gdp's Comments

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Discovery' Wrap-up / Mark Watches Wrap-up

Thu, 29 Jul 2021 18:59:10 +0000

Having started on Mark Watches FMA, I am particularly fond of Byvivre.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Discovery': S03E13 - That Hope is You, Part 2

Thu, 29 Jul 2021 14:30:40 +0000

Six decks is at least 70 feet, judging by the ceiling heights in the corridors. So, make the center of the inner saucer the infrastructure area, with all the occupied areas around the edge? Not a very EFFICIENT use of space, but feasible. Still, Trek has always been bad about dealing with "just how big is this ship anyway" so...

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Discovery': S03E13 - That Hope is You, Part 2

Thu, 29 Jul 2021 14:22:54 +0000

I'm not sure if saturation will actually be a problem. At the pace they've been making the current three shows, and the lengths of their respective seasons, it seems that they can time the releases of five shows such that they're releasing one and only one episode of something each week. (As noted above, they're not going to start on Show #6 until one of the other five ends for good.) So the fans who want to watch all of it won't have lull periods (where they might, incidentally, pause their PP subscriptions), but also aren't inundated with multiple shows at once (and if we managed TWO new Trek episodes a week during the entire run of Deep Space Nine, surely we can handle ONE a week, especially when we have total control when to watch them). And also the fans who don't like, say, Discovery will have four other styles of shows to choose from.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Discovery' Wrap-up / Mark Watches Wrap-up

Thu, 29 Jul 2021 03:11:08 +0000

Mark firmly believing that Vetinari was the Supreme Grand Master for at least three sections of Guards! Guards!

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Discovery' Wrap-up / Mark Watches Wrap-up

Thu, 29 Jul 2021 03:09:30 +0000

I could have been gathering images for this project forever, but I resolved to get this up while it was still today, so here we are: I give you all my fond memories of the past eight years, in the form of the Many Faces of Mark Oshiro.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Discovery' Wrap-up / Mark Watches Wrap-up

Wed, 28 Jul 2021 19:06:56 +0000

I discovered this site for the Twilight rants, stuck around to watch you fall in love with Potter, and I'm currently archive binging your Avatar reviews. The problem was that you were long done with all of them; nothing you were doing CURRENTLY was something I was familiar with or interested in investing the time to BECOME familiar with. (Well, except Dragon Age, but at present I just don't have the time to play that at the speed you're going through it.) But now you're reviewing Fullmetal? Oh hell yes. That's worth making an IntenseDebate login. - me, July 23, 2013 (417 weeks ago) So, yeah, Mark's been a part of my life, with only rare interruption, for eight years and five days. That includes the entire epic quest that was Mark Reads Discworld (from March 2014 to June 2020) and the almost-as-ridiculously-lengthy Mark Watches Star Trek (from June 2014 to November 2017, then resuming for Discovery over the past few months). Mark, you gave me an excuse to finally watch FMA: Brotherhood, Monster, and Person of Interest, and to fill the gaps in my Trek viewing. You allowed me to re-experience Discworld, Gargoyles, Death Note, and Babylon 5 with the fresh eyes of a newcomer beside me. You introduced me to Steven Universe and Young Wizards, both of which I'd never considered looking into until you started covering them, both of which now rate among my most perspective-changing media. You gave me a community that let me clumsily explore ideas, and come out the other end with a better understanding of the world and myself. One where I have shared things I don't normally share with "strangers," and a few things no one else besides my wife and my therapist know about me. And whatever you were watching or reading, you found the best parts of it to enjoy the hell out of, and that was contagious. I have a little project I'm still finishing up, which I'll put up separately, hopefully this evening. But for this post, I have a better closer anyway… I missed the chance to put this video up when you finished Trek the first time around, four years ago, but it feels even more right to put it up now that we're celebrating our time with Mark as well. In whatever you do, Mark, take care, continue to enjoy the hell out of it, and be blessed with connection. [youtube cv2x0fDP4DU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv2x0fDP4DU youtube]

