal parts silly and sad, trying to call the crying children "generals.” They’re babies!

McCoy loves to see children in tears lol.

Kirk just hands them all off to McCoy, like ‘well, my work here is done.’

Okay, now we reverse course to pick up those stranded security guards still on the planet, right? Right? No? Okay, guess not.

Uhura, immediately ready with the paperwork lol. Now IS the time.

The end!

Now to try to interpret all of my other, more general notes.

The way I interpreted Spock being able to defy the mind control was that he was affected by Kirk. Because he clearly was affected, but then when he saw Kirk starting to freak out, he looked concerned, and then got them both off the bridge—he had a breakthrough of clarity long enough to understand he needed to get off the bridge. Then he’d be away from the kids, and they wouldn’t have as much control, and he could snap Jim out of it, too.

Like I’m sure his Vulcan resilience could easily have been part of it, too, but that resilience wasn’t enough to keep him from being affected at all—and of course they could have easily written it that way—and it seems obvious that his moment of clarity was caused specifically by watching Kirk starting to lose it. There are so many shots of him specifically watching Kirk and the guard.

The K/S vibes were so strong. Spock was so protective, then they get in the lift and Kirk basically clings to him. All he has to do is say Kirk’s name and Kirk is fine, which is basically the power of true love. And then even outside of that scene… for the whole rest of the ep, they’re a duo. It’s not just Kirk against the Evil of the Week, it’s Kirk and Spock, working together at every turn. Neither of them could have done it alone.

it's a pretty classic trope, in fact, especially in s1, to have Kirk all alone, abandoned by all...where he's the last man standing, the one who has to run the whole ship and save the whole day. Naked Time, This Side of Paradise, and Trouble with Tribbles (kinda) all come to mind. But this time he has Spock! You see the progression of their relationship in that.

I really enjoyed this episode in general. Lots of classic tropes: creepy children; surprise alien; old alien society not as dead as we thought; Kirk has to run the whole ship by himself (with Spock); heroic!Kirk saving the day… It has it all. It’s clearly revisiting some older themes and ideas, but in a sufficiently unique way that it doesn’t just seem like a rehash of an older plot. In some ways, it felt like a Classic S1 episode to me. It has some Miri elements, some Charlie X elements, some Naked Time elements…

I literally don’t understand why it’s so disliked.

Skimmed the wiki and the only specific criticism in there is that Kirk shows an “unmistakable hostility to the children.” Well first of all, he doesn’t. He might not have the best manner with them, but why should he? He’s certainly not mean or cruel to them. He recognizes they’re a danger to his ship, and to the whole planet of Marcos-12, which by the way is objectively true, but that’s not being hostile. McCoy is the one who represents ‘exclusive care for the children’s welfare’ in this ep, but he CAN do that, because he’s not the Captain. He represents that perspective, he gives his opinion, which is both his job on the ship and his role on the show, and then Kirk takes that into account while doing HIS job, which is running the ship. McCoy would have literally let the kids take over their ship and conquer the galaxy as part of their grieving process lol. Kirk was right and I should say it. (Also btw he understands that killing the kids might be an option—but he obviously doesn’t actually do it.)

I actually think this ep is a great example of the triumvirate functioning--McCoy reminds Kirk that the children are just traumatized children, and Spock reminds him that he's responsible for 400+ people on the ship, and Kirk makes the decisions that vanquish the evil, save the ship, and free the kids.

And look, even if you don’t like this episode, you’d have to argue very hard to convince me it’s the WORST, as in worse than Spock’s Brain, worse than The Alternative Factor, worse than Assignment Earth (not even a real TOS ep!), worse than The Omega Glory.

Some stuff I actively liked: the concept of the alien taking over the children specifically (both creepy and…kinda makes sense? That they’d be vulnerable); the message that the followers of demagogues can be both truly dangerous and objects of sympathy; the backstory of the evil empire of pirate aliens—and how greed doesn’t die; the witchcraft aesthetic, ESPECIALLY when paired with the kid antagonists, since kids are so into that like chanting, incantations, rituals thing; that the ep used every single main character (when was the last time a TOS ep did that?). Also I thought the kid actors did a good job!

The theme about the authoritarian and the cult followers was actually quite resonant, I thought; inevitably made me think of Tr/ump and his Tr/umpies. Just like in this episode, you must have some kind of… if not sympathy, at least willingness to do the hard work of deprograming and then bringing them back to the fold, or else the country is never going to heal and it’s never going to be able to go forward in a positive way. It might not go forward at all! But fuck it’s hard to have that sympathy; they’re so abhorrent. Here, you see the terrible things the kids do, and yet sympathy isn’t so hard, because they’re kids. You see how much they are victims/pawns also. And so in that sense, Kirk’s ability to deprogram them is comfortingly optimistic—a little bittersweet, as TOS often is, because the kids have done horrible things and seen horrible things and now they’ll have to live with it, but comforting nonetheless.

I can’t even think of that many things I didn’t like in the ep. Mostly just nitpicky things. Like, was McCoy a little inconsistent in what he thought should be done with the kids? Yeah, but we get the general idea. Did Kirk drop the ball when he let them hang out on the bridge? Yes, especially as he knew how dangerous they were at that point, but I actually don’t mind it so much because they’re kids—it’s understandable that their true dangerousness didn’t fully compute to him. I don’t see that as a mistake or sloppy writing tbh. And was it an amateur hour mistake to beam two people into space? Yes, but it made up for it in being creepy and upping the stakes of the ep.

I guess I could see how the fist gesture could be seen as a little silly. But the other option, having them speak rhymes each time, would have been distracting—and probably also looked silly! Also, as my mom pointed out, it looks like a kid’s game (sorta like the start of rock paper scissors) so it fits appropriately with the theme.

I really liked how they wove in the aesthetic of kids’ games, kids’ manners of playing, into the narrative. Kids can be really creepy! They like creepy things! So the ring around the rosy rhyme at the beginning—a quite disturbing chant, of course, about the Plague, that is also very commonly sung by actual kids—foreshadows the summoning chant that brings the alien to them. It’s all of a piece. And just like the rhyme is just a rhyme, and they don’t know the real meaning behind it, they probably also don’t fully understand the meaning of the summoning chant or the alien that comes with it. It’s all one big game to them.

It’s interesting that the alien seemed to play off their desire both to punish their parents for working too much ("they like the planet, they're always busy") and to have freedom from parental rules (how they react to any instructions from adults, the alien's promise that the whole universe will be their playground, etc.). He really picks their sore spots as kids specifically and turns them into his “generals” accordingly. Like all kids, they don’t think too much about the larger consequences of their game because in some ways, it really is all just a game to them.

I liked how the episode characterized Kirk’s ability to interact with kids. He’s not bad with them at all, but he’s not like McCoy or Chapel either. He “wants to communicate with the future adult in the kid,” as my mom put it, which is perfect. He doesn’t exactly treat them as mini-adults—he doesn’t say inappropriate things to them, and he does simplify his language and his ideas for them—but he does treat them very seriously. And he’s probably best at one-on-one interactions like with Tommy. I think this makes total sense for his character: he doesn’t have kids (David aside lol), he doesn’t have younger siblings, he doesn’t work in a place where he’d see other people’s kids, he doesn’t get to see his nephew much, etc.

…Okay those were all my notes. I know I had other thoughts that were a little less scattered later, but… I’m tired. And most of it is probably in here in some form or another. I also found a list of, like, actual critiques of the episode, and I was considering going through them and addressing them all, and I might still do that. But I think that’s for another day.

#the year 2021 #2021: star trek #2021: fandom thoughts #star trek tos

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semi-imaginary-place · 4 years ago

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rewatching decadence part 2 because part 1 got too long

ep7: Getting to see the game Deca-Dence as a new player would with the opening cutscene, skipping the TOS, character creation and all was a good touch. Also the fact that Kaburagi could look like anything, but he wants to look like mid 40′s dad both times. I wonder who it was that decided Minato should vape. The conversation on the top of Deca-Dence is real interesting because its like only 20% of the actual conversation is spoken out loud and the other 80% left unsaid, so we have to guess what was left unsaid. Minato tells Kaburagi to not make things worse for himself, condoning his actions, but also vows to himself to help Kabu even though it is very dangerous for him. Kaburagi leaves after regretfully saying he doesn’t want to cause Minato more trouble, and yet his current and future actions are and will be doing just that. The obscuring fog in this scene adds to the sense of distance or disconnect between these two. Somewhere over the past 7 years they have fallen off the same page.

This episode again highlights how while for the Tankers this is life and death situation, for the cyborgs Deca-Dence is a game. We get a shot of some Gears lightheartedly discussing how fun the latest game event was, followed right after with what that event meant for the Tankers as we see a makeshift medbay in the streets filled with the dead and dying to really drive home the gap of compassion between the two groups. Minato is one of the few cyborgs we really see besides Kaburagi and the show uses him to show how cyborgs don’t think of humans as people. Humans to the cyborgs are just npcs in a game. Now anime and manga about videogames have been around a long time and were especially popular in the mid 2000s (mmorpgs especially) after which the genre dropped the “in a game” part but kept everything else which were today know as the isekai genre. Hot takes like “the videogame characters are actually people all along” aren’t new either, but Deca-Dence is one of the most successful in generating sympathy and compassion for the Other by flipping the script. Most of those series come from the perspective of the player and show the player coming to care about the npcs. This often isn’t done very well or comes off as patronizing, like the other characters act in service of making the mc look like a good guy instead of actually acting like fully realized people in their own right. (*cough* sao *cough*). In contrast to this, Deca-Dence initially starts from the perspective of Natsume who is human just like us the audience, and thus predisposing us to feeling with and feeling for her. So later when its revealed the humans of this world aren’t seen as people by the cyborgs or the the corporation that rules all their lives, it is granted greater weight in the context of all of us who have played videogames before and met npcs and maybe not cared all that much about them. Decadence places the viewer in the position of the npc, the Other.

Episode 7 is also the beginning of several letters exchanged between Kaburagi and Natsume. Its a presence that lingers long after the person has left and also acts as a contrast to the call/social networking apps of the cyborgs. In episode 5 we saw Kaburagi choose Natsume over following the orders of Solid Quake, but through to episode 7 he still believed in its system. Look even at episode 6 where he still believed that if he worked hard and played by the rules, the system would reward him and everything would be ok and compare that calm assurance in episode 6 to his mountain frustration in episode 7. He’s starting to see how thing are run in Deca-Dence makes life really hard and kind of terrible for the Tankers. This frustration at the system culminates at the end of the episode when he realizes the real human cost of perpetuating this system of oppression in how it hurts Natsume. I mean “Late stage capitalism made my adopted daughter Natsume cry, so I'm going to dismantle it.“ is a joke and pretty funny, but like, that’s what actually what happens. Both Kaburagi and Natsume further the theme of pushing the limits. Kaburagi realizes the limits of his society and why its time to break them down, while of Natsume’s side we see her struggle in the face of things much larger than her. Much like how the cyborgs are stuck in their lifestyles of working for Solid Quake, earning oxyone, and playing Deca-Dence, the Tankers are stuck in their role in society to leave their fates to the Gears and Deca-Dence. So Natsume asking everyone to take charge of their own lives and close that the hole is them stepping out of the comfort of what they’ve always done, which is leave it to someone else (deca-dence administration, gears, etc.). Natsume asks the Tankers to push their limits, the step outside of what they’ve always done and to believe in things they thought were impossible to do. We see Fei representing the belief a lot of Tankers that nothing needs to change, thus nothing should change and they will not act to bring change to their own lives. The Tankers live lives that are decided for them. The Deca-Dence administration controls their population, and the system eliminates any who would disrupt it. They don’t have a lot of control and are resigned to live like that, until Natsume comes along. This episode we see her do what she does the entire series, inspire people to be more. Natsume’s doing alright, she might not be where she wants to be but she’s taken steps in that direction. Where Nstsume is psychologically contrast Kaburagi who’s a bit of a mess realizing he can no longer live under the thumb of Solid Quake’s Deca-Dence system and is kind of floundering about. When kaburagi meets Natsume again... he is so awkward, I’m getting second hand embarressmen. and again the assault jokes have got to stop. The shot of the empty chair calls back to the first episode and another talk between Natsume and Kaburagi. I always love it when an anime plays the credits early.

ep8: again the importance of the individual over the group with kaburagi’s lines at the beginning on why he’s taking down the gadoll factory. I’m just thinking about how kaburagi is certain minato kept his avatar. and everyone just agreeing that minato has that vibe. I really love the avatar retrieval part of the first episode. Its a heist sequence. I love heists!. They also did a good job with pacing and tension in that part. Still can’t believe the creators put a sex toy in this show but at least this joke is actually funny. Oh Minato pulled strings to get Kaburagi out of the poor jail. I missed that part. but now the two of them are not only on different pages, but on different books. Minato doesn’t see the tankers as people and follows the Deca-Dence system on what is good and what is bad, so he can’t comprehend why Kaburagi is throwing away everything the Deca-Dence system values for something the system has deems less than worthless. While Kaburagi has formed a moral compass independent of this system, he sucks at communication and doesn’t explain anything to Minato. Interesting how Minato views bugs as bad but has made an exception for kaburagi and probably did some mental gymnastics to do so. It reminds of those homophobic family members that make an exception for their gay family member. Minato never wanted anything but to be by Kaburagi’s side so he prioritizes Kaburagi above pretty much everything else which is why while he defends the establishment, he also breaks rules for Kaburagi. Their little convo continues the same dialectic, Kaburagi’s been inspired by Natsume to push the limits of himself and society, to choose how he lives instead of letting the Deca-Dence system tell him. Kaburagi underwent character development when Minato wasn’t looking and he can’t recognize him anymore but desperately wants to. Kaburagi moving forwards without him and him realizing that he was never as much a priority to Kaburagi as Kaburagi was to him, means that Minato’s really hurting by the end of the scene, and he doesn’t take it out on Kaburagi, he just leaves. ...if it isn’t obvious by now, minato is my favorite character. gotta love the gay robot having a mid life crisis. (i mean his feeling aren;t necessarily romantic, but you know the joke I’m referencing). Turkey just wakes up and chooses evil every day huh. I predict someone on tumblr with a history of unhealthy relationships is horny for turkey.

ep9: why does the reactor look like a cyborg core? Again. WHYYY does Donatello have a gun??? idiots let him keep a working gun. I love the contrast of the actual pretty gritty situation of the prison riot being represented with super cartoony slapstick animations. This probably saves on frames as well as keep the series from getting too dark, because if you think about it the labor camp conditions are pretty horrifying but its disguised with cartoony designs and wacky characters. Kaburagi and Natsume are doing very important plot things, but the core of episode 9 are Sark and Turkey. Through them we see the same conversation that has been repeated through out the series of conforming to society and staying in line, that things won’t ever change so you should just duck your head and follow order, or the “I’m comfortable how things are” versus you should make your own choices with live life how to want to, to push your limits. Turkey sees the Deca-Dence system as absolute and eternal and thus tries to play by the system and help it continue by selling out everyone else. Sark is passive and doesn't really have an opinion of his own, just following whatever the others are doing whether its Kaburagi stealing his avatar or Turkey in betraying everyone. Sark unlike Turkey isn’t malicious, he wants the best for everyone but also isn’t quite willing to put himself at risk for others. After seeing everyone be destroyed as a consequence of following Turkey however, his new resolve and subsequent suicide bombing is the only reason the plan ends up succeeding. For total destruction of the gadoll factory two things were needed: flipping the kill switch on all the gadoll in the dome, and destroying the reactor powering the factory. We aren’t told how Jill and Kaburagi originally planned to destroy the reactor (like was he just suppose to wander around until they bumped into it?), but Sark’s explosion is what allowed Kaburagi and Natsume to get away from Hugin. Without Sark, Hugin would have totally caught them. So it was Sark taking charge of his own life and pushing his limits that saved them all. That said, if the explosion was powerful enough to reach all the way up the giant tube and destroy the reactor, why didn’t it break the tube and why didn’t it destroy everyone left in the prison? ah well it makes thematic sense so I’ll let this pass.

So I’ve talked before about how Deca-Dence’s ending could be improved to build on some of the themes established in the first couple episodes. The problem is that this show isn’t pushing a narrative of collaboration and the power of collective bargaining, its pushing an individualist narrative about how each and every person can reach out and better themself. Now I don’t think these two themes are mutually exclusive, but it would take a very delicate touch as well as an attentive and thoughtful audience to successfully weave these two theme together into a nuanced whole. And if a rewrite were to happen with the minimal amount of changes, I think ep 10 is a good divergence point. The final little arc is about the rogue gadoll outside of the Deca-Dence system and the threat of total annihilation by solid quake, and while big kaiju fights look cool, they don’t quite deal with dismantling systems of oppression at the hands of your corporate overlords. So, I would have preferred something like the cyborgs and Tankers coming together to seize the means of production, destroy Solid Quake, and take its assets for themselves. The ideal rewrite situation though would for this all to be 24 episodes and the big gadoll to be the episode 12 climax while taking down Solid Quake happen in ep 23-24. And since we’re doing a rewrite, Natsume kinda drops off as the main character after episode 5 and I’d like to see her back at the forefront of the show.

ep10: If this show had leaned more into the futility of Natsume seeking to improve herself within a system that rendered it meaningless, it would have ended up much darker, but I also think it would have been richer. Ah poor Natsume, she’s at a low point since the context of what she has been doing has wildly changed, afterall, what’s the point of improving yourself if nothing else ever changes and what you do doesn’t matter. The letter writing continues and it is good. So I’m not going to question how the exit tunnel is still intact, but watching into robot kaburagi angrily drive a car and swear is really funny. I’ve been wondering for a while, the humans literally live in a fuel tank, how is there enough light to grow plants in there? Like as part of the post-apocalyptic aesthetic, a lot of Tankers have little house plants which in addition to being inside the fuel tank, are also inside their houses. oh yeah for any who didn’t get it. The reason as a child Natsume went into cardiac arrest and her chip was read as dead wasn’t because of the severity of her injuries, Deca-Dence’s system had deemed her too dangerous to live and flipped her kill switch.

ep11: on a thematic level I might be meh, but the writing and execution are what really pull the ending through. Everything is nicely set up from the mutated gadoll the victim of animal abuse several episodes earlier to fighting hugin in the factory being how hugin finds out about natsume. I think about Jill’s lines here, that no matter how hard you try to keep things from changing, you’re just fighting the inevitable. Also Natsume took Kaburagi’s switching bodies really well like seeing someone you care about die in front of you but then surprise they just got another body would give most people such whiplash. “our bodies are under the system’s control, but our core’s are independent of it” I’m still thinking about this. It makes sense given how the first generation of cyborgs where humans with mechanical implants, but cyborg’s cores are still such a mystery. The things you can’t control are a part of life too. In Deca-Dence bugs are uncertainties that the master control system doesn’t know what to do with. More than just individualism good, here we get a little more nuance to Deca-Dence (the show)’s theme. Jill was one of the creators of the Deca-Dence game (giant mech, control system, and all), and they tried to create perfect system where everything was under its control and order could be maintained forever, and this inevitably failed (the show tells us). Trying to perfectly order everything is to attempt the impossible, disorder will always creep in and those little individual differences should be celebrated. and is to the backdrop of an old Deca-Denca(robot) part that is rusting away, plants and animals overtaking it much like how the Deca-Dence’s currently enforced status quo of the game will fall away in the face of those it deems bugs. wait did we ever figure out what the bug was that jill left in deca-dence? mmmm I’m still thinking about Minato logging out because the system told him to but unwilling to let things end this way so physically going back down to earth in his real body. Facing the possibility of truly losing Kaburagi forever is what pushes Minato to question following the Deca-Dence master control system. He totally became a bug for Kaburagi. I doubt Kaburagi had any idea how much Minato wanted to hear the words “let’s fight together to the end”, but offered the thing he truly desires, Minato probably would have done anything. mmm he’s got it bad. there’s also that linking Kaburagi and Deca-Dence’s core takes two people and yet, Kaburagi didn’t bring anyone with him. Which is terrible planning, but allowed for this really great scene. that he knew Minato would come after him. And then the last thing me sees in Minato. Minato truly is ride or die. literally. He could have gone back to the spaceship so that he’d survive no matter what, but he choose to stay. If the plan succeeds then he will see it through with/right beside/literally inside of Kaburagi, and if it fails and Kaburagi is annihilated when Solid Quake wipes the dome, Minato will also be annihilated along side Kaburagi.

ep12: so kaburagi just straight up demands admin privileges and the governing sys is like “sure”. Yeah pretty sure the governing system convo was a season 2 hook to show the big wigs. The independent all governing system tells Kaburagi that all this, him and bugs are a part of the system’s learning process, to which Kaburagi responds that all that doesn’t matter since he’s going to do what he wants independent/regardless of the governing system. the context in which you do things doesn’t matter. Also I never pointed it out since its like the 4th wall of scifi, everyone is just trained to suspend their disbelief, but oxyone is total bullshit. A non toxic liquid energy dense fuel that can be concentrated into orbit range lasers. The tankers all helping Natsume push the spare part is a feel good moment seeing everyone working together. Its an unnecessarily scene for the purpose of including the tankers in the action, since the part wasn’t ever really needed and the writers didn’t have to have it severed by the laser to begin with. the Natsume montage overlayed with the music is very good. wait. i just realized, limiter release can be reversed. Afterall, Kaburagi released his limiters with his first avatar, and if he had still been fully connected to it when hugin killed that avatar, cyborg Kaburagi should have died too but he didn’t and just immediately logged in on a different account. Kabu-Dence releasing his limits here and literally giving all of himself to destroy omega is fulfilling both for his character arc and on an emotional level. This entire show has been about pushing one’s limits and making your own choices, and it culminates here’s in Kaburagi literally releasing his limiter, thus putting him in mortal danger, and then giving every last ounce of himself to the path he has decided. The destruction of the mech fortress Deca-Dence is also symbolic of the end of the game of the Deca-Dence mmorpg as we know it. wait wait did Kaburagi hold on just long enough to hear Natsume thank him. aaaaahhh and then the ed song plays!! and then the play the new mmo intro scene. Still real weird that they’re using a cyborg brain as a ball.

#deca dence #deca-dence #decadence #deca_dence #anime #reviews

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danyka-fendyr · 5 years ago

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Absence of Good - 9

Chapter Nine: Legerdemain

Hello everyone! As promised, I am posting another chapter of Absence of Good within the same week! I know, I’m kind of stunned too. If it comforts anyone, this is completely unedited, so that’s still on brand for me. I’m really excited for where I’m going to take this series next. I have some ideas for what the plot conflict is going to be now that our two idiots are together, hehe. For now though, enjoy this mostly wholesome chapter (minus the murder, obviously).

Taglist: @dreamwritesimagines @rhabakoli @alwaysadreamingoptimist

AoG Taglist: @pancakefancake @prettyboyspenerrr @youreasnack @alioop3818 @newtslatte @rathersuspiciousbumblebee @andiebeaword @stalker83005

Wordcount: 3206

Warnings: Murder. Some gore. Generally disturbing themes. Mentions of abuse.

