#or everything borges ever wrote

[libraryofbabel-postlocator]

Where is YOUR post in the Library of Babel?

In Jorge Luis Borges' short story, The Library of Babel, every possible combination of every letter exists within in a seemingly infinite number of books in a seemingly infinite library. Most books are nonsense, random strings of letters occasionally interrupted by a space or period, but every once in a while, you'll come across a whole word or maybe an entire phrase. Because here's the thing about the library. There really is every combination of letters in there. So, yeah, there's a lot of nonsense, but there's also every sentence ever said, every paragraph ever written, every thought you've ever had. You could flip from a page of complete nonsense to a perfect recreation of a letter you wrote your friend as a kid, only to turn the page to find more random letters. Everything exists within the library. (You can find the full short story here)

The Library of Babel is a website that recreates Borges' idea. You can browse through the shelves, get sent to a random book, or search for a specific phrase.

So what am I doing here? I'm just a nerd who loses their mind over the idea of infinity and spends way too much time on tumblr. So, I'm taking some of my favorite posts I find and locating them in the library using the website mentioned above. In my posts I'll link the exact page, as well as list its location by page, book, shelf, wall, and hexagon (the hexagons are distinguished by an incredibly long list of characters, so they'll be put below the cut for convenience). The website does allow you to find pages that are exact matches to your search, but I personally prefer the results with random characters as they really give you that lone bit of coherence in a sea of nonsense vibe.

If you have any questions, go ahead and ask! I may add a qna to this post if I get any consistently.

[eretzyisrael]

The ongoing war in Gaza, Pipes wrote, could provide Israel with a golden opportunity to transform the coastal enclave into a “decent” place, thanks in part to the fact that 17 years of Hamas’s “torment” of the local population turned it against the terror group and consequently “eroded their anti-Israel vehemence.”

Palestinian demonstrators chant slogans against Hamas in the Gaza Strip during a protest against the territory’s chronic power outages and difficult living conditions along the streets of Khan Younis, Sunday, July 30, 2023. (AP Photo)

“Israel now controls nearly all of Gaza,” Pipes explained over the phone. “It needs to take advantage of this to work with Gazans who are ready to cooperate to build an administration, a police force and everything else that goes with civilized life, education, hospitals.”

Pipes believes that a new regime in Gaza should follow the same path to stability as Israel’s larger Arab neighbors Egypt and Jordan, “countries where one can lead a normal life so long as one stays out of trouble and never, ever criticizes the ruler.”

“I would see [the new regime in Gaza] as a tough police state, not as a gentle inducement,” he said.

Illustrative: A picture taken during a guided tour organized by the Egyptian State Information Service on November 20, 2019, shows policemen standing guard at Borg el-Arab prison near the Egyptian city of Alexandria. (Mohamed el-Shahed / AFP)

Israelis should have “learned the lesson of 1993,” the year the Oslo accords were signed, he argued. In that framework, Israel made concessions, including agreeing to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, intended as a precursor to the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. The peace process, however, was derailed and Israel soon found itself confronted with a massive bloody uprising, the Second Intifada, and hundreds of civilian casualties in terror attacks.

“It’s time to approach this [Israeli-Palestinian conflict] in a different way, and to attempt to convince Gazans and West Bankers that is over. They’ve lost and it’s time to move on, in the time-honored way that wars end,” Pipes said. “They don’t end with peace conferences while the war is still taking place.”

[dongslinger--420]

Hey guys, can I just say something? Oh I'm sorry, I don't wanna mispronounce your name. It's Diane. You'd probably get sick of me. I don't think that's going to happen. You're not gonna make me look like an asshole, are you? I don't know, are you an asshole? I found this letter back at the bar, I think it's for you. That's the nicest letter he ever sent to me. A Diane thing would be something that shows he really knows you, like giving you an iPod loaded with all your favorite podcasts, or a practical houseplant, or surprising you with a bound album of photos and emails he saved. I think it took a lot of guts to do what you did back there. Why did you have to make things weird, BoJack? I made things weird? Hey stranger. I need you to tell me that I'm a good person, tell me, please, Diane, tell me that I'm good. I don't think I believe in deep down. I kind of think all you are is just the things that you do. I really wanted you to like me, Diane. I know. When have you ever been on my side? I am always on your side! Really? Like when you wrote that book? This is bigger than you and me, and I need you in my corner now because I don't have anyone else. I'm in your corner. Hey, is it cool if I crash here for a couple nights? I don't know where else to go. You SUCK, Goober! Go sit on a sharp DICK you piece of SHIT! I always tell people you're like the not-cool version of me. Sometimes that's great, but it also means we can bring out the worst in each other. I'm embarrassed by the person I was when I was staying with you. I make you unhappy? I don't know if I believe in real lasting happiness. I wanted to make sure you're ok. That's a funny way of saying congratulations. I don't fetishize my own sadness. I don't fetishize my own sadness! Sure. BoJack, there are millions of people who are better off for having known you. Why didn't you tell me this? I guess to preserve some fiction of journalistic objectivity. I wish you didn't get so distant after you moved out, you know me better than anyone and you can't not be a part of my life. Everyone belongs in Los Angeles, there's like, no barrier for entry. Oh god, that's true, they do let in just anybody. I've missed you, BoJack. I've missed you too. I should've called you. Yeah, you should've. I said I was sorry. No you didn't. Ok. BoJack, I can't wait for you to be better, I need you in my life. You're the biggest asshole I know and you're the only thing that makes sense to me. When have you not told me how you really felt. All you do is tell me how you really feel. I'm a sad, sad girl with a terrible, dirty apartment. Come on in! Isn't it weird that this is the first time we're both single at the same time? I just really need a friend right now. You know what I mean? A friend? Yeah. I have this friend, and right around when I first met her, her dad died. Diane, come on, it's me, we're the same! We are not the same! We'll just put that in the large bucket of things we don't talk about. Baby Bjorn Borg. Oh my god, yes! You haven't changed at all. Yes! Congratulations! You are the last person to get that. I need you to write one of your take downs about me. I am done writing about you. I don't understand why you're being so nice to me. After everything you know about me, all the shit I put you through. And now you're here, and I hate you, but you're my best friend, and you need me. I can't leave if I don't know you're gonna be ok. I live in Chicago, I can't save you. So what do I do now? BoJack, it doesn't matter. Well if it doesn't matter, can I stay on the phone with you at least? Ok. How was your day? Good. Yeah? Yeah, my day was good. I wish I could've been the person you thought I was, the person who would save you. That was never your job. Then why did you always make me feel like it was? You don't owe me anything. No, I need to tell you: Thank you. And, it's going to be okay. And, I'm sorry. And thank you. Life's a bitch and then you die, right? Sometimes. Sometimes life's a bitch and then you keep living. Yeah. But it's a nice night, huh? Yeah. This is nice--MR BLUE

[procrastinatorproject]

Fuck it, I'm gonna start posting my own shouty thoughts on season 3 of Picard rather than just commenting on other people's stuff.

I'll keep taggin everything "#picard spoilers" (assume I'm talking about everything up to the most recent ep, I'll warn seperately for leaked/promo stuff about ep 10) and "#picard saltiness" so you know what to blacklist (or look for, I'm not telling you how to internet 😋).

