#uh oops

[midsummersmorn]

It’s 4am rn and I do not want to stop reading one last stop

[oddlittlestories]

Actually you know what

No hate to Lower Decks (I’ve never seen it but a lot of stuff about it seems soooo based)

BUT.

This notion that only the head honchos on Star Trek ever had magical space adventures…

You know the post that’s like “only the enterprise had all these wild tales so they chucked them in the bin” that gets countered with “all the spaceships of that era had sooo many wild encounters that a bunch of them just got lost in the mix.”

I much prefer the latter concept, and it applies to lower decks (the concept not the show) as well.

Just because someone isn’t on the leadership team doesn’t mean they quietly sit around filing boring paperwork. Why wouldn’t they be doing just as much interesting stuff as anyone else? They’re analyzing most of the weird samples, often interacting with folks on a more casual level. Accepting supplies. Sending messages. Flying shuttle transports.

It makes sense that a lot of stuff would never even make it to the leadership team - just be dealt with by lower level staff. And even if it *did*, it could very easily have been in the form of a memo that they read and go wow glad I didn’t have to deal with that on top of everything else!

And the thing is, a lot of canon (pre-JJ Abrams) actually supports this conclusion. Every time the camera slides over to a secondary character in Voyager or DS9 they’re doing something incredibly interesting. Keiko puts herself in the crosshairs for extremists by starting a school. Kes develops psychic powers and breaks up with her boyfriend. Jake and Nog accidentally bring back the crew’s will to live. Sisko’s gf smuggles for the Maquis. You get this sense that their lives between the scenes are just as vibrant and rich as anyone else’s. Hell, Sisko was a random side character at Wolf 359 before he was the Commander and Captain of DS9.

And even if we step away from two shows where slice of life is very important, TNG does this too! Lt. Barclay, Ensign Ro, O’Brien. Every time the camera pans to another character, not only are they experiencing something extremely interesting, it’s also implied that they were important before, they’re important now, and they’ll be important hereafter.

And I think part of why this notion bothers me so much is it isn’t just narratively important. It’s thematically important too! A huge theme over and over in Star Trek is that people matter. Ordinary individuals doing what they can to make the world a better place. While TOS doesn’t always do this narratively (redshirts, anyone?) it DOES do this thematically. How often is the day saved or some deeply historical pivot determined by someone ordinary?

Star Trek puts the lens on the captain and leadership officers, but that’s a tool. Narratively and thematically, it’s about individuals’ ability to make the world a better place—and that individuals and their lives are the reason we try to do so. And that’s as much about a biology ensign or earth shopkeep as it is a starship captain.

It’s about me and you.

[kofeedoggo]

I forgot what I was gonna say

[cepheusgalaxy]

Guys. Dudes. Fellas. I was doing some iterations with my oc's outfit and I was looking into some islamic coverings/hijabi styles bc he uses a head covering and the doodling i reached a style that I like but it looks too much like an actual hijabi? What do I do

[kawhh]

I’ve made a mistake

[amatteroftime-comic]

. . .

What do you mean its July

(Clover by TheHollowKnight on discord)

[concert-bflat]

sincerest apologies to anyone following for funny art posts btw I just have Not had the time to make anything and my art has been in Horrible condition lately 🙏 🙏 🙏

[remxedmoon]

y’know what? fuck you. *UNGRAYSCALES YOUR ISATS*

no wait come back there’s greyscale versions under the cut :(

[tubbytarchia]

Red mania (alt under cut)

[spacehomos]

Kaos

The Gods

[3hobbitsinatrenchcoat]

As is tradition since polls were introduced in 2023, it is time for Gray's Blorbo Checkpoint! (please reblog for maximum blorbo interaction)

Notable Changes!

Traumatized Within and Without has been retired for this year due to winning for two consecutive years. It may return in future years. Both Smol categories have been combined into Pocket-size due to being confusing and receiving the fewest votes. (see 2024 results)

In the interest of fairness of results compared to past polls, this post has been blazed (since the last two were).

[northstarscowboyhat]

Peepaw Starlo struggles. Autism 2 autism communication struggles.

[opens-up-4-nobody]

Something something Merlin is Arthur's bane.

[paracosmicka]

okay idea

like does this make sense

idk my brain was bored even tho i wanted to keep drawing my sonadow fankids this weekend but i don’t think that’s gonna happen

ok but fr tho my mindset changes from “pure fluff sonadow so cute soft” to “i need to make a doohickey right now” like phases of the moon it’s fucking crazy and i don’t like it actually

[daily-portgas-d-ace]

day 20

brothers hug

(I DIDN'T MEAN FOR YESTERDAYS TO HURT PEOPLE I promise I'm not going to kill the bugs 🙏 they will thrive together ok I prommy)

[daeyumi]

The first beginning 🌅🗡️

Happy 38th anniversary to my favorite series of all time. 💛 Here’s to many more years of adventure~