#the high five development in later seasons is so important to me

[andradrawsstuff]

An in-depth character analysis of Skipper: pt 2

So, tv Skipper is a bit of a contrast to movie Skipper, as I stated in my MASSIVE ramble in part 1 💀 Even though he’s so different, he does have his quirks and some decent character development. It’s also great to see how much Tom’s voice acting evolves over the seasons and I thank him so much for putting his heart into it 🥺

This is also going to be a long one I am so sorry, I tried

This version of Skipper started off pretty similar to his movie counterpart as the show was finding its footing, but soon evolved into his own version of himself as the series went on. In early season 1, we see Skipper be somewhat down to earth and have quite an honourable attitude. He’s not super shouty-screamy and we see him being pretty domestic, which is probably because season 1 is pretty slice-of-life compared to the other two seasons.

I think the main points to mention here are in Happy King Julien Day and Assault and Batteries - in hkjd, despite all sorts of interruptions Skipper gets a little angry, but doesn’t really act upon it, he just minds his own business. Eventually he confronts Julien, but remains civil throughout the entire thing. In Assault and Batteries, he takes the batteries but does so sneakily to minimise confrontation. And when Julien chases him, he doesn’t fight. Throughout the entire episode (and a good bit of the show), he remains somewhat civil and tries to minimise confrontation with Julien. He’s also pretty sweet at the end when he offers a high five like bro that’s adorable I can’t-

We also get to see some decent character development for him in season 1, as there’s a lot of Skipper-centric episodes. In Needle Point, Skipper realises he should take the shot so that Private doesn’t get sick - he takes accountability for his actions, and his conversation with Private is pretty sweet. I love that you get to see Skipper being sweet (especially with Private) in the series, since they’ve had the time to show a bit of his vulnerable side here and there.

But I think that the most important character development point in Skipper’s story is Miss Understanding - Since the start of season 1, Skipper was pretty sexist and it gets so bad that he thinks he can’t do anything he did before because he’s a girl. He eventually saves the guys and the episode comes to a resolution.

But here’s the thing, not once is he sexist after that (Unless I’ve missed a few things here and there but I think he genuinely learns his lesson) which makes me think that his sexism is intentional on the writers part bc they do make it a point that it’s wrong, so w tpom and it’s pretty neat and rare for an early 2000s show to cover. This is why I love love love season 1 Skipper - he’s flawed but in a realistic way and he usually makes an effort to fix his mistakes. He’s also quite nonchalantly chaotic like in the movies, whereas in later seasons he’s more aggressively chaotic if you catch my drift? Idk how to explain well lmao.

As for his other traits, he’s pretty paranoid and egocentric, but still as suave, sassy and sarcastic as movie Skipper. He’s defo got a lot more of an “I’m right and you’re wrong” attitude than his counterpart and is a fair bit grumpier which is pretty funny. He’s got a bit of a hero complex here (eg. Treasure of the Golden Squirrel) and at first he’s arguably more chaotic good than neutral compared to the movies, but it’s not such a big change that it makes it bad in any way. I mean, he still kinda has it out for the humans and chooses violence without a second thought which is hilarious to me 💀

As the series progresses, Skipper starts to get increasingly paranoid and aggressive, and a lot of his negative traits start to show more. In early season 2 he’s fine but you can tell when the writers were starting to lose the plot both with the characters and stories in late season 2. It kinda feels like his character took a 180 turn and went backwards, but honestly it’s not that noticeable and I just happen to love analysing these things. I mean, it also happens to Kowalski, who around the same time starts becoming a bit of an asshole and gets worse in season 3 - in Snowmageddon, he’s rlly dismissive of Private and Fred.

I think Skipper also ends up suffering what I like to call the “Sabrina Spellman treatment” because he starts making mistakes and refusing to take accountability, usually pinning the blame on someone else without repercussions. I guess it’s the only real “problem” I have with his character in the series but honestly it’s just something that tends to happen as shows go on for a long time and it’s not all that bothersome. But the thing is, he starts getting better again in season 3 and he gets more character development (eg. Snowmageddon where him and Marlene work rlly well as a team and Antics on Ice where he’s pretty much doing everything for Private 🥺) so idk what happened there 💀

Overall, tv Skipper is still a loveable little guy and I find it so funny when he gets angry out of nowhere, my fav crazy Skipper moment being the one where he swears he’s never gonna end up in Hoboken and starts screaming his lungs out 💀 (absolutely top-notch voice acting as always ofc).

