Less Phasers, More Politics

Since we know that Strange New Worlds will be ending in about 20 episodes and don't have a clue if Starfleet Academy will go beyond the first season, I've been thinking about what I'd like to come next for Star Trek.

If it were up to me, I'd like to expand Star Trek TV shows beyond Starfleet. One of the things I liked most about the first season of Picard (and I think the first season was the most interesting and the best season) was that many of our heroes may have come from Starfleet, but none of them were Starfleet officers. Starfleet was there, but wasn't central. I'd like to see more of that sort of thing.

If we're not on a Starfleet starship, I think we should focus on a group from the Federation's diplomatic corp.

A smallish diplomatic team of Federation citizens from many different worlds would have a starship and travel around the Alpha and Beta Quadrants to different worlds and starbases getting involved with political and diplomatic intrigue.

I'd set the series after Picard so the show can explore things like the Alpha Quadrant's recovery from the Dominion War, the destruction of Romulus (which was ignored after the first season of Picard), and the Ferengi joining the Federation.

New worlds would be visited.

Alliances would be forged.

If the series need to have a legacy character to be hung on, I'd bring back Molly O'Brien. After Picard she'd be in her late 30s/early 40s which is the perfect age for her to be leading a diplomatic team for the Federation. She was born on a starship. She grew up, practically, on Bajor and (if you count the relaunch books) Cardassia. She has experience with lots of non-humans and non-Federation citizens.

I don't know if Hana Hatae is still acting. It'd be great to use the same actress, but -- for no good reason that I know of -- they recast Bruce Maddox, so... you know, there's precedence.

I see great potential for political and spy stories with this setup. Which I guess means Section 31 could show up. If they do, can we please go back to how they were portrayed in Deep Space 9 and Enterprise? You know, when they were the bad guys. Section 31 is the antithesis to what the Federation and Starfleet stand for. They should always be the enemy. They are never in the right.

And, while I often enjoy serialization in TV shows, can we tone it down some? Take it back to an older style of TV serialization? One of the things I disliked about Picard and Discovery was how our heroes kept losing over and over until the last episode. Why can't they have some real victories? Wven if the victories don't relate to the season long arc? Maybe move to the Enterprise season 4 style of serialization and do 2-3 episode arcs. I thought that worked really well.

That's what I'd like to see out of a new Star Trek. I'll be there for whatever, though.

The "Q" Word

 I don't like the "Q" word.

I don't like saying it and I don't like hearing or reading it.

When I sing along with "All That Jazz" I always stumble over that part.

The word's supposed to have been reclaimed, right? People in the community use the word all the time. It's spoken on news reports by reporters who aren't part of the community. I remember reading an interview with a young actor who said acknowledged that she is both heterosexual and cisgender, but has always considered herself "Q." Then why do I cringe every time I hear the word? Shouldn't I be okay with the word by now? Everyone else seems to be.

Part of it is probably the hate an vitriol that was spewed when the word was used while I was a kid.

Back then the word "gay" was used to mean not good, but I don't remember hearing it said with hate. It was just sort of a casual way to dismiss things that people didn't like.

The "Q" word, on the other hand, was always said with hate. To be called "Q" was to be a horrendous, vile thing.

Boys played a game called smear the "Q" at recess. The goal of the game was to tackle the "Q," the person who caught the ball, as hard as possible. (Why anyone choose to catch the ball is beyond me.) Many walked away with scraped knees and bloody noses. This game was played whenever the year duty teacher was distracted.

All this is burned into my head.

And maybe part of my aversion to the word is because I was rejected by the community. I was told that my identity doesn't exist or doesn't belong within the community because people like me have it easier than others. The community is a weird place. There are lots of Gs who say Bs shouldn't be part of the community and both have people in denial about the Ts. I don't get it. Uplifting anyone helps to uplift everyone. Right?

Anyway...

A long time ago I read an article that compared the reclamation of the "Q" word with the reclamation of the "N" word. Except I've never hear A Martinez or Leila Fadel use the phrase "'N' culture" on Morning Edition, but they use the phrase  "'Q' culture" more than I'm comfortable with.

I'm not writing this to say that people should stop using the word. If you feel like the word's been reclaimed good for you. I'm going to continue to cringe when I read or hear the word. I'm going to continue to not say it. You do you.

Question

 Last week, a California Parole Agent was shot and killed at his place of work.

Flags are being flown at half-staff and some departments have suspended posting to social media out of respect.

