1: What is the best and worst purchases you’ve made?
Already answered, but I’ll add that deciding that whenever I think of something it would be useful to have I will just buy a bunch of it on Amazon has been an incredibly good decision that hasn’t cost me much money. Strongly recommend to anyone with an income, moderately recommend to anyone with good runway / expectation of an income.
Some example purchases: a ton of zip ties, a set of screwdrivers, a set of small plastic drawers to keep things organized, a bunch of power strips, various cleaning supplies that I needed at least once, a large pack of pencils and pens.
3: What is the craziest thing one of your teachers has done?
Asked me, and I fucking quote: “But what about the possibility of a collection consciousness”.
Fuck you and your shitty off-brand new age continentalism.
In the Voyager episode “Drone”, the Borg (or rather, disconnected Borg nanoprobes acting autonomously, but presumably with standing orders from the Collective) create a drone using a genetic sample and whatever tech they could scrounge up and convert into implants and a gestation vat. The being comes into existence already Borg-ified (still without a live connection to the Collective, but with a homing beacon).
I think this indicates that the Borg *can* have kids if pressed, though prefer to reproduce via assimilation.
(yeah, the kid was made with heavy technological assistance, but they’re *Borg*, they do *everything* with heavy technological assistance, so I don’t think that stops it from counting)
I’m curious where on the tempting/horrifying scale people find 1) Myron’s lifestyle of multiple bodies and 2) the narrator’s lifestyle of wearing someone else’s mask. I find the latter absolutely awful; better than death and maybe better than homelessness or prison but worse than most other things. The former is tempting for the life extension and the extra time, but it would take a *lot* of getting used to and I’d have a hard time believing the other person had actually volunteered; I don’t know if I’d go through with it given the opportunity. Is it possible for two people to wear masks of each other and get the life extension and redundancy that way? Because if that would work and my husband was down for it I could see doing it with him. (I asked him and he is not sure if he would be down for it, but thinks it would be worth trying.)
Myron’s lifestyle body-wise is pretty far along the tempting end of the scale, more for the redundancy than the productivity though the productivity is a nice bonus.
(“like a person with a mere single body was only just clinging to life” is pretty fucking relatable, tbh)
I still agree with the past self running a Star Trek: DS9 LJ comm and yelling about Rao Vantika that I would *absolutely* shack up in somebody else’s body to keep from dying. (I like being singlet, but I like being alive a lot *more*.)
>>I’d have a hard time believing the other person had actually volunteered<<
I also still agree with my previous Rao-Vantika-related yelling that if I had some particular reason to believe I was going to die *soon*, rather than just the baseline anxiety of clinging-to-life-with-a-mere-single-body, I *would* resort to nonconsensually possessing someone if that was the only option available. I’d try to move to a more willing host once I got the opportunity, though.
(I know that’s pretty horrifying, but I think dying’s even more horrifying. And I think it passes the Golden Rule, albeit primarily *because* I’ve already decided I would do it myself. I think I’d be pretty forgiving of [someone who possessed me because their choices were that and dying] because I *know* I would have done exactly the same thing in their place, and it’s hard to be really angry at someone for doing something when you fully agree that it was their best remaining move.
(I mean, obviously bodyjackers-in-self-defence should be as nice about it as possible: don’t fuck up their body, let them get plenty of time at the front if they’re not going to try to kill you (*especially* if you’re using some (non-mask) form of body-sharing in which people who aren’t fronting aren’t conscious), again try to find a willing host ASAP, etc))
—
Yeah, wearing somebody else’s mask is not the *worst* thing but still seems pretty bad. A lot of that is because of the power dynamic, though: it’s the other person’s body shape and the other person’s sole decision how much control of the body you get and when. If it were a more equal relationship I could see a lot more appeal, even if I personally prefer singlethood.
Tags:
#look Rao Vantika did *some* genuinely evil things #but in large part the dude just wanted to survive and I completely respect that #(and because it’s the first season and they’re still finding their feet) #(the mind-transference device Vantika invented is *never brought up again*) #(despite the fact that it should be a game-changer) #(despite the fact that a mere five episodes later they face a problem that) #(could easily be solved with the judicious application of a mind-transference device) #((you bet your ass any goddamn person in that village would have *gladly* volunteered to host the Storyteller)) #reply via reblog #Star Trek #DS9 #it was a good story and I am glad Anomaly talked me into reading it with this post #(Alicorn is very good at causing Emotions with her writing) #(but she often aims for *negative* Emotions) #(and it has been a long time since I was in a state of mind where I could handle that) #(so half the time if I read a new Alicorn story I regret it because I’m too fragile for that kind of thing right now) #(but this was in the other half) #tag rambles #death tw #there is probably some other warning tag I should put on this but I am not sure what
Saw another post on the DS9 tag praising the scene in By Inferno’s Light where Martok and Worf totally respect Garak for going into the crawlspace despite his claustrophobia, and say how brave it is of him.