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Discovery': S03E13 - That Hope is You, Part 2

Tue, 27 Jul 2021 02:39:12 +0000

"Any lingering pretense this show is set in the prime timeline was destroyed by that ridiculous scene with the floating turbolifts in the cavernous interior space. There’s no place on the Discovery where that space could exist..." That was a complaint I had on first view, but on second view I saw that the space had already been defined in Season Two, it was just full of a lot of infrastructure along with the turbolift shafts. Post-refit, I imagine a lot of that infrastructure was made a LOT smaller thanks to 900 years of miniaturization, resulting in huge amounts of empty space. Since the 1950s alone, we've taken a computer that required a warehouse and made it fit into your hand. Do the same for Discovery's systems and, well, you end up with a mostly empty warehouse in the middle of the ship.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Discovery': S03E13 - That Hope is You, Part 2

Mon, 26 Jul 2021 20:40:48 +0000

As I said at the end of Season One, Discovery has been an experiment for Trek. This means it is not for everyone, or even everyone who is otherwise a fan of Trek. You need to be okay with three things about the show to enjoy it. First, there is a single ongoing storyline through each season, which most every episode is dedicated to advancing in some way because with only 13-14 episodes you need to make them count. And if most episodes are not stand-alone, it's hard to label any one episode as a "favorite," because they don't really work on their own, outside the context of the season as a whole. In fact, it can be hard to remember which elements of the season's story were in which episode. This can at least give the impression after watching that none of the episodes were "good"; what you really need to be asking is whether the SEASON was good. Second, everything in Discovery is in service to the emotional beats of the story. This means that this is very "soft" sci fi for a Trek show, with elements such as the mycelial network (and especially Culber's resurrection within it), the Red Angel's time travel, or the psychokinetic Kelpian being "science" only in name. This also means that there are plenty of moments of "but why didn't they just…?" fridge logic. (Because then we wouldn't have this next emotional moment, that's why.) The show is visually amazing and emotionally compelling, but you do have to tamp down on the part of your brain that demands coherency, or those emotional beats are going to land flat and, as many have put it, feel "unearned." Third, this is not an ensemble show. Again, most every episode is dedicated to advancing the season's storyline. And the focal character of each of those storylines is Michael Burnham, which means the focal character of most every episode is Michael Burnham. The third season dials this back some, with Saru getting some quality screentime in the big chair or connecting with Su'Kal, Adira and Gray joining up with Paul and Hugh to form one big happy queer half-of-us-have-died family, and Georgiou making the most of her farewell two-parter. But it's Burnham's head we're inside most of the time, sometimes even when an episode is SUPPOSEDLY about someone else (e.g. Forget Me Not). When we were Mark-Watching Voyager, I once commented that it was a good thing Jeri Ryan was such a good actress with such a compelling character, because she was getting a disproportionate share of focus episodes. Well, Burnham gets nearly ALL the episodes, and SMG is definitely also a good actress but even so that may be a little too much Burnham for you (especially if you're desperate after three seasons for more development of the other characters). Fortunately for us, Mark enjoys ongoing storylines, loves Burnham (and Georgiou, which was honestly a surprise), and ADORES emotional punches to the gut, so everything worked out nicely. And some of us are, in this case, the complete opposite of Mark, and that's fine. Love what you love, don't love what you don't love. So long as you aren't the kind of person who insists that we love or hate what you love or hate. <img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/LpM801ovNgIYu2sbmI/giphy.gif" width="240" height="120"> And you're also in luck, because this is a new Golden Age of Trek (well, if you shell out for Paramount Plus anyway). There are three separate Trek series presently available for viewing right now, all with further episodes in production, plus a fourth premiering later this year and a fifth on schedule to start next year. So if you enjoyed the voyages of the starship Discovery, Season Four will be here soon enough. If you can't stand it, you also have the voyages of gur fgnefuvc Yn Fveran, gur fgnefuvc Preevgbf, gur fgnefuvc Cebgbfgne, naq lrf, bapr zber, gur fgnefuvc Ragrecevfr. Their continuing missions: to explore strange new show concepts, to seek out new styles and new presentations! And, if the Patreon wills it, to boldly flail where no Mark has flailed before! See you… out there.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Discovery': S03E13 - That Hope is You, Part 2

