TenForward: Where Every Vulcan Knows Your Name

I just finished watching DS9 Season 7 Episode 14 'Chimera'

The episode is one where Odo, the only Changeling in the Federation happens to meet another lost Changeling which sets off a series of conversations of what it means to be different in a society that is not like yourself. I immediately understood all the conversations, ideas, perceptions and perspectives as I watched this episode ..... because I've always felt this way. And even after many years, I still feel this way.

I'm Indigenous Canadian and I grew up and was born and raised in a very different world from the rest of Canada. I had my own language, my own culture, my own traditions, my own way of doing things and my own sense of strange humour and identity. I moved away from home about 20 years ago as an adult to live out my life doing something else in order to make a living and ever since then, I've always felt like an outsider everywhere ... I've never fit in and I always felt different. Many people were kind, helped me and did things for me but I always knew I could never properly fit into what is considered by most Canadians as a normalized white Caucasian man. It's also weird to call myself a Native because most people I meet, especially internationally outside of Canada ... seldom believe that I am Indigenous Canadian. Native Canadians are thought of as some sort of strange fairy tale that don't exist any more. I've been called Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, Peruvian, Asian or the best one was being thought of as an overweight Thai person. And after spending 20 years in the non-Native world, I talk like a white man, walk like a white man, think like a white man .... but I am not a white man.

This whole DS9 episode really struck me because it talked about all those feelings of being completely different from everyone else. That difference upsets me .... and it upsets me even more knowing that since I am different, everyone sees me as different and more often than not see me as unusual and probably a threat. Which is why the following dialogue from Laas really struck me:

"But even when you make yourself in their image, they know you are not truly one of them. They know that what you appear to be does not reflect what you really are. It's only a mask. What lies underneath is alien to them, and so they fear it. And that fear can turn to hate in the blink of an eye. "

There are a lot of good people in the world ... and I've met many of them online in this digital community and here at c/tenforward. But it always disturbs me that when worse come to worse and people are under strain and stress ... any amount of fear because people are different can turn to hate. Not just for a brown long haired Native guy but for any of us that have any perceived difference from the supposed 'norm' of society.

This episode of DS9 was just a striking reminder to me of that reality. But it also gives me hope that it is shows and writing like this that remind us of that reality and prevents us from falling into those fearful, ignorant states of mind.

DS9 s5e20 "Ferengi Love Songs"

Rule of Acquisition #229

TOS s2e18 "Obsession"

The 3rd in a series for [email protected] exploring Gowron in other media

TNG s4e7 "Reunion"

Also for [email protected] who listed Love, Actually as another possible setting that required Gowron's presence

Elements taken from TNG s3e17 "Sins of the Father", DS9 s7e22 "Tacking Into The Wind" and the prop glove from Worf's holodeck calisthenics program

For [email protected] suggesting that Gowron can occupy any fictional space. To which I wholeheartedly agree.

TNG s5e1 "Redemption part II"

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/25547791

Transparent aluminum: Tiny acid droplets turn metal into glass-like material

Are we keeping/wanting TenForward as "just" a ST meme comm, or do you guys want articles/video type content as well?

As far as non-.ml ST comms go, I feel like TF is the most active and the articles I have posted here have had some moderate uptake, is that something I should post more of here or should I direct those to more "formal" ST comms like [email protected]?

TNG s7e2 "Liasons"

cross-posted from: https://startrek.website/post/19356345

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.

Rene Auberjonois as Captain Walker Thorn on Murder, She Wrote

DS9 s3e7 "Civil Defense"