#in the Betazed bit

[yourbuerokrat2]

Picard in TNG, especially early to mid TNG, would be so mortified if anyone were to tell him that he would end up with Q. 

Just imagine Picard meeting some entity that knows Picard from the future and just got a bit confused when travelling through time (they are just trying to get the hang of it, ok? It’s hard figuring this kind of stuff out by yourself) and ended up there. 

They are just kind of confused as to why Picard is alone because usually Q is never too far away from him. Not really noticing at first how uncomfortable everyone, and especially Picard, is getting by their rambling and the implications behind their words about just what Picards life could become in the future, they suddenly stop themselves. 

“Oh, oh,  you are still mortal right now? I... I see. Well, just forget everything I just said. And .. pleased don’t tell Q? Anyway, see you in a couple thousand years for our first meeting.”

And they are gone. 

No one is allowed to even mention or acknowledge that anything even close to this encounter has ever happened. 

#it would be even worse than if someoen would have told him that he was going to get married to Deannas mother #because hey at least on Betazed they (hopefully) can get a divorce sooner or later #and he would and oculd find away to avoid her #with Q? #Good luck pal #Also think that for a good part of TNG Picard would not really view Q as someone capable of seeing anyone #especially a human #as something closes to an equal and would only see any future relations between them as #Q treating him as his favorite toy at the best of times #and as TNG would progress he would not see it as that bad #but still be doubtful that Q even in the far future #would treat him with anything more than smug condescension and childish affection #which wold not really be the case #although maybe it would come of as it a bit because Q does not really know how to translate Q feelings and what he wants into an interpersol #relationship with a human

[firstroseofspring]

i have exactly one million questions.

#sea of gatan on betazed woah..... #five years means they hadnt separated yet (at least if you go by 12 and not 5 or 6 like b'elanna says sometimes.) #was it a family vacation? did miral take her alone? #im crafting a narrative unfortunately. miral takes her to get away for a little bit because john is becoming a little bit insufferable #and she immediately almost drowns and its literally the worst vacation of mirals life. <- she cant catch a break #or maybe they have a good time and they don't fight much yet and they're like woohoo family trip to betazed #and b'elanna almost drowns and THEN its the worst day ever for the both of them. :) #or maybe not. so many possibilities #also it must have been a public place? must have been very overwhelming for the people around them to hear the- panic and the grief #the relief after of course. #miral dont tell your father you almost drowned torres #diary #interesting that she waited until she almost died to tell her about stovokor it seems like. something you would start young- though #five is very young but i know religious couples that start younger than this #i once read a fic where miral wasnt- where it was like an issue that miral was so into the klingon religion when b'elanna was growing up #because she hadn't always been that way. it makes me do the math and like- #l'naan is dead during b'elanna's childhood because in prophecy she says that she used to pray for her grandmother when kohlar asks about it #anyway the implication was that she hadn't been so religious when she met john and its like okay my mommy died on me and my daughter #almost drowned and my husband is trying to make me and her into something that is not. What I'm Used To. lets find a crutch #and put claw marks in it! collapses

[tinderbox210]

Makes me hopeful they won't kill La'an off in the s3 premiere. I've also read that Christina has pitched ideas for s3 which makes it sound like La'an will stick around for this season. Of course they could pull a Hemmer and write her out of the show anytime, but I hope that won't happen. The show is set years before TOS, there's no need to rush to the end yet.

Thinking of potential storylines, I think it would also be a lot of fun if there was an episode in s3 featuring Betazed with the crew attending one of those legendary traditional wedding ceremonies. I googled a bit and found that Betazoids were mentioned in a DISCO novel, so timeline-wise it would be possible to have them show up in the show.

It would be hilariously awkward to watch the crew try to navigate delicate diplomacy, especially when someone as flamboyant as Lwaxana or the 3 Betazoid ladies from LWD would be there turning the wedding upsidedown. The crew would draw straws to decide who would attend the ceremony.

Imo Pike would be mostly chill about the lack of clothes because he's very comfortable in his skin, but he might also get close to fainting once he sees Una out of her uniform. M'Benga doesn't seem to have a problem with public nudity due to all the public baths during his battle days. Erica and Christine would definitely seek out the bar first.

And La'an and Spock would feel absolutely awkward and La'an would complain how she can't carry a phaser. They would try to hide behind bushes or cover themselves discreetly with the first objects they can find, like empty bowls and such. They would try to be professional and not sneak a peek at each other and fail miserably doing so. And then some Betazoid would blurt out their attraction for each other during the wedding speech... there might also be a chocolate fountain involved...

And now I realize this idea would probably work better as fanfiction because it's not very PG.