Mon, 26 Jul 2021 20:33:48 +0000

Since you were asking, Mark, Adira's holo-appearance was Xahean, like Her Royal Majesty Po, Sister to Xahea, Lover of Ice Cream. One day the Federation wasn't there for Su'Kal. And then it wasn't there for anyone. Though it wasn't intentional, I wonder if it was a subconscious thing, to isolate everyone as Su'Kal had been isolated. The first round of principal photography on the season ended in December 2019, so the writers had the storyline set long before anyone knew the world they'd be airing it in. But by the time the first episode dropped in October 2020, the terror of isolation and loss was something we all understood. Having been seen, TRULY seen, Gray agonises over giving that up. I have no idea what happens in Season Four (I've deliberately avoided the teaser trailers) but I look forward to them capitalizing on the promise to fix it for good. (We have at least one solution right now -- holograms -- and we're in an era where mobile emitters are two-century-old technology.) And whether or not Gray the character is transmasculine, his actor is, so the metaphor that's implicit in his arc still works regardless. A couple commenters were worried that Saru would be made to step down to make way for a Captain Burnham because he was "letting his personal feelings get in the way of the mission" (which Burnham herself does ALL THE TIME so what the hell). But instead… well, it SORT of happened still? But in a way that let Saru keep his agency: he CHOSE, of his own volition, to make his new bond with Su'Kal a priority (besides, the human crew all got to see future Earth, but he'd been constantly passing up the chance to see Kaminar, and he'd EARNED it). Speaking of people who earned it, yep, I'm going to cry over Sahil again. That is to say, LIEUTENANT Aditya Sahil. Burnham's monologue at the end makes the "this season is about connection!" theme explicit, and though Discovery's work has made that easier, let's give credit to the guy who spent his entire adult life manning a Starfleet communication outpost, fearlessly reaching out to anyone nearby willing to listen. (I still don't like the new uniforms though.) As for Burnham, I'm just going to repeat what I said in encryption way back in the second episode of Discovery: Rewatching Burnham's mind-meld discussion with Sarek provides some interesting context for all that she does over the course of her career. "Live long and prosper" is placed on her like a demand: use your talents to their maximum, in whatever opportunity presents itself, and NEVER EVER stop fighting. Same for Georgiou's final criticism of Burnham: she chose logic instead of hope. The Burnham to come will always choose hope instead.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Discovery': S03E12 - There is a Tide...

