#really don't want The Troubles with tribbles

[trek-tracks]

*hands you all the painkiller of your choice with zero side effects because it's the future*

[pokimoko]

I have had it with these motherfucking spam bots on this motherfucking site.

[countesspetofi]

Today in the Department of Before They Were Star Trek Stars, George Takei guest stars in "A Matter of Honor," episode 10 of the single season of Assignment: Underwater (original air date November 11, 1960).

There are a couple of caveats here. Firstly, the only copy I could find of this episode was a very lo-res kinescope, but I thought it was interesting enough to make up for the fuzzy images.

Secondly, I wanted to take a minute to talk about depictions of non-Anglo cultures in this series of posts. Sometimes, I'm comfortable just shrugging and saying "Times were different back then" and sometimes I'm not. I've skipped over episodes where the use of yellowface or redface seemed gratuitous to me, or where there aren't any other things going on in the episode that made me feel it was worthy of note. I'm still on the fence about other episodes, where the depiction of BIPOC aren't necessarily negative, but are just kind of ignorant, or reliant on stale storytelling tropes, where you can tell that the White screenwriters didn't really make much of an effort at research, or consultation with people in the culture they're depicting. (NB: I don't think any of this reflects on the actors involved; sometimes you just need to pay your bills and do the best you can with the scripts you get.)

This episode of Assignment: Underwater feels like it might be dipping its toe into that last category. Japanese and Chinese culture are kind of lumped in together, there's some "model minority" stuff going on with the Japanese-American family, and Italian-Americans don't exactly come out smelling like roses. But I thought the episode was interesting enough to make it worthwhile. It's available for free on The Internet Archive, so I encourage anyone who's interested to watch and make up their own minds.

Takei plays Ken Kitigawa, the oldest son of an immigrant family who are friends with the main character, who is in charge of some kind of U.S. Navy underwater rescue/civil defense operation. Ken has gotten involved with an organized crime syndicate, who are sending him to sabotage the boat of one of their rivals. The hero stops him in the nick of time, he agrees to turn state's evidence, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Other Trek Connections:

Takei's gangster boss is played by Stanley Adams, AKA Cyrano Jones in the Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles,"

And his girlfriend is portrayed by BarBara Luna, who played Marlena Moreau in the Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror," as well as appearing in two episodes of James Cawley's fan production Star Trek: Phase II.

[wordswithkittywitch]

The thing that always bothered me about The Trouble with Tribbles is the crew of the Enterprise didn't want to kill them, but they were perfectly happy to transport them onto the Klingon vessel. The Klingons absolutely killed those tribbles. They hated them. They are a culture very happy to solve things with violence. Is it somehow morally preferable to make someone else kill something you think is cute so you don't have to feel the icky bad "I killed a tribble" feelings? I really don't think it is.

Well, that's the second thing that always bothered me about tribbles. The first thing is "are they edible?" They're definitely a sustainable source of fur if not meat as well.

[blogquantumreality]

Suggested ST: TOS Episodes to Watch

If you really don't want to go through all of the original series' episodes, here are fifteen I would suggest watching to get the big picture of the major aspects of TOS that feed into TNG, DS9 and so forth:

"Where No Man Has Gone Before" - as the pilot, this is self-explanatory. It shows us many of the major characters who we'll see over and over through the series, and shows how they react to a new phenomenon that threatens the mental stability of two crew members.

"Balance of Terror" - introduces the Romulans, one of two principal antagonist powers in the TOS era and which still has a sizable rivalry with the Federation in TNG/DS9.

"The Menagerie, Pt. I/II" - along with the original pilot "The Cage", this two-parter is noteworthy for giving us a look into the Enterprise's past when it was commanded by Captain Christopher Pike. It also establishes one of the few crimes for which the Federation has imposed a death penalty.

"Space Seed" - introduces Khan Noonien Singh and establishes one of the major cataclysmic wars of Trek's 20th century, the Eugenics Wars, with Khan as one of the principal instigators.

"Errand of Mercy" - introduces the Klingon Empire as the second of two principal antagonist powers in the TOS era, and also introduces the Organians who impose an armistice between the Klingons and the Federation, promising that one day they would come to see each other as allies.

"Metamorphosis" - introduces Zefram Cochrane, the inventor of the warp drive which is the foundation upon which TOS era spacefaring rests upon.

"The City on the Edge of Forever" - for sheer feels this episode cannot be matched. We meet Edith Keeler, a woman who strikes a chord with Kirk beyond friendship, and see the potential cost of accidentally changing history.

"Mirror, Mirror" - here, we see an alternate universe in which a different set of conditions took hold, especially on Earth. In this universe, humanity's darker traits are admired and upheld, leading to the Federation morphing into an aggressively expansionist empire that brooks no opposition. Noteworthy for the way it explores the differences and similarities between mirror and canon Kirk as well as mirror and canon Spock.

"Amok Time" - this episode gives us an in-depth look at Spock, some of his life story, and the planet Vulcan and its customs.

"Journey to Babel" - introduces Spock's parents :P

"Patterns of Force" - rather topical in today's world, it is an interesting exploration of how any fascist movement inevitably drives towards extremism and only heroic efforts can usually stop one once it has taken hold.

"The Trouble with Tribbles" - tribbles. 'nuff said. :P

"The Paradise Syndrome" - introduces the Preservers, which serve as a canonically convenient way to explain the wide variety of similar biospheres on many planets as well as the tendency for human or human derived cultures to show up in places known to not be warp-capable. It can also tie into TNG's "The Chase".

"Day of the Dove" - introduces the last in the trio of Kor ("Errand"), Koloth ("Tribbles") and Kang, and gives more perspective on TOS-era Klingon perceptions of the Federation.

"Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" - somewhat anvilicious as an allegory for the arbitrariness and futility of racism.

Honorable mentions include "The Savage Curtain", which introduces (Kirk's idea of) Kahless the Unforgettable, as well as "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" and "Assignment: Earth" as a loosely connected pair of 1960s Earth centered episodes in which unintentional interference by the Enterprise could cause severe temporal issues.

