#the last one is from that one episode where Kirk was split into two halves

[rosekard]

Handful of Kirk doodles

I’m trying to figure out how to draw him in a way I like

[lacefuneral]

red dwarf really is insane though for ppl who don't know about it. this show has been airing for 35 years. it's a british space opera sitcom about two men (later joined by a humanoid descendant of a cat and an android; also the ship's computer is a character) who are trapped on a mining space ship in deep space. there was an accident with radiation that killed EVERYONE on the ship except for a janitor who was in stasis. and the ship can keep ONE hologram "alive" at a time, which is created from a digital backup of the ship's former crew.

because only the janitor survived, the ship's computer makes the hologram his dead boss (also a janitor, but of a slightly higher rank) to run the ship. also it took THREE MILLION YEARS for the radiation to be at a safe level in the ship. so presumably the earth is gone and humans are extinct. that is also why there is a Cat Man. enough time has passed for extreme evolution to take place.

eventually the hologram is given the ability of "hard light" (so he can touch people and interact with the environment instead of phasing through walls and furniture). and i forget how this is precisely achieved, but there's a body swap episode.

the janitor who survived has homoerotic dreams about his boss and openly has a crush on an alternate universe version of his boss. the two of them viciously banter like a married couple. the boss is extremely repressed and talks about his strict upbringing. and while not canonical or explicit, there's a subtext that he's gay and is simply too repressed/traumatized to act on it, so he overcompensates with this by insisting he's attracted to women.

in the way kirk in star trek splits into good and evil halves, the characters of red dwarf have good, neutral, and evil halves. the evil halves are homophobic caricatures - but do clearly communicate latent homosexual desire.

i'm going to remind you, again, this show has been running for 35 years and the hologram can touch. these men are stuck with one another in deep space. the last two humans (er. human and human hologram) that are constantly fighting because of pent up frustration. have these two men kissed yet? fucked? nope! although lister's homoerotic dream of the two of them kissing was played for laughs because the writers have him wake up disgusted.

it's such a fascinating case of queerbait. how many shows have you watched where the leads passionately make out with one another but they're NOT canon. and the reason this happened (as well as the "low" (evil) versions of the characters) is because the 80's/90's writers thought Gay People = Gross = Funny

i mean all of that aside the show is extremely delightful (when it's aged well. and some parts have NOT aged well. like the entire prison season, which i choose to ignore the existence of)

anyway thats red dwarf and you can pirate it with a quick google but i use soap2day.to (thats the url; use an adblocker)

[clueingforbeggs]

The aforementioned goo people are capable of mimicking human beings. A blood test can tell them apart, though... Or can it?

There's also another bunch of goo people who are capable of mimicking human beings, however they forget they're goo people so do some stuff that causes them to un-people and melt. So now they're just goo in space.

Jean-Luc Picard is a French guy who grew up in France, but has a British accent because during world war two his family fled from France to England and picked up the accent. They returned by the 21st century, but didn't pick up the accent this time.

Also, his son, who grew up with his mother who has an American accent, has a British accent. This is because he went to school in England, though.

In a splinter timeline, one guy is born four years premature. He is human.

A lot of planets colonised by (mostly?) humans model themselves after the old Midwestern USA. Because that's a great, peaceful era of humanity. Does this mindset have anything to do with why they're colonising planets in the first place, I wonder?

A dude gets trapped inside a 20th century author who looks like him and is also writing a sci-fi book about his life (also his coworkers look like his coworkers). About a century before this, the crew of the Enterprise start believing that they're the characters in a different one of the 20th century author's books. Minus the CMO, who was reading the book to his daughter, and the chief engineer, who is a telepath so could resist it. Spock is also there, and a telepath, but he couldn't resist it.

Spock has a dream where his human and Vulcan halves fight. A year later, he accidentally gets turned into a human. Over a century later, a character gets split into a human and a Klingon.

Worf gets permanently paralysed from the waist down. He then has surgery and dies. He gets better, though. Regarding both things.

Vulcan dementia makes everyone around the Vulcan who isn't themselves a Vulcan, crazy. However, it can be temporarily treated by mind melding with a human and uploading the dementia symptoms into their mind. This is overwhelming to the human, but they'll be fine.