Fri, 23 Jul 2021 20:49:29 +0000

There is a tide in the affairs of men Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures. Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," Act IV, Scene 2. Conduits! Former galactic freeways of the Borg. I wonder what happened to THEM since the 24th century? Apparently at some point it became a good idea to use the conduits for normal traffic, so they must have stopped being a threat? Of course, then a bunch of ships blew up inside the conduits and littered them with debris… (final episode) "...naq lbh'er abg na rzcngu fb…" Vg'f n dhvpx nfvqr gb Fgnzrgf fb V zvffrq vg ba svefg ivrj, ohg gubfr cnlvat zber nggragvba ubcrshyyl pnhtug gung gurer'f n cbgragvny frpbaq fcber qevire ba Qvfpbirel. I'm always torn on the issue of whether to engage those apparently committed to the abhorrent. Sometimes they're unrepentant, consciously opposed to the people and the ideals I find important, and then the engagement is one big waste of time and leaves me frustrated. But sometimes I encounter an Aurellio, who's honestly never thought all that hard about what he's supporting (never HAD to think about it). And the most annoying thing is that it's so hard to tell the difference at first glance... The Federation of the 22nd and 23rd centuries had replicators and virtually unlimited energy, therefore a post-scarcity economy, and who needs capitalism then? Use as much as you like to the benefit of all. But without dilithium, you're having to decide where the resources go VERY CAREFULLY, and further scientific progress may wind up taking a hit in favor of helping the hungry or sick right now (even if the science would make helping them easier in the future, they're starving NOW...) You can argue whether it's wise, but the UFP is now absolutely focused on the present -- that's why they gave up looking for the source of the Burn, and that's why the Chain is kicking their butt in scientific advancement (until they blow all their dilithium supply, oops). Enter Osyraa's Plan B: now that the Federation knows about the Chain's shortages anyway, let's go to the table. Like Emperor Georgiou, Osyraa truly DOES want her empire to endure and thrive after she's gone, and is willing to change her ways to bring that about. And hasn't this entire season been about connecting with others? We've seen the ROMULANS in a (shaky but desired) unity with the Vulcans, and it sure looks like the Kelpians and Ba'ul are also living in peace. Why not let the people in the Chain be part of the Federation? But she thinks that changing NOW makes up for all she's done before. Can't the past be in the past? Well, no. En masse, any group is full of good people and shouldn't be held accountable for the actions of any one of them. But Osyraa herself can DEFINITELY be held accountable for her OWN actions. Does this conflict with what happened with the Emperor two episodes prior, as her own past is forgiven and she's allowed to live on in some other time frame? Maybe. But is Osyraa's change of heart merely practical, or due to an honest moral epiphany? PROBABLY the former; her nation's back is against the wall and now the Federation knows it, so she's willing to sue for peace… if it doesn't cost her too much. The Emperor, as demonstrated by her impulse decision to tell Saru what lay beyond vahar'ai, is more of the latter. In other words, the Georgiou who left the cast is of different moral character than the Georgiou who joined it. Osyraa, though more complex than we might have been aware, is by all appearances still Osyraa. Which means she'll still vaporize an Andorian lieutenant that she can't control anymore.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Discovery': S03E12 - There is a Tide...

Fri, 23 Jul 2021 20:38:21 +0000

A recurring casting theme on Discovery: filling roles in underrepresented groups with actors who are also in that underrepresented group. See also: could they have cast a straight man as Stamets or Culber, or a cisgender woman as Adira? They would have in the past, probably, but then the actor would have had less experience to bring to those aspects of the character, aspects that are frequently botched on other shows. While Rapp and Cruz and del Barrio bring a deep appreciation of what it means to be gay or non-binary, neither too exaggerated nor too subtle, just REAL. When Kenneth Mitchell, as Aurellio, counts his blessings that he's still alive (and deeply appreciates the science that made it possible, and doesn't care in the moment how it might have been funded), there's something real there as well.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Discovery': S03E11 - Su'Kal

Wed, 21 Jul 2021 16:02:46 +0000

This has been a fascinating series of posts (Spock reference not intended); thank you!

