Crack Is Bad! And What's the About Bottoms...

[viciouswishes]

I love Star Trek. I really do. But today, I watched "Symbiosis" (TNG) and omg, one big crack is bad PSA.

Group A: We're dying and need our medicine! *have withdrawal symptoms*
Group B: *hoards the 'medicine'* "We're rich. We need money for our drugs."
Dr. Crusher: "OMG, they're drug addicts. I *know* an addict when I see one. Captain Picard, tell them."
Picard: "Prime Directive, non-interference, blah blah blah. Did you miss that part of Starfleet?"
Dr. Crusher: "Crack is bad. Group B, we know that you know it's drugs."
Picard: *outsmarts them all and destroys their dependant economy by not fixing some important ship part*

WESLEY: (amazed) I can understand how this could happen to the Ornarans... What I can't understand is why anyone would voluntarily become dependent upon a chemical.

DATA: (checking readouts) Yet, the voluntary addiction to drugs is a recurrent theme in many cultures.

WESLEY: (nods) As in the twenty-first century... when Earth governments used narcotics to control the military.

DATA: Or look at the twentieth century. The dangers of drug abuse were well known, yet their use was commonplace.

WESLEY: Why?

DATA: That is what I do not understand.

TASHA: No one wants to become dependent. That happens later.

WESLEY: But it does happen. So why do people even start?

TASHA: Oh, lots of reasons... My home planet was a place of great poverty and violence. For some, the only escape was through drugs.

DATA: I fail to comprehend how a chemical substance can provide an escape.

TASHA: It doesn't. But it makes you think it does. You have to understand -- drugs can make you feel good. They put you on top of the world. You're happy... Sure of yourself. In control. A lot of people never feel that otherwise.

DATA: But it is artificial.

TASHA: It doesn't feel artificial. It feels natural, good, and mind expanding. Until the drug wears off. Then you pay the price. Once you come down, you're lower than when you started. So you take the drug again -- and it kicks you back up. But not as high this time.

WESLEY: So you take more.

TASHA: But each peak gets lower and the valleys get deeper. Before you know it -- you're taking the drug not to feel good but to keep from feeling bad.

WESLEY: And that's the trap.

TASHA: You think the drug expands your universe -- but it actually shrinks it. Shrinks it to where you and the drug are all that's left. Pretty soon, all you care about is getting your next dosage. You'll lie, cheat, steal -- anything to get that fix.

DATA: Certainly by then you would realize the danger.

TASHA: That's the worst of it. You don't care. The drug is your salvation -- your survival. Nothing else is important.

WESLEY: I guess I just don't understand.

(Tasha smiles and puts a hand on his shoulder.)

TASHA: Wesley, I hope you never do.

*cues the laughter* Seriously, I was sitting there in shock. It was the 80s very special drug episode of Star Trek, and it was so bad. I wanted a guest appearance by House, popping his vicodin like potato chips and snarking at Beverly for her naive approach to drug use. (Side note: Actual drug addiction is very serious, what I mock is the PSA.)

dovil wrote about tops and bottoms. Her original question is about writers turning the bottom into women/Mary Sues/children. Like OTPs, I'm puzzled by people with fixed 'x' person is bottom or 'x' person is a top. People's favorite tops were Angel, Giles, and Gunn. People's favorite bottoms were Spike, Andrew, and Xander. Wesley and Riley were debated. I smirk. I also make Angel call Wesley 'sir' and be the student in teacher/student role playing.

I also wonder what it is about Gunn that gives everyone such an impression that he's a top. Masculine? Height? Axe (which mallyns and I couldn't decide if it was vaginal or not)? Race? Leader of his crew? Combination of everything?

The impossibility of Angel/Gunn was brought up due to them both being tops, but for me, seeing that 'ship is really more about Gunn's issues with vamps than anything else. Also my Gunn will bottom for Wesley. In Kat's AU Bent Justice, Gunn is a bottom, and one thing I really like about this fic (among others) is her discussion of the consequences of Gunn's image if people knew he was a bottom.

Also, you all failed. Failed, failed. Why did I accidentally stumble onto jar_daily? Why wasn't anyone like 'hey, Erica...'?

In other news, fist-fuck is in the O.E.D.

Comments

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

I've been toying with indulging my fantasies of sub-Giles in a fic. Oh, then I remember, I can't write that well. Still, I might try. Yep, I think he's a switch.

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

*pets you* You can write.

I've definitely read stories with Giles subbing for Ethan, Spike, and Wes.

I think everyone's a switch. Along with everything being bi as well. But that's my biased world view.