“I don’t know what they are called, the spaces between seconds– but I think of you always in those intervals.” ― Salvador Plascencia

You had been on this case for a week now, and it was starting to take a toll on you. Hotch had put you all on a plane about 5 minutes after your confession to Spencer, which at the time you hadn’t been worried about. Little did you know this would be the world’s longest-running case, and you had barely gotten 5 minutes with Spencer.

This was one of those rare times where splitting you and Spencer up was pretty much unavoidable. They needed his brain at headquarters to track this guy and they needed your body out in the field to catch the guy. You and Emily had been teaming up a lot, and while you had learned a lot from her, she was no Dr. Reid.

You missed him. You didn’t realize how much time you had been spending with him until the most you got was a quick, “Hi, how are you?” as you handed him coffee. He had been throwing himself at the books, forgetting to do basic things like eat and drink, so you tried to remember for him when you could. You were all at the end of your rope with this guy.

This unsub, whoever he was, just so happened to be extremely clever. You could only imagine how high his kill rate was, as you were sure this was not where he had started. No, the precision this guy worked with was almost a thing of beauty, if it hadn’t made you want to vomit. Apparently, eyelids were very hard to sew together, but this guy, he was pretty damn good at it.

You climbed up the hill, thighs burning as you approached the top, boots digging into the soft dewy ground. The sun had only just started rising about an hour ago, and you felt your eyelids weigh almost as heavy as your limbs. Emily was right behind you, the ragged pace of her breathing matching yours.

When you reached the top of the hill you couldn’t say you were greeted by your favorite sight.

“Oh. Well that’s just lovely,” you huffed out.

“It’s certainly new.” Emily was turning a little green around the gills.

Evidently, your man had gotten bored of just sewing people’s eyelids shut. This guy had his eyes sewed shut, sure, but he was also cut in half. So that was fun.

“Do you see the dove?” You started scanning for it, knowing it would be present somewhere on the crime scene.

Emily found it first, lying a few feet away from your victim. She bent down to closer inspect the plastic bird, looking for any sign that the killer might have left behind a message or a fingerprint. No such luck.

“Okay, well we know this had to be time consuming, right?” You said.

“To sever a man’s spine? Yeah. That’s no easy task.”

“He’s escalating. Showing off. He’s laughing at us,” you mumbled, leaning over the body.

“I think he’s earned the right to. 5 kills in one week? That’s…”

“Not good.”

“I was going to say scary, but that works too.” Emily grimaced.

“Want to head back to the station? I don’t think we can gather much more from here. We’re better off waiting for the M.E.’s report.”

“Hmm…Sure you don’t have any other reason for wanting to go back to the station?”

“Like what,” you said airily.

“Really?” she said. “You don’t think I’ve noticed you’ve been missing your usual partner? It’s okay, honest. You’re not hurting my feelings any.”

You laughed a little bit, relieved that she had either not caught on to anything or had chosen to keep it to herself if she had.

“Hey, I think you make for fine company. That being said, someone has to watch Spencer. He’s losing his mind right now.”

“Yeah. Hotch had to stop him from throwing a book across the room yesterday.”

“Wait, really?”

“Our resident genius is coming a little unhinged.”

You sighed, beginning the descent down the hill.

“I’m worried about him,” you confessed.

“We all are. He’s taking these deaths too personally. I think he feels like it’s his responsibility to figure this guy out, like he’s the genius and he’s not doing his job or something.”

“He puts too much pressure on himself.”

“You can say that again.” Emily rolled her eyes, but her face quickly settled back into a worried frown. “He always has. This case is just difficult. No pattern with the victims, no obvious clues, and no clear connection between eyes, doves, and now being split in two. It’s just a little mystifying.”

You nodded, climbing into the passenger side of the car. Emily liked to drive, and you usually fell asleep in cars, so in that sense at least you were the perfect duo. You laughed at the thought that Hotch would have paired you up for that alone.

“Maybe something about this will make sense to Reid. Maybe this is the piece we’re missing,” you said.

“Yeah, maybe.”

Emily does not sound hopeful.

As soon as you got to the station you were making a beeline for the coffee machine. It was quite literally the only thing you could think about right now. Selfishly, you got your own coffee first, taking a couple of sips to get your brain and heart working in proper order. You definitely hadn’t been this dependent on coffee before you started this job.

Once you felt like you could be reasonably mistaken for a human being again, you made another cup of coffee, dumping a few cups of sugar in. Just how he liked it. You smiled to yourself, probably looking a little crazy. You had known how Spencer liked his coffee forever, but it just felt different now, more intimate somehow. Stupid human brain with its stupid human hormones.

Spencer was alone amidst an entire library’s worth of books. He was sitting surrounded by them on the floor, some of them stacked up around him, built up like a little castle. You tip-toed your way through the maze, heading towards the oblivious genius who clearly had his defenses and his drawbridge (the meager path you had carved for yourself) down.

“Spence.” Your voice was a soft echo in the room.

He jumped, turning around bewildered and bleary. You took in the site of him, the circles under his eyes that were moats of purple and the way his hands twitched like they were trying to turn a page or hold a shield he had misplaced. Gently, you smoothed out a stray piece of hair that was falling into his eyes.

“Brought you coffee,” you offered, shuffling around a few books to settle down on the floor next to him.

He relaxed, reaching out to take the cup.

“Find anything?” you asked.

“Nope. What about you? Hotch told me there was a new body this morning.”

“Yeah. This guy was chopped in half. We’re waiting on the M.E.’s report. Other than that, nothing new except for me almost losing my breakfast. Not cute.”

“I think you would have been very cute projectile vomiting over a corpse.” He grinned at you.

“Is that what you tell all the girls Dr. Reid?” You raised an eyebrow.

“No. Just you.”

“Hmmm…” You squinted at him playfully. “Then what do the other girls get that I’m missing out on?”

“What if I said there are no other girls?” He raised an eyebrow, but a hint of seriousness crept into his voice.

“Then I would say you’re a liar,” you whispered, leaning forward until your face was dangerously close to his.

“Don’t tempt me,” he said, voice low, eyes lower as they traveled well below your own.

“Oh, do magic tricks for me like one of your French girls, Spencer!” You feigned a swoon, one palm falling back onto a red leather-bound book to support you, the spine digging into the heel of your hand.

“Well, I could. Or I could return your hair tie.”

You glanced down at your free wrist, alarmed to find it hair tie free.

“How did you?”

He just smiled charmingly, pulling it out from behind your ear.

“I can think of other things you could do that with,” you suggested, waggling your eyebrows. “But seriously, how?”

“A magician never tells his secrets.”

“Yeah, well I wish they would start.” You soured again, thinking back to the case. “I would love to know how this guy sawed his latest victim in half.”

Spencer sat up rigid, eyes going blank as he thought faster than you could ever hope to process.

“Spence?”

“We need to get that M.E.’s report right now,” he said, standing and leading a one-man charge out of the hardbound, softcover castle he had built.

You followed behind him, scrambling to keep up. Unsurprisingly, you two ended up at the M.E.’s, who was mid-examination.

“Was the victim sawed in half?” Spencer said, not bothering with any niceties.

“He’s Dr. Reid, we’re with the FBI,” you clarified, confused where he was going with this.

“Umm…” The medical examiner looked a little bewildered but answered the question anyway. “As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure this was the work of a saw. Not an electrical one either. Very unusual. Probably took him a very long time to do.”

Reid spun around, heading right back to his books, leaving you to helplessly follow after tossing a hasty goodbye to the poor M.E.

“Spence, what is all of this about?” You asked once you had wended your way back to where you started.

“Don’t you see?” He asked, a slightly insane light to his eyes. “It all makes sense now. The dove, the saw, even the eyes. It all connects!”

“Spence, I think you need to maybe go lie down for a little bit.” You reached for something he could eat, spotting a box of donuts left half-empty on a table in the office space he had appropriated. “Why don’t you have a piece of bread and maybe you’ll calm down.”

“No, look,” he said, finding the crime scene photos amongst the shuffle of information he had acquired. “What do all of these things mean put together? How saws people in half? Who uses doves as part of their show?”

Finally, it clicked.

“Magicians,” you breathed, Spencer’s energy suddenly becoming contagious.

“Magicians!” He crowed. “Even the eyes make sense. It’s a taunt. ‘Now you see me, now you don’t.’”

“Because he always disappears!”

“Exactly!” Spencer pointed at you triumphantly.

“Okay. Now we just have to find a magician with a bone to pick,” You said, deflating slightly. “How hard could that be in a city of a couple hundred thousand?”

“Better go tell Garcia to start checking Fort Wayne’s yellow pages.”

“Yeah.”

As it turned out, it was apparently not that hard to find a magician with a grudge. For some reason, there were several in this city. However, only a few had the migratory pattern of your culprit, who had been clever enough to cross state lines. He had been playing a long, subtle game before he started to toy with you, but the eyes had always been the same, a very unique touch of his.

“Okay team,” Garcia said, bubbly as ever. “We have learned two things today. One, our guy is probably Larry Harlborrow, A.K.A. Axel Ranger, traveling magician who just so happens to have stopped by all of our unsub’s previous places of residence and stuck around for a while. Two, never trust a magician.”

“Hey!” Reid interjected.

“Never trust a magician whose name is not Spencer Reid,” Garcia amended over the phone.

“Better. Carry on.”

“Anyway, it looks like our guy’s stressor was a messy divorce with his wife. Apparently, the magic business didn’t make him a very good bread winner, and the multiple charges of domestic abuse weren’t exactly a winning point for him either. I suspect it was the latter though that caused her to leave him, taking sole custody of the kids and getting a very neat, tidy restraining order put up against him. More power to her, but that’s where we come to our trigger and coincidentally where our timeline of murder starts. But hey, I’m sure there’s no connection there, right?”

“Address?” Morgan asked.

“Oh, you know I’ve already sent it to your cell, sexy,” Garcia purred.

“Alright, well as grateful as we all are, I think it’s time to hang up while this call can still be called PG-13,” JJ said.

“Good luck my darlings!”

“Thanks baby girl.”

Thankfully for you, it was just a simple snatch and grab, and it was about time you had one. He was at home, so confident in his own skill he didn’t have the slightest inkling you would be interrupting his afternoon. Classic narcissist. The homicide was a fun twist, but you couldn’t call it original.

Morgan kicked down his front door and you burst through to where he was, disgustingly, in the middle of sawing in half another victim. His entire living room was coated in plastic sheets, the kind you draped over furniture if you were painting. You couldn’t say you liked the way blood red matched the rest of his décor.

“Hands in the air!” You shouted, aiming your gun.

For a moment he paused, saw still in his blood covered hands, victim well and truly dead before him. You couldn’t believe he was actually considering not giving himself up.

“Piece of advice? Don’t bring a saw to a gunfight,” Emily warned.

That seemed to be enough to snap him out of it, and slowly, he raised his hands in the air. You cuffed him, trying not to look at the body so close to you.

“Try slipping your way out of this one Houdini,” you growled before starting on his Miranda rights.

After safely stowing your mad magician into the back of a cop car, you made your way back to the station to pack up and get ready to go home. It had been a very, very long week. All you wanted was a shower and your soft, warm bed.

You fell asleep almost immediately getting into the jet, your head resting on Reid’s shoulder. You didn’t even care that the rest of the team was watching. This was innocent anyway, and they were all far too tired to care.

When you touched down, you were still so blurry you weren’t sure you could be trusted behind a wheel. Thankfully for you, Spencer noticed.

“I’ll drive Y/L/N home. I still have enough coffee in me for that I think,” he said.

“Okay. I’ve got Emily,” JJ said, supporting her equally sleeping friend.

Spencer bundled you into the car and once again, you were dead to the world for a while, until he was waking you up again to lead you into your apartment.

“Will you stay?” you asked, lazily fumbling for your keys and allowing him to open the door for you.

“Of course,” he said, tucking you under one arm and guiding you inside.

“That was such a long case,” you groaned, stretching out your limbs.

He nodded, setting his satchel down in your doorway.

“Yeah.” A beat. “I missed you.”

You felt everything in you soften at those words, a gasp of relief that it wasn’t just you who had been feeling like this.

“I missed you too. So much.”

He crossed the distance between the two of you in your tiny apartment, wrapping you up in his arms, and you breathed the scent of him in. There was something deeply comforting about this, about the soft material of his sweater and the tickle of his hair brushing against your nose. It was starting to get long again.

“You need a haircut.” Your voice was muffled by his shoulder.

You could hear the frown in his voice. “You don’t like it how it is now.”

“No, I do.” You reached up to play with the longer strands in the back. “Actually, I think you should keep it this way. If you change anything you might get sexier, and then I’ll never be able to focus on cases.”

“Hmm, maybe I will cut it then.”

“No,” you whined.

“I think you need to go to bed.”

He combed a hand through your hair and you sighed blissfully.

“Are you offering to take me to bed Dr. Reid?”

“Something like that,” he said, scooping you off of your feet.

You let out a surprised squeak, wrapping your arms around his neck. The alarmed beating of your heart woke you up a little bit more, enough so that your brain could process the full implications of the fact that Spencer could pick you up with ease. You filed that information away in your brain for future use.

You let him settle you down gently onto the mattress but refused to untwine your arms from where they rested. He tried to move away, but you stopped him.

“One kiss.” A soft, tired plea.

He hadn’t kissed you in a week, and you were starting to forget the way it felt. You never wanted to forget that, the absolute rush of it. Little did he know you had been obsessing over it, pining after him the entire time you had been on this case. You could still focus on your work, but you had always had him in the back of your mind somewhere, holding you, kissing you, making snarky commentary. At some point, Spencer had become an integral part of your life. Without him something important seemed to be missing in a way you couldn’t explain.

“One kiss,” he agreed, leaning down to brush his lips softly against yours.

A shuddery little sigh unwound in your lungs, fluttering out of your mouth to meet his, and in response he deepened the kiss. One hand cupped your face while the other buried itself in your hair, and you loosened your grip on his neck so that your fingers could trace his face. They danced across his features as his lips danced against yours.

You loved the way he kissed. Every time he did it, it was with his whole body. Like it was the only thing he was thinking about, like it was the only thing he would ever think about. The way he curved into you, the furrow of his brow that you traced with the tip of your finger. You almost wanted to open your eyes, to immortalize this moment, but you couldn’t. You were too absorbed by the feel of him.

All of the effort, the concentration that Spence put into his kisses paid off. He was absurdly good at it, stealing your breath away, making you forget that there was anything else in the universe. The flick of his tongue against your lower lip was positively indecent, and you arced into him, pulling him closer.

Disappointingly, he pulled away, breathing hard. You realized you were doing the same, having forgotten about paltry things like breathing while he was kissing you. He walked around to the other side of the bed, toeing his shoes off and coming to lay down beside you.

Gently, he laid a kiss on your forehead. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

“if only these treasures were not so fragile as they are precious and beautiful.” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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darkestwolfx · 5 years ago

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Up From the Depths P.2 - Re-Review #33

Look at that scenery! It gets me every time, I will be honest.

“This is Thunderbird One in immediate pursuit of The Mechanic.”

“I’ve got you Thunderbird One. Thunderbird Five is tracking you at a thousand metres and closing.”

“The TV-21... I haven’t seen it since I was a kid. It’s just as cool as I remember.”

“Please use caution, Scott. The Mechanic must be piloting remotely. That means he’s got nothing to lose.”

“Except Dad’s old plane he’s carrying.”

“Scott, there’s a safe area up ahead. You could knock out the TV-21 and bring down the plane with zero civilian causalities.”

“No way, Thunderbird Five. That plane belongs to us and I’m going to get i back in one piece.”

And that decision causes a load of problems - but had Scott not made that call, the episode would have been quite a bit shorter, and Scott probably wouldn’t have met Ned - and I wouldn’t have been able to write a fic about called ‘When Scott met Ned’, so I’ll go with it.

“Scott, when I designed the TV-21, you’re Dad wanted all the thrust I could give him. That booster is the most powerful I’ve ever built.”

“More powerful than Thunderbird One?”

“Well... yes.”

“Thunderbird One is going down!”

Grandma being able to give Scott those instructions makes a lot more sense now the whole series has aired. When we first saw this episode, I was a little bit like.. explanation please? (Because based on TOS Grandma; she didn’t seem the type to fly). But, it’s okay, they came through and gave it to us.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let the TV-21 out of my sight.”

We know you won’t John.

“Thunderbird Shadow moves fast and quiet. He won’t hear me coming.”

And another Kayo ‘I can totally manage a solo mission moment’. Yeah, remember one of the last ones? As in the nearly dying part (’Touch and Go’)? Clearly not. Is it just me, or is that getting a little bit repetitive and annoying now? I really found that Kayo had an attitude in this two-parter.

I for one, am very glad Grandma called in some assistance.

“Hello, Dear? Are you busy?”

“Never too busy for you, Mrs Tracy.”

“How would you like a second chance to get The Mechanic?”

“I’d enjoy it more than Parker likes complaining about the weather. Scotland, Parker.”

“Right haway, M’Lady. hOf hall the places to ‘ide hout ‘e picks the rainy hone.”

Parker, I’d like to claim that such might actually be me, down here n the South West coast. Hello, always rains down here... except it’s actually really nice right now. I claim it’s the lack of pollutants affecting the air quality and atmosphere. But’s that’s just one girl’s theory.

Look at his face, his poor little face. Thunderbird Four really is in a state though...

“What do you think?”

“I think we have a lot of work to do.”

Scott looks so sad, sat back at his dad’s desk, bless him. Knowing him he’s probably reliving the fact that he failed to get the TV-21 back. He’s always too hard on himself. Anyone else remember the events of ‘Recharge’? Virgil, come give him another talking to, please.

“I get that everybody loves the TV-21, but it’s just a plane.”

“It’s also a symbol of your Father’s determination. Ever since he was a boy, your Father dreamed he’d be the fastest pilot who ever flew.”

“So he and Brains built the TV-21?”

“It was beautiful! Dream come true!”

“Until The Hood crashed it.”

“But he didn’t crash his dream. Your Dad didn’t care about being fastest anymore. He only cared about being first. First on the scene when people need help. First to act when someone’s in trouble. And instead of one ship to do it all, he built five. The TV-21 was the beginning of International Rescue.”

“We need to get that plane back!”

That’s the spirit, Alan!

I’m loving all these scenes on Tracy Island in this episode just to say. Definitely another reason why it makes it into my favorites. It’s an episode which really succeeds in making the boys both human and heroes and I will endlessly love how well written this family was in this two-parter.

“What’s the situation, John?”

“The Mechanic’s craft has stopped over the GDF’s high security iridium vault. The GDF are responding now.”

Because we all know how well that will go down...

“All personnel have been evacuated, Colonel Casey. Except one.”

“Well get him out of there.”

“He said he won’t leave. He’s afraid of losing his job. Oh, and he told to say ‘Gladys won’t go either’.”

“What’s his name?”

I think we already know the answer.

“A crewman. Tedford. Ned Tedford.”

“Oh boy.”

Called it!

“No one’s stealing the world’ supply of iridium, Gladys. Not on our watch!”

That’s right everyone! It’s our favourite gold member of the Rescue Club! Ned Tedford and Gladys!

“Phew, Gladys. I thought we were in trouble there for a second.”

Yeah, Ned you kinda are... See I told you, never leave the GDF to handle things. I bet Colonel Casey is really regretting allowing Virgil to convince her to give Ned a “nice cozy desk job” with the GDF.

I love how Colonel Casey just says “there’s a worker inside” - she knew it was Ned, she could have told them it was Ned - it’s even more comical that she chooses not to.

“It’s never even been tested!”

“Brains, whatever it is, will it help us stop The Mechanic?”

“Conceivably.”

“Then we’ll take it!”

Good choice.

Maximum Max is a brilliant new development and one I think Alan really loves - it was like giving the kid more video games to play with. And it gave Scott a chain to go and rescue Ned! Hooray!

“It’s game time!”

Yeah it is! And just look at them go.

In my opinion, this goes down as Scott’s best ever entrance to a rescue.

“It’s International- Arrgh!”

*Has iridium thrown at him*.

Definitely the best entrance.

“Keep your dirty hands off this iridium!”

“Ned Tedford?”

“Oh, it’s you! Sorry about that!”

I think that was meant to be Scott’s line. And the fact Scott can reognise Ned (when we know Colonel Casey didn’t give a name - well, that we heard), means he must have been told a lot by his brothers. Or, that’s the assumption I’ve always made.

“Why am I not surprised? I need you to climb into the airlock.”

“No way! I was told to watch this iridium. I won’t let it be stolen!”

“Uh... it’s already been stolen, Ned. You do realise you’re in space, right?”

I mean, I would hope the floatiness gave that away...

“Hmm... That does explain the floatiness.”

Or apparently not. I am proven wrong. Again.

“But it does not change anything! I’m not going anywhere without this vault!”

And there is another decision that sets the path of the episode. If they could have just rescued Ned and Gladys... I can’t help wondering if they would have stood a better chance at recovering the TV-21, or if it still wouldn’t have made a big enough difference.

“Alan, we’re gonna’ have to retrieve the iridium as well.”

“Scott, that isn’t the mission!”

“It wasn’t, but it is now.”

Always listen to your field commander, Alan, and today that is Scott, and he’s made the call. Whatever you and I may think of it.

The International Rescue theme played on bagpipes was absolutely wonderful!

“hIt’s been cloned! That’s hone hof the ‘ood’s hold tricks!”

“Where do you think he got it from?”

That is a new one... Another thing to add to the list of connections between The Mechanic and The Hood, because that implies a more long term connection than we might have first thought.

And all I have to say here, is poor hAlice! May she rest in peace.

“But it’s Dad’s plane!”

“I know, Alan, but it’s not Dad.”

That quote, will always get me.

Remember what The Mechanic said about taking what he wants? Yeah, well he very nearly took Thunderbird Three down with the TV-21.

“Sorry Dad.”

I think he would always have rather had his sons, than his old plane, sad as it is to have been so close.

“The TV-21 was so close!”

“Dad really loved that plane.”

“Ah, in the end the TV-21 was just a bunch of steel and rivets. Your Father would never have risked failing a mission just to save it. What he really loved was us. All of us. His family.”

So, after all that, Thunderbird Four is fixed, and everyone has gathered together (even John) for a bit of well earned family time. Yep, there are hundreds of reasons to love these last two episodes.

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pixel3603 · 4 years ago

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Hiiii. I dont usually send asks but I see you post a lot about Star Trek and was wondering if youd mind suggesting a good place to start? (I've not seen any of it as my family are hard-core starwars stans) but looks like a cool show and I don't know where to begin

Okay first off oh my god, someone came to me for advice, thank you

Now, the actual advice (just in writing it I’ve realised how long it is, but you asked so...)