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Discovery': S03E11 - Su'Kal

Wed, 21 Jul 2021 15:46:31 +0000

Does anyone know how long a Kelpian lives if not culled? Apparently at least as long as a Vulcan, if Su'Kal isn't even gray after 125 years. We get a shift in mood for the final arc of the season, at least for the Khi'eth segments. The holographic environment, which has been apparently running non-stop since the Burn, is surreal, fantastic, and more than a little off-putting. People are transformed, broken holograms feel like ghosts reliving the same moments over and over, there's a monster wandering throughout. And then there's Su'Kal, the equivalent of a person kidnapped into the fey realm as a child and still trapped as an adult. Kidnapped with the best of intentions, certainly, but he's nonetheless stuck there and no longer comprehends "the outside." Dr. Issa probably didn't expect the simulation to have to run THIS LONG. Which is a problem since the holos were all programmed to teach a child, have continued to teach "the growing child" who is now well into adulthood, and probably continued to treat him as a child. A hologram as sophisticated as, say, Voyager's EMH would have been able to adapt, but he was programmed by an expert, while it's highly unlikely that anyone on a dilithium-hunting expedition would have had holo-design skill at more than a hobbyist level. So while she undoubtedly did the best she could, the result is if the ship in WALL-E had started to break down about 20 years ago. Elsewhere, here's Tilly's first day on the job, and the ship is already captured by the Federation's arch-nemesis (how DID they find Discovery so fast anyway?) so that's NOT going to be a confidence builder for her. Well, she's still got two episodes left to rally from this. Elsewhere again, Gray is back, who was apparently figuring some things out for himself, namely how he feels about operating as a ghost that only Adira can see. His being bothered by this is a good LGBTQ metaphor: "I'm getting tired of being ignored or dismissed! I want to be seen for who I am!" (I love how this metaphor works through Stamets, who, while only aware that Gray is present because Adira says so, still does his best to interact with him like a person.) While I can respect that the apparent "fridging" of Gray annoyed some people, I don't find it troublesome because his death doesn't interrupt a promising character arc for him but STARTS one instead.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Discovery': S03E10 - Terra Firma, Part 2

Mon, 19 Jul 2021 15:42:46 +0000

For some reason, on first viewing, I decided in the previous episode that Carl must be a Q. Not the Q we know (though in theory he's still around somewhere too), but SOME Q. (It's spelled "Qarl," obviously. A name that NORMALLY starts with a Q would have been too obvious.) Perhaps it was the impishness combined with the ridiculous levels of power? Well, the actual reveal was SO much better. The theme this episode is "another way." The bottom line is that no Terran before Georgiou ever had a CHANCE to learn another way to live; you even try something else and you die. Anyone growing up there would cynically believe that "another way" just wouldn't work. You kill, you betray, you never know a moment's peace but you SURVIVE. Mirror Georgiou lived as she did because if such a person had to build walls to survive then she would build the most impregnable walls in the galaxy. But then she spent a few years in the Prime Universe, where another way DID work, and taking down walls didn't end with a knife to the back, and someone with just as much determination as her was able to have no walls at all… (The Ready Room's interview is with Yeoh, of course, but the best comment of the episode comes from Wheaton himself: that a strong message of Trek has ALWAYS been "there are better ways than what we have now, if only we try.") The Prime Universe also showed another way to be Michael Burnham, and because Georgiou loves Burnham in her own way, she tries to bring that way back to Mirror Burnham. But Georgiou couldn't save Mirror Burnham, because Mirror Burnham embraced the universe she lived in, all its brutality and darkness, and you can't replace years of experiencing another world with your adoptive mother simply insisting something is so. I've noticed that a big "no that's unforgivable" sin of the Emperor that many Mark Watchers keep returning to has been "cannibal": she ate Kelpiens without remorse, almost with indifference. So it's telling that Carl concludes his evaluation with Mirror Saru's fate. It's not the attempts to save Mirror Burnham that are Georgiou's redemption. It's that she can't help but see Mirror Saru and the other Kelpiens as people now. (On second viewing, I caught the significance that she called Saru "Captain" for the first time right before they parted company forever.) And so, as a sort of penance for her (by no means small) sins toward that species, she gives Saru the key to his people's liberation: the knowledge that there is something beyond vahar'ai. If she had solely focused on changing Michael and SUCCEEDED, it's not clear that it would have been a sign of redemption anyway. If the only thing she cared about was Michael Burnham in one form or another, then that would only indicate that she could show love for those closest to her; she would still be cruel to others. And what would she then be like if the Guardian sent her to a place and time without a Michael at all? But almost without trying, simply because she had come to look at a non-human as worthy of respect, Georgiou instead saved an entire species. And it is with Mirror Saru that, even in the Mirror Universe, she lets the walls down completely. Philippa Georgiou (Augustus Iaponius Centarius) still has faults, absolutely. (For starters, it took her way too long to realize "torture the person I love to make them love me back" wasn't a good call, even when justified as "staying uncover.") But now, she also has empathy, even for non-humans. And it's for THAT reason, I am convinced, that the Guardian thinks she deserves a new chance at life. (And you know what? This is a redemption for the Guardian as well. The entity that sent Kirk to sacrifice Edith Keeler, whose ideals were too pure for her world, now sends Georgiou to inject just a little purity into the worst of worlds.) (expectations for all Trek projects announced to date) Gur fpevcg qryvorengryl yrnirf nzovthbhf jurer naq jura Pney fraqf Trbetvbh, bgure guna vg'f va n gvzr jurer gur havirefrf nera'g fb qvfgnag sebz rnpu bgure. Lrbu unf orra naabhaprq sbe gur haanzrq Frpgvba Guvegl Bar cebwrpg, ohg fb sne jr xabj abguvat nobhg JURA gung frevrf vf frg gb gnxr cynpr...

