#like obviously raffi

[annikasevenshots]

.

[milfleeta]

it’s the way that jadzia and lenara khan were allowed to show more intimacy in a singular episode in 1995 than seven and raffi have in three seasons of a show that began in 2020

[gameo-archive]

"If you'd be willing, could you please show us a small skit or scene in character as the boys of an exchange you think they might have on an ordinary day at the office?"

So, I may have ordered a Cameo. I am so unspeakably charmed right now ;;

I asked if they'd be willing to do a small skit or scene in character as the boys of an exchange they might have on an ordinary day at the office.

[astracora]

Poly!LADs headcanons - Caleb Edition

(Because I have no idea if I'll ever get around to writing his intro to the polycule so I wanted to shove some ideas into a post.)

Masterlist

- The one who has the most trouble adapting to the concept of the polycule.

- Reintroduced after the polycule is formed, a year after his death.

- His reintroduction is obviously a bit rough, not only is he actively combative with the MC, but his actions push them further into the comfort of the polycule like a wounded cat.

- After they have eased the relationship out, it's some time before they talk to him about the polycule. Not sure how to broach it.

- He already knew, and he already stewed about it for a long time. (He's still stewing about it.)

- They've mourned him, after loving him, and moved forwards though, he can't push and demand when he knows that without the polycule they likely wouldn't still be there.

- His first meeting is rough, he can hide as much as he wants behind smiles, but Sylus is very good at reading people, as is Rafayel, so they can see through him. (Rafayel is no stranger to fake smiles). Xavier is jealous so reacts most to Caleb, while Zayne is somewhat calm, but wary. On one hand he has a childhood friend back, on the other hand depending on how much he knows. If he knows about Caleb's involvement with EVER, a great deal of distrust, and some real anger (that he tries not to show).

- Clashes most with Rafayel and Zayne. Rafayel because the two are almost opposed in many ways (Caleb's lack of sensory input and reluctance to touch, vs Rafayel as a Lemurian where his senses are SO attuned to his lovers, as well as the memory focus, and also the fact that both hide part of themselves behind a reasonably jovial mask, but Raffy is a lot better at hiding.) Zayne because the two do not agree on the methods of protecting and caring for MC (Keeping them hidden/caged, and the actions of siding with EVER with the intent to keep MC safe (which Zayne consistently states is a stupid plan.)).

- Understands Xavier, still doesn't like him.

- Depending on the advancement of his story, he has the potential to come to terms with the fact that accepting help and acknowledging that he's not alone in his drive to protect the person who means the most to him, helps him step past his self assigned cage.

- With enough time and trust, he accepts the polycule's help tending to his arm. They tinker with it and work with specialists to try to make it capable of sensory responses. It's kind of an exchange that keeps them on good ground. A kind of 'look we're not enemies, you have to lower your hackles' kinda thing.

- He hates the situation a lot less when he holds MC's hand for the first time again, and can feel the heat of them through his cybernetics.

- Builds models with Sylus, though it's more he builds models, Sylus suggests ways to bring them to life as real mini robot weapons. If the two are left alone, they WILL create tiny weaponised planes.

- Rafayel has taken to using them as target practice for throwing daggers.

- One crashed into Zayne's office door, waking him up from a nap, and made him think they were being attacked.

- Xavier slept through the whole thing, and woke up to plane shrapnel in his hair (he's used his light blade to knock a few out if they have disturbed his slumber though.)

- MC does not get enough sleep, and almost banned the planes, until Sylus and Caleb both promised to stop flying them indoors. Hooked up lil cameras to the things and started flying them around linkon and as far as they could before the things ran out of signal. (They got some killer nature recordings.)

- Caleb is another member of the insomnia crew. He's woken up alongside Zayne a few times, and made tea for them both. (Only for MC to toddle in not long after, and curling up between them with their own warm drink, exhausted and miserable but also unable to sleep.)

- Caleb helps take over some of the cooking, he also tries to find tech Xavier can use that won't catch fire, reducing the amount of cooking incidents by about 50%. (If asked he'll say he's doing it to keep MC safe... Xavier's smile when he cooks a full and very good meal has shit all to do with it. He swears.)

- Is the most averse to affection, originally sees the polycule as a means to an end, after all other people are just background noise to his real focus. Unluckily for him, it's hard to keep that mindset up when you spend that much time with people who don't have chips in their head, and also don't want to hurt the things you care about. The anti EVER squad are best placed to combat his 'world for just us two' energy. As well as question his intent. (Especially with how important MC's independence is to them.)

- Will not begin physically and emotionally warming up to the rest of the lads before he finally overcomes the wall keeping him from MC. After he has finally stepped over the line, he basks in it, then begins to let himself become more human again.

- He and Xavier ARE the protection squad. You want to bother the polycule? Can't promise you won't end up dead in a ditch somewhere.

- Zayne does try to rein this in. Sylus finds it hilarious. Rafayel cannot comment because he was thinking about stabbing that dude too. MC thinks they might need to start taking migraine medication because please guys, one nice meal out.

- He's tidy and multi talented. It takes a WHILE before he finds a room for himself in the house, isn't really sure what to fill it with because he struggles to refind his identity as a person. It begins with filling it with model planes, it advances into photos and memories, as well as his DAA stuff as well. Becomes a place he can keep things that tether him to himself.

- Has mended clothes for the others, really wants to know how Raffy tears so many shirts. No he cannot get acrylics out of a white shirt, why did you let it stain!?!!

- His puppy dog eyes are a weapon of mass destruction. NO one is safe. All have fallen to those eyes. 'But he just looks so sad' 'I know he does but why does that mean we now have two puppies in the living room' 'MC wanted them!' 'Caleb we don't have the space or time!!!'

- Uses all his old social media accounts, like an absolute fool. (Aren't you dead dude why are you using all ur old numbers????) Unfollowed most people, kept MC. Didn't follow the polycule. Was missing cute photos and things they'd posted, grumpily and (not that) reluctantly followed them all.

- He and Zayne occasionally have a kamaoji-off.

- He has taken Sylus flying. He did turn his head away so the dragon man could have a moment of sad recollection.

- Does still compete constantly to be the best person to assist mc in their day to day. The competitions can get aggressive and over the top. The lads do get carried away.

- Is the most scared of losing everyone, it does keep him awake at night. Does plan eventualities with the polycule. Does feel comforted knowing that if he fails, he's not leaving MC to deal with everything alone. Assures himself and everyone that he won't fail. He has his tether to get back to, after all.

[gameo-archive]

"Hello, George, it's me again, and hello Jayden. Keeping my first question simple: is there anything you'd like to see more fan art of in DBD? I'd also love to make a key chain of Raffy and one for Luna to give to you at some point if that's ok."

Edited to add a transcript:

George: Oh, good start. Jayden: That was a good start. “Hello, George. It's me again and hello Jayden. Keeping my first question simple, is there anything you'd like to see more fanart of for DBD? I'd also love to make a key chain of Raffi and one for Luna to give it to you at some point, if that's OK”. Well, first of all, hello, Ethii. Again, I’m, I speak to you pretty much every week anyway. First what I want to say thank you for all of your fan art. I know me and George have both posted pictures of your fan art on our Instagram. I have actually used your fan art as my emotes on Twitch. So yeah, big shout out to you, ehm, I mean. For me, I can't think of anything specific that I'd like to see. I mean, you're amazingly creative and you always make the coolest fan art, so I guess you could just surprise us. How about something of us like this? You should make a fan art and try and add in all of this beautiful set design that that, George added in. George: and you could make fan art of fan art. Because this is Adele, who, ehm, very kindly sent, sent over some fan art which I treasure very much. Well, hi, Ethii. I obviously don't know you as well as this one, but I do recognise you from the last round of cameos. In terms of fan art, I would probably say I'd love to see some of. I mean, listen, I'm grateful for any fan art cause you guys are doing it for the love of the show, which means a lot to us, but maybe some of the characters with the creatures. Jayden: Yes, love that. George: That would be cool. I'd be interested to like, see those creatures because they're CGI. I think it'd be really cool to see them, see your interpretations of them. Jayden: And Teethface. George: Teethface, yeah. And like the floating squid and stuff. And also, you know, we had some favourite episodes to film, like Episode 5. Like, maybe like, I don't know, like a screen grab of, I don't know, us in the school. Or something like that I. Jayden: Yeah. Love that. Or the dragon, you know the dragon. Yeah. Was it the mascot? George: Mascot, yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah, I think that'd be really cool. And also actually now I think about it. Jayden: Go on. George: Bree, Jenny the Butcher is getting married, so you could, as a surprise at the end of the year, have, like, Jenny the Butcher. Yeah, in a butchery gown. And then all the characters at the wedding. Jayden: Yeah yeah. Oh my God, do it. George: That'd be so cool. Jayden: Do it! George: She would like. And we, do you know what, we’ll personally make sure that she sees that. Jayden: Yeah, as we are going to the wedding. George: We're going to the wedding.