I’d start of with the original series, it’s, well, the original and you’ll get the main premise for the show, and be introduced to the grandad(s?) of slash fic, Kirk and Spock. (if that’s what you’re into you’re anonymous so I’m kinda covering all grounds) plus there’s Uhura and she’s awesome so, yeah.

Then I’d go with the next generation or deep space nine, both are set around the same time but DS9 is set a few years into TNG, so there’s that, both I’d say are regarded as ‘the best’ and if you read a few ‘all Star Trek shows ranked’ you’d probably see DS9 or TNG at the top.

If you want you could watch all of the animated series in a day as watching it all would take like, ~6 hours? The storylines are pretty cool but the animation is... ehhhh? Some scenes cause me physical pain but it has a certain charm to it only achieved by 70s cartoons.

If you want to buy the movies, I would, most of them are good, but ‘the final frontier’ really proves spaced’s line about every odd-numbered Star Trek movie being shit. The voyage home is probably my favourite movie of all time though.

I haven’t watched much of Voyager or enterprise but from what I have seen I can tell they aren’t as good as the others, so far voyager isn’t too bad, but I can’t vouch much for enterprise.

Lower decks is either loved or hated, personally I love it, it really takes the piss out of every aspect of Star Trek at once, but I’d definitely watch this one after watching most of the others as it has spoilers, so I’d watch TOS, TNG, the TOS movies (at least up to search for Spock, the third one) before watching it because you won’t get the references. Also there’s a reference to enterprise but you just need to watch the first episode and understand not many people like it unironically to get the reference (or any episode really, it references the theme tune)

With Discovery I’ve watched exactly 2 episodes and when I first watched it I turned it off straight away because the graphics are ‘too good’. What does that even mean? I haven’t watched Picard either but it looks good.

Also there’s AOS which is alternate original series which has three movies so far, and might get a fourth, I’m not sure, I know the second and third movies are included with prime but not the first one. I hope you like lense flairs.

So yeah, that’s my recommendations for Star Trek, all the series I mentioned apart from lower decks, Picard and AOS can be watched on Netflix (in the UK anyway, if you live somewhere else I’m not sure)

#star trek #asks #I hope this helps #dm me if you want any more help I guess

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antimatterpod · 5 years ago

Text

Transcript - 45. Affable Evil and the Chaos Agents

You can listen to this episode here!

[theme music]

Liz: Welcome to Antimatter Pod, a Star Trek podcast where we discuss fashion, feminism, subtext and subspace, hosted by Anika and Liz. Today we're joined again by Jules to discuss our favorite villains in Star Trek.

And, Jules, which villain made us think of you?

Jules: [laughs]

Anika: That's not a nice way to put it!

Jules: Apparently just -- well, you know what? I've made my peace with it. You just DMd me and were like, "Hey, what does it say that I immediately think of you when I hear the name "Dukat"? I'm like, oh, okay. Well, you know, I've made peace with it. It's all right.

Liz: Yeah. Yeah. And your mother may be disappointed in you, but I think it's great.

Jules: Deeply. Deeply. I love making fun of him! That, she appreciates.

Liz: Yeah, you're not one of those Dukat fans who's like, "The Occupation was great, and Dukat did nothing wrong, ever, in his entire life."

Jules: No, he did everything wrong. Always. Forever. Every single thing.

Liz: So when I suggested this episode, I kind of wanted to draw a distinction between villains as individuals who are, in some way, opposed to the goals and ethics of the main characters, versus, like, whole alien races, who are just enemies of the Federation, or Bajor, or whatever. So, like, Weyoun could be a villain, but not the Dominion as a whole, because that's just sort of faceless.

Anika: Mm.

Jules: Interesting.

Liz: And I love Weyoun as a villain, he's sort of the middle management of villainy.

Jules: Yes.

Liz: But I would have trouble calling the Borg villains, they're more of a force of nature.

Anika: That makes sense to me.

Jules: Yeah. That makes sense.

Liz: Like, coming off season 1 of Star Trek: Picard, I have trouble thinking of the Romulans, ever, as villains, so much as deeply misguided individuals with a terrible government.

Anika: [laughs] Correct.

Jules: I mean, you know, I think I emailed you a little after the -- what was it, the Qowat Milat were first introduced, and was like, you know, honestly, I've never quite been into Romulans because, when it comes to races who are enemies of the Federation, have totalitarian governments and extremely powerful intelligence machines, and a moderately successful dissident movement internally, the Cardassians will always come first in my heart.

Liz: Absolutely.

Anika: I think that's fair, but I think that explains why I don't care about the Cardassians as much?

Jules: Yeah. No, exactly!

Anika: Because my heart already belonged to the Romulans.

Jules: Exactly, you know? You're either a Romulan person or you're a Cardassian person. There's two types of people in the world.

Liz: But that doesn't mean that I don't find Cardassians interesting -- they're almost my favourite part of Deep Space 9. And the whole thing where Garak worked on Romulus as a gardener in the Cardassian embassy -- that's great! I love it when these two forces work together, and it actually turns out to be a real disaster.

Jules: Yes! That might have to be what we--

Anika: And my favourite villain is, of course, a Cardassian.

Liz: Yes.

Jules: Yeah!

Liz: So -- yeah, I didn't really want to get into "the Klingons!" I find the Klingons really boring as villains? I love them mainly as foils for Worf, or characters in their own right?

Jules: Yeah.

Liz: I love Worf, I just don't think the Klingons deserve him.

Jules: Aw. Yeah.

Anika: Well, I mean, the TOS Klingons are just painful. Don't watch those. You have to really be in the right place of, like, okay, this is going to be racist, and stereotypical, and awful. Okay, now I can just enjoy it as a piece of theatre. And that's okay.

Liz: And if you're in the mood for Shakespearian actors wearing brownface, the Kazon are right there.

Anika and Jules: [laughs]

Anika: The Kazon are no one's favourite. Can we just put that out there? No one sticks up for the Kazon.

Liz: No. No. I -- honestly, going through my season 2 Voyager rewatch, I realised that they had a lot of potential, and it could have been realised had the writers been less … racist?

Anika: Horrible?

Liz: Yeah. Yeah.

Anika: I mean, there is that whole episode where it turns out that they're the Bajorans of the Delta Quadrant, and it was like, oh, this is bad, guys.

Jules: Oh no.

Liz: Oh yeah.

Anika: This is really bad!

Liz: "Wow, these people freed themselves from slavery thirty years ago, and now they're really dysfunctional and aimless, and desperate to survive?"

Anika: I forgot it was thirty years!

Liz: "That definitely makes them bad guys!"

Anika: Oh my gosh, so bad.

Jules: [groans]

Liz: I think, honestly, in some ways, the biggest villains on Voyager were the writers.

Jules: [laughs] See, also, Picard?

Liz: Y-yeah. Yeah. So what makes a character succeed or fail as a villain?

Jules: Oh, interesting question.

Anika: That's a very interesting question. I think this is where I have to bring up that I did favourite villains in my Star Wars podcast, and it was extremely difficult for me.

Liz: Because you don't believe that half the characters are really villainous?

Anika: Yeah. So we were supposed to pick, you know, three to talk about. I could only come up with two. And we also -- first, we were, like, okay, how are we going to define this? And I came up with this great definition: a villain is someone who acts in opposition to the heroes. And then I did not use that as my basis at all. I added that they had to also be, like, completely villainous, and have no redeeming qualities as people. And that was the only they could be villains in my book, and that's why there are only two of them. And Darth Vader wasn't one of them.

Liz: I was gonna say, that's Palpatine and Count Dooku.

Jules: So you distinguish between villain and antagonist.

Anika: Um -- I guess? Yeah, I think that's word for word what I eventually said. But I just had to put that out there, that -- this was easier for me, because I had my favourite villain, and even though I totally believe that she has redeeming qualities, I also believe that she is a Tarkin-esque type who's really good at being a villain, and enjoys being a villain. And so--

Jules: She does.

Anika: --it was like -- I don't know. The Star Trek universe, it was easier. Even the villains that you guys put on the list, I could come up with reasons why they were villains, and they were good to talk about, and I was, like, into it. Whereas--

Liz: I think the difference is that, with Star Wars, we know that most of these villains were abused children, and their behaviour is a reflection of that. And so, without endorsing, say, burning down a village, to pick a random example, it's possible to put them in context. Whereas, you know, Gul Dukat probably had a really hard childhood, but he's still a douchebag.

Jules: Well, yeah.

Anika: Well, the thing is that he goes through a whole redemption arc, and decides not to be redeemed.

Liz: Yes!

Anika: There you go!

Jules: Honestly, that's -- even then, though, is it? Like redemption arc is probably -- even I'm like -- as someone who loves the character, even I'm like, redemption is … he becomes slightly less--

Anika: To be fair.

Jules: For a while, he looks like maybe he might become a little bit less terrible.

Anika: I guess it's more like, he was offered the opportunity.

Jules: Yeah.

Anika: He's offered the opportunity to go on a redemption arc, and chooses not to.

Jules: To do better. Yeah. And, I mean, I guess, for me, what I find interesting is that he totally does not realise he's a villain.

Liz: No!

Jules: I mean, that's what I -- honestly, I mentioned this on my blog, which is -- I was looking back and realising, okay, my favourite types of villains are generally, like, what TV Tropes calls "affable evil", where they don't, like, go out of their way to twirl their moustache. And generally, they're not gonna be jerks just because they're evil. They're generally often really nice people in a lot of ways, until you get in the way of their goal, at which point, they will do anything.

Liz: Yeah, yeah.

Jules: So, affable evil. Often, they have no idea they're the villain. They genuinely believe they're the hero of the piece, and they're probably completely obsessed with and possibly horny for the actual hero of the piece. And I was like, you know? The formative age at which I was watching Deep Space 9 may explain this.

Liz and Anika: [laugh]

Liz: It's such a good description of both Dukat and Lorca. And it kind of--

Jules: Yes!

Liz: --comes down to my thing, where my favourite type of villain is the one who really, truly believes that they're the hero. And yes, they're doing terrible things, but the ultimate goal is worth it. Even if the ultimate goal is, say, the long-term repression and ultimate destruction of the Bajoran culture, or taking the Terran Empire and making it even worse.

Jules: Making the Empire great again?

Liz: Yeah! And it's really -- I think the sort of villain who thinks they're the chosen one, and is sort of a legend in their own lunchbox, but is also a bit ridiculous? You know, Lorca is almost introduced telling dad jokes, and Dukat has this amazing, ridiculous obsession with Kira and Sisko, and would absolutely bone them both. And -- yeah, I find that sort of character really entertaining. I don't even necessarily want a redemption arc for that sort of villain, I just want to see them doing their thing, and being really shocked and amazed to learn that they're not succeeding just because of the magical power of their own charisma.

Jules: Yes. Yeah. Exactly. I mean, honestly, partly, for me, it's that I almost always -- redemption arcs very rarely, if ever, work for me. Like, the only one I can think of that I've really been, like, yes, this works for me, is Prince Zuko from Avatar.

Liz: He is only really a villain for two episodes, and then Jason Isaacs comes in, and we see him put in his place as a scared, victimised teenager. And that's the point where you realise, oh, there is more to this character than being a stroppy bad guy, and--

Jules: He lived in a really messed up culture, and was completely -- yeah. Yeah.

Liz: And -- to talk about Avatar for a moment -- I am very much on the Azula redemption train, but I would never even consider a redemption arc for, say, Ozai, because he doesn't want it. He thinks he's doing the right thing. He thinks he's entitled to take over the world and literally burn it down, and take his shirt off in the process because he's just that gorgeous.

Jules: You know?

Anika: So the character I chose as my favourite villain in Star Wars, after all of this, was Ben Mendelsohn's character in Rogue One? Orson Krennec?

Liz: Yeah!

Jules: Oh!

Anika: Which I think is exactly the type of person that you're talking about. And where I never wanted to see him redeemed, because he doesn't -- yeah, he absolutely doesn't know he's a villain. He thinks that he's doing everything correctly, and should get all of the acclaim, and is just angry at the world for not giving it to him.

Liz: Yeah!

Anika: And that's fun to watch.

Liz: Again, like Weyoun, he's the middle management of evil. And even some Weyouns can sort of -- I don't want to say redeem themselves? But he chooses to follow Odo instead of the rest of the Founders.

The other reason I don't really love having the Dominion as "a villain" is because there's so much genetic manipulation of everyone but the Founders that -- you know, how much does free will really tie into it? It's no fun hissing at a villain who has no choice.

Jules: Yeah. Honestly, a lot of the seventh and later sixth seasons of DS9, I'm like -- honestly, on my blog, I'm like, you know, you could make a drinking game out of my use of the phrase "missed opportunity" for the show.

Liz: Oh yeah!

Jules: But I'm really -- I feel like you could have stretched the Dominion War arc out by at least another season, and really given a lot more characters the opportunity to come into their own. You know, including Ezri, and that's a whole other story, but -- yeah. I'm just, like -- I mean, I was thinking about this earlier, as well, about, you know, you have entire races who are villains, versus, like, individual characters. And where do you kind of draw the line there, of sort of generic villains who are -- they're from this race, so they must be evil. Which is the Ferengi, actually, for all of Next Gen.

Anika: Yeah. Right.

Liz: And what a great subtext that is!

Jules: Oof! Yes. As I've mentioned.

Liz: That's kind of why I don't really have many favourite villains from Voyager, because the nature of the series means we don't really get to dig in deep with any cultures. So we only see a handful of individuals. And they're usually hostile, and usually they have good reasons for being hostile, but we don't get to see beyond that.

Anika: Right.

Jules: It's sort of [like the] Original Series in that regard, really.

Liz: Yeah, yeah!

Anika: Yeah.

Liz: I feel like the closest TOS comes to a returning villain, aside from "the Klingon Empire" is Harry Mudd. And he's no one's favourite anything.

Jules: He's Harry Mudd's favourite!

Liz: It's true, it's true, and my friend Aristofranes wrote that excellent fic where he and Lorca go on a heist.

Jules and Anika: [laughs]

Jules: I like mirror!Mudd, in the comics--

Liz: He's such a nice man!

Jules: The mostly forgettable, like, we'll forget the last few pages of it, tie-in comic in the mirror universe.

Liz: You know, as with so much of Discovery, I just stopped paying attention after they killed Cornwell.

Jules: Yeah. Fair! That seems reasonable.

Anika: Yep.

Jules: I mean, the mirror universe, though, speaking of that -- I guess we can get to Lorca from that, some more, but mirror -- I feel like, again, missed opportunities, but mirror!Kira, who I feel like was introduced as a -- basically DS9, the first mirror universe episode was pretty serious. And then the rest of them got -- they just went ridiculously campy. And initially, though, I'm like, oh, when she's first introduced to mirror!Kira, I'm like, the Intendant is Dukat, basically.

Liz: Yeah!

Jules: And I'm like, this is -- it adds a whole other layer of creepiness and grossness on top of their relationship, that every time, now, Kira looks at him, she not only has, you know, the leader of the -- the mastermind of the Occupation in her lifetime, but also gets to see, "Oh, there but for the grace of the Prophets go I," basically, of, "How little would it have taken for me to become this person?" And, yeah, I'm just like, they're -- yeah, mirror universe and Lorca got me thinking of that. I'm like, oof, you know, talk about your missed opportunities there with the mirror universe, for villains and -- yeah.

Liz: And seeing how circumstances shape a person, and that, for all that Michael sort of bucks Federation society in a lot of ways, she is still very much of the Federation, the same way her counterpart appears to have been of the Terran Empire.

Jules: Yeah.

Liz: I have a lot of feelings about the mirror universe, because I've always been a fan of it, and I really disliked what DS9 wound up doing with it after that first episode.

Jules: It was a shame.

Anika: Yup.

Liz: Yeah. So I was so glad when Discovery made it scary again.

Anika: It's serious.

Liz: Yes! And I find it interesting when people say that there is no possibility of redeeming Philippa Georgiou because she's basically Dukat, and in certain fanboy circles, this leads to an argument about who is worse, and they're very keen on defending Dukat. [huge sigh]

Jules: Noooooooo.

Anika: Of course they are.

Jules: No.

Liz: And, I have to say, as someone who enjoys a good redemption arc, I don't know if that's really what we're getting with Georgiou, or if she is just channelling her ruthlessness--

Jules: I hope not, honestly?

Liz: --in different directions.

Jules: Yeah. And honestly, I feel like that's more interesting to me. And I can see, actually, the Dukat comparison in some regards, in that she is, you know -- even more than he was, actually, because he was just some bureaucrat, really, he was not the head of the government, and she was. But also -- and we've talked about this a little -- it was intentional on the writers' part that the main difference, they said, between Georgiou and Lorca was that Georgiou listened to Michael when she said -- like, Michael told him all throughout that, "I am still Federation at heart." And he was like, "Yeah, okay, fine, whatever."

Liz: "Sure you are, honey."

Jules: And Georgiou listened to her, and was like, "Okay, fine." And that was the main difference between them, that Georgiou actually listened to her where Lorca did not. And I'm like, that's not really -- that doesn't feel like an accident, that it's a woman of colour who's saying that, and listened to the other woman of colour, and the white man kind of says, "Yeah, sure."

Anika: Talks over them.

Jules: Yeah, exactly. And I'm like, you know? Yeah.

Anika: He's shown not to listen to either of them.

Jules: Yeah, exactly.

Liz: One of the consistent things about Lorca is that all of his relationships with women are ultimately manipulative and dismissive, and it starts with Michael, and Landry, and Cornwell, and then more Michael, and Philippa. He is not Respect Women Guy.

So, yeah, I don't know that Philippa would even want to be quote-unquote "redeemed". But I think she is open to having more flexibility in her priorities? And I think part of her does enjoy being the bad advice bear of the Federation.

Jules: Yeah.

Liz: But also being safe.

Jules: Yeah!

Anika: I was gonna say, I see her story as more of a survival story than a redemption arc. Like, she has had to be on guard her entire life. And the higher up in rank she got, the worse it became, and the more people were after her. And then the two people closest to her betrayed her. And now this is sort of, like, this -- it's a second chance to live the life she wanted to live.

Liz: Yeah.

Jules: You know, as you're saying this, you know what the best DS9 comparison would be to Georgiou? It's Garak, I feel like.

Liz: I was -- yeah!

Anika: Yes! And I don't think that he is a "hero", quote-unquote.

Jules: No.

Anika: He's much more -- he's maybe not a villain, but he's much more anti-hero, dark side, than he is--

Jules: I mean, honestly, there's this wonderful essay -- but basically it characterises -- and in retrospect, that's exactly what it is -- the dynamic as everyone else kind of dragging Garak toward decency. In terms of his quite-unquote "redemption arc". It's everyone else being, like, "Okay, well, we're gonna treat you like one of us, even though you're not," and he's just constantly, like, "No. No." And kind of testing the boundaries. And they're like, "Okay, well, you can do that all you want, but we're still gonna treat you like one of us." And eventually, sort of, in spite of himself, he ends up having a redemption arc, or something close to one, something approaching one, maybe?

Anika: He starts making better choices.

Jules: Mm hmm.

Liz: Yeah, no, that's perfect. And, like Georgiou, he's a chaos agent. He pokes and pulls to see what happens some of the time, and sometimes what happens is, he winds up torturing Odo! But no hard feelings, they're gonna have lunch next week.

Jules: Well, you know what, honestly, Odo -- because Odo's a collaborator. I mean, that's a whole other story. But, yeah.

Liz: Odo is the worst dot Tumblr dot com. But also, I like that they wind up friends because Odo was tortured by Garak -- because it's so alien, and they are aliens. I wouldn't buy it if they were both human characters, if even one of them was a human character, but they're not! And so it tells us something about them, and who and what they are, and that's cool.

Jules: Yeah. Honestly, yeah. And I really like -- and it sets them up, like, that episode explicitly sets them up as parallels of each other. I mean, the end of the episode is Garak talking to Odo, and you never actually see Odo as they're saying, "We should have breakfast together more often." It's Garak in the ruins of his shop, and you only see Odo in the mirror, as a reflection in the mirror. I'm like, wow. That's one of those things where I'm like, oh, bless you, Star Trek, that's so on the nose, and I love it.

Liz: Right! It's like, in Picard, when the camera shows him with the Locutus face superimposed. That is not subtle, but I love it.

Anika: [laughs]

Jules: I love it! It was -- yeah. No. We could do a whole episode just on that, the non-subtle moments that we love.

Anika and Liz: [laugh]

Liz: I think that character-dragged-kicking-and-screaming-into-becoming-a-better-person is the arc that I really, really wanted for Seska, and I just blogged "Basics" part 2, and so I'm freshly angry all over again, after twenty-four years, about how she was killed off, and how her whole arc went. Because it made no sense whatsoever. And she was such a great character! And unlike most of the female villains in Star Trek, she wasn't sexualised, even when she's doing ridiculous MRA-fantasy things--

Anika: Sexy stuff.

Liz: --like stealing Chakotay's DNA and impregnating herself with it.

Anika: Ugh.

Liz: Like, she was such a great foil for both Chakotay and Janeway, the same way Dukat matches both Kira and Sisko. Just -- missed opportunities.

Anika: So I watched "Worst Case Scenario", because I wanted to end on a high note going into this. Not on "Basics" part 2. But in "Worst Case Scenario", it's proven that Seska, you know, had Tuvok's game before Tuvok was afraid of her. And it's just so good! And a year after she's died, she's still causing problems on the ship and could blow it up.

Jules: God, yes.

Anika: And almost does, you know, almost succeeds. And that's just, you know, it was like, that was a better send-off for the character I wanted her to be.

Jules: Absolutely.

Anika: I think that--

Liz: But I'm--

Anika: Go ahead.

Liz: Oh, I'm just -- when I think about Seska staying on board, and, you know, messing with Janeway's head, and Chakotay's -- and then Seven of Nine's! Like, there were so many potential good stories here.

Jules: Lord.

Anika: Like, you know "The Voyager Conspiracy", when Seven of Nine starts doing all of these algorithms in her head, and realises everybody--

Liz: Yeah?

Anika: So, imagine the version of that story where, halfway through, she goes and lets Seska out of her quarters that she's been, like, imprisoned in the entire time. It would be so good!

Jules: Good Lord, yes.

Liz: I'm just thinking about that episode, and realising what a perfect match Seven and Raffi are. Just give me a minute here.

Anika: Awwww!

Jules: Yes!

Liz: Oh! They can set up a conspiracy wall in their quarters, it'll be so nice.

Jules: With Elnor just kind of hanging around outside, like, "What do you need, Mom? Moms?"

Liz and Anika: [laugh and sigh happily]

Liz: Anyway.

Anika: I've considered Seska for too many hours of my life, and so I can explain all of her terrible choices that she makes, and how she traps herself in her own horrible ending because of all the terrible choices that she makes. And how it all comes down to -- even though we're not calling the Cardassian race a villain -- being raised within the Cardassian race, and the Cardassian culture, is definitely responsible for everything that Seska does.

She is both -- like, she can't respect Janeway because she's pure Federation, but also because she's a woman, and she also is afraid of Janeway for those reasons.

