#technobabble or science?

[captain-starskull]

Computer mice don’t have tails anymore. We shouldn’t call them mice we should call them hamsters.

[quarks-pussy]

Idec anymore, I'll say it. I like technobabble. Adore it actually! It sets the atmosphere well and I like when they try to have it make internal sense and I can see the worldbuilding. Maybe I'm just a professional tech nerd but I truly, genuinely enjoy technobabble and in fact I think most franchises could use a little more of it. Fight me

[essence-inked]

I love reading scientific papers, because sometimes a set of words will seem like wacky sci-fi technobabble, except they're actually real, and I get to learn about them!

Also, this is the bit of the atmospheric science paper that inspired this:

[silveragelovechild]

You may have noticed, I post about Star Trek regularly but rarely post about Star Wars.

While all the movies aren’t great, Star Trek tells a variety of stories with a variety of villains.

Meanwhile Star Wars seems to tell the same story about mostly the same character over and over. After the Empire was defended by the Rebels in “Return of the Jedi” (1983), Lucas could have told new stories in the Star Wars Universe. But nope! In the sequels starting with “The Force Awakens” (2015) the Empire returns and defeats the former Rebels who become rebels again. They even brought back the emperor who died in 1983.

Another issue is fantasy versus science fiction. Star Trek is set in a science fiction universe, with at least an attempt to explain how things they work (with the resulting technobable). But Star Wars is pure fantasy with a princess that need saving, wizards, and sword fights. Sure Lucas tried to introduce Midicorians to explain how the Force works - but that must be the most reviled concept in the entire Star Wars lore.

Neatly all the ancillary Star Wars movies look to the past… the origin of Han Solo. Did we really need to know how he got his last name? And how the rebels stole those plans Leia needed in A New Hope!

Perhaps the worse sins are Darth Vader and Kylo Ren. Vader is perhaps the greatest cinematic villain ever (especially because of his voice by James Earl Jones). But in Lucas’ prequels we learned he was actually a whiny teenage boy. WTF?!?

And Kylo Ren, Vader’s successor? Another fucking crybaby. My gawd! Is this suppose to be compelling fiction?

I had Disney+ for a few months but I realized I wasn’t interesting in watching any of the Star Wars show. So I canceled the service.

I do have Paramount+ and I like serval of its Star Trek show. Yes, Strange New Worlds looks to the past, but at least it has new characters. (Although I am not a fan of Discovery.)

[aquamonstra]

How does one become a science consultant on a sci-fi series?

Like do you HAVE to be a real scientist first?

I have ZERO science on my resume but I KNOW I would be so good at this like come on man PUT ME IN COACH.

[sluttyquarantinetheory]

I think part of why I'm not as big of a fan of fantasy is that there's not a lot of technobabble. Like occasionally you get some wizard type that goes off explaining how the magic crystalized cryptocorpse enhancer uses rainbow energy to hang life and death in the inbetween of reality or some shit, but most of the time it's just like "well I drew a circle and spoke some latin"

[technicallywrite]

I am terrified delighted to share the first chapter of my first fic in 20+ years. There will be more, and yes that's a threat.

[therottenkingsreckoning]

[shadowwingtronix]

BW's Daily Video> Writing Better Technobabble

BW's Daily Video> Writing Better Technobabble

Catch more from ServiceScape Creative Writing on YouTube  

[powerfulkicks]

remembering how much i love science fiction

[spinfoamgames]

A set of new random generators are now available on The Merry Manticore, all related to science fiction settings: Technobabble, Fictional Particles, and Fictional Elements!

As usual, here's a handful of samples:

Close the hydrogen waveguide

Tinstrium

Psi Axinoior

Orient the fermion joiner

Xennethorium

Theta Anti-nerptatron

Invert the graviton intermixer

Verbonide

Weak Charadron

Oh, and some other update news: items that you mark as favorites should now be saved to your browser so they won't be reset from one visit to the next any more!

[sluttyquarantinetheory]

Nothing beats good quality technobabble, but nothing sticks in my brain like the worst technobabble on earth. My brother in law a decade on still make fun of shitty technobabble we read in a pear review assignment in college a decade ago.

