#to talk about my love of star trek with

[pilots-and-protons]

Quick blanket-statement for anyone who is thinking of sending me messages:

I am fully aware and conscious that there are problems with every Star Trek.

I understand the ongoing issues with racism, sexism, and a number of outdated ideologies. TOS-VOY (which are what I watch, other than the movies) are all products of their time and incredibly dated in many ways, and it’s wonderful that people want to point out the flaws and issues and discuss the varying ways that Star Trek could have and should have done better even for its time.

But let me make this clear: Star Trek (TOS, TNG, DS9, and VOY) are my comfort shows. I am autistic and they’ve been my special interest for a long time now, and I cannot stress enough what that means to me. I watch them to be happy and to find a sanctuary away from the constant stressors of every day life, especially since I struggle with anxiety and depression.

I don’t want to talk about everything wrong with them. I just want to focus on the best aspects of Star Trek - the stories, the characters, the relationships. I want to talk about fascinating science-fiction concepts and the beautiful way Star Trek tried to bring important social issues to the table. I want to talk about found families who love each other, including all the ways they are strange and unique and different.

I know that there are problems and I am not ignoring them entirely - I just need a space to focus on the good things.

So please for the love of god, I don’t need people to question whether or not I’m aware of the racism or the sexism, I don’t need people coming after me because they don’t think I should enjoy specific characters, and I don’t need to be hounded about every little issue that ever existed because a bunch of (mostly) Cisgendered White Men were writing stories before we even reached the 21st century.

[muirmarie]

jim being canonically the shortest one of the triumvirate is genuinely so important to me lmao, like yesssssss, let that beefy babe be shorter than both his boyfriends!!!!

[major-comet]

the biggest problem with tos’ episodic format is that the episode usually ends pretty quickly after the conflict resolves and then they never really talk about it again - no matter how intense or harrowing it was

which means that we don’t get to actually *see* the interpersonal fallout of bones being diagnosed with and cured from a previously-incurable terminal illness (that he didn’t even want to tell jim and spock he had), and then just four episodes later drugging them so that he can go be tortured (and likely die) instead of spock, and so jim doesn’t have to make the choice between them.

did they talk about it? beyond just a standard debrief and a “never fucking do that again bones i swear to god i mean it this time”? did they make it the captains’ quarters for the debrief, only for mccoy to be pulled into a crushing, trembling hug as soon as the door shut while jim tried to assure himself that bones was still here, was still breathing? spock hovering nearby - a hand gently coming to rest on his shoulder?

why didn’t mccoy want to tell them about the xenopolycythemia, anyways? to try and hold onto a few more normal-ish months before every time they looked at him their eyes would be filled with grief - mourning a man they hadn’t yet lost? the same reason he ran away; to spare them what he went through with his father?

only for him to immediately turn around and throw himself back to the wolves to (almost) die right in front of them anyways

i don’t really know how they handled it. whether they talked about it and attempted to soothe the hurt, or just resolutely tried to bottle it up.

but i do know this: spock eventually came back from gol because jim simply (though accidentally) called out for him in a moment of need. bones only came back because jim personally drafted him back into starfleet

[isagrimorie]

Star Trek Voyager 4x09 - Year of Hell, part 1

Janeway: We're going through their space whether they like it or not.

[dustykneed]

(tsfs feels anyone? fanart below.)

You've been in his head.

But he says, never faltering, the words,

"I choose the danger."

It is in that moment that you understand:

He could never, would never,

Has never hated you.

Now you realize:

this is what humans refer to as love.

[hollis-art]

as the local star trek nerd in my school's theater group, someone was asking me where exactly they should start in order to get into the whole thing, and YAYYY!!! not only will i have another star trek person to talk to BUT I GOT TO RAMBLE ABOUT IT IN CLASS!!!!! AND THEY WERE ACTUALLY LISTENING AND NODDING ALONG!! YAYYYY

[bumblingbabooshka]