I'm sorry/get ready.

Here's the thing. I would like to watch season 3 of Picard and think "Oh well, this wasn't made for me, the same way season 1 wasn't made for the type of TNG fan who is in heaven right now. And I'm sad my favourite characters and main reasons I liked the show in the first place got written off, but I'm glad these other fans are having the time of their lives. Good on them, I'll just mentally file this away as a season/new show that I don't connect with as much as I'd hoped." I really, really want to be able to think that and approach season 3 this way.

But the writers won't let me.

At every turn, and I mean every turn, the writers have gone out of their way to not just pretend the previous two seasons didn't happen, but to remind us they happened and they were stupid and you're stupid to ever have enjoyed them.

It's not just that Picard, in the middle of his disillusioned identity crisis, when he has been holed up on his vinyard for over a decade, talking to nobody, and feeling deeply disappointed by Starfleet, gives an impassioned speech to a bunch of young people about how Starfleet is the only family you'll ever need.

That's a type of discontinuity/soft retcon I don't particularly enjoy, but if it were just that, I wouldn't be writing this way too long screed.

It's not even just the implicit "we will do it right this time" on display e.g. when Picard "flies" the Titan out of the labouring nebula. In that scene, Picard walks up to the captain's chair to take the conn, the TNG theme swells, he sits down, the music becomes bombastic, and he gets to be the Heroic Captain We All Remember. That scene is, in my opinion, something of a parallel to the season 1 scene where Picard tries to hijack La Sirena to take Soji to her people. In the season 1 scene, he sits in the captain's chair, the TNG-inspired music swells, he is about to be the Heroic Captain We All Remember -- except then the music fizzles out and the moment deflates because Picard has been retired for a decade and a half and has no idea what he's doing (and is certainly not the most qualified to do it on an unfamiliar ship).

That parallel in season 3 rubbed me the wrong way, because it felt too close to a refutation of season 1. Too close to "See? This is how that scene should have played out!" But that is a me problem. If the writers were remotely aware of the parallel (and I honestly doubt it, because I'm not sure they know season 1 well enough), it's just as likely they wrote it as a tongue-in-cheek reference, more than a rebuttal. Assuming the worst would have been on me and my unwillingness to give this season a fair shake. And if that sort of scene were the worst of it, I wouldn't be happy about it, but I wouldn't make it everybody else's problem.

Except the writers didn't stop there.

I would (eventually) be okay with it if the writers had just quietly abandoned, ignored, or even outright retconned some characters, history, themes, and plots from season 1 and 2 they disliked. But instead, they repeatedly acknowledge the existence of these elements only to then dismiss them in frankly viscious ways.

It's not enough to ignore the Jurati-Borg in all their Eggness glory and how they would be incredibly relevant to this story season 3 is trying to tell. It's not enough to pretend that storyline never happened and move on. Instead, the writers acknowledge the existence of the new collective, but the only sentence where it's mentioned is a character talking about "That weird shit on the Stargazer."

Yes, Shaw is a dick, yes it fits his character, yes Watsonian reasons. But it was still an active choice by the writers to only bring up one of the major plot developments of season 2 in the most derisive way possible.

Another example: The writers apparently felt that the Troi-Rikers didn't belong on Nepenthe. But it's not enough to have them move somewhere else between seasons, or even to let them have a discussion about how Nepenthe is steeped in loss and grief and they want to move somewhere else and start over.

Instead, the writers have to take time out of their already shoddily paced season to have these two characters extensively shit-talk one of the brightest momenst of season 1 (figuratively and literally). It's not just "they don't like it on Nepenthe anymore", it's "they never liked it, everything about it is terrible, everything season 1 showed you about their life there is a lie, and it has always been shitty and cringey and stupid, and you were stupid to like it!"

It's not just "we dumped our diverse characters, challenging themes, and relatively fresh view on the Trek universe from outside Starfleet for starship porn, great (white) men, and more Starfleet nostalgia than you can even comprehend". It's not just "we're going to ignore the existence of season 1 (and to a degree season 2), because it's not doing the things we want to do." It's not just "we're making this show, knowing (and not caring) that it will alienate a large chunk of the people who enjoyed season 1".

It's "we see what previous seasons were trying to do, and we need you to understand, really understand, how much contempt we have for these seasons and the people who enjoyed them."

I know some people felt this way about season 1 and the way it deconstructed Picard's image as the Great Heroic Captain and laid open his flaws and the flaws of the Federation. And I now empathize with them more than I ever thought I would. But I think there is a big qualitative difference in there.

In season 1, Picard gets put in his place. He has women people telling him when he's wrong, where he has failed, where he should have stepped up and needed to do better. But the show is still deeply sympathetic towards him. By the end of the season, Elnor has forgiven him, Raffi has forgiven him (without ever getting an apology), and he gets to save the day [whether the end to this particular arc is well done (it's not) is a rant for another day].

The failures Picard is being reproached for in season 1 pretty much exclusively happen between TNG and PIC. They tie in to patterns and tendencies the character has always had and attempt to deconstruct some of them. But there's no direct evisceration of specific things that happened on TNG.

At no point does Picard get out his Ressikan flute to make a glib comment about what a useless trinket it is, and how he should have thrown it out years ago. At no point does he turn to Riker and say: "Man, do you remember that Darmok and Jalad shit? What a waste of time! I wish we'd blown up that ship when we encountered it."

Season 1 is critical of Picard's character, yes, and it might feel crass or unfair at times (not least because we're still not used to seeing Great (White) Heroic Men Of Our Childhood get deconstructed that way). But any reproach the season 1 writers levelled at Picard pales in comparison to the petty contempt the season 3 writers regularly display towards the show they've ostensibly taken stewardship of.

Season 1 might have been a bit glib or inconsiderate of the legacy they inherited. Season 3 is viscious. And I am so, so tired of it.

[ussjellyfish]

Star Trek asks: 🖖, 🌀 and 👩🏼‍❤️‍💋‍👩🏾

🖖 First Star Trek Media you encountered:

We watched TNG on television when I was a kid (as it was airing the first time!). One of my earliest memories (I was 4) is of Will Riker getting sucked into the big black Armus pool and how freaky that was. I remember the face coming up from the bottom.

And they saved him! he was okay. (Tasha's death did not compute in my very small mind). Will being okay in the end was part of "Star Trek means we're all okay" which is my earliest opinion.

Often this still carries over.

🌀 If the Holodeck was real, what's the first thing you would use it for?

adventure fantasy RPGs. I'd love to be able to play something like Dragon Age. It would be incredible.

I would also use it to test out fic lines and positions and make sure they make sense. I have no sense of inner eye, so that would be helpful. Where do her hands go...

👩🏼‍❤️‍💋‍👩🏾 Do you ship any characters? Who?

Oh Georgiou.

I don't have any strong preferences about ships in some series. My levels of shipping are:

Ships I find cute on screen. (USS Enterprise-G)

Ships I would read fic. I would probably write fic for an exchange or a challenge. (USS Enterprise-D)

Ships I would write fic for, because I want the fic to bring myself joy and those are much more intense. (USS Voyager) I will land my starship on this planet.

Ships that are platonic for me and I adore them. (USS Protostar)

Ships where I want to read everything that has ever been written about them. I have saved all the artwork. I want to commission more artwork. (USS DIscovery) I will travel through the mycelial network for this ship. This ship is my home.

