Thanks to one of my friends, since they gave me the drive to want to relook at some of my other characters and see who else could be in need of an overhaul.
U.S.S. StarTraveler
NCC-1885-A
Second Starship to bear the name StarTraveler
"Second Star to the Right, and Straight on till Morning." - Admiral James T. Kirk
Ongoing Mission-
To explore the unknown, to seek out new allies and friends, to chronicle the unknown and rarely explored, and to protect the Federation from threats both from our galaxy and beyond
Ambassador Class Starship
Originally U.S.S. Explorer, christened 2355
refitted 2380, for Dominion War
Originally mothballed in 2385, after 30 years of service
rechristened and recommissioned U.S.S. StarTraveler-A in 2408
Nicholas Stone, First Officer, Half Andorian/Half-Human
Allison "The Racer" Roberts, Helmsman, Andorian
T'Inss, Second Officer (Other Helmsman), Romulan (Mirror Universe)
Ian McCannon, Head Nurse, Human
Melissa McCabe, Doctor, Caitian
Maro, Science Officer, Unknown Species (Q)
Megan Winters, Tactical/Weapons, Bajoran
Sabrina Selena Salazar, Security Chief, Human
Ad'm O'Neill, Chief Engineer, Bolian
Richard Crockett, Communications (Formerly Defunct Position), Human
Three of Seven, Counselor/Ambassador, Rescued Borg
The Crew of the USS StarTraveler for her second mission are all either members of Starfleet that have been removed from one ship or more due to problems or reprimands connected with their old crews, troublesome officers, or officers facing the end of their career from either age or consequences, stretching from end of career to just out of Starfleet Academy. This is why the ship has been dubbed by many to be the "Second Chance Ship".
REDACTED FROM PUBLIC RECORD
Captains Washington and Ruby are never to be separated onto different starships for ANY reason, due to the unique circumstances surrounding the two captains.
The Professor walked into the console room, holding a small suitcase in his hand, helping Cynthia as she carried another, much more bigger one, on her shoulder, as she had a slight smile on her face.
"That's everything, Professor." Cynthia looked to him with a smile, taking the other suitcase with her free hand, heading for the door. "Thank you, for keeping my room the same. It was helpful, seeing the multiverse again, getting my mind in sync again."
"No worried, Cynthia." He responded, giving a small smile in return. "You all are like family to me, each one of you help me see the multiverse in ways I haven't before." He slowly walked with her to the door. "You could stay, you know. Stay onboard, a little longer. Sticking to a schedule like this....?"
She chuckled. "No, No, I know that feeling. I know when it's time, Professor. I don't want to take someone else's spot, someone who needs the help you gave me, and Blue, way back when, even when you were in need of help yourself." She slowly gave him a hug, as the TARDIS landed, and she slightly opened the door, looking out at the alleyway in which they left from, merely a few minutes since her departure.
"This won't be the last time." He looked at her. "I'll drop in from time to time, check up on you."
"I'm looking forward to it." She slowly gave the Professor another hug. "Until the next time, Teach." She chuckled, and slowly headed out the doors, as the Professor watched her step out, silently, before he slowly shut the doors, and the TARDIS took off on it's own.
Someone's robbed all the eggs, out of the hen house, and now Easter is in serious doubts, Why oh Why, Did I not see this outcome? That fox really conned me, with only some rum!
On a Small asteroid, situation at one of the farthest reaches of the home universe, designated "ALPHA ZERO" in their notes and maps in order to keep everything situated, The Professor and one of his best friends and Scientific Assistant, Starbright, had returned to their greatest discovery. Floating above them in the glowing sky of stars and aurora, was a massive crack, layered out like something had deliberately carved itself into the void, leaving a permanent scar in the universal boundary. The Scar walls were like nebula, or tissue, pinkish white in color, with mixes of baby blue, all twirling and swirling in the winds of the void, coming to a dead stop as soon as they passed into the boundaries of the Universe.
The Professor smiled, slowly pulling up his lawn chair next his ginger haired assistant, offering her a soda as he returns to the chair and to the view. "You forget just how incredible it is, when you stare up at it just at the right angle."
She smiled a bit. "You can see the Multiverse on the other side."
