Current Post On Trae’s Blog:
So I'm just going to come out and say it: My favorite episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation is "Conundrum." It's episode fourteen of season five, and I just deeply love it.
I don't know if it's because I literally just assumed Erich Anderson's Commander McDuff was a random Enterprise officer of the week (which we saw quite often during the show) when I watched it as a kid during the original run, so the twist actually worked on eleven year old me. I don't know if it's because I just like a good "everyone has amnesia" story. I don't even know if it's just because it's a good Ro Laren episode. I don't know if it's just because we learn that Starfleet doesn't give a crap about lasers.
I just like it. It's neat.
And I rewatched it last night, and feel that it holds up -- which is why I found it deeply weird that the folks who wrote the episode actually think it's not that good. My favorite episode of the entire seven season run of the show was a failure according to the folks who wrote it.
And maybe, as a writer and creator, I should remember that.
Like the hardest part of releasing creative works to the public is that often, after a while, I'll start to judge those things far more harshly than when I first made them. Or I'll compare it to the potential I thought an idea had in my head. And if I don't reach that potential, I'll think of it as "bad" -- when it might just be slightly different than that idea. I have one hundred percent published stories that I thought were just sort of okay and later had someone tell me how much it meant to them to read it.
*cough*I Hate November*cough*
So I should make sure I remember Conundrum. That one of my favorite things to rewatch is considered one of those failures by its creators. That the things I make might have value, just not in the way I originally thought they should.
It's just sort of how things work out.
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Probably better punch Jim, too.
I’m actually kinda loving the unlikely alliance between Lynn and Garner. May they develop a better understanding of each through the punching and mutual dislike of Nazis.
What would Jim do anyways? Kick Lynn out of the con? Well probably but I think he knows that Lynn has done much to save the con from going extinct. Plus I think Lynn could have helped explain her case to Jim by saying the con goer was also breaking the law by violating a restraining order against 2 of the staffers. Of course could retort with the fact that hitting someone isn’t right either but Lynn also has other bullets in her chamber too. She also has the hate speech policy, and the fact she knows the con goer from Bork Con staff and knows he is flat out an asshole. So yea this whole thing is a mess that probaby would be best sorted out a week or two after the con.
Probably quietly angle things toward getting her out eventually, but that’s about it, unless she pushes it further. This appears to be how he does things as shown so far. Had a boss like him for a while.
He’s been reasonably good at that so far – it’s too bad that his motivations here are crap. Err – to to be clear his “Nazi crap isn’t that big a deal” motivations. His boss motivations are reasonable enough here, it’s his attitude toward the triggering incident that needs slapping.
Well, when the elections come around for the next year’s staff, I bet Lynn can persuade the staff to vote Jim out as the Con Director/Chairman. Although Lynn could also say “F**K It* and leave the staff and let them do their own thing.
I agree that it would be best for the con to wait a few weeks and have a serious discussion about this and what to do about it.
I mean Lynn does have a violent history at cons so this could be seen as her just punching another person. That isn’t a great look no matter how much the people punched deserve it.
Considering Jim seems to hate confrontation he would probably back off if more than one staffers back Lynn.
All of that is valid and I’m also someone would rather sort stuff until after everything is done. I think of the Convention being a like a forest fire, bare with me here, it’s a literally an event that requires all the staff and volunteer help and there is not need for the “firefighters” to be arguing with themselves over something they did yesterday. I mean if there is some proven incompetence on the staff, then by all means get rid of them, but this is more like two of the firefighters disagreed with the Chief’s instructions because it clearly went again the most ethical way of handling things and so they do it the way they think was the right way even though it went against the Fire Chief’s orders. Sure the Chief could chose to address the decisions these firefighters made, but that would be inappropriate of the time because right now there is still a fire put out, which hypothetically it’s the con. I know it’s not the best analogy but I was picturing this whole event as something to prioritize over a petty dispute that can be sorted out after the convention is over.
I like that Garner is showing that he may be an asshole, but he’s not *that* asshole.
Seriously? Keeping to a lie when the lie is unsupportable? Lynn’s best clue this was a bad course of action was when Garner backed her up.
My RW alignment is lawful-good. I would have told Jim everything and accepted responsibility. He seems very willing to work around people’s personal quirks, which may include a hot temper such as Lynn’s. But for that to work, trust has to run both ways and Lynn just showed it doesn’t. That’s a big deal.
Jim was wholly in the wrong though. They had an attendee violating their con’s stated policy in a way designed to make other people feel uncomfortable and threatened. Jim actively ordered Lynn to overlook that. Right there he proved he’s clearly incompetent at handling this situation.
Lynn and Garner handled it, on their own, and are now just making sure Jim doesn’t have another opportunity to make terrible decisions around this issue.
As Lynn said, “When you see a Nazi, punch a Nazi.”
Otherwise, you get this:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/10/27/pittsburgh-police-report-active-shooter-near-synagogue/1788556002/
So keep punching Nazis. Pittsburgh will love you for it.