Showing posts with label The Good Mother. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Good Mother. Show all posts

Monday 16 March 2020

MATERNAL INSTINCTS

Anyone who values their own goals over The Safety of Their Children is Irresponsible.
Trust Your Maternal Instincts, Seven.
They Worked Before.



“There are three things to remember about being a Starship Captain:

Keep your shirt tucked in, 
• Go down with The Ship, and 
• Never abandon a member of your crew.

KATHRYN JANEWAY


 SEVEN:
 

My feelings are irrelevant. 

JANEWAY: 
Are they? 
Would you like me to tell him?


SEVEN: 
It's my responsibility.... 
....but I am uncertain how to proceed.


JANEWAY: 
Well, you've already helped him make one difficult transition. 
How did you do that?


SEVEN: 
By giving him the benefit of my own experiences. 
Encouraging him to be resilient in the face of obstacles. 

JANEWAY: 
[smiles]
Sounds like a good strategy.






JANEWAY:
 

Your attitude is making a difficult situation worse.


SEVEN: 
I was simply attempting to ensure Icheb's well-being.


JANEWAY: 
By insulting his parents?


SEVEN: 
Those issues needed to be discussed.

JANEWAY:
 

You could have done it with a little more tact.


SEVEN: 
Perhaps, but that doesn't alter the fact that 
Those individuals may not be suitable guardians.


JANEWAY: 
Those individuals are his mother and father.


SEVEN: 
Which is no guarantee that they'll be able to care for him. 
He's far more likely to flourish if he remains on Voyager.

JANEWAY: 
That's not an option, Seven.


SEVEN: 
Are you ordering him off The Ship?


JANEWAY:
That's not what I said.


SEVEN: 
So that he can be assimilated again?


JANEWAY: 
What makes you so sure that's going to happen?


SEVEN: 
They shouldn't remain on That Planet.


JANEWAY: 
It's their home.


SEVEN: 
It's not worth protecting.


JANEWAY: 
Who are you to decide that? 

SEVEN:
 

Anyone who values their own goals over the safety of their children is irresponsible.


JANEWAY: 
Are we talking about Icheb's parents, or yours?

SEVEN: 
Both.

JANEWAY:
 

It's not like you to admit to something like that.

SEVEN: 
It would be naive for me to claim objectivity in this case. 
But I'm not prepared to return Icheb to parents who may be as careless as my own.


JANEWAY: 
I know what it's like to feel protective towards someone you've helped through a difficult period, but Icheb is an individual now. 
You have to give him a chance to form his own opinions.

SEVEN: 
If I do, and he decides to remain on Voyager?


JANEWAY: 
Then it'll be my problem.



[Astrometrics lab]

SEVEN:
I thought you were studying spatial harmonics.

ICHEB:
My parents suggested I might have an aptitude for genetics as well.

SEVEN:
I see. 
What have you learned?

ICHEB:
This is the genome of a typical Brunali male and this is my DNA.
They're nearly identical, but do you notice the differences in the third, thirteenth and seventeenth chromosomes?

SEVEN:
Yes.

ICHEB:
My parents made microgenetic alterations so I would produce the pathogen.
Quite ingenious.

SEVEN:
It's also barbaric.

ICHEB:
They were trying to defend themselves, their way of life.
Preserve their species.

SEVEN:
I know how difficult it is to acknowledge your parents' faults, but what they did was wrong.

You don't have to forgive them.

ICHEB:
Do you think they will ever forgive me?

SEVEN:
For what?

ICHEB:
I could have destroyed that Sphere. 
I failed them.

SEVEN:
You would have been reassimilated.

ICHEB:
I know, but -

SEVEN:
But what?

ICHEB:
Maybe it was My Destiny.

SEVEN:
Maybe.

In The Future you may choose to fight the Borg, 
but you'll do it in your own way.
You're an individual, and you have The Right to determine your own destiny.

It's time to regenerate.

ICHEB:
And if I prefer to continue studying?

SEVEN:
....
It's your decision.