In her hands, was the rejection letter from the Gallifreyan Scientific Council. It felt more like a stab in the back, a complete and total destruction and teardown of all of their work so far, all to keep the status quo. So, as she looked at it, she couldn't help but sigh a bit, rubbing her hand on her forehead, folding the letter back up for what was the 5th time, and placing it on the small table between the two.
"Are you sure this is what you want to do?"
The Professor looked to her. "I can't sit by anymore, Star. I can't just sit by and watch the unknown be hurt like I saw. The fact we can't even tell what I saw originally is proof enough that this has to be done. That we should focus on the unknown."
Starbright gave a low sigh, looking to her friend, clasping her hands slowly together, feeling just defeated. "I can't stop you. I know I can't. I will be rooting for you, you know that? Seeing the stars, day to day, month to month, I will keep thinking of you, helping the voiceless in the stories we've seen."
"You could always come with me?" The Professor slightly pleaded.
However, he was met with a slight headshake no from her. "I'm going to keep fighting them. Someone has to, here. To get them to realize the truth about the Multiverse. That it is not just alternates and fixed points and all of the other garbage and trash they continue to preach."
The two slowly look to each other, before giving each other a smile.
"It will be lonely, without you, you know." He said.
She chuckled a bit. "Don't go soft on me, Wafflehead. Help them. Tell the stories of the unknown, hidden behind the battles, the heroism, the dangers and the defeats."
The two smiled, slowly standing up, and giving each other a hug, as they returned their gaze to the Crack to the Multiverse overhead.
"And just know." She said, with a smile. "I'll be rooting for you."
From the personal journal of one Captain Beverly Livingston, First Entry, dated 0.010 ABY, record saved for posterity and national record to the New Republic.
"I didn't know how my life would change so fast. I didn't expect it to, after one decision. I believe that was why I did it so fast, and without hesitation. Let me explain, for those in the future."
"I was the captain of a star destroyer. One of few females in the role, a part of a massive recruiting drive when the beginning of the rebellion, while publicly called nothing more than a bunch of rag-tag smugglers and groups of backwater militia, spooked high command enough to lift certain barriers on recruits and I was in their first batch. I grew up in the last days of the Clone Wars. I saw the Empire's crackdown, slowly by slowly, but being a simple civilian, I believed it was nothing more than safety measures. Giving up freedoms like they were nothing. I believed it was just what was needed to stop the "Separatists" from reorganizing, which by then were nothing more than boogeymen. You caught a merchant or two selling a battle droid from those times, but it was a rare occurrence, even then."
"Military service was dull, but stable. I rose the ranks, as normal, keeping nose to the grindstone, given I was a pilot surely helped a bit in knowing how to run shuttles. Eventually, I was named captain, as was a couple other females in the service. We were paraded around in front of the Imperial Senate, if I can recall, like shiny trophies. The newest breed of Captain and high ranking officer. However, we were rushed away before the Emperor even took his first step into the Senate chambers, and we were back to our posts, before he even spoke his first word of his first speech that day. He was facing more spoken backlash, public backlash, a rarity during those days, for keeping the Death Star's construction a secret to the senate. It was not like they were going to vote it down, they just wanted to know of it beforehand. I mention this day, mainly for that reference to the Battle Station. We believed it to be the end. The star and symbol of a mighty empire. Some of us captains and higher ranking officers, even if I was squeaky clean, thought it to be a bit too much, but we would never speak of it publicly. How could we have known?"
"The destruction of the Battle Station and the injuring of Lord Vader due to the Rebels led a cascading effect on the Imperial Navy, the Imperial Army, and everything else in-between. Any hopes of a returning Imperial senate were dashed, when the Emperor came out and fully made his word law. Some say he even ordered the destruction of the Imperial Senate building from how furious he got, but his closest advisors had to talk him down, a job I would never envy. Lord Vader became obsessed about a lone pilot of the Rebellion, the one he faced on the Death Star moments before destruction, and forced his way to search for them every chance he could. For the rest of us, we were riled into a witch hunt. The highest officers, all dressed in white uniforms, one by one, had every ship and every battalion searched, and culled of any dissenters or rebellious thinkers. There were even stories of an Imperial Captain who snuck a Twi'lek onboard his ship being found out, and both he, AND his "conquest", were vented out the airlock in sheer anger. They were cleaning up all their bases, all points of failure. Showing their might to the lower ranks, no matter how they could."