#star trek: strange new worlds #snw au #spocklaan au #spocklaan #la'an x spock #spock x la'an #random au thoughts on a rainy day #i'm appalled that apparently no one has written a SNW Bezoid wedding story yet #how is that possible? #it's the best setup

[docholligay]

I'm trying to move this along because as predicted (by me) I'm not going to get to the Marks and Spencer Juicy Bits of this episode but: Betazed has fallen

Also pour one out for the character who should have been a lesbian

basic notes on my familiarity with ds9

#Doc watches DS9 #Ds9 S6E19

[ensign-smith]

okay, this meme I made requires a bit of context first

I was playing around in NovelAI with a scene between Data and my self-insert, where they're snuggling and Data shares some Betazed poetry.

I was mostly just fking around and letting the AI generate most of the scene because I was bored and curious about its poetry-generating capabilities (not very good, apparently), and it hits me with this

the absolute non-sequiter of including t'pel inspired me to create this cursed meme

#data/me/t'pel polycule time I GUESS #my posts #i ended up not renewing my subscription but at least it sent me out with a good laugh #star trek tng #data soong

[marymoss1971]

Star Trek: Lower Decks ep. 4.05 "Empath logical Fallacies"

*

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* * * * * * *

This episode was so much fun! I loved it!

When I first heard about the premise, I thought “Oh, it’ll be like Fascination but the emotions will be more chaotic like in Sarek" Way to subvert expectations by making the root cause Bendi Syndrome and  *not* Zhanti Fever!

Speaking of Bendi Syndrome, we learned in “Sarek” that there was no cure but that episode was over ten years prior. So, hopefully they found some type of cure or treatment for it because T’Lyn is so young!

Mariner was so great today with T’Lyn.

Also, big props for Shaxs for his belief that Security’s job is to protect the crew by all threats, external and internal.

I definitely think the creation of the BIA was a direct result of the Dominion Occupation. They must’ve decided that they can’t count on Starfleet to protect them anymore.

My favorite bit was Migleemo at the end when he sees the destroyed replicator and just walks away whistling. LOL. 

Finally, the line "Ancient Caitians used to eat Betazoids." makes no sense. (BTW, my first thought when I heard Ancient Caitians were Kzinti)

Second weird line "Betazed is a member of the Federation! We're allies!" If they're members; then they're MORE than allies! The UFP and Klingons are allies!

#star trek lower decks #season 4 spoilers

[diesoonandsuffer]

I FINISHED TNG!

please clap.

i never actually did an update on my thoughts post since season 3, so i figured before i watched the movies i'll do a summary of my thoughts on the show.

first off it apparently took me over a year to finish it since i started in july of 2022, and it's now august of 2023. this isn't because i didn't like it or anything, i just kept doing other stuff and unlike with tos, i wasn't watching it WITH someone, so i wasn't on a schedule of any kind. however i did enjoy the show, i grew to like the characters quite a lot and i was invested in their stories. it was definitely a different vibe to tos, while tos is quite episodic, campy, and a bit dated, tng is less campy, a bit less episodic, and slightly less dated lol. it did kind of annoy me that we would start to get these longer arcing plots and then they would be abandoned or forgotten. for example at the beginning of the show it seemed like riker and troi were going to have a lot more "drama" in the show but nothing really happened with them, and then at the very end of the show they put her with worf and don't really explore that fully. i don't just mean romantic pairings but that's an example of what i mean. there was also just a general quality difference in episodes, maybe it was more noticeable here than in tos since tng was longer, but towards the end of the show in particular we got really good episodes followed by quite shit ones. by the time the show ended i didn't really feel like it was ready to end, if that makes sense. i feel like it was always toeing the line between being episodic and being a show with long plots. in general -- was fun. i had a good time. i've forgotten a lot from the beginning but oh well.

here i'll give my thoughts on the characters since that's what i used to do. in no particular order:

picard: i really don't have many strong opinions about him, some episodes he definitely was more entertaining than others. i think i would have liked to see him fail more often because generally he seems too capable at times. i do enjoy the rare moments where he loosens up. despite the longer screentime he had i weirdly feel like he has less depth than kirk? let me know if this is a crazy take but i don't feel like picard is a particularly complicated man, he doesn't seem like he has a lot of inner turmoil or conflict about things, meanwhile kirk is going through it at all times. not to constantly compare the two but. well, i just did

troi: the most beautiful woman in the world i'm such a whore when i look at her. when she got a real uniform i whooped and hollered and when she become a COMMANDER bitch?!?!?! i really do wish they did more with her character she had sooooooo much potential with being half-betazed and they never really give it the exploration it deserves, they use it when its convenient and forget when it isn't. i feel like if we had gotten one more season she could have really shined but they were like i know let's spend the last couple of episodes we have with her making her date worf i guess. also why did they give her mom so much trauma. that wasn't nice.