[yandere-fics]

♡ Raffie's Sister Tries To Court Someone Else ♡

Raphael hated when you flirted with anyone, she knew they were just food though so she had always gritted her teeth and beared it, they would be gone within a week when your little hunting game was over, this however had gone on far too long and she was moments away from killing the entire royal court in a fit of rage as she watched you dance with the same human for the fifth time that night, the hundredth time overall this month, it was almost like you were courting them but she rejected that idea, her dearest sunflower couldn't possibly be entertaining the idea of someone so obviously beneath you being the one to hold you, obviously only your sister was even worth holding your hand so it was a sick joke they were already seemingly familiar with parts of you that not even she, your beloved sister who had devoted al she was to you for a century, was worthy of knowing. Luckily your date was pulled away by someone else and you came up to her, you were tired and wanted to leave the ball now which was a huge relief to those in the court that were aware she was actively plotting a murder.

"Sunflower, do you need help killing them?" She hoped that was why you hadn't killed them yet even though she highly doubted it, you hadn't struggled to hunt since the moment she turned you but it was better than the alternative, that this pest had grown on you. They could never love or worship you like she did nor did they deserve to.

"No, I think I like them." The carriage handle cracked in half as she opened it for you, signaling the carriage driver take off on their break, she needed privacy with you right away even if it was just in your carriage right outside the ball, this had to be fixed.

"My dearest sunflower," She slammed the carriage door behind her, crawling on top of you and gripping your face as you looked confused. "You've forgotten humans are food, I only let them live to feed my dearest sunflower."

"B-but I would like to get married one day." She shushed you.

"The crown princess approved my request to marry you, I had to find some way to keep people from courting you. I'll help you hunt them tomorrow." She started crying thinking about how pretty your wedding would be after she removed that pest. She was excited to feed them to you tomorrow, she'd have to restrain herself from crying then too.

[op-smash-or-pass]

Welcome to One Piece smash or pass

This is based off of @fe-smashorpass except with One Piece characters here are the guidelines:

-Each day we will have 2 characters be chosen for smash or pass. The polls will last for a week.

-Obviously I am skipping: Animals/Minks, Children, characters that look like children, and dwarfs(Any character that is over the age of 18 after the timeskip we will use those designs)

-You guys can send me asks! Honestly I don’t know how quick I’ll respond to them but go ahead! It can be about anything (yes including headcannons + ships)

We also have a popularity poll going on! Here

Some important tags: #OP smash or pass (where you can find all the current and previous polls)

#Inbox trick or treating- the trick or treat event that went on

#Rosi’s holiday exchange- Holiday event that went on

Below are some FAQ’s that might pop up:

Q: how are you keeping track of the characters? How will you prevent from repeats?

A: I spent four hours making a spreadsheet and tried to weed out all the characters we can’t post here. If a character I missed pops up and I post it I’ll take it down and post a new one.

Q: What else are you a fan of?

A: I’m really into Coral island as of late. Fire emblem has always had a special place in my heart. I also have been playing a ton of Identity V as of late. (I’m a college student so I can really only watch anime)

Q: Are we allowed to ask you things not about One piece?

A: Yes but please keep it to a minimal, I love answering questions but remember this is a One Piece gimick blog first

Q: Are you gonna make a spreadsheet of the most smashable characters?

A: Yes! I have a friend who is willing to do it! Plus at the end I have something else planned :]

Q: Are we allowed to request characters?

No, I’m going in alphabetical order, but if I miss someone please let me know! Though if you want people to smash or pass your One Piece OC’s I can do that!

Q: What characters are we including?

A: As long as they fit in our categories and have a photo of them, they are welcome in this. So yes we have some movie characters but not a lot.

I have decided Momonosuke will not be in this poll because he has the mindset of a child

Q: Why are you doing this?

A: I’m jobless, bored, and hyper fixating hard. Also I thought it would be fun. Plus I wanna get a consensus on characters

Q: Do you have an age limit on this blog?

A: Not really, though if you are a minor and try to argue about this being NSFW then…unfollow idc it’s just a silly poll

Q: The series is still running what about future chapters with characters?

A: I’ll add them to the end of the list and we’ll circle back to them once my main list is done.

Q: How many characters are in this poll?

A: 1000+ most are male there’s only about 250 women in this poll. And yes I checked EVERY big mom child

Q: How are we incorporating Zoan devil fruits in this?

A: As long as they have a human form we will be using them. But the lab made zoan fruits were gonna go with how they look

Cheetah for legs: ❌ Ox for stomach: ✅

Q: Why are people smashing XYZ?

A: Idfk it’s Tumblr man, have you seen the bitches these people are into??

Q: I came from TikTok are you redo’ing any polls?

A: Nope! As long as I didn’t mess up the photo or made the poll one day we aren’t redoing any characters.

Q: I have a friend who you blocked why did you do that?

A: They probably shipped Coralaw, DoffyCora, or some other illegal ass ship, we’re a pornbot, or straight up being racist. Just don’t be fucking weird man and I won’t block you. I love shipping but if your shipping something illegal I’m gonna block you.

Q: Why is Corazon the profile photo?

A: I think he’s hot + idk heart theme kinda fits. And he has some good alts so I can do Halloween and spring themes

Info about OP:

Hello! You can call me Deer/Rafiel (Raffy) /Michael/ or Rosinante!!

I am trans masc and use He/they/it/thing pronouns! Though just He/they is fine too!

I am in my first year of college majoring in creative writing leaning towards video game scrips with a minor in digital art.

This account is run by a DID system and the fictive host Rosinante. Though please do not ask questions about our system due to privacy reasons.

I’m still catching up on the One Piece manga (caught up on the anime), so I apologize if I don’t know the manga characters

Dni:

-Homophobes/transphobes

-Proshippers (fancy way of saying illegal ships)

-Racists

- People telling me how to run my blog

-Coralaw shippers

-Trump supporters

[seriousfic]

Picard season 3 was at least good enough for me to have a guarded interest in the proposed Star Trek: Legacy, but there's still enough there to give me douche chills. Let's rap about it, shall we?

Seven of Nine should not be out of Starfleet Academy yet. Seven of Nine should not be the first officer of a starship yet. Seven of Nine should definitely not be the captain of the flagship. It was ridiculous enough when Pine!Kirk got command of the Enterprise straight out of the Academy; Star Trek did not need to double down and give Seven the same treatment essentially the moment she filled out the paperwork.

I'm not so enthused with Seven and Raffi's relationship that I want to watch Seven Loves Chachi, sorry, Raffi. Folks, it's just as underdeveloped as Seven and Chakotay, people just like it more because it's two hot chicks.

The whole "our main characters are a thief, a spy, and a pirate!" thing is just too ragtag bunch of misfits. This is Star Trek. Not Guardians of the Galaxy. It should be nerdy NASA astronauts, not guy who plays Metallica while driving a Firebird. Just... no. C'mon.

