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reservenature · 3 months

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A Guide to Safe and Enjoyable Trekking in USA's National Parks

With an incredible diversity of landscapes, terrains, and natural wonders, the national parks in the United States offer a treasure trove of opportunities for avid trekkers and nature enthusiasts. From rugged mountains to serene forests, breathtaking canyons to cascading waterfalls, these parks boast an array of trails catering to every level of hiker. However, as enthralling as these trails can be, embarking on a trekking adventure in the national parks demands adequate preparation, mindfulness, and adherence to safety guidelines to ensure an enjoyable experience. This guide aims to provide comprehensive insights and tips for a safe and gratifying trekking escapade through the USA's national parks.

Choosing the Right Trail:

The first step in planning a trekking expedition in a national park is selecting a trail that aligns with your fitness level, experience, and interests. These parks offer a plethora of trails, varying in difficulty, length, and terrain. For beginners or families, opting for well-marked and easy trails like the Angels Landing Trail in Zion National Park or the Skyline Trail in Mount Rainier National Park can be an ideal choice. Experienced trekkers seeking a challenge might gravitate toward strenuous trails like the Half Dome in Yosemite National Park or the Grand Canyon's Rim-to-Rim hike. Before embarking, thoroughly research the trail, considering its elevation gain, distance, and weather conditions.

Preparation and Essentials:

Prioritize preparation by checking weather forecasts, park regulations, and trail conditions. Weather in national parks can be unpredictable, so packing appropriate clothing layers, sturdy hiking boots, a reliable map, sufficient water, high-energy snacks, a first aid kit, and a flashlight are imperative. Ensure your mobile phone is charged, but be mindful that signals might be unreliable in remote areas. Additionally, inform someone trustworthy about your itinerary and expected return time.

Respect Wildlife and Nature:

National parks are sanctuaries for diverse flora and fauna. Respect the natural habitat by refraining from feeding wildlife, keeping a safe distance, and disposing of trash responsibly. Avoid venturing off designated trails to prevent soil erosion and disruption of delicate ecosystems. Adhering to Leave No Trace principles, such as packing out all trash and minimizing impact, ensures the preservation of these natural wonders for future generations.

Safety First:

Prioritizing safety is paramount during trekking expeditions. Stay hydrated, take breaks as needed, and listen to your body's signals. Familiarize yourself with basic first aid procedures and be prepared for emergencies. In case of encountering wildlife, remain calm, maintain a safe distance, and never approach or provoke animals. Carry bear spray in bear-populated areas and make noise while hiking to alert wildlife of your presence.

Trail Etiquette:

Be courteous to fellow hikers by yielding to uphill traffic, stepping aside to allow faster hikers to pass, and refraining from playing loud music to preserve the tranquility of the surroundings. Maintain a moderate pace to avoid exhaustion and minimize the risk of accidents. Respect trail closures or restrictions imposed by park authorities, as they are often in place for safety or preservation purposes.

Leave No Trace:

The ethos of Leave No Trace emphasizes the importance of leaving minimal impact on natural environments. Stay on marked trails, refrain from picking flowers or disturbing wildlife, and avoid leaving any trace of your presence. Minimize noise pollution, respect designated campsites, and dispose of waste in designated receptacles or by carrying it out.

Weather Awareness:

Weather conditions in national parks can change rapidly. Stay informed about weather forecasts and be prepared for sudden changes in temperature, precipitation, or storms. Plan treks during daylight hours and be cautious of slippery or icy trails, particularly in high-altitude regions or during winter months.

Trekking through the national parks of the United States offers unparalleled opportunities to connect with nature and explore some of the most breathtaking landscapes on Earth. However, ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience necessitates meticulous planning, adherence to safety protocols, and respect for nature's sanctity. By choosing suitable trails, adequately preparing, prioritizing safety, and embracing responsible trekking practices, adventurers can relish the splendor of these natural marvels while contributing to their conservation and preservation for generations to come. So, gear up, pack wisely, and embark on an unforgettable journey through the magnificent trails of the USA's national parks.

#camp #camping #hiking #nature #trekking #trekkies #national park #united nations #yosemite national park

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edzephyr · 1 month

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This is a shipwide announcement

Last year, I, along with the @ksproject, got to Destination: Trek with the help of Pam and Darren of Pam's Happy Hats. Pam is an amazingly talented crochet artist and friend to all Trekkies, Whovians and fandom geeks. If you've noticed me loitering with them at recent cons a lot it's because Pam's husband Darren is currently in hospital fighting leukaemia.

This amazing family needs the support of everyone, nerds, geeks, jedi, sith, starfleet, klingons - unite and buy crochet! Drop by www.pamshappyhats.com - and if you don't find your favourite you can request it...even your cosplay! That obscure character you've never found a figure of - Pam will make it!

FEEL FREE TO SHARE!

Facebook post HERE

*except you can't have the Enterprise, it needed a metal frame (that I made!) and took weeks!

You CAN have one of these, however; she does an entire range of Pride Daleks!

Or a mini or full-size Grogu! Mandalorian also available!

Or good Omens (Crowley also available!)

Or Supernatural!

And please, cast your spells, charms and goodwill into the universe for Darren (pictured here next to Tom Baker)

Kirk out

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lesbiradshaw · 11 months

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Hiii is there anything we know about the dagger squad backgrounds that’s canon? Other than Jake being from Texas, is the stuff about what they studied/where they’re from headcanon? THANK U MUCH LOV

we don’t really know that much i don’t think but a majority of the background info i’ve found is either vaguely mentioned in the film or the paramount draft script you can find online ! bradley being a poli sci major at UVA and graduating in ‘09 is canon (and also very dear to me bc that was my major too plus i also graduated hs at 17 bc we are both #junebabies :]), jake originally got his call sign because bradley gave it to him and he hated it at first, bradley played baseball as a kid, mickey is a trekkie and also catholic or at least raised catholic (he crosses himself before they launch on the mission in the draft script), harvard and yale were the only duo that came from the same squadron together before the movie, and bradley and jake and natasha were in top gun together at the same time. there’s probably more backstory you could piece together for everyone by looking at their service medals/ribbons they wear but i fear i am not knowledgeable enough about that sort of stuff without a lot more research. they all mostly have the same ones but natasha has a NATO medal, jake has a navy unit commendation ribbon, and reuben has a joint service achievement medal.

also silly canon details that aren’t background info but i still love: jake wears what i’m pretty sure is a class ring on his right ring finger, he’s also the only trainee i recall seeing actually wear his tags, he likes van halen and foghat and seems to be a classic rock fanatic, natasha wears a plain gold band on her left index finger, mickey, reuben, natasha, and bob all use those multicolor clicky pens, bradley is i think the only one of the main squad who doesn’t have the fingertips cut off his flight gloves, halo’s tank top has her squadron logo on it during the football scene, and those stupid jorts bradley wears were definely just jeans he cut the legs off himself 😭.