[rainerbayer]

Star Trek (Raumschiff Enterprise) / Deep Space 9 (Deep Space Nine): The Klingon Forehead Ridges

An attempt to translate from the original answer in unmodified lower case

Question:

How do the Klingons [in Deep Space 9, ds9] actually get forehead ridges while in Startreck [recte: Star Trek - The Original Series] (Captain Kirk) they don't have any?

Answer:

[...]

the real reason for the originally missing klingon forehead ridges, but later present in ds9, lies in the costs for the masks in the real world at captain kirk's time on the one hand and the later significantly larger budgets in ds9 on the other.

the explanation as such - namely the short answer from lt. worf - in the corresponding ds9 episode no. 140 "Trials and Tribble-actions" ("The episode digitally inserted the Deep Space Nine cast into footage from Star Trek: The Original Series"; en.wikipedia.org), which refers to the episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" of the original series, there no. 15, is simply and remarkably:

"we don't talk about that with outsiders".

i got the same answer once when i wanted to know - in real life, around the year 2000 - why certain motorcycle-riding figures who used to ride around with ass-long manes (at least they had something to look at) now wear shaved bald heads placed on ass-thick necks like skinheads.

in response to my reply that this answer wasn't really satisfactory, i received an e-mail saying:

"we'll flatten you", signed "command 81".

i'm still alive. unfortunately not as thin as i'd like to be.

[spawksstuff]

Star Trek East Cruise 15-18 May 1987 Part 2

De's Q&A Session. The video was too large so I upload it to Youtube. The cuts in the video aren't mine, that's how the original is. His hat says "Trekcruise'87" and his shirt says "Trust me I'm a Doctor." Transcript below.

I'm a doctor not a sailor. So you're all-is everybody here from Florida? Hey, how about that, isn't that nice? What about Utah. Ok forget it.

Listen, again I want to tell you-can you all hear me? You hear me? I want to tell you how happy I am to be with you on this cruise. And everything down in sickbay is going swimmingly. My first patient this morning was James Doohan, then nurse Christine came in, and then of all people lil Sulu.

Would you believe little Sulu was hungover? But he was. Walter hasn't even shown up yet. Oh there he is! They finally brought him up, beamed him up.

Listen, I'm going skip all the preliminaries, I also come here to learn from you. I-we all learn everything from the fans. You tell us first what's going to happen. so you ask me a question, and then if I can't answer it I'm sure you can. So does anyone have a question? No? Well it's back to the bar.

About the fifth movie. I don't know. I haven't heard anything from Walter Koenig yet, he's my source. They're in the very embryonic stage of making this fifth movie and there's been nothing really released about it, only with the exception- I'M SPEAKING OVER HERE.

I hate those foreign boats [Note, they had already docked at Nassau at this point]. So I understand-AHOY. [Sounds like really bad Spanish]. You have to speak all of those languages to travel. Nothing has been really released on Star Trek five, only our good captain as you know is going to direct it and we're anxiously awaiting to see what they're going to do as much as you are. I wish I could help you more. Anyone else?

How do I feel about the new series? Sick. (laughing). No I have high hopes for it. I'm sure Paramount feels that they have a very worthwhile and viable product in Star Trek and they would like to see it go on and on and I feel that it is in the very best hands possible with Gene Roddenberry. If anyone will be able to make it work,

Naturally we have mixed feelings, you would too after 20 years.

It's a rather strange feeling to wake up and see the trade papers that they're doing a new Star Trek. It's the first time I've ever really felt like "he's dead, Jim." But I'm hoping for their sake that it will be a success. And I hope you will continue to look at our year-to-year movies. You're going to enjoy number six, I'll tell you that.

That's not the one I'm directing, but I've written the story idea for it. I can tell you that because I wrote it and it concerns all of us going to the proper rest home. It's going to be a lulu(?) you're going to like it, we're going to fool you.

Another question. Yes? Have I written anymore poetry? No not since...

Uh I had heard how he spoofed, no I have-my experience has been very unique with Star Trek fans. I find them very loving, peace-loving people, very courteous, and extremely intelligent.  So I have nothing but fondness for all of you and great respect for all of you and were it not for you, of course, none of us would be here.

Yes? In other words, you were glad to see the humor come back in? Yes we all were because I think everybody has forgotten, and people that didn't follow Star Trek really didn't remember just how much humor we did through the years. Gentleman standing over here, David Gerold, can testify to that with "The Trouble with Tribbles". But that picture felt more, to all of us I'm sure, like what we used to do. And I've often said I wish we had done that earlier in the series, something of that nature because this film has picked up a crossover audience, which is very nice. People are enjoying it simply as a motion picture, it's lovely.

Yes? Will there be a more sense of family in the next movie? I certainly hope so but none of us really know what the story is going to be about.

Yes? Was it for acting purposes that I dropped my first name "Jackson"? No, I never knew I had that name until I went in the Army. That's true. My family had always addressed me as DeForest, and when I went into the service I found that "Jackson" there. But anytime I would receive a letter addressed to Jackson I knew it was someone from the service. But I did not, I didn't take the name, it's really my name.

Yes, way back there. All of the presidents have libraries in their hometown state, he want to know if there's going to be one for Bones McCoy in Georgia. Well I'll have to speak to President Carter about that. It's a good idea come to think of it.

(The man in the black shirt on the left is Walter Koenig). My experience with Bill has not been that bad to tell you the truth. I must tell you that we very seldom, any of us, see each other on social occasions. We do, we do see each other at Star Trek conventions, we talk by phone occasionally and that sort of thing. But I don't know. Bill really, when Bill wants to be amiable, he has one of the most delightful funny personalities that you've seen on talk shows that you can have. And I think Bill, I think he's a very bright guy, and imaginative and I'm sincerely hoping that he will - my concern is that, and I'm hoping he will be able to bring Star Trek five off beautifully. That's the important thing. 

Yes? I'm just filling...what was that remark? I do make house calls. Yes, one of the few left. Yes, write it down, put it on a piece of paper and sail it on.