I realize it's an American ensemble and there's always going to be an element of ragtag bunch of misfits, but usually it comes up naturalistically. Geordi is blind and sees with cybernetic implants, but that's just how he was born--he's still a gifted engineer who went through the Academy and worked his ass off to get the best engineering gig in the fleet. Worf and Data are obviously eclectic additions to the crew, but they're still skilled and highly trained Starfleet officers. In fact, part of the show getting better was removing oddball elements like Wesley Crusher (not trained enough and too immature) and Pulaski (too antagonistic and unprofessional) from the cast.

DS9: Kira and Odo were longstanding members of the Bajoran power structure. It was unconventional for them to be part of a 'Starfleet' crew, but it's not like they were picked up off the street. They were good at their jobs and had been doing them for a long time.

VOY: This is the closest thing to the classic ragtag bunch of misfits, but it's justified in that Voyager was heavily damaged and they had to make do with what crew they could field. And even then, people don't like Neelix because he's... unprofessional and useless.

ENT: Similar straits to VOY where Archer has to make do by recruiting T'Pol and Phlox to round out his crew, but T'Pol is a high-ranking officer in the Vulcan navy and Phlox is a respected physician (I know, but let's not get into that now).

SNW: ...actually, I think pretty much the entire crew is just veteran Starfleet officers who've made it to working on the flagship simply by being very good at their jobs and being unspeakably talented. Hunh. No wonder people like this series.

So, Legacy, the whole "what was Starfleet thinking, putting us in charge of a spaceship! This has to be the kookiest ship in the fleet!" Ugh. No. If Matalas wanted to include Seven, Raffi, and Jack in the cast, fine, but I don't like them being the new Picard/Riker/Data. They really should've kept Shaw around to be a kind of Picard figure who stays on the bridge while Seven beams down and gets into misadventures. Someone who you can buy Starfleet putting in charge. Like General Hammond in SG-1, supporting his guys when they're in the right but reining them in when they're overstepping their bounds.

But I really don't like this Chris Pine, main character syndrome crap where the hero is both the authority who demands that their underlings obey orders AND the renegade who bucks authority on days that end in Y. (Sorry, Chris Pine, you're great, but you know--his take on Kirk.)

[synthville]

the thing is.

raffi isn’t half as strange or off-putting as she could be. given how she processes things and her vices she really should be so much more of an audacious eccentric obsessive schemer (love) and also just the biggest liar to ever do it. meddlesome as hell but it comes back to bite.

she’s got all the connects but also she’s been banned from multiple planets. it’s fine. she didn’t want to go back to any of them anyway. her access was revoked so why does she know so much about seemingly unconnected classified events and titbits. why don’t you. she happened upon that information. as one does. what’s with all the questions. smooth talks her way in and out of stupid situations daily because she can’t leave well enough alone and just has to get answers. she does not get her answers. rabbit holes that spawn labyrinths. whatever the futuristic version of a red string board is. rios breaking into her quarters because it’s been days and she’s replicated an alarming amount of wine but very little food and he hates the EMH but the nosey holo is right this cannot stand. she tries to be present because it was her idea to visit that one spa like planet in the first place but it’s physically impossible for her not to bring up whatever theory it is that’s plaguing her this time around. there’s something just outside her periphery and once she connects the dots she’ll let it go. really. the great pretender. an actual reckoning with her addiction and what’s at the root of it. why constantly numbing herself with various substances didn’t actually work. she can fool everyone but not herself. at least not well. all the fallout with people she loves that now want nothing to do with her (gabe?? hello that thread alone is so much) because of all the times she recklessly dismissed or used them for her own means all the while convincing herself it was about the big picture. being real with herself about the reality of starfleet and why she wants in so badly anyway. greater good huh. her tricked out encrypted tech because why accept bland federation equipment or adhere to legal limits when she can make things that much more fun with a little tweaking. that unassuming little trailer is fortified as fuck. eyescan fingerprint alphasymbolic code physical lock to even get past the front door. and obviously her tech self destructs upon intrusion this isn’t amateur hour. she might be living in a semi utopia but you still not about to catch her slipping. any and all conversations between cybernetist agnes jurati and intelligence officer raffaela musiker. rios needs them to stop making unauthorized changes to la sirena and cut it out with the emergency holo roundtables. everything to do with her and seven but twice the stubborn gay ridiculousness and entwinement. everyone is alive and well and in their rightful timelines. salivating. she’s barely putting in her weird girl hours and already people can’t take it imagine if they just leaned into making her a possessive obsessive little freak (positive!) and wrote/depicted everything with care? the layers. a hyper-competent-women-with-massive-issues-lover’s dream and the nasty bros and bigots who can’t fathom anyone other than a bland white guy as deserving of complexity or relevance would die on the spot amen. id EAT.

[resistanceisfeudal]

Uncategorised finale thoughts:

The number of times I said "I dont care about this" out loud got a bit silly

Second only to "this doesn't feel like how the borg work"

I think Riker straight up forgot he has a kid to go home to

Jack reminiscing about all his dearest fondest memories from the last, what, two days? Absolutely sent me. 10/10

Something about the "Everyone gets a little something to do" structure of this borg cube heist is pleasing to me. I'll give them that

Presumably, thousands of people have died, right? This happy ending feels weird

Hey, Tuvok! Glad they bothered to remember that.

When was Shaw supposed to have recorded this message? Seriously. When? Post vadic taking over and pre borg taking over? Weird priorities.

Gabe really said "we can reconcile but only once you've saved the Galaxy three times"

"One year later" - cuts immediately to scene that in no way needed to happen one year later then cutting to a discontinuous scene that does. Editing. Guys, come on.

I cannot believe they're putting so much dramatic emphasis on the "engage/make it so/etc" thing. Like, that's a running joke in Discovery!

Laris died on the way back to her home planet.

Thoughts firmly in the salt category:

This whole season felt like an insult.

I saw some post using the phrase "Bury your gays" to describe this episode, which obviously had me worried for Seven and Raffi. But like, even though they survived what even is this? Why even include them? Why break them up if you're not going to do anything with that story beat?

M'talas system. What an obnoxious choice.

I still don't like Jack.

[thesevenwondersofawitch]

Watching Star Trek Picard s3 ep9 Vox

"No one has seen or heard from the Borg in over a decade" Guess Picard and friends didn't tell anyone about Jurati😂

Oh shit, Deanna having to bring up the protocols Starfleet has in place has me alarmed

Damn, Beverly really can't catch a break when it comes to her sons

Poor Jack, now he has a distrust in betazoids

"What about the protocols of a father? Or you never issued those?" Well damn

I would be angry too

Oh shit, he's taking over people's minds to escape

Poor Beverly

She's hugging herself 😭

I forgot Data was alive 😂

Oh shit what more could there be to Jack?

OH HELL

IT'S THE BORG CUBE

OH SHIT STARFLEET IS ALL IN ONE PLACE

"Um, smack dab in the middle of frontier day, where pretty much every Starfleet vessel is running exercises with our faces pinned to their dartboard?"

'Its our only option Captain."

"Of course it is

Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god

IT'S THE ENTERPRISE

Wait, i feel like we've seen Shelby before

It's beautiful 😭(all the fireworks)

Ooooooh now I remember her😂

Regenerati😂

Oh shit, it's the Borg Queen 👀👀👀

Damn, he can't kill her

RESISTANCE IS FUTILE HELL YEAH

Oh no

Oh no no no

JACK'S BEEN ASSIMILATED

Huh, guess Lt Broccoli was right to fear transporters

HOLY SH-

OOOOOOO it's so so pretty( the green orb)

SEVEN

My poor baby 😭(her head must hurt so bad)

Oh shit

Poor Mura

Shit, La Forge's daughters are being assimilated

This has to be one of Geordi's worst fears

Oh my god, my heart is shaking with how awesome Seven looks as she fights

Also, where the heck is Raffi? I just want them to reunite again 😭 Is that too much to ask for?