Spock is a descendant of Arthur Conan Doyle. He's also a descendant of the Vulcan who shakes Zephram Cochrane's hand. And also the Vulcan who made Vulcans logical.

There's a species called Q. Every Q's gender is Q. Every Q is also called Q. Except for one who thought she was human. And another who changed his name to Quinn.

Beverley Crusher fucked a ghost who fucked her dead nan.

There's a planet which is Earth, but childhood lasts hundreds of years and also if you go through puberty you go insane and die.

Spock's brain is brainnapped and the crew remote control his body until they get it back. The episode is aptly titled Spock's Brain.

A bunch of people get trapped in the past, and two of them throw tribbles at Captain Kirk, whilst another briefly thinks he's destined to become his own grandfather.

The Borg Queen fucks Data.

Picard guns down some Borg with a hologram of a 20th century gun.

Dwayne the Rock Johnson is an alien wrestler. But this time, wrestling is real. For real.

Section 31 creates an AI that kills everyone. Starting with Section 31.

Most planets have one sentient lifeform originating from them. Earth is not one of them, as it has four (at least). Humans did kill off one of the other sentient lifeforms, but then the Enterprise puts two whales in a bird of prey and takes them back with them.

A plant that can merge two people who use a transporter together exists. Any more and you become non-sentient blobs.

One character is an asexual prince who had a pet dragon as a child. His mother tries to trick him into having sex by faking her death, so he would have to be King of their planet.

A guy alters his genome so that he's part tardigrade, so he can use mushrooms to travel the universe.

There's a universe where every human is evil and also photosensitive.

There are bisexual balls of fluff that are born pregnant. The Klingons go to war with them.

Things that I SWEAR I'm not making up about the Star Trek franchise:

A shifty alien bartender, his brother, and his nephew were what happened at Roswell

There are three mutually contradictory canonical explanations for what exists at the centre of the Galaxy, none of which are "A fuck-off gigantic black hole"

Two of these things are, respectively, God and the Devil

(The crew got along well enough with the Devil, but Spock had to blow-up God with a torpedo)

One of the most compelling and sympathetic characters in the franchise is a hologram of Professor Moriarty who gained enough self-awareness to realise that he didn't need to be evil just because he was written that way

If you fly too fast, you turn into a salamander

(Said salamanders are actually the inevitable endpoint of human evolution)

The universe is balanced on the back of a giant koala (why is it smiling? What does it know!?)

There have been three separate groups of Space Nazis (not just aliens with a fascist government; literal Nazis with armbands and swastikas)

There are also: two (2) cowboy planets, two (2) planets that are just post-apocalyptic versions of Cold War-era Earth, one (1) planet ruled by Chicago mobsters from the 1920s, and one (1) version of Earth where the Roman Empire never fell

The Roman planet has its own Jesus

There is an anthropological law governing parallel planetary development that holds that planets are likely to recapitulate eras from Earth history

Because of the intervention of an ancient race of ur-humanoids, most sentient races in the galaxy look like human actors with rubber prostheses glued to their foreheads

There are so many planets centred around sex and hedonism that people in the fandom use the term "Roddenberry Sex Planet" to describe them

Jack the Ripper was an alien ghost

Amelia Earhart was abducted by aliens

If you have a high ESP score, you turn into a god when you try to fly outside of the Galaxy

The major antagonists are: Space Vikings/Samurai, Space Romans (not the Romans mentioned earlier), Space Fascists (not any of the nazi groups mentioned earlier), the Space British Empire (ruled by goo people), and Space Bees (except you'll turn into one if they sting you)

Klingons have two dicks

Borg assimilation can be catalyzed by eating car batteries

[kinetic-elaboration]

July 9: Star Trek 1x05 The Enemy Within

Today’s ep: The Enemy Within. Overall this is a good ep, but I don’t know that I entirely agree with its thesis, and some parts of it are so uncomfortable that they mess with my general enjoyment.

Kirk, being encouraging of his crew: “That will make a good specimen.” I like how it’s just one line but there’s such confidence about him. They have to remind you of his normal self fast because he’s split for 99% of the episode.