"It was the day my ship was to be searched, then, when my life changed forever. We had captured two enemy agents of the Rebellion, or so my second in command kept clamoring and yelling about. I can remember him screaming something about the color of his suit, it still didn't make sense, but being it was the day MY ship was facing a cull, I wanted no trouble. However, curiosity did strike me, and I headed for the brig, merely as a precaution."
"One was a man. Dressed in a green outfit, a red tie, prim and proper. He looked like a former senator or something high ranking, whatever he was. Given his state, it would seem he was heading for an ambassadorship or something. The other was a blue Twi'lek. The guards informed me, during their search of her person, they found a tool of the Jedi with her, a lightsaber. More questions mounted in my head, as I saw them in their cells. The man was merely pacing, silent, thinking to himself, while the Twi'lek meditated. It was like they paid no heed of where they were or what they were facing. I told the guards to leave me alone with them, but keep the weapon out of hand. Just to make sure."
"As soon as they left, the man turned to me. "They don't trust you, do they?" He said. It was as blunt of a question, it almost knocked me back like a punch. I walked up to the cells, fixing myself, steeling my nerve, as the Twi'lek looked to me. "We wouldn't have come if we hadn't had seen what would happen."
"What are you talking about?" I spoke to them, in interest. The man, without any fear of who I was, in almost defiance of it, walked right up to the forcefield blocking the two of us, looking me up and down, before turning away. "Would you believe us, if we said anything?" He said."
"It was like getting interrogated myself. I was getting frustrated. "Look at me." I ordered. "You two are facing-" The Twi'lek turned to me at that moment. "You know what they're planning on doing, so why even bother helping them?" I looked at her, confused. "What are you talking about, SPEAK coherently, will you?!" I ordered again, my face getting redder with anger."
"They're going to use you as a Scapegoat." The man spoke."
"You know they will, even if you've done nothing to prove it." The Twi'lek spoke."
"I looked at them right in the eyes, back and forth. I couldn't explain what I was feeling. It was like an interrogation, but surely not. Could they be undercover agents, I thought? No, that was quickly thrown out, given the Twi'lek. A trick? Their calm demeanor was unique to that fact. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I almost walked away. I am glad I didn't, looking back now, as the man looked to me."
"He will hand you a data pad." The man spoke. "He will ask you of everyone you think are dissenters. You will take it, and you will write down names, any names you can think of, of any soldiers that have crossed you. You will hand it back. Then, he will shoot you with his blaster, after reading the first name on that list."
"You know what you must do." The Twi'lek spoke. "You know how they can twist words, twist actions. Stand up for yourself. Your life will change for the better."
"I almost responded again, when I received a message. Like it was timed, the officer had arrived and was waiting for my appearance on the bridge. I took a look at the two, and head off without another word. That exchange, which lasted less than a minute, would be the last time I ever saw those two. Apparently, according to other members of the Rebellion, I was visited by the mysterious Professor, and his "companion", a Twi'lek Jedi who survived Order 66 by some sheer luck, the two appearing to help those, however possible. This one minute conversation, filled enough doubt in my mind, when I walked up to the bridge, seeing the officer before me."
"He was a child. Younger than me, I knew that for certain, probably inherited his father's position, brainwashed and fanaticized by Imperial Propaganda to the point that if someone cut him, it would bleed loyalty. Without a word to me, he held out a data pad, which had my orders. List down any dissidents or anyone I expected for any rebellious nature. I took it, and looked it, as I looked around the bridge for the moment. For that doubt in my mind, it was like I was seeing them for the first time all over again. What I never saw, until that moment, was just how fearful, and scared, a lot of them looked, as I stood there with this data pad. Even my second in command, at his post, looked at me with fearful eyes, almost terror on his face. My eyes looked down at the pad again, before I looked back to him. My eyes must have said my intentions, right then. With the shortest, the smallest of nods, he almost agreed, with a slight wave, two stormtroopers held their guns at the ready, as I looked to the pad one final time, and entered one name. Just one name. my own."
"I think back to that moment now, as I sit here, heading to who knows where, to face whatever is given to me for what I have done. It was the right thing to do, I know that now. The thing however that makes it worth it, the one thing that made me realize I had my breath back, the chains of Order released from my chest and lungs, was the look on that officer's face when I handed the pad right back to him, and he read just that one name."
