Ship of the Valkyries!

Ensign Hallie Kim Lt. Tamara Paris Chief Engineer B’Elanna Torres Ambassador Nelixia Lt. Cmdr. T’vok Captain Kathryn Janeway (accept no substitutes) Commander Chakotaya The Doctor Seven of Nine, born Annika Hansen Kes and honorary Voyager crewmember Lt. Regina “Reg” Barclay of the Pathfinder Project.

I was going to go with just the full swap, but Voyager was actually the best of the Treks about having an equal amount of ladies and gentlemen, and said ladies were so incredible that I couldn’t bear to exclude them. So I did two versions. The full swap is linked below.

Honestly, I would have left most of these names the same, but I tried to follow Vulcan/Klingon/Talaxian naming conventions, and Chakotay did say that Taya was the feminine version of his name.

—FULL SWAP—

To the Star Trek fandom community on Tumblr – I need your help!

Specifically, the fans on here who are interested in / read or write fic about the female Star Trek characters.

As some of you may already know, I am now a fledgling academic, in my final year of a BA in English Literatures, and I’m currently working on a research project about female-centred fic.

I already knew that, for my very first big research project, I wanted to focus on Star Trek female-centred fic, because quite frankly I think it’s fantastic, and I want my research to be on topics that are important and interesting to me. But when it came time to figure out what particular aspect of it I wanted to research and write about, I was a bit stumped – until I noticed a ‘trend’ in some of the lady-focused fic our community creates and shares. Namely, a subset of them involve 'domestic’ activities like knitting, gardening, going on holiday, hanging out in the holodeck, having drinks at Ten Forward/Quark’s, and so on. And I was like, huh, I wonder what’s going on with that? Voila, research topic found.

It’s taken me the better part of the last few weeks to realise/decide that this sub-section of fic is actually an, as yet unlabelled, subgenre – which in my paper I am going to be giving the label 'Homoaffection Fic’. I’m still narrowing down my definition, but so far I’m defining it as: Fan fiction that resists (so-called) “masculine” narrative/elements, which connects the “private sphere” with the notion of women liking women, in order to “feminise” the canon.

In other words: Fic that doesn’t have a “masculine” narrative or elements like action and conflict, which are typical of a normal Star Trek episode. Which takes place in the “private sphere”, i.e. non-work spaces (e.g. people’s quarters, holodecks, bars, restaurants, Risa, etc) in which domestic and/or “feminine” activities take place. And which depict positive relationships between women, whether platonic, romantic and/or sexual, which have a lack of conflict or a peaceful conflict resolution.

Having done all this preliminary research, it’s now time for me to actually do the reading and analysing fic part, and then write the paper – which is where you come in!

I’ve already been talking to the wonderful @cosmic-llin, asking her for fic recs and lamenting the lack of good academic articles about femslash, but considering this community is the one I’m focusing my paper on, it’s only proper that I ask all of you for your help in finding fic to make sure that I don’t miss any perfect examples!

Furthermore, I’m still trying to refine this definition, so I would like your help in doing so – by sharing recs with me, based on my definition above, you’ll actually be helping me to narrow down my definition. Even if you want to send me fic and say “Look it ticks two of the boxes, but not the third, but I still feel like it fits” that’s helpful to me! I think that Homoaffection Fic is something we can all recognise, even if we’ve never labelled it or grouped it together before now.

I know that fandom and academia haven’t always had the best of relationships – and rightly so, considering some of the stuff that’s gone down in the past! But I’m hoping to change that. I’m as much a fan of this stuff as you are, and the whole reason I’m writing a paper about this is because I think it’s super fascinating and want to shine a light on my own work and pleasures as well (the two fic I’ve published on AO3 both classify as Homoaffection Fic).

I will be asking permission from each fic writer to use their work in my paper – and want to clarify that this is only for a University assignment, and will only be read by my supervisor. However, that said, this paper could be the basis for published work in the future (I certainly hope so, because I’m sure there’s more I can say about this exciting topic!), so do let me know of any concerns you may have.

You can get in touch with me with your recs through the Inbox, or the new-fangled Messenger system, or even through my thevalkyriedirective@gmail.com email address if you’d prefer. If you have any questions or concerns, I’m happy to answer those too! (Also if you want to talk more about Homoaffection Fic, or fem-fic in general, my inbox is always open!)