#also since the mission takes place sometime in november but training starts the last two weeks of october #ive decided one of the daggers definitely threw a halloween party. actually i need to write about that wait.#i guess we could ASSUME omaha is from nebraska 😭#since bradley is the only one we rlly have a canon age for i just kinda decided to base the others off the actors relative ages #except reuben bc wym jay ellis is in his FORTIES rn?#glen and miles are like 1 yr apart whereas the others are a bit younger so idk #jake and bradley are the same age TO ME!#bradleys backstory is actually kinda confusing bc there’s continuity errors on the records sheet maverick looks at #he graduated in 09 but also apparently started his active duty enlisted in 06 ? like oh okay.#he took spanish as a summer class before he started at UVA for whatever thats worth 😭😭😭#bradley is so cute sorry but i want to bite him or something #but choosing poli sci as his major ? yeah thats how ik hes gay for sure !#top gun maverick #ik bradley mickey harvard and yale’s squadrons are all based out of oceana (virginia) while everyone else is lemoore (california)

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cosmik-homo · 3 months

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I think what we as classic whovians need to do is we need to take a page from the trekkie book. we need to throw more parties. we'd be normaler and have more fun around big anniversaries if we had more random holidays a la first contact day, captain picard day, threshold day etc etc.

"But OP, doctor who is so fast and loose about time, we can't even agree on the UNIT Era decade, much less-" Silence. we can beat the shopping rush for star wars day (singular) if we make up a collective four related mania to contract by 04/04. i want there to be huge statues being put up in the time square next time july 6th android invasion comes around do you understand me. make feburary 29th a day themed around watching shada they both Exist around the same amount. under my presidency we WILL break peoples dash

#you did not see me staring into the distance trying to visualize how to turn 1965 of LONDON 1965! fame into some kind of recurring date or #hour and realizing thats just not how those numbers work. before finding a normaler example #also i say this every time im in a big scifi fandom i just admire the trekkie party spirit

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mappinglasirena · 1 year

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La Sirena's Registry

Before season 3 aired, I promised I would make a post about La Sirena's registry if and when it was canonized during the final season of Star Trek: Picard. Now that the finale has aired and we are unlikely to ever see this little speed freighter on our tv screens again, I think it's high time I elaborate on this issue.

Mild spoilers for early season 3 of Star Trek: Picard below!

What are we talking about here?

Back in May 2022, after season 2 wrapped up, the official Star Trek twitter account made a post about some of the ships shown in the season finale.

As you can see, they added additional information about the ships, including names, classes, and registry numbers. For La Sirena, they listed her as "S.S. La Sirena NAR-93131".

The "S.S."-prefix and registry number were repeated by, among others, production designer Dave Blass, who said he was asked to come up with a registry number for season 3 and/or promo purposes, and they have since been listed on Sirena's Memory Alpha page and also showed up in the season 3 Instagram promos run by Paramount+ (which I briefly talked about here).

However, I have been holding off on changing any of my posts on this blog or the way I talk about La Sirena to reflect this new information, because I was waiting to see if it would actually get confirmed in canon. (In Star Trek, generally only things shown on screen during the aired shows and movies are considered canon. The many books and technical manuals, any deleted scenes, official promo-materials, tweets, Q&As, interviews, or other messages from the showrunners, writers, or production staff are usually relegated to beta canon).

Now that the show has officially ended, I can say with some confidence: we never got confirmation that La Sirena has a registry number, let alone what that number might be.

(Follow me below the cut for a (very long) exploration of registry numbers in Star Trek and why I think La Sirena remains without one.)

What is a registry number?

Most Trekkies are probably very familiar with the typical starship registry numbers we find throughought the shows and movies. They're blazoned across the hull and are often seen in official information or even used as identification in dialogue.

Here the classic example: the U.S.S. Enterprise which has the registry "NCC-1701", with various letters added for all later reincarnations of the famous flagship.

While it is never discussed in detail anywhere in canon (unless I have missed something crucial), these registries are unique identifiers given to the ships. They are created and kept on file by the organization that has registered the ship in question (e.g. Starfleet for the Enterprises, the Klingon Empire for Imperial ships, the UFP for civilian vessels, etc.).

The prefixes before the ship name are an indication of this affiliation. Where in the real world, a ship operated by the UK's royal navy might be called "HMS Shipname" for "His/Her Majesty's Ship", in Trek world, we have Starfleet using "USS" for "United [Federation] Star Ship"/"United Space Ship", or the Klingon "IKS" prefix for "Imperial Klingon Ship."

(Like this beauty. Though I don't think we ever see official registry markings on the hulls of Klingon ships.)

Similarly, the registry number has a specific format depending on the institution issuing it. For Starfleet, the most common in the 24th century was "NCC" followed by a number, though others were possible (e.g. "NA" for the fully-automated Starships like the U.S.S. Aledo from Lower Decks.

With the few civilian ships we have seen over the course of the 24th-century Trek series, the most common prefix/registry combination has been "S.S. Shipname" (presumably for "Star Ship"), and a registry number beginning with "NAR".

(See for example the "S.S. Mariposa, NAR-7678" from TNG's "Up the Long Ladder".)

At first glance, it would make sense for La Sirena to follow this pattern. However there is a snag.

To Register or not To Register?

We learn in season 1 that La Sirena is an unregistered vessel. Rios is an "off the books" pilot and the fact that his ship is not registered is mentioned more than once.

However, at no point in any of the series (as far as I'm aware, and please, correct me if I'm wrong) do we get a clear explanation of what this entails in the Star Trek universe.