(under a cut for length)

TOS - no ships. Never really had any. TOS is not foundational for me though, I don't think I've seen the whole thing and probably never will. It's so much men talking.

AOS - I have a soft spot for Spock/Uhura. I really liked Uhura.

TNG - I shipped Deanna/Will so much as a child. They're in my very first fanfic. I liked Beverly/Jean-Luc (historical) later, but not until I was an adult. Deanna/Will I shipped as a very tiny human. I have witten fic for both of these. I also ship Beverly/Deanna, and Beverly/Deanna/Will in a very lighthearted way.

DS9 - Jadzia Dax/Lenara Kahn is gorgeous and tragic and I adore them. Kira/Dax in a very lighthearted way. They're fun. I shipped Jadzia Dax/Worf when the show first came out and probably would if I did a rewatch, but it's a very mild ship (I wouldn't read fic). I am very invested in Jadzia Dax.

VOY - Kathryn Janeway/B'Elanna Torres is fun. I've read some fic. I love how intellectual they would be together. I wrote and read much Janeway/Chakotay (historical) about ten years ago, but I'm not as into him now. (Robert Beltran makes it hard for me). Still love Janeway. I also like Seven/B'Elanna.

ENT - I enjoyed Trip/T'Pol when the show was on. I don't think I've seen all of it. I love T'Pol.

SNW - I have a passing interest in Una/La'An and Una/Pike. I've read some fic but haven't written any. I want nice things for Batel/Pike in canon. (he needs to be a better partner to her though). I ship Amanda/Sarek here simply based on how convince I am that Amanda loves him.

PIC - Seven/Raffi are wonderful and I adore them. I love their connection and their dear faces. Agnes/Borg Queen are fun and dark. Laris/Zhaban are fun. I wanted to ship Beverly/Jean-Luc again but they didn't give me much. Shipper brain was not engaged. Deanna/Will were so angsty. Will & Beverly might be my strongest legacy ship in this show. I wish Beverly & Deanna got to talk.

PRODIGY - dammit here I almost ship Janeway/Chakotay again. I ship Janeway/happiness here so much and if finding him will make her happy, okay fine. Gwyndala/Dal are cute and I want them to have nice things. Haven't wanted to read any fic though.

Crossover Trek - Beverly Crusher/Kathryn Janeway has held a special place in my shipper heart for 13 years. I love them so much. I love that they're still going and they show up in exchanges. They would be such a good couple.

Philippa Georgiou/Afsaneh Paris was such a fun thing.

Most trek crossover femslash is fun and I would try it in an exchange.

DSC - Philippa Georgiou (captain)/Katrina Cornwell. They'd be cute. They must have met. Katrina Cornwell/Gabriel Lorca (prime), Katrina sold me on that one. Katrina Cornwell/Philippa Georgiou (emperor), they have a handful of scenes and they would totally work.

Michael Burnham/Cleveland Booker are very cute on screen and I hope they get a nice ending. (I think they will). Hugh Culber/Paul Stamets are adorable and charming. Adira Tal/Gray Tal are so sweet. Saru/T'Rina are the regency couple of Star Trek and they're very cute. They're so happy in season 5, I love it. I think Joann Owosekun/Keyla Detmer are really fun, I hope they get a nod this season. I love how much the actors do with a look. Michael & Tilly are one of my favorite friendships ever and I adore them. Michael Burnham & Philippa Georgiou (emperor) variety is so complex and intense and I love how they evolve and grow together.

Michael Burnham/Laira Rillak are my top tier, own my soul, ship. I will read every fic that is ever published of them and reblog the gifs on repeat forever and memorize every nuance of every conversation they've ever had. They are the shiniest thing in my fannish heart at the moment, and I have watched their scenes together so many times.

For years I was this obsessed with Beverly/Kathryn, but they didn't have scenes together so I couldn't rewatch them.

Micahel/Laira have scenes together! They talk to each other! I have a whole arc that I can watch on repeat!! I have different episodes to watch for different feelings I need for fic!!

They're so niche and I wish I had more people to talk about them with because I love them so much and...it is a very lonely ship. People do write fic and read it and it's tiny and lovely. I am so grateful for all the interactions I ever have about this ship.

I often feel very out of step in my fannish Star Trek spaces because they are not a ship shared by many. I feel seen when someone acknowledges how much I love them.

[captainkatie42]

20 questions for fic writers, J7 edition

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 15

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 519,952

3. What fandoms do you write for? Star Trek Voyager

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Bad Wisdom - A "Workforce" rewrite. What if things had gone a bit differently between a certain auburn haired worker and her icy efficiency monitor while on Quarra.

It Can't Be Wrong - A "Killing Game" rewrite. Katrine and Mademoiselle de Neuf’s relationship is hidden even from those they trust with their lives. And the aftermath of when their true lives are revealed to them.

Days of Open Hand - A woman with extraordinary abilities realizes she knows very little about life, the universe, and everything when she is rescued by a group of metahumans led by a particularly captivating team captain.

Sundae Surprise - This is totally PWP; I make no apologies for the ensuing smut. It is short and very sweet.

The Long Dark Coffee Time of the Soul - An "Endgame" rewrite. On Stardate 53317 Captain Janeway was abducted by the Kellidians though eventually she was rescued. What if she was brought back to Voyager not so safe and sound? My first truly dark story.

5. Do you respond to comments? Almost always.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Control

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Almost all of my ficcies have happy endings. Probably Something of an End since it ends with a wedding and then honeymoon.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Very rarely.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yup, but perhaps not very well. It tends to be pretty vanilla but graphic.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? The only true crossover I wrote was The Queen and the Soldier . Voyager/Battlestar Galactica

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?  I don't think so.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Nope.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? J7

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? A threequel to the Days of Open Hand universe.

16. What are your writing strengths? Characterizations and AUs.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Endings.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I don't know any other language besides English well enough to do it myself.

19. First fandom you wrote for? and only... Star Trek Voyager

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? Probably After Life, it was a massive undertaking and my most fleshed out story. Also Borg Queen Janeway was so fun to write!

[grandhotelabyss]

In an old interview with Tyler Cowen, Knausgaard called Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius the greatest story ever written—a sentiment with which Cowen agreed. (Cowen seems to read everything, but there's something about an economist—an orthodox heterodox economist, no less!—making pronouncements on literature that makes me suspicious of the claim. Then again, he once wrote, "Shakespeare is very likely the deepest thinker the human race has produced." No argument there.)

Personally, I might bestow the honour on The Dead, but it's really more of a novella, and I'm admittedly quite the Deadhead. (To be clear, in the high arts a "Deadhead" is the moniker we attribute to readers obsessed with the poetic intensities of swift cessations: Death in Venice, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, the deaths of Sula, Septimus, Billy Budd, and Pierce Inverarity, etc. Indeed, poetic intensities and swift cessations may simply be the novella tout court. On the subject of jam bands—and cheese—I remain mysteriously silent.)

Might Joyce have authored the greatest story, the greatest novel, and the greatest love letters? (Forgive me, sweet Jane, for such futile superlatives against your soul-stirring pen. I am half agony, half cope.) I suppose Borges is more Beethovenian in his revolutionizing of the form, whereas Joyce aimed for a Bach-like perfection as it existed at the time.