[gwynnega]

Yet another reason why the OED rules... :-)

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

*nods*

[cadence-k.livejournal.com]

*gasp* I didn't know about jar_daily either!

That just made my day!

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

Yeah, yesterday I was having a totally horrible day and I went for more pain by trolling communities and people that I'm not reading while on semi-vacation and there it was. Well, those cookies that I made also helped.

*is a retard for not knowing*

[hydingjekyll.livejournal.com]

What does OED stand for?

Re: *is a retard for not knowing*

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

You're not a retard. It stands for Oxford English Dictionary, the Daddy of all Dictionaries.

[amaresu]

In anime the top is the taller one. It's a weird steriotype in japanese culture. The taller one is the top and the shorter one is the more feminate one.

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

Weird. Angel would be bottoming for both Gunn and Wes than.

[amaresu]

Yep. That is how the Japanese think. Or so manga and anime tell me.

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

Angel would be bottoming for both Gunn and Wes than.


Works for me! something about subverting the mainstream image just turns me on.

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

Yep. I think that's part of the reason why I like to write less popular pairings.

[elucidate-this.livejournal.com]

i generally see gunn as a bottom actually. i can see him topping wes (who is the only man i ever contemplate gunn with) initially out of discomfort surrounding his sexuality, but i tend to think that once things have all gotten settled gunn will bottom most of the time.


of course, i tend to see everybody as a switch at heart so...

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I definitely see the beginning of Gunn/Wes like that.

I think that's the best way. *g*

[cupiecake.livejournal.com]

haha, if house was on star trek i would totally watch it more.

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

He'd be awesome and arguing with everyone. They would have to get Wilson, just to shut up him up with sex once in a while. ;)

[lornelover.livejournal.com]

I think I remember that episode. And damn, holy after school special, Batman!

And the OED rules.

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

Yes, I only wished for the very special episode advisory. Those were always my favorite. I think my favorite very special episodes were those of Blossom, and the worst, always non-impacting, were those on Full House. The diet pill addiction was hilariously lame and solved within an hour.

Hell yes. One day I will have a physical copy on my bookshelves, spanning many many volumes. Then in my years as a famous tv producer, I will hire Alexis to read from them in a British accent for an hour broadcast every Tuesday.

[lornelover.livejournal.com]

I'm a big fan of the caffeine pills on Saved By The Bell. Jesse! She's so excited! *cries* And, of course, Blossom. Honestly, that was probably the first time I learned about perscription drug abuse. Or maybe the first time I cared, since I liked the oldest brother so much. omg, TV crushes.

Will these include even your alternate Tuesdays of gayness?

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

Yes, the caffeine pills was a classic. And I remember not being allowed to watch the very special episodes of Blossom.

It's Heterosexual Tuesdays. The rest of the week is full of gay goodness.

[sanda56.livejournal.com]

Picard: "Prime Directive, non-interference, blah blah blah. Did you miss that part of Starfleet?"

I think they all missed that part of Starfleet... there must have been a really good party on.

I'd always assumed Spike could be in whichever position he fancied, but then perhaps I'm naive. ;)

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

Actually, Picard was always very good at following it. Sisko too. Now Janeway and Kirk, not so much, especially Kirk. I mean, how many civilizations did he interrupt by shagging all their women? ;)

Yes, I imagine so. The show shows him with both types of women - top Buffy and bottom Harmony.

[geki.livejournal.com]

This is why I can never love TNG as much as DS9. It was too....moral. And as much as Picard was a kickass captain, he was too...strict. Except in the movies, when it was a necessary plot device. Which baffles me slightly. Granted Janeway was a one-woman Borg killer, but as crap as she was in comparison, she still knew the harsh restrictions of the Prime Directive and when to ignore them...

Sisko will always be my favourite Starfleet captain, for reasons I can't explain adequately. Even if he was the Emissary (oy!)

Plus, I'm biased towards Sisko because I always thought he was cool and kinda hot. Especially when he grew that goatee.

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

I always wanted Picard as my dad. Yeah, the movies were sometimes a bit...lame.

Dude, I never bought the Janeway as the one-woman Borg killing machine. Kind of like how I really didn't buy Giles and Wood as being able to kill the uber!vamps in "Chosen," considering how the serious ass kicking Buffy received when she went up against them. Maybe their powers drain as they multiply.

Yeah, the Emissary thing was lame. I like to pretend that the last season of DS9 didn't happen.

Lol. I was also more fond of Judzia.

[geki.livejournal.com]

Yes! Jadzia was my favourite too! She was always so composed and just...guh.