Liz: That's interesting.

Anika: And so she runs away to the Kazon, somewhere where she understands the rules of the game, because they're very patriarchal, and they're very -- you know, and she knows how to manipulate people within that place. And she doesn't know how to do it on Voyager.

Jules: You know, it's interesting that you bring that up, because what I've noticed, and what's really interesting to me, on DS9, is that, yes, Cardassian society seems to have these very strict gender roles. Men are good at military, and honestly, emotional stuff, it seems like. There's famous Cardassian architects, and artists, and stuff, and their military readers. And women are good at science, and engineering, and in some ways it's just like, okay, got it, it's an inverse of western human stereotypes.

Liz: But still a patriarchy!

Jules: But the Obsidian Order is largely both. We see a lot of men--

Anika: yes, it's true.

Jules: --We see a lot of women. Like, a lot of -- fairly mixed gender, actually. Like, it's not -- there's some women, there's some men. I find that interesting, especially watching, like, Picard, where it's like, you've got the -- the Tal Shiar were introduced to it in a Troi episode.

Liz: Right, they were very feminist.

Anika: Yes, they definitely are.

Jules: Yeah, the Tal Shiar, let alone the Zhat Vash, we learn about later, and the Qowat Milat, who seem to be largely, if not entirely, female. I find it very interesting that the Obsidian Order, then, seems to be fairly mixed gender, and oddballs of all genders, maybe.

Liz: It's sort of the place where, in a repressive society, your weirdos and outliers have an outlet, but are also watched very closely.

Jules: Which is very much the early history of the CIA, honestly.

Liz: Yeah!

Jules: Like, if you look at the OSS, the predecessor to the CIA, it was very much, like, weirdos, circus acrobats, and people who could do weird puzzles, and it was just -- it was all sorts of weirdos. Yeah, to some extent, it's like, well, you know what? They can come up with crazy stuff, let's have them working for us, and this way we can keep an eye on them as well.

Liz: Right! Yes.

Anika: Yes.

Liz: I find that really interesting, and contrasting the Tal Shiar against the Obsidian Order is sort of my new hobby.

Jules: Yes. Oh, there's plenty of that. Honestly, I'm like -- I'm going off track a little here, but I get a little annoyed by everyone, Chabon included, saying, like, "Well, we couldn't really fit DS9 into Picard."

Liz: I know!

Jules: I'm like, uh, you know, if nothing else, I'd like to know about how the Founders -- or how the Tal Shiar survived the battle of the Omarian Nebula, which is said to be the equivalent of Wolf 359 for them. I would love to know about Subcommander T'Rul. DS9 did a lot with the Romulans, and excuse me, you know who the one person, at least one person in the Federation wasn't totally lauding Picard as a hero after "Best of Both Worlds" was, it was Sisko! I'm like, uh, you know, I feel like there's stuff there!

Anika: I think that it would have been less disingenuous for them to just say, "We chose not to, maybe next season," or something. Rather than, "We couldn't fit it in." It just seems like, "Oh, we really, really wanted to, we tried." I mean, that sounds just like the cat and Elnor. You didn't try hard enough if it didn't get into the show!

Jules: Yes!

Anika: So stop whinging and--

Jules: Bring in DS9--

Anika: --just admit that you didn't do it.

Jules: Oh, come on, Siddig and Robinson would totally be into some kind of arc where you finally have Garak and Bashir get together.

Anika: Absolutely!

Liz: Right!

Jules: And, you know, Laris and Zhaban totally know Garak. Come on.

Anika: Exactly! There's so many little ways that you could have had this sort of domestic idea of seeing Deep Space 9 people, and yet, totally with the plot of spies and disenfranchised people. It's like, hello! That's what Deep Space 9 is about!

Jules: Come on. Yeah.

Liz: We could have literally visited the station, and seen how it looks, you know, twenty, thirty years later, and -- are there more Federation elements in its design? Are there more Bajoran elements in its design? How is Bajor changed by being part of the Federation?

Jules: They literally were like, "Let's take Agnes to DS … 12." I'm like, there was just enough of a pause. And I'm like, screw you. Screw you! Especially after they had a couple -- they had, like, two different lines connecting Rios to Deep Space 9. And then a third, that I was like -- no, they had one -- yeah, they had a bunch of different lines connecting Rios to DS9. And I was like, you're just teasing me at this point. I'm mad. I'm mad about it. And I'm like, oh! Like, I get it, on the one hand, okay, DS9 is very self-contained compared to some other Treks. But also--

Liz: It is, but if you're going to bring back a Voyager character as obscure as Icheb, then you can do more than just shout out "Mr Quark of Ferenginar".

Jules: Yeah. Exactly. And I love Quark. Honestly, [he's] like [an] anti-villain, in some regards.

Liz: That reminds me! When I was in grade nine, we had a thing in English class, where it was like, "Name a villain in television or books!" And one of the three Nicoles in my class mentioned Quark. And I was like, (a) that is OUTRAGEOUS, Quark is NOT a villain, he is … Quark! These days I'd call him an antagonist, I don't think I knew that word then. Maybe I learned it in that lesson.

But the other thing was that this particular Nicole was very, very cool, and I was like, "How does someone that cool know about Star Trek? I wish I had the courage to talk to her. I really like her purple hair, and we go to the same church, maybe we shave some stuff in common." Never actually spoke to her.

Jules: If you're out there somewhere, listening, Nicole, come on, get in touch and explain the mystery of how you know that!

Liz: And also, I really liked how your purple hair faded into silver, it was very cool. Yeah, Quark is not a villain, but at the same time, he does truly egregious things, and kind of gets away with them.

Jules: Yeah.

Liz: I'm thinking, not just of that time he sold weapons to a terrorist organisation, but stuff like, uh, making a pornographic holosuite program based on Kira.

Jules: Yeah! Which is--

Anika: He's definitely involved in more than one murder plot.

Jules: Yeah. And it's -- I mean, I've gone into this rant so many times personally, and on my blog, and everywhere. I'm just, like, if Quark is a collaborator, which Kira says at one point, she's like, "I don't trust you because you're a collaborator." I'm like, if Quark is a collaborator--

Liz: So is Odo.

Jules: --why isn't Odo? And why aren't we treating Odo with the same amount of suspicion that we're treating Quark?

Liz: Right.

Jules: And I'm just, like, you know? And Quark, honestly, a lot of this is down to Armin Shimmerman's performance. Because he really just elevates this character--

Anika: Oh, absolutely.

Jules: --who could have been just -- yeah, just such a caricature, and so one-note and ridiculous, and manages to kind of -- yeah, give him a lot of depth.

Anika: All three of the Ferengi are kind of amazing, in that you go into Deep Space 9 thinking the Ferengi are a one-note joke at best--

Liz: And a pretty offensive joke, at that.

Anika: --and offensive, and racist, and antisemitic, and horrible at worst. But all three of them raise those characters to something amazing. You can start rooting for them, even if you acknowledge that they -- especially Quark is on the wrong side on more than one occasion.

Jules: Yeah. And yet--

Anika: He's someone that you root for, and that you care about, and you become invested in.

Liz: And through them, you know, all of the other Ferengi that they deal with become more interesting. Ishka, the Nagus, Brunt.

Anika: Yeah, absolutely.

Jules: Yeah. I'm like, honestly, we could do a sequel to your Mother's Day episode just talking about Ishka, I feel like.

Liz: Ohhhhhhhh. The thing with Quark's villainy is that I just kind of wish there had been, like, a jail set, and occasionally Quark is in prison, and there's a subplot about him … I don't know, trying to turn a profit smuggling contraband, or sneaking access to the guards' replicator which produces better rations. Something like that. And it's one of those things where I think Babylon 5 looked at what Deep Space 9 was doing and went, "Yeah, nah." Because that one had a whole arc about a character -- a regular -- doing something terrible and then spending half a season in prison for it.

Jules: I mean, that is kind of what they did with Garak? They just skipped over the prison part, and suddenly he shows up. He attempts to commit genocide and gets, you know, six months in prison.

Liz: Oh, that zany Garak!

Jules: Whoops!

Liz: They did it with Kasidy, too--

Anika: I was going to say, Kasidy--

Liz: --with her involvement in the Maquis.

Anika: Kasidy had to go to prison.

Jules: Kasidy -- I don't know. See, Kasidy, I'm kind of like, ugh, she wasn't smuggling weapons, she was smuggling, like, medical supplies. And she kind of knew it was the Maquis, but she was like -- it was sort of like an "I'm not asking a lot of questions" situation, and it was medical supplies, I dunno. Honestly, I'm like, I get why, and I don't object to the arc of having Sisko's girlfriend -- but also, I'm like, ehhhh, I don't consider that really villainous.

Liz: You feel like she needs a better lawyer, and also it's kind of weird how black women get much heavier sentences when white men do much worse things?

Jules: Yeah, isn't it weird.

Liz: Yeah, it's so strange.

Anika: So weird.

Jules: Garak gets six months for attempted genocide, and Kasidy gets at least that for smuggling medical supplies to ex-Federation colonies that might be associated with the Maquis.

Anika: And also, the Maquis are not exactly unsympathetic.

Jules: I mean, that's sort of the point of those episodes.

Liz: Yeah! This is why I don't really buy the argument that Star Trek -- that Deep Space 9 is the only non-racist Star Trek.

Jules: Yyyyyyyyyyeah.

Liz: Like, it had its issues as much as anyone else, if not more so, purely because of the opportunity of having more people of colour.

Jules: And it did pretty well in a lot of regards.

Liz: Oh yeah!

Jules: Especially compared to other Star Treks. But that's not the same as being free of all issues.

Liz: It's still an all-male and nearly all-white writing room. And I'm pretty sure the only man of colour in there was Naren Shankar, who is Indian-American, not African-American, and so has different experiences. No shade on Shankar, I like him, but--

Jules: Oh no. God, yeah. The Expanse is, like, the only sci-fi series my dad admits to liking.

Anika: Awww!

Liz: It's just so good!

Jules: I'm like, Mom! And my mom has watched Star Trek from the beginning. I'm like, Mom, you married a man who doesn't like science fiction. She's like--

Liz: I love The Expanse, but I could never do a podcast about it, because it's so good.

Jules: Yeah. No, absolutely.

Liz: We couldn't have this conversation about The Expanse.

Jules: No, yeah, absolutely.

Anika: Sorry, now I'm just trying to come up with topic ideas for The Expanse.

Liz: [laughs]

Anika: Sorry!

Jules: Yes!

Liz: Okay, I do think that its treatment of Naomi is not as good as the books, and particularly in that season where she disagrees with everyone, and they treat her like sit for most of the season?

Jules: Agreed.

Liz: That was terrible, and also subtextually bad. And I don't like the decision to combine the characters of Drummer and -- oh shoot. Michio Pa. Because I love Michio and I love Drummer, but Michio's role in the books is going to diverge pretty heavily from Drummer's. Anyway. That's The Expanse.

Anika: Julie Mao deserved better.

Liz: Yeah. Julie Mao always deserves better.

Jules: Oh yeah. Yeah. I mean, in fairness, I feel like that's one of the points of the books.

Liz: Yeah, particularly the later books, but the first one is such a straight-up fridging that it's just depressing.

Jules: Yeah. No, that's what I enjoy about them, though, that later they're like, yeah…

Liz: Oh yeah, I love seeing the writers grow and improve, and their characters becoming more diverse and more complicated. And I think -- I have never seen men write an abusive relationship from the woman's point of view as well as they wrote Naomi and what's his face. The guy who needs a punch. Like, that -- seeing these guys level up is absolutely remarkable.

Jules: Yes.

Liz: Back to Star Trek.

Jules: I mean, Shankar got his start on Star Trek.

Liz: Right, it's totally on topic.

Jules: It's a reasonable transition.

Liz: I was going to say that, until Narissa came along, I would have said that Star Trek was mostly past sexualising its female villains? Like, there's Georgiou, but I wouldn't say she's objectified.

Jules: Yeah, no. She's gorgeous and sexy, but it's sort of incidental.

Liz: Yeah, even the scene where she sleeps with the two sex workers, and we see her in her uncomfortable-looking leather corset, like, it didn't feel exploitative. Whereas Narissa -- I feel like--

Jules: Yeah.

Liz: --the writing for Narissa and Narek really dropped the ball. We could have seen them as people sooner, and we didn't.

Jules: And what frustrates me, especially with Narissa -- and honestly, there's an episode of DS9 where I feel the same way about this, where I'm like, this is a great episode that explores the complexity of this, and it should have happened sooner. But, like, when we find out with Narissa that her aunt, the woman who raised them--

Anika: Ramdha.

Jules: --was -- that Ramdha, that her Auntie Ramdha, was assimilated, and was also initially going to be part of the Zhat Vash, and didn't, or maybe did survive the Admonition, it's not totally clear that she totally made it through unscathed -- I'm like, you know, this is really interesting, what you're doing with her here, with Narissa, and it should have happened a lot earlier.

Anika: Yeah. So I recently -- I didn't rewatch the series, but I was watching all of the episodes in order to get clips for my vids. And it's the episode after -- so I guess it's like the fourth episode, the episode after the cell scene with Ramdha and Soji happens, where Ramdha tries to kill herself and Soji saves her, and then she's in a coma for the rest of the series.

So the next episode, Soji is with Ramdha in a scene that very much parallels the later scene with Narissa. And Narek surprises her there, and she's like, "Are you following me?" And he says, "No."

And I was like, oh my God, I believe him! He's just checking on his aunt!

Jules: Awwww!

Anika: And I wish I had known that! I wish that their stuff was introduced before that, so that it wasn't like this afterthought. You know, going back, I have this realisation, because now I'm just like, oh! So, yeah.

Jules: You know, it comes back, I think, to Chabon not being a television writer, first and foremost. Because I could see that being the kind of thing you sort of hint at over a hundred pages or so.

Liz: Yeah.

Jules: And then rereading, and being like, oh, yeah, I see what you're doing there.

Anika: Right.

Jules: But on a TV show, you don't have the room to kind of hint at that here and there, and then come back to it later, when you actually get a scene with these characters -- one of these characters, even -- and Ramdha, and be, like, oh, I see. Yes.

Liz: It's the same with Narek's throwaway line in the very final episode, that he's a Zhat Vash washout. It would have been really nice to know that, like, episodes and episodes ago.

Jules: Yeah.

Anika: I was saying that, like, Narek and Narissa both finally get actual characterisation in the very end of the plot, and I feel like -- I still feel like it's partially some kind of -- they were trying to trick us into hating them, and then were like, "Oh, don't hate them!" And it's like, no, you're just -- this is not good storycraft.

Liz: Right.

Anika: This is not working.

Liz: And I think setting out to trick your audience is bad writing. You can set out to surprise your audience, but tricking them is not playing fair.

Jules: I should be able to go back and rewatch, and be, like, oh, okay, I see X, Y and Z clues now.

Anika: Like in The Good Place. The Good Place does it well.

Liz: I was going to say, like season 1 of Discovery, when everything Lorca is doing makes sense, and suddenly you see him doing so many things at once, and they're all creepy.

Anika: That's true.

Jules: And I remember, initially, I think, Liz, you may have been the one who linked me to, initially, the theory that Lorca was from the mirror universe.

Liz: Oh, was I?

Jules: Maybe! I don't know. I heard it somewhere, and I think you were the main person I was talking to about it.

Liz: Huh!

Jules: There was this theory that Lorca was from the mirror universe. And I was, like, that's weird. And I guess I kind of see where they're getting it, but I don't know. And this was during the hiatus between the first half and second half of the seasons, and I was like, that is weird, that is reaching, I dunno. And then the first episode of the second half of the first season happened, and I was like, I'm onboard. You know what? Suddenly I see it. And I was totally wrong about his motivations, but even then, at that point, I was like, yep, I see it and I buy it.

Liz: I remember seeing that theory around, like, from about the mid-point of the first half of the first season. And I didn't really care for it, because I felt like, obviously Ash is a Klingon, and we can't have two imposters, that's ridiculous!

Anika: [laughs]

Liz: But also, I felt like Lorca was just a straight-up Starfleet captain who is broken by trauma, and this is like the crew's perspective on that old TOS story of the captain who goes crazy and declares himself a god, or whatever.

Jules: Which is also -- I mean, you say TOS, but also TNG. I mean, that's basically the plot of -- dammit, what's that episode? The first one with the Cardassians.

Liz: Yeah!

Jules: I mean, it's that one. And I've said, that's "Battle at the Binary Stars". "The Wounded"! Like, if someone had intervened.

Liz: And part of why Lorca works so well as a villain is that all the clues are things that we, as a society, are trained and programmed to overlook and forgive. "Oh, he's manipulative? Oh, he treats women badly? Oh well, he's just, you know, he has a lot of pain."

Jules: "He's damaged."

Liz: "He'll get better." Yeah. And I was totally wrong, and I own that.

Jules: Even us, misandrist as we are!

Liz: Right!

Jules: Reasonably misandrist.

Anika: I think that I really appreciate Lorca's story as a story, and as plot, and as -- I appreciate it. And I love it, I love the fact that Lorca ends up the villain in the end. But I end up not liking Lorca, either as a villain or as not-a-villain? Just end up being like, oh, so he's--

Jules: I get exactly what you mean.

Anika: It's this weird thing, where, because I was sort of on his side up unto a point, and then he become a monster -- and completely a monster. He has -- "Oh, if you were hoping for me to now move into my -- I've become better by being in the Federation for six months," that's not gonna happen.

Jules: Yeah, they basically swap him for Georgiou.

Anika: Right. Which is great for the story. But for him as a character, I no longer care about him.

Liz: I just transferred all of my feelings about Lorca to the version of prime!Lorca that exists only in my head. And the good news is that he sort of seems to match up with other people's versions, so I feel like I'm on the right track. And it doesn't look like Discovery's doing anything with that character anymore, so he's mine, now.

Jules: I mean, this sounds like -- I think you prompted me, and I have so many scenes written, of the fic where prime!Lorca gets dumped on DS9, and he and Kira prime end up kind of together. And I'm like, yes. And, well, the way I'm writing it is that he ends up -- well, at this point in the mirror universe's timeline, Bajor has been conquered by the Terran Empire. And so, presumably, it would not be difficult, out at the edge of Empire space, if they were trying to go into hiding for mirror!Michael, who is associated with the rebellion, and prime!Lorca, who she has realised is not her Lorca, and needs to get to protection because he's relatively innocent, to end up hitting the wormhole.

Liz: And, whoops, time travel.

Jules: Exactly!

Anika: [laughs]

Jules: And, you know, the Prophets are like, yeah, sure, whatever. Let's dump 'em out anywhere. Anywhere, any time.

Liz: I feel like the Prophets do a lot of things for the lols. And, actually, coming back to our regular topic, I can't remember who it is, but one of my friends has my theory that the ultimate villains of the Star Trek universe are the Prophets.

Jules: Oh yeah! I mean, this comes back to -- honestly, I think when we were discussing this episode, Anika, you sent a list of, like, villains in Star Trek.

Anika: Yeah, a hilarious list.

Jules: And one of them was God!

Anika: One of them was God.

Liz: [laughs]

Anika: It was great.

Jules: As a Jew, during Passover, I'm like, yeah. God's a villain.

Liz: It's Good Friday, I can get behind that. But yeah, the reason that I would argue that the Prophets are the villains -- well, villainous, if not the ultimate villain, is the whole thing with Sarah Sisko, where they just straight up possess and have impregnated this human woman. And, again, the all-male writing room doesn't seem to realise what they've done?

Anika: No, no, yeah. They absolutely do not.

Jules: Yes! Although what's interesting -- my roommate, Mindy, who I introduced to Star Trek, and got into it via Discovery, and I was like, if you like Discovery, maybe try DS9 next. And is now super into Star Trek. She was like, "Hey, so," as we were going through DS9 together, she was like, "Hey, so what if -- bear with me here -- what if Sisko's mother was a Prophet?"

Liz and Anika: [laugh]

Jules: And I was like, "Mindy! Are you Catholic, by any chance?"

Liz: [laughing in Catholic]

Jules: Yeah, I'm like, of course, the lapsed Catholic in the apartment is like, "Hey, so is Sisko's mom a Prophet?" I was like, yep. Yep. Because God's a jerk!

Liz: The difference is that the angel asked. Like, the Prophets--

Jules: That's true!

Liz: Prophets are not very much into consent.

Jules: Prophets don't.

Liz: The irony is that, in Star Trek V, God is a pretty disappointing villain.

Anika: [laughs] I know.

Jules: yeah!

Anika: He really is.

Jules: Honestly, makes a better character in the Futurama episode where Bender is like, "Unless you're NOT God, but the remains of a computerised probe that collided with God!"

Liz: I've seen that movie, too.

Jules: Honestly, that's a great episode. It's one of my favourites of Futurama. It's brilliant.

Liz: Man, it has been so long since I watched Futurama.

Jules: It's so good.

Liz: Can I ask -- Anika, I think it was you who added General Chang to our list, and I'm a bit miffed, because you both had your own villain, Seska and Lorca. And then I was going to choose General Chang, and you STOLE him from me!

Anika: You SAID that Lorca was your villain!

Liz: I know.

Anika: You said, "Jules has Dukat, and you have Seska, and I so I get one too," and then, in parentheses, you put, "Lorca." So I took that to mean--

Liz: I know, I know--

Jules: I feel like I haven't talked that much about Dukat, honestly.

Liz: Lorca is basically Dukat, but prettier.

Jules: Yeah! I think I remember us saying, at one point, in email, early in the first season of Discovery, I was like, I feel like they're the AU I've written in drafts, that I have in Google Docs, the "female Sisko/Dukat" AU. And you were like, "I got a very Sisko/Dukat vibe off of them, and I wasn't sure whether to say it or not." And I'm like, yes. Yes, that is--

Liz: I was obviously seeing red flags, and choosing to ignore them!

Jules: Yep!

Anika: [laughs]

Jules: Love it.

Liz: Whereas General Chang is just red flags all the way down, and completely unignorable.

Anika: He embraces it!

Liz: Right! And I know I was saying that I don't really love the Klingons as bad guys, but he thinks he's the hero! And he's the charismatic troll who is twirling in his chair, quoting Shakespeare as he fires on the Enterprises!

Anika: I only have three notes, and I'm kind of proud of them, so I'm just gonna read them to you guys.

Liz: Yes?

Jules: Please!

Anika: Number one, played by Captain Von Trapp. Number two, close personal relationship with Shakespeare. And number three, extra AF.

Liz: [laughs] It's true! And I think Star Trek VI is a great movie, and very nearly flawless, but I just cannot imagine it being a fraction as much fun without Christopher Plummer.

Anika: Oh no! He's the -- everything. The parts of Star Trek VI that I love, I really love. And the parts of Star Trek VI that I don't like, I really don't like. So it's not my favourite. But everything about General Chang, and really, his entire conspiracy -- and all of the Klingons -- is great.

Jules: That's such a racist name, though.

Liz: Oh yeah.