But with this, I hope that you’ve enjoyed my ridiculously long character analysis and feel free to tell me your thoughts, this is all just my opinion after all :)

If you’re somehow still reading this I congratulate you, you get a gold star ⭐️

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Mike Duncan, of the Revolutions podcast (which covered the English Revolution, American Revolution, French Revolution, Haitian Revolution, Latin American Wars of Independence, French Revolution of July 1830, Revolutions of 1848, Paris Commune, Mexican Revolution, and Russian Revolution), has started a new season covering, in the same documentary style, a fictional Martian Revolution in the 2200s.

It’s very interesting, because you can see the elements that are inspired by or parallel to some of the common patterns and major characters in the previously-covered historical revolutions. I’m going to jot down some thoughts so I can keep them on hand as the season continues.

Patterns

In his conclusion to the Revolutions series, Duncan concludes that the build up to a potential (but still far from inevitable) revolution begins when a system that had previously been stable – note, not necessarily good, just stable – becomes unstable, either because it fails to adapt to changes, or because it introduces new changes that alienate an important part of its power base.

The Martian Revolution begins with both. The setting is a corporate-ruled solar system in which Omnicorp is by far the dominant corporation out of five major ones, due to its control of an extensive but exhaustible resource that enables the generation of emissions-free energy. Mars is home to a lot of this resource, leading to the establishment of resource-extraction colonies by Omnicorp. The first stage producing instability is a long period of “extremely gerontocracy”, where CEO Vernon Byrd manages to get him and the company directors who are his cronies appointed to their positions “for life” when he is 100 years old. They then use secret life-extendeing drugs to just…keep living, but become more and more out of it, and their aides/exec assistants end up running the company.

(The importance of access to the person in power reminded me a bit of the sections in the Russian Revolution podcast on the months leading up to Lenin’s death, but there are plenty of other historical examples. In terms of the gerontocracy specifically and the way it prevents chamge and adaptation, the parallel that comes to mind is the very-long reign of Franz-Josef of Austria-Hubgary from 1849 to WWI.)

This led to a lot of things in the daily running of the company being neglected, and a black market of workarounds cropping up to keep things functioning, with Mars operating mostly on its own. This is a clear analogy to the period of “benign neglect” in the American colonies leading up to the American Revolution, and in this period a more distinct Martian identity develops.

Then things get further destabilized when the gerontocracy is finally forced out, and the new CEO – a rich kid who thinks he’s a genius, and has the asset of being one of the few with the social position and assertiveness to have challenged the gerontocracy – brings in a bunch of new, modernized rules that he thinks will getthings running smoothly again, but in fact only break them further.

This is, again, pretty clearly analogous to the kind of events producing both the American Revolution and the later Latin American Revolutions: a colonial power rapudly making changes (to increase the colonies’ profitability) that are highly unpopular with the people living in those colonies – even (or especially) with the higher echelons of the colonial population.

The other place where we have clear parallels with the historical revolutions Duncan has covered is in the layout of the class system. The Martian class system is made up of Class S personnel (top executives, mostly from Earth but a few born on Mars), Class A (other high- and mid-level managers, a mix of Earther and Martian), Class B (the intelligentsia and cultural professionals – doctors, lawyers, writers, artists, etc.), Class C (immediate supervisors, often from Earth on contracts of a few years, intending to earn some money and return home), and Class D (the majority, the regular workers who make the colony run, most of whom are Mars-born but some Earth-born). For extra vibes, the top three classes are referred to as the “SABs” (amazing how similar that sounds to SOBs) and the lower two are referred to by some SABs as the CDs (“seedies”).

Based on the previous seasons of Revolutions, this all gives a pretty clear sense of how things will play out. The Class B intelligentsia (especially the younger ones) are the core of upper-class revolutionary movements, joined by some of the Class S and A who are just too fed up with how badly Omnicorp is bungling things. Class D are the popular masses whom they have to ally with in order to win. Class C are roughly our stand-in for the lower-middle classes or petit bougeoisie (or, in Haiti, the lower-class white population): they despise the Class D personnel and resent the scornful or patronizing attitudes of the SABs, and tend to be the most counterrevolutionary; them being mainly on short-term assignment from Earth rather than identifying with Mars adds to this.