worf: i grew to like him more and more as the show went on, like whenever i would realize the episode i was watching was going to be a worf-focused episode i would get excited. he's one of those unintentionally funny characters which makes him entertaining, but i also find it interesting seeing the way he balances his klingon heritage with his role as a starfleet officer. i love how much he loves being a klingon, and how he always wants to teach other people about it and let them, in turn, learn more about him. he cares deeply and he tries hard even if he doesn't get it right. i know he's in ds9 so i'm happy to see more of him when i finally get to that

riker: we didn't get enough of him tbh. it felt like there would be multiple season gaps between his solo episodes. like for someone who is the first officer he didn't feel very relevant to the show, they stopped caring about his character after a while. he would have maybe a small arc in certain episodes but he was mostly there because he had to be? maybe the sporadic way i watched is effecting my memory on this. but i really like him, i think he's funny and i like his rogue tendencies.

geordi: we also didn't get enough of geordi. i love him but i feel like i barely know anything about him. but i love how genuinely kind and caring he is, and he's also in the scotty position of "the ship would fall apart without him" i feel like every episode picard would be like geordi fix this! help! also i wish he would have kissed the android.

data: hey it's the android. i love this dude. however i am getting a little overexposed to the dude and i know the movies are only going to continue that. idk why by s6-7 they were like "we're out of ideas for data. what if he liked killing and hurt his crewmates and was maybe evil" which is so lazy. like it would all somehow get resolved by the end and everyone would just move on like data wasn't a genocide machine two minutes ago. the finale reminded me of the way data used to be, where he would constantly ask people questions and say obvious things, and i realized i really missed that. he has dreams and shit now he's not really as compelling. he's been a human to me from day 1 so they didn't need to do all that. however brent spiner continues to be very funny.

beverly: um she certainly was there. don't get me wrong i like her but i feel like i never had any strong attachment to her. she didn't get many solo episodes and the last one i can remember (with the fucking. ghost?) was not good. yeah i can't really think of anything else to say. she's fine.

wesley: ok i know he like left the show after a certain point but i would be remiss to mention again that his arc did not end in a good way and he should get to take a NAP why does he have to keep being SO SPECIAL. also why does anyone ever hate this kid he was like 12 he literally was so non offensive to the show. but i did really like every time he came back after wil wheaton left i feel like wesley brings a new perspective to the show that is needed.

honorable mention ro laren: she's my icon right now so i feel like i have to mention her. i would have loved to see more of her in the show, i found her character really compelling and complex. i liked how she was always a bit of a bitch. i'm on the fence of how i feel about her arc ending, i feel like the episode with geordi and the one where she was turned into a kid both were made to help her feel more like the enterprise could be a home for her. they didn't give me much reason to believe otherwise? i don't care about her leaving, i liked that both her and wesley left starfleet even if the show didn't have the time or capacity to explore it, but i didn't fully believe her reasoning. but i loved every time she was there.

i have probably forgotten. many things. i was in the sun all day and maybe have heat exhaustion. but i'm starting generations in like 10 minutes and i realized i needed to make this post before i watched it. thank you for coming along on this year-long journey of me watching tng. we did it boys

#when i finish the movies i'll be able to follow people who post tng stuff #then i can add my thoughts to those posts as they come up #for now have the brain soup #tng lb #tng #sam's thots

[unknownfacelessfanfictions]

Being in a relationship with Q and Picard

Oh boy, oh boy

I'm not sure if you're the luckiest person alive or not

I mean, on one hand you're in a relationship with a god-like entity and a starfleet captain

On the other hand you're in a relationship with a god-like entity and a starfleet captain

You know what I mean, right?

Let's start with our favourite frenchman, shall we?

Jean-Luc is a rather private man

His private life and his job are always seperated and he tries very hard to not let the one affect the other

Of course this is impossible, I mean, he is the goddam captaine of the ship

But you are understanding and he really tries

At least twice a week he gets to your quarters on time and without staying longer than his shift is

Of course, if there's an emergency than he doesn't really have a choice, but he really, really tries, okay?

Shakespeare

Hell lot of Shakespeare

And whether you've read it or not, you read every book he recommends and lends you so that you two can talk about it

(After all you love him and he also shows interest in your hobbies)

You even got the honour of borrowing his paper books

According to him, everything that belongs to him is also yours (with a few exceptions, starting with his clothes, which you don't always listen to).

Yet you handle it as if it were made of glass

Jean-Luc even tries to go on regular dates with you (with or without Q), for which he rents the holodeck with you for longer than necessary to make sure you are really alone.

He even suggested having breakfast with you every morning, but you politely declined.

Not that you don't want to, but you have breakfast with Deanna on Wednesdays and a morning meeting with Data on Fridays, where you eat and he keeps bombarding you with questions, not that it really bothers you.

Also, you wanted to give him the chance to eat with Beverly at least twice a week, even though she objected the first time.

