Robot Road House

consistent practice opens up whole worlds of skill that you couldn't imagine

making mistakes in the process of learning is not only natural, it is also essential

activities that you enjoy can give you more energy back than you spent on them

I liked these tags but I had something to say about it

I already assumed that the dresses were a choice made by the female crew, mostly for my own sanity. They do show (very infrequently) women in tos wearing pants

And they show men wearing dresses in tng, but only ever in the background (unless you count the dress uniforms)

And obviously I like that these were included, but they were clearly a cop out decision.

“Yeah see men can wear dresses, women can wear pants. They just don’t choose to” reads as “of course I’m not sexist, women just like wearing tiny little dresses in the future”

And thinking about it from a late sixties perspective, many women did see more revealing clothes as an empowering choice to make. Men wanted women covered and modest, understated makeup, only exposed or done up for male enjoyment. Some women took that in the opposite direction and chose to wear more extravagant makeup, revealing clothing, and brighter colors. It was a progressive time, and some of the choices made in an attempt to highlight that in the show did not age well.

I think it's worth emphasizing that this very genuinely is the main reason for the "sexist" miniskirts. IRL, women were often not choosing between sexy miniskirts and non-objectifying pants, but long skirts (respectable) and short skirts (rebellious). Deliberately wearing short skirts as rebellion against patriarchal control that mandated long skirts or maaaaybe loose slacks on a good day is still hardly unknown among girls/women leaving conservative communities in the USA, and was only more commonly coded that way at the time.

Sally Kellerman, the actress for Elizabeth Dehner, found the close fit of the supposedly more feminist pants uncomfortable and is often given something to hold in front of her because she was so intensely self-conscious about them. Grace Lee Whitney (Janice Rand) loathed the more "proper" initial look and worked with the (gay) costume designer, William Ware Theiss, to design a different, more daring and cool-looking aesthetic for women of the future that appealed to her personally. That was what resulted in the miniskirt uniform design. No doubt it served the objectifying tastes of various straight men involved, but literally zero of them were responsible for the design of Whitney's and Nichols's uniforms.

Not only did Nichelle Nichols not consider herself suffering from the miniskirt, she admitted later to sometimes deliberately lifting the skirt even higher at Uhura's station to show off more of her legs because she hadn't worked so hard on her body to not show them off. Meanwhile, Jill Ireland, the actress for Leila Kalomi, was nervous that she might have to wear the kinds of revealing costumes so many other TOS actresses did, and Theiss instead designed her the comfortable overalls she wears as Leila in "This Side of Paradise."

The kneejerk backlash against short skirts (in decidedly more reactionary eras of both Star Trek and US culture) led to both the large-scale disappearance of the skirts and the snide commentary on them throughout later iterations of Trek, with zero consideration of the fact that they were designed by a gay man to suit the preferences of the leading actresses at a time when they commonly represented rebellion. The Berman-era Star Trek productions tut-tutting at the old costumes while actually putting actresses in uncomfortable, form-fitting uniforms they disliked is ... uh, something else.

Man ranting on the internet about the Superbowl halftime show or complaining that something is "woke"? Hobbyless Behaviour. Girls mocking another girl for not looking right? Hobbyless Behaviour. Mindless vandalism? Hobbyless Behaviour.

(Note: This report is classified Epsilon Sigma, Starfleet O-10 and above unless designated as having need to know by appropriate agencies)

Stardate: 61203.19

Agency: Starfleet Xenocosmozoa Department, Starbase Deep Space 13

Reporting Agent: Lt. Cmdr Darid Kai MD, Starbase Deep Space 13, SFXD Investigative Leadership

Report:

Summary: Beginning with a sighting on stardate 49420.9, various Starfleet officers and enlisted personnel have reported visitation by lifeforms which appear and disappear with no obvious sign of transport. These life forms appear as a trio and resemble Terran amphibians or Tellarite aquapods, with a nose to tail length of approximately 1.3 meters. They have appeared on starships traveling at warp, orbital starbases, and on planetary surfaces. Their origin would appear to be Human.

