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Mad-Man-with-a-Pen

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There are few ships as famous as Star Trek’s U.S.S. Enterprise when it comes to sci-fi franchises. The Millennium Falcon probably holds that title for a ‘named’ ship from Star Wars. The Doctor’s TARDIS, while unconventional for a spacecraft, is also up there. Yet while the interiors may change for our favorite Mad Man (or Woman) with a Box, and we’ve seen an earlier version of the Falcon, the general look of these ships hasn’t changed. In contrast, we’ve gotten multiple vessels named Enterprise.


Thanks to all the shows, movies, and video games it has starred in, we've seen the Enterprise a lot. However, not all versions of the renowned ship are the same quality as others. As a lifelong Trek fan and enjoying a lot of Star Trek lately, I thought it was time to share my thoughts and rank the various Enterprises. My criteria for this is if we’ve seen the Enterprise on screen, small or big. Thankfully we’ve got a nice long list to go through. I’m sure some of my choices will probably generate a few W.T.F. reactions from some (eyes gundam20012005 nervously), but I have to be honest with how I feel.


I’ll explain why I’ve ranked each ship where they are, with some entries probably longer than others and some having more pics than others. I’ll probably be mentioning some SPOILER things here and there, but considering most of this stuff has been out for ages…yeah, only warning I’m giving. I hope to hear your thoughts and look forward to answering comments and having some fun talking about some of my favorite ships :)


11: Enterprise-J (Star Trek: Enterprise)


Appearing in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode “Azati Prime,” we this ship when Captain Jonathan Archer is brought to the Enterprise-J by Daniels, the Starfleet guy from the future. If you don’t know, Season 3 of ST.: Enterprise involved a serialized story arc that involved the NX-01 Enterprise trying to find the Xindi, an alien race who wanted to destroy Earth. The Xindi were victims of alternate-dimension aliens or something, trying to modify space in the Xindi territory to suit them better.


The show involved a lot of time travel plot ideas which…yeah, didn’t really work out. As part of that arc, Daniels brings Archer to this future Enterprise, which with other Starfleet shirts (many reused CGI models from DS9 or Voyager), fights off the big bad aliens of that season. We see the Enterprise-J briefly, basically an exterior shot and one REAL generic hallway.

EntJ

BEHOLD! The Pizza Cutter Enterprise!


So, yeah, this one gets the bottom slot because it’s just not appealing to the eyes at all. It has a general shape like the NX-01, but the weird ultra-flattened saucer section and ridiculously thin nacelles look odd. While I wasn’t a superfan of every ‘future’ designed ship that appeared in Star Trek: Discovery Season 3, they were better than this (though I hate the ‘detached’ nacelles idea, like, how the hell does that work?).

Ent-318-entj

Don't worry Sam, the next leap WILL be the leap home


We don’t get to see the Enterprise-J do anything, and it’s just mostly there to deliver a plot point to Archer. Who, well, to be frank, often needed such a ‘blunt’ message to understand things. But that’s for another list (rank Enterprise Captains?). Since I’m not too fond of the design visually, and we don’t see it do anything, Enterprise-J gets the bottom slot.


10: NX-01 Enterprise (Star Trek: Enterprise)


With the 1990s being a glorious explosion of Star Trek material, as the 2000s were rolling around, a new Trek series was in the works. Apparently inspired by seeing the ‘future’ in First Contact, the idea for this new series would be a prequel 100 years before TOS. I could probably write a whole journal about the problems of doing a ‘prequel’ to a series where the fans NEVER track the continuity religiously, but we’re here to focus on the main ship of the series, the titular Enterprise.


Yeah…I don’t like it.

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My main issue with the NX-01, and the series in general, is it’s just too much LIKE the Star Trek we’d already seen up to that point. The whole point of the prequel was to try something different and show us HOW we get to where we are in TOS, yet the hero ship has a saucer section, traditional Starfleet layout, and basically the same tech/weapons as Kirk’s era. Phase Cannons, Torpedoes, and then actual Photon Torpedoes. ‘Hull Plating,’ which, if the hull is gone, shouldn’t you have massive hull breaches? But no, cause we’re not imaginative, we call out the ‘hull polarity’ just like shields from TNG, DS9, and Voyager.

Nx3

Alright, off to seven seasons of adventure...wait, what do mean canceled?


Even the design feels like a rehash of the cooler-looking Akira-class we first saw in First Contact. It takes that design, flips the nacelles, and takes away the awesome torpedo launcher. I don’t mind the interiors of the NX-01. They feel like a proper spaceship on the inside, and it’s not as spacious as Starfleet ships, we later see. The bridge was OK too, but that’s about it. Otherwise, it’s a boring design.

Deadlusclass

Seriously, I'd have dug seeing this as the NX-01, doing the Earth-Romulan War, a proper prequel series.


Why didn’t they embrace the prequel idea? Let the NX-01 be a Daedalus class ship. Armed with lasers and railguns. Nuclear warhead-tipped missiles (as talked about by Spock when discussing vessels that fought in the Earth-Romulan War back in “Balance of Terror” in TOS), and maybe even no visual communications, or at least not with ‘alien’ vessels. Hell, want to push it? Arm the crew…with GUNS!

Nx1

Meet the exciting crew of the NX-01! Our Vulcan hating Captain, a lifeless Vulcan, your Redneck Engineer, scaredy-cat Comms Officer, and of course the helmsman whose been to space!


Anyway, the NX-01 isn’t terrible, but it’s not very good or original in my eyes.


9: ‘Kelvin’ Enterprise (Star Trek: ’09, Into Darkness, Beyond)


2009 brought us an effort to do sort of a reboot of the Star Trek films. J.J. Abrams, who would, of course, go onto even more fame (or infamy) for the Star Wars sequel trilogy, first tackled Star Trek. The 2009 movie gave us an idea that had been floating around since the planning for Star Trek VI. Seeing the TOS crew as Starfleet cadets or junior officers, coming together in a crisis before they would later be the legendary crew we know. A new Constitution class NCC-1701 was created for the film. Overall, I don’t hate the ‘Megaprise’ as it’s also called (being a much larger ship than we’ve seen before, after all, it fits a brewery inside!), but I don’t love it either.