After all, she doesn't want to intrude on your relationship.

You really don't know, why the hell everybody thinks, that they're intruding

Nevertheless, he insists on holding you in his arms for at least five minutes every morning.

And to be honest, it has often happened that he forgets the time and is almost late for work.

Besides, he's a bit old-fashioned about the whole dating thing.

Roses, candlelit dinners, pulling back a chair for you and so on and so forth.

He would probably also hold the door open for you if they didn't automatically slide to the side.

Maybe that was also one of the reasons why he had a bit of a hard time at first that Q is also part of this relationship

Speaking of him

I think, Q is like the oppisite of Jean-Luc in terms of relationships

At least later on

At first, he was kind of nervous, after all, this is his first real relationship and then already with two people?

He was freaking out on the inside

So, after you and Jean-Luc made him the offer of a polyamorous relationship and he agreed, he paid a visit to his professor of humanity: Data

After two hours of Data explaining everything he learned, Q tried to make it reality

Let's put it that way, you noticed

He was still incredibly nervous but also added one chliché after another, until you told him to relax

and he actually listens!

He becomes more flirty and to admit his comments get sometimes a bit more dirty but Jean-Luc gets him down every time

Every time it's his turn to plan the date (with or without Jean-Luc) he takes you to the most extravagant places.

Waterfalls on Bajor? No problem

Gardens on Betazed? Already done

A holiday in peace while he freezes time and no one even notices you're gone, except for the more relaxed attitude? Nothing better than that!

Q is very passionate and touch starved

He always needs physical contact somehow

Be it holding hands or hugging you from behind and refusing to let go again

Q needs this physical contact and he takes everything he can get

Jean-Luc's condition for attempting this relationship was that Q would not interfere in his ship's affairs, which also included an attack

However, he had said nothing directly to you

By now, you've become accustomed to Q paying you regular visits while you're at work.

Jean-Luc absolutely does not like it, but it pleases you, so he does not forbid Q to do so

From time to time you give those two the time to go on dates allone or release their tention towards each other.

Mostly you go to Deanna to talk about a few things or pay Data a visit to play a bit with Spot

Let's be honest, you three are not perfect

You are chaotic, do not always agree and there are arguments sometimes

But you are together and love each other dearly and that is what matters, right?

One last thing:

You guys are so protective of each other

I'm gonna pray for every one to not insulting one of your partners or you, because life will become hell for them

Jean-Luc takes over the affaires regarding the ship ( worst assignments etc.) while Q tornaments them on his way (no real torture, you and Jean-Luc talked him out of it)

If you ask me, this is the best someone could wish for

#star trek the next generation #star trek tng #captain picard #captain jean luc picard #jean-luc picard x reader #picard x reader #captain picard x reader #q #q star trek #q x reader #picard x reader x q #i have no idea what i did here #but let's hope it's fun! #enjoy this ridiculous thing I wrote while I was bored #I mean #I already uploaded it #but then i had to delete my account and I forget to make a backup #my works

[eldritchazure]

This is my second entry for Dominionweek!! It’s for the prompts Culture Shock and Cuisine.

•••

Lizaan’s eyes widened when the taste of the cold food hit his tongue. It was… vibrant, to say the least. Kexera smiled at the expression of surprise that must have been on his face.

It tastes like rippleberries, all sweet and tangy, and yet the texture was completely new. It was creamy and wonderful, and it was also extremely cold. The temperature made his front teeth sort of ache, so he moved the substance towards the back of his mouth to chew with his molars. It began to melt on his tongue before he swallowed it. It was divine.

“What did you call this again?” he asked Kexera as he scooped another chunk out of the bowl with his spoon.

“It’s called ice cream,” the grinning Betazoid replied. “It’s a traditional human desert. The contraption I used to make it was also invented by the humans. It can turn just about anything into ice cream, with some dairy products added in to give it the right texture.”

“It’s amazing,” Lizaan said emphatically. When the Founder had instructed him to mingle with the natives of Betazed, he certainly hadn’t expected this. In fact, most of Betazoids he’d interacted with so far had either been frosty or irritatingly obsequious towards him. He had no idea why Kexera was being so kind. She had gone through all this trouble, risking the ire of her peers for associating with him, just to do things like make him ice cream that he’d actually be able to taste. It was a bit suspicious, actually. She certainly wasn’t this welcoming to the other Vorta in their delegation. But it was hard to be cynical about Kexera’s intentions with a spoonful of rippleberry ice cream in his mouth.

“I’m glad you think so,” Kexera said. “Actually, could I try some? I’ve never heard of this rippleberry you like so much.”

Lizaan nodded and passed her the bowl. It was now about half-full of the smooth light purple substance called ice cream. “You’ve likely never heard of it because it only grows in Dominion space,” he told her as she went to get herself a spoon.