On its face, I would think "unregistered" means that La Sirena is not listed in any of the official registries that exist throughout the spaces where Rios operates his vessel. She's not registered with the UFP, the Romulan Free State, any merchant association, or any other organziation that might keep such a database. In order to be truly independent (and capable of doing a lot of shady dealings), Rios has kept Sirena out of any and all official records.

But if that is the case, that would mean there is no institution who could have conferred an official registry onto the ship. If "NAR-93131" were the ships registry, by definition, that would have to be listed in some kind of official register. Which would defeat the purpose of being off-the-books in the first place.

"But wouldn't the ship need a registry any time it docked at a port or came into contact with other ships?"

Presumably, yes. The point of registries is to make ships trackable and accountable. So, if you rocked up to a Starfleet-run spacestation and didn't have an official-sounding registry to broadcast, you would probably be in a lot of trouble. But there are many ways around this.

A determined off-the-books pilot (especially one with an extremely capable hacker-friend like Raffi Musiker) could have any number of fake registries (think: fake licence plates), official papers that are just out of date (e.g. stolen from a recently decommissioned ship) and a good story about currently being in the process of renewing them, funds set aside to bribe port officials in places farther from the centre of the Federation, where money still runs the economy... There are many ways around the obstacles presented by not having an official registry, and it seems very likely Rios would have chosen one of those.

Now, as I see it, there are three in-universe ways to bring in the "NAR-93131" registry.

The first possibility is that it's the designation the ship used to have, before Rios (or a previous owner) took her over and let the registration lapse. We don't know anything about the age of the ship in canon (in beta canon, she is fairly old), so it's possible she was fully integrated into a registered organization before she went rogue. In that case, Rios might even keep the registry around to have handy in case of interstellar bureaucracy mishaps.

Alternatively, this might be one of the fake registries Rios uses commonly when he encounters any kind of authority who will be likely to ask for his ship's identification.

In both of those cases, however, it likely wouldn't be a permanent feature of La Sirena. If you consistently use a fake registry, even if there is no record of it in any official database, it will eventually become associated with your ship and trackable across jurisdictions and time, which is the opposite of what you want to achieve by remaining unregistered.

The third possibility is that some time after Season 1, someone registered La Sirena with the UFP and "NAR-93131" is the number that was assigned to her then. I can't speculate about whether that was the production team's intended explanation (not least because from some of the comments I've read from them, it seemed to me like the connection between "this ship is unregistered" and "this ship does not have a fixed registry" might have gotten a bit muddled on their end), but it's definitely a possibility.

However, I am also not convinced by this explanation. While Sirena does rise to more prominence in the immediate aftermath of the Coppelius incident (she is ferrying around the Newly Great Jean-Luc Picard, after all), I'm not sure Rios would have agreed to register her before he joined Starfleet. Then Seven of Nine takes over the ship for work with the Fenris Rangers, and while I disagree with season 3's characterization of the Rangers as "pirates" ("vigilantes" or "non-state actors" seems more apt imo), I still think they would either not bother too much with having their ships properly registered or might even prefer the more stealthy approach of unregistered ships.

Finally, Sirena ends up with Raffi Musiker, who is using her for undercover work in Starfleet Intelligence. Once again, it could go either way. Raffi's cover story is that she's out of Starfleet, and while it would probably not raise any eyebrows for her to have a properly registered ship, I also think leaving the ship unregistered might have been useful to add to her outlaw persona.

As it stands, I think you can make good arguments for both, La Sirena being registered at some point during the run of Star Trek: Picard and her being kept unregistered and off the books for use in various semi-legal and/or covert activities.

One thing is clear, however: We never got any on-screen confirmation of her being registered, let alone the "official" name "S.S. La Sirena NAR-93131".

(NB: There is a minute chance a reference to the registry number might be somewhere in all of this information:

but since effectively none of it is legible and the two or three docs talking about Raffi's assignment (Operation Daybreak) seem to be highly redacted, I will go with: It's never actually confirmed.)

Why does any of this matter?

Honestly? It doesn't. If it brings you joy to have a registry number to associate with this ship, I'd say go ahead and live your bliss.

This is really just a petty and very personal gripe of mine. I liked that La Sirena wasn't a Starfleet ship with the usual bells and whistles (registry number, dedication plaque, etc.). She was an oddball, run by a captain who, while emotionally still deeply connected to Starfleet, was also on the outside and preferred it that way. Season 1 offered a look at parts of the Star Trek universe we never really got to see before, and that felt fresh and exciting.

To me, personally, giving Sirena a registry number (without any character-driven explanation for how she got it or who decided to register her and why) felt like it erased a part of her identity. It changed her from a scrappy underdog operating in the grey areas and along the edges of the Federation to just another quasi-Starfleet ship of the line.

Is that a highly personal pet peeve and completely blowing things out of proportion? Yes. Yes, it very much is. Which is why I won't ever fault anyone for choosing to adopt the headcanon/fanon/beta canon of this registry and running with it.

But if anyone ever wonders why I continue to call her simply "La Sirena" and talk about her as an unregistered vessel, now you know ;)

#star trek picard #la sirena #registry #sirena's history #beta canon #long post #welcome to 'the author's personal pet peeves hour' 🙈#though i tried to keep the peevishness to a minimum and stick to more nutritious information as much as possible #also: i still worry that i might have overlooked some detail in season 3 that actually *does* canonize the registry #but i've looked through what little we see of sirena in the show (all four episodes that she appeared in) several times #and i'm fairly sure it's not in there #but please correct me if i'm wrong

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heymrsandman · 2 days

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Wanna Try Star Trek? 2 - Kate Mulgrew and Explosions

Hello again Tumblr, it’s me, John Startrek, back to recap another episode of Star Trek in a newcomer friendly way so that I can help show just how fun and wild these shows are to watch. If you’re boldly going into this franchise for the first time, or an old hand, welcome!

The Great Trek Wheel has selected a doozy for us today, in the form of the episode Deadlock, from episode 21 of season 2 of Star Trek: Voyager. So let’s talk about Voyager.