I'm cackling that Seven said to shaw about all the gray hair and how assimilating must have skipped a generation 😭😂

Guess we'll never know what the dude wanted his family to know

"I've never been so happy to see so many wrinkles." I love Deanna 😂

RAFFI!!

"The Robot's right." I'm cackling

Data and Geordi look so offended

"Data can you try to be a little more positive?"

"I hope we die quickly.😃"

Oh fuck

Shaw got shot

Seven said Raffi's name😭 she wanted her safe

"it's it's not my ship anymore. It's yours."

He said her name😭

Her real name

Annnnnd Shaw's dead

The way her eyes keep darting towards Raffi

Oh my god

Are they gonna use voyager

THEY'RE USING THE ENTERPRISE-D

"Obviously we can't use the Enterprise-E." The way everyone turned to look at la forge and worf😂

Oh my god

I'm getting hit with those memories watching Next Gen for first time

They're back where it all started

I love how Deanna chastised Worf

I love how Data said hello to his chair

Picard missed the carpet the most😂

IT'S THE VOICE OF MAJEL BARRETT! Oh how I missed it

"Jean-Luc, wherever you go, we go." I have chills

Annnnnd now I have to wait for next week's episode to find out what happens with Raffi and Seven 😭 but I'm holding out hope they'll end up together in the end

This episode was awesome

[dcggersedge]

[ zip, sender needs receiver's help to zip up the back of their dress. ] Modern AU? Modern AU :)

"I wish that it would occur to you sometimes that I have a life. And better things to be doing."

Small talk? Some might say that Rafal only knew small grievances.

He let out a grunt, fiddling with the tough zipper sitting just above Yunaka's hips; an open back of a dress at present that might have scandalized anyone else, but at which Rafal didn't bat an eye. The peek of her bra strap was just about as eventful as a shopping tag poking out. He might try and put a finger on the price, or the brand, but otherwise what about it was worth looking at?

Did his blasé attitude speak to the amount of girls Rafal has seen half-naked in his life, his friendship with Yunaka, or an untouchable disposition in general? A mystery. Or maybe all three.

He blew his platinum hair out of his eyes. After going through a good few rounds of 'be careful with the dress' and 'don't break the zipper', finally the jammed piece of metal reached the top. He stood back at last with dutiful work finished, scowl in place, and looking quite ordinary if not for a face slightly slick with sweat. Pretty though at least. Rafal knew that about himself, obviously.

"It's done. Anyways, couldn't you have asked someone else to help you with this? At the end of the day, I'm a guy too you know."

And at the end of the day, that disclaimer didn't mean much. Be the only brother in a family of half sisters and you get to seeing some shit. War zone shit.

ask meme | accepting!

"Does it make you feel better if I start rambling about how grateful and lucky I am to have your time?" Yunaka asks with a grin and a giggle that definitely makes her shoulders shake a little, enough to break Rafal's absolutely do not move under any circumstances whatsoever order from earlier.

They both know, after all, that he would have just told her to go away if he really had something better to do.

She'd have to complain about the dress when she returned it to costuming after the gig. They seriously should have checked to make sure the zipper wasn't busted before giving it to her. Now she was stuck, with her arm getting sore as she held her hair up and out of Rafal's way, the other holding the dress to her chest so it didn't fall, and she was getting dangerously close to being late for the whole thing she needed the dress for in the first place.

When she finally feels the zipper slide up into place, she lets out a little cheer. Her hair falls down her back to hide the zipper away, and she turns to face Rafal with a grin. "Aww, but then you wouldn't get to be my hero, Raffy." She won't call him a dashing hero until he compliments her in the dress first. "And you're not a guy, you're my guy."

Teasing aside, his help is appreciated. Quick as always, Yunaka steps forward and kisses his cheek. "Stick around until after the show?" She asks. She catches his chin between two fingers and makes sure he looks at her. Can't have him missing it when her smile, still teasing, sharpens a little. "I'm sure I'll need help getting it off again, and I'll have the time to give the guy who helps me proper thanks."

There's a weight to the word that, any other time, she'd let linger and watch while his face got red. Unfortunately, like she said, she's nearly running late. Yunaka winks and gives Rafal's nose a quick boop. "Catch ya later, tater!"

[tuttle-did-it]

(a rant about Star Trek: Picard)

So I just watched an episode of The Ray Bradbury Theatre (S.2, e11), 'There was an Old Woman.' It aired in May of 1988.

In this episode, an old woman, Tildy, played by Mary Morris, is surprised when men come into her house with a wicker basket that is the general shape of a coffin. There's a strange man who is completely silent. Tildy talks to him, yells at him and eventually tells all the men to get out of her house.

Turns out, predictably, they've come to collect her body and she is dead. The silent man is obviously Death, and he seems to respect the fact that she's spent all this time yelling at him because he eventually just puts his hat on and leaves.

For 30 minutes, this 70+ woman essentially monologues about her life. How she had refused to marry, how she had refused to have children. How she had raised her sister's daughter (and loved her) when she died. How she had never compromised her needs and wants for men. And how proud she was of all of this.

In the end, Tildy screams at the men at the funeral parlour to give her back possession of her own body. Confused, they agree. She gets back into her body, and goes back to her house.

Tildy was the primary focus for the entire show. Her needs, wants and desires were paramount. Sometimes she talked about men, but most of the time, she talked about herself and her own life.

Tildy was allowed to be angry. She was allowed to be emotional. She was allowed to tell men to leave her space. Tildy demanded autonomy over her own body- she literally screamed at about 10 men and argued to get possession of her own body back. Tildy yelled at all the men to take her body back home, to pick her up and put her back over her body, and then SHE found a way on her own to take control back over herself. And then she kicked all the men out.

Raffi's entire storyline in season 3 has been Worf telling her to control herself and calm down, but Tildy, in 1988, was allowed to be angry and emotional the whole time.

Tildy, as a ghost, got more respect from all the men in the room than Shaw has shown Seven in every scene.

The final scene is her in her chair, Tildy happily muses that the coroner's sewing up of her chest during her autopsy was 'decent sewing, for a man.'

Tildy had more agency and identity in a show from 1988 than ANY of the women from Star Trek: Picard have had in season 3 in particular.

All I could think about when watching this was how much more progressive this episode was compared to what I've seen from Star Trek: Picard.

How, in Picard, they keep everyone (but especially the mature women) in dark corners so you can barely see their faces. Picard's age is one that feeds directly into the plot at various points- sometimes there are light-hearted jokes, but for the most part, we're encouraged to relate and understand what life is like for man 'past his prime'.

Where is this discussion of age for Crusher? For Troi? For Laris (remember she exists?)? For any of the women? Riker gets to complain that his knees are shot- where's Crusher talking about her shoulder replacement? Oh, wait, that's right- Crusher's barely allowed to speak. Instead, she has to have long meaningful glances. And Gates does this amazingly well, but the men are allowed to monologue whilst the women are stuck in dark gloomy corners with ~meaningful glances~.

Tildy had her own unique storyline and identity that had nothing to do with the needs, wants and trauma of all the men around them. Because Seven, Crusher and Troi in particular have each been denied independent storylines, forced instead to orbit the men and mitigate the men's trauma and stories. Even Sidney's plot revolves around Daddy issues and a love interest with Picard's son.

And all I could think was how sad it was that this 70+ year old woman had more agency and identity in a show from 1988 than ANY of the women from Star Trek: Picard have had in season 3 in particular.

How we're allowed to SEE her -- LOOK at these lines.

Picard keeps all of their characters, but especially the ~women of a certain age~ in dark shadows. Gates McFadden literally said that she couldn't even see Patrick Stewart during filming for their scenes.

The saddest thing is, this episode from 1988 is not that groundbreaking; rather, it's just that Picard is that much of a failure when it comes to women.

In DS9, they gave Keiko her own storyline, and she wasn't even a main character. They gave Grilka her own storyline and she was in two episodes. So why can't Picard bother to give Seven something more to do than sit there and listen to abuse from Shaw and trauma-dumping from Picard and Jack? Oh, and wax lyrical nostalgia. Not enough.