Oh, and there’s one major city (Olympus) and two lesser ones that resent Olympus’ primacy, which is going to give us some similar between-colony dynamics from the American and/or Latin American revolutions (the two went rather differently in how they played out and where they ended up).

Characters

There’s a few main figures who have been introduced so far.

1) José de Petrov, a young B-class radical who tries to launch a revolution with some of his peers, grounded in the belief that colonies having revolutions through which they gain independence is a historical inevitability. They try to gain control of key strategic sites in the main city of the Mars colony, their attempt is brutally crushed and all are killed, and it is mostly hushed up, but some people do find out about it, and it’s foreshadowed that information about it will come out later and serve as an impetus to the successful Martian Revolution. (Let others rise to take our place until the earth Mars is free.)

This is a callback to several things historically – the ‘historical inevitability’ bit is definitely one to Marxism – but the one that comes to my mind is the Decembrist revolt in early-1800s Russia: it’s led by idealistic young people with strong convictions, and it ends quickly and violently. You could also see him as a less successful and less skilled Lenin. Another parallel is the unsuccessful attempt at Colombian independence by Francisco de Miranda.

2) Mabel Dore. She’s the daughter of two S-class personnel, one of the richest people on Mars and probably the richest Martian-born person. She’s radicalized by learning about Petrov’s rebellion and the way it was crushed, and also influenced in her Martian patriotism by going to university of Earth and being treated disdainfully – or at best, as a curiosity – while there. I’m embarassed at how long it took me to figure out who she was paralelling, because she is, of course, Mars’s Simón Bólivar.

She is lookimg potentially very successful thus far in the series, because thanks to widespread philanthropy she is already extremely well-regarded by the Class D personnel, which is exactly the kind of cross-class alliance you tend to need for a successful revolution.

(To be clear: none of this is ‘laws of history’. The idea of ‘laws of history’ is bunk. There’s no particular circumstance that guantees a successful revolution – everything is affected by chance and contingency. But there are patterns, and one of them is that a successful revolution against an existing order generally requires both people who are embedded i. existing power structures – upper classes – and people with numbers – lower classes. And that one, the other, or both frequently go for each others’ throats as soon as the initial revolution is achieved. So pre-existing good feeling is a very good sign for Mabel Dore.)

3) Timothy Werner. This is, to use Mike Duncan’s term, our “great idiot of history”. (Basic thesis: you don’t get a successful revolution without the main person in power muffing up very, very badly.) Due to being a person with energy and some intelligence in an old, malfunctioning, and moribund company, and due to being near the top of the upper class, he developed the firm opinion that he was a genius who could fix everything, and that anyone who opposed his ideas or raised problems with them was simply obstructionist. As the new CEO of Omnicorp, he’s going to set off the Martian Revolution.

[gryficowa]

Something pisses me off that people in the fandom reduce all the criticism of the episode with Marinette's trauma to the fact that people in the fandom are stupid or love Chloe too much and hate Marinette

No, people don't like this episode because it has no respect for the viewer and it has many problems that are revealed later in the same season, on top of that, I question whether Adrien's trauma was addressed at all in a respectful way, or whether they justified everything by that he is a senti monster? Exactly

By the way, defenders of this episode, I hope you were going after Felix like you were going after Chloe? Oh no, wait, he was a victim of domestic violence and he was rich, so like Chloe, but he was a boy, so his trauma is more important

But coming back, this episode with Marinette's trauma is problematic on many levels, mainly because it fucks with the logic even more than in the first season when in the episode "Origins" when they rescued Chloe, and then in "Lady Wi-Fi", the chat noir suspects that Chloe it's a ladybug and don't ask about logic, because there is none

Not only does Kim and Chloe make so much sense that Chat Noir from the episode "Lady Wi-Fi" could give a high five on this topic, but calling it "Feature Sharpening" is an understatement, it's more like Thomas had too much to drink before writing the entire script for the episode, and like a typical kid, he created the episode like one of the "Scooby-Doo" movies, where Scrappy-Doo was an out-of-character character in order to be antagonized (Because the fandom didn't like him, so it's better to kill off the whole character this way)

What's the best way to end the story of a father who abuses his child? Give him a statue, the fandom will 100% love it

Seriously, Thomas, we all know you didn't write this episode for traumatized people, but just to go the way people did to kill Scrappy-Doo, which was to kill Chloe herself so that the fandom would hate her and Kim in the process suffered, because why not?