Yes? There was no blooper reel made from the movies no. They're two different ball games. The television series, we worked long, fast, and hard hours and there were a lot of released laughs. Motion pictures, you sit around for hours and hours before you do something. And very few things are funny by the time you get on the set. Yes?

I had done a film with Bette Davis and Susan Hayward called "Where Love Has Gone" which was bringing me out of the villain thing, and from that, I went into Star Trek. So I don't know what my future would've been but I would've continued to try to be just a good working actor and let what happens happens.

Ladies and gentlemen it's been a pleasure. And a line from my poem, "if you're wondering now what's with Kelley, what's with his life, he's still in the valley, with the very same wife."

[electronickingdomfox]

"Enterprise: The First Adventure" review

Novel from 1986, by Vonda N. McIntyre. A bit unusual, in the sense that it deals with Kirk's first mission aboard the Enterprise, so most of the characters are strangers to each other, and their familiar relationships haven't yet been established.

The first half of the novel consists on several scenes (almost in a "slice of life" style) following the different characters, and it's in my opinion the best part of the novel. There's plenty of humor, and Kirk in particular is hilarious, not because he wants to be, but because of the ridiculous situations he gets involved in. The expectations about the heroic Captain, that we're used to from the series, are constantly subverted. First, he takes command of the Enterprise in a partially inhebriated state, after an alien friend insists on trying every single drink of a menu. Then his first glorious assignment turns out to be... transporting a bunch of vadeuville artists, to perform in some backwater station. His new crew isn't impressed by him, specially Spock and Scotty, who still miss Pike. His chosen doctor (McCoy) and his only old friend around, arrives late and in a state of complete dishevelment after a rafting holiday. And when he finally manages to approach the guest lady, in the proper romantic setting, she confesses her feelings... for an altogether different man (imagine Kirk's dumbstruck face). So yeah, this is top comedic Kirk, as the one from "The Trouble with Tribbles": the only sane man in a sea of silliness.

The other characters are well developed too, and few writers give them such a rich inner life as McIntyre. Sulu gets his hopes of serving with Captain Hunter (from The Entropy Effect) crushed, when he's assigned to the Enterprise instead. And spends a good deal of time trying, unsuccessfully, to present his resignation to Kirk. Rand is given a really tragic past. And even though I don't feel her portrait here fits very well with her personality in the series, it's remarkable that the book makes an effort to explore these secondary characters, beyond their few traits in canon. Spock is still in a stage of being "totally Vulcan", and totally unsufferable about it, since his contact with Kirk and McCoy hasn't yet mellowed him. Though he already shows signs of recklessness when needed, and his misunderstandings about human culture provide good comedic potential (as when he thinks that the custom of smoking a cigar to celebrate a new birth is very logical: one adult must die poisoned, to compensate for the newborn). McCoy is more like his usual self, though I'm starting to feel confused about his backstory, since each novel shows a different version. In Crisis on Centaurus, for example, a young Ensign Kirk already met him as a divorced man, while here he seems to have divorced recently (but that's what happens when canon doesn't establish anything, really). Some choices are weird, though, like having Chekov already as a regular crewmember, while the series suggest he was the last to arrive.

Among the circus characters, the most relevant are Amelinda Lukarian, the manager, and her pet pegasus (sorry, I mean "equiraptor"); a winged horse created through genetical tampering, that is frustrated by its inability to fly. And there's also Stephen, a very unusual Vulcan who has embraced hedonism and the intensity of emotions, and an old acquantaince of Spock (so you can be assured that drama unfolds).

After this first, more whimsical part, the second half of the novel changes the tone and develops a semblance of plot. There's a first contact with a new alien race (winged cats), that live inside some sort of organic worldship and use a complex, musical language. There's a Klingon renegade complicating everything. There's Spock mind-melding with an alien and going amok afterwards... No new stuff, and I won't go into details.

Overall, this novel has fun moments, though I found McIntyre's other original work (The Entropy Effect) far superior. I would also have liked to see a greater development in the Kirk-Spock-McCoy relationship, the beginnings of their unbreakable bond. As the latter part spent more time dealing with the aliens, it left aside the character exploration. And by the end of the book, it didn't seem that Kirk was much closer to his new crew.

Spirk Meter: 0/10*. They're strangers forced to work together, and they don't like that fact very much. Kirk would have preferred to have Gary Mitchell as his First Officer, and is only stuck with Spock because of Starfleet's orders (as well as Gary being in the hospital). Though as the novel progresses, they start respecting each other more, play a chess game, and Kirk ends up rescuing Spock (but more out of duty than anything). Still, not much to talk about.

McCoy, on the other hand, is immediately interested in his new Vulcan patient. Already in his first physical, he gets all "let's talk about your heart" with Spock, and hopes to mend things after offending him accidentally. They're soon arguing, but sadly, the relationship doesn't develop much further.

The closeness, however, is diverted to other characters. Kirk is feeling all angsty about Gary, still unconscious after a last tragic mission, makes frequent visits to the hospital to talk to him in his coma, and has recurrent nightmares about the incident. When Gary recovers, Kirk is overcome with joy (we must assume that Gary eventually joins the Enterprise crew, given his appearance in the pilot episode, though the novel doesn't cover that). Spock and Stephen also have some tension going on, which at times makes them look like disgruntled exes. Spock resents Stephen for his illogical lifestyle, while deep down Stephen envies Spock's human half and his greater ability to feel emotions (even if Spock represses them). Stephen's attempts to get closer to Spock, while rejecting Ariadna's romantic advances, also reinforce this impression. And finally, it's Stephen who cures Spock of his madness through an intimate mind-meld.