Of course, one mustn't forget the dozen or so contenders from Poe, Kafka, and Chekhov, not to mention The Lottery and A Good Man is Hard to Find. What do you think? As always, thank you for your splendid insights! And to the anonymous hundreds reading this, or, at this point in my unsolicited soliloquy, the anonymous dozen skimming, please subscribe to John's serialized novel!

Thank you, David! Yes, I find Cowen dispiritingly, exhaustingly, demoralizingly well-read. Someone I admire on Substack recently gave a list of 10 pieces of advice for undergraduates, and I liked nine of them, but I didn't like the first: everything, he said, is interesting. But everything is not interesting. The undergraduate, the veritable ephebe, is right to be bored by some things. If I found everything interesting, who would I be? I almost cultivate my non-interests. With so many books I do want to read in the world, it's a relief to know there are also many books (books about economics, for example) that I do not want to read. Really, only obsessions matter. The personality, to be a personality, must have its limits, as must the work of art, even if as a novelist, I do aspire in my own way to the "everything and nothing" Borges imputed to Shakespeare, or to the Homeric as against the Virgilian in Mark Van Doren's line that Virgil is a style, Homer a world. Only Borges could be Homeric in a short story, though; for the rest of us—yes, even for Joyce—it takes a novel. A fellow Deadhead, I agree with you that that is a novella in the death-obsessed ranks of the great novellas. I add Heart of Darkness, The Metamorphosis, and Nella Larsen's Quicksand to your fine catalogue.

(Incidentally, when I was in college, a friend dragged me to see a jam band called The String Cheese Incident. They played a theater on the ground floor of Soldiers and Sailors Hall on the University of Pittsburgh campus, upstairs of which the great Gothic scene of Lecter's escape in Silence of the Lambs had been filmed a little less than a decade before. Jam bands don't do it for me; I was heavy bored at that concert, I have to tell you; Chesterton's neglected cheese be damned, poets have their right to silence on some subjects—because, again, everything is not interesting.)

Now to your question. When I think of great short stories, I do not, like George Saunders, think of 19th-century Russians. (19th-century Russians are better at length, when they go on and on and on—even, if you ask me, Chekhov, as I said earlier this year in praise of his novella, The Duel, a great novella not quite belonging to your catalogue inasmuch as it defeats death, more or less.) No, I think of 19th-century Americans. I think of "Ligeia" and "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Man of the Crowd," and I think of "Bartleby, the Scrivener" and "The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids" and "Benito Cereno," and I think of "The Author of Beltraffio" and "The Middle Years" and "The Figure in the Carpet." Above all, I think of Hawthorne, of "Young Goodman Brown" and "The Minister's Black Veil" and "Ethan Brand" and "Wakefield" and "The May-Pole of Merry Mount" and "The Artist of the Beautiful" and "The Birth-Mark" and (my favorite) "Rappaccini's Daughter." A great deal of Borges is already in those stories, these tales or parables or half-allegories—I do agree with both Knausgaard and Cowen that Borges's "Tlön," or maybe "The Aleph," must be the paradigm of the modern story—and a great deal of Kafka, Jackson, and O'Connor, too.

Honorable mention: I am not an expert on the 19th-century French, but "The Unknown Masterpiece" by Balzac is a new favorite, which I read for the first time just this year. A good tale in its own right, but to have anticipated, almost to the point of clairvoyance, the whole future course of art in one short story from the 1830s—!

Caveat: "Rappaccini's Daughter" has 3000 fewer words than The Dead; and "Benito Cereno" is double the length of "Rappaccini's Daughter." Why type some titles in italics and some in quotation marks? The distinction between novella and story must be qualitative rather than quantitative, with the distinction not quite only about death, since all three narratives at least include if they do not dwell upon swift cessations. "Rappaccini's Daughter" and "Benito Cereno" seem to me to be stories because they are about one thing, as opposed to The Dead, which, like The Scarlet Letter, is about several things—and as opposed, of course, to Moby-Dick and to Ulysses, which are, Aleph-wise, about absolutely everything ("[A]ny man unaccustomed to such sights, to have looked over her side that night, would have almost thought the whole round sea was one huge cheese, and those sharks the maggots in it"; "Cheese digests all but itself. Mity cheese"), and make everything as interesting as ever everything can be.

[kaiasky]

Tag 9 people to get to know better, tagged ages ago by @machine-saint

3 ships/ First ever ship:

probably liked something before this. but Rosemary (homestuck) is what got me on tumblr.

House/Wilson is a good dynamic but not something I'm compelled to read fanon about.

there's like a million friends at the table [mortal person]/[the machine-god that is their wife and/or eating them slowly alive]. but let's say [signet]/Belgard bc recent developments have got me Thinkin About Them

Last song: when i exported my Spotify playlists to mp3 the thing i found searched YouTube for "{artist} {songName} lyrics" and applies yt-dlp to the first result. this doesn't work for lyricless songs where somebody's written fan lyrics. eg searching "toby fox megalovania lyrics' gets you fanlyrics. which i usually slowly delete but i got a new mp3 player and i only delete them on device not in the computer's master library.

all that to say, it sounds like somebody wrote lyrics to DJVI - Don't let go (from geometry dash)

Last movie: i really don't watch movies. personal failing.

Currently reading: in between books rn. Just read Labrynths collection of Borges short stories

Currently watching: hunter x hunter! somewhere in greed island i am continually astounded at how fucking good this anime is.

also, an astounding amount of HermitCraft youtube

Currently consuming: active in my body is 400mg caffeine 200 mg l theanine because i made some choices. is that consumption? also tumblr

Currently craving: christ thats a big one huh. i want the spark of brilliance where i feel untouchable and undistractable like im. Concentrated into a single brilliant point. the focus and the bliss that comes with that focus [this is a bad, or difficult, thing to crave]. also. i would like an everything bagel toasted with butter from mr. timothy horton and I will acquire his goods in the morn.

[not tagging anybody right now but mayhaps i will later]

[giffingthingsss]

Everything after ENT is a holoprogram. 

Years later, Trip ran back into his baby daddy’s species. A lasting friendship between them led to him learning their holographic technology. When he finally retired from ship life, his hobby of tinkering with holographic code turned into a full-blown career. 

Kirk was a younger but more polished Archer. No surprise Trip gives him a Vulcan XO. He made him a hybrid as a tribute to Elizabeth. Bones was based on a grouchy uncle.

He starts with the species they know, but before long he’s inventing all kinds of things, sometimes borrowing from alien lore. The series is so popular he comes up with spin-offs.

Trip eventually indulges in a self-insert character, a blonde in love with an alien who loves movies and working on cars. He tries to give him a bad boy backstory to make him more interesting, but it never really takes. Trip has no experience in that world and it just doesn’t stick. But the character does come off as weirdly gay for his uptight fellow crewman. Everyone is afraid to point this out to Trip as he seems blissfully unaware. He later gave the character a penchant for writing holonovels. 

The day he named their mysterious cybernetic foes (’ya know, short for Cyborg, get it?’) and brought them into his stories, T’Pol looked at him as though it was the dumbest thing she had ever heard. It was massively popular. He wound up having to write borg after borg story to satisfy the market. He almost wished he had never come up with it.