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Coming to a bar new you, Starfleet Old Style, where no beer has gone before


The saucer and drive hull aren’t too bad. I like the combo of deflector styles of the T.V. show’s and movie style blue, glowing one. I think the main thing I’ve grown not to be a fan of over the years is the nacelles and their mountings.

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The overall design of the warp nacelles is OK, but they’re way too big. Personally, I like sleek nacelles over fatter ones (one exception later). They don’t quite seem to be the right proportions for the ship, even with its colossal size.


The warp nacelles pylons, too, are weird. They come off as too narrow, bending inwards rather than going out. The sort of loose-U shape doesn’t work for me. It must either be a big wide-U or go straight out like a V-shape.

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Plus, a non-design reason I don’t rate this one high is the number of times this Enterprise just got its ass kicked. I mean, seriously, in each of the three films, it gets hammered, and in the third one, just totally destroyed. When I first saw it, I thought, oh, they’ll do a fantastic refit now, like the movies...NOPE.


They basically do the same design but rather than fix the issues with the nacelles or pylons, they just like push them back and have the pylons which come up right behind the Bussard Collectors. Which REALLY looks terrible, in my opinion. It throws the balance off for the nacelle and looks wrong.

Star-trek(2009) 5550

The shot of it rising up in the first film is pretty sweet


I liked the phasers having the burst fire from the movies and stuff, and while overly white in colors, the interiors for an update didn’t bug me too much. Yeah, it all comes off as very 2010s Apple iStore, but IDK, it wasn’t an issue for me. The ‘engineering’ areas, though…yeah, not so much. In the first Kelvin-film, the PRUE industrial design was too much. I’d prefer starships to have more utilitarian designs for the engineering sections, but this is verging into Space Mutiny territory (and if you don’t know what I’m talking about, pause reading this and watch one of the most FAMOUS MST3K episodes).

Enterprise-warpcore[enhanced]

Now that's a sci-fi engine!


What I did like (one of the few things) in Into Darkness was the use of an actual Fusion Reactor prototype to represent the Warp Core. The test reactor at the National Ignition Laboratory was filmed for this, and it’s impressive to see, and this is the right balance, I feel, between the ‘clean’ glowing tube of other warp cores we see, but this feels like a real piece of technology.


Overall the Kelvin-verse Enterprise was a reasonable attempt to update the classic TOS Enterprise, but we’ll get a better effort at that further down the list.


8: Enterprise-F (Picard, Star Trek Online)


Now I might need to return to this entry later as, technically, we’ve not seen this ship yet, but we will. The Enterprise-F first appeared in Star Trek Online. It has a cool origin as it resulted from a fan design contest the game’s creators held for the new Enterprise. Which, frankly I’m surprised big sci-fi franchises like Trek or Star Wars don’t do it often. In fact, especially with Wars, I’ve learned they often steal peoples’ work when I’m sure as long as they are properly credited, the artist/designer would love to see their craft in the franchise they clearly love. But back on topic, Adam Ihle was the ship’s designer, and as you can see, it’s an evolution of the Sovereign-class design, forming the basis of the Enterprise-E.

EntF

Not a bad look, though the registry number being so far forward is odd to me


The F is an Odyssey-class according to S.T. Online, and in another fun change, actually captained by an alien, an Andorian. We need more alien captains in Starfleet. Overall, the general look of the Enterprise-F is okay, with the oval saucer, connected body, and the nacelles are pretty excellent. The look feels like a nice upgrade to the Enterprise-E design.


However, there’s one bit I don’t like.

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The open ‘maw’ or area under the deflector part of the drive hull. Like, why is that there? It just seems unnecessary, like, what rooms/areas are in there (since we can see inward-facing windows). Do like the poor lower decks crew get bunked there, and they have to just put up with the shitty view?


One fantastic bit done, I think, as part of a refit of the class, is it can carry its own escort. A smaller Defiant-style ship to help out the Enterprise-F (and if you don’t know what the Defiant is…why are you reading this, watch DS9 now!) is a neat idea and makes a bit more sense than the ‘tri-vector’ attack thing from the Prometheus in Voyager.

EntF3

Cue Ben Sisko going, "I shall call it...Mini-Defiant."


Also, this may seem a bit petty, but the fact that the Odyssey-class won over this…

Enterprise F Concept  Dedication Class By Markking

Seriously, I cannot emphasize how BEAUTIFUL this ship is


Like…HOW, HOW DID THIS NOT WIN?! This ship is gorgeous. If anything deserved the name Enterprise, it was this baby. No offense to Adam Ihle, who designed a decent ship, but…COME ONE, STO!

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Very curious if we'll see who is captaining her in Picard or not


The Enterprise-F will get its ‘prime universe’ reveal in Picard Season 3, showing up in the trailer. Not sure if we’ll see only exterior shots of it or get anything internal, but it’s incredible Adam Ihle’s work gets to be seen now by the larger Trek-watching public. So, while not a top design for me, I am still happy for him.


7: Enterprise-B (Star Trek: Generations)


If you were a sharp-eyed Trek fan when TNG came out, you noticed in the Conference Room the wall featured built-in gold models of quite a fair number of ships to bear the name Enterprise. One of these, if you paid attention, had a very familiar shape to one we’d seen in the TOS films, that of an Excelsior-class. Yes, we’ve come to the Enterprise-B, which has had only one on-screen appearance in a sadly lackluster Trek film.

EntB

Don't worry, the script will be finished by Tuesday


Much as the Enterprise would be refit for its big-screen appearance, the same occurred to the Excelsior design, giving us this ‘refit’ which just changed a few things, most notably the addition of the ‘prongs’ coming out of the main hull. This does make the hull stand out a bit more…also seems they were added to give a spot for Kirk to ‘die’ and part of the ship to be blasted off. Also, they actually couldn’t get those additions off the model, so when we later see this model repurposed as U.S.S. Lakota in DS9, those hull features are still there.

