Going to lie down because it's hot as balls in my apartment and also because I'm just exhausted from not sleeping great. Thus why this is being posted randomly in the middle of the day. I was going to post this tonight but god knows if I'll even be awake.
I've always had really awful birthdays. Either it was outright ignored or I was punished for even having one. My parents were... unpleasant. Star Trek became my escape. Could see amazing people make amazing choices and be the best they wanted to be instead of lying and saying they were good people. Actions speak louder than words, after all, and the actions of the crew of the Enterprise-D (specifically) were what helped me sort of override a lot of the disgusting hateful stuff I was taught as a child. Also made me feel like a person instead of a burden.
I've not really been able to delve in deep to a lot of Trek communities sometimes because, well, it's the internet. People can get a bit toxic behind a computer screen. This place has been anything but. Pure kindness and love from everyone here. Top to the bottom. Honestly it seems pretty worth it to me to forego birthday gifts throughout my life to be able to find y'all.
You are all awesome. I don't want birthday wishes and stuff, I get enough of those from Starbucks and other companies trying to get me to buy their shit that I cannot afford, but I want y'all to appreciate yourself for a couple minutes. You're a great person, you've helped make an amazing community, and I am eternally grateful.
You are AWESOME. Love y'all.
Live so very motherfucking long and prosper more than you could ever dream.
As a reference to Malcolm Reed's birthday episode in Enterprise. He also didn't seem to have great experiences with birthdays
It's good! I understand why people don't like it, but it's not as bad as a lot of people say. It's cool seeing the crew learn the lessons that will become the Prime Directive, and the Xindi story is really good. And of course, there is the incomparable Jeffery Combs as Commander Shran, one of my all-time favorite characters
I am not immune to fan service. I'm bi, and think both T'Pol and Trip are hot lol
But I agree the decon scenes were weird and unnecessary. I didn't really like any of the "sexy" parts of Enterprise, except for some stuff near the end, that I won't mention because of spoilers, and when they had to decon Porthos lol
Phlox is the best! I love his episodes, especially the one where he's writing a letter to his pen pal, and narrates the whole thing. He's also great in the episodes with Dr. Soong
I'm glad they're putting more references in Discovery. That was one of the things that turned me off of it. They were doing this whole thing with the Mirror Universe, and they didn't even mention Hoshi being the leader of the Terran Empire. Like, obviously she's not still going to be alive (though a Warhammer 40k-style Emperor Hoshi would have been awesome), but they could have at least mentioned it. Maybe I'll have to give Discovery a second chance. If only to see some Saru ass ;p
Do they improve on Burnham's character? I could not stand her.
She was like the textbook definition of a Mary Sue. Weird name, unique powers, family relation to a well-loved character from a previous series, no flaws other than ones that are supposed to make her more endearing, etc.
Really the main thing I'd want changed is real flaws and emotions beyond dislike of authority
I appreciate the detailed analysis. For me, it seemed like we were supposed to empathize with all the horrible decisions she made at the beginning of season 1, which is what I considered her flaws that were meant to be endearing. I'm glad to hear that's not the case. I never made it that far; I was at the point where they had to take a bunch of snapshots of the Klingon ship, maybe a bit further, but it's been a while..
She did have special powers though. In that regard, I was talking about her telepathic connection with her and Spock's dad, which kind of felt like it came out of nowhere.
As long as I'm not actually supposed to like her in the beginning, I think it'll be worth giving Discovery another shot. With how good SNW and Lower Decks have been, plus what I've heard about Picard s3 (though I haven't seen it yet, because I'm doing a TNG rewatch first), I'm hopeful