Falling Headfirst from Time to Time

Eva Funderburgh

can these 3 minutes 16 seconds from 7x02 “Imperfection” redeem the worst parts of Voyager S7? jury's still out on that but here it is regardless.

(transcription under the cut)

Stuck in space trying to solve a crisis without any progress? This guy has all the knowledge and equipment to make your perfect counterpart. Together you start to work on the problem and make progress at breakneck speed.

Feeling like a complete failure as an engineer when all the science equipment on your ship breaks down and you can't fix? Grace is amazed by everything you do, he calls you a genius and the best engineer he's ever known. Your work together constantly requires your engineering skills, and you keep succeeding. You are useful, needed, essential for the mission.

Alone for decades? You and the alien are now stuck in a tiny spaceship and you can 'see' him at all times. He even turns out to be fun company! And he thinks the same of you!

Feeling confused and guilty about being the only survivor of your crew? Grace explains what really happened and how there was nothing you could have done. And now you have the opportunity for redemption; the alien is going to die and you can save his life. He's so bad at taking care of himself, he doesn't even keep up with his bedtimes. You can fix that.

Nobody to watch you sleep? Not only the guy watches you, but he also lets you watch him sleep. You can always wake him up from sleep if there's any danger, you can always see his body working. You can fulfill your biological need to guard someone's sleep, but you don't need to worry if this one is ever going to wake up.

Stuck in a rut for decades, doing the same things over and over until you can't stop? Suddenly your world is full of sound, life, new and exciting things. Your mind is not just woken up, but working on overdrive. So many new things to learn and discover! Not only that, the alien creature thinks you are the most fascinating thing in the universe and wants to know everything about you.

And the cherry on top? When you discuss the meaning of names, you learn this fucker is called Grace. A mercy, favor, blessing from god, deliverance from suffering.

It's an ecosystem guys, we need all of it

Fear

Anger

Joy

Emotional experiences which the preponderance of textual evidence suggests pre-emotion-chip Commander Data is in fact fully capable of:

Catlike curiosity

Quiet frustration

Unfocused yearning

Aesthetic appreciation  – and, concomitantly, disapproval

The nameless urge that says “I could totally do a bit right here and as long as I keep a straight face nobody will ever be able to prove that I’m fucking with them”

Just straight up not vibing with a person

asking for a friend of course