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The Enterprise-B, besides being in a lackluster film, has one other problem…it’s not different enough; it is just a modified Excelsior­-class. When they updated the Enterprise’s look for the first film, it was an update but visually changed a lot about the ship. However, there’s not enough here to make the B stand out from any other Excelsior-class. A few hull alterations aside, this becomes a refit of an existing class of ship, but not a very different one.



EntB2

It's okay, it's just a little cosmic radiation that never hurt anyone ever


Now in universe, having an Excelsior-type ship be the next Enterprise makes a lot of sense, but overall the ship is just too similar to a more famous named ship. Ironically you can say that about ST: Generations as a whole, a lackluster film sandwiched between two far better ones.


6: Enterprise-D (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Generations)

Yeah, this is the one I think is going to rankle people. Probably the second best-known Enterprise, thanks to TNG breaking into pop culture as TOS had, but it doesn’t make my Top-5. The Enterprise-D is beloved by many. They, of course, grew quite comfortable with this ship over seven seasons of TNG., and it made the leap from small screen to big, something not even the o.g. Constitution-class did with the TOS Films. I know this is a beloved ship with its Dr. Crusher plays, Ten-Forward bar, and loads of families on board (more on that in a minute)…but I don’t love this design.

Tng

With Space Hilton points, you can upgrade your stay aboard the Enterprise-D


First, the saucer section is MASSIVE. Like way oversized, I think, for the whole of the ship. Now, design-wise, this is intentional because everyone (we thought) is supposed to ‘live’ in this part of the ship. Hence the whole saucer separation (which was done like a grand total of three or four times), which can spare all the kids and families you’ve decided to bring to fight the Borg or go confront the Romulans in a Cold War standoff that can see everyone killed…yeah what the hell Starfleet? Like, I know that shouldn’t count against the ship's design, but what the hell is Starfleet thinking? Even in the dreck of Seasons One and Two of TNG., the Enterprise is nearly destroyed a dozen times. Why are we sending over a thousand people who aren’t Starfleet into dangerous situations? Thank god this got dropped eventually because it was one of the dumber things about TNG.


Dmodel

Back to things about the design that bugs me is just the overall balance of the ship feels off—the vast saucer than the more sleek and squat drive hull. Yeah, again, that’s so the ‘battle section’ can be more maneuverable and stuff, but since they barely ever did that in the show, it’s like, why have such a ‘top heavy’ design?


I’ll grant overall, the Enterprise-D looks good from most angles, even with the thrown-off balance. The new style nacelles were an interesting choice, but while not the sleek ones I prefer, they work overall. No, the other thing that bugs me about the D is…the interiors.

Dbridge

Mr. Worf, get me some other color palettes now!


The Enterprise-D is like a middle-class hotel in space, like a Hampton Inn given spaceflight. The beige bridge, the carpeted hallways, and low detailed walls, not to mention the rooms themselves, don’t feel like a ‘naval’ vessel in the sense of something run by a professional space force/military. It feels like a cruise ship.


TheD

If I had to credit Voyager’s design, the interiors feel way more like what a 24th Century Starfleet ship should be (annoying shit-head fry cooks notwithstanding). The bridge, while turning off the lights in emergencies for reasons beyond understanding, feels like a proper command space. I want something more akin to a suitable naval vessel vs. a Carnival Cruise Ship in space.


A lot of this, of course, is Roddenberry’s fault. I think he was so determined to double down on his ‘Starfleet is not a military organization’ even though they have ranks and weapons, are sent to deal with conflicts, and have COURT-MARTIALS, which literally translates to ‘military court,’ he intended the Enterprise-D to come off as very ‘homely’ and non-threatening as possible. Which, I don’t want Starfleet ships to be overly militarized or anything. The look of the U.S.S. Saratoga from Space: Above and Beyond is great for a space warship but wouldn’t fit in with Trek. However, I feel there needs to be the right balance between a working ship of an actual space navy and what we get with the Enterprise-D.

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The solar lighting in Generations was cool


In addition to that, the Enterprise-D, well, goes down quite pathetically. In Generations, a decades-old piece of crap, Bird of Prey, commanded by the Klingon Boob Sisters, defeats one of the best ships of the Federation. One, the whole knowing the shield frequency thing is a rant I don’t have time for, but mainly the Enterprise-D, which once made a Borg cube stop in its tracks…can’t handle a piece of crap Klingon reject vessel? Seriously, the ship people knew and loved for over seven years was taken out by a regular old Bird of Prey?

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Riker: Mr. Worf, prepare to take the blame for this...


In DS9, a swarm of Dominion ships destroyed a Galaxy-class ship, one needing to RAM IT as part of that. Plus, how dumb does Riker come off because of this? He loses the flagship of the fleet to a pair of thugs, not the Romulans, or a mighty new Klingon warship, or even the Borg…no to the House of Tits and their shitty old Kia of Prey…UGH! At least when Kirk blew up his Enterprise, he did it to turn the tables on his foes.

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Wow such an original new shot of the Enterprise-D for her big screen debut!


Sadly, for those various reasons, the famed Enterprise-D doesn’t make my Top-5.


5: Enterprise-C (Star Trek: The Next Generation)


As with my opening to the Enterprise-B, the discussion of the C also can go to the TNG. Inside that conference room, joining the Excelsior model on the wall was a vague sort of proto-Galaxy-class design, the Enterprise-C. We’d not see the proper ship until the EXCELLENT episode, “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” a top-10 among TNG episodes from the glorious Season Three of the show. Now, this is where I feel like my issues with the Enterprise-D are addressed with this clear ‘in-between’ design from the TOS movie era and the TNG one.

EntC2

This is going to take more than that little box on the insurance form to explain...


First, there’s a far better balance between the saucer and drive hull. It mixes the bulgy D’s saucer and the more sleek, smooth A’s. The drive hull looks beautiful, an excellent refinement on the Constitution-Refit’s section, but giving shades of the D’s with the rear. The nacelles are awfully big, but unlike how I think with the Kelvin’s Enterprise, this is a problem; these larger nacelles fill that ‘negative space’ behind the saucer/hull well. Overall, the whole design is more balanced than the Enterprise-D.

