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I was looking at references of both TNG and Prodigy Jellico to try to make an LD-style Jellico, when I found how they styled his face varied a lot between episodes - I count about 4 significant variants.

For reference, here is TNG Jellico:

This was his first Prodigy appearance in S1 E15 Masquerade:

Definitely a bit yikes, but I also slightly dig the "old man who will bite your hand off if you get within one mile of him" look.

They totally changed his face for his second appearance 4 episodes later, in S1 E19 Supernova Pt 1:

I like this look - it feels very Clone Wars. However, I can see why they might have gotten right of it - it makes it difficult for the face to show anything but aggression.

They dialed back the clone wars for his next appearance in S2 E5 Observer's Paradox:

I think it was also largely the same in S2 E9 The Devourer of All Things Pt. 1:

They might have enlarged the eyes a bit, but I think the other differences are mostly because of perspective differences and facial expressions.

The final, and longest-lived Jellico variant first appears in S2 E14 Cracked Mirror:

This model leans on the more realistic side. This one is probably the most recognizable as Jellico from TNG. It also allows much more expressiveness (not just an aggressive scowl), as seen in these images from E15, E16 (It looks like a different variant, but if you go a bit before, it's actually the same one), and E20:

Overall, I think my favorite Jellico is probably S1 E19, but I can see why they had to switch.

Still, I wonder why it took so long for them to make up their mind on the face and why they didn't get it right the first time.

cross-posted from: https://startrek.website/post/19850319

If life's going to be this crappy, at least cast Jeffrey Combs as Elon Musk, Mr. Universe.

If life's going to be this crappy, at least cast Jeffrey Combs as Elon Musk, Mr. Universe.

cross-posted from: https://startrek.website/post/19819038

I'm ParticleMan. This is the #concert-chat channel on the tmbw (This Might Be a Wiki, the main fan wiki for They Might Be Giants) Discord.

I'm ParticleMan. This is the #concert-chat channel on the tmbw (This Might Be a Wiki, the main fan wiki for They Might Be Giants) Discord.

What is Las Vegas, Nevada like in the 24th century?

It seems to be implied that Vegas still exists (not just some legendary destination of the past like Vics) and is still associated with gambling - Chakotay's hallucination of Tom Paris in VOY:"The Fight" mentions Vegas along with Mars and Orion III when mentioning the odds in a fight.

I think the fact that this is a hallucination of Tom in Chakotay's mind, combined with the fact that it was mentioned with contemporarily active places, heavily suggests that Vegas is alive and still has some form of active gambling.

However, I would imagine that a lot would still change for Vegas. Modern-day Vegas has Nellis AFB in it and Creech nearby, so it would have probably been a major target during World War III and as a result been heavily damaged. For urban planning, this probably gave a largely blank slate during redevelopment, so in many ways, Earth probably ended up becoming a typical 24th century city or town with vastly improved public transportation.

It's also important to consider the potential impact of drought - has Vegas significantly downscaled as a result of its water issues, or did they get that sorted out in time and Vegas is still a moderately large Earth city in the 24th century?

Also, what does gambling look like in a post-scarcity society? What are the laws on the books for United Earth? I'm imagining people mostly do it for the thrill, like how Jadzia plays Tongo.

cross-posted from: https://startrek.website/post/19747430

A sequel to https://startrek.website/post/14985611

A sequel to https://startrek.website/post/14985611

cross-posted from: https://startrek.website/post/14985611

"Boss of Me" might be my favorite Flans song... besides "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head"... and "Music Jail"... and "Let Me Tell You About My Operation"... and "If Day for Winnipeg". Nevermind. Please don't make me choose a favorite Flans song.

cross-posted from: https://startrek.website/post/14985611

"Boss of Me" might be my favorite Flans song... besides "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head"... and "Music Jail"... and "Let Me Tell You About My Operation"... and "If Day for Winnipeg". Nevermind. Please don't make me choose a favorite Flans song.

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.

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.