[i-dont-know-nor-care-go-away]

I am very new to star trek and have literally only watched strange new worlds (all of season one, some of season 2) and the trouble with Tribbles but I love how they have done Spock, nurse chapel, and t'pring. I think maybe bc I don't have pior context for these characters it has influenced my views but also maybe that's interesting for people that do so I'm gonna talk about it. Personally I find the writers genius bc I can't seem to pick a side in this situation, and I'm genuinely rooting for both t'pring and Chapel. More of a ramble than actual analysis

I'm going to start off with Spock and t'pring. The first thing we see is their engagement. It's cute and fun, and we see they do care about each other. We also see the crux of t'pring's issue. Spock answers a call in the middle of.. that... and agrees to fly out into space and assumes t'pring is good with it. She corrects him but she can't hold him back. She voices her displeasure and Spock apologizes. That's exactly the issue. He says sorry. Nothing changes. She does realize that he has to do this and that, but her real struggle is if she has to put up with it. She is a beautifully written character and extremely easy to sympathize with. She worries that Spock can't commit to her. She isn't at fault for wanting that. T'pring herself is such a developed character. She sets her boundaries about having time together and when Spock discussed his humanity, she studied up on it to connect with him. Her whole job is to guide people back to logic, and correct un-vulcan like vulcans, which is ironic given that Spock is exploring what he can be when he stops defining himself as Vulcan. That also is what Spocks issue is. His exploration of his identity is leading to new feelings about what being a Vulcan means, but his fiancee is very Vulcan, and assured in her identity. It creates some friction, and when more pressure is applied (aka the mother of t'pring) we can see them start to grate against each other. I absolutely love t'prings dialog when she confronts him about not telling her he got messed up.

Nurse chapel is one of my favorite characters. I'm not gonna lie, the second she stepped on screen with the bisexual haircut, I knew she was gonna be one of my all time favorites. One of her most telling episodes is Spock amok. She goes to see this guy and is literally only there to Netflix and chill. The second she starts to feel like he wants an actual connection, she seems bored. She then just leaves to help Spock. She is willing to help him after the body switch. Her and Ortegas's conversation just proves the fact that she has commitment issues. That's really funny to me bc Christine "can't do more than a one night stand bc she's afraid of commitment) chapel and Spock "can't commit to anything but his job including his fiancee" insert last name as a pair are doomed to fail. Nurse chapel likes vulcans bc their brutal honesty and Spock ends up being dishonest to his girl and it almost breaks them apart. It's a odd dynamic of Spock learning from the very human Christine about jokes and feelings and human things, and it almost foils the very Vulcan t'pring that makes Spock feel like he has to be Vulcan, but Christine and T'pring aren't foils because narratively, they are their own characters, and are far beyond symbols of spocks identity crisis. Christine is more than the other women and t'pring is more than an obstacle in spocks romance with Chapel

Honestly I'd talk more about Spock but also idc and he seems really gay in tos so like. Ngl he feels like such a Ken compared to the ladies that liked him.

[systemadministratorclu]

Hehehehe well lucky for her, Thing 1 and Thing 2 are tribble magnets. Sorry, trouble magnets (though Milo could probably also attract tribbles if he wanted to, and it would be unbearably adorable.)

Going out of order (sorry, it's morning and my brain does that sometimes) I have at times thought about one or both of them actually having to rescue her in some way (never got around to figuring out what way, but that's not my point here) and then maybe they promise to not tell anyone that's how it went, unless she wants them to, of course (they will probably still downplay their own part while talking each other up, XD ).

I know she loves these dorks, and I don't ever want to be the reason that changes. Though they probably will screw up some with the emotional stuff, because as Angela from the show Bones said very bluntly in one episode, "Men are idiots." (They're trying, though. They want to Be There for their friend. They really do care and they really do try.)

If you read all that, I'll now thank you by sharing the mental image that made me laugh: the two of them doing their stuff near each other, something blows up/falls over/blows ups AND falls over and they're both sitting there with 'it wasn't me!' faces, silent for a moment when someone walks in before simultaneously pointing at each other and going "He did it!" and then they start a back-and-forth over who Did It filled with increasingly ridiculous/comedic amounts of technobabble and jargon (that also increases in how ridiculous it sounds) only to realize at the end, it was something simple (like 'turn it on' or 'plug it in') and NEITHER of them did it. And then they kiss (figuratively, unless it's Doom who found them and smashed their faces together while saying "now kiss!") and make up. And then clean up the mess.

🎊 Sometimes you just make me so happy I don’t know what to do. I really enjoy seeing the things your characters get into, especially Doom not taking any of James' shit (and him sometimes not getting the hint) and hilarity ensuing.

IDK if this is a weird thing to say/do, and I do apologize if it is, but yours are pretty much the only OCs that are not my own that I find myself imagining AUs and different stuff for in my head, and your plots have me thinking about them long after we've finished them (case and point: last night I was thinking about the one where Rourke figured out the interdimensional rift thing, and the AU in my head saw him and Doom using what he theorized there and successfully making an interdimensional engine for a spaceship, which was given the name 'Doomsday-Rourke ID drive" (he said it sounds better that way, plus alphabetical order of their names). Basically, they made interdimensional travel possible, something the Rovarians hadn't been able to do yet.)

Apologies for the word vomit there. Anyway:

🎨 You RP subjects I’m inexperienced with, but want to get better! Help! - okay, this one isn't EXACTLY what I'm saying, but it's the closest I could find in the meme. I wish I had the confidence in myself, my writing, and my characters to write the kind of in-depth conflicts you say you like to do and want to do, that make things more interesting. I don't want to be boring,, but I'm just too scared I'm going to screw things up and do permanent damage to their relationships, and I don't want to do that because, as I'm sure you can imagine and understand, that wouldn't be very fun for either of us, and I enjoy your writing and writing with you a lot. I've been able to kinda improve my writing (I think) overall since I started doing things with you, and you've gotten me to try a bit of a different style than I was used to (present tense style). Basically, I've learned a lot writing with you and it's helped me in many ways, and.....I wish I could do something for you in return and be able to do the kind of things you want to do. Unfortunately, as I said, I do not have the confidence in myself, my writing, or my characters to be able to do it.

Sorry again for the (second) word vomit.

Mun Communication meme;;

Hey, I appreciate you sending this in!

I want you to know that, we can do AUs and things at any time! If you have any ideas you want to explore, hit me up and let's talk about it. More often than not, I'm telling you now, it's probably gonna be something I'll be interested in doing. x) Especially with our fools.