[comicaurora]

With much technobabble and mad science, I grab an evil bearded vending machine from the Mirror Universe and place it before the vending machine.

you receive a tube of eyeliner and a slightly sluttier outfit

[pulsar-1919]

Getting a midnight urge to write Star Trek AU Halbarry

And here's the second one! Day 4 Sci-Fi. Star Trek AU again but The Next Generation flavour

[transmutationisms]

people on here talk about therapy like the characters on star trek talk about science. so comforting to know there's no such thing as a problem that cannot be solved by magical technobabble immanentising the psychological eschaton

[quasi-normalcy]

Which Star Trek series should you start with?

The Original Series: Advantages: + The one that started it all + Has some sophisticated and socially conscious science fiction that has held up exceptionally well + The lead characters all have really good chemistry and fun to see play off of one another + It's what most people probably think of when you say Star Trek (together with TNG) Disadvantages: - It can feel very dated and kind of sexist, particularly in its treatment of women - The sci-fi and social commentary may have held up, but damn it, the special effects really haven't - When TOS is bad, it's really, really bad.

The Animated Series: Advantages: + Basically just more TOS. Disadvantages: - Basically just more TOS, but substituting extremely cheap animation for bad special effects

The Next Generation: Advantages: + Probably the most popular one at this point + The crew is full of interesting characters and they're fun to spend time with + Just really smart people solving Space Mysteries + Socialist space utopia + Geordi-And-Data! + Lots of cool sci-fi concepts and social commentary + It's what most people probably think of when you say Star Trek (together with TOS) Disadvantages: - Although not in the same way as TOS, it can feel dated at times, particularly in terms of its treatment of women and it's near complete refusal to acknowledge queerness - Without wanting to bias viewer opinion, the first season is widely considered to be pretty bad - The series makes no bones about the fact that the socialist space utopia is better than every other society that has ever existed and will reiterate this point over and over again

Deep Space Nine: Advantages: + The most popular Trek series on Tumblr + Has a complete story arc, as well as arcs for all of its characters, including the extremely minor ones + Plain, simple, Garak. The humble tailor. + Garashir, if you're into that + Seriously has a really sophisticated treatment of things like post-colonial politics, anthropology, worldbuilding, and the horrors of warfare + Just the characters in general + Is the only Star Trek prior to the 2010s to even look meaningfully at queer representation Disadvantages: - Has an absolutely massive inferiority complex with respect to TNG and this drives a few poor writing decisions that seemingly exist just to poke the Socialist Space Utopia in its eye - Introduces a space religion and then just slowly turns it into Christianity with the numbers filed off - Seems to think that sexual harassment is just a quirky eccentricity - There's no women in its writers' room, and frankly it shows

Voyager: Advantages: + Probably the clearest instance of found family in space + Lots of really good episodes + Lots of fun new characters + Strong female role models + "Set a course...for home." Disadvantages: - Continuity? I never knew her! - Probably about 90% of Trek's reputation for technobabble comes from this one series - Even less queerness than TNG. - Only like...3 characters actually get arcs. - The first few seasons lean very hard into bullshit fake "Native American" spiritualism with one of the characters - How do these guys have warp drive but can't find any water?

Enterprise: Advantages: + Chronologically the first series + 90% less technobabble + The only series to plausibly frame our heroes as astronauts...on some kind of...star trek. + Still has probably the best production values of any series + Makes alien cultures of the week feel somehow richer and deeper than other series + Faith of the Heart is good, fuck you. Disadvantages: - Oh my god, the decon scenes - Seriously, if you've ever wondered what a "sexy" series written by a 14 year old boy who's only ever seen a bit of scrambled softcore porn on late-night cable would be like, this is the show for you - Somehow feels more sexist and racist than the show from the '60s - Seriously, the POC characters mostly exist to fill seats on the bridge; the women constantly have to undress themselves - Hellooooo, Bush II-era political analogies - Scott Bakula is a good actor but you wouldn't know it from this series - In season 3, they add a tambourine beat to Faith of the Heart and ruin it