Voyager aired for seven seasons between 1995 - 2001, launching as the flagship series for the then brand new UPN channel. The basic premise is that a fresh off the factory starship, under the command of the recently promoted Captain Kathryn Janeway, are sent out on a short mission to capture members of a terrorist group called the Maquis. During the mission, both Voyager and the Maquis ship found themselves flung to the far side of the galaxy and the two crews have to unite and travel back the long way round. Yes, this is the salamander sex show you’ve seen trekkie tumblrinas get so excited over.

With no Starfleet and no support, Voyager must make it on her own, with only the grit and gumption of her crew to protect her. She’s going to explode a lot this episode.

Before we get started, I do want to throw out a quick content warning: this episode contains the death of a small child.

We open on a charming little domestic scene. The ship’s cook, Neelix (a Delta Quadrant native Voyager had recruited back in the pilot) is asking recurring character Samantha Wildman to check on a few technical difficulties he’s been having. Samantha, despite being heavily pregnant, is only too happy to agree.

Medical Officer’s Note: Samantha Wildman’s actually been pregnant since the show started, her child having been conceived before Voyager disappeared. Given that Trek adheres to the general rule that one season is about one year in the show, this means that her baby might seem slightly overdue. However, the father is a Ktarian, and this is apparently quite normal.

Samantha goes into labour and Neelix rushes her to the medical bay, where the ship’s doctor sets about delivering little baby Wildman. By the by, the Doctor is a hologram (Voyager’s doctor having died during the events that stranded Voyager) called the Doctor. The nurse is another Delta Quadrant native named Kes.

We cut to the bridge, where everyone’s on the edge of their seats while they wait for news. Again, it’s cute, getting to see the daily lives and mundane concerns of the crew. I dunno, it makes me happy. The usually reserved Tuvok even shares that his wife once spent 96 hours in labour. The idea that Tuvok recognises the consternation of his colleagues and, instead of preaching about logic as Vulcans are wont to do, chooses to soothe their nerves instead is just the kind of charisma that Voyager’s detractors tend to overlook.

It’s not all smiles and storytimes, however, as a Vidiian ship shows up on sensors. Janeway never met an emergency she didn’t want to mud wrestle into oblivion, so she soon orders the ship to hide in a nearby plasma drift on the advice of one of her officers. There’s a pretty shot of Voyager doing just that.

Science Officer’s Note: One of the reasons for Voyager being set on the far side of the galaxy was the opportunity to create new aliens to serve as recurring antagonists. The Vidiians were one of those races. They don’t get to do a lot here, but when they do get focus they tend to be quite creepy. The entire species is dying from an incurable disease called the Phage, and they travel the stars harvesting the organs of other races to prolong their own lives.

Remember what our medical officer said about the baby being half Ktarian? That means that that little baby Wildman has horns on their forehead, which have gotten caught in the uterine wall. Yeah, I winced at that too. The safest solution is to use the ship’s transporters to teleport the baby into a nearby bed, apparently. Gotta wonder why they weren’t doing that in the first place, to be honest. I know I’d prefer it.

It’s a girl! Samantha doesn’t have a name prepared, but with the mystical powers of having watched this show before, I can inform you that her name’s Naomi. We’ll be using that going forward, cause it’s gonna come up. Due to the transporter, there’s a slight issue with young Naomi that the Doctor is going to treat with something called osmotic pressure therapy.

Just then, main power cuts out and the engines stall. Janeway called the Chief Engineer, B’Elanna Torres, and establish that the ship is rapidly running out of antimatter, basically their source of fuel. The two technobabble back and forth until they have a solution, setting off proton bursts that’ll basically keep the remaining antimatter from using itself up. Seeing as everything’s now safely in hand, it’d sure be a shame if the ship suddenly started exploding.

Anyway, the ship starts exploding.

Chief Engineer’s Note: Whenever the ship is under attack, hitting turbulence, what have you, they aren’t actually blowing up the set, of course. Instead, the cameras are rocked about and the actors are told to just play pretend. This makes it all the more impressive that Kate Mulgew throws herself quite so violently out of the captain’s chair during this episode.

See, the proton bursts are firing, but without any of the safety procedures in place it’s doing massive damage. Torres swears she didn’t start the procedure. In fact, one of the damaged systems is the very one they’d use to fire the bursts in the first place! Casualties are flooding in from all over the ship. Explosions are wracking the bridge, throwing our characters around violently. It’s all very tense.

There’s a rupture in the ship’s hull, down on Deck 15. Ensign Harry Kim tells Janeway he thinks he can seal it, and gets sent off to do so with the help of B’Elanna and somebody who’s not a main character. Three guesses who’s gonna die.

The Doctor’s trying his best to keep up with triage, but baby Naomi is struggling. With more bursts hitting the ship, the Doctor is temporarily knocked offline at a crucial moment. Back on the bridge, they’ve still no idea how to stop the bursts, but think they can minimise the effects with technobabble.

Lt Hogan, the non-main character, is hurt badly by an exploding panel, but Kim & B’Elanna can’t go back and help him. The big hole in the floor that leads into the yawning void of space is slightly more pressing.

This is where Naomi doesn’t make it. Even in the midst of triage, the Doctor takes a moment to comfort Samantha. But it’s not long before duty calls again, with Hogan requesting medical aid. Kes rushes off to save him.

Things aren’t going any better on Deck 15. Another burst rocks the ship and Kim falls through the breach and B’Elanna can’t save him. He’s flushed into space, dead and gone. With no time to mourn, B’Elanna turns back to help Hogan, only to see Kes run down the corridor and vanish into thin air.

And you thought Hogan was gonna die.

Despite all the tragedy around her, B’Elanna’s almost as tenacious with a problem that presents itself as Janeway. She waves a tricorder at the space where Kes disappeared and detects a spatial rift that leads to somewhere with a breathable atmosphere, which she reports in. There’s no time to explore, however, so she and Hogan evacuate the deck.

With the blasts minimised for the moment, Janeway gets a truly devastating damage report from Tuvok, including the death of Naomi. But a crisis is where Janeway thrives. With barely a moment’s pause, she starts ordering triage of their biggest problems.

Another burst rocks the ship, causing a hull breach on the bridge and knocking out the technobabble that they’d just spent all that time setting up to minimise the proton bursts. Janeway orders a full evacuation as fires rage around her. Well, full except for her, as she stays behind to try and seal the breach.