I have to ask though, if it had been an office clerk -- someone who greeted the public, answered phone, filed documents -- would there be this much pomp? Would there? Honestly?

"Dilution of a Character"

 I recently read the transcript of an interview with Chuck Dixon. For those who don't know, in the '90s, Dixon was basically the Batman writer. He wrote the ongoing Batman and Detective Comics and a bunch of Batman miniseries. He wrote the Robin miniseries and the Robin ongoing. He co-created and wrote Birds of Prey. I wasn't a Batman reader and I knew his name at the time.

But that's not the reason I'm writing this.

When asked about his criticism of Mile Morales, Dixon said, "[I]t’s a dilution of a character. You’re diluting, you’re confusing your audience by creating these different entities with the same name."

And I wish that the interviewers had then asked him about Connor Hawke.

Connor Hawke was created to replace Green Arrow, Oliver Queen. Dixon didn't create Connor Hawke, but he did write the comics where Hawke took over as Green Arrow and then wrote Hawke's adventure for about three years.

How did Dixon feel about Hawke? Was he a "dilution of a character"? If so, why write him for three years and then come back to him several years later after Queen returned as Green Arrow?

(Hell, they could have asked if Tim Drake, the Robin Dixon wrote, the third Robin, was a dilution.)

Maybe he's cool with it because Green Arrow is just a guy with a bow and arrows. Dixon said, "I was gonna say that Iron Man and Green Lantern, I was gonna specifically mention Jon Stewart, they lend themselves because anybody can be in the Iron Man suit, anybody can adopt the ring."

I can't find any evidence of it, but I guess Dixon was perfectly cool with the creation of Riri Williams, Ironheart. Right? Right!? Because "anybody can be in the Iron Man suit."

sigh

Gumball does Joanna Newsom!

Always Tired

 It's been more than five years and nine months since I wrote this post about now I had been tired for more than five years. I'm sorry to say that I have not gotten any better since I wrote that post.

I don't think I've completed reading a novel in that time. I believe the travel book that I keep in my car is the same one that I was reading way back then. The idea behind the car book is to have something to read while I'm waiting for appointments or for take-out to be made or to read before a movie and eventually I'd finish and move on to something else. It used to take me about a year to finish a car book.

I get enough sleep.

Before I did TMS I was sleeping between 11 and 14 hour each night. Even on weekdays. I would go to sleep that early. After TMS my sleep adjusted and I sleep between seven and nine hours a night.

Still always tired.

On a good day, it's just being tired. On a bad day, it is straight up exhaustion.

Doctors, for the brain and the body, have been of no use.

Not currently on any brain medication. Haven't been on any since October or November of 2024.

No trips to Utah planned.

Be well.

In My Opinionation

For Christmas, my brother gave me the first two seasons of Blossom.

I started watching it a week or so ago and just finished the first season.

Included with the first season is the original pilot episode. In that episode, Blossom's parents are still together. When the first episode was released, Blossom's parent have been divorced for two or three years and she lives with her dad, which was a brave thing for a TV show from 1990 to choose to do.

Also, when the series starts, Blossom's brother, Anthony, has been in recovery for drugs and alcohol for a while. In the pilot, he's maybe only a couple of month into recovery. He's isolating himself from everyone and Blossom only sees him once, when she's up late at night while she's in the kitchen. I think the show would have been more interesting if he had been at the beginning of his recovery when the actual series started.

For the most part, the show is still enjoyable. It's very much a product of it's time and genre -- multi-camera sitcom. I'm enjoying the nostalgia of it.

However, this was one episode, so far, that really pissed me off. It's called "The Geek." In it, Blossom is tricked into going to a dance with a nerdy guy. A jock, played by the second Jimmy Olson from Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, talks to Blossom about going to a dance and she gets excited and when she says yes the guys says, "Great, you'll be going with this guy." and out steps the nerd. Throughout the rest of the episode, Blossom agonizes over not wanting to go to the dance with the nerd Six, her best friend, even points out the Blossom was tricked, but Blossom dismisses Six. She makes up an excuse to not go to the dance then feels guilty about what she did. Then she offers to go to the dance with him and he turns her down and he gets the last work by saying, "It doesn't feel good getting turned down, does it?" And Blossom agrees! She was wronged! The jock and the nerd tricked her! AHHH!

Anyway, looking forward to the second season.

Also, Six is the best. She was when I watched the show in the '90s and she's still the best.