EntC

A great shot of the Enterprise-C from its famed episode


I enjoy a lot of the little details as well with the ship. The smaller phaser strips on the hull signify transitioning from the ‘banks’ of Kirk’s era and the strip idea of TNG. It is a little hard to see in the episode but more evident in art and model shots is the blue on the hull. An excellent way for the ship to stand out compared to the Enterprise-D’s uniform silver/gray look.

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Interior-wise, we only see the bridge, and like often done on Trek, it’s a redressed movie-Enterprise bridge, but it works. As I said, I’ve always preferred those style bridges to the more ‘space hotel’ one we got with the D.


Plus, I got to say, the final fate of the Enterprise-C is a lot better than the D. Sure, the ship is destroyed off-screen, but it is lost, defining a crucial historical moment. Standing to protect people, and Klingons of all people, when there was still tension between them and the Federation. The last stand of the Enterprise proved the ‘honor’ of the Federation to their once mortal enemy. In a way, much like Tasha Yar getting a proper sendoff in this episode to have a ‘meaningful death’ (“Redemption” and Romulan-Tasha not withstanding…sigh, fucking Rick Bremen), the Enterprise-C, I feel, goes down as a ship with that name should, vs. the ‘meaningless’ death of the D in the later film.

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While we only saw her once, the Enterprise-C stands out to me.


4: U.S.S. Enterprise (Star Trek)


The time has come to celebrate the original, for T.V., Enterprise, to quote a certain engineer…


“No bloody, A, B, C, or D!”

deliveryService

Matt Jefferies is responsible for the now iconic design of the Enterprise, being the art director and production designer for Star Trek during its T.V. run—a pretty sweet design from a guy who didn’t have any previous science fiction experience. Gene Roddenberry didn’t lay down specifics of how the ship should look. Still, he wanted to avoid any notions of rocket engines, fiery exhaust, or sparks, which, if you’ve seen any science fiction from the post-war period up to Trek, was very common for spaceships.

Matt Jefferies illustration of the original Starsh

Most came off as knockoffs of V2 rockets or NASA’s machines. Forbidden Planet, which would also influence Star Trek, featured a human flying saucer. Jefferies had some experience with aircraft designs and used what he called ‘airplane logic’ to help design the ship. This is where the N.C.C. designation came from since NC is how aircraft are registered in the U.S.A, with an extra C thrown in as a nod to the Soviet method as well (showing how Roddenberry envisioned a future with no further ‘interhuman’ conflict, and the U.S. and USSR would have worked together in space). Whatever the influences, the 1701 is an iconic design that set the stage for the aesthetics of Trek and the Federation/Starfleet in particular.

Og

Look at this classic girl, so 60s but in that perfect nostalgic way


I’m a little lost for what to say because…come on, it’s the ENTERPRISE, the O.G.! They put the model of the Enterprise in the Smithsonian’s Air & Space Museum; for crying out loud, it’s that historic. Sure, the interior isn’t quite what we’d think of today as futuristic, and they were limited by budget for the sets and effects shots, but what we got was pretty awesome for the time.


originalE

1701 is just a lovely elegant design. There’s a balance between the saucer, main hull, and warp nacelles. The Bussard Collectors, with their internal spinning mechanics and colors, are so 60s, but really cool to see (which in TOS Special Edition you can!). The ship looks good from any angle (a reoccurring theme for these top 5 ships).



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Okay, switch out the planet for the next episode


With its old-school dish style, the deflector dish is just a great piece of retro, even for the 1960s. Like something you might see in Flash Gordon (or if we’re even nerdier for Trek, Captain Proton ;)). One thing I love about the Enterprise is that while they were pressed for sets/etc., the ship still felt like it needed its crew to function.

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Also, the original phaser noise is a lot of fun, not quite 50s ray gun, but not the modern TNG noise either


The phaser banks must be manned and operated like weapons on an old-time warship, as seen in “Balance of Terror.” Scotty must keep the old girl from falling apart with an engineering crew. We see crewmembers rushing to their stations when there’s an alert or situation. The ship feels like it has a proper crew and a need for that crew, versus just everything being done by the main cast.

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Mr. Spock, why don't we have touchscreens like in the 21st Century? Simple logic Mr. Sulu, they've not been invented yet.


Overall it’s just such a great design that set the basis for what was to come.


3: U.S.S. Enterprise (Star Trek Discovery, Strange New Worlds)


So, I don’t know if this will be a hot take or a ‘controversial’ one, but…I kind of like the look of the SNW Enterprise a tad more than the original. Sort of where the Kelvin-Enterprise failed for me, the SNW Enterprise succeeded.

Uss Enterprise Discovery

She's a beaut!


The design team on this one started with the Discovery’s team, with John Eaves, who would design another ship on this list, handling the leading work on the look. They took the idea that their Enterprise while seeming to be ‘newer’ looking than Kirk’s original, in theory, could have things like the warp engines and pylons changed over time. Regardless, I think they did the perfect job of updating the classic design without breaking it.

SNWmodel

Wish I could have gotten one of these before Eaglemoss went out of business


It’s still the Enterprise, in shape and design, with a few tweaks. It looks good from all angles, the hull livery is there, and the classic ‘retro’ deflector, nice and bronzed, stands out. Yet the tweaks, which I think bring it even more in line with the TOS films, help make this stand out for me.

SNWenttitle

While I know fandom took issue with the ‘cutouts’ in the pylons, personally, that never bugged me as long as there remained room for all the power cables, plasma conduits, and other crap that make them work to go down to engineering. The more ‘refit’ style pylons look awesome, along with the nacelles.


I love the blue-glowing strip of the warp coils, which while more a part of later Starfleet aesthetics, feels so in place. One of the more significant additions is the line of large windows just ahead of the bridge dome, which is an interesting choice. Personally, it doesn’t bother me as I see it as a nod to like a ‘Ten-Forward’ area on board. I also dig how they added in both the phaser banks and slots for the torpedo tubes on the ventral dome on the saucer, something we never saw detailed in TOS.

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OKAY I GET IT! GET PARAMOUNT+!!!!!!!