Chakotay, the first officer, yells at her to hurry up and leave dammit. She does acquiesce, but on her way she sees a ghostly image of the crew in their seats on an unexploded bridge. The ghostly Janeway notices her too. Spooky.

Turns out there’s a whole other Voyager, which hasn’t had any explosions tearing it apart, where Janeway has been going completely unenriched and is all about figuring out her momentary hallucination. Kim, alive and well on this Voyager, tells her that there was a momentary spatial rift, for all of a millisecond. Sadly, they can’t tell any more with all the proton bursts they’re doing to save their fuel. So Janeway orders them sped up. Uh oh.

At least Naomi is safe and healthy in this version, the therapy having worked perfectly. Also in this nice clean sickbay is a second Kes, who mysteriously appeared on Deck 15.

Ship Counsellor’s Note: With two Voyagers and two crews, things could get a little complicated. From here on out, we’ll be referring to Janeway et al from the explosion dimension as Janeway 1, Voyager 1, etc. and everything from the non-exploding Voyager will be Janeway 2 etc

Kes 1 explains what happened to her ship to Janeway 2, and is eager to get back and help Voyager 1. Janeway 2 and B’Elanna 2 pretty quickly work out that somehow the plasma drift duplicated Voyager and all the matter aboard, but not the antimatter. With two ships drawing from the same fuel source, it’s no wonder the stuff was draining so fast. Janeway 2 orders the proton bursts stopped, but that means the antimatter starts draining again.

Together, Janeway 2 & B’Elanna 2 manage to figure out a way to talk to Voyager 1, where they manage to speak with Janeway 1 who has had to set up shop in the Engineering department.

Most of this conversation happens offscreen, and afterwards the crew of Voyager 1 are torn on whether or not to trust Janeway 2. Janeway 1 says she knows enough information about the situation and her own history that she’s willing to believe it and enact Janeway 2’s plan that was not explodey enough to let us listen in on.

The plan to merge the two Voyagers doesn’t work, and instead causes more explosions. The antimatter is now haemorrhaging, the com link is lost and there’s 30 minutes of power left, if that.

Two Janeways up against a strict time limit, with the deaths of hundreds of people on the line? The universe doesn’t stand a chance.

To wit, Voyager 2 has figured out a way to send Kes 1 back to her ship, and Janeway 2’s going with her. The two Janeways talk about how to fix their mutual problem in a really tight shot that makes it look like she’s about to pin herself against the bulkhead and make out sloppy style. That’s one for AO3, I guess.

Janeway 2 recommends another technobabble solution, and Janeway 1’s already ruled it out with her B’Elanna. She counters with the suggestion to move the crew of Voyager 1 to Voyager 2, but B’Elanna 2 has already figured out that that’d make everything explode, so another no go.

There’s only one thing for it, Janeway 1 is gonna self destruct her Voyager. Janeway 2 tries to argue it with her, but not even Janeway can defeat Janeway. Janeway 1 does agree to a 15 minute reprieve, in case of any last minute genius ideas.

With Janeway 2 back on her pristine bridge, she calls up Janeway 2 and begins to describe a plan to her counterpart. I say begins, because hey, remember the Vidiians? That hostile alien race that kickstarted this plot? Well, they’ve found Voyager and neither version of the ship is able to raise shields or engage weapons thanks to the power drain.

The Vidiians fire on Voyager but only Voyager 2 seems to be affected. And when they board Voyager, it’s only Voyager 2 that gets boarded. Outnumbered two to one and being swiftly overrun, Janeway 2 decides it’s her turn to have some explosions and announces to Janeway 1 that she’s going to self-destruct her ship so Voyager 1 can escape. What’s more, she’s going to send Kim 2 along with Naomi 2 to replace their dead counterparts on Voyager 1.

The Vidiians take out Tuvok 2 and Paris 2 easily, and the Doctor 2 tries desperately to hide Naomi 2 after sickbay is breached. Kim 2 enters, does a cool stunt, and takes out the Vidiians. Explaining that their Voyager is doomed and that he’s going over to Voyager 1, the Doctor wastes no time mourning his demise and hands over Naomi 2, along with a message about her health for the Doctor 1.

Up on the bridge of Voyager 2, Janeway 2 has just enough time to icily welcome the Vidiians to the bridge before the ship blows up. Kim 2 just makes it through the spatial rift, emerging on Deck 15 of Voyager 1 in time.

With Voyager 2 and the Vidiians destroyed, Voyager 1 is hurt but alive. Luckily, there were no further fatalities and nothing was irreparably damaged. Chakotay comforts Janeway, who bemoans but acknowledges the necessity of the other Voyager’s demise. Samantha, for her part, is just happy to have her daughter back safe and sound. Kim is a little more confused about whether he’s the same Kim as the one they lost, and whether this is the same ship as the one he woke up on that morning. Janeway tells him that they’re Starfleet: weird is just part of the job.

Often, Star Trek is a morality play. A thoughtful and nuanced discussion of ethics and philosophy. Sometimes, it’s explosions and Kate Mulgrew with a face of blood and soot, daring the universe to say that to her face. Sometimes, people will bemoan when Trek turns towards action, but when it’s done well it’s a treat to watch.

The decision to focus on the two Janeways is smart in both streamlining a potentially confusing story, but also letting Kate Mulgrew really strut her stuff. She’s on record as saying that this episode was very technically challenging for her, but also very rewarding.

The character of Janeway has gotten some guff over the years, as has Voyager the show, for not always being the most consistently written. Frankly, with a performance this good, I find it hard to care.

If this was your first Star Trek episode, would you get a good feel for the world, the characters, the inquisitive mind of Trek? No, but you’d have a hell of a good time. I can heartily recommend Deadlock.

If you've seen the episode before, or decide to give this one a try, please let me know somewhere here on our beloved hellsite.

So what’s next? Where will the Great Wheel of Trek take us? What strange new worlds await?

Ho boy, time to hit up Enterprise.

#star trek #voyager #star trek voyager #captain janeway #kate mulgrew #wanna try star trek #please share and interact!