And something else? I'm actually dying for someone else to take the lead on things. PLEASE. I feel like 9/10 times I'm the one leading things in plots and in threads and just in general, and while I generally don't mind this, it does get tiring after a while. At some point, I'd like to be the one playing the more passive role in threads and plots, where my muses are the ones following along and someone else is leading where things are going. Someone else has set up the plot and is controlling the environment. So often I end up leading the environment and driving the direction of things, or it's my muses who are the ones driving the plot or taking care of other people's muses, coming to the rescue, etc... I'd really like to be able to have my muses be rescued, or following instead of leading. You know? So PLEASE, if you want to take the lead on things with your ideas, by all means, let's do it.

As for the second part of what you sent, I do like to rp more complicated subjects, but that doesn't mean we have to do that. Especially since a lot of times it ends up with our muses arguing and being mad at each other and stuff. I like conflicts and banter and angst, but threads don't always have to include that stuff. Adventures and danger and rescue missions and things like that are just as fulfilling too. I tend to lean into more abstract ideas than literal, but I can always try for more direct plots. :p

I'm honored that you've found some inspiration in the things we've roleplayed together, though! I've had a lot of fun too. Our muses are a bunch of dopes. I know Doom can be a cranky little thing, but she does love your boys. We can work out what works best, it doesn't have to be all angst between them. Doom loves getting into trouble, as you know. x)

[mouseratz]

I Watched All Of The Original Series!

and I am going to make some lists about it! buckle in!

do you want to watch TOS but it's a sixties show and some of it is pretty rough? why don't you skip right to the good stuff?* I've made a list of the bestest ones to share with you all because I wanted one when I started but that didn't work out. Also the worstest ones.

*mileage may vary as it is based on my personal taste. also as with anything, check trigger warnings

⭐The Besties⭐

(in chronological order, NOT best to worst. ones I just really really like )

1.4 "The Naked Time"

1.5 "The Enemy Within"

1.16 "The Galileo Seven"

1.19 "Tomorrow Is Yesterday"

1.21 "Return of the Archons"

1.24 "This Side of Paradise"

1.28 "The City On The Edge of Tomorrow"

2.1 "Amok Time"

2.8 "I, Mudd"

2.10 "Journey to Babel"

2.15 "The Trouble With Tribbles"

3.2 "The Enterprise Incident"

3.10 "Plato's Stepchildren"

3.19 "Requiem for Methusela"

3.21 "The Cloud Minders"

-You Should See These Too -

(these didn't make it onto my favorites list but are still notable for series context. I may still have missed some.)

1.6 "Mudd's Women" (introduces Mudd)

1.14 "Balance of Terror" (introduces Romulans)

1.18 "Arena" (Gorn the lizard man's appearance)

1.22 "Space Seed" (Khan's origin.)

1.25 "The Devil in the Dark" (The Horta appears.)

1.26 "Errand of Mercy" (Introduces Klingons.)

2.4 "Mirror Mirror" (Introduces the mirror universe.)

3.5 "Is There In Truth No Beauty?" (introduces the Medusans)

🚫The Worsties🚫

I hated these bitches.

Pilot/1.11+1.12 "The Cage/The Menagerie"

1.27 "The Alternative Factor"

2.13 "Obsession"

2.26 "Assignment: Earth"

3.3"The Paradise Syndrome"

and that's the summary! I'll post a full, unedited version here as well

[deus-ex-humanitas]

I have been interested in getting into star trek, but I really dont know where to start bc there SO MUCH material. Do you have some sort 'beginners guide' for where to start?

(also, I have watched a single episode of star trek, which was "The Trouble with Tribbles", which I my dad made me watch)

I hope you don't mind if I write you an essay 😅

I have to say I'm hardly an expert, but I started at the beginning! I would actually recommend you not do that unless you intend to watch every piece of Star Trek media in order. It kind of depends what you like in media, actually!

The original series is very much a product of its time. It feels highly preoccupied with imparting moral lessons (though heck if I know what they are half the time) and the special effects are hilariously, charmingly bad, but it also happens to contain some of the best characters ever written. Trouble with Tribbles is actually a great litmus test for how much you would enjoy TOS, but it's definitely a lot lighter than most episodes. Trouble with Tribbles is Diet Original Series, and it might be kind of telling that it seems to be a universal favourite, myself included.

The Next Generation is tightly written in comparison (and trope-y, I have this theory that both are equally trope-laden, I just happen to recognize more in TNG because they're closer to more modern ones I'm used to, and neither were nearly as played out in their own era!) Every episode is kind of like a little self-contained mystery, but some are more character-focused which is where the top notch cast shines. This series made me fall in love with Sir Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard) as an actor, he really elevates the whole show almost singlehandedly (though I think you would love Data. I certainly do!)

I haven't made it past TNG yet (I'm on the last season!!) because I'm going in order, but I've had a sort of sneak peek at the rest via fandom (which is how I know a little about Kira, for example) I can tell you if TNG sounds good you would almost definitely like DS9 as well. Lower Decks kind of plays off an assumed base of Star Trek knowledge from what I've heard so you probably want to have watched some other Trek first. There's definitely more to cover but other than that my opinions are Vibes Based Only.

I think it's totally fine if you want to jump around until you figure out which series you like the most, I would encourage it! I'm definitely biased, and Trek is ground well trodden so a million other people probably disagree vehemently. All of this is absolutely just my opinion. I have favourite episodes and series, but honestly, I think it's a matter of personal taste. Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with or if I can elaborate or clarify anything for you. And thanks for asking! sorry if this is too long or otherwise not very helpful, but I definitely had fun with it :)

[almaasi]

I wanna watch Star trek but I don't know where to start! Is there a series that's most popular? Do I have to watch them in order?