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Discovery': S03E09 - Terra Firma, Part 1

Fri, 16 Jul 2021 17:26:35 +0000

As the comments here have shown, some people have very strong feelings about the Emperor: too mustache-twirling, was already past the moral event horizon when we met her, etc. (Some people have very strong feelings about Discovery in general.) So I waited until I was very sure Mark enjoyed her presence on the show (his excitement at her return in 2x03 clinched it) before I commissioned this episode. As for whether the Emperor deserves this little arc, well, I'll have more to say about that when it's completed... For now, consider Vance and how HE values unity and principle. He didn't seem to do so earlier in the season; maybe he's let Discovery influence him a little, or maybe those principles were always there, just waiting for the increased freedom to act that Discovery provides (I think back to Mark Reads Discworld, and the difference between a powerless Vimes and a Vimes with all the power he could possibly need.) Also for now, consider Mirror Burnham, who we never actually met until today though we heard so much about her. Mirror Burnham hates weakness, and many things count as "weak" to her. Mercy? An inability to do what needed to be done, therefore weakness. Compassion? An inability to take whatever you can take, therefore weakness. She doesn't say it out loud, but listening to The Other (e.g. Saru) is probably also weakness, because it allows them to plant their lies in you. And the weakness she sees in herself: the Emperor took her out of that trash heap, and placed her in power, but that meant Burnham didn't arrive there by her own power. To be able to claim the credit for her ascendance that she desires, Burnham needs to remove the person who's been supporting her all this time. In Season 1, the Mirror Universe showed a world that was full of fear. In Season 3, we're emphasizing that it's also a world that resists personal connection, to contrast with Prime Burnham's attempts to rebuild the connections of the Federation.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Discovery': S03E08 - The Sanctuary