Reblogging this on here to reach more people. Please direct any messages to my @aceofwands Inbox and Messenger, not this account. Thanks!

Over at Women in Fantastical Illustration on fb, a bunch of us took on the challenge of redesigning a female character, and I picked Seven of Nine!  You can see more examples of the challenge posted at Muddy Colors, io9, and Tor.

I decided to retain a lot about her appearance, from her hairstyle to the remaining cyborg implants on her hand, cheek, and eyebrow.  I also gave her the same build - though here, it’s not exaggerated by a corset, a shimmery skintight catsuit, high heels, and careful lighting/posing/framing, as on the show and promo for same, so it’s not as obvious.

Still, I tried to do justice to the long tradition of jumpsuits on Star Trek, keeping in mind the tendency of the Borg to value functionality - and I added a dash of emerging individuality to suit Seven’s narrative arc.

This is everything I’ve ever wanted for Seven <3 

I'm still on hiatus while I'm kicking ass at University, but I had to log in and share this with you all, given our previous conversations about Seven's catsuits.

This is the outfit she deserved.

It fits her character perfectly. I could totally see her experimenting with accessories and more colour as the seasons progressed and she developed more of her humanity, but we all know that if our favourite ex-drone had been costumed in a way that was actually true to her character she would have been wearing something like this.

Stop Racist, Sexist and Homophobic Comments on the Official Star Trek Facebook Page

For over a year I’ve been noticing and sometimes documenting the kinds of sexist, racist and homophobic comments that proliferate on the official Star Trek Facebook page (more examples of posts here).

And I kept hearing from followers: this is a serious issue and it needs to be addressed in an organized campaign.

Thanks to testimonials sent by many of you, and incredible help from some other Tumblr connections to screencap even more egregious examples (collected at this link), we’re ready to go.

Please click here to sign the petition to CBS and StarTrek.com, calling on them to work together to implement a comments policy that:

See here for additional supporting documents:

Thanks everyone for your support and help getting this campaign together!

Everyone needs to sign and share this!

Sign and share!

Follow | Confess | Archive

[I do not like Jadzia Dax. I wish I could, because it seems irrational of me not to, but I just find her immature in many respects and careless with her treatment of friends and loved ones. She has good moments but overall she’s just someone I wouldn’t want to know or be friends with and I can’t exactly say why.]

I hate every fucking confession like this so much. I don’t even have anything to say anymore except stop. Just stop confessing that you don’t like female characters. It does not make you special or different. It makes you pretty normal in fandom and how fucked up is that.

You know, I think it’s time for a limited edition one time only Valkyrie Directive response to this. Because my commentary got a little out of hand.

What IS the deal with this in fandom?

I don’t think I’ve ever heard people talk about hating any of the main male characters, and yet it seems like every other day someone’s complaining about Kira or Ezri or Jadzia (JADZIA! FFS HOW COULD ANYONE HATE JADZIA!) - or one of the other Trek ladies in the other fandoms.

Kira’s a bitch. Ezri’s not as good as Jadzia. Jadzia’s immature. Keiko’s a nag. Lwaxana’s selfish and ‘oversexualised’.

What even IS this stuff people are spouting? What do they WANT the female characters to act like, is what I want to know!

People say they don’t show enough emotion.

People say they show too much emotion.

They’re never, EVER allowed to express any sort of negative emotion - especially not anger, anger is right out.

If a male character gets angry he’s a badass or we understand and sympathise with him. If a female character gets angry she’s a bitch or a nag or selfish or whiny or any of the other innumerable negative terms we use to describe women (because it’s always women, when’s the last time you’ve heard someone describe a male character as a nag? Or selfish. Or whiny. That’s right, probably never.).

It just seems like female characters are being scrutinised and judged for traits that people wouldn’t even think twice about if they belonged to male characters. 

I wonder if it’s the way the male characters react to these behaviours in female characters, that invites this scrutiny and judgement.

Someone already mentioned that the OP’s complaints (because that is not a bloody confession) were pretty much word for word what Worf complained about in the awful Let He Who Is Without Sin. And I can’t help but wonder if some of the negative reactions people have to Kira is due in part to the way ‘Bajoran women’ are introduced and stereotyped by male characters (such as Miles warning Sisko about Kira in the very first episode).

I just want to know why it is that male characters are allowed to express a range of emotions and remain relatively free of judgement, while female characters are freely disliked or hated.

Or am I oversimplifying things?