And by the way, to explain your imaginary daughter with your ex…

The standards of this series also contributed to the reception of this episode, and I would also like to remind you that Zag wanted redemption for Chloe, but Thomas himself did not want it, so when Zag left to create the film, Thomas went to destroy the whole Chloe, because like a child he cannot reconcile with this, that a fictional character can have any development and tried his hardest to kill Chloe like a Scappy-Doo movie, seriously Thomas, I understand a lot, but as a creator you should use it to your advantage and not kill her off because you hate your character so much (Like a child what creates illustrations of cartoon characters dying because he hates them)

Seriously, this show has 00's to 2010 vibes, but today? Such productions are more annoying than entertaining (And I say this as a 01-year-old)

This writing by Chloe and Kim seriously has Scrappy-Doo movie vibes to me

So the episode with Marinette's trauma is even more irritating, because anyone sensitive will notice what Thomas did here and it is a seriously conscious murder of his characters.

The context of this episode makes you feel offended rather than understood by the creator, because it's not about empathy towards people with trauma like Marinette, but about killing off the characters of Chloe and Kim

No matter how much I love the trope of the main character who, over time, turns out to have a trauma that the viewer doesn't know about, this show fucked it up and resulted in a not-so-good taste

It's just the context of this episode that causes it, I'm seriously sensitive to this way of writing and it has irritated me since I was a child, I was hoping that the newer the cartoons, the more it would disappear, but then Thomas appeared and did my hated trope, but turned it up to the max

Sometimes I wonder why many great creators get as few seasons as possible, while Thomas gets more

Because no matter how much I liked this show, after Chloe's arc fell apart and the writing fell apart because killing Chloe is more important than everything else in this show, it made me fed up

And because of creators like Thomas, many people consider animations as worthless and only entertainment for small children, because Thomas' writing style is effortless (And even productions for preschoolers can handle it, yes, I'm talking about "Bluey"), just as little as possible, and the fact that the fandom swallows everything has a simple task in this topic

Thomas had a good idea, but Miracolous's greatest enemy was Thomas himself

Damn, it's hard for me to come back to the series, but "Ladybug PV" is awesome, so Thomas himself has gone backwards in the development of his work, literally.

Ok, Felix was still problematic (It was chat noir back then, for those who don't know the history of the miracolous creation process)

But if Thomas could develop the character… Oh no, wait, he can't, that's why Felix became Adrien

By the way, Mr. Pigeon and the mime from the first season appeared in this version, just an interesting fact

I also have the impression that the characters had a better design than in the current series

There was another 3D version, which also looked amazing, so the version we got is the worst and this thought kills me, because this series could have been something more, but Thomas himself killed it, i.e. the creator killed his creation before showing it in its entirety to the world (Congratulations, Thomas)

Yes, I had to let go of all my frustration with the show and the fandom, because it's fucked up that when you criticize the bad writing of Marinette's trauma, people come up with their theories on why you do it, not why you do it and why you don't like it

[williamprattz]

EDANCY FIC RECS

↳ user williamprattz all time favorite edancy fics

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don't, don't, don't throw it away by roykentt [Completed]

Teen & Up • 72k words

Everyone in Hawkins, Indiana knows of Karen Wheeler’s three rules for raising her three children. Rule number one: No dating until college. Rule number two: Everyone takes care of Holly. The third rule, the most important rule, is to never go to bed angry. The first rule is rather infamous. What happens when Mike Wheeler wants to date one of the new kids in town and the only way to do that is to make his older sister, Nancy, date? Well, naturally, enlist the help of an unlikely student to be the one to try and tempt the angry and elusive Nancy Wheeler out on a date. The only thing Mike and his two best friends have to do in return is make sure that Eddie Munson graduates this year. It shouldn't be hard. Right?

[LINK]

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be my nightfire (while i close my eyes) by sunmaiden [Completed]

Teen & Up • 2k words

What if Nancy Wheeler agreed to join Hellfire club in Lucas’ absence the night of the game?