And this isn't just a Star Trek: Picard thing. Yes, hands down, TOS was awful toward women and rarely let women even speak to each other. TNG only let Crusher and Troi talk to each other when it was about men and they were in leotards. But by the time they reached DS9, things were better. Kira is allowed to be angry when we meet her- and she stays angry for a long time. There are storylines about her anger. Keiko hates DS9. She's allowed to have a storyline about that. And for Voyager, Janeway has plenty of chats with B'Elanna, Kes and Seven that are not about men. B'Elanna is, like Kira, allowed to be angry (though VOY often takes a step backward saying that she is 'out of control' with her emotions-- notice the white woman (Kira) is allowed to be angry, but the woman of colour (B'Elanna,) is out of control. Some racial bias there, I think). Janeway is allowed to be occasionally batshit crazy, and that's okay.

Point is, by the time DS9 and VOY came on, they figured out that it was okay to have women as a focus for a story, and they were allowed to have their stories and plots and identities and needs and wants and mistakes of their own. There was room for improvement, but it was the 90s and it was better than TNG. Kira and Dax were allowed to be together to talk about nothing significant. They did this well on DS9, and although they could have done better on Voyager, the women were still autonomous and had their own identities.

So if Janeway, B'Elanna and Kira were allowed to be angry and emotional more than 2 decades ago, why is Raffi is treated as defective for her emotions? Why is she treated as a time-bomb who can't be controlled-- who is so out of control, by the way, that they have to separate her and Seven?

Dax (and Evil Kira!) are allowed to have romantic relationships with women and a career at the same time- something Seven and Raffi are not allowed to do because Matalas doesn't think you can have both simultaneously.

Star Trek: Picard has NO EXCUSE.

Gates McFadden, Jeri Ryan, Michelle Hurd, Michelle Forbes, Marina Sirtis and Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut have done amazingly well with the tiny crumbs they've been given this season. They've managed to make what are completely forgettable and insignificant moments realised just through brilliant acting- to move their characters beyond what few bits there are for them on the page. They deserve so much more than to only exist in order to further the needs and wants of the men in the show, and to give the men a sounding board to process their trauma.

But here's what I'm asking myself...

WHY IS AN EPISODE FROM A SHOW FROM 35 YEARS AGO MORE PROGRESSIVE IN ITS DEPICTION OF WOMEN THAN STAR TREK: PICARD?

In conclusion... tl;dr

The petrol of Nostalgia that this show [Picard] is currently running on is not enough because the very era they're being nostalgic about was more progressive than the current show.

[heartsbreaking]

raffi walked through the building after training in the gym, head down just for a moment to change the song playing through her headphones. when she looked up, she had walked directly into the coach's path. "coach lasso, hi!" she took her earbuds out and popped them in the case. "you're from kansas right? like the one that travis kelce plays in?" it was no secret that raffaela was a swiftie. she'd only made it incredibly known when she was abysmally distracted during training because she wanted to buy tour tickets. she also happened to keep up with celebrity couple news. she just hadn't ever paid any attention to american football until taylor started dating a player. now, she had questions and obviously the best person to answer them was coach for american footaball from kansas! "what's kansas like?"

starter for @belasso / ted lasso *

[optimistredsox]

16 June, NYY @ BOS, 3-9, win

Going 4-2 against two of the best teams in baseball is pretty great. Winning two series in a row on a homestand? Also great. And in this day an age, far too rare. And when I say too rare, it shouldn't be fucking rare at all. Our home record is a shambles and this would be a welcome and much needed course correction for this to be the beginning of a new glorious stretch of kicking the shit out of good teams when they step foot on Fenway's hallowed ground. In general, last night's game was pretty great too. Beating the Yankees? Fucking awesome. Almost too many bright sides to list, to be honest. But I'm going to give it a shot.

Kutter Crawford (still his real name) found some of his early-season form, giving up three runs on three hits whilst striking out 9 and walking only one. He gave up a first inning bomb to Judge (I really loathe that guy... definitely the smug inheritor of all Jeter's smug Yankee-ness) and didn't lose his cool. In fact, he got some high leverage strikeouts and deserved the W.

Zack Kelly got the hold, facing a bases loaded situation with no outs in the seventh and fucking dealing, striking out two and then getting a popup to centre. It was fucking awesome. His roar when he came off the mound was definitely "oh god it feels like the playoffs but it's just Red Sox/Yankees mid-season at Fenway and this place might burn the fuck down". The Sox were only up by a run at that point and it all could have gone wrong. It didn't. Fuckin' a.

Basically everyone who took the mound for the Sox last night nailed their fucking job against one of the scariest and most annoying lineups in baseball.

We walked more than we struck out!

And we stole more fucking bases than either, swiping 9 against an increasingly bewildered looking Jose Trevino who I think might be having some words with Yankees scouting who obviously didn't give him the heads up that the Sox are fast as fuck and love nothing more than making the Skanks look shitty. Those 9 bases were a new club record for a single game.

Dave Hamilton stole four of those bases, blazing the paths. Honestly, look at Trevino's face after the second or third. The confusion is evident even through the catcher's mask. Hamilton also went 2-for-4 with 3 runs scored (because he took a walk). He also knocked in a run.

Ceddanne Rafaela went 3-for-4, knocked in two and scored a run. He also did not strike out.

Connor Wong hit a fucking triple which cleared the bases, giving him three RBIs. It was his first triple of the season but looked like it might not be the last. You don't often see catchers smoke the bases like that. He was 2-for-4 over all.

Raffy Devers knocked in a couple of runs. He's not on fire at the moment but he's still able to contribute.

Enmanuel Valdez keeps doing things. 1-for-3 with a run scored.

Dom Smith, back at first, made an error but got a hit and scored a run.

Jarren Duran, fresh from the spice dunes of Arrakis, went 2-for-4 with a run scored and stole a couple of bases.

We won, and it wasn't close at the end.

We scored nine runs without hitting a dinger. That's pretty cool and kind of hard to do.

We beat the fucking Yankees in our first season series. Is this the turning point? Are we going to finally put .500 behind us and climb slowly but surely further up in the wins column? I've no idea but even if we don't, these last two series have given a glimpse of a young Red Sox team learning to play to their strengths and that is awesome. That they also beat the fucking Yankees is a bonus.

Let's win another series in Toronto.

[stereogeekspodcast]

Transcript] Season 3, Episode 7. Star Trek: Picard Series Review

Rewatching Star Trek: Picard changed how the Stereo Geeks felt about the show. We reviewed the series and shared our thoughts on it.

Listen to the episode on Spotify.

Hello and welcome to a new episode of Stereo Geeks, and the very first of 2024.

This time, we've been rewatching Star Trek Picard.

I'm Ron.

And I'm Mon.

As big fans of Star Trek, the announcement that Picard was going to get his own little spinoff was exciting, but also a little bit worrying for us.

Well, there's definitely a spate of reprisals, revivals of old stuff, especially 80s, 90s things.

A lot of people who grew up at the time are currently executives and producers of Hollywood.

So obviously, they want to bring back the nostalgia factor.

And let's be honest, nostalgia sometimes works, sometimes doesn't, but it definitely sells.

Let's dig into that a little bit because season one of Picard doesn't actually work with nostalgia as much.

That's true.

There are, of course, moments.

There are cameos, reprisals, et cetera.

There is a through line, however, of Picard and his relationship with Data, his need to get closure for what happened to Data.

So that's the nostalgia factor.

The main storyline, however, even though it is tied to that, doesn't have that nostalgia feeling.

Because when you look at the main storyline, it's actually several different stories.

So we start off with the fact that Picard misses Data.

That's literally the first scene.

And you get the feeling that this is what the season is going to be about.

But then it turns out that Data has android children who are unmistakable from humans, but they don't know their true identity.

Also, we find out the Romulan sun went supernova, leading to a refugee crisis that Picard and Raffi Musiker had to fix.