I’d love to hear your thoughts - do you have other examples of times you’ve felt people were complaining unfairly about a female Trek character (or multiple Trek characters!)? Or do you think there’s a flipside and that male characters are just as disliked?

The only male character I have ever seen hated as much as the women in the various series is Wesley Crusher.

Jadzia hate really annoys me. I loved her, and I was not happy when she left the show. Something that was pointed out at the time was that often men would get written off the show in ways that would allow them to return later. Women would most often be killed off. Examples I recall were Tasha Yar, Jadzia Dax, and Talia Winters (Babylon 5), although there were many more listed.

Oh of course, how could I forget Wes! I wonder if there's any sort of correlation between the two ... Personally I always found that it was the writing that was at fault - having him save the ship so often in the first season made the rest of the (supposed trained professionals) crew seem completely incompetent. But I do realise that most people don't seem to differentiate 'gee this character is poorly written' from 'I hate this character so much'.

I'm actually struggling to think of any male characters that left any of the Trek shows - not including Data or Trip, as their pointless deaths occurred at the end of their respective series.

But the point still stands.

It's also interesting, from an industry point of view, to realise that many of these women left to find new roles and presumably attempt to further their careers - because women in Hollywood have a ... shelf life? Is that the term I'm looking for? You all know what I mean.

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[I do not like Jadzia Dax. I wish I could, because it seems irrational of me not to, but I just find her immature in many respects and careless with her treatment of friends and loved ones. She has good moments but overall she’s just someone I wouldn’t want to know or be friends with and I can’t exactly say why.]

I hate every fucking confession like this so much. I don’t even have anything to say anymore except stop. Just stop confessing that you don’t like female characters. It does not make you special or different. It makes you pretty normal in fandom and how fucked up is that.

You know, I think it’s time for a limited edition one time only Valkyrie Directive response to this. Because my commentary got a little out of hand.

What IS the deal with this in fandom?

I don’t think I’ve ever heard people talk about hating any of the main male characters, and yet it seems like every other day someone’s complaining about Kira or Ezri or Jadzia (JADZIA! FFS HOW COULD ANYONE HATE JADZIA!) - or one of the other Trek ladies in the other fandoms.

Kira’s a bitch. Ezri’s not as good as Jadzia. Jadzia’s immature. Keiko’s a nag. Lwaxana’s selfish and ‘oversexualised’.

What even IS this stuff people are spouting? What do they WANT the female characters to act like, is what I want to know!

People say they don’t show enough emotion.

People say they show too much emotion.

They’re never, EVER allowed to express any sort of negative emotion - especially not anger, anger is right out.

If a male character gets angry he’s a badass or we understand and sympathise with him. If a female character gets angry she’s a bitch or a nag or selfish or whiny or any of the other innumerable negative terms we use to describe women (because it’s always women, when’s the last time you’ve heard someone describe a male character as a nag? Or selfish. Or whiny. That’s right, probably never.).

It just seems like female characters are being scrutinised and judged for traits that people wouldn’t even think twice about if they belonged to male characters. 

I wonder if it’s the way the male characters react to these behaviours in female characters, that invites this scrutiny and judgement.

Someone already mentioned that the OP’s complaints (because that is not a bloody confession) were pretty much word for word what Worf complained about in the awful Let He Who Is Without Sin. And I can’t help but wonder if some of the negative reactions people have to Kira is due in part to the way ‘Bajoran women’ are introduced and stereotyped by male characters (such as Miles warning Sisko about Kira in the very first episode).

I just want to know why it is that male characters are allowed to express a range of emotions and remain relatively free of judgement, while female characters are freely disliked or hated.

Or am I oversimplifying things?

I’d love to hear your thoughts - do you have other examples of times you’ve felt people were complaining unfairly about a female Trek character (or multiple Trek characters!)? Or do you think there’s a flipside and that male characters are just as disliked?

It’s interesting that you talk about anger, because one of my main complaints about Enterprise is how angry Archer is all the time. It drives me crazy, I really can’t stand him. What is he even angry about? 

On a less personal note, I think you’re on to something with the idea that female character hatred is at least encouraged by how the male characters talk about the female characters. Tripp and Archer spend so much time complaining about T’Pol, for example. Barclay, on the other hand, is super gross and creepy, especially in TNG, but the other characters really don’t seem that bothered. The only male characters I can think of that get criticized with any frequency in the text are the Doctor and Data, and that’s generally in the context of how they can/should be more human-like. 