Anika: Yes.

Jules: I mean, speaking of Star Trek, and its racist villains, I'm like, oh no.

Liz: It's also the one where the Romulans are just straight-up wearing qipao. So. Yeah.

Jules: I'm sorry, I interrupted there. But I'm also, like, oh, Star Trek.

Anika: Oh, no, it's very--

Jules: Sometimes -- oh, Star Trek. Sometimes you get it right--

Liz: Truthfully, and this is embarrassing, General Chang has been part of my landscape for so many decades that it has only just now occurred to me that that is super racist.

Jules: I mean--

Anika: I think it's just -- it plays off of the Kang and Kor and whatever the other one was.

Jules: Absolutely.

Anika: They were going for that, and they didn't notice it was racist, I think is the truth. But there was no one to say, "Hey, guys, bad idea." I mean, it's the same as in Picard, when they kill off all of the black men, and it's like, guys? Why are you doing this? They just don't notice.

Jules: Exactly.

Anika: No one is watching with that point of view.

Jules: That's why you need diversity behind the camera as well as in front of it. Yeah.

Liz: Exactly. I don't even know who is writing on season 2 of Picard, but I feel like it's mostly the same people, but just less Chabon. So. Oh God.

Jules: I mean, that could be okay. I guess. I mean, Chabon -- he just -- he needs to learn how to write for TV. He's writing like a novelist, where -- yeah.

Anika: He's leaving to do his adaptation of his own work, which I think he'll be much better at. Because he won't have to do any of the worldbuilding, it'll just be, you know, "I already know where this story is going, I just have to do it for TV." And he's learned. And so now he can (inaudible) that.

Jules: Yes.

Anika: And grow.

Jules: And so much of Picard, I'm like -- as we said, like with Narissa, my moment where I'm like, wow, you actually brought some humanisation to this character. I mean, for want of a better word than humanisation. Like, you made me believe this character as a person--

Anika: Nuance.

Jules: It was way too late. It was good--

Anika: I mean, not for me. [laughs]

Jules: --but you should have at least been hinting at it earlier. And I'm like, that's the kind of thing that a novelist could do. You could drop hints earlier and earlier that I wouldn't pick up -- that I might pick up on, but wouldn't pick up on and see spelled out until later. I'm like, mm, yeah.

Liz: I will say, regarding the villains in Picard, Oh was very one-note, but because she survived, I feel like there's room for her to come back and level up to be a more interesting character, and a better foil for Picard.

Jules: Oh, absolutely.

Anika: Yes.

Liz: They could even, like … meet.

Jules: Absolutely. That would rule.

Anika: They could meet. [laughs]

Liz: Well, it's just -- one of the problems [with Picard is] that we have all these antagonists who -- like, Picard doesn't interact with Oh once.

Jules: Yeah. Okay, so here's my question: difference between a villain and antagonist. We touched on this a little at the beginning, but villain versus antagonist. What's sort of the difference, at least in the context of Star Trek? Or specifically in the context of Star Trek?

Liz: Partially, I think it's just body count? Like, normally I would say that an antagonist is someone who genuinely believes, or at least hopes, that they're doing the right thing -- or, at least, that they're doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. Like, I think of Kylo Ren pre-redemption as an antagonist, not a villain. Whereas I would say Snoke is a villain.

But with Star Trek, like, I would say that Oh is more of an antagonist than a villain, but at the same time, she was pretty keen to commit genocide. So, like, where do you draw the line?

Jules: Yeah. Although, by her standards--

Anika: She's--

Jules: I mean, that's sort of where antagonist versus villain comes in, for me, is that by her standards, it wasn't really genocide.

Anika: She was saving all those people.

Jules: Yeah.

Liz: By her standards, that was less of a genocide than what Kat Cornwell attempted to do on Qo'noS.

Anika: Right. Because she just didn't even see them as people.

Liz: Right.

Anika: And not even in the way that you can say that about anyone who's a bad guy, even on Earth, you know, that they don't see [their victims] as people. But, like, they are literally machines. And so--

Liz: It's like the equivalent of throwing iPhones in the recycling.

Anika: So we believe they're people, but -- right.

Liz: I guess, on the whole, I would say she is more of an antagonist than a villain? And also because she is very powerful but very remote, and she has some one-liners, and some sharp shoulders that basically scream, "Hello, I am evil." But she's not literally twirling her moustache, because she's half-Vulcan, and they have more dignity than that. And I would say Kai Winn is an antagonist, rather than a villain. Because, although she does some fairly terrible things, she also is capable of a certain amount of heroism, and there are times when she has put Bajor above her own ambition.

Jules: Like when she kills my favourite villain ever? Yes?

Liz: Right!

Jules: God bless her, that's why I love her! I'm like, yes!

Anika: [laughing] "God bless her".

Jules: She kills Dukat. God bless her. You know why--

Liz: She's a very complicated antagonist!

Jules: She is, and I love her.

Liz: I think that, like Seska, she deserved a better end.

Jules: Yeah.

Anika: She definitely deserved a better end. But, I mean, I think that Deep Space 9 deserved a better end is really what the truth is.

Jules: Yeah. Well. Yeah.

Anika: Sorry. That's where I land.

Jules: That's -- yeah.

Anika: [laughs]

Liz: My last rewatch, we stopped the episode before Jadzia died, and we have no regrets.

Jules: That's a good choice.

Liz: Actually, no, I have one regret, and that's that you can't have Ezri and Jadzia at the same time.

Jules: Yeah!

Liz: See, Ezri could have been leading that fleet at the end of Picard.

Jules: We should had a whole--

Anika: Yes!

Jules: Ezri and Worf!

Liz: Right! I really like the idea of Ezri becoming Worf's first officer!

Jules: I assumed Worf would lead the fleet!

Liz: Yeah, same!

Jules: That the Enterprise would lead the fleet to rescue them, and I was like, that would be amazing, give me Worf. Oh, I love that, now that you mention it, Ezri as Worf's first officer.

Anika: That would be so good!

Jules: I'm like, yes!

Liz: I feel like she'd be an older first officer? But, at the same time, if she's switched at a later stage from counselling to command--

Anika: And I don't think she would care. She wouldn't care about--

Liz: Right! She's three hundred and fifty years old!

Anika: Right! So she doesn't -- like, titles and ranks, that doesn't matter.

Jules: Who cares, yeah.

Anika: She's going where she's needed. And Worf definitely needs her as his first officer!

Jules: Yes! [laughs]

Anika: It's perfect!

Jules: I love it!

Liz: And also, like, I realise it's technically reassociation, but Worf isn't a Trill, so…

Jules: And also, Worf's not into it at this point.

Liz: Right! He's moved on. We hope.

Jules: He's like, okay, we tried that, and it didn't work. So, no.

Anika: Yeah, like, they just have a great relationship, now. A great--

Jules: It would be amazing. Now I want that so much. Oh!

Anika: I know! I'm angry all over again!

Jules: I'm so mad. Ezri and Julian and Garak have some weird polyamorous relationship going on, and--

Liz: One hundred percent.

Jules: Yeah, that's what I want.

Liz: Yeah. [sigh]

Jules: Good Lord, yes.

Liz: I think, as with so much of Star Trek, the version of Picard that exists in our heads is a bit better than the one on the screen.

Jules: Yeah.

Anika: Yeah. Well.

Liz: And that's frustrating, but it's also okay.

Anika: It's also okay.

Liz: I guess.

Jules: I mean, that's where the best fanfic comes from. And these days--

Anika: I was sort of, you know, when we were talking about Narissa and Narek earlier, and how they don't get any, you know, actual character and everything, and yet they were my favourite from basically episode two? And it's sort of, like, so you can tell the least developed and most chaotic character on the show is going to be my favourite. And that's just the way it is.

Liz: You have a type.

Anika: I have a type.

Liz: Yeah.

Jules: You have a type! I mean, I--

Liz: Admiral Clancy walked in, and I fell in love!

Jules and Anika: [laugh]

Jules: I just -- yeah.

Anika: I'm okay with it. I know who I am. I know what I like.

Jules: And, let's be real, today's fanfic writers are tomorrow's bestselling writers, and head staff writers, and -- yeah. I mean -- you know.

Anika: Absolutely.

Jules: I was delighted -- yeah, well, I'll leave that for another time, but the golem--

Liz: No, no! I did want to ask if you had any particular Jewish perspective on that.

Jules: I was delighted that the golem was introduced as sort of a value-neutral thing? Because I see it as sort of a -- that's a step forward, basically. I often see it in video games, and in other stuff, the golem as a bad thing. It's scary, and it's Frankenstein, and it's a robot. I'm like, no, golem protects us. A golem was introduced to protect the ghetto from the hordes of angry Christians were going to kill us. I'm like, not the golem is--

Liz: Much like Picard is protecting the synths from the hordes of angry Romulans!

Jules: I'm like, yeah!

Liz: I didn't know that!

Jules: Golem is -- at worst, it's a neutral thing. At best, it's kind of, like, you know, it's our thing to protect us. Which is interesting -- Michael Chabon's breakthrough novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, includes a character -- I mean, it's an alternate version of the origin of Superman.

Liz: Oh!

Jules: And basically it makes it explicit that Superman is a golem. And, also, he's a child who was put in a basket, in a little probe, and sent out into space, into the river, and Superman is Moses, and also the golem. And, yeah. I mean, I could yell for a long time about -- but, yeah, I appreciated that Picard, at least, presents the golem as a very neutral thing, rather than a negative thing.

Liz: See, it was negative to me because that kind of transference is a bit squicky to me. It was, you know, introduced as, "This is what Soong has built for himself!" And I hated Soong, so I didn't like it. But I also sensed that I was missing something, and now you've provided that missing piece. So I'm very grateful to have that extra context.

Jules: There you go! And I'm also, like -- my mom was like, "Oh, they've solved all the problems with Picard, where else is there to go?" I'm like, that's really interesting, though! You still have places to go, like, because this is kind of an artificial body.

Liz: Yeah!

Jules: And you still have places to go, especially the Borg. I'm like, uh, from some regards, if you look at it the wrong way, the Borg are the golem gone wrong.

Liz: That makes me think of "Descent", which I've been doing far too much, lately, for a terrible two-parter, but the whole thing with that two-parter was that Lore was offering the Borg the chance to become fully artificial, and to shed their organic parts.

Anika: Right.

Liz: That's really interesting. And I do think that there is more story to tell, not just in terms of Picard having a few extra decades in which to age naturally, but in terms of -- all his friends just watched him die, and now he's here, and he's fine.

Anika: It's a little weird!

Liz: Yeah! And I feel like Elnor is going to voice that weirdness very loudly. And if Deanna sees him, will she be able to sense his emotions, and if she can't, will that freak her out? Because I can see that freaking her the fuck out.

Anika: [laughs]

Liz: Most importantly, how is Beverly going to react, and where was their relationship before, and where is it going to go now? (I have priorities, and I don't apologise for them.)

Anika: You've have priorities!

Jules: You do. Yes. I feel like we've strayed from villains, but I don't care.

Liz: Well, I just wanted to ask you about the golem thing, because I knew that you would have something to say about it--

Jules: Oh yes.

Liz: --and that it would be very intelligent.

Jules: Oh, thank you! I'm flattered. That is very kind. Given the fights I've gotten into on the internet, and -- thank you! I'm flattered.

Liz: You're very welcome, but it was only a statement of fact.

Anika: And don't take fights on the internet too seriously.

Jules: Thank you!

Anika: Or too much to heart.

Jules: Thank you! Villains, though. Yes.

Liz: I do think that a story suffers without a good antagonist. And they don't necessarily need to be a bad person?

Jules: Absolutely.

Anika: Definitely true.

Liz: Even a force of nature can be an antagonist. But in the western storytelling tradition, it is something that's beneficial to have.

Jules: I mean, Jurassic Park is my favourite villain -- my favourite -- one of my favourite movies. And it's explicitly stated that nature is the villain there.

Anika: Right.

Jules: I sort of hinted at it there with my Freudian slip, but nature--

Liz: The park is the villain!

Jules: You can make me believe pretty much anything is a villain if you do it right.

Liz: Let me introduce you to my cat.

Anika: Aw! I was just looking at my little cat and saying, "You're not a villain, sweetie! I know everyone thinks you are!"

Jules: Oh, my cats--

Anika: My daughter tells me every day that my cat, Sushi (specifically), is a villain. And the only reason I disagree is that she likes me. And so she's never a villain to me, but she is to everyone else.

Liz and Jules: Awwwww!

Liz: Anyway. Anika, would you like to give us an outro?

Anika: Is it time? Yes, yes.

Liz: Yes.

Anika: Okay. Wait, I need to know, what episode are we watching?

Jules: Oh God. I don't know. Let's do -- I feel like we might have things to say about "Things Past" in season four. Or season five, I'm sorry, "Things Past".

Liz: I can't remember which episode that is, so that's exciting. I'm just writing it down.

Jules: It should have happened earlier. But. Yes.

[outro music]

Anika: Thank you for listening to Antimatter Pod.

You can find our show notes at antimatterpod.tumblr.com, including links to our social media and credits for our theme music.

You can also follow us on Twitter at @antimatterpod. Sometimes we post cat pictures, and questions for our audience.

If you like us, leave a review on apple podcasts or wherever you consume your podcasts -- the more reviews, the easier it is for new listeners to find us.

And join us in two weeks when we’ll be discussing the Deep Space 9 episode “Things Past”

Liz and Jules: Yay!

#star trek #star trek: deep space 9 #star trek: picard #podcast #podcast transcripts #antimatter pod

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thetollofthebells · 6 years ago

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repost, don’t reblog !

𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐬 !

FULL NAME. Quasimodo [ surname is technically Frollo, though he has a hard time saying that himself. ] PRONUNCIATION. Kwah-zee-mow-doh NICKNAME. Quasi, which he usually prefers from friends. GENDER. Cis male. HEIGHT. 5′2″ when at his normal height, but if he were to stand up completely straight, 5′8″. AGE. 20. ZODIAC. Capricorn. SPOKEN LANGUAGES. French, Latin, English, and a bit of written German. [ Frollo was good for something mumble mumble. ]

𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 !

HAIR COLOR. Red. EYE COLOR. Green, with a hint of blue. SKIN TONE. Pale. BODY TYPE. Burly. Heavily muscled legs and arms, barrel chested but lean abdominal muscle. ACCENT. French. VOICE. Light and soft. Though he does have a stutter when he’s nervous or excited. DOMINANT HAND. Left hand, though he’s ambidextrous. POSTURE. Welllllllllll, he ain’t called ‘the Hunchback of Notre Dame’ for nuttin’. He’s hunched over and pigeon-toed. Because of the uneven distribution of weight, he walks with a noticeable limp. SCARS. On his back, some lines are still pink and tender. Also on his hands, his callouses have bled quite a bit and the tips of his fingers from his carving knife. TATTOOS. None, he’s Catholic ;] BIRTHMARKS. None. MOST NOTICEABLE FEATURE(S). Oof. So, of course it’s hard to ignore his physical appearance, his back sticks up due to his spinal column which is twisted up under his shoulder blade. His left brow is swollen over [ I head canon that it’s actually an issue with his skull, like a piece has fragmented ] and he has large front teeth. His hands are very large and usually can swallow up any other’s, and his arms and legs are extremely muscular and strong. Quasimodo does have super beautiful eyes, green when you first look, but some blues when the sun catches them.

Mostly, people notice that despite his immense physical strength, he’s very timid and quiet. While he has the ability to destroy many things with his hands alone, Quasimodo takes care in that and will usually handle things with great care; ie his carvings.

𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 !

PLACE OF BIRTH. Whooooooo knows. HOMETOWN. Paris, France. BIRTH WEIGHT. 8 1/2 pounds. He was a dense baby. BIRTH HEIGHT. 15 inches. Poor thing was very oblong. MANNER OF BIRTH. Natural, though his biological mother died during his birth. FIRST WORDS. Frollo never told him what his first words were. SIBLINGS. None that he knows of. PARENTS. Claude Frollo, adoptive father [ ish ]. PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT. Quasimodo was an illegitimate child between a Romani woman and a Scottish nobleman. During childbirth, his biological mother passed away giving birth to him. A close friend of his mother’s was terrified that the child would be killed if left to an orphanage so she took him in. Her and her husband took care of him for a few months as a newborn, but grew worried that something further may be wrong with him besides just his physical appearance. They attempted to travel to the Court of Miracles for assistance in Paris, but we all know how that went.

𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 !

OCCUPATION. Bell ringer of Notre Dame. CURRENT RESIDENCE. Paris, France. CLOSE FRIENDS. Esmeralda and Phoebus and the freaking gargoyles. RELATIONSHIP STATUS. ALWAYS SINGLE PRINGLE He’s got some upcoming relationships in some threads! Which I am thrilled about because he’s such a sweet and precious angel. And there’s Madellaine of course [ @immortalxdreamers we’re gonna have to revive her when you get more comfortable at work <3 ], and of course my OC from my fic. FINANCIAL STATUS. He’s okay. The Archdeacon insists on paying him for his services, though he does give a lot of it back to the Church and takes only what he needs for food and sometimes paints. DRIVER’S LICENSE. OBVIOUSLY NOT. But in modern verse, Frollo never allowed him to drive. CRIMINAL RECORD. Clean, other than that whole fiasco that happened is Esmeralda oops. VICES. None more than any other human.

𝐬𝐞𝐱 & 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 !

SEXUAL ORIENTATION. Demisexual. ROMANTIC ORIENTATION. Heteroromantic PREFERRED EMOTIONAL ROLE. submissive | dominant | switch PREFERRED SEXUAL ROLE. submissive | dominant | switch LIBIDO. Slightly lower than average. TURN ONS. Patience, gentleness. And as much as it horrifies him, praise. TURN OFFS. Rushing, and as silly as it sounds, too much touching from partner to him. LOVE LANGUAGE. Quasimodo is never one to initiate affection. He always lets the other person decide when they want it, but does really like lacing his fingers with someone else. He’s also really skittish about PDA, but of course, likes to cuddle in private. RELATIONSHIP TENDENCIES. Once he’s got any type of feelings for someone, he’s steadfast devoted. He may seem needy/dependent to some, because that’s the only relationship(s) he’s ever really had, but he does it more so out of showing affection than anything. Also he’s a stage 5 clinger, hello

𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 !

CHARACTER’S THEME SONG. Out There, of course! HOBBIES TO PASS TIME. His carving and some glass work. Quasimodo also really likes to experiment with melted metals, though he usually saves that for patching the bells. MENTAL ILLNESSES. Depression and anxiety are the biggies that have affected him most of his life, though post-movie, PTSD. PHYSICAL ILLNESSES. He’s a pretty strong dude, but since he’s spent so much time away from people, when he firsts starts venturing out of the bell tower he was prone to getting colds. LEFT OR RIGHT BRAINED. Right-brained. PHOBIAS. None really. SELF CONFIDENCE LEVEL. Lol. I almost want to leave it at that. For obvious reasons, the poor boy doesn’t think that he’s worth a damn in any sense, physically or emotionally. He bases his worth off of what he can do for others and how they are feeling around him. If someone around him is upset or unhappy, he can’t help but blame himself. Any compliments he gets, he takes to heart. Perhaps too much. Unfortunately, he’s just always going to be dependent on others to make him feel good about himself. VULNERABILITIES. Quasimodo has a difficult time when it comes to his emotions. They scare him, and he never really knows how to process them. There are times when he’s just unbearably sad, gets excited over something incredibly menial, or is blindingly angry. To be honest, when he saved Esmeralda, he doesn’t even remember breaking through the chains, almost like he didn’t come to until he had her in his arms. That scares him a lot, because he’s not a angry person by any means, but isn’t sure how to fix that about himself. His emotions are easily played off of, which was a big reason as to why Frollo had such an easy time manipulating him.

Stolen from: @murroyilodel tagging: I’m not gonna tag anyone because this is a big ol’ hulkin meme that took me hours to fill out. But if you wanna share some of your back stories DO EET. <3

#[ 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖒𝖞𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖚𝖘 𝖇𝖊𝖑𝖑 𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖊𝖗; ❝ about Quasi ❞ ]

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douxreviews · 6 years ago

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Star Trek: Discovery - ‘Brother’ Review

"Space: The Final Frontier. Above us, around us, within us. We have always looked to the stars to discover who we are."

By nature I love brevity: Star Trek: Discovery takes a long, clean breath of fresh air in this big, bold premiere that sheds the burdens of Season One and lets them roll down the hill behind.

Star Trek: Enterprise was canceled in 2005. And in the Fall of that year, as shows premiered, fans were faced with a sad reality: for the first time in 28 years, a new season of Star Trek was not among them. And for 12 years, this continued. And then we Discovered a new frontier. Breaking the silence of more than a decade, Star Trek: Discovery was a sign that Trek was not dead.

But of course, it was not without its flaws. Discovery Season One had issues with its tone and its dialogue. The crew, above and beyond their stilted, grandiose speech, rarely seemed like a family, or even a group of people who like each other. And the levels of anxiety and brooding were at dangerously high levels. We're talking Superman from Batman v. Superman levels of anxiety and brooding.

The fans pointed out these issues, though the good parts still remained (excepting the 'fans' who actively went out of their way to be openly hostile towards the series, its creators, and its viewers). And the team behind Discovery listened. 'Brother' benefits from a light and relaxed tone that feels like the lifting of a heavy curtain. The crew speaks in a generally human and natural manner, and they work together like a tight family. Brooding is nowhere to be seen, and the anxiety present is of a different sort than the cloud of deep worry that permeated Season One. Instead the viewer felt more of an empathetic concern about the characters and their lives.

The first and most immediate effect of 'Brother' is, in fact, to distance the show from its past mistakes. Associating these issues with the influence of Captain Lorca makes a lot of sense from a story perspective, even if the creators' insistence that all the darker elements were only a result of him doesn't quite sit right. From the outset, Captain Pike makes it clear that he is very different from Lorca. Everything about his manner and bearing suggests a completely different man from Jason Isaacs' power-hungry warmonger. But Pike is no Kirk, either, as one might anticipate. Anson Mount gives his Pike a humility and a grounded feel that Kirk never quite developed.

The other proverbial elephant on the starship is the presence of Spock. Though the adult version of our beloved half-Vulcan does not appear, his importance in the events of 'Brother' and the impact the mere allusion to the character has on the series is clear. We learn that he and Burnham's strained relationship is the result of her decisions, not his. It's clear she views him and his legacy as an oppressive force in her life, perhaps as a standard she could never live up to? There's a great shot that really sums this up, when young Spock makes his holo-dragon. The dragon moves toward Burnham, and roars at her, and Spock walks in through its mouth. I think that's how she sees Spock.

Sarek and Burnham's conversation about reverence also factors in. This show has decided to include a character that most fans undoubtedly have a lot of reverence for. But to make him a useful character, with an arc and a purpose, reverence is not enough. The massive weight of Spock's impact on Star Trek and the fans' adoration of him will be a problem that Discovery will have to deal with.