As she ate her spoonful, her expression seemed pensive. Lizaan wondered idly if she’d like it.

“It’s… good,” she seemed to decide after a moment of contemplation. “Odd, but good.”

He sort of wanted to tell her about the rippleberry groves on Kurill Prime, but he knew that would be giving up too much. As nice as Kexera was, she was still technically the enemy, and he didn’t yet know what she wanted from him. After all, Lizaan knew that such kindness never came without a motive, without a price.

Even so, when she grinned at him, he couldn’t help but smile back. Lizaan told himself that this was a good thing. Kexera was a well-respected diplomat. She could be very useful to the Dominion. Perhaps this amicability could be forged into an alliance. Lizaan very much hoped so.

#dominionweek #the dominion #lizaan #lizaan 2 #vorta oc #kexera #betazoid #star trek ocs #star trek #lizaan 2 when someone is nice to him: welp guess i’ll just have to betray all my values for this person

[fate-motif]

literally not gonna tag this but this for my mutuals who understand me completely and don’t mind me being brutally honest about lwd. my condolences to anyone injured.

i like the intention behind mariner’s self-destructive tendencies, they really built it up super well over the course of several seasons, and then they fucked the landing so bad i feel offended for the poor woman.

like wow holy shit. they turned her backstory into another fucking reference. oh my god. you know, they could have had her look up to an original character that, you know, inspired mariner to want to be a leader, a captain, instead of sito, who i adore, but who was always a shrinking violet, even before she committed manslaughter and felt like she had to justify her existence onboard the enterprise.

but they didn’t because reference.

also, like the idea of beckett not wanting to level up because that puts her in a position to send her friends to their deaths. that is completely uncoupled from sito’s death. now i have a lot of salt about sito’s death, because the episode really made it look like she had to die to redeem herself for the mistakes of her past, which i loathe, but mariner being so damn offended by the sheer idea that an officer of this…navy. would ever go into a military mission. for the sake of her people. to fight their former occupiers. and die. like jesus, mariner. let me guess, you want to negotiate with the cardassians next?

it’s really giving “americans who think the biggest casualty of 9/11 was the american public’s ‘innocence’” idk what to tell you

but that’s just me admittedly.

also. lmao. luh. mao. nick fucking locarno. a bit part in one episode from tng. oh he's gotta be the guy to start an insurrection within starfleet, because god forbid we make a new character that would actually make sense to start an insurrection because he'd actually be competent enough to do that.

it really boggles the mind that they'd have the gall to talk about an inner revolt from within the federation, coming from a human, and make it so...senseless. like truly, completely, senseless. why is he doing this? why put in all this effort? some talk about dying for pointless reasons?

like, mike. we may not have seen it onscreen for budgetary reasons but the dominion war was a direct threat against the lives of the people in the federation. they didn't die for 'no reason'. betazed was invaded. cardassia was occupied. if people went 'oh, we don't trust the people in charge,' all of those systems would have been conquered. it's just not a logical train of thought that people would think about.

who the fuck would listen to this rinky dink libertarian who got kicked out of school over a decade ago.

in such a politically thoughtful franchise where the idea of federation citizens doing anything against the status quo that is deeply beneficial to them (whether by doing good things or selfish things on their behalf) would be fascinating, they really just couldn't think of a more interesting way to fuel this story than 'yeah let's bring back locarno, you know, call robbie mcneill, that'll get them kicking in their seats'. woof.

they really went 'what would an evil lower decker be like' and refused to consider that if they're a lower decker villain, they're probably not competent enough to start a whole ass insurrection.

embarrassing.

and to top it off, there's a genesis device. hoo boy. like don't get me wrong, nuclear weapons have existed since the 1940s and even little boy or fat man would be dangerous today, but it really just feels like 'look, reference' all over again. good god.

i feel bad for this show. it wanted to do good, but someone's just really a tng fan who's not putting in the work to think about the world beyond sprinkling in references. i was just starting to congratulate this show both last and this season for doing intelligent, self-contained stories that stood on their own and they popped a squat over the writing of their lead character, a character i love.

[sshbpodcast]

Fashionably late: A Lwaxana Troi appreciation post

She is daughter of the Fifth House, holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx, heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed. Add to that the mother of the counselor of the Enterprise-D. Star Trek fans either love her or hate her (we love her!), but there’s no denying that she has class, style, and a fashion sense that could make any runway collection envious.

Join us at A Star to Steer Her By as we drool over the costume choices for Lwaxana Troi, a woman larger than life, played by Star Trek royalty, the late Majel Barrett Roddenberry. Sure, it’s been a little bit since we brought up this topic on the podcast (follow along! discussion starts at 1:09:23), but this Betazoid is a fashion queen and reserves the right to be a little fashionably late. We sense you’ll love it.