He made Janeway a short queen like Hoshi and a dog lover in Porthos’ honor. Phlox, who had just discovered the wonderful world of coffee and become quite obsessed himself, suggested that character quirk. 

In reality the Federation lives pretty happily topping out at about twenty member worlds. Things are pretty routine. The fictional idea of the future starts to get a little out of hand as Trip runs out of ideas, but people keep buying it. T’Pol tries to advise him to keep things in the realm of believability, but it’s often a losing battle. She’s responsible for most of the things that actually make sense. 

Ironically, it’s T’Pol that often suggests the time travel scenarios. She becomes quite fascinated with how it might work. If it did. To the degree that Trip gives Janeway a headache over it, mirroring his own. 

One day he wrote what he thought was a fun meta thing where they were actually the characters and the characters were real and he died. T’Pol made him delete it. 

[lauvra]

Lost/Found Notes Pt. 9. Will it ever end? 15/4/21 To be honest I really do hate your guts, it would separate me from myself to even feign civility. You wasted my time, treated me like nothing, lied about who you are and dragged me through hell. 23/4/21 The tram pulled to a stop and you must believe me, I saw, as I peered out the left side of the window, a littered newspaper blown open by the wind. The headline read "Life can change in an instant', it's midday, life, plenty of time for the sudden change but I resign myself to the edge of my bed, cursing what I deemed a personal affront by nature. It's grey, so everything else seems subsequently so. I suspect if I headed back out there, I'd become brushed with monochrome too. I wish to bargain, to trade places with the nearest town touched by light today so that I might feel again the warmth and see again the colours of our world in all their vibrance. I served a customer who responded to my small talk over the misery in such an optimistic, honest way. She said "I'm fat, so I have extra fleshy layers like a baby seal, so I despise the heat and live for this chill. Isn't it great we are all so different from one another?" I'll try to consider this woman whenever I'm tempted to complain about the weather again. 23/4/21 Our time together was a record skipping over the same spot again again again again I will never know you again 10/5/21 Sometimes when it's cold and I feel the breath shudder out of my mouth, the way yours used to, I feel you inside of me. Sometimes when I'm still and I feel my heart thump, I feel you inside of me. Sometimes through subtle gestures, I feel like I'm becoming you. 13/5/21 [The poem "Echo (All She Lost She Lost)" by Leila Chatti] 20/5/21 He said the idea of me not being okay felt like needles beneath his fingernails. Well, I'm not okay. 7/7/21 [Quote] "A writer - and, I believe generally all persons - must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource. All things have been given to us for a purpose, and an artist must feel this more intensely. All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all, is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art." - Jorge Luis Borges 24/7/21 You're still living rent free in the southern most broken region of my heart. Your nails pierced holes in delicate walls, my bolts all loosened to roll. Those broken boards forgot how to touch, everywhere I go I rattle with us. 26/7/21 [Quote] "There are endings so sad I want the morning light to scourge the fields. Endings that are only what the river dreams when it dries up. Endings that are constant echoes." - Richard Jackson, 'Alternate Endings' 20/8/21 I want to use words sharp enough to castrate you. 24/8/21 I'm in bed with A Lover's Discourse, I ate almost an entire bag of jelly beans. I always pile the black ones separately to enjoy one last shot of aniseed. I wrote a little tonight, it seems to get darker as time goes on. It's like there are two of me, always have been. People keep having birthdays, I resent them for it. I want to be alone, I am alone, I want to be more alone. I dislike when men look at me like I'm the answer. I can't remember anyone's names. I need to return my colleagues Cat People DVD. I think she knows I haven't watched it properly. I lived for the beginning, then skipped to the sex scenes. 25/8/21 I draw thick from hatred's magnificent pool. 8/9/21 Tree limbs like witches hands twist from the earth and line my street, I imagine as soon as I walk away they'll pluck at the powerlines overhead like chords on a Cello. 14/9/21 I walk like a pair of scissors.

[thepurplewombat]

U mentioned that jgy is one of your favorite characters of all time, can I ask about your other fav characters of all time? I'm very curious bc u seem to be a cultured individual

Oh boy you sure may! *turns into an unskippable cutscene*. Not so sure about a cultured individual but let's see what consensus is once I'm done.

Olay so I'm going to go roughly chronological here, because everyone who has ever been a blorbo to me is, on some level, still a blorbo. So they all still count!

Okay so at the top of the list is one Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek The Next Generation) . My mom loves to tell the story of how I, at age three, decided I was going to marry Captain Picard and we would have six children. To be honest if he showed up in front of me today and asked me to run away with him on the Enterprise, I'm not sure I'd say no. He's such a wonderful character in so many ways - wise, kind, diplomatic. My first memory of watching television is the episode where he was assimilated by the Borg. The episode where Jean Grey from the X-men movies was an alien who became the perfect mate to the first person she saw when she hatched from her egg thing, and the first person she saw was Picard and so she still married the slimy guy from the enemy planet because Picard's perfect mate would never sacrifice duty on the altar of love lives rent-free in my mind decades later.

Dana Scully (X-Files). She's amazing. I love her. I love the fact that while she doesn't believe in the stuff Mulder does, she is openminded enough to acknowledge that science doesn't know everything, you know?

Neri from Ocean Girl. I watched this show when I was in primary school and I've got to tell you, Nonnie, for Literal Years all my Barbies wore wraps made out of rough hemp cloth. Her best friend was a whale named Charlie and she could swim underwater forever, she was amazing.

Xena (from Xena). Idk what to tell you, Nonnie, she was like, at least a third of my queer awakening.

Buffy (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) she tried. So hard. Like, she had a Destiny and she didn't want the destiny, but she was stuck with it and so she was going to do her damn best to live up to it. Spike, from the same show, is also on the list. He was just fun to watch, you know? (also Faith because I shipped her Buffy quite hard for a while)

Severus Snape, Harry Potter. He wasn't nice, but he was good, but tbh I adored him from the first time he appeared. Also, Hermione. Big hair and loves books? It me!

Everyone in Seaquest. Especially the captain and Lukas, who I'm pretty sure was included purely because TNG did it. But hey, I was like 15, I thought he was great.

Daniel Jackson, Stargate SG-1. He's just such a nerd? I love him tbh. I shipped him with Jack O'Neill but I appear to be alone in that (or all the archives where their fic was are dead now rip)

Teal'c, also from SG-1. It's just...how much courage does it take to turn on your literal actual god who is the source of your life? Also, the sass.

Garrus Vakarian, Mass Effect. I love him, your honor.

This one is chronologically in the wrong place since I read it when I was about 11, but Taita, from River God by Wilbur Smith. I loved that sneaky little asshole so damn much. I named my cat after him. (I was very annoyed when, years later, I read one of the sequels to River God, and on the first page Taita had a beard. Taita was a eunuch...)

Sarah Kerrigan, Starcraft. I could write a book about her. I have written a book about her. The first thing I ever wrote was a Starcraft fanfic (I had no idea fanfic even existed) about Kerrigan's clone Tedra. I'm weak for stories about evil governments, people who are treated like weapons, and assimilation narratives, so you can see why she captured my attention. (also I loved Zeratul, he was amazing)

Lestat from Interview with a Vampire. He was just cool.