If I did have one small beef with the new Enterprise…the interiors are WAY too big. Like, compare Kirk’s cabin from TOS to Pike’s…like, GOD DAMN MAN, you have a B.B.Q. pit in there? Don’t get me wrong. It’s cool that Pike has a superb cabin and nods to things that reflect his character. Yet, I can’t help but see his cabin and think, ‘did Kirk just go to the wrong room, and no one in five years bothered to correct him?’ The same applies to the hallways and a few other places on board.

SNWbridge

Pay no attention to the lights above the bridge!


Again, I don’t hate the design as I think it avoids the iStore-ship problem the Kelvin-Enterprise has and keeps the ‘feel’ of the 60s ship while modernizing it; there seems to be too much space everywhere. Jumping from the NX-01 to this would be like, whoa, for any of Archer’s crew.

SNWent4

Would be an awesome view as you ate in the mess, till a damn Tribble gets in your chicken sandwich


Also, one last nitpick, and this is true for Discovery as well…WHY IS THE DAMN SHUTTLE BAY DOORS ALWAYS OPEN? Yes, I know they’ve got the forcefield to prevent depressurizing, but they’re not a damn space carrier. They don’t have constant flight operations; for you ‘Best of the Worst’ fans out there, I echo a particularly famed bad actor when I say…


“CLOSE THE F@(!%ING DOOR!”


That little complaint aside, the Strange New Worlds NCC-1701 is beautiful outside and inside—an excellent example of updating a classic design without breaking it.


2: Enterprise-E (Star Trek: First Contact, Insurrection, Nemesis)


Alright, the Number 2 slot, and yes, it is the big screen new ship for our TNG crew, gets the spot! The Enterprise-E was designed by our man John Eaves (under longtime Trek art director Herman Zimmerman), who did another fantastic job. Though, initially, it seems nobody told I.L.M. that for their second film outing, the TNG crew would get a new ship. The Enterprise-D model was updated to NCC-1701-E, apparently in a mistake or miscommunication. Ultimately, I’m glad they didn’t go this route because we’d not have gotten the beautiful Sovereign-class out of it.

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See, the Enterprise-D was 'old and busted' and this is 'new hotness!'


It followed some of the newer design elements we saw in Trek then. The more eclipse saucer section like Voyager’s, a more functional ‘naval’ feel not in the D but reflected in the Defiant, plus clear inspiration from the Enterprise of old with the long nacelles and general shape of the ship.

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Don't mind me, I'm too busy being awesome


Not sure if it was Eaves, but I distinctly remember how someone commented they always wanted to eliminate the vulnerable ‘neck’ of the Enterprise as seen in Wrath of Khan, so like Voyager, we get that blended saucer and hull. Though seems people can’t resist the idea of the saucer section separating, the concept art of that was drawn up but never implemented into the ship.

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Awesome in the battle scene in First Contact, we got to see the Nebula again


Like with the other Top-5 choices, the Enterprise-E is just a sexy-looking ship. Sleek, smooth, and beautiful no matter where you look at it. I do have the ‘large’ Eaglemoss model they did for this, and while not my favorite of the ships they made model-wise, it’s just fun to pick up the E and look at how good she looks.

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We are the Borg, you will be assimilated...OH CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


From the moment the ship appears on screen, you can tell this is no longer the ‘cruise ship’ in space. She’s a proper ship of the line, capable of doing all the science and exploration Starfleet loves…but has her teeth too, which after Wolf 359 and the Dominion Starfleet finally realized that they needed combat capable officers/personnel for when the Picard speech fails.


First-contact-startrek-screencaps.com-3418

Another fun fact is that initially, the E would have a ‘blue’ deflector dish, and even shots of that were taken. However, for some reason, the switch to the golden deflector was made. I don’t mind that because I think the ‘golden’ deflector set-up is a nice nod to the TOS Enterprise.


The underslung, for lack of a better description torpedo launcher, is also a nice nod. In TOS, the phasers and torpedoes always came from the ventral dome under the saucer. So, having the photon/quantum torp launcher there is a nice touch.

First-contact-startrek-screencaps.com-1618

Mr. Worf, we'll make up for failing to kill that Kia of Prey from the last film, blast the Borg, blast them good!


And while I’m no fan of the film, the shots of the Hubble Space Telescope-inspired images of the Briar Patch in Insurrection, with the E cruising through them, are quite pretty.

startrekIX 2887

Trek doesn't get how nebulas work, but damn if they don't make for pretty backgrounds


While the TNG films were not always great (lackluster first, excellent second, dumb third, and AWFUL, AWFUL, AWFUL final), at the very least, the Enterprise-E was a worthy film successor to the cinema ship that came before it.

startrekIX 4511

Captain, so are we going to address the fact when presented with relocated the Baku, we faced the same choice back during the series, and you were initially okay with following those orders, even to the point of having Worf plot to beam all the not-Native Americans up against their will?


Shut up Will!


And yes, it’s that time to discuss the beauty that is…


1: U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-A

(Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Wrath of Khan, Search for Spock, Voyage Home, Final Frontier, The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek: Picard)

Sunrise

Of course this was going to be the winner, LOOK AT IT!


We have now reached not just my favorite Enterprise but my favorite Star Trek ship of them all, the Constitution-Refit. What began as the new look for Kirk’s ship in the ‘Star Trek: Phase II’ concept for a new television series made by Matt Jefferies was then worked on by Richard Taylor and further enhanced by designs provided by Andrew Probert. Then the end result of all this work was the ship that made its glorious (and infamous first scene) reveal in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

1701-dock

So, does it still count as a refit if we basically built a new ship Mr. Scott?


Yes it does Laddy, because of tax purposes.


While it’s often mocked, by me included, I somewhat get the allure of looking over the brand new big-screen Enterprise when we first see it in T.M.P. for minutes on end because it’s bloody GORGEOUS!


Image-1701-Refit

Sorry for beating this point to a dead horse, but the Constitution-Refit looks beautiful from any angle. No matter how you look at it when it’s either in front of you or on screen, the Enterprise in this configuration comes off as a piece of art. Then when in motion, thanks to the excellent work done by ILM especially, she passes through space effortlessly. Just look at it in action in the Mutuara Nebula in Wrath of Khan against those lovely nebula gas background shots I.L.M. created; it’s perfect.

