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In Prodigy, Nova Squadron has been revived by the mid-2380s.

This feels like a very terrible idea for a multitude of reasons. Besides the initial incident, I would think Starfleet would hesitate against elite cadet groups even further after both the attempted Red Squad coup and the USS Valiant incident.

Also, I have two takeaways from the LD Nova Fleet incident. One, Locarno feeling the need to “revive” Nova Squadron suggests that it didn’t still exist in 2381, meaning the revival must have been relatively close to 2384. Second, I feel like the coming back of a former “elite” cadet to bite them would further make Starfleet wary of establishing an elite cadet group again.

Overall, it just seems every time the Academy does this, they just produce a group of arrogant cadets very susceptible to manipulation and/or recklessness. Even 2384 squadron seems this way - we see their elitist attitude towards the former Protostar crew matching that of Red Squad and such.

So why did they do it again?

Perhaps Nova Squadron is a long-held academy tradition, and despite the initial fallout of the 2368 incident, that’s overshadowed by its long history of outstanding cadets, a legacy the academy didn’t want to suddenly erase.

Still, I feel like they could have turned Nova Squadron into an honors society that recognizes students without the special treatment rather than resurrect what seems to be the original format.

Honestly, I hope (big emphasis on hope) the new SFA show elaborates on this and overall fleshes out the Academy as an institution, at least before, as I predict will happen, our “cadets” will be starship officers in all but name by the end of the season and will barely get a proper academy experience.

I kind of wish we had an academy show either early 24th century (lost era Monster Maroon) or a chill (post-PIC) 25th or 26th century setting that just followed a normal group of cadets without weird stuff like an early commissioning.

Edit: When I say "Center Right" I also mean relative to Ferengi society.

A small addition to my post, Gender and Sexual Orientation in FERENGI society from a few months back.

I caught this frame in the background of LD S4 E6 Parth's Ferengi Heart Place, depicting an unclothed Ferengi woman.

This provides an interesting insight into the Ferengi social/political landscape of the Nagus Rom era. It suggests a center right that is fine with women traveling in public to some extent (maybe with limits, like it can only be with husband or father or out of necessity), but not them being clothed. This doesn't seem to be that common, as most Ferengi women we see in this episode (including on the television in Boimler's apartment) are clothed, but it seems to be a position that exists.

Honestly, I'd be interested in a novel (perhaps written from the perspective of an autobiography) or something about how Nagus Rom and Leeta survived leading Ferenginar the first few years and adjusted to such a different role from his engineering days. We could learn a lot about the Ferengi political system.

cross-posted from: https://startrek.website/post/21461844

From LD S4 E4 "Something Borrowed, Something Green".

In response to a meme I saw comparing Nog and Wesley.

I've uploaded the source SVG: https://gitlab.com/dexcube/random-assets/-/raw/main/wesley_meme.svg

From LD S4 E4 "Something Borrowed, Something Green".

In response to a meme I saw comparing Nog and Wesley.

I've uploaded the source SVG: https://gitlab.com/dexcube/random-assets/-/raw/main/wesley_meme.svg

In case anyone is using Debian Testing/Unstable and experiencing audio issues, I thought I'd share this.

Until the bugs get fixed, there are two workarounds:

1. Uninstall FluidSynth
2. Add systemctl --user restart pipewire to your session startup; this eliminates the problem.

As I want FluidSynth, I went with the latter.

In the pilot, they depict Mojave, California as being very terraformed from a desert to a lush parkland.

However, I find this a bit antiquated... this seems to be very much rooted in an atomic age scientific idealism that thought of how we could make the world work for us and bring it to more western standards of natural beauty.

I think this is in conflict with the TNG solar punk aesthetic and the general respect for nature implied by the Prime Directive - notice how there's no desert bushes in sight as if they wiped them out. This seems to be insane damage to the ecosystem.

I wonder if they'll ever revisit Mojavo on-screen, and whether they'll retcon this so that Mojave is a gorgeous desert town where they solved the problems of drought and extreme heat plaguing the southwestern US while working in tandem with and even boosting the local wildlife, rather than just razing everything and plastering grass and non-native trees over it.

I'd bet we probably only have 3 seasons for it to happen, considering that 5 seasons has tended to be the length of most recent Trek shows (except poor old Prodigy). The only thing giving me hope is that SNW seems to be a decently successful series.

cross-posted from: https://startrek.website/post/21256834

I just threw this together. I felt it was a very relevant song, though I also could have put Riker clips to it and had it work just as well.

I just threw this together. I felt it was a very relevant song, though I also could have put Riker clips to it and had it work just as well.

I have a feeling “Severance” has a different connotation with Klingons.

I have a feeling “Severance” has a different connotation with Klingons.

I was especially trying to imitate Prodigy's styling of him.

I don't know that it looks like Jellico, but it does look like an experienced officer circa 2381.

The stardates are just there to fill in the document - I got them from event years on Memory Beta and then just put a random date into the stardate calculator.

I was looking at references of both TNG and Prodigy Jellico to try to make an LD-style Jellico, when I found how they styled his face varied a lot between episodes - I count about 4 significant variants.

For reference, here is TNG Jellico:

This was his first Prodigy appearance in S1 E15 Masquerade:

Definitely a bit yikes, but I also slightly dig the "old man who will bite your hand off if you get within one mile of him" look.

They totally changed his face for his second appearance 4 episodes later, in S1 E19 Supernova Pt 1:

I like this look - it feels very Clone Wars. However, I can see why they might have gotten right of it - it makes it difficult for the face to show anything but aggression.

They dialed back the clone wars for his next appearance in S2 E5 Observer's Paradox:

I think it was also largely the same in S2 E9 The Devourer of All Things Pt. 1:

They might have enlarged the eyes a bit, but I think the other differences are mostly because of perspective differences and facial expressions.

The final, and longest-lived Jellico variant first appears in S2 E14 Cracked Mirror:

This model leans on the more realistic side. This one is probably the most recognizable as Jellico from TNG. It also allows much more expressiveness (not just an aggressive scowl), as seen in these images from E15, E16 (It looks like a different variant, but if you go a bit before, it's actually the same one), and E20:

Overall, I think my favorite Jellico is probably S1 E19, but I can see why they had to switch.

Still, I wonder why it took so long for them to make up their mind on the face and why they didn't get it right the first time.