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the-lady-general · 10 months

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Strange New World's Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Warhammer 40,000, the musical [audio not found].

This is from a lovely and very, very thinky Discord conversation. Thank you, guys! There's more thoughts I need to get out of my head, specifically because I've hit my personal limit of what I think the Federation can get away with as a utopia, and also because I didn't want to bore a server full of trekkies with my 40k thoughts.

TLDR: I've often said that when the fridge logic hits, ENT becomes better than what the writers intended. I think SNW has the opposite problem: When the fridge logic hits, it hits me with a spiky baseball bat. Everything I didn't like is under the cut, don't go there if you want to avoid it.

Here's the intro to the Eisenhorn omnibus, the oldest Black Library book I could reach on my shelf. I'll quickly transcribe the parts I've highlighted, explain what I love about it, and then I'll get right back to what it has to do with Strange New Worlds.

===

"For more than a hundred centuries the Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. [...] He is the Carrion Lord of the Imperium for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day, so that he may never truly die. [...] But for all their multitudes, [the vast armies of the Imperium] are barely enough to hold off the ever-present threat from aliens, heretics, mutants -- and worse. To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruellest and most bloody regime imaginable. [...] Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war."

===

Fun Fact: This is where "grimdark" in speculative fiction comes from! Thanks, The General Situation of Northern England in the mid-80s!

So, it all starts with a soul-eating machine. The soul-eating machine kills ~ 1,000 people per day. It is the only way in which humans get to go faster than light, because the not-quite-corpse and soul-eating machine arrangement is basically a lighthouse for hyperspace.

The Imperium is living in the shadow of a great, bright, and optimistic past. It came out of an advanced civilisation that had gone through many destructive wars on Earth. The Emperor was a man of science and reason and wanted humanity to live in prosperity, unhindered by wars or prejudice. He abolished religion in favour of humanism. He wanted to build a utopia for all mankind. Absolute dogshit parent though.

Ultimately, he built the soul-eating machine to justify the utopia, and when he wasn't in a position to object, his successors strapped him in and slapped the go button. Utopia postponed, blame those damn heretics/mutants/aliens.

That was the decision that led to the grim dark future without escape. Do you dare *not* fed the soul-eating machine? Do you dare unplug the not-quite-corpse? It's how it has always been. It could be worse. It's every single wrong one human could possibly inflict on another for everyone, for ever. It could be worse. It'll never get better. It steadily gets worse. It could be worse. It's always two minutes to midnight and no sacrifice ever stopped the clock from ticking. It could be so much worse without the soul-eating machine.

It is unbearably bad.

By contrast, here is an excerpt from the Charter of the United Federation of Planets, as seen on Voyager (or Memory Alpha in my case):

===

"We the lifeforms of the United Federation of Planets determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, and to reaffirm faith in the fundamental rights of sentient beings, in the dignity and worth of all lifeforms, in the equal rights of members of planetary systems large and small, …"

===

So Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow had a Starfleet security officer who was ready to sacrifice her career only two episodes ago in order to reunite a little girl with her parents. She goes back in time to stop an unknown event that leads to the destruction of Earth. She is confronted with baby Hitler who lives in a vague yet menacing government(?) bunker in Toronto and tells him he is *exactly* where he needs to be.

*record scratch* Sorry. That was a bit flippant. So again, from the top:

La'an travels back in time, with Sam Kirk's brother from a different timeline. She is reluctant to open up to him because of her family trauma (separate & discrete from her childhood trauma), but notorious charmer James T. Kirk (from the USS Iowa, not to be confused with James T. Kirk from Iowa, US) helps her out of her shell. They realise that someone is trying to prevent the Eugenics Wars, having already successfully delayed them until 2023. Deciding that the Eugenics Wars were the one and only factor that led to the United Federation of Planets, La'an and Kirk then decide that they must make sure the Eugenics Wars happen at any cost.

(They do not know that the one and only factor leading to the formation of the United Federation of Planets were the Vulcans witnessing humanity's first FTL flight, nor that Zefram Cochrane was motivated by greed to build the warp 1 engine.)

They find Khan Noonien-Singh in the secret Toronto bunker of the Noonien-Singh Institute, a vague yet menacing organisition with unspecified goals. Khan expects La'an to kill him, but instead she hugs him, tells him he is exactly where he needs to be and leaves him alone in his bunker slash prison question mark.

*record scratch* I mean, La'an goes through quite some emotional distress once she realises that the fate of humanity and all Federation members rests on her shoulders, and that restoring the Iowa, US timeline means killing Kirk from the USS Iowa timeline (and, presumably, everyone else from that timeline, but we're not worried about them).

(They're not aware that there is already an alternate timeline in which James T. Kirk was born on a spaceship that is happily co-existing with the Iowa, US timeline).

La'an is even further distressed when she is faced with the choice of killing Khan and preventing the Eugenics Wars and WWIII, but realises that she can absolutely not kill an innocent child. She tells the innocent child he is exactly where he is supposed to be before leaving him with a loaded gun in a top secret, vague yet menacing bunker in a room that would be declared unfit as a human habitat BY THE UK because it doesn't even have a window.

*record scratch* I mean, La'an saves baby Hitler, gives him a weapon and a justification for starting the bloodiest and most destructive wars in Earth history, and she is expressly forbidden from seeing a counsellor about this at the end of the episode.

*record scratch* I mean, a Starfleet security officer leaves seven children too young to make their own healthcare decisions to be genetically manipulated by a vague yet menacing government(?) organisation. The fact that this is to bring about the bloodiest wars in Earth history makes this better, somehow.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow says that the only way in which the United Federation of Planets can exist is by soul-eating machine. It postulates that suffering must act as the catalyst for the utopia. I find that horrifying. I already found it horrifying when Gerne it.

But this is the second time SNW has strapped a child into the soul-eating machine. Except this time, were strapping *seven* children into the soul-eating machine, and we're not even asking them for consent, let alone informed consent.

This is framed as utterly vital.

It is unbearably bad.

If the Federation can *only* exist if its defenders are ready (if unwilling) to feed children into the soul-eating machine, then it cannot be worth it. If the condition for utopia is the suffering and deaths of millions it *cannot* be worth it. It'll endlessly retread what it has always done, it'll swing from one sacrifice to the next, it'll keep shifting who constitues an acceptable sacrifice, and 10,000 years down the line they'll look at their not-quite-corpse steering a soul-eating machine and wonder where it all went wrong.