Deflector

Hey we're reusing more than a few TMP shots here, is that ok?


We've only got 10-million to make this movie, now shut up and let's get to the good stuff!


A more detailed design than the o.g. NCC-1701, the addition of thruster ports, the photon torpedo launcher, and the now standard ‘blue’ deflector; further helped cement the design aesthetics of Starfleet with things that became familiar in TNG. and beyond. With Starfleet livery on her, you can see why this is the Federation flagship.

Damage

Don't worry Captain, those will buff right out...


I absolutely love how we got our first taste of ‘pulse’ phasers as well with the refit. First off, the phaser banks finally becoming visible on the hull with their little ball turrets was a nice touch. As mentioned when talking about the SNW Enterprise, we didn’t ever see any emitters or cannons for the phasers in TOS. Now we get to see the phaser banks on the saucer and, even better, see them in action. The actual phaser effect looks incredible. Not quite the same pulse effect we’d see with the Defiant later, but I love how they crave into Reliant in TWOK and blow apart her nacelle in the final climatic battle.

Phasers

Sure, no reason it shouldn't be a beam...but rule of cool


But even better than the phasers is the new photon torpedo launcher. Both the exterior and interior shots of it look awesome. During the big montage of heading to the final battle, Director Nicolas Myers wanted a ‘ram the shot’ moment, akin to how old ships of the line would load their cannonballs. Thus the set was made so the photon torpedoes lower down and roll into the launch tube. Sure, in universe, it makes little sense, but visually it’s a great shot and location.

Torpedo

Khan what did the anti-matter warhead say to the genetic engineered superman? BOOM BITCH!


I also love how, in Khan, the torpedo fires with massive effect. The sound design, the visuals, and the fact it blows the hell out of whatever it hits. I like the idea that photon torpedoes have actual weight when they hit, so seeing that with the refit is just a plus.

Bridge6

Valeris quietly hoping no one notices her sudden and inevitable betrayal


The interiors of the Enterprise-Refit are also great. While it varied a bit, I think the best look of the ship's interior comes from Star Trek II. TMP has a bit of Next Gen silliness with the interior; The third film didn’t show us much other than the bridge and transporter. Star Trek V used the Next Gen sets and didn’t do a good job of redressing them. VI, however, did a better job, though you can still tell where they come from. So, the bit of the ship we see in Khan is excellent, but my favorite bridge is the one from Undiscovered Country. I’d almost say it’s more militaristic, but I think it’s more that the bridge looks functional.

Viewscreen

Oh cool Klingons, will they be my friend?


I like that there are still physical switches, and controls to operate, vs. the LCARS-style stuff we saw in the previous film. The coloring, more silver, blacks, and grays, feels more professional and, again like this is the control center of a naval space vessel. Plus, as dumb as it is, I’m a SUCKER for those digital clocks on the bridge. All were using military time (24-hour clock). They add a nice element. It helps with the ‘Cold War’ feel that Star Trek VI as a film gives us.

Death1

Okay...maybe its not too bad...


I think another thing that makes the refit design stand out is the fact, well, we saw our beloved old girl die. It’s important to remember through the first three films, this IS the original Enterprise just upgraded/refitted, so in Search for Spock, when Kirk is forced to destroy the Enterprise (using by the way the same self-destruct codes from TOS) to gain the advantage on his Klingon foes, he’s destroying that ship we came to love over TOS and these films.

Death2

Uhhh...okay, no that won't buff out this time Captain


It’s sad to see the beautiful Enterprise-Refit be destroyed, blown apart first at the bridge, and then the saucer, its hulk falling into the atmosphere of the Genesis Planet. You can feel a bit for Kirk when he declares, ‘My god bones, what have I done?’


Yet, unlike the Enterprise-D, I feel the old girl's death had more weight and purpose. While she didn’t go down saving a planet, the Earth, or anything. She gave her captain and crew a fighting chance. Plus, like any good heroic character, she rises from the ashes.


The death thus gives us the perfect ending to Voyage Home when it is revealed to our crew and us a new Enterprise, christened NCC-1701-A, is their reward for saving the day. It also gives us another good Kirk quote, ‘My friends, we’re home.”

Spacedock

Indeed, we are home with this Enterprise


I could have done without the ongoing gag of the Enterprise being barely functional in Star Trek V., Which, thanks to the poor film, nearly killed the film franchise. Thankfully, we would get one more Trek film, and instead of a Shatner vanity project, we get a fitting final tale for the Enterprise-A to appear in. Where she’s at the heart of a mystery, used to execute some ‘cowboy diplomacy’ as a French captain would later describe. While she took a beating, in the end, the Enterprise-A and crew lived up to the ideals of the Federation, helped promote peace, and stood against bigotry.

Leaving

Alright, final movie, redress those TNG sets better!


And, until very recently, that had been the last we’d seen of Kirk’s command. Then comes Star Trek: Picard. We learn thanks to a wonderful scene between Jack and Seven. The old girl has gotten the respect and prominent placement she deserves. Put into the Starfleet Fleet Museum, where she lays under the tender care of Georgi LaForge. And even better, she gets a nice short description of everything I just wrote, thanks to Jack Crusher.

PicardEA

“Oh wow, this one, is my personal favorite. Kirk’s Enterprise. All those perfectly clean retro-lines…Yep, I’m definitely a Constitution-class man.”


While we’ve gotten many Enterprises over all this time, this one shall always be my favorite. The first movie Enterprise I saw, being the hero ship of some of my favorite Trek films, and being part of that glorious final shot celebrating the original crew who gave us a franchise that, for all its ups and downs, is probably my favorite science fiction one.


I hope you enjoyed this look at the various Starship Enterprises, and I look forward to your thoughts.

Sunset

“This is the final cruise of the Starship Enterprise under my command. This ship and her history will shortly become the care of another crew. To them and their posterity will we commit our future. They will continue the voyages we have begun, and journey to all the undiscovered countries, boldly going where no man... where no one has gone before.”