Moving to our regular cast, I loved how they were dealt with here. The other side of Lorca's effect on the Disco crew is that such a major and personal adversary has brought them together and made them rely on each other. All of the returning cast felt like a family around each other, and their interactions made the ship feel like a real workplace run by a real team. This is a major improvement from last season.

It looks like Burnham's journey this season will be thoroughly intertwined with Spock's. I look forward to seeing her relationship with him and how it develops, but I do hope they give her a role to play apart from and outside of the shadow of her foster brother. Likewise, Stamets seems overshadowed by the impact of someone else. Everything around him reminds him of his lost love Dr. Culber, and he's having a very hard time dealing with it. It seems like the end of this episode was enough to get him at least a little bit excited about science again, though it's unlikely that this is the end of his plotline about leaving the ship. With Wilson Cruz brought on as a full cast member for this season, it'll be interesting to see where this goes.

Tilly and Saru don't seem to have much in the way of an arc yet, but I'm sure this will change. I expect most of Tilly's story this season will have something to do with her enrollment in the Command Training Program. Saru mentioned his sister Siranna, from the Short Trek 'The Brightest Star,' and the showrunners have stated that we may see other Kelpians this season, so expect to see a visit to Saru's home planet of Kaminar sometime in the future. Maybe siblings will continue to be a theme this season.

Overall, 'Brother' was a pretty epic way to kick off the new season. It's fun and engaging, with a lot of potential. I can't wait to see where we go from here.

Strange New Worlds:

This section will record the planets the Disco visits and the places they go. Not a whole lot of that in this particular episode.

New Life and New Civilizations:

Here I'll keep track of all the new species, ideas, and cultures the crew encounters. Again, nothing in the way of that here.

Pensees (Thoughts):

-Mia Kirshner (Amanda) looks a lot like Amy Adams. She also really resembles Amanda from TOS, so that's nice.

-Stamets has a botanist friend aboard the Enterprise.

-In keeping with the Trek tradition of altering the intro, we have some brand new graphics added to the opening theme.

-Regulation 19, Section C allows a higher-ranking officer to take command of a starship in one of three contingencies: 1. An imminent threat; 2. The lives of Federation citizens are in danger; 3. There is no more qualified officer available to deal with the situation.

-I love Doug Jones' Saru walk. It's just so much fun to watch.

-That's the first shot we've gotten of a turbo lift running through a starship in all of Trek, if memory serves. Pretty cool, too.

-Another Alice in Wonderland nod. Also, holo-candles.

-Sarek mentioned that he's reached out to Klingon High Chancellor L'Rell (Mary Chieffo), and she had no explanation for the red bursts either.

-The Captain goes on the away mission, in true Trek tradition.

-There was a bit of Spock's Jellyfish ship from Star Trek (2009) in the design of the pods they flew.

-How cool was the pod sequence? Also, it was admittedly rather satisfying to see Olson Connelly get his comeuppance when he failed to pull his chute crashed and died because of the dumb risk he took.

-One of the ads loaded at the wrong time when I watched this the first time. The long ad break split a shot in half.

-I liked Reno (Tig Notaro). The idea of using an engineering approach to medicine is interesting, although I wouldn't want to be one of the first patients it was tried on.

-The Red Angel is still very much an unknown. I partially expect it will have something to do with the Klingons, if not only because they seem from the trailers to have a big role to play.

-The asteroid material wouldn't beam up. That's intriguing. It may be the key to fixing the spore drive, too, as it looks from the trailer that we'll be jumping again this season.

-'Not every cage is a prison, nor every loss eternal.' That's very interesting, and it has a lot of significance for Pike.

-It makes sense that the crew of the Enterprise would have issues with sitting out the war while on their five-year mission.

-The Disco's new Doctor is named Dr. Pollard.

-One of the names in the credits was 'Matt Decker.'

-A lot of references to faith/religion and related subjects in this episode. I don't think it's necessarily significant, but I thought it was worth noting.

-Alex Kurtzman directed this episode. I thought he did a great job; maybe he should stick to that instead of the whole coming up with ideas thing. I'm still baffled by the seriously weird and unsettling bits about Klingon anatomy from Season One.

Quotes:

Amanda: "I bless you, Michael... all my life."

Pike: "Do not covet thy neighbor's starship, Commander."

Pike: "Why didn't we think of that, Connelly? Think of all the syllables that gave their lives."

Pike: "Sometimes it's wise to keep your expectations low, Commander. That way we're never disappointed." Advice to the audience, perhaps?

Tilly: "I put her in a Utility closet, and I put you in there. I'm drunk on power."

Stamets: "Tilly, you are... incandescent. You're going to become a magnificent Captain because you do everything out of love. But I need you to repeat after me. I will say..." Tilly: "I will say..." Stamets: "Fewer things." Tilly: "Fewer thi- okay."

Sarek: "Spock has great reverence for his mother, but reverence tends to-" Burnham: "Fill up the room." It's the shot of Burnham's fairly empty quarters just as she interrupts that sells this one.

Pike: "Detmer - fly... good."

Pike: "I was expecting a red thing. Where's my damn red thing?"

Pike: "Spock asked the most amazing questions. It's completely logical, yet somehow able to make everyone see that logic was the beginning of the picture and not the end."

Burnham: "There are so many things I wish I'd said to you; so many things I want to say now. I'm too late, aren't I? I can only pray I don't lose you again... brother."

A strong, solid premiere. 5 out of 6 damn red things.

CoramDeo is interested in things.

#Star Trek #Star Trek Discovery #Michael Burnham #Saru #Sylvia Tilly #Paul Stamets #Christopher Pike #Spock #DIS #Disco #ST:Disc #Star Trek Reviews #Doux Reviews #TV Reviews

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kinetic-elaboration · 3 years ago

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100 Days of Writing: Days Twenty-Two - Twenty-Four

Going to try to catch up on at least a few of these 100 Days of Writing Questions. Not going to talk about specific fics because I’ve gotten distracted by work and life and stress and being tired so I haven’t done any writing this week, and decreasing amounts of thinking about writing. Mostly just obsessively thinking about old projects and tying myself into knots about them... The creative process continues to intimidate me WAY too much. Not good lol.

Tagging @the-wip-project and fellow participants @she-who-the-river-could-not-hold, @thelittlefanpire @hopskipaway @easilydistractedbyfanfic @dylanobrienisbatman.

22. Tell us about a scene you’re most looking forward to writing in your current project.

For the Sleeping Beauty AU: ...the last one? So it’s done? That’s probably a really bad answer and too indicative of my negative feelings.

More specifically, I do want to start on Chapter 6. I planned Chapter 5 so long ago, and it’s been in limbo for so long, at this point there’s not a lot of big-picture creative thinking going on with it. It’s just me writing out the plot points I decided on ages ago, which feels like (and possibly reads like) a slog. I’ve had a few new thoughts about it but not many. Chapter 6 was also outline ages ago, but in a much more general way... basically just me figuring out if I could actually bring it to a conclusion, really general plot strokes and so on. The most excitement I’ve felt for this fic this year was me figuring out some new ideas for that outline and picturing some specifics for scenes in it, so it would be nice if I could actually write that and see how that works out. Plus, those scenes have some different characters in them, which might be nice.

That said, I’ll probably freak out about actually writing Ch 6 too.

Outside of Sleeping Beauty...I don’t even know what I’m looking forward to or what I want. I’ve been mentally poking at some possible projects, ideas, old stuff and new. I can’t really say these thoughts are “fun.” But maybe something nice will come of them at some point. It’s so hard for me to TRUST any excitement I feel because there’s some dumb voice in my head that always says “You think this seems like a good idea now but you’ll avoid actually writing it because it will be too hard and then you’ll harshly judge it and probably hate it so what’s the point?”

Wow I’m really down today. A real downer on this positive question.

23. Have you ever read a thing in a book or seen in a show/movie where you thought: "Oh, this is bad, I can do this so much better!" What was it?

....Well. I mean one answer is that I don’t engage in fandom if I’m 100% happy or satisfied with the canon because then I don’t need transformative works. At this point I’m SO critical of my main fandom that I’ve gone too far in the opposite direction, I think...there’s no longer that balance of critique and love.

I feel like that’s not what this question is about, though.

The only experience I can think of that really fits this, and actually fits it really well, is watching STB. I love the AOS verse as a whole and I find it very inspiring (I’ve never written TOS because it’s too good and I’m afraid haha), but the only movie that’s actually good is ST09. And Beyond is like.....really, really bad. But there are only 3 films so like... I gotta watch it sometimes, there aren’t a lot of options.

So last February my mom (who is in fandom and knows I’m in fandom too) and my friend B (who afaik is not in transformative works fandom), and I watched Beyond together over Skype and afterwards my mom and I basically rewrote the whole film. It does have some good ideas! But wow does it suck at executing them at literally every turn. So glad people were paid huge amounts of money to produce S**** P***’s first draft submitted at dawn after an all nighter lmao. Anyway, we fixed it problem by problem and I saved all the notes and a part of me kinda.... wants to turn it into a whole-ass outline and then write it, fic-style. A dream!! A dream.

24. Have you ever read a thing in a book or seen in a show/movie where you thought: "Oh, this is good, I'm gonna steal that!" What was it?

Not anything specific-specific, but I’m basically mining everything from RL experiences and moods to books and tv and movies and music, for inspiration at all times, so in general, yes. Usually, I’ll watch (or read) something that I really like and that makes me feel a certain way and I think “I want to create something else that will make me--and others--feel just this way.” Like “that was a good, creepy atmosphere in that film. I want to write something creepy too.” Or “oh the nostalgia of adolescence! let’s write a high school AU.” Basically just a childlike scream of “I want to do it too!!! Let me play too!!”

I also do this to some degree with themes... like I finished Roadside Picnic and pretty much immediately stole the concept of the final chapter for a fic I planned out but didn’t write. Part of the reason I didn’t write it was intimidation at attempting to come at the same question/concept in an even halfway decent way--even though the point wasn’t to copy but to engage in a different and deeper way with the original text. Like, it gave me so many thoughts, I wanted to get into those thoughts using, instead of a discussion or a piece of meta/essay writing, a different fictional universe. In other words, some works make me really engage in a particular question and I want to think more deeply on that question in an entirely new fictional story I write myself.

I really do have a long habit of engaging with art through other art but I feel like I’m...losing that a little, in the sense that barriers like a hyper-critical attitude and low self esteem are keeping me from doing that right now. I could describe it a million different ways but basically... I don’t believe I can do it, so I psyche myself out.

#100 days of writing #my 100 days of writing #100daysofwriting

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sshbpodcast · 3 years ago

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This Star Trek chair made out of 100% recycled material (Part 1)

By Ames

After a couple weeks of A Star to Steer Her By testing out the comfiness of all the Starfleet command chairs (see Part 1 and Part 2 here!), let’s move our butts over to the alien side of things and inspect where all our allies and enemies are putting their fannies. I complained earlier about how chairs in Star Trek change with every single movie and several times per season, and we’re actually seeing the opposite with all the non-human races: they use the same couple of chairs over and over again! There must have been a sale on Ferenginar or something.

It’s gonna be a hell of a road trip as we sit our way across the galaxy. This week, we’ll just cover TOS through TNG since even though a lot of these are going to look familiar, it’s still a lot of different chairs. See them all below and follow along with our banter on this week’s episode (Blogtivity starts at 58:40).

[Images © CBS/Paramount, Ex Astris Scientia, various auction sites, probably others]

First Federation: Fesarius

The Original Series: “The Corbomite Maneuver”

TOS really obviously had next to no budget to speak of, so we almost never even got to see alien ships, let alone what was inside of them. One that we do get to tour is Balok’s ship the Fesarius, and it’s about as whimsical as you’d expect for this childlike explorer. Balok’s chair is all pink pillows and comfy cushioning. It’s like a chair out of a kid’s playroom, with a crescent-moon shape to keep things unusual and interesting. Considering it’s one of very few alien ships we see the inside of, I’d say they did a good job with it!

Romulan D7 Akif-class: ChR Memenda

The Original Series: “The Enterprise Incident”

While I don’t know if I’d call the Romulan Commander’s chair from “The Enterprise Incident” a command chair, per se, it is the chair that she commands from and I couldn’t not include this one. That’s how much I love this chair. It’s made of really cushy black leather. The shape of it is like an oversized baseball mitt. The Commander can’t help but splay every moment she’s in that chair because it just looks so comfy and badass at the same time. I badly want this chair for myself.

Klingon K’t’inga-class: IKS Amar

The Motion Picture

In The Motion Picture, we get a great Mark Lenard sighting as his ship the Amar is exploded utterly by V’Ger, and it’s a shame because it had a pretty interesting command chair in it! Klingon chairs in the future movies and series aren’t going to look this plush and regal, so it’s hard to really judge it since that’s not how the Klingons are usually depicted, but I’ll admit the shape of this one is quite neat. I do lament the severe lack of armrests though.

Klingon B’rel-class: IKS B’rel

The Search for Spock

Kruge’s chair in the third TOS movie is an evolution of the TMP chair: still very big and well cushioned, but now it’s got some pretty teched-out armrests and a heckin’ chonk of a base. That base is so big, it looks like Kruge actually needs a little applebox to get up onto it. Things are definitely looking a lot more Klingon in here: sacrificing comfort for the appearance of strength.

Klingon D-12-class: IKS Okrona

The Final Frontier

Jump ahead to the fifth movie (we’ll go back, but I’ve got a theme building here), we see Klaa’s ship the Okrona has the aesthetic that we associate with the Klingons moving forward. Mostly because it clearly served as the origin of the prototypical Klingon chair we’re going to look at a lot in these screengrabs. Overall, it’s pretty stripped down in terms of comfort: just a solid metal-looking frame with blocky-shaped seat cushioning. There aren’t any doodads on the armrests like Kruge’s chair had, so there’s less to do while sitting, but what Klaa does get is a missile periscope that fits right over the chair and seems to snap into place. Now that’s a good design!

Cardassian Galor-class: CDS Trager

The Next Generation: “The Wounded”

Jump ahead with me for just a second: We see this chair get reused pretty obviously in “The Wounded” on Macet’s ship. We don’t get the best view of it because it’s all dark and limited to the viewscreen, but this chair obviously got around.

Klingon B’rel-class: IKS Dakronh

The Undiscovered Country

Okay, get a good look at Chang’s chair in The Undiscovered Country because this one is going to pretty much be the Klingon chair moving forward. We basically took Klaa’s chair and put different, very boring leather cushions in, shrunk down the size of the headrest, and put it on a similar but much chonkier base. Otherwise the frame of it appears to be pretty much the same… maybe a little less angled inward. Regardless, it says “Viking throne” a little bit to me, and that’s Klingon enough for snuff.

Klingon Vor’cha-class: IKS Bortas

The Next Generation: “Redemption”

Like I said, we’re going to see this chair a lot since we decided this is how Klingons do. Here it is under Gowron’s butt in “Redemption”.

Klingon K’Vort-class: IKS Hegh’ta

The Next Generation: “Redemption”

We see two different chairs on Kurn’s ship the Hegh’ta in “Redemption”. Maybe one is the command chair and one is in the ready room, I dunno. So part 2 has the normal Chang chair that we’re going to see recycled over and over again throughout Deep Space Nine when we review them next week. But where did that chair in part 1 on the left come from…

Klingon B’rel-class: HMS Bounty

The Voyage Home

…well, from what I can tell, it’s the same chair we saw if we look back at the Bounty in The Voyage Home. And follow me here because here’s where it gets interesting. Why doesn’t the Bounty just have Kruge’s chair? Well, like I said in our Starfleet chair discussion, the production teams change out their chairs with every single movie because they had the budget to do so, but if we want an in-world answer, the crew must’ve installed it on Vulcan when they basically renovated the whole interior of the B’rel. Sure, why not?

The chair itself is very obviously pulled directly out of a racecar or some other vehicle and then crammed in this metal frame. It’s unclear to me if the designers were trying to make this base look Klingon because it’s a Klingon ship and assumed audiences would have forgotten what it looked like in the previous movie, or what. It’s sure not a Vulcan chair because it doesn’t strike me as terribly logical. The frame is chunky as hell. The seat cushions look cheap. The buttons on the armrests are back and in prime put-your-coffee-down-and-go-to-red-alert positions. I’m left a little confused by this chair and even more confused since we are going to see this one recycled all over The Next Generation. So we saw it on Kurn’s ship above...

Klingon K’Vort-class: IKS Pagh

The Next Generation: “A Matter of Honor”

We see it on Kargan’s ship in “A Matter of Honor”, proving to me that the designers originally seemed to visualize it as a Klingon chair until we got to TUC.

Romulan D’deridex-class: IRW Haakona

The Next Generation: “Contagion”

We see it on a Romulan ship in “Contagion”. Sure, the Klingons and Romulans obviously traded in technology, so why not chairs too?

Pakled Mondor-type: Mondor

The Next Generation: “Samaritan Snare”

And we see it on a Pakled ship in “Samaritan Snare”! Sure, you can say that the Pakleds probably tricked someone out of this chair at some point, but all I can see is lazy design. Of all the chairs across the galaxy, this one was just nonspecific enough that it fit any need for when an episode needed to see the interior of a ship. Sure.

Ferengi Na'Far-class shuttlepod: Barzan explorer

The Next Generation: “The Price”

Okay, the next chair we’re going to see recycled all over the place I first spotted in “The Price” on the Ferengi shuttle. And unlike the boring Bounty chair, this one is so detailed and unique that I actually find it surprising that we see it so much. The radiating starburst is pretty alien in shape. I wonder if this used to be part of a dining chair or something. But then they wrapped it in this black plastic tube that some of us find disjointed, though you’ll see some of your hosts are into that kind of thing when we look at them all together next week. It does a good job saying “alien” but it also does a good job saying “cheap”. If this was all we saw of it, I’d just say Ferengi have a very specific aesthetic, but…

Romulan D’deridex-class: IRW Decius

The Next Generation: “Future Imperfect”

We see the same exact chair complete with black tubing in “Future Imperfect” on a Romulan ship that turns out to be Barash’s illusion. What? Barash, you’re into some weird shit if you thought this up. Maybe he tried to play with some Ferengi at some point and they didn’t get along, because I don’t think Riker even saw these chairs on their shuttlepod. This just brings up more questions.

Romulan D’deridex-class: IRW Goraxus

The Next Generation: “Redemption”

But apparently Barash wasn’t far off because we see that same chair backing on a real Romulan ship in “Redemption” but painted some fun new colors and with the black tubing removed. We only catch a glimpse of it over Sela’s shoulder a couple of times, but the new paint job is noticeable. Its turquoise and clay combination says either “Arizona rest stop” or “Caribbean resort” to me, though I don’t really know if it says “Romulan” in any discernible way.

Yridian trader ship

The Next Generation: “Firstborn”

A much more samey paint job lets us see the same chair over Yog’s shoulder on a Yridian trader ship. This time it’s all tan, probably because the team didn’t want to draw attention to that same chair again but still needed something for the actor to sit on and maybe thought enough time had passed since we saw it last.

Romulan D’deridex-class: RIS Terix

The Next Generation: “All Good Things…”

And yet we also see a glimpse of it over Tomalak’s shoulder in “All Good Things…”, this time with a little framepiece which might be the best new part. We’ve seen this version with the frame before…

Ktarian starship

The Next Generation: “The Game”

…in “The Game” of all places on a Ktarian starship. Now take note of yet another paint job in silver and also you can see a new orb-shaped adornment that we’re going to get a better look at…

Romulan D’deridex-class: IRW Khazara

The Next Generation: “Face of the Enemy”

…in “Face of the Enemy” (and also briefly in “The Next Phase” but I don’t need to show you yet another slide)! Of course, it’s yet another Romulan ship chair, but it’s the most complete version of it we get to see, so let’s really scrutinize this thing. Not only can we see the full back section of the chair now, but also the cushions, the base, the dopey little arms with buttons on the ends. The colors look more reminiscent of those we saw on Sela’s ship, so there’s a little bit of consistency here, but the little orbs (even on the back!) give it a more interesting and more alien feel to it that also makes it seem kind of like a toy. The chair piece itself looks really narrow and possibly came directly out of a sedan.

Tarellian plague ship

The Next Generation: “Haven”

Another design we see reused a little bit is this whimsical chair art that we first spotted in “Haven” and will see for the rest of TNG chillin’ in Worf’s quarters. The multiple punching bag–like protuberances are just so attention-grabbing and strange that you can’t help but look at this thing. And we get the impression that there are so many options for how to sit in it – some unnatural, some comfy, some just alien – that we can’t help but appreciate the choices it has to offer. If anything, the team found something perfectly alien here and we must thank them for it.

Tamarian Darmok-class: Tama

The Next Generation: “Darmok”

That’s about it for chairs that we are sure we see reused a lot in TNG, so here are a couple quick one-offs. Captain Dathon’s ship gives just a quick glimpse of a very simple back of a chair that’s almost certainly just an office chair if you could see all of it.

Gomtuu

The Next Generation: “Tin Man”

Impressively, in “Tin Man”, Gomtuu makes a chair out of themself to offer to their new occupant Tam Elbrun, which is a very nice gesture if a very ugly and uncomfortable chair. It’s a chair that’s made out of muscle lining and biological stuff, protruding out of whatever cavity of Gomtuu we’re in. Which means it doesn’t swivel and has no tech. The shape also looks more like a bassinet than a chair; I can’t imagine where my legs will dangle out of to sit in this thing. Maybe Gomtuu gets better at being a chair with time, but for now I guess it’s the thought that counts.

Yridian shuttle

The Next Generation: “Birthright”

Mostly just to show off that I checked this episode, I found some mere glimpses of the chair on Jaglom Shrek’s ship in “Birthright”. We never get a good look at either his or the copilot chair, save to say that they look cobbled together from stuff taken out of an airplane cockpit. So you know what, that works out just fine for an information dealer.

Virayllan-class raider: Fortune

The Next Generation: “Gambit”

Phew, one left for today. Arctus Baran’s ship has this ergonomic chair that the characters spend most of their time standing in front of instead of sitting in for some reason, possibly because it’s not actually tall enough to see the console it’s positioned at. So that’s already a strange choice. The chair itself has a futuristic but very simplified look to it – you know, for your no-nonsense mercenary on the go who doesn’t need to sit at all most of the time. The angles of it, the way its arms are one extension, the little seat that tips forward to dump you out of it, and the semi-transparent material in the stand are kinda neat, but overall it looks like it’s too small and too clumsy to really be interesting. No wonder it’s empty most of the episode.

—

That’s all for today, so be sure to come back next week to check out the chairs we’ve found in the TNG movies and in Deep Space Nine (spoilers: there will be even more recycled chairs!). Surely I’ve passed over many throughout the series, so let us know if you’ve got a cool alien command chair to look at! Make sure you’re keeping us with us as we fly through the Delta Quadrant on SoundCloud, hail us on Facebook or Twitter, and didn’t we see this chair before?