[Images © CBS/Paramount, as found on Trekcore.com, and Star Trek Timelines]

#star trek #star trek podcast #podcast #lwaxana troi #betazed #the next generation #deep space nine #haven #manhunt #menage a troi #half a life #cost of living #dark page #the forsaken #fascination #the muse #fashion

[bevsdee]

TNG characters sexuality hcs :)

Tasha - aroace lesbian - there's definitely some queerness going on here. due to her childhood, she probably has a more difficult time trusting enough to love someone, but she would definitely love you so openly. she seems like the type to bring you cool flowers from away missions, and just want to experience life with you. also just- women. she has the vibes, y'know?

Picard - aroace - honestly I don't have much to say about this one. he just has the vibes 😎

Geordi - aroace gay - he was supposed to be gay, I hate that they got rid of that. I think part of the reason he's so incredibly single all the time is that he's aroace. not completely "ew no, never", but he has a bit of trouble experiencing love the way other people can. he does love, and he loves hard. but not in the same way as allo people

Guinan - unlabelled - doesn't feel the need to label herself. secretly has a preference for women tho

Data - unlabelled - Geordi probably asked him at some point, which got him wondering. He doesn't use labels, at least not the same as everyone else. but when he had his emotion chip, he got to understand and feel attraction the way humans do. I don't think he's incapable of loving, I think he just does it differently, in his own way. and that's perfectly valid <3

Q - queer - I'm not sure if omnipotent beings experience romantic/sexual attraction, but if this one does, he def has a preference for picard men. Q is for Queer

Wesley - queer - almost definitely confused. discovering his identity one crisis at a time :)

Troi - bisexual - you can't tell me there wasn't something going on with her and Tasha. or maybe her & Bev. as little as we know about betazoid culture/tradition, I find it hard to believe that heteronormativity is big on betazed. she was probably raised to not judge based on gender, and instead was encouraged to find someone who loves and understands her

Riker - bisexual - you really think Will Riker would confine himself to only banging one gender? nah. but fr tho he wouldn't care about being specific with his attraction. if he likes you, he likes you. definitely has a preference for women/fem ppl tho #inclusiveking

#headcanon #tag urself im tasha #and wesley #idk how accurate these are #i might just be projecting lmao #tasha yar #captain picard #geordi laforge #star trek guinan #commander data #q star trek #wesley crusher #deanna troi #will riker #star trek #star trek tng #tng #im thinking of making a post about sexuality on betazed #with cultural stuff #and lwaxana troi #vell says things

[the-lady-general]

.

I didn't watch Picard because I don't like the River Tam concept and I don't get on with Picard the character, but did Memory Alpha get that right about synthetics being dismantled? In the Federation? Where they're recognised as sentient life? And the articles of the Federation value the self-determin and dignity of all sentient life? What the fuck. What the fuck? Just as a set up? As the justification for a five minute Picard speech? So after the entire senior crew fought for Vic, Kira is just going to step up to Quark and tell him "End programme in Vic's holosuite, that's an order"? They're going to find B4 and pull him to bits? They'll take the Doctor's mobile emitter and throw it in a matter reclaimer while Janeway is just happily on her wawould Vice Admiral and just like "too bad too sad never mind"?

DS9 did genocide ONCE, as the desperate, last ditch solution to a war so big it took everyone except the Dominion several seasons to understand HOW BIG it was going to be. We had the invisible beaming mines, the war of attrition, every model of a Miranda space ship that they could find in LA hobby stores blown up, several scenes with several characters going over casualty lists, the loss of Betazed, It's Only a Paper Moon, In the Pale Moonlight, Sacrifice of Angels with all its deaths, and the club of illegal geniuses projecting hundreds and hundreds of billions of deaths. And then one fringe group of one department within one organisation of one faction goes ahead with the genocide as a top secret move that nobody in the Federation government ever got to see because even the guys responsible for it specifically said "What we're doing is evil and no Federation official should ever be confronted with that choice because even seriously considering it is monstrous". Those were the bad guys that said that.

And the Picard Federation government can just sign genocide into its constitution like on a Tuesday? Without investigations and research and risk assessment and proposals and elections, votes of no confidence, parliament walkouts, massive civil unrest and mass protest from Starfleet, who have been working with androids and holograms pretty fucking closely for a while?

I don't like it when people point to DS9, which is precious baby bear, and say it's too dark and not Star Trek enough. Because the whole point they were making the entire time was always "dire circumstances will make you want to abandon your principles, and if or when you do, it will be a tragedy". But then we get Captain Brainy with the genocide as a set up? Without a deep fucking exploration of what that means for Federation society at large? I mean, prohibiting the creation of new synthetics is bad enough, but dismantling existing ones crosses a pretty fucking significant line. Trust in any government person or organisation that did anything less than vocal protest at the knee-jerk, overnight abandonment of the Federation's most important principle should be impossible. Because that means that the people that lead Federation society were always ready to kill an entire segment of its population for reasons that are totally outside of their control. First they came for the Androids style.