Hello again, friends, and welcome to probably one of the more weirder posts on this blog, given most of them are the Professor's adventures and my feelings on Nostalgia. I came up with this idea during the 12 Days of Frezmas, a 12 day twitch stream marathon my friend FreezingInferno does every year to celebrate the holidays, and it was during one of these streams when we began talking about the good old days of YouTube. Now, given I was born on the last year of the previous century, this would be right around the time I started watching YouTube, 2008 - 2011. Nowadays, YouTube is chockfull of random and copycat like work with clickbait titles and reaction channels and random amounts of who knows what that bury the diamonds inside these piles of garbage.
However, back then was a simpler time. We're talking before the Partner Program, Before the Large Youtubers of Today. The days of A Day at the Zoo, When Fred, Annoying Orange, and PewDiePie fought for the number 1 spot on the subscriber count. When Smosh ruled the scene, and when the Forums began the migration. YouTube during this time was almost like a cable package in of itself, Where there were people who did it just to be themselves, and the variety of content stretched from sea to shining sea. When Recommendeds were completely random, and they led you down the rabbithole to something you never knew about.
That is why I am here today. I started my viewing experience during this time, and I would like to take you down that journey. Down a journey of self-reflection, of purpose, of interest, and of clear and utter insanity that will probably drive some of you insane along the way. So my dear friends, let us hop into time machine, and take you back to that riveting timeframe.
Nostalgic Youtube Experience
Let's Plays -
For any good and thorough look into the past on YouTube, we need to look at the very thing which I think put YouTube on the map in the first place. While the Lets Play was around before YouTube, it was mostly how people would think of walkthroughs today, done through blog posts and with step by step instruction since you were unable to see the game while they were explaining it. Then came the dawn of YouTube, and the world changed for the better.
In 2008, I was just starting to get into the internet and learn about the marvels that would hide behind it. We began to get Book reports in school, and we needed to look up certain things on the internet, do at least some research into the book, but not necessarily put it into these reports. And it was during one of these Book Reports, I found myself onto YouTube for the first time, and right there on the front page, was the first Let's Player I ever saw.
Now, Being a young Child in 2008, I did not know about Mario RPG. My very first video game was Super Mario Brothers on my GBA, so I knew some basics, plus what I gathered from others around me. So learning about this? A Mario RPG? With Peach AND Bowser, the Bad Guy, fighting a new villain? Of course I was interested in this! There was only a couple videos out at the time I got into LordVega, but He was what started me on this path to where I am today. It was through him I began searching others, like this interesting RPG named Earthbound? Chuggaaconroy, who's that? And Indiana Jones! I loved the movies, and there's a game about him?! and look! LordVega's on this channel, with who? a FreezingInferno? I like this, I'll keep watching this!
Nowadays, Let's Plays are still kept alive in the community, And we still have some of the YouTube Veterans around from the old days keeping on with the old format, and I am thankful for them, like Nakateleeli and ProtonJon. Many of the old youtubers sadly moved on from YouTube, or they went to Twitch, and it was through Twitch that I found out a few of the ones I used to watch as a kid are still around, making content all these years later, like ssskinner and SuperSkarmory.
Parodies -
Way back in the day, YouTube copyright was like the wild west of programming and like shooting fish in a barrel. Somedays you would have someone drop the entirety of Doctor Who on YouTube and it could go months without being noticed, or full on Television shows and Movies which some, if you know where to look, have been able to dodge the bots even to this day. However, it was during this time of twisted Copyright protections and confusing rules, came the birth of the Parody.
Sometimes people need music to make something fresh and new. It is why fanfiction is so popular, making new stories in a universe long since shelved by the people who originally created it, or just because people thought there was a new story to tell. Sometimes, People come up with new lyrics to a familiar tune, a song people know and trust with brand new vocals to tell a new story, and that is where the Parody song came from. Parodies nowadays fall just on the line between Fair Use and Copyright, but back then in the wild west days, under the protecting light of mass uploads of television programs, the Parody song rose to great heights.
What's kinda hilarious is again, tying it back to video games, this was how my young brain got introduced to all of these old games, and peaked my interest into what to go look for, and ones that made me want to search and explore my horizons for what these retro games were. Funny enough, Nearly two decades later, I have fallen in love with the music of Billy Joel, so it would seem Music can predict some things but not others.