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So, apparently I saw lots of stuff on Twitter about 'National Superhero Day.' Not sure if it is or isn't, but, screw it...figure it's as good an excuse as any to celebrate my favorite superheroes or in this case, superheroines.


Azure Phoenix (Commission JuliettaSan)

Just a small selection of some of the outright awesome superheroine OCs I've had the pleasure to write and use in my tales :) Even more who while I may not have art of them, they too have a special place on my DA page.


And, of course, a dedication to my favorite superheroines wouldn't be complete without...

msgHeropose
msgShirtRip
Usasg
msgSunny

Supergirl, Girl of Steel

Kara Zor-El, Kara Danvers, Linda Danvers, but always known as Supergirl :)


A Happy National Superhero Day or whatever, just enjoy some fabulous art I've had made, been gifted, and otherwise collected!

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Hey there, everyone.


Earth has completed yet another solar orbit, and it's a new year for us evolved primates who have claimed dominance on this small blue green orb in the heavens...okay, reading a lot of scifi lately and that sentence got away from me!


Anyway, since there seemed to be some interest in sharing my thoughts on what might be coming with the new year, I've decided to share them.


I'm sorry if these 'plans' seem vague. Partly because, some of them are a little vague. I keep thinking about things I want to do, and plans sort of have a habit of not happening. I almost did a Christmas story for Astra Girl & friends, but the Holidays were well a bit of a kick in the gut. Multiple family members ended up in the hospital (no COVID, other issues). General Holiday stress was compounded by this, and other family members well...being a bit annoying.


Suffice to say, Holidays 2021, was not exactly what I hoped too. Now, they weren't a total loss. My brother from out of town was here for a lot longer than usual. I got some nice stuff from people. Made people happy I think with what I got them, which is what the Holidays are about right? However, with everything going on, yeah I didn't finish the story. So take this an example of how things get derailed.


Plus work continues to be another bane of my existence. Times I feel really good about it, others I want to say frak it, and join the ‘Great Resignation.’ Yet, fears of not finding a new job prevent me from doing so. As a result of all this RL stuff, it tends to sap my creative energy, and desire to write work on stuff. But, I don’t want this to be a venting or bitching journal. So, to be more positive, will share what I’m thinking for upcoming stuff and focus on that.


Astra Girl and Company


One thing I’m happy about is, even thought there’s been lengthy pauses, I have continued Cassie’s adventures with her many friends. I advanced some big storylines, like Clara’s trial and her evolution to now being on the run, presumed dead at large, but Team Astra knowing better. I have for a long time wanted to play with the idea of Earth-S (thanks again for gundam20012005 for introducing the idea). Alternate Earths are like a staple of superhero universes and having that as now part of Astra’s storytelling options is a lot of fun. Having Cassie, Amy, and others there as part of a DEO like organization with Cassie in a Supergirl like role, is just too cool :)


Having reached chapter/issue (I’ll be honest IDK what to call them anymore lol) 75, I’m debating what to do next. After the heavy stuff of Clara’s trial, part of me wants maybe to do some smaller or fun stuff. What that will be…not sure. A few ideas are buzzing around, but nothing has locked in just yet. I do have a thought for another storyline that would play out over a couple issues, setting up a new villain, but don’t want to jump into that just yet. It would be a good way to close out the current volume, and probably what I’ll do to end Volume 4.


I’d also like to expand on Mei Lien a bit. A new costume is in mind for her, more an update to her current one, but I think people will like it. Trying to maybe tie a few characters more centered around her, and maybe even give her a love interest. Anyway, a story or two maybe about her and giving Mei a rogue of her own, is something I’m thinking about for this year.


Now there’s been one big noticeable elephant in the room concerning Astra Girl. So, as keen observers have noticed, the current volume started off with Cassie & Amy on their honeymoon…but we’ve not seen the wedding. Yeah…so to explain that I originally did intend on making the wedding its own miniseries. Something like 4-6 issues long, with a look at the bachelorette party, wedding, and what not. Problem was, I kept trying to write that after Volume 3 but never could. Wanting to get the new stories going, especially the honeymoon storyline. So, in the end, I just skipped the wedding and saved it to write later.


Well, we’re now well past the start of the new volume, and I’m already thinking about how to end this current volume. So, one thing I’ll need to do for sure, write the wedding miniseries. Now that I think about it…maybe I put things on hold for the moment, and do that? Make the wedding miniseries the next thing I do.


Part of the issue with the wedding is, back when I first tired to write it, I didn’t know quite what I wanted. I want to recognize Cassie and Amy have family, but I worry about introducing lots of people who we might not see again. Plus, there’s some Qs I have about the bachelorette party and how it should go…so some things to work out. In any case, for sure we’ll be seeing Cassie & Amy’s wedding this year, and more stuff for the rest of Volume 4 to close it out.


Also, Astra Girl 100 is on the horizon. I’ve thought the idea for it, and like the 50th issue, it’s going to cheat a little and be multiple parts, but it's my page and I can do what I want! :D So I plan to make Astra Girl 100 the Second Annual issue. What will it be about? Well, a hint to it is in the Astra stuff I’ve already talked about in the journal. But that’s all I will say, and be very cryptic with it, buwhaha! 😈


One small note, related to Astra Girl stuff. I might do some updated HM3 images for certain characters. While not as entertaining as new Cassie and crew stories, I hope people like them.


Heroine Hunter Finale


As you’ve noticed, for the past few months, I’ve been posting a regular superheroine peril series. Heroine Hunter is a collaboration with the awesome artist Rustedpeaces. He does excellent art which you can buy, full sized, uncensored (go do it!), and I write a storyline to go with it. Progress on this is naturally, based on what I write and RP renders. To quote a bearded magician who is cranky at times, ‘we’re in the endgame now.’ While not wrapping up just yet, we are getting closer to the end. Based on what RP and I’ve discussed, I think people will really enjoy it :)


Reviews?


