the problem with Seven’s deadnaming (whether on the shows, or the novels, or in fic) is that it definitely IS deadnaming because it’s not her name, she canonically, on two different shows, hates being called anything other than Seven or Seven of Nine, and at worst she says nothing about it if she has no recourse. The unfortunate fact of the matter though is that literally everyone knows about “Annika Hansen” because it was on the file related to her and her parents’ disappearence, and it could’ve been interesting commentary on how having been part of the news/having publications/being credited for their work publicly makes it difficult for a lot of trans people to escape being outed and/or deadnamed. And yet the shows still keep being weirdly ambiguous about what Seven’s deadname represents! We got Janeway trying to ‘appeal to her humanity’ by deadnaming her, Axum being grumpy that the person she is now is not the dream projection of a little girl anymore (more deadnaming), a Borg cube deadnaming her in front of Elnor (??), and an asshole who clung so hard to his status as veteran of Wolf 359 that he couldn’t help but deadname his own first officer at every turn. It’s like, I’m not surprised to learn that fic writers are unrepentant when doing the same thing to Seven because canon is weirdly fond of this crap as well!
my point is, to me it’s obvious that deadnaming Seven is a callous, often outright violent act! I think both Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Picard ultimately understood this as well (it’s never a comfortable scene) but the frequency with which this happens goes to show that deadnames can be very insidious, and the simple fact of the availability of this information makes people think they can be used to refer to another person however they see fit, which is absolutely not the case. In the end both Seven of Nine and Julian Bashir are fictional characters and have no real feelings but you know. I wish there was a bit more reflection on how names are used for both of them sometimes, because there’s real people who are going to read that fic, or that tumblr tag, where Seven or Julian get deadnamed with impunity.
sometimes watching star trek is like “how did this shit get approved” and it’s 45 minutes of the most homosexual activity you’ll ever see on screen that probably barely got past the censors and sometimes it’s like “how did this shit get approved” and it’s 45 minutes of the worst writing you’ll ever see y'know
worst (best) case scenario harry kim and ezri dax meet post-voy/ds9 and are like “damn they’re just like me fr” and take that as validation to continue being Like That forever and ever because surely that means they can’t be that mentally ill if someone else is like that too
[Image descriptions in order: a twitter thread by @NlMOY “✯ abe ✯” which says “spock isn’t like other vulcans but not in the way modern trek seems to think. he isn’t not like other vulcans bc there’s something fundamentally different about him vs other vulcans it’s bc other vulcans *treat him that way* bc his mother is human
"it’s not fundamentally harder for him to keep his emotions in check bc he’s half human but every single emotion he does show is treated that way bc ppl are looking for him to slip up, imo a lot of Vulcans actually openly show way more emotion than him but get away wit bc-]
["they’re not looked at w the same harsh eye. but it’s like snw looks at this unfair treatment he receives and accepts it as fact which is very frustrating
"yes spock is sensitive and sweet and kind and caring but those traits were never meant to be taken by the audience as failures to be vulcan but rather as the judgments of a society that refused to accept him and see how those qualities enrich logic rather than contradict it
"so many spock understanders here slay”. Attached is an image of Miles O'Brian from TNG/DS9 with the caption “omg a hit tweet” in rainbow font.]
[A reply by @_fanficqueen “Apenas cansada” which says “This sounds like being a woman and working in the corporate world”. The OP responds “no that’s so real cause a lot of the people who organised the og spock fanzines were women working in science industries in the 60s who felt like they could relate to him”.]
deeply saddened to report that this song still slays
hey i hear the voice of a preacher from the back room calling my name and i follow just to find you i trace the faith to a broken down television and put on the weather and i’ve trained myself to give up on the past ‘cause i frozen time between hearses and caskets lost control when i panicked at the acid test i wanna get better while my friends were getting high and chasing girls down parkway lines i was losing my mind because the love, the love, the love, the love, the love that i gave wasted on a nice face in a blaze of fear i put a helmet on a helmet counting seconds through the night and got carried away so now i’m standing on the overpass screaming at the cars hey i wanna get better i didn’t know i was lonely 'til i saw your face i wanna get better, better, better, better i wanna get better i didn’t know i was broken 'til i wanted to change i wanna get better, better, better, better i wanna get better i go up to my room and there’s girls on the ceiling cut out their pictures and i chase that feeling of an eighteen year old who didn’t know what loss was now i’m a stranger and i miss the days of a life still permanent mourn the years before i got carried away so now i’m staring at the interstate screaming at myself hey, i wanna get better i didn’t know i was lonely 'til i saw your face i wanna get better, better, better, better i wanna get better i didn’t know i was broken 'til i wanted to change i wanna get better, better, better, better i wanna get better better 'cause i’m sleeping in the back of a taxi i’m screaming from my bedroom window even if its gonna kill me woke up this morning early before my family from this dream where she was trying to show me how a life can move from the darkness she said to get better SO I PUT A BULLET WHERE I SHOULDA PUT A HELMET AND I CRASH MY CAR 'CAUSE I WANNA GET CARRIED AWAY THAT’S WHY I’M STANDING ON THE OVERPASS SCREAMING AT MYSELF HEY I WANNA GET BETTER I DIDN’T KNOW I WAS LONELY 'TIL I SAW YOUR FACE I WANNA GET BETTER, BETTER BETTER BETTER I WANNA GET BETTER I DIDN’T KNOW I WAS BROKEN 'TIL I WANTED TO CHANGE I WANNA GET BETTER, BETTER BETTER BETTER I WANNA GET BETTER
Hockey RPF writers being known across fandoms as literary masters
When I first started reading MattDrai fics on AO3 I remember thinking “waitwhat the HELL is going on why is this the most consistently well-written fanfiction I’ve read in any fandom? Is this a thing? Do people know??” And apparently it is and they do.
Thought I’d share this for the benefit of those who might be under the false impression that fandom is only for the young. This is me. We’d just moved to a new apartment, and I was excited to decorate my room with my latest con purchases. This photo was taken 42 years ago. I’m still here. And with any luck, you’ll be wherever the fans are in another 42 years. With a lot more luck, so will I.
Updated for Star Trek Day 2021. Still kicking.
Since this post is making the rounds again in 2023, I thought I’d update again, this time with some of the ‘70s con programs I saved. It’s now 47 years since that first photo was taken. Still here! (And excited about all the new Star Trek!)