And can you imagine actually being in Section 31 for that shit? Because they're evil. They fucking keep saying so themselves. Sisko's In the Pale Moonlight monologue is just business as usual for them. But even those fuckheads do what they do because they're convinced that the average citizen and government and society should never have the chance to become monsters. They're perversely convinced that they're committing evil so that the Federation at large can stand up for the self-determination and dignity of all sentient life. And then they come in to work one day and see that there's just a kill order on an entire group of Federation citizens for something that is entirely outside of their control. Imagine having sold your conscience for that. I'd go apeshit. Step Two would bombing the Federation HQ. I think that would be a measured and sane response.

When the fuck did Lower Decks become the only watchable Star Trek? (Strange New Worlds, You're On Thin Fucking Ice.) When did Star Wars become the TV show that delivers poignant, thought-provoking storylines about human nature and the extremes we can be driven to under hardship, and the importance of friends and community and sticking up for another (hi, Andor), while so much live action Star Trek is shooting for explosion creep action movie where the bad guys consistently end up being the guys who should embody the ideals?

#the lady general rambles #more like the lady general got lost on memory alpha and had a kneejerk reaction without knowing or caring for the context #turning my personal problems into nerd rants about star trek 😎👉👉 #in which section 31 of all people almost get good guy status somehow #i like the principles of the federation and what the federation appears to be doing isn't very principles of the federation of them #dead dove do not read #is this enough tags yet not to kill the vibe in hashtag star trek #star trek

[ghostwise]

I don’t remember where this is from maybe one of the novels but Raffi goes to Betazed for rehab and after it doesn’t work she asks to be discharged. I don’t know what Starfleet’s rehab would even look like but I don’t really think the show handles her addiction very well so it’s probably not all that helpful. And agree, I also don’t get why she or Seven for that matter went back to Starfleet other than contrived plot reasons. Both of them being fenris rangers makes a lot more sense in my opinion.

I really shouldn't talk so much shit seeing as I've never read any of the novels or comics, but is there an implication that she was more or less pushed into her downward spiral because the Tal Shiar had already infiltrated Starfleet by that time? I can't make it make sense. Star Trek has always been a bit idealistic about its vision for the future, so the edgy turn of the early 2000s Trek (everything from Enterprise onward) is a bummer.

#btw starfleet has been compromised so many times it's silly #by goofy alien parasites... by changelings (twice!!)... by romulans... c'mon y'all get it together...

[thegreaterlink]

Reviewing Star Trek TNG - S3E23 "Ménage à Troi"

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that they were just looking for an excuse to use that title. Though I can’t say I blame them.

Also, fun fact, this is actually going live the day before Jonathan Frakes' birthday. I really wish I had a better episode to mark the occasion.

THE PREMISE

During a reception on the Enterprise to celebrate a successful trade deal, Counsellor Troi is arguing with her mother Lwaxana about starting a family. Afterwards, Lwaxana is approached by the Ferengi Daimon Tog, who both lusts for her and thinks her telepathic abilities could help him with business, but she rejects him.

At the behest of Captain Picard, Riker and Troi take a quick shore leave on Betazed, only for Lwaxana to track them down to encourage a relationship between them. However, Tog shows up again, but when he's again rebuffed by Lwaxana, he has the three of them beamed up to his ship.

MY REVIEW

Ah, Lwaxana Troi and the Ferengi. A combination which absolutely fucking nobody asked for, but damn if that’s going to stop them.

Let's be honest: if episodes like this and Manhunt didn't have Gene Roddenberry's wife as the focus, they never would've gotten past the concept stage, and whatever poor sap suggested them in the writers' room would be rightly mocked and preferrably pelted with rotten produce.

Okay, that was a bit harsh. I have nothing against Majel Barrett, especially since she at least gets to play a different side of Lwaxana this time, showing that despite her somewhat... maniser? Whatever the female equivalent of a womaniser is towards Picard, we at least know that she isn't promiscuous.

My problem is that the episodes that focus on her are usually subpar - after all, her last episode was my least favourite actual episode of season 2 - and this one is no exception.

Case in point, when they regain consciousness on board the ship, Tog has Troi and Lwaxana beamed into a separate compartment... without their clothes. Something that's expanded upon in Deep Space Nine (a show which usually makes good use of the Ferengi) is that Ferengi believe that their women (and women in general) are unworthy of wearing clothes.

...Why have I insisted on doing this to myself?

Anyway, one benefit of this setup is that it at least gives the cast a chance to play some mind games. Though the Ferengi aren't much of an opponent.