There are a bunch more (I haven't even got to when I discovered danmei yet) , but unfortunately my power just went out and this post is already hella long, so take this as part 1 🤣

[estheruary]

Fair point. So you’re setting up a casual RPG game where the central gameplay element and progression system is combat and your job as a DM is to put a series of increasingly difficult combat challenges in front of your players and tie them together in a consistent, motivated, and compelling narrative. And you’ve decided that this meta purpose of this campaign is as an escape from the real world for a few hours and tell a feel-good story of good triumphing over evil and not as a backdrop for dissecting morality and noodling on the nature of good and evil. Solid plan, the problem is now you need something evil to play the antagonist.

Where you run into the issues with the savage orc trope is that they’re just basically just humans with different colored skin, customs, and language and so trying to define them as inherently evil puts you as the DM right into “I just wrote an ethnic genocide story.” Ope. But this gives you a hint at how you can write an us vs them story that doesn’t do this.

The big one is they can’t be coded as a subset of human. They can be intelligent, organized, and humanoid though.

The aliens in Independence Day ✅

The average alien species in Star Trek ❌

Zombies in The Last of Us ✅

Zombies in Z-O-M-B-I-E-S ❌

You essentially want a force of nature given sentience. They can’t be reasoned with, they are relentless, the harm they cause is real, ever present, a direct cause of who/what they are. They have simple motivations but are allowed to have complex executions. A lot of them, including Cells at Work leverage the natural force of predator/prey where the human coded folks are the prey. The humans don’t have to be the underdogs but their superiority should be tenuous.

Demons, human predators, feed on human souls.

Zombies, human predators, feed on human brains.

Vampires, human predators, feed on human blood.

Aliens, predators of all life on earth, typically want vague unspecified destruction (no projection there lol)

Xenomorphs, human predators, want human bodies as incubators for their young.

Viruses/Bacteria, human predators, feed on human nutrients.

The robots in The Matrix, human predators, feed on human computing power.

The robots in the Terminator, human predators, just want to kill all humans (which like honestly fair).

The fungus in The Last of Us, human predator, wants humans for food and to spread their spores.

The Borg, human predators, you will be assimilated.

The undead, everything predators, agents of capital D Death who just want to end all life.

In your world building it’s of course possible to humanize all of these archetypes and then you fall into them being coded as a subset of human but they’re not inherently human coded.

You could try to position Orcs in your world as predators and it might work but there’s a lot a lot of historical baggage you would have to overcome. Demons are inhuman supernatural creatures of pure torment and destruction that we sometimes humanize depending on the story but you have to go the other direction with Orcs which I won’t say is impossible without “dehumanizing” them but I certainly don’t know how to thread that needle and wouldn’t suggest trying.

Aside: The big irony about this dynamic is that outside of things that spread disease the qualities that make a good predator for humans is humans we’re describing ourselves and our own hunting style. We know that being hunted by humans is a death sentence a brutal one at that and so it’s what we fear and imagine as our own end.

Regarding the DnD Orc posts:

What would be a less problematic way of describing a fantasy “race”/“species” that is meant to be “evil” and “vile”, (because maybe they were created by a evil deity to cause havoc etc).

#honestQuestion

you're positing an inherently paradoxical project mate. "how do i construct a fictional Type of Person who is ontologically evil, whose murder is prima facie acceptable or even laudable, while unimpacted by the titanic weight of historical discourses that did the exact same rhetorical work in service of real-world violences?" -- the answer is that you've invented an impossible task!

there is no fantasy of uncomplicated and meritorious ethnic violence that is neatly separable from the historical context those fantasies are produced in. that's just the way it is. genuinely, i feel compelled to ask--not because i want to hear the answer, but because i want you and others to think about this--why is this a fantasy you’re so desperate to salvage?

[fipindustries]

i just want to talk about books i love

a list of my favourite childhood books. that is to say: books i read in my childhood, not necesarily children’s books. these are the books i read obsessively over and over until they were absolutely worn down and cracked. for ovbious reasons im not including harry potter into the mix

*journey to the center of the earth - jules verne 

i think every amab who was interested in books and sci fi read jules verne at some point in their lives. this was one of his most outlandish premises but the dry naturalist way in which he descrives the wonders the characters encounter and the dangers of survival they come across (beautifully rendered by  Édouard Riou) made me go back to it again and again.

*codex - lev grossman

turns out the guy who wrote the magicians did other things in his past as well. this book was fascinating to me because, out of all the books in this list, i think this is the one where no genre or supernatural elements occur. is about a banker who spends his first vacation in years unpacking and organizing the books of a private collection which leads him into an in depth quest to find one incredibly obscure middle age text that was lost to history. and yet lev manages to descrive all of this in such a wacky, whimsical tone than even descriptions of a guy playing a weird avant garde videogame are enthralling

*deception point - dan brown

i claimed time and again that dan brown is a sci fi writer trying to pretend he is a historical writer, this is the proof. this was the book he wrote before angels and demons, before he cemented himself with robert langdon forever. electoral drama, goberment conspiracies, cientific discoveries in the artic, weird near future sci fi tech, aaron sorkin level writing, dan brown second and last female protagonist, alien fossils trapped in meteorites. this book has everything

*amazing space - ann jeanette campbell

another thing related to space, the joke about how every kid when they reach age has to choose what they are going to bo obsessed with, dinosaurs - bugs - space. guess which one i choose. thanks to this book i passed most of my science tests with flying colors.

this is the one of three non fiction books in this list. one of those books that you dont really read sequentially but rather that you just jump all over the place, back and forth, finding weird little wonders wherever  you go. this was the book that introduced me to the concept of dark matter, neutron stars, the cosmic background radiation, quasars. it showed me that reality is way weirder than i expected and that there are truly strange things out there.

*the sorcerer’s companion - allan & elizabeth kronzenk

i said i wouldnt mention harry potter but i can’t not mention this. my first earnest introduction to the world of actual historical magic and myth as it was practisced in the real world. it showed me how magic actually looked in the past, how it worked, what were the actual beliefs, myths and superstitions of people and how they were far more eccentric and peculiar and off kilter than anything rowling could come up with.

it was the book that made me unironically practisce numerology and astrology and reading tea leaves when i was a kid. it was also the perfect gateway drug to the kind of weird shit alan moore would preach at me when i was a teenager/young adult. fantastic history lesson packaged in an endearing way

*between nothing and eternity - roberto pettinato

pettinato is a stand up comic from argentina, one i am fond of. this book collects random thoughts, long digressions, short stories, stand up sets and other tangential observations that the guy made across his carrer. an incredibly eclectic book that has way too much fun playing around with typography. it replicated in an eerie way (even though at the time i couldnt possibly have known) the feeling of scrolling on tumblr and coming across the effort posts and deranged shitposts made by your mutuals. another eerie thing is how pettinato’s writing style is so incredibly good at conveying his own speech patterns, you cannot help but read this book in his voice, never before or after speech, cadence, delivery, timing, emphasis and tone was so perfectly conveyed in writing.

*the warm-up battle - marcelo figueras

i said more than enough about this book already. my favourite book of all time.