The Federation is about the dignity and worth of all sentient life. Everything else must be in service to that.

Don't we already live in a utopian world that builds it's utopia for a few billionaires on the suffering of the many? Does the story about the post-scarcity utopia really have to haggle the ratio in favour of the many instead of going balls to the wall UTOPIA FOR EVERYONE YES EVEN THOSE PEOPLE? Star Trek is the setting that *should* save everybody! Even those people!

Fuck the soul-eating Federation. It's dignity and respect for ALL life or it's self-righteous garbage.

#the lady general rambles #this is very much a don't like don't read situation #snw spoilers #this is one thing in an otherwise entertaining episode i got really hung up on #it's so minor in what the episode sets out to do but it's an absolute deal breaker for me #fuck the eugenics wars. trek doesn't need some cosmic balance. people can just decide *i want to live on a utopia. let's build it*#that's when trek is at its most hopeful for me: *you can do good things without a reason & the world will be better for it*

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dean-isms · 6 months

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“Screens up, Captain.”

Reference: Unsure, Probably - Star Trek

Episode: 7x05 “Shut Up, Dr. Phil”

Writer: Brad Buckner & Eugenie Ross-Leming

Spoken To: Sam Winchester

Media Type: Television

Timeframe: 1966-1969

Description: In the 23rd Century, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.

CONTEXT: Sam and Dean are staking out the Starks’ house in the Impala, one of them comes home and Dean says this as they go to hide from view.

TECHNICALITY: I’m not entirely sure this is what Dean’s referencing here, though it does sound like it could be Star Trek. If he’d said “Shields up” maybe that would’ve been more accurate? Trekkies weigh in! If anyone has any better ideas please let me know.

#season seven #television #from the dean isms spreadsheet #repeat mention

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therealeagal · 5 months

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I watched the pony show.

I watched the pony show and actually it was quite good.

You wanna fight about it?

Enter stage left...I wanna say Sunny? Sunny Starshine or some shit. Actually I forget her name already. Lemme look it up.

Ok, it was Starscout. I was close. It counts.

Anyway, she's a wee babboo and she's hanging out with her friends Hitch and Sprout, but Sprout is a douchebag, as children often are, and then middle middle, fast-forward however many years and everyone is an adult. Sunny is an activist.

Hitch...Trailblazer? Anyway, Hitch is the popo. The police. The pig. So naturally, he's the villain of the series, right? Wrong. Come on, man. This is a kid's show. The villain is actually his deputy, Sprout, whose resemblance to Trump is probably a coincidence. Probably.

Anyway, Sunny is an activist, who wants the three pony races to live in harmony, after they were split up in times long past by Twilight Sparkle for some reason or other and Hitch wants to stop her because...he's an asshole I guess? I mean he's not an asshole, because he's actually very nice and he's just trying to protect Sunny, but he's an asshole. You get me?

Anyway, Sunny et al are earth ponies, to be distinguished from pegasus and unicorns.

Then middle middle middle, Sunny meets Izzy Moonbow (a unicorn) and leaves town to find and unite the three pony races with Hitch hot on their trail because...it's illegal to leave town and unite the three pony races? I'm not too clear on what law Sunny was supposed to be breaking.

Anyway, while he's gone, Hitch leaves Sproutald Trump in charge, who within like, a minute, becomes a fascist dictator, with an admittedly quite catchy musical number.

Then Sunny and Izzy go to Zephyr Heights to meet the pegasus princesses whose names are...Pipp Petals and Zipp Storm. Which is weird because the other ponies with two names makes it seem like those are actual surnames and not just part of their given names and I can't imagine a queen would let her daughters have two different last names unless she was blatantly playing favorites about which one she wants to inherit the throne.

ANYWAY. The pegasus can't fly because flying is powered by magic but none of the ponies have magic because they're not united or some shit. Also, Pipp is that most worthless of creatures: a social media influencer! *scare chord*

But I won't hold it against her, because she's a good bean.

Anyway, middle middle middle, Sunny and Izzy and Pip and Zipp team up with Hitch, who's not a dick anymore, and they go to Bridlewood and play Prance Prance Revolution. Yes, really.

Oh, I forgot to mention that this is all in service to reuniting the Unity Crystals which will bring back all the magic.

Anyway middle middle middle, Sprout's totalitarian regime tries to kill Sunny but middle middle everyone lives happily ever after except not really because there is evil afoot but that's something to worry about another day.

Subject of discussion: Does being part of a fandom mean you are part of the fandom? Does being a fan of Star Trek make you a Trekkie?

Does liking Lord of the Rings make you...actually does the Lord of the Rings fandom have a cutsey nickname? I can't recall. Ringy? Lottery? Because Lotr? Lottery? Get it? Nothing? Not even a half-hearted chuckle? Ok.

Does a grown man finding value in the story and messages of My Little Pony automatically make him a "brony"?

For myself, I'd rather avoid the label, as I feel it has too much baggage, but it seems the two are inseparable either way. I don't terribly care one way or the other. If I was that bothered by what other people think I wouldn't do half the shit I do, so call me a brony if you must (although I'd rather you didn't), I'll keep watching the pony show either way.

Cheers!

#my little pony #sunny starscout #hitch trailblazer #izzy moonbow #pipp petals #zipp storm

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ashtrayteeth · 2 years

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The Hive Mind Effect

Was rewatching She-Ra recently and as a trekkie id like to share some thoughts and comparisons. I might’ve posted about this before, I cant remember.

There were a lot of things that She Ra writers could only imply on a show meant for kids and teens. Star Trek delved Just as deeply as She Ra did into their own Hive Mind entity/empire but in different and grittier ways

Hordak and the other clone’s experiences when they are cut off from the hive mind are mostly glossed over(or are unreliably narrated, , with the exception of Wrong Hordak(who Had support from Entrapta and the other princesses).

What’s Implied of Hordak’s abrupt separation from Horde Prime isn’t pretty.