I agree about Archer, I don't think he was written very well as a character - especially in terms of the way he interacted with T'Pol/Vulcans, and his unnecessary anger.

But I wonder if the way we/people in general look at his character is different to the way they'd look at another 'angry' character, like say Kira. I feel like, with Archer, we stop to go 'why IS Archer angry? this writing sure is poor in regards to his characterisation'.

Yet most of the complaints I read about Kira are 'what a bitch/she's always whining about Bajor' and other things of that nature.

I feel like I'd have to do some actual research to see whether this is just a perception on my part, or actually a reflection of how people talk/think about these characters.

And I know what you mean about the way Barclay, and some of the other male characters on TNG (like Geordi) are written in regards to their interactions with female characters is very problematic. But I also find the way characters interact with him very odd, as someone who deals with anxiety herself, I found the Enterprise quite lacking in terms of any sort of understanding about his mental health issues ... 

I just think the male characters are thought and talked about in different ways compared to the female characters, both in and out of the text. And I wonder if that has to do with this idea of an 'ideal' female character, that each character is compared to and found lacking.

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[I do not like Jadzia Dax. I wish I could, because it seems irrational of me not to, but I just find her immature in many respects and careless with her treatment of friends and loved ones. She has good moments but overall she’s just someone I wouldn’t want to know or be friends with and I can’t exactly say why.]

I hate every fucking confession like this so much. I don’t even have anything to say anymore except stop. Just stop confessing that you don’t like female characters. It does not make you special or different. It makes you pretty normal in fandom and how fucked up is that.

You know, I think it’s time for a limited edition one time only Valkyrie Directive response to this. Because my commentary got a little out of hand.

What IS the deal with this in fandom?

I don't think I've ever heard people talk about hating any of the main male characters, and yet it seems like every other day someone's complaining about Kira or Ezri or Jadzia (JADZIA! FFS HOW COULD ANYONE HATE JADZIA!) - or one of the other Trek ladies in the other fandoms.

Kira's a bitch. Ezri's not as good as Jadzia. Jadzia's immature. Keiko's a nag. Lwaxana's selfish and 'oversexualised'.

What even IS this stuff people are spouting? What do they WANT the female characters to act like, is what I want to know!

People say they don't show enough emotion.

People say they show too much emotion.

They're never, EVER allowed to express any sort of negative emotion - especially not anger, anger is right out.

If a male character gets angry he's a badass or we understand and sympathise with him. If a female character gets angry she's a bitch or a nag or selfish or whiny or any of the other innumerable negative terms we use to describe women (because it's always women, when's the last time you've heard someone describe a male character as a nag? Or selfish. Or whiny. That's right, probably never.).

It just seems like female characters are being scrutinised and judged for traits that people wouldn't even think twice about if they belonged to male characters. 

I wonder if it's the way the male characters react to these behaviours in female characters, that invites this scrutiny and judgement.

Someone already mentioned that the OP's complaints (because that is not a bloody confession) were pretty much word for word what Worf complained about in the awful Let He Who Is Without Sin. And I can't help but wonder if some of the negative reactions people have to Kira is due in part to the way 'Bajoran women' are introduced and stereotyped by male characters (such as Miles warning Sisko about Kira in the very first episode).

I just want to know why it is that male characters are allowed to express a range of emotions and remain relatively free of judgement, while female characters are freely disliked or hated.

Or am I oversimplifying things?

I'd love to hear your thoughts - do you have other examples of times you've felt people were complaining unfairly about a female Trek character (or multiple Trek characters!)? Or do you think there's a flipside and that male characters are just as disliked?

"If there’s nothing wrong with me, maybe there’s something wrong with the universe" ~ Dr. Beverly Crusher

For the third installment of my Ladies of Star Trek Playlist Series, I present a musical tribute to Our Lady of the Flawless Cheekbones, Dr. Beverly Crusher. Listen Here

Tracklist: Laura Viers - Galaxies // Elbow - Teardrop // The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Open heart surgery // The Bird & The Bee - Polite Dance Song // Nick Drake - Cello Song // The Knife - We share our mothers’ health // Blue Boy - Remember Me // Grizzly Bear & Feist - Service Bell // The Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes // Radiohead - Where I end and you begin // Mazzy Star - Fade Into you // Fiona Apple - The Way Things Are // Groove Armada - Remember

Ladies of Star Trek Paylist Series, part 3

The third of notjanebond's Trek ladies fanmixes departs from angry Bajorans to feature the equally tough as nails (just in a different way) Doctor Beverly Crusher.