One thing people who have been here a while might remember, I did movie/etc reviews on my page. While not as prolific or good at it as my buddy gundam20012005 is with his anime reviews (go check them out, he is the Kwisatz Haderach of anime reviewers), I think I’ve had some fun and offered some insights into some of my favorite things. It’s been a long time since I’ve done one, and I’d kind of like to do them again. Look at things both good and bad. Good to celebrate fun stuff I like, bad…to tear it fraking new one and make fun of it being crap!


One idea is now with Supergirl all done after six-seasons, is actually going back and reviewing the WHOLE thing. Now naturally these reviews wouldn't be a journal for each episode, probably more like looking at blocks of episodes, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about.


Part of this is because, I thought about writing a big journal entry on my thoughts on the show coming to an end…but I don’t how to organize them. So, that’s one thing maybe keeping me from doing it, not sure how to organize my thoughts on the Girl of Steel's TV series. However, being the SG Otaku I claim to be, feel like I should do something about the series now. Let me know what you think.


Superheroines, sleepy girls, chloroform…oh my!


One area where I’ve probably done the fewest things lately has been the general superheroine peril (not counting Heroine Hunter) and sleepy stories that I initially started with. Part of this is because I got involved in other things, like writing Astra, working on fan fics like my Supercorp Supergirl series, and lots of other little things.


It’s not that I don’t like doing them, it’s just…IDK sometimes I’ll start one but then lose steam, or make it ‘over complicated.’ It’s just kind of my nature to expand on things, and what should start out as a simple idea such as, ‘Supergirl lured into Kryptonite trap,’ becomes way more elaborate than intended, with me needing to figure out all sorts of things. I then loose interest, and the idea ends up a dead end.


And while I don’t usually care about such things, one of these stories I wrote with Batgirl was my most popular item I wrote last year apparently. So clearly, people do want to see them, and hey I like writing them.


So, maybe I should just try to simplify things and do these more often when the mood hits me. Not worry so much about explaining this version of Supergirl or feel like much more is needed to see Wonder Woman utterly defeated with chloroform, and just have some fun with these things. Anyway, yeah would like to do more one-shots and what not, and we’ll see how that goes.


Watcher’s Only Content?


Somewhat a side-topic of the one above. As part of some one-shot ideas, I might want to…well, maybe…do some naughtier or kinkier things. If you know me, it’s nothing too intense or anything, but it might be something that I’d limit viewing to just cuz DA has been very weird with content and what get flagged or not. Plus, the idea of doing something special just for people who Watch me is something I could get behind.


So maybe that’s a way to do a bit of a naughtier scene or defeat/peril for a superheroine or lady I like. Again something to think about, and if you have any thoughts, curious what you people think.


As always…thank you


Well, I think that’s all I’ve got for stuff I want to do going forwards. Sorry again for the vagueness but a lot of it depends on time, motivation, and what’s going on in RL. While I might not be putting something out every week or anything, I do promise to keep sharing what comes to mind, and writing stories hopefully you all enjoy.


THANK YOU for showing interest in my page, my work, and encouraging me with comments/thoughts and everything. While I might not thank everyone for favs and what not (just cuz it’s a bit too much to get to everybody and sperate bots from real DA pages) I truly do appreciate them! And I always do my best to answer comments on my stuff, and I appreciate you making them :)


Wishing everyone a Happy 2022, hopefully things will get better…eventually…somehow, for the LOVE OF GOD!!!!! LOL

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Hey, my beautiful watchers...wait I stole that from Dominic Noble, okay how about this, 'hi everybody!'


So, the new DA change is here. I switched over about a week ahead of time to get used to using it. Not going to go much into as I think Eclipse has been talked to death. Much like my friend Crimson Vlkyrie, though don't want to focus on the negatives but the positives. So, as part of that trying out the new Journal stuff.


I'm getting more into the swing of things writing wise, thanks in part to Bethany Hunter's contest. Check out her page to see the contest entries. I'm working on some Astra stuff, though it may be moving forward with Vol 4 and well skipping the wedding mini-series for now. Since the wedding is its own separate thing, I can skip it, and return to it later. A poll I did a while back indicated you all didn't mind that, so I might take that route.


Got some different ideas planned for Vol 4 of Astra Girl. A little international adventure, some team-ups, new Vanguard Labs, and trying to think of some new baddies. After a couple heavy story arcs, this one might be more shorter ones, with no central big bad for the Vol. However, we'll see as I do have a new big bad which could work for Astra Girl.


And there's always the chance for one shots, fan-fic stuff, peril, and sleepy stuff. I'll admit, it's hard to tell at times what people might want to see vs what I want to write. But, will do my best to try and post more stuff. I'm stuck at home for work for the foreseeable future so, other than times when its busy at work, need to try writing more through the day.


Anyway hope everyone is doing well, staying safe, staying healthy and keeping in touch with friends & family. Please, comment even if it's just to chat, we all need some socializing.


Catch you later everyone!

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Hey Everyone, I hope you're all doing well. 

Well as the title says...things are a bit crazy these days. I've lived through a few things in my 30+ years thus far and this Covid-19 stuff is probably the oddest of them all. It's something to consider and be concerned about, but you don't want to over worry or overreact. I've transitioned to working at home, one of the last in my office to do so. I'll freely admit, it's not my fav thing, as I prefer my home to be home and not work. But, I also understand staying home puts me at less risk, and everybody I might run into.

It's just a very strange time and I know I'm not the only one to comment on that. So, going to do my best to roll with the punches. I'll use some of this time to try and get back to writing Astra. I've got a few different Cassie ideas, but just having trouble to getting them down onto 'paper' so to speak. Mostly it's trying to just write the wedding stuff for Amy and Cassie. As I've got all these things I want to do, but every time I go to write them, it turns into a bit of a slog.  

Since the wedding is a 'mini-series' which is separate from the main Astra Girl volumes...what if I just started working on Volume 4? Maybe that would be easy? IDK if you have thoughts please share them below.

Anyway, hope everyone continues to stay safe, adjusts to all this, and that in a few weeks maybe things can settle a bit. Even if they don't, we'll get through this all together. If you need to vent or just someone to message with to help, feel free to hit me up. 

Meanwhile, I'm going to try and do some writing and gaming today.
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