---

The first reported sighting of the Extra-Dimensional Amphibious Sapients (EDAS) occurred on the USS Garrett (NCC-53210) exploring galactic north of the established Federation border. Ensign T’Seril, a junior science officer, was meditating in her quarters when she was, “disturbed by the sound of wet slaps against my floor.” She reports she opened her eyes to see the EDAS trio arranged in front of her watching. She immediately called the bridge to report intruders, and instructed the ship’s computer to begin visual and sensor recordings in her room. The EDAS made what Ensign T’Seril described as “murmuring pops and grunts.” They did not otherwise move from their positions. As security entered her quarters, the creatures disappeared, leaving a wet, slime residue where they had been. (Note: This account did not make it to the Xenocosmozoa Department files until this agent found it in the Garrett’s logs on stardate 61198.5 while beginning to research this phenomenon. Recommend update to Starfleet information channels reminding officers of the existence of SFXD.)

Since that first appearance, the EDAS have appeared more than 12 times to various locations, and other accounts may still exist in Starfleet records. Two notable instances are included here:

On stardate 53429.66, in the Gamma Quadrant on the eve of the New Bajor colony’s admission to the Federation, the Bajoran Government representatives reported that the three EDAS appeared on a serving table at a reception for dignitaries. The EDAS within seconds of their appearance began to consume a large tray of jumja sticks until they were chased away from the table by a Bajoran militia colonel. The EDAS again disappeared not long after. This instance is notable for it taking place in the Gamma Quadrant, but again in the presence of Starfleet personnel. An officer present, Doctor (REDACTED BY REQUEST) collected samples of residual slime and saliva for later testing and discovered the presence of human DNA in the samples. (Note: Thank you, Dr. (REDACTED) for remembering to pass these results to the SFXD; I’m not sure why you wouldn’t want your name used; I’m not a Section 31 fan either.)

Most recently, on stardate 60230.5, this agency was contacted by Lt. Commanders Mariner and Boimler, the first officers (note: how does that work?) of the USS Cerritos. Lt. Cmdr. Mariner reached out to the SFXD after the EDAS appeared in the middle of a poetry reading on the Cerritos, snatched a bag of churros from the Captain, and according to Lt. Cmdr. Mariner, “Looked me dead in the eye and said, ‘Are you my mommy?’ I thought it was frickin’ weird, but then Boims said he recognized them.” After discussion with Lt. Cmdr. Boimler regarding the physical similarities with life forms “encountered” by the USS Voyager in the Delta Quadrant on stardate 49373, Lt. Cmdr. Mariner recommended contacting, “those nerds at SFXD.” (Note: I am not a nerd, I am a scientist.)

The suggestions from the Cerritos officers led to this agent searching databases and researching an incident aboard the USS Voyager following the test of a Warp 10 engine. The details are (REDACTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE INVOLVED OFFICERS) which resulted in the birth of the three ESADs. They would seem to have inherited the ability to transport across vast interstellar distances, due to the mutations caused by warp experiment. This agent can’t help but note that had the crew of the Voyager kept the ESADs on board, they might have been able to unlock their abilities and shave several years off their return to the Alpha Quadrant. 

But more importantly, Admiral (REDACTED): Your kids are looking for you.

End of Report, Starfleet Department of Xenocosmozoa, Agent Darid Kai.

(Note: Happy Threshold Day)

[Gerard]: Okay. Oh, was talking about Cheeseburger in Paradise, oh right. So, I keep a list of really excellent murder music. And you know, it’s not like I would—I would play this music to murder people, I don’t ever plan on doing that, but, should, let’s say, you know, I write a film or there’s a TV show, like, there was this scene in, uh, the first episode of Umbrella Academy where Five kills all these people in the, in the, um, donut shop, and I was like, please use ‘Daydream Believer’ by The Monkees. I love them, please use—this is—this is perfect murder music, ‘Istanbul’ is not on my murder music list, but you know what is now? Cheeseburger In fucking Paradise. This is kinda on the list. I think. What do you say we play it? Let’s do it.