This mix really does capture the complexity of Beverly's character, so I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

Submission from Stephanie

I am very interested! Not in the least because this very blog was apparently credited for some of the images (which I in turn got from Trekcore.com, so I’m not exactly the right person to credit, but they didn’t ask me where I’d gotten them from!).

I’m really quite baffled as to the purpose of this article? ‘Bizarre facts’ - what does that mean exactly? What stance are the authors taking on the topic, are they saying basing an entire character around her cleavage was sexist or ridiculous? I honestly don’t think they have any stance at all, other than sharing these ‘tidbits’ of information. They neither celebrate nor condemn the decisions made by the producers, thus I don’t really understand the purpose at all.

Then again, they did include over a dozen pictures of Troi, including no less than nine in a row, so perhaps I’m overthinking things here and it’s simply a ‘yay boobs!’ “article” - in which case I’m rather offended that they even credited me for the images, because that is the exact opposite of what this blog is for.

Any thoughts?

It does really seem like a “yay boobs!” article. Wait,I don’t even think it should be called an article,it’s just some flimsy excuse to post pictures of Deanna’s cleavage accompanied by general knowledge for TNG fans. The piece even ends with the writer asking readers this: What did you learn about Deanna Troi’s cleavage?

Well thanks to you I learned that boobs are more important than a someone’s occupation,personality and characterization,you frikkin twats

Yeah, I don't really think it deserves to be called an article either (hence me referring to it as an "article"). Having just completed a semester of editing I couldn't help but cringe at how poorly written it was too.

The comments section really does confirm that it's just a flimsy excuse to share some pictures of Deanna's cleavage.

But I think the most ironic part is that they must have used the pictures I shared in my article talking about Deanna's costumes - which resoundly condemns the unitards she was forced to wear for six seasons!

"That’s the one reason why I ran away. They are lost, defeated. I will never be."

I have completed the Ensign Ro mix that I was putting together in my head, though I decided against calling it “The life and times of Ensign Sasspants”. It follows her (all too short) character arc with “I’ll Stick Around” representing her reluctant arrival on the Enterprise and “Line of Fire” representing her joining the Maquis at the end of “Preemptive Strike”. Listen here

Track List

Foo Fighters - I’ll Stick Around // The Kills - Cat Claw // MS MR - Hurricane // Crazy Girl - The Rebel // Spoon - The Underdog // The Julie Ruin - Oh Come On // Liz Phair - 6’1 // Tegan and Sara - Walking with a ghost // Cults - Oh My God // Cat Power - Metal Heart // The Dandy Warhols - Burned // Junip - Line of Fire

Ladies of Star Trek Playlist Series, Part 2

The second of notjanebond's delightful Trek women fanmixes features yet another kickass Bajoran, and while this mix and yesterday's Kira mix both give me that 'angry Bajoran woman kicking ass and taking names' vibe, this one manages to capture Ro's unique character as much as Kira's captured hers. 

Enjoy.

Inspired by a wave of DS9 nostalgia a lot of other really great fanmixes, I created this Major Kira fanmix, Full Circle

"Kira has come full circle, but going full circle, she’s explored all the degrees all the way around the circle, so she’s pretty much in the same place, but not the same person at all. " Nana Visitor on Kira Nerys in a 1998 interview

Nico Vega - Fury Oh Fury // The Kills - Future Starts Slow // The Arcade Fire - Joan of Arc // Cat Power - Cross Bones Style // London Grammar - Strong // Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gold Lion // Spoon - Got Nuffin // Other Lives - For 12 // Gil Scott Heron - Me and the Devil // Kari Kimmel - Black // Kasabian - Empire // Radiohead - You and Whose Army? // The Boxer Rebellion - Caught by the Light // Wilco - I am trying to break your heart // Fever Ray - I’m Not Done

Ladies of Star Trek Playlist Series, Part 1

The amazing notjanebond has made some fantastic fanmixes featuring the lovely ladies of Star Trek, which I have been enjoying immensely. So I thought, now that the Directive is back in business so to speak, that I'd start by sharing them with you! 

Her first mix features my personal favourite character, Kira Nerys, and I defy anyone listening to this to not hear her and her story in these songs.

Enjoy.