He crashes through a portal, possibly the only survivor(I say this assuming that there were only clones in whatever canon-fodder unit he was in) on a ship filled with damaged Horde tech and suffering from a debilitating, supposedly genetic defect that’s slowly killing him.

Despite the presence of a stable support group, Seven of Nine when first disconnected from the Borg continues to identify herself with them, and at first tries everything to get back to the collective (“You will return this Drone to the Borg.” Monologue). Seven continuing to instinctually use We/Us plural pronouns and referring to herself as ‘Borg’ even after finding out she’s human fits hand in hand with Hordak’s own journey separated from HP.

The thing to understand, about Seven, Hordak, Wrong Hordak and any Drones or Clones is that if left alone, none of them would have forsaken their abusers. The nature of their conditioning renders them completely dependent on their Queen/Prime(abuser). This codependency reveals itself in many ways apart from the standard mindset of “I need to get back to the Borg/Horde!!”

Cybernetics are a more physical example. Both Seven and Hordak struggle with a physical transformation once free’d from their respective mental links because every bit of their autonomy has been over writ- from state of mind to biological functions- to be entirely dependent on their captor/leader.

It’s a mind-blowing level of stockholm syndrome; every character coming out of this that didn’t have someone(Entrapta/Janeway) around to help them at the moment they split immediately tried to run back to the situation they just escaped from(Hordak is a prime example of this behavior but Seven behaves very similarly in “The Gift”s4e2).

Hordak unknowingly picks up self awareness and a sense of individuality as a result of spending so many years alone; regardless of his attempts to get back to his own collective and return to his pre-defected state, he has changed more than ever.

#seven of nine #hordak #character analysis #star trek voyager #she-ra

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notavalidusername · 5 months

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Fandom Ask where I actually read the description on your blog *facepalm* TREKKIES UNITE! If you've seen Lower Decks, do that. If not, pick your fav!

Heck yeah, Star Trek!! I haven't seen Lower Decks, but I'd like to! I'm going to go with the original series and the J.J. Abrams movies because I've seen those the most.

(PS. I literally just added the fandom list to my bio after I reblogged the fandom ask thing, so that’s brand new! 🤣)

The first character I first fell in love with: Spock was my favorite because he was just so straightforward but also sarcastic.

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Bones! He quickly became my favorite because of his sass (of course) and no-nonsense attitude.

The character everyone else loves that I don't like: Carol Marcus from the J.J. Abrams movie Into Darkness. I think she's annoying. Idk if other people like her or not.

The character I love that everyone else doesn't: I actually really liked the Enterprise crew of the J.J. Abrams Star Treks. I thought everyone was pretty good! Idk what the general opinion on those movies are, but I enjoyed them!

The character I used to love but don’t any longer: It's not that I don't love him, but I did think Kirk was going to be my favorite, but he isn't.

The character I would totally smooch (or hug. I'm a hugger, not a smoocher): I think Scotty needs a hug. It's always, "Beam me up, Scotty. Beam us down, Scotty." Where's the, "Thanks, Scotty. Without you, we'd all be dead, Scotty."?

The character I’d want to be like: Captain Kirk. He can make tough calls in a split second, and they're usually good calls. He loves his crew and would do anything for them.

The character I’d slap: A little slappy slap for Harry Mud. I forgot about him, but he's terrible.

A pairing that I love: Oh, I'm the worst at these. Um, I guess Spock and Uhura in the J.J. Abrams movies.

A pairing that I despise: I don't have one, I guess. I really don't think about pairing and ships very much, unless it's cannon (or hinted at in cannon.)

I haven't watched Star Trek in AGES, but it's literally so good!!!

Thank you so much for the ask!!

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brainrotdotorg · 1 year

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You know all those posts about how humanity is the same it's always been. Like the boy who drew himself on his homework, the large building where someone carved the equivilant of "I was here" in the roof beams, the infamous clay tablet bemoaning the crappy copper, the graffiti in Pompeii. And all those posts about how historians in the future will be putting internet textposts and memes in textbooks as they try to decipher old human culture and humor. Well they got me thinking about how few of things survived to show that humanity has always been so inherently human, the small things we do that even through countless societal changes we can still find traces of (kids that like to doodle, the desire to leave traces of ourselves like carving our names or graffiti, wanting to explain the irritation at something lower quality than we were expecting. That it's a miracle how some of these things survived (the clay tablet literally only still exists because the dude kept a collection of his hate mail and then like this house burned down or something and was the perfect temperature to turn the tablets into essentially pottery) and if the internet disappears there will be such a huge part of our current society that if it disappears it'll be such a big loss to future historians in understanding us. Anyway my two main points are

1. There could have been ye olde tumblr sexyman/woman and plmm conests and we would have no clue

2. Historians might never know about the great bot war of the plmm polls

(Insert that one pic of the anon at a drive through window, sorry i just had an edible and my brain decided to do this)

- HM anon

(except imagine the drive thru worker has an expression of insightful wonder)

god damn youre right. like the idea of the through-thread of humanity also being like. arguing about who the best character in a series you enjoy is. what i wouldnt give to hear those conversations! to gain an inner look into someones mind from the fucking 1400s when they were talking about how a piece of literature touched them! fan culture has always existed and we are a part of it. makes me so scared to think about like. these large swathes of history being lost somehow.

i am so fascinated and grateful towards internet historians- people who collected seemingly anachronistic and small pieces and bits of information, screenshots, saved forum threads and stories about fandom culture. i watch deep dive videos on this topic all the time and think its incredible. absolutely love that idea that, now, i am involved in something that people will look back on. its fascinating. and its something that unites me not only with the people in my time, but the people in the future. i hope one day i can be like those trekkie fans that are in their 60s-70s and are still online talking about what it was like in their day. and i really hope that things like the plmm polls are preserved and remembered.

i would take an edible with you in solidarity but unfortunately i have class lmao

#so much to think about.#almost always #i am in consideration of thoughts along these lines like #what is the closest approximation before the 1900s to modern fan culture? what did they have?#thinking about all the autistic people who had hyperfixations on their blorbos in the renaissance era #song dynasty mfs making fanart for their favorite poems...#people in the mali empire having heated arguments about who their problematic fave was #UGHGHGHGHHHG WE ARE ALL HUMANS AND ART IS INTEGRAL TO US

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