Saturday 22 December 2018

Arletta






The Man :
Hey, Loudmouth!
Come on, get up there.
Your mama's waiting for you.

Luke Skywalker,
The Ultimate Uncle :
She never leaves me alone!
Be glad you got somebody, kid.

Luke, visitor for you.

Luke Skywalker,
The Ultimate Uncle :
Coming out here, Boss.

The Man :
Come out, Luke.

Luke Skywalker,
The Ultimate Uncle :
How did you find me?


Arletta:
That Helen...
...she sent your things along
with a note...
...and then John here,
he wrote to the police.

Luke Skywalker,
The Ultimate Uncle :
Goin' around here, Boss?
Well, Arletta, I've got to stay here.


I always hoped to see you well-fixed...
...have me a crop of grandkids to fuss around with.

Luke Skywalker,
The Ultimate Uncle :
I'd like to oblige you, Arletta, but...
...right off, I just don't know
where to put my hands on 'em.

Arletta :
You know, sometimes...
I wish people was like dogs, Luke.

Comes a time, a day like when...
The Bitch just don't recognize the pups no more, so...
She don't have no hopes,
nor love to give her pain.

She just don't give a damn.

They letting you smoke here?

Luke Skywalker,
The Ultimate Uncle :
Smoking it up here, Boss?
You done your best, Arletta.
What I've done with myself is my own problem.

Arletta :
Oh, no, it ain't, Luke.
You ain't alone.
Everywhere you go, I'm with you.
And John, too.

Luke Skywalker,
The Ultimate Uncle :
You never thought maybe that's a heavy load?

Arletta :
Why, we always thought you
were strong enough to carry it.
Was we wrong?

Luke Skywalker,
The Ultimate Uncle :
I don't know.
Well, things are just
never the way they seem, Arletta, you know that.
A man's gotta go his own way.

Arletta :
Guess, I've just got to...
...got to love you and let go.
I guess.

I ain't asking what you're going to do
when you get out because...

l'll be dead and it don't matter.
Luke Skywalker,
The Ultimate Uncle :
You never did want to live forever.

Arletta :
I mean, it wasn't such a hell of a life.
I had me...some high old times.

Your old man, Luke...
He wasn't much good
for sticking around...
But, dammit, he made me laugh.

Luke Skywalker,
The Ultimate Uncle :
I would have liked to have known him, the way you talk about him.

Arletta :
He'd have broke you up.
What went wrong?

Luke Skywalker,
The Ultimate Uncle :
Nothing. Everything's cool as can be.
Arletta, I tried.
I mean to... live always free and above board like you, but...

I don't know, I just can't seem to find any elbow room.

Arletta :
You always had good jobs.
And that girl in Kentucky.
Oh...l'd taken a shine to her.

Luke Skywalker,
The Ultimate Uncle :
She sure took off with that convertible fella.

Arletta :
Well, why not?
Idea of marrying got you all, all bollixed up.
Trying to be respectable.
You was boring the hell out of all of us.

I'm leaving the place to John.

Luke Skywalker,
The Ultimate Uncle :
That's good. He earned it.

Arletta :
Ain't nothing to do with it.
I just never gave John...
...the kind of, you know, feeling that I gave you.
So, I'm going to pay him back now.

Don't feel you have to say anything.

The way it is, you see...
Sometimes you just have a feeling for a child... 
Or else you don't.

With John, I just didn't.

Luke Skywalker,
The Ultimate Uncle :
I gotta go, Arletta.

Arletta :
Laugh it up, kid.
You, you'll make out.

John, Son of John :
Uncle Luke, why can't you have chains?

Luke Skywalker,
The Ultimate Uncle :
John-Boy, let me tell you something —

You know them chains ain't medals.
You got them for making mistakes.

And you make a bad enough mistake,
then you've got to deal with The Man.

And he is one rough old boy.

Luke Skywalker,
The Ultimate Uncle :
So long, Arletta. 
Take care.

Arletta :
You know it, kid.
Now there ain't nothing
to come back for.