[LINK]

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Don't look at me like this by Kat_Of_Dresden [Completed]

Not Rated • 1k words

Robin thinks there might be something going on between Eddie and Nancy. Sure they are "just friends".... For now.

[LINK]

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marked for death by paranypmh [Completed]

Explicit • 10k words

better known as the edancy pirate au where they have far too much sexual tension in their sword fights to deal with like normal people

[LINK]

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the princess and the pub by mcplestreet [Completed]

Teen & Up • 16k words

When Steve proposes a plan of escape Nancy is forced to face whether or not the comfortable life she's always known is worth giving up for true love and her best friend.

[LINK]

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When you're near me darling can't you hear me SOS by fandom4fandom [Completed]

General • 2k words

Nancy realizes she's absolutely in love with Eddie Munson.

[LINK]

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The princess and the rockstar by Thecricketsarecalling [Completed]

Mature • 42k words

A slight twist on the series of events leading up to Season 4 of Stranger Things. Nancy knows things are ending with Jonathan, and out of nowhere...Eddie Munson walks into her life and changes everything. Maybe there's something else she's trying to protect when Venca strikes months later.

[LINK]

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can i waste all your time here on the sidewalk? by paranypmh [Completed]

Teen & Up • 3k words

Mike said he would be out of his Hellfire Club meeting at 8:30. Nearly an hour later, Nancy is done waiting for him and goes to find out where the hell he went.

[LINK]

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Sing me to sleep by Kat_Of_Dresden [Completed]

Not Rated • 2k words

Nancy can't sleep, Eddie helps her with his soothing singing voice.

[LINK]

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Pretty Eyed, Pirate Smile by roykentt [Completed]

Mature • 60k words

I know Eddie. He used to DM in Hellfire. Remember? She didn’t. She didn’t remember Eddie Munson or any of the other members of the band. But she knew the story. She knew that the moment their drummer and bassist graduated, a few years after Eddie had, the band started to gain momentum. It took them four years until they were breaking out into the scene in a big way. Like playing on MTV during prime hours big. Like selling out Madison Square Garden for two back to back nights big.

[LINK]

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School Bell Rings by fandom4fandom [Completed]

General • 3k words

Nancy Wheeler tutors Eddie Munson to help him pass his third senior year of high school. Along the way, feelings develop.

[LINK]

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one of a kind (of mine) by paranypmh [Completed]

Teen & Up • 2k words

nancy needs a shirt to wear, and eddie's got plenty.

[LINK]

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waking up to you by mcplestreet [Completed]

Teen & Up • 1k words

The morning after Eddie's first Corroded Coffin gig post-spring break he wakes up not only with a hangover but with a girl in his bed. Though he never expected her to be there he doesn't think he minds.

[LINK]

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pursuit of truth (no matter where it lies) by paranypmh [Completed]

Teen & Up • 9k words

The five things Nancy Wheeler knew about Eddie Munson, and the one thing she didn’t.

[LINK]

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Eyes Outshine the Horizon Line by fandom4fandom [Wip]

General • 22k words

Nancy Wheeler is the oldest of Queen Karen's children and the one with the biggest thirst for adventure. One night Nancy rescues the self-proclaimed "pirate" Prince of Hawkins, Eddie Munson. Doing this, Nancy quickly falls for him and longs to find a life on land. The sea warlock Vecna may be able to help her with that.

[LINK]

[moonlit-trolls]

[  Log date ]

Docs for your Sake

Her Majesty’s Ship: The Albatross.

Captain [Stricken from records]

Day 01.

Departed from alternia during the first hours of daylight. The cargo had been taken in stride, as the orders to assume post six moons away from the planet and remain in orbit of the sun. Special heat shields were provided for the albatross for this Trip. 

Day 05. 

Five days in orbit, tests have begun. Projections of success from The Engineer, Samson, Are steadily kept at a high 80%. Due to the amount of subjects we have brought for the trip the voyage seems to have been fated for an overwhelmingly positive outcome.

[Voyage Sub log. No. 1.]

Subjects

Engineer: Samson

Doctor: [Stricken from records]

The following is a transcript from the conversations before the start of the tests.

Doctor: How many have we brought aboard?

Engineer: Eight, None with fleet affiliation, Lowest Caste is rust. highest is… Violet.

Doctor: Understood. Test begins with the subject Rust. Then Yellow A through C.

Engineer: [Samson Nodded. no vocal response.]