Shout out to Ex Astris Scientia for this excellent collection of chairs spotted throughout the show. Star Trek sure is good at finding incredibly weird-shaped chairs, so check ‘em out when you’re looking for somewhere to rest your rump.

Names of most ships that were not explicitly stated in episodes were mostly found on Memory Beta.

#star trek #star trek podcast #podcast #aliens #command chairs #Klingons #Romulans #Cardassians #Ferengi #the original series #the motion picture #the search for spock #the voyage home #the final frontier #the undiscovered country #the next generation #butts

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calliecat93 · 3 years ago

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ST: TNG S5 Watchthrough Episodes 14-17

(Trigger Warning: The episode Ethics contains the theme of suicide. While I will try to not go too in-depth, as it is part of the episode I will be discussing it. If this topic makes you uncomfortable or is triggering to you even in the slightest, please skip the section of the watchthrough. Thank you)

Conundrum: So we have us an amnesia episode. Who’s the poor individual who gets hit with it? Everyone! Yes, some weird scan thingy causes everyone to lose their memories. They still know how to perform their jobs and all that, but otherwise, they remember zilch. I’m kind of mixed on how they did it. Overall, they are intelligent and calm about the situation, which on the one hand feels unrealistic. You’d expect far more panic and tension if you suddenly found yourself on a ship among people you don’t know. On the other hand at this point even without their memories, they’re probably used to weirdness like this (the S4 episode Clues had a similar thing happen) and it’s kind of refreshing to see people handle a situation without becoming paranoid assholes. Also… they make some kind of awkward Troi/Riker/Ro love triangle. Troi has some familiarity with Riker due to their past, which makes sense… but why add Ro to the mix? The only time they really interacted outside this episode was Ro’s intro, where Riker was a hypocritical asshole who made her take her earring off. They really don’t seem to agree and I guess the writers went ‘well they argue… so it must be love’! Which… no, going with this with Ro makes zero sense and it really makes it feel like Riker is playing both women, which both feel OOC for him, and even taking amnesia into account makes him look worst. Why does S5 want me to hate Riker? Otherwise, it was fine. Just kind of eh. Again we kinda sorta did this plot already (differently but still) and it doesn’t become hard to figure out who the one behind this is when you realize that they’re the only one getting prominent screentime who isn’t a pre-established character. Still, it’s just alright, but yeah that love triangle nonsense, while by no means the worst I’ve ever seen, really was unnecessary. 2.5/5.

Power Play: In this one, Troi, Data, and O’Brein get posessed on an Away Mission (Riker almost did as well, but it flew away before it could posess him). They take Ten-Forward hostage which includes Worf and Keiko, and later Picard. This had to be fun for Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, and Colm Meaney since they ge to act all evil… though Spiner’s already done it with Lore, but still XD So it was fine. It was tense and had some disturbing moments like Posessed!O’Brein forcing himself on Keiko. Dear God I hope the Enteprise has a counselor (aside from Troi since she was partially involved in this) cause neither of them deserved that. It was also scary to see Data acting like… well, Lore pretty much. Seeing Riker, Crusher, Geordi, and Ro trying to figure out how to save them without anyone getting killed was also interesting, it’s the first time we’ve seen a hostage situation like this in a ST show (Space Seed in TOS kinda counts, but that was an entirely different scenario and was more ‘hostile takeover’ than ‘hostage situation’). That’s honestly all I’ve got/ IDK, S5 has just been painfully average thus far where none of the episodes have been particularly bad, but only like… three so far (Ensign Ro, Disaster, Unification) have kept me interested. Maybe that’ll change here soon bu it’s just like ‘…it’s fine but I feel nothing otherwise’. 3/5.

Ethics: I again point to the trigger warning above. The episode contains the theme of suicide (though it is NOT carried out) so if this topic at all is uncomfortable/triggery, please skip this section. So what happened? An accident has left Worf paralyzed. Crusher has called in a neurologist while Worf, believing that he can no longer be a warrior in his condition, wants to be killed. Needless to say, we’re dealing with some heavy stuff in this one. We kind of have a similar thing going on as in Half a Life where Worf wants to die as according to his Klingon beliefs, his life is over since he is paralyzed. He asks Riker to help commit it as he’s his friend and naturally Riker is appalled at this. Picard breaks it down for Riker and that while we don’t understand it we should respect it… but again we’re talking about assisted suicide. I get what Picard is saying but just… no. The episode makes it clear that we’re supposed to be conflicted, however, and in the end, Worf decides against it due to both an experimental procedure and because Riker uncovered that Alexander would be the one who’d have to assist in the suicide if Worf did it. Needless to say, Worf ain’t letting that happen. It does make Worf’s feelings clear, however. His anger, his fear, it’s very hard to watch Worf in such a state. The neurologist, Dr. Russell, offers him a procedure that may work… but it’s a procedure that is still in the experimental stage and turned down by Starfleet Medical. Needless to say, Crusher’s not exactly happy with the idea of using a medically untested procedure on one of her patients… but to be fair, Worf has refused all other treatment and the use of implants and with suicide the only other option, I can see why Russell would be willing to offer. But at the same time, it does come across her just using this as an excuse to use said treatment which also has plenty of risks on said patients life/further well-being, and Crusher telling her off repeatedly is very satisfying especially at the end when Worf almost died due to her, and she seemed more concerned with noting it than what her actions caused and said that Crusher was jealous. Yeah, Russell sucks. It does bring up a lot of medically ethical questions, however: is it right to use an experimental procedure on a patient when all other options have been turned away or are available? Especially when said patient is suicidal or when it comes to said patient's beliefs? I side with Crusher at the end of the day especially since Worf is very lucky to have survived/recovered his mobility afterward, but the questions are still ones to point out. Then there’s poor Alexander whose on the verge of losing his father and Worf not wanting him to see him like he is and… God yeah. Just as I complain about the lack of impactful episodes, this one comes in. It’s a very tough episode with everything going on with Worf, the theme of medical ethics, and it’s heavy on the emotions. IDK how well I can say that the episode portrays it, but it certainly hit hard and brings up a lot of questions for the viewers. It certainly reaffirms how much I love Crusher XD 4/5.

The Outcast: /sighs/ Okay… how to go about talking about this one? In this episode, we meet a species of aliens that don’t use gender identity, and if they show signs of identifying as male or female, they undergo ‘treatment’. One of these individuals is Soren, who identifies as female and falls in love with Riker. So… there are many things that this can be associated with, but this was made as a gay rights episode. Now… let us remember when this was made. S5 was airing during the early ’90s. This was not a good time for gay individuals. We were very much anti-LGBT+ in those times and the AIDS epidemic where they were scapegoated as a public menace still being rampant didn’t help. In many ways, doing this episode was a bold move and I can respect them for at least is trying to tackle the topic seriously. If there’s any franchise that you’d expect to tackle these kinds of issues it would be this one. But the question is does it hold up 30 years later? Well… unfortunately, no. First, if they really wanted to get the gay rights message across… why was Soren played by a female actress? Maybe it was the only way they would have been allowed to do this, but because of it, it keeps a heterosexual angle that causes the message to be lost. We also don’t have any regular/reccuring characters as queer which would be pretty important to have in this episode. Considering that TOS took the risk with making PoC equal to white people at a time it wasn’t at all welcomed, TNG not doing so with LGBT+ individuals is rather unfortunate to put it nicely. Not to mention it sticking to standard male/female stereotypes as the norm when breaking them down to Soren, as well as Worf’s sexist/bigoted comments. That’s no even going into other identities such as transgender and non-binary. I’d really like to know what they think of this one considering the themes. As I am a bi/demisexual cis woman and this was meant to be a gay rights episode I will look at it as such and from that POV, the episode does not at all look great in a modern light.

Maybe I’m just far too nice and should be harsher on this, and I’m not gonna lie I’m horrible at addressing these things so I apologize if any of this came out wrong. But between this and The Host, it’s clear that the show was ill-equipped to handle LGBT+ topics. But at the same time, back then even considering addressing the topics in any way would have been risky. I do believe that there was a good faith effort and maybe in some ways, it helped when we improved later. It’s always hard to say if people should tackle topics they don’t understand or not. Naturally, it’s rage-inducing when they get it wrong, but it can also open the door to getting people to learn and to improve. Maybe this was needed in the ’90s and they did it the best way that they could, and maybe the fact that we can look at it and go ‘we know better’ is a sign that we’re better than when we were 30 years ago… or again, I am far too nice/too much of a doormat and I give the benefit of the doubt way too much. People who are more knowledgeable/know how to address this far better than I have here have likely done so and I’d encourage others to read more into those perspectives. Regardless, the episode overall is okay I guess. I certainly felt horrible for Soren at the end as she’s taken to undergo ‘treatment’ and Riker trying to help her get out of it. Her speech, wanting to just be treated as a person and not be treated as horrible due to who she is during the trial did really hit me and is why I think that the show did mean well. If she wanted to identify as female and be with Riker, she should be free to and then how she was forced to conform to her society’s views at the end when Riker tried to save her, it’s just... hard to watch. I wish that the ending was more optimistic/hopeful but I can’t say that the message wasn’t loud and clear. It very much reflected society at that time, and in many ways it’s still relevant today concerning how society treats those deemed outside the norm. But it also has issues due to the execution as I already mentioned, and I can only hope that Modern Trek (Discovery, Picard, soon SNW) and whatever they do in the future are/will be better at handling these kinds of themes because there’s no excuse to get it wrong in today’s time. 2.5/5.

I hope that I addressed things properly concerning the last episode. But it’s now done. We have nine more to go for the season. Let's see how it turns out.

#st watchthrough

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caricatlc · 4 years ago

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BASICS –

full name: alice marisol romero

nicknames: none

birthdate: 4 august 2025

birthplace: plattsburgh, new york

ethnicity: columbian, cuban, and caucasian

nationality: american, english

languages: english, spanish

accent: slight bronx accent

APPEARANCE –

hair color & style: dark brown, usually kept waist-length and wavy, with green tips after breaking up with nigel

eye color: dark brown

height: five feet five inches

build: thicc. muscular but also hyper-feminine

skin tone: olive skin that rarely burns and tans well

personal style:

grunge lite. alice prefers to be comfortable above all else, so soft fabrics and denim are her go-tos. when she dates nigel she adopts a more instagram ho aesthetic to match his, but her heart isn’t really into bodycon dresses if she cant accessorize them with doc martens and a flannel.

distinguishing marks: expressive face

tattoos: ‘esforzada’ on back of neck ( x ), ivy on left wrist ( x )

piercings: two piercings in both lobes, helix piercing in left ear, daith and industrial in right ear, belly button

FAMILY –

parents: noah romero and lia villace

parental relationships:

while seth is more gregarious, alice is a quiet reflection of noah. as a result, their relationship deals largely in companionable silence. he’s not one to gossip with but always good help for moral quandaries. he’s also more likely to catch alice in the middle of doing something wrong, but mostly just offers gentle advice and hopes for the best. alice really hates to disappoint her father.

lia is a fun parent. alice almost always has fun with her mother, even if the interaction ends on a sour note. she can run a lot of day-to-day thoughts past her mother-- lia is kept mostly in the loop about the goings on in her daughter’s life. however, some compulsion leads alice to remain silent about her love life as it seems like it would be much easier to let her mother believe that everything is going fine.

siblings: rex, seth, and michael romero

sibling relationships:

when rex came into their lives, alice understood the difference between her twin and an actually older brother immediately. she enjoys spending time with rex, and ever since she was young she was always content to tag along with her ‘fun’ brother.

what can alice say about seth? they know each other better than anyone else, and speak almost exclusively in snark. but opposites don’t always attract, and their very big, drastically different personalities clash and erupt frequently. when times are good, though, they’re each other’s biggest hype-man as they snap another selfie.

michael is a strange one, but alice will always hold a tenderness for her little brother. she’s helped house dozens of wild animals and filmed a vine or two in her time. while she’s not keen on him bringing insects into the house it’d certainly be difficult for her to turn him down for anything.

birth order: only girl, younger twin, middle child

status in family:

alice likes to think that she’s practically invisible in her family. she’s not as rebellious as rex, or as obnoxious as seth, or as rambunctious as michael. but alice is a quiet ride-along for almost everyone in her family-- she really holds good relationships with everyone in the house. for the most part, it really seems like her parents and brother just want the best for her.

distant relations: bash romero, second cousin

pets:

wells and bilbo, the dogs, are always happy to see her, but she’s also conditioned them to remain quiet if they want a treat from her nightly comings and goings. felix, the cat, is a good companion on a gloomy day, with alice finding comfort in his rumbling, sleepy purr.

FRIENDS –

close friends:

alice has known ellie albright since birth. or even before that since ellie’s parents attended the same birthing classes as alice’s. the albrights returned to italy for a few years shortly after ellie’s birth but the two girls were paired up again before they could even tie their shoes. they’ve been best friends ever since. ellie brightens alice up to draw out a softer side than alice rarely presents alone. alice makes ellie more assertive, unafraid to stand up for her friend if she thinks ellie needs help.

it took rumi thatcher a bit longer to enter the picture, but she’s not going anywhere. rumi’s dead-pan sense of humor endeared her to alice immediately after she moved into town in the forth grade. ever the calm logician, rumi finds great amusement in tempering alice’s hot temper. they share a mutual love of nature that often leads them to dreamy afternoons surrounded by beautiful woods.

technically considered a cousin through brotherly love, dallas hong is probably the only boy that alice can completely get along with. he’s certainly the easiest to get along with out of her brother’s crew, with his laidback guy’s guy charm. while she’s annoyed at how tall he’s gotten as they age, she knows that his easygoing personality won’t ever change on her.

tensions:

adam hudson has been seth’s best friend for years, but his and alice’s interactions have always been tentative. he has a way of confronting her with the truth when she’s least likely to accept it. their relationship is hard to define, atleast on alice’s part.

alice and dapne newcomb used to be friends, much to the chagrin of ellie and rumi. the brash blonde wasn’t always a good influence, and they tended to clash over their many differences in opinion. it wasn’t until alice supposedly ‘stole’ nigel chadwick-wembley from daphne that their relationship fractured completely. daphne is the root cause for much of the suffering alice experienced in high school, so she’s not at all keen to rekindle the friendship.

if there’s one person that alice could do without ever seeing again, it’s nigel chadwick-wembley. he was her first real boyfriend, but the supposed fairytale beginning led to nothing but trouble, even if alice did her best to keep anyone from finding out about the more controlling aspects of his personality. they were on-again off-again for so long, but alice finally broke it off for good and never looked back.

there’s nothing wrong with ruby robbins-- in fact, she’s perfect. alice has always felt like she was competing with the other girl, even if that’s hardly true. they share similar interests but ruby’s easygoing demeanor makes everything seem so effortless in a way that alice can’t help but envy. she does consider ruby a friend, though, and would do anything for her if she asked.

crushes:

so much of the tension in alice’s relationship with adam hudson stems entirely from their mutual attraction. when they were much younger she was aware of it but content to ignore it, but as they’ve grown older things have changed. alice finds herself at odds with his ill-suited girlfriend and with him over it. ever since she kissed him on christmas, the muddled emotions there have only gotten worse.

the first boy that ever had alice truly starstruck was leo robbins. the definition of a cool, older boy, leo’s appeal quickly passed but she remained impressed by his sense of style and teenage rebellion. in fact, alice was quick to take up his mantle selling weed to a few of their acquaintances when leo decided to move on from the business.

as a friend:

alice is a friend like batman-- she’ll come if you send out the signal. anytime anywhere, alice will be by your side if you’d let her. she’s fiercely protective of them and will want to help them achieve their goals no matter how trivial. she can be too blunt at times, which tends to rub people the wrong way if it’s not quite what they want or expect to hear. but she’ll have your back until the end, without saying ‘i told you so’ to anyone but seth.

PERSONALITY –

positive traits: enterprising, candid, empathetic

neutral traits: self-sufficient, meticulous, noncommittal

negative traits: volatile, withdrawn, self-involved

astrology sign: leo sun / gemini moon, the confidence man ( x )

mbti: istp-t, the virtuoso

theme songs: i’m not okay (i promise) by my chemical romance / agnes by glass animals

aesthetic:

dyeing your hair in the bathroom, guitar calluses, jumping off the porch roof, lilac bushes, the solitary silence of 4 am, soil between your fingers and toes

LIFESTYLE –

partying habits:

a stoner to the max, alice deals quite literally in weed, inheriting a small client base from leo robbins. when she first started dating nigel, alice found she didn’t mind the party scene. there’s always fun to be had, and she can handle her alcohol. she’s also not necessarily opposed to experimenting at parties-- if there’s a good time to be had, alice will try a sporadic drug or two without feeling particularly inclined to do these things later on her own.

smoking habits:

directly inherited from her father, alice took up smoking as an act of teenage rebellion and favors menthol cigarettes. she finds it calming to smoke late at night when no one is around, or whenever she is overwhelmed by the situation at hand. finds it to be a handy tool to escape social situations if things aren’t going well.

eating habits:

growing up in a four-child household has definitely made alice a bit food aggressive. she eats when the opportunity presents itself but doesn’t pig out very often. snacks usually seem like a good idea, and alice is content to bring healthy options when she can. late-night meals are a staple in her diet. salty-sweet combinations are her usual favorite.

excercise habits:

alice has been practicing aikido and tae kwon do since she was young, and as a result has adopted a fair amount of exercise and weight training into her daily routine. mostly she just works to maintain equilibrium and not lose any muscle mass or physical ability, but if she’s feeling particularly stressed or upset she’ll throw herself into her workouts.

work ethic:

it’s alice’s belief that she can work hard and play hard, so long as she meets the deadlines set out for her. she’s got decent time management skills and works best with a loose schedule where she can make the decisions about what to do, when. when it comes to school work, alice is content to maintain her good grades in order to fly under the radar with her parents.

sleeping habits:

when alice feels tired she can fall asleep anywhere, but her penchant for the peace of nighttime usually finds her awake well into the early mornings. she is a deep sleeper, but an agreeable one. sharing a bed with her is not a bad experience as she’ll typically move wherever she is prodded without much fuss. she usually prefers to sleep with a loose comforter and top sheet and will cocoon inside. waking up outside of her typical routine can be a challenge, but once alice wakes up she is awake for good.

ideal living space:

alice’s bedroom at home is well-lit and cozy, with an abundance of houseplants in any available spot of sunlight. her walls are filled with things she likes looking at: posters of her favorite bands, watercolor prints she and ellie made, and endless photos of herself and her friends. she usually takes time once a week to clean up, as she has a tendency to drop clothes or books wherever they lay as she moves onto something else.

quirks:

despite being a fan of all things spooky, jump scares always get her good. she’s usually the middle person in the haunted house group, and subsequently is always getting picked on. she will let you borrow anything she owns, but it’s of utmost importance that you ask first.

INTERESTS –

hobbies:

alice has been playing guitar and practicing martial arts since she was very small. her love for plants wasn’t fostered until later in life, but she prides herself on rehabilitating various wilted houseplants she happens upon. she loves a good smoke session and will make a whole event out of some rolling papers and a gram of fresh weed. she’s usually a pretty willing participant in any photoshoots that ellie cooks up.

best school subject:

science has always been a passion of alice’s. she’s a stem student through and through, excelling in maths and sciences from a very young age. through high school she took college level chemistry and biology courses.

worst school subject:

history always presented its challenges, but as alice grew older and her inability to learn much hands on coupled with the fact that most schooling was a little on the white supremacist side of the situation, alice tended to skip these classes as much as possible or spend as long as she could backtalking a teacher just trying to stick to curriculum.

opinion of education:

alice doesn’t mind school itself-- college classes are perfectly designed to give alice all the free space she needed in a high school curriculum. but her not-so-stellar experience with the allegedly popular social scene made her more than ready to finally be free of high school.

career aspirations / achievements:

a perfect overlap of her loves of science and nature, alice dreams of becoming a bioengineer. she’s well on her way to it, quickly showing aptitude for higher-level stem courses from an early age.

favorite things:

her guitar, family breakfasts, american beauty, ellie & rumi, pop punk music, hand-rolled joints, ghost adventures, her freshly-made bed, chocolate covered pretzels, restarting the bell jar, when plants grow new leaves, her led zeppelin shirt ( x ), god of high school

boredom cure:

driving then walking, or just walking, as far as you can in silence, discovering a beautiful spot to watch the sun set, or rise, depending on when the urge strikes.

#character sheet #alice romero

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citious · 7 years ago

Text

CHAPTER 2

Characters

Main: Song Jiwon, Yoon Jinmyung, Jung Yeeun, Yoo Eunjae, Jo Eun, Kang Yina, Im Sungmin, Kwon Hochang, Jo Chungwon, Seo Janghoon

Note: If you haven’t read the first chapter, you may do so here –> First Chapter

In a nutshell: It all happens in one day, so it’s gonna be quite a long journey ahead. Follow the Belle Epoque girls’ journey in celebrating their loneliest, to the most memorable Valentine’s Day of their lives.

Rating: M

After dropping Jiwon off at Belle Epoque, Sungmin went back home to rest.

When he laid himself on the bed, the conversation he had with Chungwoon last year came to his mind.

5th October 2017

Chungwon: Hyung, you like Jiwon-sunbae, right? Then why aren’t you guys dating?

Sungmin: Is being in a relationship better than being friends?

Chungwon: Eeey, Hyung, what happens if Jiwon gets herself a boyfriend? It’s not that you don’t like her, but you’re scared of confessing to her, right?

This statement really made Sungmin’s blood boil, he cursed at Chungwon for lecturing him on his love life.

Sungmin pretended to sleep, but he was kept awake all night, thinking about the possibility that another guy might really like Jiwon and take her away from him.

Honestly, some of the things Chungwon said was right, but his pride and ego as a guy refused to agree to it.

Sungmin himself is a motae solo. He doesn’t exactly know how to approach the opposite gender, and he’s THAT awkward when it comes to romance and love.

He does watch a lot of romantic films, dramas, and even read the most cliché romance novel out there, but theory and practice are two drastically different things.

So, putting all the things he learnt through watching all those cheesy romance on screen together with his current state of friendship with Jiwon, is challenging.

For the first time, Sungmin actually put much thought on his feelings, even though it stays as a monologue, at least he’s being honest with himself.

Jiwon is my precious friend. I honestly don’t know how she feels about me. I’m afraid that she’ll reject me and we can’t get back together as friends. Even if she accepts me and be in a relationship, what will happen if we breakup? Can we stay as close friends again? I’m so afraid to lose her. More than being selfish, I’d rather have her beside me as a really close friend.

Sungmin paused his monologue as a notification came out on his phone screen. He opened it and saw messages from Jiwon.

‘Is this even real?’ Sungmin thought to himself. Sungmin was startled and he hesitated a lot, but he agreed to go anyway. ‘It’s in a 5 Star restaurant’. The place itself is already suspicious, ‘oh well… Maybe she really wanted to thank me.’

14th February 2018, Morning at Belle Epoque

8.00 a.m.