OOH YES. it’s all on netflix so watching it is EASY PEASY

i’ll tell you about each of them, personal opinions included.

so!

there’s “star trek”, the original series, made in the 1960s, which is what my mama grew up watching. this is the one with kirk and spock and uhura etc. this is the fandom that kickstarted Fandom. it’s perhaps worth watching for the historical revolution aspect. i haven’t seen more than few episodes here and there (i found its pacing slow these days, yet adored the ones i saw as a kid, and would rewatch them over and over). you could watch “the trouble with tribbles” as a stand-alone. it’s 10/10 and hilarious. i intend to get back to watching the rest sometime. i’ve enjoyed this series mostly through tumblr gifsets and fanart. as far as i can tell, not watching all of it doesn’t really affect the watching of the rest… because…

imo, the 90s era of star trek shows were the best (the next generation, deep space nine, voyager…. and enterprise, which i haven’t seen yet). they’re mostly weird, cheerful, and upbeat. tng comes first, which gives some context to ds9, but besides a few crossover characters and storylines, you could watch either without the other. voyager occasionally has characters from the others but it’s pretty stand-alone (you could definitely watch this one with zero context).

show concepts (of the ones i’ve watched, sorry enterprise):

the next generation (tng): utopian adventure looking at space!! people trying to be perfect and being like ooooh aliens. ooh planets. this is the basic 90s trek. some bad stuff happens, but not a lot. mostly wacky spaceship antics/intrigue and people trying to do their jobs even when space shit hits the space fan. (season 6 of tng runs parallel with season 1 of ds9, and there’s one ds9/tng crossover episode in tng. the character of worf is developed here and is later introduced to ds9.) definitely a good one to start with!

deep space nine (ds9): everyone lives on a broken space station. this show is the edgy goth cousin, but the one with the heart and soul that i am so freaking in love with right now. my favourite star trek by far. the characters have SO MUCH DEPTH and i swear they’re all queer or autistic or both. this one gets plot-heavy as it goes on, but it maintains its underlying warmth and still has those ridiculous fun episodes that make everything okay again for 45 minutes. i love the characters so muh-hu-huuuch and the FOUND FAMILY vibe is literally out of this world. there’s only maybe 3 episodes out of 176 that i didn’t like, and they’re all one-off-romance episodes that squick me for personal reasons (compulsory heterosexuality, ableism?? ew ew ew, scrubbed forever from my personal canon). overall the writing is phenomenal. like maybe one of the consistently best-written shows i’ve ever seen, including modern stuff. plus i found another otp (garak/bashir) and that’s undoubtedly a big part of why i love this show so much. i am deeply compelled by character relationships, and this one has oodles of exactly that. you can ship anyone with anyone else and you’d be right.

voyager (voy): just a bunch of nerds tryna get home for 7 years straight. a lot of funky weirdness happens along the way. this is my second favourite after ds9. found family, but in a more professional way than ds9. i dunno if it’s just my opinion formed after not seeing this show for a few years, but i remember the writing of this one seemed kinda all over the place. always fun though, maybe because of its changeability. lady boss captain, hell yeah. (season 2 of ds9 runs parallel with season 1 of voy.)

then…

well, there’s the new shows, discovery (dsc) and picard (pic)

and i haven’t watched picard yet, but i’m getting the impression it has a similar vibe as discovery, and i just……. don’t like it. discovery is dark, violent, emotionally harrowing, and i guess there’s a time and place and audience for that, but it’s not me, or any time i want to watch something. it’s supposed to be ~reflecting the modern zeitgeist~ or whatever, but imo in these trying times i’d rather watch something soft and hopeful that makes me think about how to improve things, rather than something that hits a little too close to home and makes me think about oh god where are we headed if this keeps happening. i mean, it’s still going for the “help humanity improve” schtick of the 90s shows, but in a very different way.

and then there’s the modern jj abrams movies…….. eh, i guess they’re okay. lens flare and explosions, man. give me seven-season arcs with hundreds of ridiculous plot concepts any day.

tl;dr:

i conferred with my sister, and she gave some very good advice: start with tng, and if that doesn’t vibe with you, try voyager, and then ds9, since it’s good to get the context of how star trek deals with morality before ds9 knocks the entire concept on its ass.

but no, you don’t have to watch the series(es?) in the order they were made. background world-building storylines would make more sense if you did, but each show is generally unrelated. my family even found it kinda rewarding to watch them out of order (tng, voy, ds9) and piece together plot threads laid down in other shows.

but you can just pick one and go. c:

–

sister (@sweetdreamspootypie) adds which question each show attempts to ask and answer:

tng: how can we grow into the best of humanity? / what does it look like to be the best of humanity?

voy: what will we give up to stick to our principles?

dsc: what principles will we give up to stay alive?

ds9: capitalism, war, religion, diversity, real people just tryna live, leaning into the grey morality of Being Good. this isn’t a question. “how dare you infect me with morals!!”

[staringdownabarrel]

I feel like the thing a lot of people forget about The Wrath of Khan is that it wasn't really Khan as a character that made the movie work. It's more that the movie was a deconstruction of the original series which made it work, and that this deconstruction stuck.

For the most part in the original series, each story was over and done with at the end of the episode. Yes, Harry Mudd showed up in two episodes in TOS, and yes, the Organian treaty gets an off-hand mention in The Trouble With Tribbles, but overwhelmingly, the original series was a story of the week type show. Even the exceptions to that can be watched in isolation and still work.

The Wrath of Khan wasn't really like that. Its entire existence is the consequence of what Kirk chose to do in Space Seed, and how it ended up being a bad thing for Khan. This takes this one episode from the first season and made it the one thing he can't just forget about a few weeks later.

From this angle, Khan could have easily been replaced with a different villain and it still would have worked on a similar level and with a similar plot. Trelane could have sought revenge against Kirk for whatever his parents did to him after the end of The Squire of Gothos. The Romulan Commander from The Enterprise Incident could have sought revenge for her humiliation as well. I'm sure Charlie thought he had some pretty solid grievances against him after Charlie X, too.

I think the idea that Khan would seek revenge, even fifteen years later, is something that's true to life, too. Sometimes the bad decisions you make at one point in your life really do continue to haunt you decades after the fact. You don't always get to run off and forget them like Kirk did in the original series.

But what really made The Wrath of Khan work wasn't just that it deconstructed the consequences-free approach the original series took for the most part. It's also that later movies stuck the landing and kept it that way. The Search For Spock and The Voyage Home both couldn't have happened without The Wrath of Khan happening, and large parts of Kirk's character arc in The Undiscovered Country couldn't have happened without The Search For Spock.