In one corner, we have Riker playing a game of actual chess with the same Ferengi guard he was playing with at the reception earlier, using the guard's competitiveness against him to talk his way out of the cell and gain access to the ship's computer.

Meanwhile Lwaxana keeps Tog distracted by... playing along with his advances and rubbing his ears in a gesture which is apparently known as oo-mox, since the ears are one of the most sensitive parts of a Ferengi's body. In layman’s terms, she unknowingly gave him the Ferengi equivalent of a handjob.

This episode's a real piece of work. I'd like to offer my condolences to whatever poor bastard had to make the Memory Alpha page about oo-mox, including every onscreen instance of it.

Also the Ferengi head makeup doesn’t really adhere well to the skin, and there are very obvious seams between his eyes and his forehead when he’s lying down.

Anyway, Riker is caught (because we need to pad out the script somehow), and to prevent himself from being reported, Tog agrees to use mind probes on Lwaxana to duplicate her telepathic powers, even if it could potentially kill her.

Yes, the mind probe!

But of course this doesn't happen. In fact, Lwaxana even strikes up a deal with Tog, with Riker and Troi going free in exchange for her staying with the Ferengi. When the Enterprise arrives (there's this whole subplot about them tracking the prisoners down, but it's not really important), Lwaxana hails them:

"When will you get it through your thick head that it's over between us, Jean-Luc?"

Picard's sense of horror is tangible as he realises that Lwaxana wants him to fight for her. And as absurd as this is, it fits well with the episode's tone and is actually entertaining, with Picard hamming it up reciting Shakespeare to profess his "love" for Lwaxana and giving us perhaps the most famous Star Trek meme template of them all.

It gets even better when Lwaxana claims that Picard is jealous enough to murder his competition, and Picard immediately plays along. Then once Lwaxana is aboard the Enterprise and Tog is gone, Picard immediately drops the act.

"Mr Crusher, set a course for Betazed. Warp nine."

See? This series can be funny when it wants to.

By the way, there’s been this whole subplot about Wesley Crusher taking his oral exam to graduate Starfleet Academy and his concern that he won't be able to serve on the ship, presumably because the writers knew that they didn’t have enough of a plot to fill a whole episode. But in the course of helping to track down the prisoners, he misses his transport to the Academy.

Though Wesley intends to reapply next year, Picard calls him to his office.

"The Academy's loss is our gain. The Enterprise will continue to benefit from your talents for another year… You see, Wesley, in my eyes, you are an acting ensign in title only. I hereby grant you a field promotion to full ensign with all the commensurate responsibilities and privileges of that rank."

Congratulations, Wesley. You may be the same rank as Harry Kim, but you’ve gotten more promotions than he ever will.

Plus it's nice to see Wil Wheaton finally get to wear a proper Starfleet uniform instead of that weird grey jumpsuit.

It also has some fucked-up implications for the alternate history we saw in Yesterday's Enterprise, since it implies in that timeline the Federation were so desperate that they were promoting acting Ensigns like Wesley into full officers.

In lighter news, an otherwise weak episode ends on a good note. It's great to see the crew continuing to grow.

4/10 - At least it's better than the last Lwaxana episode.

#star trek #star trek the next generation #star trek tng #star trek review #star trek tng review #Youtube #captain picard #jean luc picard #uss enterprise #will riker #deanna troi #geordi la forge #wesley crusher #miles o'brien #beverly crusher #lwaxana troi #majel barrett #ferengi #star trek memes

[astrodances]

How does Zeus, Selene, and Selene fit in your au

So first of all, the Klondike's shuttlecraft are named after Greek deities (Selene, Storkules - but not Zeus XD), as explained in this.

Second, I did write a little bit about how Selene might make a good Deanna Troi parallel here, which if I go with, then that would mean that the Greek gods are the Betazoid parallels for the AU. Which works (again, seeing Zeus be the Lwaxana parallel to annoy Scrooge would be hilarious, and it still works for Storkules to be Selene's brother), but 1) that contradicts the naming of the shuttlecraft after Greek deities, and 2) I really do just want to have them be like how they are in DT17, because Greece! So actually, I could just say that instead of the parallels for Lwaxana and Deanna coming from an AU Betazed, those roles are now played by Greek gods! Yeah! :D (And then there's still probably an AU Betazed, but it's more like its Trek version now.)

So, Selene will be Della's girlfriend (and eventually Penny's as well), and she'll probably be on the ship a lot, along with Storkules, who might date Donald for a bit (there might be a whole love-square thing with Donald and José and Panchito happening).

Zeus, again, is very much the Lwaxana of the AU here, but much more irritating to Scrooge, and he juuuuuust might have something to do with the "ion storm" involved with Della's disappearance.

#Astro answers #DuckTales #Star Trek AU