Can we talk about the SUPURB concept scaling of Prodigy? The show is designed for kids and to be a gateway into the Star Trek universe. As such they need to slowly and carefully introduce you to the various Trek things most of us longer established fans understand without question.
Let me break down how the first half of the season establishes trek concepts step by step:
Episode 1. Introduces the universal translator, several types of Trek aliens including the Kazon and Medusans, and the Protostar ship.
Episode 2. Introduces phasers (pew pew) and shields.
Episode 3. Introduces holograms, the brig, the concept of the United federation, replicators (food and vehicle), and escape pods.
Episode 4. Introduces the concept of away missions, tricorders, and ship landings. It also reinforces the idea that holograms must remain within the ship.
Episode 5. Introduces klingons and the proto warp drive.
Episode 6. Introduces the holodeck, the concept of the Kobiashi Maru scenario, and Chakotay.
Episode 7. Introduces the transporters, Ferengi, and both the concepts of First Contact and the Prime Directive.
Episode 8. Introduces time travel shenanigans.
Episodes 9 and 10 are special because they both take everything we’ve learned up until now and puts them to work.
So by now we should understand how the protostar jump works, how universal translators work, how the holodeck works, how Medusans work, how holograms are supposed to work (to give us an added surprise when they function differently due to an upgrade) and we reinforce Starfleet ideals and beliefs.
Each episode takes you step by step, slowly acclimating you to these concepts so that further down the line when we see characters in wild settings that shouldn’t exist we just know “Ah, they’re on the holodeck.” Or see characters just appear out of nowhere “ah, that’s because of transporters.”
I know this should be obvious storytelling 101, but I’ve noticed that most other trek shows… just don’t do this at all. They just assume everyone knows what a transporter is, or what a holodeck is, or what phasers and tricorders are. And while to a degree some of that will be absorbed through pop culture osmosis, very few of the other trek shows stop and explain what these things are which makes getting into these shows more challenging for first time watchers.
So I greatly appreciate Prodigy assuming that viewers know next to NOTHING about the Trek world and take the time to let these concepts be introduced slowly over the span of multiple episodes. And each time it feels like we’re leveling up too.
This is good stuff!
Lieutenant Thomas Eugene Paris would be proud 🥲
All those hours wasted on the holodeck finally came in handy.
quick tips for creating fantasy language(s) that look believable if you squint
Pick a few rules about what letter/sound combinations can and cannot exist (or are common/uncommon). For example, in English, "sp" or "st" can begin a word, but in Spanish they can't. The "ng" sound (or the voiced velar nasal if you want to get technical), can't appear at the beginning of a syllable in English, but it can in at least of third of languages around the world. English allows for consonant clusters (more than one consonant together without a vowel), but some languages, such as Hawaiian, don't. Picking a few distinctive rules that are different from English or the language you are writing in, and sticking to them, will yield a lot better results than just keysmashing.
Assign meaning to a few suffixes, prefixes, or roots. A simple and useful example of this is making up a particle that means -land or -city or -town, and tacking it onto your appropriate place names. You could also have a particle with a similar meaning to the "er/or one we have in English, such as in "baker," "singer," or "operator," and then incorporate it in your fantasy titles or professions. It's like an Easter egg for careful readers to figure out, and it will make your language/world feel more cohesive.
Focus on places and names. You usually don't need to write full sentences/paragraphs in your conlang. What you might want to do with it is name things. The flavor of your language will seep in from the background, with the added benefit of giving readers some hints on background lore. For example, you could have a conlang that corresponds to a certain group of people, and a character with a corresponding name could then be coded as being from that group without having to specify. A human-inhabited city with an elven-sounding name might imply that it was previously inhabited by elves.
You don't have to know what everything means. Unless you are Linguistics Georg R. R. Tolkien, you probably don't want to (and shouldn't!) actually make up a whole language. So stick some letters together (following your linguistic rules, of course) and save fretting over grammar and definitions for the important stuff.
(Bonus) This isn't technically conlanging, but it can be fun to make up an idiom or two for your fantasy culture (just in English or whatevs) and sprinkle that in a few times. The right made-up idiom can allude to much larger cultural elements without you having to actually explain it.
Congrats! You now have a conlang you can dust over your wip like an appropriate amount of glitter. Conlangs can be intimidating, just because there's so much you can do, but that doesn't mean you have to do it all. So yeah anyway here's what I would recommend; hope y'all have fun :D
Advances in printing technology and the development of cloth covers made it possible for Victorian book publishers to issue limited editions of popular titles with ornate cover decoration. The elaborate designs were mechanically stamped on colored fabric and the lettering often embossed and gilded. Packaged in a velvet-lined slip cover, these gift books were intended more for display than actual perusal. For daily reading materials, Victorians of all classes borrowed books from private lending libraries.
Now remember, a lady rides sidesaddle, NOT astride. Your mother would be in hysterics at the very idea that a daughter of hers would ride a werewolf astride! Why, next you’ll be showing ankle…
Ammonite Cabochon via fossilatelier
the one thing thing funnier than this caption is that the only reason they stopped doing it was that the ferret shit in the tube
"You are the dreamer... and the dream."
GUYS THIS IS AMAZING
SERIOUSLY
6000 YEARS
STORIES THAT ARE OLDER THAN CIVILIZATIONS
STORIES THAT WERE TOLD BY PEOPLE SPEAKING LANGUAGES WE NO LONGER KNOW
STORIES TOLD BY PEOPLE LOST TO THE VOID OF TIME
STORIES