Star Trek, Gen Con, 8 Bit Games, and a Tasty Link Salad

Hello admirable and excellent reader,

In my last newsletter, I mentioned I was changing the format. My forthcoming issues will be a bit of an experiment, because I’m excited to dive into narrative. This time, I’m blasting off into space and share some observations about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Picard.

So, let me get the obligatory self-promotion bits out of the way. I also want to share some fun 8-Bit games that have brought me joy, recently, in the hopes that you might dig them, too, followed by a tasty link salad.

Returning! Gen Con: Writer’s Symposium

At present, I plan on returning to Gen Con as a guest of the Writer’s Symposium. I’m currently writing up my proposed workshops. I had a blast teaching you about tarot and its narrative applications last year and will likely revisit that again. I’ll provide a schedule once everything’s confirmed.

8 Bit Games

Look, I don’t know what it is about 8 Bit right now, but that retro style vis-à-vis Stardew Valley is bringing me some joy. Besides dipping my toes into Stardew Valley, I have played Tiny Island Survival and found it’s pretty cute and value-packed for a free, standalone adventure. I’ve mentioned before I am a fan of the side-scroller Kingdom by Raw Fury. I recently downloaded Call of Olympus for Kingdom: Two Crowns. I am in love. There is so much to like! New, thematically-appropriate setting! New rules! New mounts! New music! And, a broad range of difficulty levels. It’s fabulous.

I’m also playing The Way Home and am keen on trying One Bit Adventure and Idle Slayer. The Way Home’s conceit is a nice twist on an old classic: You play a cat named Cheese who’s saving their human. It is a traditional, repetitive dungeon crawl with synth tracks, bosses, treasure hunts, and more.

If you want a cozy, no-combat 8-bit game that is low investment and is super cute, check out Food Truck Pup. Good doggos makin’ crepes in their food truck. Yes, it is cavity-inducing! Plus, you can decorate your good doggo’s food truck and dress them up in little outfits.

Side Salad of Links

Just a few links today! Here are some items that brought me joy:

It’s no secret I love a good bag, and often I spend time researching what will work for me. I stumbled across these handmade carpet bags. Yes, they’re $200 and out of my price range for regular use, but they’re handmade, carpet bags. This is the type of bag I’d absolutely treasure—who knows? Maybe one day, I’ll attend a fancy party and have an excuse to splurge.

There is an entire candle store devoted to F-Bombs. I’m impressed! Literally, the F Bomb Candle Store.

If you live in the U.S. and are not sure how to help peers affected by, well, everything…K Tempest Bradford and Nisi Shawl are holding an Are You My Ally? webinar to help folks understand how best to support others.

Last, but not least, I wanted to remind you that gardening season is just around the corner. Whether you’re new to growing herbs, veggies, and flowers or an experienced pro, I recently discovered Lifehacker has a ton of articles devoted to plants and green spaces.

Trekking into Space

And now for the main course.

Star Trek has always been a part of my life, but not in the same way as Star Wars has. As a kid, the original Star Trek TV show and its memorable, capable characters represented the American melting pot, that great mosaic of cultures and beautiful people, all rallying for a goal: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.

In some ways, I took the TV show for granted, because the re-runs I watched convinced my child’s heart that egalitarian society was our future. Though I did enjoy the movies, with the Wrath of Khan and the Search for Spock being two, memorable experiences, they didn’t resonate with me as a kid the same way the grand majesty of Star Wars did. But, as I got older, I learned to appreciate nuanced storylines and the property’s longevity. Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager, which explored different themes of leadership and belonging, revisited the familiar and the strange, underlining its core messages of bold exploration and, most of all, hope.

Recently, I had the opportunity to watch Star Trek: Picard and Strange New Worlds. Thoughts! I have them!

(Yes, there’s probably going to be a few spoilers if you haven’t watched either show. It’s very hard to talk about story without including them.)

Star Trek: Picard

I had no expectations when I sat down to watch Picard. I figured there would be some powerful nostalgia moments, but I was curious how each season would be shaped. Star Trek, as an IP, is over 50 years old and Picard, as a character, is an established, retired legend. How do you facilitate character growth for such a character? During Picard’s tenure, there have been risks taken, like the memorable death of Data, and changes to modernize the overall setting and tone, too. For context, I am the type of viewer who remembers a lot of details, who studies canon in-depth if I’m working on the property, but as a fan? I care most about a satisfying story and am totally fine with changes.