Information. 

Subjects:

Subject 1: Rustblood, Name not given, Willing participant.

Subject 2: Yellowblood. Name Not Given. Willing participant

*Subject 3: Yellowblood. Name Not Given. Willing participant Subject 4: Yellowblood. Name Not Given. UnWilling participant

**Subject 5: Mutant Red. Name Not Important. Prisoner.

Subject 6: Jade. Name Given. Given, But stricken from records. by Cave Jades.

**Subject 7: Cerulean. Name Given, But Stricken from records. Prisoner.

***Subject 8: Violet. Name Given, Winona. Sedated*

* Subject 3 suffers from voidrot.

** Subject 5 found alongside subject 7. must keep separate

*** Subject 8 MUST remain sedated at all costs. 

[End of Voyage Sub log. No 1.]

Day 10

The 10th day of the season-long orbit. Tests remain steady. I am not allowed inside the Research bays. nor the mechanical bays. The airlocks were opened two times today for trash release. Which struck me as odd, trash release is done once every six days. 

Furthermore it seems like the battery on the ship has been replaced. With the current one acting as a grunt for protection in this mission. She is wearing a strange collar I have not seen before. but it seems to nullify any psionic ability she had… Scary.

[Voyage Sub Log 02]

Subjects: Subject 01

Subject 04 Subject 07

Henceforth any subjects will be named S-## for brevity.

Information: The following was a conversation between the Subjects. in context they were all placed in a testing chamber with a single glass window on the south and a blast proof door. Six inches of ballistic glass reinforced the window.

S-04: We have to fucking LEAVE. THEY'RE GONNA KILL US.

S-01: It seems so… But they told me I should stay.

S-04: WHO THE FUCK TOLD YOU TO STAY? DONT TELL ME IT WAS THE FUCKING GHOSTS.

[At this moment S-07 seemed disturbed by S-04’s yelling.]

S-04: [in a lower tone of voice] Sorry Cee… Listen. they’re watching us from the other side of that. 

[The subject pointed towards the glass.]

S-04: and they’re gonna do something bad, they’re gonna fucking Dissect us. or beat us up with a stick, i mean did you SEE what they’re doing with that seadweller

S-01: I heard… i…

[Further conversations were stricken from record by Doctor [Stricken from records] Further information can be found under fleet file V1013N-C1 through V1013N-C3].

Testing Information:

Writer: Doctor [Stricken from records]

Subjects 01 and 04 were considered failures. They developed the mutations we were seeking. but Subject 01 went into a coma. and Subject 04 developed voidrot.

Subject 07 Did not develop any mutations. considered a success however, Her capability of seeing through walls has been greatly enhanced. Subject 07 will not stop crying.

During the next bout of tests on day 12. Subject 08 proved herself extremely courageous. Switching recuperacoons with subject 07. going as far as to switch clothes, badges and cut her hair to look more similar. Her fins were later discovered to be retractable. 

[ End of Voyage Sub log 02 ]

Day 20

The more this trip goes, the stranger I feel about it. Her Royal Majesty sent us forth on this mission during the heyday of a war in the sixth quadrant four systems from here. battle we were assigned to battle on. But we  were sent on this orbital mission… which seems strange

But who am i. if not just an admiral to obey The empress Will. Today the morning started bleak, the entirety of the Albatross felt cold as if the cosmos itself had dug its claws inside. I kept to my quarters for the most part.

[Voyage sub log 04]

Voyage sub log 03 was far too graphic, and hence removed from the records. Any further inquiries about Sub Log 03 can and will be affecting the paygrade of any fleet member under classification under FL_Admiral. 

Information: The following is a Video of the tests performed on subject 08. During a test of her new abilities.

[File_Error_41. :)]

Information: The following is a conversation between the Captain, and the doctor. Who will be henceforth referred to as Capt, and Doc.

Conversation began before the reporter could begin writing due to pains in fingers and wrists after writing the previous tests.

Capt.: Listen. I understand. but. can you stop the screaming? It has been keeping me up ever since day 23.

Doc.: [Doctor seems to have a face of surprise at the question, as there were no records of any screaming]

Capt.: Why are you looking at me like my blood’s bright red? it’s not that fucking hard just tell your subjects to shut up.

Subject 07 will remain with her mouth covered during sleeping hours.

