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I finally got around to watching some Discovery (though I'm only through the first few episodes of season 4). My thoughts:

• First three are a moderately enjoyable sci-fi drama
• I have to admit, season 3 just presented enough interesting ideas and mystery I was able to ignore most of its flaws
• I've really started to notice death by subplots, though. It feels like they try to do 4 different plots in an episode, 2 which they do okay and 2 which are way weaker than they should be. I would have rather they done 2 subplots really well.
• I felt season 4's conflict was really contrived. The plot could have almost written itself with what happened in season 3. Osyra died and we don't even talk about the aftermath in the Chain - the slavery isn't just going to magically disappear, and there's sure to be a power struggle. Also, killing Book's family was kind of idiotic - talking about grief and obsession again is like beating a dead horse. Heck, if you'd let his family live but still destroyed the planet, we could have had an interesting story on diasporas instead.
• Also, background character development feels a bit weak. I spent half the first couple seasons wondering who the heck Ariam was, and just when I did, they killed her before the audience could develop much of an attachment. They could have at least thrown in a few more crew barbecue scenes.
• I am now more impressed at what Lower Decks did with fewer, shorter episodes a season than Discovery. They really managed to create a sense that we'd been with these characters a long time and that they were growing despite the entire show being shorter than 1 TNG season. I do have a few gripes about season 5 (my main one being how does Ma'ah go from "Beckett is honorable" like, a few hours after meeting her to immediately distrusting her in the finale), but my respect for LD has only grown.

cross-posted from: https://startrek.website/post/19150268

The Parliament just feels like a more beautiful version of the Nebula - it is rather elegant while keeping that Galaxy-class kitbash feel, combined with a bit of Miranda in the square edges of the saucer and a smidge of Sovereign in the nacelles. Nebula just looks derpy by comparison

True, Nebula and Parliament have a bit different purposes. However, other than nacelles, they actually seem to be about the same size interior-wise (based on some very Memory Beta info).

The Parliament just feels like a more beautiful version of the Nebula - it is rather elegant while keeping that Galaxy-class kitbash feel, combined with a bit of Miranda in the square edges of the saucer and a smidge of Sovereign in the nacelles. Nebula just looks derpy by comparison

True, Nebula and Parliament have a bit different purposes. However, other than nacelles, they actually seem to be about the same size interior-wise (based on some very Memory Beta info).

Over the past few days, I have received 2 identical scam direct messages from freshly created accounts on different instances (I immediately blocked user and messaged instance admins, with no response yet), namely aggregatet.org and feddit.rocks. I was wondering if others had experienced this issue, so I could see if it was an escalating issue.

I went through LD 5x09 "Fissure Quest" to try and count/estimate the amount of Kims on the Anaximander.

The most we see on screen together not including Lieutenant Kim is 8 Kims on the Beagle Bridge (6 First Contact Uniforms, 1 Voyager uniform, 1 Delta Flyer uniform):

In the scene immediately after the opening credit, we see two non-Lieutenant Kims with the Voyager uniform:

Combining the 8 Kims seen on the Beagle with the extra Voy Kim on the Anaximander, I estimate there to be at least 9 Kims (besides Lt).

However, there are some inconsistencies.

We only see 6 (non-Lieutenant) Kims in the prison, despite it being somewhat implied the Anaximander is mostly empty besides Garak and Bashir:

In one count the mess hall scene, I counted what was at least 6 and at most 11 Kims.

Overall, I'm sticking with my initial estimate of 9 for now.

I wonder what could account for variations in Kims. Were some actually locked up somewhere on the ship? Did Lieutenant Kim forget one?

Also, assuming there are 9-11 Kims, is 14-16 crew (adding Boimler, T'Pol, Curzon, Garak, and the LMH) enough to run a Defiant-class, which usually has compliment more in the 40s? It could be possible that since it's a Section 31 ship that it's outfitted to run with less agents.

P.S I find it a nice bit of canonical accuracy that most Kims are wearing First Contact uniforms (and likely made it home), as since most timelines are close to Prime, uniform designs shouldn't be that different.

cross-posted from: https://startrek.website/post/18851336

I usually don't post non-OCs, but this one seems relatively rare. The GIF quality was terrible, so I took the MP4 and encoded it into a high-quality animated WEBP. APNG was tempting, but when I tried that for my Prodigy meme, I ran into all sorts of issues. WEBP seems better supported.

Source: https://tenor.com/view/klingon-jump-rope-gif-7629146

I usually don't post non-OCs, but this one seems relatively rare. The GIF quality was terrible, so I took the MP4 and encoded it into a high-quality animated WEBP. APNG was tempting, but when I tried that for my Prodigy meme, I ran into all sorts of issues. WEBP seems better supported.

Source: https://tenor.com/view/klingon-jump-rope-gif-7629146

I've once again noticed a delay of 10-12 hours with Lemmy.world. I just wanted to make sure someone's aware.

Glory to your houses, admins, and thanks for maintaining this instance.

cross-posted from: https://startrek.website/post/18753661

We'll see how big the intersection between Trek and TMBG fans is here.

Shut up and get with Garak, dude. (Also, a nod to the amusing show banter in the Live at the Music Hall of Williamsburg recording.)

I also posted this on the tmbw Discord.

Shut up and get with Garak, dude. (Also, a nod to the amusing show banter in the Live at the Music Hall of Williamsburg recording.)

I also posted this on the tmbw Discord.

In an attached clip from the video "game" Star Trek: Klingon (in-universe an educational holodeck program), a holographic Gowron violently shakes the player and yells player, "When I say jump out of an airlock, you will JUMP OUT OF AN AIRLOCK!"

My question is, outside of edge cases where it's actually necessary to win a battle, would this level of order-following actually align with proper Klingon theology?

I feel like this would be an honorless death (kind of like if your commander told you to stab yourself with a d'k tahg), and thus if you were actually given an order like this, the proper Klingon thing to do would be to challenge your commanding officer to honorable combat. I could see a more Martokian view that honor demands you follow your commander, though, but I feel like even he would have limits.

I can think of three explanations for what Gowron said: 1) It's simply a hyperbole. 2) Gowron isn't exactly a beacon of Klingon honor (as seen in the last episodes of DS9), so maybe it's a misinterpretation. 3) It's a mistake in the program. Either it's a glitch if it was made in cooperation with the Klingons or it was done entirely by Federation researchers who messed up a bit.

Obviously, this game falls more in Memory Beta territory, but I'd argue it's reasonably canon, as it's basically screen (live action or animated) Star Trek and a song in this game was later canonized in DS9.

That scene where they pull away from the station feels like an invisible hand is pulling on my brain.

Also, sometimes I think, "What if this could all be as beautiful as the remasters in What We Left Behind?"

Finally, why does my mind read this in the voice of Vic Fontaine?