I use Debian with XFCE, but while I love XFCE, it might not be everyone’s thing. If you do give it a try, make sure to use Whisker Menu instead of the default app menu, and also set keyboard mappings to your liking.
P.S: Ubuntu’s pushing for Snaps, not Flatpaks. Flatpaks are actually pretty good - makes it really easy to install a newer software version when the one in Debian repos doesn’t suffice.
Also, it’s not only Ubuntu pushing for Wayland - most distros or DEs either have it working or are working towards it (there are some exceptions). XFCE is still on xorg, but working on Wayland. The problem is xorg is on life support and not getting a lot of new features.
Currently running a campaign on 1st edition. May look into this.
I’lll taaaeek yoooo hooooooooeeeem, AGAAAAAAIN KATHLEEN!
Just being in Starfleet in general, honestly:
I feel like they could have done several things to make them more realistic.
One option might have been instead making it a form of matterless telepathic project, with a bunch of the crew having to awkwardly walk inside these projections.
Another option might have been to make it so the Doopler behaves sort of like a replicator and uses materials from its environment to build clones. At first, the Cerritos life support systems would be able to keep up, but then, instead of the risk of being crushed, it could have instead been the risk of oxygen depletion or something as life support struggles to keep up. Granted, that would have made beaming the Doopler emissary onto the star base even more sadistic than it already was, so you'd have to find a way to revise them.
I feel like the Pandronians aren’t as severe - maybe an 8. You could explain the floating in part as a naturally occurring anti-gravity system (which does canonically exist artificially).
I might be biased, though, in kn my Star Trek Adventures campaign, I have a Pandronian as my chief medical officer.
I feel like as this goes on, this list just devolves into random Star Trek species.
I mean, the whole point of the Antedians and Breen is they’re total meme species.
I personally feel like one of the ACTUAL worst species in the franchise is LD’s Dooplers. While overall, the eponymous episode is great, probably one of the series bests, the Dooplers felt out of place. Usually, Lower Decks has a standard of doing things that are both ridiculous and plausible by Star Trek logic - in other words, the cartoon dial is usually set at 6 or 7 (unless it’s a hallucination), but I feel like the Dooplers were a jarring turn to a 10.
Me, in Arizona: 
Though honestly, my thought is if the rest of the country gets rid of DST, I feel like Pacific should go to PDT because it’s incredibly nice when that part of the country aligns with Arizona’s time. Granted, that might be weirder for the eastern Mountain time states.
Oh, my gosh. Weyoun is so beautiful! And you can make him smile! Now all we need is a Lakarian City playset... a pile of ash should do.
But what about Okana at the Starfleet Command Party representing our acceptance:
Or much less attractive PRO Okana, representing the season 3 theme change?
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:
cross-posted from: https://startrek.website/post/19150268
The Parliament just feels like a more beautiful version of the Nebula - it is rather elegant while keeping that Galaxy-class kitbash feel, combined with a bit of Miranda in the square edges of the saucer and a smidge of Sovereign in the nacelles. Nebula just looks derpy by comparison
True, Nebula and Parliament have a bit different purposes. However, other than nacelles, they actually seem to be about the same size interior-wise (based on some very Memory Beta info).
The Parliament just feels like a more beautiful version of the Nebula - it is rather elegant while keeping that Galaxy-class kitbash feel, combined with a bit of Miranda in the square edges of the saucer and a smidge of Sovereign in the nacelles. Nebula just looks derpy by comparison
True, Nebula and Parliament have a bit different purposes. However, other than nacelles, they actually seem to be about the same size interior-wise (based on some very Memory Beta info).
I went through LD 5x09 "Fissure Quest" to try and count/estimate the amount of Kims on the Anaximander.
The most we see on screen together not including Lieutenant Kim is 8 Kims on the Beagle Bridge (6 First Contact Uniforms, 1 Voyager uniform, 1 Delta Flyer uniform):
In the scene immediately after the opening credit, we see two non-Lieutenant Kims with the Voyager uniform:
Combining the 8 Kims seen on the Beagle with the extra Voy Kim on the Anaximander, I estimate there to be at least 9 Kims (besides Lt).
However, there are some inconsistencies.
We only see 6 (non-Lieutenant) Kims in the prison, despite it being somewhat implied the Anaximander is mostly empty besides Garak and Bashir:
In one count the mess hall scene, I counted what was at least 6 and at most 11 Kims.
Overall, I'm sticking with my initial estimate of 9 for now.
I wonder what could account for variations in Kims. Were some actually locked up somewhere on the ship? Did Lieutenant Kim forget one?
Also, assuming there are 9-11 Kims, is 14-16 crew (adding Boimler, T'Pol, Curzon, Garak, and the LMH) enough to run a Defiant-class, which usually has compliment more in the 40s? It could be possible that since it's a Section 31 ship that it's outfitted to run with less agents.
P.S I find it a nice bit of canonical accuracy that most Kims are wearing First Contact uniforms (and likely made it home), as since most timelines are close to Prime, uniform designs shouldn't be that different.
cross-posted from: https://startrek.website/post/18851336
I usually don't post non-OCs, but this one seems relatively rare. The GIF quality was terrible, so I took the MP4 and encoded it into a high-quality animated WEBP. APNG was tempting, but when I tried that for my Prodigy meme, I ran into all sorts of issues. WEBP seems better supported.
Source: https://tenor.com/view/klingon-jump-rope-gif-7629146
I usually don't post non-OCs, but this one seems relatively rare. The GIF quality was terrible, so I took the MP4 and encoded it into a high-quality animated WEBP. APNG was tempting, but when I tried that for my Prodigy meme, I ran into all sorts of issues. WEBP seems better supported.
Source: https://tenor.com/view/klingon-jump-rope-gif-7629146
cross-posted from: https://startrek.website/post/18753661
We'll see how big the intersection between Trek and TMBG fans is here.
Shut up and get with Garak, dude. (Also, a nod to the amusing show banter in the Live at the Music Hall of Williamsburg recording.)
I also posted this on the tmbw Discord.
I have respect for how the Orville turned both Isaac and Gordon around from the most annoying characters on the show to some of the best.