Sulu: “That’s nippy.” I love Sulu.

So they just find an alien dog on the planet and decide to steal it? Lol your fav is problematic Enterprise crew.

(Like how they just never explained why they sent the dog up by itself later lol.)

I forgot that it was the ore that messed with the transporter. That’s a cool idea; makes sense. Alien ore gets in your system now weird stuff happens.

Evil Kirk appears and no one sees him--that’s why you don’t leave the transporter room unattended like Kirk said!!

Honestly imagine how wild seeing this when it first aired and not knowing much about Star Trek would be. Weird new sci fi show’s been on for a month and suddenly there are two Captains!! What!?!?

Even the way Evil!Kirk touches the ship is lascivious.

Bones is a good doctor. He really does have a good bedside manner; I don’t feel like people remember this about him enough.

He also keeps brandy in sickbay lol.

This scene with gratuitously shirtless Kirk and distracted Spock... it doesn’t look anything less like a porno in context honestly. I know Spock is supposed to be distracted because he’s hearing information that doesn’t make sense but Kirk is just so obviously turning on the flirt face (aka his usual face with Spock) and he’s shirtless so... the distraction is real and multi-faceted.

Ooh, Janice is an artist! I love her little rotating mirror thing.

This scene is so terrible. Really upsets me. Surely they could have found some way to portray ‘pure selfish id’ without going immediately to sexual assault.

Evil!Kirk wears so much eye makeup.

It’s interesting to me that Good!Kirk is so obviously not the real Kirk either, right from the moment he steps off the transporter. (Not to be that person again but Shatner is a better actor than people give him credit for being.)

Spock will save the day! I know that Rand calls for him because he’s First Officer but it’s still interesting that she goes for that name over, like, security.

Evil!Kirk is also where Kirk keeps all his dramatic tendencies.

I feel so bad for Janice in this scene. “What was I supposed to do? He’s the Captain.” Anyway this is why this is still a problem.

That dog omg.

“Set phasers to stun.”

“The search party is to capture you.” Yeah, that’s hard to explain. “Hey, crew, we’re going to play a little game of hide and seek. I’ll hide first.”

Man this conversation between Kirk and Spock. Leadership is one of my favorite themes in ST and Kirk is probably my favorite fictional leader of all time okay so this means a lot to me. “You don’t have the right to be vulnerable in the eyes of the crew.”

Spock is honestly just so on Kirk’s side, at every single moment. He believes him, trusts him, knows who he is, is loyal to him, is honest with him, knows how to handle him, how to care for him.

Spock likes the dog. He likes animals, in general.

The phaser vocab is so different this early on. “Base cycle.”

Good thing Kirk has makeup readily available to cover up his scratches.

My mom suggested transporting some blankets to the planet. But what if they split into evil blankets!! (Interesting that inanimate objects DO split too though.)

I feel like Kirk tried to do a Vulcan nerve pinch there lol.

“If I’m to be the Captain, I’ve got to act like one.” Immediately goes to a shot of his evil self climbing on equipment.

Spock: I always have a point.”

Spock listing out Kirk’s good qualities: his intellect, compassion, love, tenderness. Telling, lol. A lot of synonyms for how much he loves and admires Kirk. Kirk appreciation hour.

“If I seem insensitive to what you’re going through, Captain, understand: it’s the way I am.” I love this line, it’s perfect, because it has two meanings: how I am is unemotional, which causes me to seem insensitive; but also: I go through what you’re going through all the time, it’s how I am.

“Lower us down a pot of hot coffee or some rice wine.”

Poor Kirk, so many struggles, not enough snuggles.

There’s no way people could live through those temperatures in those clothes and not die. Sulu calling for room service. I love him. (Why did they drop his sense of humor in the movies???)

“A thoughtless, brutal animal... yet it’s me.”

I have a lot of mixed feelings about the main thesis of this ep. But. I do love that Kirk’s courage is in his good side.

And so much compassion....”Don’t hurt him. Don’t hurt my evil side.”

Poor animal. Goes through such a confusing experience. Then dies.