Discovery: Advantages: + Noticed the lack of queer characters in the first 50 years of Star Trek canon and decided to make up for lost time + Seriously, the "Bury Your Gays" tally for this series is like...negative two + Just incredible representation in general + Some really good science fiction plots, particularly in later series + Some really fun, memorable characters + It's still running, so it has an active fandom on Tumblr Disadvantages: - Makes Elon Musk out to be one of the great visionary geniuses of history - Not really representative of Star Trek as a whole - The series swerves wildly in tone because of constant, behind-the-scenes churn in the writers' room - Offputtingly grimdark first season - Let's be honest, none of the season-long arcs have actually had satisfying conclusions - Half the cast feels like it's just there for exposition and to be killed for cheap drama

Picard: Advantages: + Has the best dramatic acting of any Star Trek series by a fair margin + Has the best musical score of any Star Trek series + Introduces a whole crew of fascinating new characters + Introduces all kinds of fascinating transhumanist concepts + AGNES. JURATI. Disadvantages: - You know all of those fascinating new characters that I mentioned? Yeah, it unceremoniously gets rid of all of them to bring back the old TNG gang. - You know that all of those fascinating transhumanist concepts that I mentioned? Yeah, it gets rid of those too so that to give us some generic action - Oh my god, someone teach the set designers to operate a fucking light switch - Grimdark - Nossssstalgia - Each season is basically unrelated to every other season - Depends so heavily on TNG that its final season is basically unwatchable if you haven't already seen a 30-year-old TV series

Lower Decks: Advantages: + It has probably the most efficient storytelling that I've ever seen; seriously, it's incredible how much it can fit into a half hour episode + It has a bunch of delightful, archetypical characters you get to know and love + You like hanging out with these people + The ship is kind of crap and you will learn to love it that way. + Basically a sitcom version of TNG. + Has a big fandom on Tumblr Disadvantages: - The art style is pretty Rick & Morty-ish - It takes most of its first season to really strike a good balance between being a sitcom and being a Star Trek series - The main character, Mariner, is kind of unlikable for the first season or so (she gets better) - Lots of callbacks to other series (though always either incidental or clearly explained) - Given that it's the first Star Trek sitcom, the comedy is honestly kinda the weakest part? Subjective I know.

Prodigy: Advantages: + Absolutely gorgeous to look at; the most visually stunning Star Trek by quite a ways + Lots of fun new characters on a cool ship + Gives you clear on-boarding notes to the Star Trek franchise if you're watching it for the first time + Can be watched on its own, but also works as a direct sequel to Voyager and a prequel to Picard (making both of them retoractively better, in fact) + Kind of like the Clone Wars or Rebels of the Star Trek universe, I guess? + Found family in space! The next generation! + Soon to be running on Netflix, so if you already have a Netflix subscription, you don't need to pay for another service + Written for a younger audience. Not necessarily an advantage, but nice if you happen to like family friendly animation or YA. Disadvantages: - *sigh* You basically need to pirate it. Thanks, Paramount. - Has a second season that we may or may not ever actually get to see even through piracy. Thanks, Paramount. - Isn't airing on the same streaming service as all of the other ones. Thanks, Paramount

Strange New Worlds: Advantages: + Basically what the original series would be if it were released today, rather than 57 years ago; all of the cool, socially consciousness sci-fi adventure, none of the weird 60s sexism + Fun, awesome characters you get to like spending time with right away + Incredible visuals + Nifty sci-fi concepts, mostly without the 90s-style technobabble Disadvantages: - A huge cast with only ten episodes a season, so many of them feel underdeveloped - Unfortunately, a bunch of its characters are younger versions of the characters from The Original Series, and they hog most of the spotlight; and the characters whose futures aren't locked in stone are kind of treated as disposable - In general, it needs to spend less time being a prequel, and more time being its own thing - "What if Starfleet ran into the Xenomorphs from Alien?" "Well, they'd probably kill them." "Okay, let's spend several episodes on this."