Voyager should have had an episode where the command trio beat the absolute hell out of each other while blaming each other for being stuck in the delta quadrant as the fever pitch of a rising tension that was building throughout the episode. Like, they're absolutely being pushed to do it by some outside force. Maybe it's a telepathic being - maybe it's that they're stuck in some arena or an alien court or a time loop only the three of them are aware of - no matter the specifics, the sentiment behind their words has to be true and it has to be something they've been keeping back for months, maybe years. That fear and hatred and blame that doesn't really have an actual target because it's not actually rational but 'who's to blame' doesn't have to be capital T true to feel true. If Chakotay hadn't been in the badlands, If Janeway hadn't made that choice, If Tuvok hadn't supported it... "You trapped us here. It's your fault. If you hadn't-! If you hadn't-! If you hadn't-!" are just echoes of "I trapped us here. It's my fault. If I hadn't-! If I hadn't-! If I hadn't-!" Because at the end of the day more than being angry or hateful they're despairing in their own ways. Episode probably has a somber end - they beat whatever it was and it's a victory! They won by working together even after they beat each other half to death! But after the celebration we see them alone in their quarters...silent. Gazing out at the stars, into a candle's flame, at that same family picture before turning away. Because even though they won they're still there in the delta quadrant. Is that really victory?

[libartz]

[itsoveranakin-ihavethehighground]

watching the tng episode the loss (4x10) where deanna loses her empathic abilities and becomes disabled and everyone around her tells her to just adjust and that she can do it and they all try to guilt-trip her into staying in her role despite the fact that she is literally now disabled.... and then riker says that she thinks she's superior?? because she's a betazoid?? and accuses her of neglecting her human heritage?? picard literally tries the whole 'well i knew a disabled person once and they could do it' and 'lots of people do this thing everyday without your struggle, you should be fine'

[svartalfhild]

Anybody else get any formal requests for collaboration from a supposed concept artist on their old FF.net account recently?

I just got one from someone named Gloria Jenkins, and a quick google tells me that there is a Gloria Jenkins who's been a storyboard artist for many children's cartoons starting in the 90's, and there's a Gloria Jenkins with an Artstation account, who may or may not be the same person, but the art in that account is much more consistent with the "concept artist and fan of high fantasy literature" the person from this message claims to be. (I also can't imagine a veteran children's cartoon artist wanting to collab with me, considering the kinds of stuff I write, unless they have a more diverse portfolio that it would seem lol.)

Anyway, I've been on the internet far too long to not be suspicious of something like this. This Gloria person is messaging from an empty account made a couple of days ago, and there's a few possible innocent explanations for that, but the scam possibility is also high.

[tues-dayy]

Gwyndala, the unifier.

An edit to Stella the Begonia to celebrate one of my favorite characters, and the family that she made for herself.

[raisins-n-space]

thinking about him (genesis spock)

[mamawasatesttube]

trying to codify rules for running that lil followers only "we must fix the kon tags" minibang and i think this is the funniest one ive come up with so far:

NO jason todd allowed.

exceptions can be made for background tentatodd ONLY

[theshadowrealmitself]

I fucking love when characters see themselves in someone else

Current thoughts rn is an oc who’s half human and half a species I made up that’s not well known in the federation and only recently joined it awhile ago

And they wanna be a good representation of their non-human species, but stuff keeps happening that makes them feel like they fail at it

And in many ways, they’re different from Spock, cause Spock looks like a Vulcan and wants people to look at him and see a Vulcan who succeeds at being a Vulcan, whereas this oc looks like a human, but wants people to see them as [species I made up]

But they still have some similarities, and they’re crying cause all this drama happened around them, like their fiancé calling off their engagement during the ceremony, and how they feel like their fiancé wouldn’t have done that to them if they weren’t half human, etc

And Spock is just to the side, distinctly aware that he’s had the same thoughts

[curator-on-ao3]

As a PikeUna shipper I must say I'm aghast at how Batel and Pike's relationship was handled. No chemistry, no growth, simply a line thrown about how she knows him so well (like really? Since when?), I'm not sure how they fit together and what their relationship is actually like? What's the vibe? What makes you tick *for* eachother?

*pats sofa* Come sit next to me.

— 🚨 warning: rant incoming that thoroughly agrees with @acuriousmindsblog 🚨 —

Okay, so, as a Pikeuna shipper, I don’t like the Batel/Pike relationship for everything you said and more including that I absolutely do not like the way Pike treats Batel, which makes it more difficult for me to ship him with anyone.