*the girl who loved tom gordon - stephen king

one of kings lesser known books, also the first book by stephen king i ever read. and much like the tip of the iceberg, much like the smallest tendril from the great eldritch beast that reaches from beyond time into my mind, i was amazed and astounded by it without even suspecting that there was so much more where that came from.

this was probably the first book i ever read with a female protagonist. whats more, a female protagonist of my age. again, as someone who was socialized as a boy, i was surprised at how relatable, how close, how immediate the conection to her was. she did things in her mind that i thought only i did. now the title may make you think this is some cute teen romance book or whatever. its actually and incredibly raw and terrifying story of survival, about a girl who got lost in the woods for days and days with nothing but her portable radio (that i would picture as the little pink walkman i had as a kid) and the prescence of something wrong, following her in the woods

*lessons in fear - diana shaw

and while on the subject of female protagonists, this is a practically completly unkown little teen novel where you follow a teenage girl who decides to become a private investigator and find out who has been pulling (potentially lethal) pranks on the most hated teacher at school. yet another book that surprised me by how much i related to the female protagonist as a kid, specially considering it was probably the only book i ever read where menstruation is not only brought up as a thing that exists but on top of that is brought up in a completly non chalante way as in yeah, whatever, it happens, its really annoying, ugh, i forgot my tampons, what a drag. which blew my 11 year old mind

the paris enigma - pablo de santis

speaking of murder mystery, this is The murder mystery novel. the one muder mystery novel that is all murder mystery novels that have ever existed. the ultimate tribute to the genre. it’s set in the late 1800′s, the eiffel tower is about to be completed for the world’s fair and the great twelve detectives, a world spanning organization composed by the best detectives of the world, are getting together. with them there are their adlateres, their assistants, their watsons. among the adlateres we follow one kid, the most recent addition to the group, someone who grew up reading detective stories his entire life and now had to prove himself as a worthy addition to the team. much like worm is the ultimate superhero story and worth the candle is the ultimate rpg isekai, this one is the ultimate crime novel

_______________________________________________________________

extra material

honorary mentions, books that i only read once as a kid and yet they still had a profound impact on my mind:

*the words - jean paul sartre.

the guy talks about his childhood, i had this idea that the guy was a dense and complex philosopher but his writing ended up being very enjoyable and relatable

*the invention of morel - adolfo bioy casares

the proof that latin america could create some amazing science fiction

*the eight - katherine neville

im honestly surprised not more people are talking about this one. dan brown done right. or more precisely the davinci code is katherine neville done wrong

*the metamorphosis - franz kafka

i was surprised at how straight forward the concept was explored, it almost felt like speculative fiction

*trafalgar - angelica gorodischer

the other proof that argentina could create some amazing science fiction, and make it but gustingly funny

*blindness - jose saramago

yet another example in this list of a writer that i expected to be dense and incomprehensible and dull and yet surprised me at how straightforwardly it explored a genuenly fascinating idea

*locked room - paul auster

and this is the one book that breaks that trend. i have no idea what the hell this book is about. i remember it was faintly disturbing to read. it was the book that started my obsession with thoroughly filing and archiving everything i create

[zingaplanet]

You know what you are right, all fedal fic is so angsty and what makes me sad is that almost nobody really writes roger the way he is. he's always so, I dunno, angsty and serious in fics, but in reality, he is so sweet, kind and open and actually really a really happy and goofy guy. I mean he just called Rafa cute and I said "I love you" to Björn Borg in front of thousands of people. I remember that ATP players interview where they were asked "who makes you laugh the most" and most of them said Roger. I mean I can understand a story being sad or full of angst but I really wish people wrote roger more like he really is and I also wish we had more happy fics. Many of them are just heartbreaking. :(

Hahaha i truly get that, although to be fair it's tough to actually nail Roger down, I'm always incredibly fascinated by him actually. He seems to be the friendliest, most welcoming person on tour, but he's very very very private in his personal life, his friends said that and I think he even asks his close circle (the ppl he actually hangs out with in switzerland and not his celeb friends) to not post pics with him when he's with them, which is absolutely fair. I think he's stroke the perfect balance of being a professional athlete, one that is loved by so many and is equally earnest in returning it, but also of still being himself. It's like when Paul McCartney says he sees himself in duplicity, one the incredibly famous Paul McCartney, a beatle whom everyone knows, and another that's just him, the kid who grew up in Liverpool. I guess that's the extreme you have to go through when you reach that level of fame to stay sane.

But the great thing about Roger is, I think as you mentioned, he's incredibly earnest in both roles I guess, he's just naturally a very affectionate guy. I truly respect what he's done for male sports, in breaking down the stupid stigma of this tough, emotionless, overtly masculine hero. He's a bit of a contradiction, when he plays he's as stoic and as cool as you possibly can be, rarely showing any emotions, but outside of it he seems to be an incredibly expressive, warm, and kind person, and he's not that different from rafa tbh.

All I'm saying is anon, YES I AGREE WE NEED MORE FLUFFY HUGGY ROGER 🤗❤️🥺 But I also if writers actually wrote an incredibly emotional scene between the two of them staying true to their actual nature, we would probably just end up with two of them sobbing their eyeballs out, being soft husbands, holding hands (let's be real here lmao) apologising for everything and no arguments will ever be had 😂

[annikasevenshots]

Star Trek Picard: S2E4 Reactions (spoilers!)

ngl i had a bad mental health day and watched this on my phone but it was still really really good

it's the ✨Seven putting a hand on Raffi's shoulder whenever they move✨ for me 😩

heavy metal guy being a puppy dog and respectful... love that for him

also say what you want but... he has a dwarven beard??? 🧐

Raffi fiddling with her necklace...

"We should have waited in the other future before jumping back in time" same Raffi bestie i was literally thinking this (and i wrote a fix it fic for you about it 🤠👍)

remember when the fandom freaked out over Saffi's first hand hold. now we have another one and it's so tender and sweet and i'm sorry i just need a moment

i really, really, really like this borg queen. i feel like of all the plot lines this episode i love borg queen and agnes' the most (and that's saying a lot as your local Saffi trash)

She and Agnes play off so well against each other and it's so intriguing seeing them interact and share how similar they are in their loneliness and isolation. It's so amazing

TNG theme playing when Picard beamed down to 10 Forward ARE YOU KIDDING ME OMFG I AM IN TEARS

THIS GUINAN SLAPS. HOLY FUCKING SHIT. I LOVE HER. OH MY GOD.

The way I know it's Sir PatStew shoehorning all these damn pitbulls in these episodes

and i love that for him. pitbull love forever

Okay but? I really, really, really like this Guinan as well. The new actors they brought in to play old characters mesh so well with the story and the tone and the universe and it's so amazing to see

Guinan being more jaded, angry, sarcastic... it's a yes for me, because of course she would be in 2024 in the USA

Also Guinan is TEMPTING me to get red highlights. help

Guinan's *cocks gun* is so sexy of her, no i will not elaborate

NOT CRYSTAL BALL RIOS 😭 star trek picard is a comedy actually

Seven is me whenever i see karens around serving staff lmao "we're just going to back off from your personal space and you're doing a wonderful job 🤠👍"

Also. Seven respecting and thanking the police/law enforcement while Raffi and Rios are fighting against them, whereas in the future Seven is bitter at Starfleet and lowkey ignores them as a Ranger, whereas Raffi and Rios are in Starfleet and are totally subscribed to their ideals and beliefs. Interesting

Raffi's "I hate everything". Her body language in this. The way she's all bristly.