Yeeun woke up to her morning alarm she set at 8 a.m. She reached out for her phone and swiped the off button to make the alarm stop. She sat down on her bed and stretched her body with a smile on her face.

She saw Jiwon who’s still fast asleep on her bed and quickly grabbed her towel and clothes she has prepared the night before, and went to the bathroom to get ready.

Yeeun wanted to doll herself up cause she’s looking forward to her date with Hochang. She doesn’t know where he’s gonna take her, but she does have high hopes.

As Yeeun did her makeup, Hochang messaged her to meet him at the subway station, in which Yeeun replied: Ok ^.^

9:33 a.m.

Back at Belle Epoque, Kang-eonni called Jiwon early in the morning that she has set her up for a blind date with an acquaintance.

Jiwon: Hello?

Yina: Annyeong, good morning!

Jiwon: Why are you calling me so early in the morning?

Yina: I’ve set a blind date for you today with my acquaintance

Jiwon: Is he handsome?

Yina: More than handsome, I think he will suit you perfectly.

Jiwon: Arasseo. Where is it?

Yina: Villa Sortino, 8 p.m.

Jiwon: That 5 star restaurant?!

Yina: Eo, what’s wrong?

Jiwon: Ani, I’m super excited! Kang-eonni, yeokshi… you’re the best!

Yina: Arasseo, have fun! Thank me later. The table is reserved under your name okay?

Jiwon: Hm…

10.00 a.m.

The doorbell rang as Jo Eun who just went out of the bathroom after brushing her teeth, opened the front door without looking at the monitor.

She almost fainted as she realized who’s standing in front of her. It’s Seo Janghoon in his military uniform and cap.

Before Janghoon could say a word, suddenly the door in front of him was slammed hard and it closed.

Eun who’s inside didn’t know what to do when she found out her boyfriend is standing just outside. She rubbed her eyes to check if she’s actually dreaming, but she’s not.

She opened the door again and asked coldly,

Eun: Why are you here?

Janghoon: Is that the first thing you have to say to your boyfriend who’s been gone for 5 months?

Eun: I freaking missed you. You! Why didn’t you call me? I was waiting for your call day and night.

Janghoon who couldn’t stand looking at Eun who was sulking, tip-toed to kiss her lips.

Janghoon: I missed you too. Should we go on a date today?

Eun’s expression instantly brightened when Janghoon said that, showing her excitement for their Valentine’s day date.

Janghoon: I’ll wait for you downstairs. Call me when you’re ready.

Eun: Arasseo. See you later!

Subway Station

11.25 a.m.

Yeeun sped up as she saw Hochang waiting in front of the station, looking more stylish than usual, still with his glasses on, though.

‘He looks great,’ Yeeun thought silently.

Yeeun wrapped her arms around Hochang’s and asked

Yeeun: So where are you taking me?

Hochang: It’s a secret. Let’s go eat first! What do you want to have?

Yeeun: Anything!

Hochang: Wanna have beef stew? I know a famous place people have been recommending.

Yeeun: Hmm, okay, we can have that

Hochang led Yeeun to go down the subway station as they head for the restaurant.

Restaurant

12.08 p.m.

As it’s a very famous place, all the tables are occupied, but luckily Hochang and Yeeun secured a table.

Hochang: Eat it deliciously, okay? I wanna see you eat a lot today, it’s gonna be a long day.

Yeeun: Since when did my boyfriend become this caring? Arasseo, I’ll eat well!

‘Forget about diet,’ Yeeun thought. ‘When I eat with Hochang, I never had a problem enjoying whatever’s in front of me.’

As Yeeun ate from the bowl of beef stew happily in front of Hochang, he smiled…

After lunch, Yeeun initiated that the two of them watch a movie

Yeeun: Can we go watch a movie? I’ve been wanting to watch this movie.

Hochang: Of course we can, let’s go!

Movie Theater

14.05 p.m.

Hochang: What movie is it?

Yeeun: The new movie of 50 shades.

Hochang: What?! Are you sure? (Hochang asked as he felt awkward watching that kind of movie with his girlfriend)

Yeeun: Eo, I’m sure. You’re an adult already. There’s no need to be so scared

Hochang: (He tried to give in, as all he wanted to do that day is to make Yeeun happy). Arasseo, I’ll buy the tickets and snacks.

Theatre Room

14.30 p.m.

The lights went off as the screen started to play advertisements for a long 15 minutes….

…

The scene in the movie showed the main characters’ passionate lovemaking. Hochang swallowed his saliva and clenched his fist hard, as he’s not used to it (well, actually who doesn’t watch that kind of movies? But Yeeun is beside him, so he’s oddly nervous).

Yeeun who saw what Hochang did, quickly grabbed his right fist and held it to assure him that it’s not a big deal and that he’s gonna be okay. Hochang who realized Yeeun’s gesture loosened his fist.

16.40 p.m.

Yeeun and Hochang walked out of the theater, and when Hochang became aware that it’s still 4.40, he thought, ‘oh shit, it’s only 4.40?! What to do…’

Yeeun: What are we gonna do now?

Hochang: …

Yeeun: Mwoya, I thought you had everything planned?

As Yeeun criticized him, he scratched his head and got a little nervous.

Hochang: Yeeun-ah… Actually…

Before Hochang finished his words, suddenly someone called Yeeun and Hochang from afar.

Yeeun: Eunjae-ya! Eun-ah!

Eunjae: Sunbae! What are you doing here?

Yeeun: We just finished watching a movie

Eunjae: aah, okay…

Yeeun: What is this? Now you guys are having a double date together? Janghoon, how come you’re here? I thought you’re in the army?

Eun: Eo, Yeeun-sunbae, Janghoon received a 5-day off holiday. Isn’t it so cool?

Yeeun: Wah, you’re so lucky!

Janghoon scoffed: Hahahahah, I know. She should be thankful that her boyfriend is working so hard so that he can go home to meet her before the 2 years period.

Eun glared at Janghoon for his petty statement.

Chungwon: anyway, Hochang-hyung and Yeeun-sunbae, do you want to follow us? We’re going to the amusement park.

Hochang: It’s a great idea. Yeeun-ah, do you wanna go with them?

Yeeun: well, alright!

Eunjae: Let’s go!

Maybe God is with Hochang this time. Without meeting the two couples, Yeeun’s mood could’ve gone down in a slope now.

Amusement Park

17.20 p.m.

While the girls walked in front hand-in-hand, being excited with the occasion, the guys walked together behind, staring at their girlfriends’ backs.

Hochang: Hey, what to do… I have a reservation dinner at Namsan Tower today at 8 p.m.

Chungwon: waa Hyung, you prepared a lot for today, huh

Janghoon: Gwaenchana, you can stay here for about 1.5 hours and just take taxi from here. It won’t take long, 30 minutes I guess. Check the map.

Hochang: But isn’t 1.5 hours too fast to spend in here?

Janghoon: don’t worry. We’ve got your back.

Chungwon: Eo, anyway Yeeun-sunbae would be tired already since she already watched a movie with you, no?

Hochang: Arasseo. I’ll rely on you, ok?

The couples rode so many attractions at the theme park, and Yeeun couldn’t believe the awkward Hochang that she knew is actually an extreme-ride maniac. He’s so fun when it comes to amusement park activities.

Chungwon and Eunjae came back wearing couple head bands, those cute ones that could pass a children’s accessories. Eun and Janghoon stared at the sight with total awkwardness, as they both thought those matching things are cheesy and childish. But what to do, they’re inexperienced when it comes to dating, so they don’t know exactly what to do.

By now, the couples have separated from each other and are now doing their own things..

Janghoon grabbed Eun by her hand and said,

Janghoon: Eun-ah, let’s go ride that (while pointing up)

It’s a ferris wheel.

Eun nodded and held Janghoon’s hand tight as they walked past the sea of couples who seemed to be enjoying themselves at the amusement park too.

The sun has set and the sky has gone darker at 6.30 p.m.

Eun and Janghoon queued in line, waiting for their turn to hop on the ferris wheel. As they reached the front line of the queue the operator told them to be careful as they step onto the capsule, because it’s not gonna stop.

Finally, It’s just the two of them. For the past hours, they’ve been hearing loud noises of people in the amusement park. People screaming, laughing, and talking casually.

Eun: It feels nice, and the night view from here is so pretty.

Janghoon: are you happy?

Eun: hm…

Without them realizing, they’re reaching the top of the ferris wheel, and without notice, Janghoon told Eun earnestly,

Janghoon: Eun-ah…

Eun kept her eyes on Janghoon, waiting for what he’s about to say.

Janghoon: Saranghae.

Janghoon leaned towards Eun who was sitting in front of him, and kissed her as the capsule reached the highest peak of the wheel.

It was delicate and pure, reminding Eun of their first kiss outside Belle Epoque.

19.00 p.m.

Hochang: Yeeun-ah, are you tired?

Yeeun: A little…

Hochang: Actually, I still have something I wanted to do with you

Yeeun: what is it?

Hochang: Let’s go.

Hochang and Yeeun rode on a taxi outside the amusement park, heading to their last destination of the special day.

19. 45 p.m.

Yeeun: Namsan? (she asked with a big smile on her face)

Hochang: Hm…

Hochang held Yeeun’s hand and headed towards n.Grill, a French restaurant located at the top of Namsan Tower.

Hochang made a reservation in this restaurant from a month before. That’s how much he put his thought to give Yeeun a nice Valentine’s day experience.

As they reached the restaurant, the waiter showed them to their table. The view was so breathtaking. Yeeun’s face was bright in awe of the night view of Seoul, she couldn’t feel any happier.

Yeeun: Kwon Hochang…

Hochang: ?

Yeeun: I’m delighted. I didn’t expect you had prepared this much for today. I’m sorry if I hurt your feeling today after the movie.

Hochang: Yeeun-ah, no, you don’t have to feel sorry for anything.

The food that has been ordered in advance by Hochang came out not long after they arrived.

Eating in a fancy restaurant isn’t a rare occasion for Yeeun, but that night was special, because she could be herself in front of Hochang. She doesn’t have to suppress her desire to eat, unlike when she had to do it in from of her mom.

Moreover, Seoul’s night view and the dots of lights painted the glass window beautifully, as Yeeun and Hochang had their first and most romantic dinner.

19.40 p.m.

Yoon-sunbae was about to head home when she had the time to check her kkaotalk messages.

Jaehwan:

I’m sorry.

I can’t go to Seoul today,

I know it’s a special day

I’ll visit on the weekend.

Love you ❤

Jinmyung understood how difficult it is for Jaehwan to visit her in Seoul. The last time she met him was during New Year’s celebration over a month ago, where they went to a countdown show together in the cold, cold winter. She missed Jaehwan so much, but she knew distance is there to halt them from meeting.

Jinmyung types on her phone before finally sending her reply:

Jinmyung:

Gwaenchana-yo.

See you this weekend ❤

Jinmyung kept her phone back in her blazer pocket and forced a smile, before walking outside the office to go back home.

Villa Sortino, Seoul

19.45 p.m.

Sungmin arrived at the restaurant first. He parked his car on the side of the road and went in.

At the reception

Receptionist: Yes sir, how can I help you?

Sungmin: There’s a reservation under the name Song Jiwon?

Receptionist: Yes, there is… For two people? But you came alone?

Sungmin: Ah, yes… She’ll come later

Receptionist: Okay, let me take you to your table.

Sungmin sat down at the table while waiting for Jiwon. He turned his head left and right to observe the restaurant.

10 minutes later, he saw a figure he couldn’t recognize approaching the table with the receptionist earlier.

As they got closer, Sungmin couldn’t believe his eyes as the girl he’s known for his whole uni life is standing in front of him, probably looking the prettiest in the course of her life.

Her hair was straight with waves at the bottom, and the dress she was wearing was pink, decorated with delicate floral embroidery. Not to mention, she smelt so damn good.

Sungmin’s zoning out moment stopped as Jiwon exclaimed

Jiwon: Ya! You! Why are you here?!

Sungmin: Me? You’re the one who invited me here. What do you mean?!

Jiwon: What? What are you talking about? I never— Aish! Kang-eonni!

Jiwon grasped that Kang-eonni must’ve set her up with Sungmin. ‘Why?’ Jiwon thought hard to herself.

Sungmin: are you disappointed?

Jiwon: I don’t know.

Sungmin: Just sit down.

Jiwon followed Sungmin’s words as he told her to sit opposite him.

Sungmin: What do you want to eat?… Steak?… Pas-

Sungmin was about to say pasta, when he remembered what Jiwon said about pasta last year when he caught her outside the restaurant, spying on him.

‘Do you think pasta is just a meal? What is pasta? It’s a meal for a couple.’

Jiwon: I’ll just go with Pasta.

Sungmin gulped in nervousness as Jiwon decided on that. But in the end, Sungmin ordered pasta too, for don’t know what reason.

In the middle of eating…

Jiwon: Well, since we’re here already, why don’t the both of us just do what people do during blind dates?

Sungmin, who doesn’t know what people talk about in blind dates (as he never went to one), responded,

Sungmin: What do people do during blind dates?

Jiwon: Well, they ask about each other’s interests, hobbies, what kind of food they like, what countries they’ve been to… Things like that? But for me, I like to make it extra special. Drinks!

Sungmin: Forget about those background checks. Think about this. What do I not know about you? and what do you not know about me? Can you think of any?

Jiwon: (Jiwon hesitated a lot and said), well, we’ve known each other enough to know everything about each other.

Sungmin: Right? Okay, let’s go get some drinks, then.

Jiwon: ooooo, Im Sungmin, did you get striked by a lightning? you’re so lively now.

Sungmin just smirked as Jiwon commented nonchalantly.

To be honest, he just wanted to spend Valentine’s Day together with Jiwon for a longer time, that’s why he asked her to go have some drinks.

As they both finished eating their pasta, they headed to the cashier to pay the bills.

Sungmin grabbed his wallet from his pocket and paid their meals in full. Before they left the restaurant, the receptionist commented.

Receptionist: You two look good together. I hope you’ve enjoyed your date on Valentine’s Day. Hope to see you again on your next visit. Thank you!

Jiwon thought, ‘Valentine’s Day?’

Jiwon: Today’s Valentine’s Day?! (Jiwon asked Sungmin as she just realized the date).

Sungmin: eo, why?

Jiwon: Then what am I doing?! I should be doing something romantic with a guy now.

Sungmin’s heart plunged as he heard Jiwon’s statement. But he quickly brushed it off.

Sungmin: Let’s go have some drinks. And what’s with that pout? You look ugly.

Jiwon followed Sungmin as they headed towards the car.

21.58 p.m.

Sungmin parked his car in the basement of a high-end apartment complex.

Jiwon: Ya, where are we?

Sungmin: It’s my place.

Jiwon: are you rich?

Sungmin: no, my parents are.

Jiwon, who just found out about this, nodded in acceptance.

She thought she knew everything about him, but no, actually, she doesn’t. It made her realize just how mysterious Sungmin is.

Jiwon: But why are we at your place? Aren’t we supposed to have some drinks?

Sungmin: I have lots of soju and beers at home

Jiwon: You brat, why did you never ask me to come have a drink at your place?

Sungmin: Molla. Let’s go.

Sungmin and Jiwon went inside the apartment building’s lift, and Sungmin pressed the level number ‘25’.

…

Sungmin entered the passcode to his apartment door, and when the door opened, Jiwon was in awe at Sungmin’s luxurious apartment.

Jiwon: Do you live alone in here?

Sungmin: Hm...

She put her bag in the living room, walked around the open space, and even went inside every room she could find in that enormous apartment.

Jiwon: Ya Im Sungmin, how come you never had a girlfriend? If you told them you live in an apartment like this, girls will line up for you everyday.

Inside Sungmin’s heart, he thought, ‘you dense girl, it’s you that I like. How am I supposed to be with another girl?’

Sadly, he couldn’t say it out loud. Yet.

Sungmin left Jiwon to wander around the apartment, and prepared the drinks and glasses from the kitchen counter. Sungmin put the bottles of soju and beer on the coffee table in the living room.

Jiwon came out of one of the rooms and joined Sungmin who was already sitting down on the carpet in the living room.

There was silence between these man and woman as they realized that they’re the only ones in that place now, isolated from any other human beings and disturbances.

Sungmin poured himself a shot of Soju.

Seeing this, Jiwon gave him a word of critic.

Jiwon: ckckck, how old-fashioned. Here, I’ll make you the best somaek (soju + beer) you’ll ever taste in your life.

Sungmin kept quiet and let Jiwon mix it for him and herself.

The two hit their refreshing glasses of somaek before gulping it down in one shot. They let go a sigh of satisfaction from the burning sensation.

Sungmin: You’re good, (while smiling).

Jiwon: See? What did I tell you?

Sungmin: hey by the way, how long have we known each other for?

Jiwon: We first met during orientation, so 4 years?… It’s been 4 years already?! Why is it so fast… I feel like I just met you a few months ago.

Sungmin, realizing that they’ve known each other for 4 years, thought about how long it’s been since he literally never landed another woman except Jiwon in his heart.

The two kept drinking and drinking while at the same time sharing so many stories they have yet shared in those 4 years.

Maybe it’s the magical effect of alcohol, but Sungmin never felt this comfortable in his life. He never shared so much about his experiences with anyone, no one but the beautiful woman who’s sitting next to him now.

For every glass of somaek Sungmin drank, he became more and more honest each time.

Jiwon, who’s quite a strong drinker, laughed as she witnessed the rare sight of her quiet friend acting funny.

Jiwon: Im Sungmin, I didn’t know you’re capable of making jokes like that, Jiwon complimented Sungmin with laughter.

Sungmin who heard Jiwon, gazed at her eyes.

‘And it happened yet again…,’ Jiwon thought. Just like the day before.

Flashback

In Sungmin’s car after the trial

Jiwon was thankful towards Sungmin who’s been there to support her in investigating Mr. Han’s case.

Jiwon: Sungmin-ah… Thank you.

The car stopped as the traffic light turned red. Sungmin who was looking at the road now has his eyes on Jiwon’s.

As they’re both now locking their gaze, Jiwon felt a weird feeling she’s never felt before. She tought, ‘what the hell is this? Why does my stomach feel funny? And why is my heart beating like this?’

Luckily, there were sounds of cars honking at the back, so the two got back to their senses.

When Sungmin dropped Jiwon off at Belle Epoque, she touched her heart to feel it. She laid herself down on the sofa and murmured to herself.

Jiwon: Do I… like him?, while staring at the ceiling.

Flashforward

Sungmin’s Apartment

The two are still gazing at each other’s eyes. At that moment, both of them totally forgot what’s happening and what they were even doing in the first place.

Sungmin who’s a little tipsy and Jiwon who’s completely awake approached each other’s lips at the same time.

As their lips touched, Sungmin cupped his right palm on Jiwon’s left cheek and his left palm on Jiwon’s neck.

He felt their lips and tongue danced in synchronization, as he let his suppressed feelings for Jiwon all out. He couldn’t hold it in any longer, as this long overdue kiss was all he’s been longing for.

Jiwon got more and more immersed in the intimacy, and squeezed Sungmin’s loose shirts around his waist.

She could feel Sungmin’s soft lips playing with hers gently and full of passion. Honestly, it felt so damn good. It’s as if the world belonged to her and Sungmin.

Sungmin pulled out his warm lips and detached it from Jiwon’s, stood up from his position, and carried Jiwon’s light figure, heading towards his room at the end of the hallway.

While Jiwon was carried by Sungmin, she thought, ‘so this is how a real kiss feels like. I want more.’

Sungmin pushed the door to his room with his back, and closed it with his feet as he approached his bed to lay Jiwon down on the mattress, caressing his lips once again on Jiwon’s soft lips that he’s gone familiar with now.

The burning passion of the two equally lustful man and woman continued. As the rhythm got stable, Sungmin unbuttoned his shirt one by one, with the help of Jiwon who’s in the mood. Sungmin then dragged down Jiwon’s dress zipper in a moderate speed and pulled the dress off her body.

Jiwon switched her position, and now she’s on top of Sungmin, who has his back on the sheets.

Jiwon who’s left with her matching lacy black underwear on, kissed Sungwon’s neck and traced her lips down to Sungmin’s hard chest, all the way to his sculpted muscles on his belly part. Both Sungmin and Jiwon could feel the sensuality created by their strong affection for one another.

As Jiwon reached his lower body, Jiwon said.

Jiwon: Wait, where’s my bag?

Sungmin: Outside, why?

Jiwon: Protection.

Sungmin: Thank God. You carry it with you?

Jiwon: Of course. Who knows when I’m ever gonna do it, right?

Sungmin: Ah, sorry I’m so bad at this

Jiwon: ssshhhh. that’s not important now.

Jiwon hurriedly ran towards her bag in the living room, took it with her to Sungmin’s room and reached out a packet of condom. She jumped back to the bed and instructed Sungmin,

Jiwon: Take it off, (while pointing at his pants)

Without further ado, Sungmin removed his pants and tossed it to the side of his bed.

Sungmin: Jiwon-ah, are you sure?

Jiwon: Shut up.

Jiwon who couldn’t resist Sungmin’s charm, pulled his body up such that her legs are now wrapped around Sungmin’s waist.

As they gazed at each other’s eyes for a moment, they attached their foreheads together, put on a subtle smile and let their lips lock again. The kiss was deeper this time.

Sungmin’s fingers reached out to Jiwon’s back to unclasp her bra and reached her lower waist, as he removed whatever was left on her, Jiwon did the same to Sungmin as she helped him take off his boxer.

Jiwon tore open the packet she took earlier with her teeth and gave him the night’s savior, the protection she’s been keeping in her bag for the longest time.

As they’ve reached this state now, there’s no going back.

Sungmin and Jiwon continued on as the night of privacy and intimacy between them developed into a dangerous yet romantic moment they’ve never experienced in their life before.

‘So this is how it feels,’ Jiwon thought to herself. It’s so good, and it made her happy. ‘But I’m sure, I can feel it this way only because it’s Sungmin.’

As they reached the peak, they laid themselves facing each other and covered themselves with a warm blanket.

A moment of silence was created as the two locked their gaze, Jiwon’s eyes was shining, and it was focused at Sungmin, whose eyes were full of his affection and love for Jiwon.

Without them realizing, they both closed their eyes in sync, lips hooked while letting their gut feelings and reflex guide them to the deepest French kiss they’ve only witnessed in those Western movies.

They weren’t exactly sure how much time has passed, as they both tried to catch their breath from kissing. They stared at each other for a moment with sweet smiles on their faces.

They gave each other one last goodnight peck before getting into a comfortable cuddle position – Jiwon placing her head on Sungmin’s broad chest, and Sungmin hugging Jiwon tight in his arms, as they both head over to dreamland.

Thank you for reading.

Read the next chapter:

Chapter 2.5

#ssongsungmin #age of youth #age of youth 2 #age of youth season 2 #im sungmin #song jiwon #fanfiction #park eun bin #son seung won #kdrama #korean drama #the beginning of something unexpected

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