That being said, looking wholly at story, I cannot stand the Batel/Pike relationship with my Pikeuna shipper glasses firmly set aside. I don’t like Batel (which makes me sad because she has the building blocks of a character I should like), I’m big mad that the clutch point episode for their relationship was utter shit, and I do not comprehend what canon would make me root for them. Batel saying, “So where are you gonna find another gal who gets you like I do?” was just plain weird. Especially with previous lines establishing that it’s really captaincy that they have in common. It felt like gaslighting that these characters would need to have the same job to be able to “get” each other enough to date. (Not gaslighting by the characters. Gaslighting by the writers.) As I mentioned in one of my other posts, show me Pike and Batel talking about the trial and how it affected their feelings for each other. Show me two adults trying to be their best for each other. I can work with that, even if it’s not my preferred ship. But what we saw? It made Pike a generic pile of shit whom I do expect (hope?) will mention next season that part of the reason he’s not nice to Batel is that he’s not telling her about his fate — which is not her fault and, while I sympathize with and can believe headcanons about why he’s behaving the way he is, Batel knows Pike is lying to her and that’s painful to watch.

And another thing — I will never forgive the writers for hanging the Batel/Pike relationship on captaincy and care for their crews, then when Batel’s ship is destroyed and she sees Christine alive, Batel doesn’t even ask about her crew. We’ve seen injured captains from Rachel Garrett to Rudy Ransom immediately ask about their crew. But this captain (who also expected a promotion after blowing an open-and-shut legal case because, hey kids, the character who exists to up Pike’s emotional stakes shows up in the darnedest places and has … what motivation exactly?) didn’t ask about her crew. And I don’t believe that. Not for a second do I believe that any Starfleet captain wouldn’t ask about their crew. So I’m mad at the writers because they could have, with dialogue changes alone, made this character better, made this relationship better, made whatever story they’re trying to tell better because, goddamn, what a mess.

[tilda-rothery]

My watch of Star Trek: Prodigy and the dynamic between Janeway and Chakotay has got me thinking about Sam and Jack from SG-1. Two completely different franchises that have a set of characters that would absolutely go to the ends of the galaxy to save the other.

I haven't watched all that much Star Trek, I will admit. But I'm getting there, I promise.

I have, however, watched Stargate more times than I can count (though it did end at season 8 for me) and there is an episode where Sam spends months trying to figure out a way to save Jack after he's stranded on an alien planet and Good ol' Dr Frasier (I love her, by far my favourite recurring character, hence why I use the name Rothery) asks Sam if her feelings are a problem because, hello, regulations and you can't have feelings for your CO Sam.

And then there's the time Sam gets stuck in an interstellar cloud, alone on the Prometheus and Jack can't do a whole lot to help her, so he ends up feeling entirely useless and Teal'c talks to him about how there was a time Sam felt very much the same when he was M.I.A once again on a different alien planet than the one mentioned above.

The need to do all that they can to save the other while probably feeling completely and utterly helpless, because where do you start?

And Upgrades people, let's not forget about Upgrades!

There are just so many instances but these are the ones I was reminded of when I watched Prodigy, because for me, the scenes with Janeway desperate to save Chakotay just vibed in a similar way. And yes, I need to watch more Voyager because I don't know the half of it yet.

The only difference in Stargate is that the feelings are acknowledged on screen by Sam and Jack, but we can just leave them in the room, sir if you want and pretend we don't have them, when we totally do. That's cool Carter, let's do that. Alrighty then...

And I forgot where I was going with this, it's late and I'm tired and now I am just rambling and not making any sense...

But I guess my point was who doesn't want someone that would travel through time and space to save your ass because the world is a better place with you in it, all because they love you so goddamn much?

And sure it can be platonic if you want, but with these two pairings it doesn't feel that way to me. But that's just how I feel about...

As a S/J shipper, thank God for Moebius and Threads.

...And I know in these shows there are instances where other crew/team members get equally stuck in stupidly dangerous/life threatening situations that require them to be saved (::cough cough:: Daniel), but it's not quite the same now is it, when there is no yearning present?