Then Utopia Planitia and all of Mars was blown up by synths, leading to not only a synth ban, but the end of the refugee resettlement.

And then the Tal Shiar made it into Starfleet somehow.

But also there's a hidden sect of the Tal Shiar called the Zhat Vash and they are trying to fight the return of the synths.

Also, Raffi is now plagued by Romulan conspiracies, but nobody believes her.

Everything that went down on the Ibn Majid never got explained.

Also, who even is Soji and who is Narek?

Oh, and did we mention that Picard misses Data?

When you put it like that, that seems like a lot, but I'm gonna say something very controversial here. Well, at least it's controversial on this podcast.

From the three seasons of Star Trek Picard, I have to say season one is the most cohesive and best made.

Season two is a mess.

Season three is a nostalgia fest that is not always well-written, but that doesn't mean that I don't love season two, adore season three and still can't stand season one.

The first time I watched season one, I didn't like it. Straight up didn't like it.

First time I watched season two, I loved it except for the last episode.

First time I watched season three, I adored everything.

When we rewatched it, I liked what season one was doing. I liked the concepts. I liked all the lore that it had.

It was really digging into the Star Trek universe, but it was not long enough.

10 episodes and all that was there.

And I'm not even touching on all the interconnected parts.

Like there was a whole thing about Agnes Jurati, Bruce Maddox, Seven of Nine and her history.

All that was in there.

It should have been at least 15-16 episodes.

That would have given us enough time to actually understand how all these things are interconnected.

And it would have given the characters a bit more time to shine.

Season 2, perfectly compact.

10 episodes, every episode mattered.

It gave the characters their spotlight.

Picard got an entire wonderful arc that honestly has been waiting for quite a while to be resolved.

And season 3, 10 episodes, nostalgia.

That's it.

But yes, I agree that season 1 was the most cohesive because it felt like real science fiction.

But it was just too muddled and way too many plot points just got dropped at the end.

I think my biggest issue with season 1, and I feel like this even on the rewatch, is that there are a bunch of characters who are just so annoying that you hate it whenever they're on screen.

And every time it cut away to their stories, if you would call it that, I would just be switching off.

Mostly the Romulans.

Narek, Narissa, Commodore Oh.

I agree with you that that was the part which was muddled.

Who are they?

What are their motivations?

Because it's not signposted or elucidated at the beginning, they just seem like these very caricatured old school baddies who don't make any sense.

There's also a sort of old fashioned way of how they're presented, how they interact and the things that they do.

So that really annoyed me.

The crew of La Sirena themselves, they were great.

They were really interesting.

But yeah, it was just every time they had to interact.

And there was that entire plot line with Narek, for example, which sort of we never came back to that.

He sort of disappears in the final episode.

And then it's like, oh, okay, what happened with this guy?

That's a really good point, because Soji and Narek, that whole relationship, if you can call it that, it just felt shoehorned in, like, we have to make these characters interact.

So let them just have a love affair.

Soji just felt so very born sexy yesterday, that kind of thing.

It didn't do her any justice.

The biggest mistake the first season made was making Soji and Picard's meeting happen only in episode seven.

That's way too late.

These are the two main characters of this season.

They should be meeting way earlier.

I feel like Soji as a character, she really became more of a catalyst and a plot point.

Well, she gets dropped first episode of season two.

So she was never really supposed to be, I guess, part of the actual crew, which is sad because, I mean, Issa Briones is really good.

I mean, you reminded me that she was like 19 or 20 when she did this.

She holds her own and she plays so many different characters in the first season as well.

But I agree because there are so many fleshed out points for the other characters, especially, with Cristobal Rios, the captain of La Sirena.

I know there's an entire book, so we've read that book, but I just felt like they had a plan or a hope or something that this character who is so complicated and so emotionally needy, there was just so much that we could have explored with this person, especially in his capacity as someone who knows Picard, who looks up to Picard, who becomes trapped in Picard's spell, if you would.

I really felt like there was a lot going on there.

So there's a character like him where you know so much about his background.

You know, with Raffi, there is so much that we are learning about her and we continue to learn about her throughout the three seasons.

And then there's Soji who is signposted as this very important character.

We don't really know much about her.

Her importance is really her connection to Data and how Picard deals with that.

She's just a plot point.

It's really disappointing.

And in the end, it's not even about Soji's heritage.

Bruce Maddox apparently used a painting that Data made as the blueprint to make these androids with Alton Soong.

Data wasn't even involved at all, so that through line doesn't even work, which is a bit unfair on the character of Soji.

I think one of the problems with the entire show has been it keeps leaning on these historical moments which don't take place on screen.

The Romulan Supernova, for example.

I think the show about that would have been far more interesting.

We do get a lot of that in the books.

So I highly recommend reading The Last Best Hope, Second Self, et cetera, that entire series.

I'm okay with that being off the screen, but stuff like Data's painting of his daughters.

I'm sorry, we never saw him paint that.

There's a lot of stuff in the third season especially, where they talk about this happened and Beverly's talking about Myriad and this and that.

And we're Googling to see, did we miss something from the original TNG series, from the movies, et cetera?

It's all made up.

I mean, I get it, it's all made up.

But not having that sort of through line, that connection, it just doesn't make sense because it's so important.

These people know about it.

And at the same time, we never saw it.

So I really did worry about the writing in a lot of the show, especially on the rewatch when you realize, yeah, it wasn't you forgetting stuff, it just doesn't exist.

Because what is the point of referencing something that hasn't happened in a previous show or any of the tie-in books, comics, whatever, when you know that nobody is really coming into Star Trek Picard as a non-Star Trek watcher?

You can't get into this series without some prior knowledge.

The first season and the extreme focus on Data, it won't make sense to you.

If you already know that people are coming in, having seen TNG and all the TNG related movies, just reference things that have already been in TNG.

People are gonna know it or they are going to Google it.

So the first season, though complicated and overly convoluted with the focus on a lot of weird Romulan people, I really loved the Picard and data connection.

What I missed about the first season, aside from the Picard and Data part, was feeling some emotional connection or just being totally emotional about it.

I got that in season two.

The return of Q, who is unhinged and scary, but the season, the way it ends with Picard and Q, it was surprisingly emotional, wasn't it?

I really liked season two.

It's about time travel, so obviously I'm gonna like it.

And I think it was really compact, not just the storyline, but also the setting.

They went back to 2024 LA and they stayed there for quite a long time.

I love watching fish out of water, Rios, Raffi and Seven trying to interact with the world in the past.

Hilarious.

That whole scene where Seven and Raffi are driving and trying to escape the police, one of the best of the entire show, not just that season.

I really loved it.

And also speaking of the 2024 timeline, the best part of it was season two deals with the real problem of ICE raids and how several communities, especially in the US, well, they live in fear and they don't have access to simple human benefits, like medicines, et cetera.

And it really worked the way they included that, how Rios, who happens to be played by a Chilean actor and he speaks a lot of Spanish, so how that works into it, he doesn't have papers, so what does that mean?

That's probably why, when we first watched the second season, it just blew us away because it went back to the roots of Star Trek.

It's talking about the real world in this fictional, majestic, futuristic world through this lens of utopia.

Well, you go back and it wasn't always utopia and one tiny change in our history could make it worse or better, which is something that is explored in that season.

I really, really like that.

I didn't understand the Borg stuff.

Even on my third rewatch of this series, I don't necessarily think the whole Borg angle needed to be there.

That's really interesting because I like the fact that Picard leans into his experience as Locutus.

I felt like in TNG, they didn't really handle that very well.

This man was taken, assimilated.

He was the mouthpiece of the Borg as they slaughtered so many Starfleet officers at Wolf 359.

We see the impact of that in DS9.

It's the reason why Sisko can't stand Picard.

Starfleet just moves on.

But the show coming back to that over and over again, not just about the impact that it had on the people who died or survived, but on Picard himself.

No, I agree with you.

I like the through line of the Borg being there in all three seasons.

I just don't know if it was handled as well, especially on the third rewatch.