Also, someone gif this. Please gif this and send me the link and I will reblog it forever and ever

Raffi's "I hate this" vs Seven's "AND YOU HIDE IT SO WELL! <3" saffi is a comedic duo actually

not to gloss over the biggest Saffi scene in this episode but the way the two of them interact in the aftermath of grief is something that was really difficult for me to watch because *redacted trauma* so all i'm going to say is

it was very, very well acted and so realistically written, so kudos to everyone who made this scene. and i'm very glad that they didn't make the characters forget Elnor's death in like 2 seconds.

Well, Picard, Agnes and Rios lowkey did so that's a 0/10 for me

if/when i feel a bit better about it i'll definitely try to break this scene down because it was just. immaculate representation on their part

seven DRIVING LIKE THAT holy fucking shit

not her calling that car an antique 😭 y'all know she only knows how to drive because tom paris made them all drive around in the holodeck

Somehow this feels more violent than those bridge scenes where they're hit and everyone has to lurch in the same direction

"What does yellow light mean" "go faster" 🤡when i tell y'all they're comedy queens...

also ew ford product placement

"the cornerstone of every-" y'all know jurati was gonna say "relationship" before she was cut off 👀

once again, i am so intrigued by borg queen/jurati's interactions. i know they paired everyone off to film separately (because of covid?) and this is such a well thought out pair/plot line. not even ship wise but like, their dynamics and back and forth

this borg queen's gentleness in luring agnes to her and promising her what she needs... oh my god. it's just so amazing

Guinan hearing Picard's name and going "shit" like mood lmao

also that kid is so scary... never again please 😭

L.......LARIS????

jurati knowing to limit the borg queen's access and ignoring her and walking away... thank you jesus

that lady in red who was reading lowkey reminded me of Kes

Q?????????

don't tell me Q is the jeff bezos of this fictional earth i will cry

Also Q losing his power... holy shit. Holy fucking shit

[trillscienceofficer]

Those are all very exciting possibilities!! I totally agree that the Trill joining & all the surrounding rites (especially, like you mentioned, the zhian'tara) seem to be based upon a certain degree of telepathy in both symbionts and Trill hosts.

Personally I tend to be more in the opposite camp about interspecies compatibility with the Trill. It's a long-standing headcanon of mine that the Trills' own type of telepathy represents more of an obstacle, or at the very least leads to unpredictable outcomes, when in contact with other species' telepathic abilities. I'm basing this mostly on “Facets” and how weirdly Odo reacted to the zhian'tara—the Founders are imho telepathic as well. There's also of course the example of “Meld” from Voyager. Even though that doesn't involve Trills, it shows that Vulcans aren't immune to interspecies telepathy going wrong either. (I actually wrote and never posted a fic where a mind meld between a Vulcan and a joined Trill didn't work as expected!)

(There's also the fact that I dislike Vorik with a passion, though that's beside the point lol, and I think Tuvok would decline because of his age and his duties.)

I think humans would be the most likely candidates for a Trill symbiont because, despite everything, Riker was still able to be a host for Odan, even if just temporarily. Then of course there's Adira on Discovery, who proved that an actual stable joining between a human and a Trill symbiont is possible. I think if the Doctor and Kes were able to review the data about Riker, they might come to a similar conclusion. I understand if the eventuality of a human joining seems boring, though.

As for Kes, I think there are considerations about her short lifespan. I think Jadzia would be mindful of that not just for Dax, but also because of what it would mean for Kes. Would it be fair to force her to become a host for Dax's sake, given the limited time Kes has to experience the universe? It would curtail her options so severely, I think—while it'd be a unique experience for both Kes and the Dax symbiont, there would be such a high price to pay for Kes.

As for Borg tech, that could be an interesting option as well! As a personal preference in general I like to consider Borg solutions as... having very dire consequences. I think Voyager does this kind of bargain really well (think about “Mortal Coil”, or Seven in “Imperfection”), so there could be something there as another option for Jadzia that actually raises more issues than it solves. I already strongly believe that the Collective has only ever managed to kill all the joined Trills it tried to assimilate, and even just considering this I think Jadzia would be extremely put off by the idea of incorporating nanoprobes as part of the options that would allow Dax to survive. I'm sure Seven would (bluntly) offer anyway, though, especially if suddenly confronted with a joined Trill whose existence has only ever been a theoretical possibility for the Collective.

About B'Elanna, honestly I think she would decline on the grounds that she's had enough bad telepathic experiences in her life (“Blood Fever”!! But also “Remember” and god even “Random Thoughts”), even beyond compatibility issues. Plus I don't think she would want to get her brain scrambled in a Trill joining. I wonder if Jadzia would offer, though.

@jessikablaam said:

also, a trill in the delta quadrant would be interesting! are there any emergency compatible species there? obvi tho, i’d hope jadzia would survive the entire trip.

Sorry for quoting you like this, I didn't want to clog op's notifications of this post with my specific headcanons!

I totally agree with you that it would be interesting to see a joined Trill in the Delta Quadrant, so far away from any recourse for the symbiont if something were to happen to them.

I remember that when I was writing the first installment of the Jadzia Dax on Voyager AU that was one of the scenario I first thought about. Jadzia would have to raise the issue with the Doctor and Kes (and B'Elanna and Harry as well, as fellow scientifically- and technically-minded people on the ship) to find some sort of contingency in case something happened to her, even just because at the very beginning it really seemed like it would take them 70 years to get back to the AQ, and Dax didn't have, on principle, another compatible host to be transferred to. I think my idea back then was that they'd try to build a stasis chamber for the symbiont, but it would require considerable time to perfect (and then, of course, there would be an emergency à la “Equilibrium” to force them to use it anyway).

I went with something else in the end, and this was before S3 of Discovery had aired. Thinking about it now, the Doctor and Kes would probably come to the conclusion that Trill symbionts could be hosted by humans, when adequately prepared. And I think that preparedness would be the result of a holistic process, not just medical, which means Jadzia would have to take a hands-on approach on the matter. It would be interesting to watch Jadzia having to consider what would happen to Dax and make that her personal responsibility, like choosing who could be the next host, and reprising her role as a field instructor she had in “Playing God”. I think this could also be a good way in which her mixed feeling about Curzon could emerge without the zhian'tara of “Facets”.

The idea is still very interesting to me, and I wonder if Jadzia would feel extremely ambivalent about the whole thing. It's so different from the ostensibly merit-based approach of the Symbiosis Commission. Would it feel to her like a return to darker times in Trill history? Would her own personal history make her avoid a choosing the next presumptive host until forced by the circumstances of the Delta Quadrant (a fatal accident always around the corner)? Or would it eventually bring Jadzia a measure of peace, to be able to assert some control on her and Dax's fate after what happened to her in “Equilibrium” and “Invasive Procedures”? (Would that struggle and ambivalence be something B'Elanna would recognize in Jadzia?) How much would she hate having to deal with the Doctor, and how grateful would she be for Kes' much more compassionate approach?

Much to think about! I want to believe Jadzia would be able to survive the trip as well, but I think she'd struggle a lot with the idea that she easily might not.