So in essence, TWoK was the turning point in the franchise. I think a lot of people tend to forget that, either because they mostly got into Star Trek because of the Berman era shows where some episodes would be sequels to previous episodes, so the full weight the movie had in the context of the franchise at that point in time is lost. I think that's probably going to be more of an issue as time goes on, especially as newer shows set in the TOS era come out and have story arced plotlines.

I think sometimes even modern Trek writers forget this angle, too. Into Darkness was mostly just using Khan because he's the most iconic original series villain, not because they had some thematic point they wanted to make with him. Ironically, given what the alternate universe is like, they really could have saved him and used him to make the exact same point in a fourth AOS movie.

This is also ultimately why I'm not a huge fan of the idea of there being a series based around him. Apparently they're talking about it being a podcast series or something now. Khan's story arc is over; let it remain over.

Really, there's a lot of other, more interesting stories that could be told in a Star Trek setting about genetically engineered supermen. It'd also be very on brand with Star Trek's history of social commentary because of how many real life people are still out and out eugenicists.

[grison-in-space]

Wow, yeah, that is a high pressure video. I suspect the dog owner might also have simply been confident that if a fight broke out, it would resolve itself with a lot of yelling and not much actual damage to the dogs.

This is an interesting scale of communication to think about, especially since my two adult dogs are similar in size but wildly divergent in the level of.... I think of it as "pressure sensitivity" they're naturally conversant in. That is, how comfort with extended pressure is the dog? How long can a dog push on your bubble without you either breaking into conflict (fuck you this is mine and I will escalate you for it) or yielding and seeking reassurance? It has certain parallels for conflict resolutions in humans too, now I think of it...

That is: Tribble is very capable of offering subtler expressions of 'no' or 'maybe' when negotiating conflicts, and if anything as a young dog she tended to be even more willing to "negotiate" in this way. (Years of interactions with lots of strange dogs at dog parks more or less eroded it until she tended to go straight to yell + correction when irritated with another dog. She can and does still escalate pressure like that with one of 'her' puppies, although she has a lot less tolerance than she used to.)

It's really interesting watching her interact and play with Matilda when Benton isn't present (he tends to dump a TON of fairly anxious and extremely physical energy everywhere, which amps up Matilda and generally makes Tribble call an end to her willing participation in anything), because she often engages in play that amps Matilda up and down. Tribble is more concerned with everyone understanding that she can take anything she wants than actually taking Matilda's toys or snacks, so it's pretty common for her to allow Matilda to scuttle off with something she was pretending to want a few minutes before. (It is also common for her to take something, wave it around for a moment, and then abandon it for one of the specklies to descend upon.)

On the other hand, Benton is visibly much less relaxed when he's negotiating an extended conflict, and he tends to explode in tension or otherwise request soothing when a conflict is resolved (even if he 'wins' it, as with a resource guarding yell near Matilda or a cat--who usually don't actually want his treasures). He is much more likely to vocalize when he's enforcing one of his boundaries, and he is way less clear and consistent about what those boundaries are. He gets very emotional very fast and has a lot of FOMO. Emotionally, I don't think he is capable of parsing an extended pressure negotiation like that; he just has too many feelings about experiencing pressure.

Matilda is, of course, too young to tell... but she's already a terrible thief, and I can literally see her probing Benton's buttons to try to figure out when you can steal or "share" something he has, and when you should leave him alone with his prize.

(re @kiwiisnotafruit's tags, Benton is approximately half American Bully despite looking like a high-content ACD mix; this particular tendency of his to have sudden enormous feelings and not be very good at tolerating extended "conversations" while he's parsing them is something that has read to me as very pit for some time. There's something there even in dog friendly bully breed individuals interacting with familiar social groupmates about difficulty with extended emotional/social pressure without 'breaking'. You can contrast it with other physically insensitive dogs like retrievers that are equally bad at reading more subtle social pressures or extended conflict negotiations, but don't appear to have nearly as much difficulty coping with them once that skill is acquired. It's that huge emotional intensity of reaction that I think a lot of bully breeds have some trouble figuring out how to handle, especially when the consequences of Big Emotions like that are often not great.

Tribble, on the other hand, is mostly Boston Terrier / Boxer, which is related but have a very different relationship with pressure in my experience... and of course they have very different upbringings and ten years in between them.)

I'm very interested to see how Matilda behaves at adulthood, because she's simultaneously much better at reading Tribble's subtler grimaces and stiffnesses and also much more emotionally resilient to outbursts or corrections than I remember Benton being. She's still very little, though, and thus far has opted to politely refuse to interact with any animal who isn't part of her home group. I've never had a puppy who so emphatically communicated "thank you, but I'm going here now" in response to other puppies at class playgroups before. I don't see any fear as long as her bubble is respected, just a total disinterest in interaction--which I for one ain't going to push on.

https://www.facebook.com/paw.man.3/videos/10204941441244710

Quite some time ago I referenced how primitive breeds often are very boundary dogs, often will be more willing to both draw and enforce boundaries, but also often are very good at resolving dog/dog conflict and tend to be very skilled with dog body language and overall are very “doggy” compared to modern breeds.

Here are two caucasian sheperds displaying exactly this, actually this video I had in mind when writing that paragraph. To be very clear: if my dogs did something to this extent, I would personally have separated them. This owner clearly either knows his dogs very well or trusts that they will not actually fight.

However I would say that while it’s never to this extent, I see echoes of this in the chihuahuas. Fae is a major resource guarder when it comes to food and chews [mostly ritualized], and Tater is a thief. Yet Tater usually ends up with Fae’s stuff, and Fae will back off and show avoidant and calming body language once Tater penetrates through Fae’s bluster. Tater will often do the same thing, approaching slightly off to the side, not actually meeting Fae’s gaze, and “under” Fae’s level typically crawling against the floor. Tater usually also has a fairly dramatic curve away from Fae with her body, presenting her butt towards the teeth first. But Fae will suddenly stop growling, drop what she has, and walk away allowing Tater to have her prize. She’ll then typically shake it off and disengage completely, or she’ll wait just off to the side for Tater to get bored while sniffing the ground, stretching, or scratching her ears/neck.