Wed, 14 Jul 2021 17:01:22 +0000

Burnham is learning: she went to Vance and asked this time. And Vance approved… with limits. (We'll see what he thinks about the fact that Saru got Discovery into a shooting war. Maybe next time they don't get approval.) Somehow I forgot that Detmer's arc DID continue through to this moment, and griped about it being dropped in ROT early in the season. My bad. The (appropriately named) Chain has a reputation for "helping" only to exact a price, but the Federation seems to have developed a reputation on Kwejian for not showing up to help at all. Book snarked about "true believers" at the start of the season, considering the Federation barely above a myth; maybe he and his people prayed to that god once or twice for salvation from the Chain and got no answer. But having seen this myth is (or at least CAN be) real now, he wants in. (all S3) V yvxr gung Znex unf cvpxrq hc ba gur fybj-ohea nqbcgvba bs Nqven ol Fgnzrgf naq, ol rkgrafvba, Phyore. Blu del Barrio and Ian Alexander were both on The Ready Room after this episode, and along with Wil Wheaton connecting with them as fellow "teenagers on a starship" (and with del Barrio specifically as to their respective battles with depression), there was an interesting tidbit that's relevant to some earlier ROT complaints: namely, that the writers took five episodes from Adira's introduction before providing their real pronouns. Which seems unrealistic in the far future, that anyone would be closeted about this. But this seems to be Real Life Writes the Plot, because del Barrio said that they came out to their parents around the time they were producing this episode. They didn't follow up and say that was WHY Adira came out to Stamets now and not earlier, but it makes sense -- if the actor wasn't quite out to their family when the show started production, it might have raised awkward questions to have their character be openly non-binary. (Sandslash touches on this above.) Once they WERE out, that problem was resolved, and they were even able to bring aspects of that moment with their parents into Adira's scene with Stamets (that last point, they said outright in their interview), and since this all happened before the season started airing, it was semi-public knowledge by the time Adira first appeared on our screens. So that leaves the question of why IN canon, over a thousand years from now, anyone still feels the need to hide their gender in the first place. I can think of a few reasons: First, there's the alarming but not unrealistic possibility that the somewhat xenophobic 32nd century Earth culture has regressed on this point as well. (Perhaps they see the gender binary as something more human, and other gender concepts as something more in the realm of certain non-human species.) Second, speaking from personal experience, each gender expression is different and takes time to feel out, and just figuring out what to call yourself is an ongoing process. I know an individual (call them "N") whose gender exploration is so complex and evolving that we only semi-jokingly say "N's gender is N." And it's awkward to say "these are my pronouns, please use them" when you feel like you could still decide something else is more accurate tomorrow… especially if you're both shy and overthink things, as Adira seems to do. And third, why NOT have a coming out moment in Trek? Why deny the audience, some of whom are struggling with doing the same, that moment of connection with (and encouragement from) a character on the show? We can come up with reasons for their hesitation later. But while we're on the subject of gender and Trill: this entire exchange is adorable. (del Barrio and Alexander also discussed how the entire Trill experience spoke to them, well before they were each cast. Really, the whole Ready Room interview was heartwarming and if you only have time to watch one of them after we finish the series, watch that one.)

http://markspoils.blogspot.com/ : The Black Market

Wed, 14 Jul 2021 12:52:57 +0000

I figured something must have happened given how consistent you normally are. Glad you're on the mend(?)

http://markspoils.blogspot.com/ : The Black Market

Wed, 14 Jul 2021 12:51:29 +0000

3x10: http://markdoesstuff.fetchapp.com/get/6a18ad69

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Discovery': S03E07 - Unification III

Tue, 13 Jul 2021 23:08:28 +0000

"She is literally the only person around to feel that way." It SORT of makes sense... The Federation immediately after the Burn was too busy rebuilding to be ABLE to investigate, and by the time they got anywhere close to the resources to go poking around, it was so very status quo (and didn't look like another was coming) that it felt like they had better things to DO with those resources. Would you bother to investigate 9/11 or Chernobyl 50 years after the fact, if you didn't have time when the event was fresh, and there hadn't been another such event? To Michael Burnham, the event is VERY fresh -- she just recently learned about it. And the local infrastructure, though still not up to par from her era, is good enough that she can start HER investigation as soon as she hears about it. Plus she started this quest when she wasn't sure if the Federation was still around at all, so as far as she knew, she, Book, and Sahil were IT in terms of finding the cause. And that was her quest for a YEAR; you don't put a quest like that aside just because no one else is interested at the moment. (Especially when you get a fresh lead, which the third black box was.)

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Discovery': S03E07 - Unification III

Mon, 12 Jul 2021 17:54:51 +0000

(Picard S1) V nz qrrcyl qvfnccbvagrq gung jr'yy arire frr Znex zrrg gur Ebzhyna pvaanzba ebyy gung vf Ryabe.