I can have a little bit more distance and a bit more critical thinking.

And I do think it was confused.

Because what does it all mean?

We now have a new faction of the Borg who are good guys, who assimilate after consent.

What are they doing?

Where are they?

How have we not met them in all these years?

I feel like that was a plotline that padded up the story.

This goes back to what I was saying about how season one was the most cohesive.

When you're watching the recaps of season two, and it's so long, it's like two, three minutes long, because they have to pack in all this information.

And it's simply because there are disparate storylines.

They're not interconnected.

So that's my biggest issue.

The Borg stuff, while there is the through line, in hindsight, I just feel like it was too much.

And I think the reason for that is that each season has a different type of Borg.

If it had just been one kind, it would have made a bit more sense.

It would have flowed better from what we've seen before in TNG, in First Contact, but nothing that happens in season one affects season two or season three.

And I feel like the events in season two were primarily a way to phase out the new characters.

So Rios stays back in 2024.

Jurati becomes this other Borg Queen.

Elnor, after being killed, Q brings him back.

So now he's part of Starfleet.

Raffi's the only one who stays on and comes back in season three.

Yeah, and that's also an issue which we talked about probably because we just really love these new characters.

It's not like Rios and Elnor, even Dr. Jurati, who I didn't like in the beginning, but honestly on the rewatch, she was a lot of fun.

They're compelling characters and there's a lot of complicated feelings which we didn't actually get to discuss on the show.

How Picard treats them, how they feel about him.

It's a squandered opportunity.

I say that a lot about this show.

I get it because of what season three becomes.

And when you're watching season three, you don't actually feel the absence because we'll get to that in a moment.

But I do feel like if you introduce these characters and there's so much rich history alluded to, I would have loved to see a little bit more of them.

There was something else that you had written about and that's Picard's very bad attempts at being a father figure to people.

And there is a throughline in each season of Picard just thinking that Starfleet is the answer to everybody's problems.

He gets Raffi back into Starfleet.

He gets Seven back into Starfleet.

He gets Rios back into Starfleet.

He gets Elnor into Starfleet.

He gets Jack into Starfleet.

That's a lot of people.

That's his answer for everything.

Try being a dad for once.

That was something that you pointed out and I was like, surely you're not right.

And then at the end of season three, when Jack Crusher, Picard's unknown long lost son, he turns up and he's suddenly part of the Enterprise.

I was like, oh, okay, you have a point, Ron.

But it's true.

Picard says often, Starfleet was his life, Starfleet was his family.

His best friends, his family, literally are from Starfleet.

So I get why he's sort of mesmerized and he feels like, well, Starfleet fixed his life, gave him what he wanted, which was a family.

And that's what he thinks the people he loves most will also get.

And in a way we find that, well, Starfleet is different for different people.

Starfleet is also different at this time.

And it's something that is somewhat explored in the third season.

Seven, for example, Seven of Nine, she was a Borg, she was rescued, if you could say, by Voyager.

Voyager became her family, her collective.

And the one goal for Voyager, a ship that was stranded in the Delta Quadrant, was to get back to the Alpha Quadrant.

But Seven had no connection to the Alpha Quadrant.

And what happens when she comes back?

Well, that's what we find out.

We find out that she tried to get into Starfleet, but because she's an ex-B, a former Borg, they refused to include her.

I mean, Picard obviously has a lot of influence because in season three, she's the first officer of the Titan, which was Riker's previous ship, but she's not happy because the Starfleet ship that she was on was Voyager, which had nothing to do with Starfleet.

In fact, there are moments in Voyager when Starfleet is able to connect to them once again.

And Captain Janeway does struggle a little bit with the way they speak about some of her crew, with some of the decisions that they make.

It's not fully there because we are talking about 90s TV shows which were a little bit more utopian in their outlook about authority, et cetera.

But we do see that the struggle is real in the newer shows.

Even on Star Trek Prodigy, Vice Admiral Janeway has problems with Starfleet.

They have rules that really don't make sense sometimes.

So we see that with Seven as well.

Picard and Captain Janeway, or rather Admiral Janeway in this timeline, they've convinced her to join Starfleet.

And she's got this chance, but she hates it.

She absolutely hates it.

And I did write about it after the first episode, I think.

She doesn't belong.

She's not doing what she wants.

She's stuck using protocols and rules that don't make sense to her.

And I'm almost a little bit disappointed that in the end, she still has a commission, she's still with Starfleet, and it's supposed to be a big, yay, you know, all our favorite characters are still with Starfleet.

It's like Picard is on a recruitment drive.

He's very good at recruiting people, but is that really the right thing for them?

I find it interesting that the show doesn't hold back from criticizing Picard because his experiences are wildly different from everyone else's.

Raffi especially takes him to task when Elnor is killed.

But the show is still reluctant to call Starfleet out on their nonsense, which is kind of weird, because as you said, the ending is very much a rah-rah happiness.

Seven and Raffi and Jack are now leading the new enterprise, and that's a good thing.

Is it though?

Like Seven was literally resigning until Tuvok showed her Captain Shaw's last message.

One message and that's enough for all the xenophobia that she received from that man?

That doesn't make any sense.

It's funny because one of the last things that Raffi says is, it's weird to her that Starfleet has given a thief, a pirate and a spy a ship of their own, and not just any ship, the Enterprise is still the flagship of Starfleet.

And I do wonder if something like that heralds a change in Starfleet.

Even Captain Liam Shaw, in his recommendation for Seven to become captain, says that she doesn't follow protocols, but she has ideas and she has methods which are different and which do suggest a change, a new way of leading.

And also Gates McFadden, who plays Dr. Beverly Crusher.

Now, I can't remember if she wrote this in a tweet or she talked about this at Fan Expo Canada at the panel that you and I went to.

She talked about how Beverly and her son Jack, they're part of Mariposa, which was the organization that was created by Rios and his partner, Teresa, back in 2024.

They are sort of the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders in the galactic sense.

Now, Beverly and Jack being part of that, helping worlds and peoples who have been forgotten by the Federation and Starfleet.

Gates McFadden mentioned that she wants to explore how Beverly can do that work, even though now she is head of Starfleet Medical.

So it seems to me, behind the scenes and also perhaps through the writing, they're trying to suggest that these people are in Starfleet, but that doesn't mean that Starfleet stays the same.

Considering the sort of world ending stuff that happened, I would like to think that Starfleet will not be the same forever.

That being said, when you read the books about the supernova, it doesn't really show Starfleet and the Federation in very good light.

So I don't know, I just do wonder that are the writers trying to say that, yes, Picard is on a recruitment drive, but maybe for the better?

Well, that's an interesting point.

I hadn't really thought of it like that because the final season, it does seem to be about change, even though it's primarily about the TNG crew who we've seen for many, many years.

That's honestly one of the best parts of it, just seeing that entire group together, the chemistry is just, it's just there.

I remember when we saw Jonathan Frakes at Toronto Comic Con and he was talking about how worried he was when he was coming back and he was like, Sir Patrick Stewart is just on his game, such high quality acting and Frakes was so worried that he wouldn't be able to match up.

And I was like, what is this guy talking about?

He was the best part of that show.

He's so funny, he's so sweet, he's just effortlessly Riker, no matter how many years have passed by.

Yeah, I have to say these characters, you don't even realize you miss them till you see them and you're like, oh wow, I really miss these people.

And we don't even have that kind of connection with TNG, the way we do with Voyager.

And despite that, seeing these actors step back into these roles and the kind of love that they seem to have for these characters, absolutely seamless.

It's brilliant.

And I understand why a lot of people, they can't see beyond how wonderful it is to see these people together.

And that's why it's like the best season ever, this is the best Trek.

Well, we have to be measured in how we approach our entertainment media.

Something can be exactly what we want and it also can have its flaws.

Watching season three, especially we just finished watching it, honestly, I'm like, are there any flaws?

I love this so much.

I'm like tearing up at the TNG theme every time.

Every time these people interact with each other, I'm like, oh my goodness, this is like the best thing.