So, from the perspective of a fan? I loved the first season of Picard. Absolutely loved it. Data’s death (in The Next Generation) not only meant something, but the blossoming of new life was an extraordinarily healing way to move on from that grief. Picard, then, became a guardian, patriarch, friend, and potentially lover—a way forward from the ashes of war, moving past a storied career, toward something new.

The second season fell flat for me. In all fairness? The addition of time travel coupled with the fundamental shift in an iconic villain, the Borg, would be hard to pull off with or without Picard. I didn’t mind revisiting the Borg, but toward the end I wasn’t clear what the surprise ending meant for the overall Star Trek universe. To me, the new Borg Queen was such a mind-blowing change, I wondered what (and who) else was affected. Once you introduce time travel, after all, anything goes, because it can be a reset button. Old mistakes could be fixed, ripples could affect the future, and details change the past. Notably missing, though, was Picard’s brother Renee. Changed, too, was the first time Picard met Guinan. Wouldn’t both affect the overall story? I wasn’t sure.

Once the second season wrapped up, I started wondering why there was a third season. The first season brought hope, the second season brought catharsis, and the third? Well, the third season was a disappointment for me. Why? Well, here’s the thing about writing for nostalgia: those moments only carry a show so far. It felt as if the third season revisited the same ground as Season Two, then circled even further back to provide more chances to see the old crew back together again. If anything, the vibe was three step backwards. Picard’s relationship with Laris had interesting potential, but then stopped abruptly. The introduction of the Changelings and Vadic’s dogged pursuit was brilliant, but occurred at a slower pace building to, what I hoped was, a massive climax. When the Borg were re-introduced? The twist fell completely flat for me. Not because the Borg isn’t terrifying, but because Season Two heavily involved the Borg. Thus, the narrative felt more like a stale flashback as opposed to growing from a time travelling-intense storyline.

Did I appreciate the on-screen moments, watching characters who’d appeared on screen time and time again? Absolutely. But I didn’t want to watch Picard just for the nostalgia, and it’s for this reason I walked away mentally tweaking the structure to be more satisfying in my head canon. I would have loved to see the Changelings utilize the fallen Borg as a ruse. Everyone thinks the Borg is calling, but nope—it’s the Changelings after all. Etc. It’s hard not to make tweaks for a show like this, because the last season had a lot of potential that ultimately felt anticlimactic.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

I also watched Strange New Worlds and the animated Lower Decks. As this newsletter is beginning to wax over 1,000 words, let me focus on SNW. First, let me point out that I typically don’t like prequels. I am one of the worst, possible people to please when it comes to prequels, because it is very hard to hold my interest. This is especially true if I know what the stakes are and what happens to the characters in the future. Sure, prequels can be fun to flesh out how characters get to a certain point, but if those arcs don’t feel impactful, if the stakes are low, if characters never change or grow? I usually skip them.

All that said: I F’ing loved Strange New Worlds. Brava. Including Captain Pike’s hair. (Seriously, his stylist deserves an Emmy.) I loved watching a compassionate, caring, conflicted captain trying to make decisions for the safety of his crew. Every single character on the ship had immense personal and professional conflicts they had to work through. Not to mention, there were tense moments that served as political commentary, highlighting weaknesses in the Federation’s policies. I literally had chills watching Babs Olusanmokun play Dr. M’Benga. Fantastic character. Christina Chong playing La’an Noonien-Singh, too. Brilliant. Every single actor brought unique, dynamic, vibrant aspects to their characters. And the reinvention of the Gorn? Terrifying. Absolutely, downright terrifying.

Lastly, I want to close on a positive note. Please don’t think I, for one minute, believe the creators did a terrible job on Picard (or any other story for that matter). It takes a lot of heart to work on any IP that’s as old and as hallowed as Star Trek is. It’s impossible, like I said previously, to please everyone on any project—and this is especially true on legacy properties that are stuffed with stories. Everyone has their favorites, characters and stories, after all. No matter my opinion, I’m just one viewer who has the privilege of commenting on a massive team’s monumental effort of love. Sure, I can get critical sometimes. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy watching. On the contrary, when I am invested in dissecting narrative, it’s because I’m having fun. I am enjoying that “what if” moment, daydreaming about what changes I’d make, if I was working on Star Trek, too.

That’s all the time I have for today. Did you watch either of those shows? What did you think?

‘Til next time!

Warmly,

Monica