[ End of Sub Log 04 ]

Subjects were all 7 Sweeps old during testing.

Any records from here on out have been tampered with, and cannot be redacted. Reading the following recordings of the black box are not considered part of the testing, and thus should not be taken as truthful in any way shape or form. 

> To proceed Show identification

> …… :) 

> Identification Accepted. Welcome ??????

[Black box recording of day 66 of the Albatross Orbital Lab test Facility]

—Listen. Fuckface i’m not telling you again you either shut this entire thing off. or I AM reporting you directly to the Sixth Star Admiral Brikel.---

The captain’s voice trembles with more fear than certainty. 

— I would like to see you try, Captain, This mission was given to us directly by the empress. There is not a day in HELL that I am giving up on it. Neither you NOR GOD could stop what is about to happen. and… The beauty of what that is, is blinding. —

The black box recording is filled with Heavy static from here on out. Several distress signals were noted as being sent to the planet. none ever arrived.

— Now. Winona, I am going to Remove the bandage on your eyes. I need you to keep them closed for Six-Six-Six-Six-Six… Sixty Seconds — The doctor spoke, as her voice looped on six

The video feed of this interaction is available under the File “…:)”  

[File opened]

Winona is sat up staring forwards at the doctor. as she unbandages the young troll’s face The camera zooms in, Winona’s face is shrouded in a dark tone, the camera cannot focus on her face. As one eye opens, and then the other. and then another, and another. When the doctor finally shakes winona, she had the count of 36 eyes located across her face, neck and arms. As she is shaken they close, and the camera cuts for exactly eight seconds. 

— Log date 05. Successful implantation of psionic abilities. Subject 08 seems to have taken well to the implanted powers… a bit too well — the doctor’s voice is said into the log recorder she carries. as eyes can be seen appearing in the shadows behind her. with Winona simply looking at a shadow in the corner of the room.

[Video Ended]

The following files are videos from two escape pods of the only two survivors of the HMS Albatross.

One of the videos contains an empty pod that fell on a desert during the period of six days of full sunlight. and the other contained Samson, Four weeks after the pod crashed. He was reported as defective from the fleet. Samson was holding Winona in his arms, The troll seemed to be extremely hurt but Bio analysis from inside the pod says she was alive.

Your snooping around doesn’t seem to go unnoticed, As you stare into the shadows in one of the walls, that eye with a pink pupil blinks at you before vanishing. As you hear static coming from the device you were using for research into the fateful day that the fleet wishes to forget.

The news of the day was catastrophic, More than two hundred grunts died. A battery exploded the ship before impact. and only two survivors of the entirety of the ship were destroyed leaving nothing but the black box.

As you leave the room you keep seeing those eyes following you, close enough where it is deliberate that you should notice but too far for it to seem like they were focusing on you alone. As you walk into High Admiral Wratful’s office for the verbal beatdown of your life. You can’t help but notice that all her computers are turned into the familiar static from the video feed of the albatross’ black box.

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch: season 2 recap

Voyager's second season was a real mixed bag. Numbers wise, I actually ended up liking more episodes than I disliked, but the ones I disliked, I really hated. In fact, some of my most hated stories in the whole series were this season. But it says a lot about how strong the show's concept and characters are that all the bad apples in this bunch couldn't put me off the show. In fact, despite only liking half the episodes, I still finished this season loving this show just as much, if not more, than last season. I have to give so much credit to the actors for that- the writers don't seem to have thought very hard about these characters in a lot of places, but the actors held some of these stories together seemingly through sheer force of will. Their charisma and chemistry with eachother in the little moments made the bad stories worth watching, and I'm very grateful for that.

Interestingly, appparently episodes 1-10 were actually filmed during season one, and meant to be the end of that season, but for some reason were held back and aired as the beginning of season 2. The original order is included on the DVDs:

Projections ep 17

Elogium ep 18

Twisted ep 19

The 37s ep 20

Initiations ep 21

Non Sequitur ep 22

Parturition ep 23

Persistence of Vision ep 24

Tattoo: ep 25

Cold Fire: ep26

Since five of my most hated episodes are on that list, I know it would have lowered my esteem for s1 if they had aired then, so in hindsight, I'm glad they were held back until the audience had time to build up more goodwill for the characters and the show.