Geordie telling Data exactly how he feels about him, I'm like tearing up just thinking about it.

And it's so sweet.

And at the same time, I'm like, okay, do we lose a lot because we focus so much on this reunion?

Is that a bad thing?

Is that a good thing?

I don't know.

I just know that, well, the show ends on a high because you're watching this poker game between this family of characters and these actors who have also become a family.

And you can't argue with that.

You can't argue with that feeling.

In so many ways, I just think that this season, I really, really did forget that there were issues with it.

Especially in the beginning part when they're not all together, you're like, oh, okay, I can nitpick a little bit here and there and then buy this penultimate episode when they're all standing on the old enterprise deck.

You're like, this is what I've wanted on my life apparently.

Yeah, and the other thing is that you still got those moments where like, Worf and Raffi, their bond.

There is no preamble to it.

It just happened so quickly, but organically, like that last scene with the two of them together when she's got that message from her family.

And I'm just like, oh my gosh, like the father-daughter bond is just so strong.

I would have loved to see that with other people.

Like there was that scene earlier on when Liam Shaw first meets Geordi and he's like struggling to speak because he's like such a fanboy and he's just like stuttering.

He can't, and Geordi's just standing there like, oh, I'm so used to this.

And you just love those moments, you know?

I would have loved to see more of that with Rios, with Jurati.

I mean, imagine Jurati meeting Data, Jurati meeting Beverly.

Oh my God, those would have been amazing moments.

Like Rios and Riker together.

Why didn't we get that?

I really wish we had, because then that would have made the show feel like it was one continuous story.

I think you've hit upon a very good note, which is that all three seasons feel like three different stories.

And there's a reason for that, because all three seasons had three different showrunners.

Even though Terry Matalas took over for season two, he inherited the previous creators' stories and storylines.

It's like watching an anthology series.

When you have that caliber of acting on your screen, honestly, nothing else matters.

Some things just transcend writing and cohesiveness, honestly.

But the show ends, like the final ending, is a bit of a cliffhanger.

Like it seems like the Enterprise crew is going to go off on these new adventures while their previous Enterprise crew goes off on their old adventures.

And now nothing.

What is that all about?

So the final scene of the show is Q apparently returning, but as he reminds us all, humans think so linearly.

That's not how the continuum works.

He might be dead, but this is another version or a previous version of him.

And he's come to torment Picard's son, Jack Crusher.

I do think that the showrunners, Paramount Plus, whoever is behind these things, included that to gauge if there was any interest in continuing the stories of these characters.

So one has to ask, are we interested in seeing Captain Seven of Nine, Commander Raffi Musiker, consultant to the captain, Ensign Jack Crusher, as well as the LaForge sisters and the rest of the Enterprise crew, maybe some new characters, Admiral Beverly Crusher?

Are we interested in seeing all these people continue in a new show?

Well, for me, the answer is yes, because I want to see more of Seven, I want to see more of Raffi, I want to see their relationship actually on screen instead of, you know, they've broken up, they're together, they're very far apart from each other.

Don't give us two amazing bisexual characters and then be like, yeah, they're not together.

What?

That's the only reason why I need this show.

True, but we need to talk about Jack Crusher.

We can't not talk about this man.

He's sort of the catalyst and the reason all of season three happens.

Unlike Soji, this man is very fleshed out.

He is a personality, a character, a human being, and he evokes complicated feelings in a lot of us.

I just don't know how I feel about this person who creates so much damage, chaos, most likely death.

And at the same time, well, he is Beverly and Picard's son.

And I'm like, you know, he's really cool and he can do all these things and he knows all these things and he has this sort of avant-garde experience and knowledge.

He would be very interesting to follow, alongside, of course, the most important people, Seven and Raffi.

Well, I'm not 100% sold on Ed Speelers as the son of Beverly Crusher and Picard.

I mean, he has the hair.

He has Beverly's hair.

Listen, when I first saw him, I thought, oh, wow, somehow Beverly had another child with Jack Crusher.

And she obviously named him Jack.

But I was like, oh, he's Picard's son?

I don't see the connection, like physically or anything.

He's got the accent, which the bizarre explanation for his accent.

He went to England for a little bit and he came back with the accent.

Really?

Really?

Considering I still say presentation instead of presentation, because I heard Tom Paris say it the one time on Voyager, I forgive him.

But like, he's not supposed to be like Picard.

He has no connection to this man.

He's more like Beverly if she hadn't been stuck on Starfleet, if she hadn't faced loss so early on in her life, if she wasn't a mom who had to keep taking care of her son.

I think, you know, that sort of effervescent, ne'er-do-well, nonchalant sort of personality that he has is very much like how Beverly may have been.

So I feel that.

I just don't understand how we are supposed to like root for a character who's caused all this untold loss and suffering for a lot of people.

In a way, I keep thinking back to Captain Michael Burnham and how she wanted to make something better and ended up causing the Klingon War.

So many people's lives were changed, not just death.

People's lives were changed and she has to reckon with that when she comes back to Starfleet.

And I'm like, how do I feel about that?

We've forgotten about it because she has redeemed herself in so many ways.

She suffered herself as well, but people have made a lot of sacrifices to make sure that she keeps saving the world, basically.

Does Jack deserve that?

I don't know.

If we get a show about the new Enterprise G, we would have to contend with Jack being there.

But also, I think if Jack wasn't Beverly and Picard's son, I don't think that many people would have been allowed to die for him.

That's something to reckon with as well.

He actually says the only reason why he got fast-tracked to Ensign level at Starfleet was because of nepotism.

His parents aren't going to believe that, but Beverly has always had a blind spot for her kids.

When Wesley was part of the team, the Nova Squad, and their teammate died, she refused to believe that Wesley had done anything wrong.

Obviously, she's going to be the same way with Jack, and Picard, he can't see anything wrong with people he loves.

So this kid is going to have to have other people call him out on his nonsense because his parents are not going to do it.

Yeah, I completely agree with you on that because the only way this is going to work if they were to have a show, and I do really want one because I think we just need more Star Trek.

Especially now that Star Trek Discovery is coming to an end, we're going to have the animated properties, Lower Decks is still doing well, Prodigy, I don't know what's going to happen after season two, and we have Strange New Worlds as the only live action.

So yeah, Star Trek Legacy would be great.

Especially a show which brings in the Deep Space Nine characters, characters from other Star Trek properties, their descendants, et cetera.

That would be awesome.

Listen, I need a show where Jake Sisko is a journalist. I need this. It's very important to me.

Very true.

So yeah, I mean, I think we've been really critical about Star Trek Picard, but honestly, on rewatching it, I just fell back in love with the show, even the first season, which I did not like.

I love these characters, the new ones, the old ones.

Love the world that they've created.

I love being back in the Star Trek universe.

And I just wanted to continue.

In a way, I am trying to continue it by reading the books so that I can just hang out with these characters and this world, because we didn't have Star Trek for a really, really long time.

And we tried to fill that void with other stuff.

And now that we do, it's really hard to let go.

I'm currently listening to the entire score of Picard, all three seasons in a playlist.

I can't get out of this mode.

Yeah, I'm not even gonna think about what'll happen once Discovery finishes.

I just don't wanna deal with that right now.

You know, that's a problem for future me.

But yeah, I surprisingly really enjoyed rewatching Star Trek Picard.

I loved it a lot more this time.

I'm going to just feel like it's an anthology series and not like a show that's three consecutive seasons because that might help the enjoyment a little bit more.

But you know what?

It ends on a really happy note.

All our beloved characters are safe.

Some of them are in 2024, but it's okay.

But yeah, it was really fun.

And I really like Star Trek.

Yeah, I mean, you know what?

I would honestly probably make this an annual rewatch.

I'm not even ashamed to say it.

All three seasons annually rewatched.

So that's us talking about our very complicated, sometimes disparate views on Star Trek Picard.

Let us know how you felt about the show.

We are Stereo Geeks and we'll see you at the next episode.