Saudade de Mim

Challenge #6

Share your favourite piece of original canon. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

There are so many canons and specific pieces of a canon I could talk about, so many which immediately came to mind. But I'm going to talk a little about the Face of the Enemy episode from Star Trek: TNG.

In my opinion, this is one of the really solid episodes of the series, with an excellent story line and effective build-up of suspense then a satisfying resolution. The opening scene where we just hear Deanna Troi's voice in the dark, hear her struggling to find her way, then the lights finally go up and she's looking at herself in the mirror and she's a Romulan is as shocking to the viewer on first watch as it is for her. There are a lot of great moments in this episode.

One of the best things about this episode, of course, is the perspectives we get into Deanna's character and her growth. For example, in the season 5 episode Disaster she's unsure of herself when she has to assume command. Here, she's adaptable and steps right into the position she's forced into without showing her fear. She has her moment of ripping the Romulan N'vek a new one for what he has put her through and to get him to do what she wants. And I particularly love her interactions with Commander Toreth, the Romulan captain (played by Carolyn Seymour, who is a prolific guest presence across so many TV shows and is awesome). It's hostile and fascinating, and it's so interesting to watch Deanna wield her empathic powers as a weapon. Except for a handful of incidents, most of which she doesn't exactly have control over (such as when Alkar is channeling his negative emotions into her in Man of the People or when her body is taken over by a hostile entity, which unfortunately happened to her a lot), Deanna's natural inclination is to be sympathetic and to try to be helpful. Here, she immediately understands Toreth's fears and issues and uses them against her. It's for her own survival of course, but I find it to be one of the most compelling pieces when I rewatch this episode.


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Commander Bruce Maddox is a dick. He does come around and gets better at the very end. But the part where he just walks into Data's private quarters and starts handling his stuff sets me off so much.

Also curious exactly what happened between Picard and Captain Philippa Louvois in the past. This show often hinted at past things with Picard and others (Picard and Louvois, Picard and Guinan) but we never find out the details. I'd really like to read fic about this stuff.

I like the part with Data carefully opening the gift and then ripping the wrapping paper afterward because Wesley tells him that tearing off the paper is part of the experience. And of course Picard and the rest of the crew stepping up in defense of Data.

Day 3

In your own space, share a favorite piece of original canon (a TV episode, a song, a favorite interview, a book, a scene from a movie, etc) and explain why you love it so much. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Spot.

Data's cat Spot in Star Trek: The Next Generation is one of my favorite things. I loved this show. Sure, there were some episodes that weren't as good, and even some problematic ones, but I loved the characters and have several favorite episodes and scenes (I go back and forth on which is my absolute favorite).

But the kitty! And an orange kitty! I will never get tired of watching (1) the scene in 'Phantasms' where Data is giving Spot to Worf to take care of (until Data's weird nightmares stop) and he tells Worf that he must talk to Spot: "Tell him he is a pretty cat. And a good cat." or (2) the scene in Force of Nature when Data is attempting to (unsuccessfully) train Spot.

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Day Eleven: In your own space, talk about a creator. Show us why you think they are amazing. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Once again I'm going to rec the wonderful cosmic_llin, who works in all Star Trek universes and whose fics and vids are out of this world. The writing is beautiful and the characters and spirit of the shows are captured perfectly in every fic and vid.

Here are some of my favorite works by cosmic_llin (under the cut because I couldn't stop):

( Shiny Recs )

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Not a favorite episode by any means, but it reminds me how much I love the chemistry between Deanna Troi and Will Riker. They've got such an amazing rapport and relationship.

Also, Lwaxana Troi was hilarious and kind of awesome.

In addition to some lovely photos, pics, banners and recs for various things, I got:

Art for Star Trek Enterprise by Tarlan (and there's beautiful stuff for TOS, AOS, etc. too)

A set of awesome Helga and Phoebe icons by sarajayechan (which are already loaded for use)

A lovely Helga and Phoebe ficlet also by sarajayechan

A perfect Guinan/Ro Laren ficlet by senmut

A cute otter icon by fififolle (already loaded for use)

And a couple of placeholders/I.O.U.s for Forever Knight fics. :)

Also, bererjs made me a lovely season's greetings banner centered around two of my favorite things in life: coffee and books

Work sucks this month. There are times it sucks because I'm working 24 hours a day for weeks on end. Other times it sucks because there is nothing at all to do and I don't know what to do with myself. This month it's the latter, although I've been on vacation for the last week (I always take my birthday and the day after off anyway, heh). So April was a pretty heavy reading month. Here's the tally, books first then fanfics:

Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee: This was a really enjoyable, well-written YA read. Set in 1849 this is an American western about two young women who are on the run. Samantha, the main protagonist, is a sixteen-year-old Chinese woman who has just lost her father to a fire in the shop he owned and in the immediate aftermath accidentally killed the landlord who owned the building for the shop defending herself when he tried to rape her and force her to become one of his prostitutes to pay her father's debts. Anna Mae is the landlord's slave and she walks in on Samantha after she's just killed her master. It turns out Anna Mae had plans to run away that evening. So they run away together, dressed as boys -- both to disguise themselves to avoid capture and because it's safer to travel as boys than as women in that time and place (this all happens in the very beginning, so nothing spoilery here -- the book is about their journey after their escape). I'm not knowledgeable enough to say whether the author got everything exactly right about this period of history in America, but the setting is presented vividly and with enough detail that it felt authentic to me when I was reading. Samantha and Anna Mae are both likeable and engaging characters and I love their friendship -- I kind of thought maybe it would develop into something more instead of the author going with the usual het pairings, or that maybe there wouldn't have to be pairings (in fact, I would've loved to see these two young women just go on having badass adventures together as friends without hooking up with anyone) -- but I guess the author's choices fit the time and place, and there's so much I like about the book that I hate to quibble. The friendships and various relationships are portrayed so well, plus it's a story focused on two women of color as the main characters, the other characters in the book are drawn well too, the story is gripping and fast-moving and though there is tragedy and sadness, there is also humor and an upbeat, hopeful ending.

( More Below the Cut )