Second Officer Spock. I’ve seen people make a big deal out of this but it’s pretty obvious to me this is supposed to mean “Second in command.” As in Kirk is the “First Officer” as the Captain and Spock is second. He behaves in all ways as the second in command, right down to making that log entry at all.

The AOS verse should have rebooted this ep instead of Space Seed (I say every single episode). I mean, STID had as a theme “Kirk learning what it means to command.” That could be tied in! Also can you imagine, two CPines? Two??

Half alien Spock.

Jim’s compassion is paralyzing him.

Aaaand we’re back on the creepy train with Evil!Kirk.

Evil!Kirk doesn’t care about the crew at all. He can make decisions fast because he only cares about himself, so there’s always an easy answer.

Of course he and everyone else looks to Spock as the authority on Kirks.

Evil!Kirk knows he’s not the dominant one here, that re-combining with Good!Kirk means a certain ‘death’ or at least... being sent back to the depths.

Spock at the transporter as if this were even his department lol.

“I’ve seen a part of myself no man should ever see.”

That flirty face he gives Spock though oml. Get a room.

Ugh Spock’s last comment was so ragingly inappropriate. Hate it. But also, read it as an expression of his own extreme jealousy because he’s definitely a jealous person. Just put through the ‘sexist 60s man’ dialogue-writer translator.

So again, I like the idea of this ep and a lot of the details but the details I don’t like are......hard to ignore.

I liked that the bad side was dramatic, selfish, confused, entitled, and it made sense that he was violent and even lustful. And I liked that Kirk had such a hard time seeing that part of himself and acknowledging it. And I do think it's a good lesson/message that we need to understand our own worst impulses and that those impulses are part of us and maybe even tied to parts of us that we need. But the implication that everyone's a little rapey and that the events of this episode necessarily mean Janice has to work for someone she knows is inappropriately lustful toward her just... are really hard for me to entirely get over.

Honestly her reaction just really makes me so sad. And it annoys me that no one stands up for her, no one says that the Captain was wrong and she didn’t deserve that treatment, “imposter” or no. I guess that's what bothers me more than that Evil!Kirk went immediately to assault, b/c the idea IS that he is lustful, violent, and completely selfish. He cares about himself, his survival, his ship, what he owns, what he deserves. Maybe it is natural he would let the power go to his head and seek out someone who he knows he could manipulate easily into giving him something he wants. Maybe it's no different in a way from stranding the crew on the planet. But no one says "hey, that's wrong what he did. You're entitled to respect from the Captain." And I wish someone had.

I recognize this was made in 1966 and I do generally give ST credit within the context within which it was made, but I am a 2020 viewer and the ep certainly hits home given, you know, everything, so... just some thoughts.

Anyway, another thing I was thinking about during the ep was that I feel like I forget that Spock has two "warring halves" b/c he's half human. Because before he put it that way, I was thinking about how the war in him is between his natural Vulcan emotions and his Vulcan teachings. But now I wonder if the whole "Vulcans are super emotional" thing might actually be quite late in the canon, and initially they were intended to be naturally "emotionless.” But basically I don’t actually know how I headcanon the human and Vulcan halves of him interacting... You’d think I would lol but my take in haicg was really... pretty focused on the Vulcanness of him. I guess I thought of the human half as more of a cultural thing because physically, emotionally, psychologically, and physiologically he appears to be primarily Vulcan.

Talking about this more with my mom, it’s making more sense to me... it is cultural and it’s about expectations. He wants to “honor his father’s teachings” and be Vulcan. But he has a whole half, a whole side of his family, with different teachings and beliefs--what to do with them? When he’s around Vulcans, they are obsessed with his human side. When he’s around humans, they see him as fully Vulcan--which is much easier for him and why he seeks them out imo--but it also is a constant ignoring of part of him he feels guilty for ignoring. When McCoy tells him to be more emotional, does a part of him wonder if he should? For his mom? But then... Vulcans don’t choose to be logical for fun. It’s for safety, it’s for survival. So how can he do anything else but follow his father? Who he also doesn’t speak to for 20 years and has a super complicated relationship with! So it’s difficult.

Anyway. That was an emotionally intense experience for this human person. The next ep is Mudd’s Women, one of the weaker S1 offerings, but still a classic as per usual.