To my knowledge, Tater has never actually attacked Fae over anything, nor has Fae done the same. Fae does not try to take Tater’s things the way she does with the big dogs. And Tater is an equal opportunity thief that tries it with everyone, but the only dog she went after for stealing her things was Evander and that was because he snapped at her first.

(she also won that argument but w/e sure pick a fight with the dog literally three times your size and win I guess, Evander learned “fuck around and find out” normally comes with not liking the “find out” part that day)

It’s something I witness every now and again and it fascinates me. The entire conversations in dog that these two have with each other compared to my modernized swissy and dobe, who seem almost illiterate in comparison. Those two will have short, one-word conversations like “ow hurts” “oops sorry” and “FRIEND OR FOE” “friend?” “FRIEND! Play???” “play!!!!”

A similar video would have been when Fae was grouchy from spending all day at the vet and Tater wanted to play. There was an extended amount of “I would very much like you to play with me” “I love you but I do not want any of this right now” “pleeeeeeeeeease” “noooooooooooo” and yet despite the full mouth snarls and growls coming from Fae, the eventual choice was Fae choosing to de-escalate and go into grooming and appeasement until I separated Tater from her to give her some relief.

IDK. Just something I’ve noticed. Primitive breeds being more willing to “talk out” their conflicts and modern breeds being more willing to get the fight underway. It does make sense, many of these primitive breeds- CAS and chihuahuas included- are intended to work in a small but loose pack structure and infighting is a great way to die from infection due to wounds or starvation because too many of the pack has killed each other to be able to hunt. Not to say they don’t ever, just that I see many being more willing to try “talking about it” before they decided to fight about it instead.

[electronickingdomfox]

"The Galactic Whirlpool" review

More like the galactic infodumping.

A novel from 1980, by David Gerrold. It's not a bad book per se, but I found it quite tedious. At times it seems you're reading one of Scotty's technical manuals, at times a historical encyclopedia article. It's almost as if the author didn't want to write a Star Trek novel, but rather build a sci-fi universe from scratch, and thus the need for such detailed descriptions. The 21st history, as presented in the book, largely ignores the events established in "Space Seed", like the Eugenic Wars and Kahn's rule.

This "not-quite-Star-Trek" feel is further emphasized by the choice of Lt. Kevin Riley (a background character from a couple of episodes) as the hero, which gives the author much more freedom to build a new character. Not that Riley has a lot of personality here, anyway. On the other hand, the characterization of Kirk, Spock and McCoy is rather shallow, or downright weird. Kirk is the responsible, brilliant Captain. But for some reason, he mutters "Tiberius" every time he becomes impatient, to remind himself not to be like his namesake Roman emperor, which is... odd. Spock is logical and veeeery long-winded. And stops his discourse to tell a folk Vulcan legend in the middle of an important conference (???). And McCoy is a doctor, and racist towards Spock, and that's all. Possibly, the moments when Kirk teases Spock about his lack of emotions are the ones which feel more like the series. But the rest of the time, these could have been any other characters. And despite being a novel by the writer of "The Trouble with Tribbles", humor is quite absent in the story.

All in all, and using a similar expression as Chekov, "I survived this book, but I didn't enjoy it".

Spoilers under the cut:

The Enterprise finds a giant generation ship that seems to contain a civilization. The whole crew is in awe and really surprised by this, but I don't know why, since the same has already happened in at least two other books by now. It takes like ten chapters just to establish that they should beam aboard to investigate it (yes, this novel is really, really slow). Riley and some other redshirts find hostile humans inside, and are forced to attack them. A woman is gravely injured, so they beam her to the Enterprise to receive medical attention. The woman, Katwen, is shocked at finding other humans, as so far she thought her ship to be the whole world. At first she refuses to believe she's in a different ship, refers to the crew as "demons", and thinks they're tricking her. It's only when they bring her in a shuttlecraft, so she can see the Enterprise and her own ship from outside, that she starts to believe them. Katwen develops a friendship with Riley (that means, a romance).

After consulting with the Enterprise's historian, it turns out the generation ship is actually "The Wanderer", a ship that established its independence from Earth in the 21st century, and has been wandering ever since, in search for a new world. Lacking warp speed, entire generations have died and been born inside, without ever knowing anything about the rest of the universe. As a note aside, the Wanderer is a really famous ship of historical importance, so I don't understand why nobody (not even Spock) had identified it until now. The way I see it, it's like finding a XVII century galleon at sea nowadays, and not realizing that's a galleon...

Anyway, the Wanderer is in serious danger, since it's heading straight into two orbiting black holes, known as the galactic whirlpool, and everyone will die if they don't correct the course immediately. The problem is that the society of the Wanderer was split in two factions after a civil war: the rebels, who live in poverty in the lower levels and control the engines, which they disabled long time ago; and the regular citizens, who live upwards and control the ship's navigation. There are echoes here of the episode "The Cloud Minders", which was based in one of Gerrold's story concepts.

Katwen and Riley beam aboard the Wanderer, to convince Captain Frost of the need to cooperate with the rebels, to save the whole ship. Frost, however, is a dogmatic zealot who refuses to believe their story, and condemns them both to death. The rebels save Riley and Katwen at the last moment, and then they meet their leader, who's actually the real Captain: Gomez.

In the end, the Enterprise designs a plan with Gomez, to invade the Wanderer from below and seize the ship's control from Frost. While Scotty brings the engines back to life. There's a sort of final battle between the rebels and the Enterprise crew on the one hand, and the men from the upper levels on the other. As a result of it, Frost dies, and his successor is finally willing to cooperate and correct the ship's course.

Spirk Meter: 0/10*. Considering Gerrold's opinions on K/S, it would be weird if there was anything... Unless you want to count Kirk teasing Spock about his emotional control, but I don't see it that way.

However, there's a little bit about McCoy and Spock fighting so much, because that's how they express their mutual affection.

*A 10 in this scale is the most obvious spirk moments in TOS. Think of the back massage, "You make me believe in miracles", or "Amok Time" for example.