And it got me thinking about that douche who thought Data wouldn’t make a good captain in Unification because ‘You wouldn’t see a Klingon as a counsellor’ (or a … whatever his other example was) – and I’m convinced he’s 100% wrong, and that a Klingon is as likely as any other race to be a counsellor.
Really, it’s all tied back to the ridiculous assumption (which TNG unfortunately seemed to perpetuate at times) that every single Klingon in the entire Empire is a warrior (never mind that we’ve seen Klingon scientists and judges and more) and therefore lol don’t be silly they don’t have any mental health professionals of any kind. Yeah, cause that makes sense.
As if a Klingon counsellor wouldn’t see helping their patients overcome their mental illnesses as a worthy battle.
If Martok and Worf can recognise the bravery in fighting internal fears, then there’s no reason to think that other Klingons wouldn’t feel the same.
So in conclusion, I now really want to see/read about a Klingon counsellor.
“Tell me about your fear,” Dugath said.
The Klingon youth sitting in the chair across from him shuffled nervously, eyes downcast, before looking up at the older Klingon with a practiced sneer. “There is no fear,” the youth said. “I am a warrior. Warriors do not know fear.”
“Then you are a fool,” Dugath growled. “Fear is what keeps a warrior alive. Fear tells him that danger is near, and that his life is in danger. A warrior should not be ruled by fear, but neither should he deny it.”
The youth remained silent. “To admit your fear takes great courage,” Dugath said. “Perhaps more courage than leaping into battle against many foes: for the only foe you now face lies within you, where no blade can pierce.”
The youth’s lower lip trembled, but he stilled it with a supreme force of will. “I dream of the night on Vikoth Nine,” he admitted at last.
“The night when you won your battle honors? The night of which the others still celebrate in song?” Dugath asked.
“They should not celebrate what is not deserved!” the youth growled. “There was no courage in my killing of the Romulans. Only fear and luck. Why do they sing songs of my courage, when so many more courageous and worthy warriors remain unspoken?”
Ah, thought Dugath. Much becomes clear. The face of my enemy is revealed.
The old Klingon said a silent prayer to Kahless as he prepared to do battle against the troubles infesting the youth’s mind, as he prepared to use all his courage and skill to polish and sharpen the blade that was a warrior’s soul.
Ohhhh Kahless, someone actually wrote something based on my offhand idea from a few weeks ago?!
THIS IS FANTASTIC~! And exactly how I picture a Klingon therapy session <3 <3
“I trust your Garden was willing to die…I do not think that mine was—it perished with beautiful reluctance, like an evening star—”
—Letter written by Emily Dickinson, 1880
They do not know who they are or where they come from. They do not know how they came to be here, in this overgrown garden with its crumbling observatory. They do not even know their own name. But a series of alarming discoveries–a child’s abandoned toys, a woman’s frantic recording, a smoking ruin–sends them on a desperate quest to unravel the mystery of what happened here, the fate of these vanished people, and the truth of their own identity.
Folks, I’m not kidding when I say this is one of the best fics I’ve ever read. I can’t even explain why it’s so amazing without spoiling it because discovering what it’s about as you go is one of its many joys, but please take my word for it that it’s just REALLY GOOD and if you love Kathryn Janeway then you should read it. (Note the content warnings as you go, though.)
Tags:
#Star Trek #Voyager #fanfic #recs #amnesia cw #I read this recently #it was amazing #and it felt…extremely Voyager #like if it weren’t for how logistically difficult it would be #to do something that spends this much time inside a character’s head in video format #I could absolutely see this as an episode
OK, this is seventeen different kinds of adorable.
Tags:
#so I was looking through my archives #and this is still hilarious #so I thought I’d bring it back #Star Trek #Voyager #anything that makes me laugh this much deserves a reblog #(not a duplicate because my first reblog predates the use of that tag)
#the story of Seven’s life #Star Trek #Voyager #and apparently #Parks and Recreation #I didn’t actually laugh aloud but it still amused me enough to reblog
Was digging through some ancient Tumblr posts and stumbled across this.
I completely missed January 3rd (maybe back in the day I should have tried queueing something for what was then several years in the future?), but hey, happy birth year, Dax!
Brinens and Things - Tumblr Mirror 