Things I liked this season:

B'Elanna at her little engineering station on the bridge- I love that she had this during early seasons, why did they do away with it later?? it was nice to get everybody on the bridge together during important scenes.

Tom Paris getting a more heroic plotline and some respect at the conclusion of the Kazon spy arc. There's been a lot of disconnect on the show so far between how everyone talks about Tom versus how he actually behaves, and it's nice that he actually got some recognition from other characters for his many good qualities. Everyone needs to appreciate Tom more tbh!

Captain Janeway's bun hair continues to be a delight; keep slaying, Queen!

While the Kazon are not my favorite antagonists, and I don't like where Seska's storyline went, I do actually kind of appreciate that they tried an ongoing story arc this season. The way it was woven as a subplot through otherwise standalone episodes and then picked up on as the main plot in later episodes was a nice way to do it. It found a nice balance between standalone and serialized formats that gave us the benefits of each.

Things I disliked this season:

We still can't manage to have a story where B'Elanna and Kes interact beyond two or three words?? I think every character has been in at least a scene or two one on one with all the other characters, except for them. On a show with only three women in the main cast, not having two of them even talk to each other, let alone develop a friendship, is an egregious omission. They could have had at least one episode where they went on an away mission together or something. It would have been way better than all the episodes where men treat Kes like an object to possess, which leads into my next point of dislike:

Way too many romantic subplots. It felt way too high-school with all the secret crushes and jealousy and rivalry nonsense. Kes was the writers favorite target, with a grand total of 4 romantic subplots, including Neelix, plus another guy who was just straight up obessesed with her kinda counting as 5? At any rate, she had the most romances, and she's clearly older mens vision of a manic pixie dream Ocampa, which is super gross. Watching Kes get treated like crap by almost every male character she comes in contact with, and yelled at by Neelix, wasn't pleasant either, and kind of ruined Neelix for me. I'm glad that they decided to finally give it a rest this season, but the way they attempted to resolve it wasn't believable, and actually very misogynist, and thus not a satisfying conclusion. Neelix was nice to Kes in a few eps here at last, and it would have been fine if he'd been like that from the start, but the memory of him yelling at her, and her crying over it, is kind of in my head now, and I can't shrug it away. It makes me sad how they saddled these characters, and consequently, us as the audience, with all this unnecessary baggage.

Janeway and the Doctor both clock in at number two in the romance derby, with three romantic subplots each this season. The character with the most on screen kisses is the Doctor though, with three this season. (Giving the middle aged bald guy all the chicks sure makes it feel like there's some wish fulfilment going on in that writers room lmao)

Season stats:

They started the season with 154 crew in 'The 37s'

Crewmembers killed: 6

Crewman Kurt Bandera and 2 more unnamed (Alliances)

Lt. Darwin (Meld)

Crewman Michael Jonas (Investigations)

Ensign Bennet (Innocence)

Romantic subplots:

The Doctor: 3 with kiss (Projections) (Twisted) (Lifesigns)

Kes: 1 with kiss (Projections) 1 without kiss (Parturition) 1 with cheek kiss (Tuvix) [I'm not counting her ongoing romantic subplot with Neelix since it's been a main part of her plot since the beginning of the show]

Harry: 1 with kiss (Non Sequitur)

Tom: 1 without kiss (Parturition)

Captain Janeway: 2 with kiss (Persistance of Vision, though Mark's subplot was a continuation from season 1) 1 without kiss (Resolutions)

B'Elanna: 1 with kiss (Persistance of Vision)

Chakotay: 1 without kiss (Resolutions) [I'm not counting Persistance of Vision on Chakotay's list, since it was a hallucination of him and not the real Chakotay that kissed B'Elanna]

Number of shuttles destroyed/lost: 3 (1 for sure, 2 probable)

1 (Initiations) [destroyed]

1 (Non Sequitur) [presumably destroyed, since Harry is beamed off shuttlecraft Drake before imminent hull breach, though whether the shuttle actually exploded and/or was unsalvageable isn't made clear]

1 (Parturition) [again, presumably destroyed, since it crashed and was damaged, and recovering the shuttle was never mentioned]

[shuttlecraft Cochrane was presumably recovered intact from the planet of lizard babies in Threshold, though we never saw it]

Number of episodes I liked/disliked/mixed reaction:

Liked: 13

Disliked: 9

Mixed: 4