Nowadays, we still have cover bands on YouTube, but they are nothing when it holds up to the parody songs and skits that once populated the platform back in the early days. However, there are relics out there to watch, and still laugh at even today, so give out a look, and you may find one of those Diamonds out there.
Structured Episodic/Skit Content -
I'm gonna tell you right now, This one is where the bullet was hit the most nowadays. Dealing with Prank Channels and their acidic presence on the platform has led to multiple adpoclypses that could have been avoided if they, Reaction Channels, and the Vlog Channels which are Prank channels in disguise were removed from said platform to begin with. It is no Surprise though that these would be the progression to what we had back then, as tastes would change, although it feels like no one wants to try and replace what we had before and just follow what has almost killed the platform on 5 separate occasions.
Back then, we had a Few different sources of entertainment, but the ones I knew most, were the two I did not watch but knew of people who did, which were the Ever popular Fred and Annoying Orange, You had the Lonely Girl series, something I was not in the demographic for at all but over the years would learn of it and learn of it's importance in this area, and then we come to Stupid Mario Brothers and Smosh.
Smosh were it when it came to Skits. They were the ones at the top of the hill, everyone eyed their place on that hill as honestly some of the funniest on the platform, even though some of it may not have aged as well today, it was still one of the revolutionary channels and deserves it's place in history, even though today it is merely a shell of what it used to be.
Now we come to Stupid Mario Brothers. Sometimes people did try their hand at episodic content, telling a story over a long periods, but given YouTube at the time, it either was unable to hold up over the long period, or it eventually stopped at a point like a car into a brick wall. The golden Standard for this format, the Episodic Adventure story, which lasted far longer than anyone thought it would, was the Adventures of Mario and Luigi, leaving the Mushroom Kingdom after being tired of saving Peach so many times, and decided to return to the real world, which led to even more, and even worse, villains and situations around them.
In the age of Watch Time, Watch Views, sustained viewership, sponsors, something as innocent as this wouldn't make the cut, since people go to YouTube and streaming services to get away from cable, so long term stories such as this get passed by the wayside. However, sometimes you find them buried in the rough and someone new takes the journey, and for a series that lasted over a Decade, It kept it's plot and rivaled even TV shows at the time. It led to multiple others, that sadly when I looked up the ones I could remember, either the channels were gone or the videos had up and disappeared. That's what happens with time, sadly, sometimes what was once there is blown away in the breeze and replaced with what's "new and fresh".
RomHacks -
Coming from the new age of Mario Maker videos and the games that brought a new generation into the age of making their own levels to have others play makes me smile in a way. Sadly, it would seem while people are beginning to remember this part of YouTube's Past, they are only remembering one part of what was a wide and vibrant checkerboard of Mario Romhacks, which was Kaizo. Peel back that layer and what you get is a treasure trove of old YouTube Channels who led the way in these RomHacks, showing the custom sprite work and innovative ways someone could take Super Mario World and twist and turn it into their own story.
ProtonJon and AzureBlade49. Two giants of this part of YouTube at the Time. Nowadays, Azure has all but disappeared, but is happily married with another YouTuber and try to make videos and streams whenever he can, and ProtonJon is still around, remembered not just for his Group Channel with two other YouTube Veterans, but also his attempt to make the longest LP in existence, started by sheer accident and Bad Luck. However, before this, before Superman 64, These two were the top players of Mario RomHacks on YouTube. Infact, they were the ones who first started showing the decline in the medium back in the early 2010s, with how much they began to blend into one another, and could see the shift towards indie development. That was the great Thing about RomHacks, some of these very people took their knowledge of making them and turned that experience into making their own video games.
It is probably one of the most popular genres of old YouTube, and was the first sign that the tides were changing when they began to disappear. It was a completely different time, seeing how two different people could take the same game and turn it into two completely different games with two completely different styles. I think that was what got people into Mario Maker now, was that drive to create something fresh with something familiar.
CAWs -
People back then didn't make money off of the platform like they do now. Infact, before the programs of today, you had to join one of the big channels in order to make anything, but even then it didn't feel like a job like it does today, it felt like communities, like Machinima and Screw Attack. Due to that, we didn't get things like we do today, like All of Buzzfeed, or the multiple Wrestling review programs, or anything of the sort. In the absence of these, came new ideas, and that was what led to the creation of Wrestling Leagues, using the old WWE games at the time.
Now, I have to admit, Back then I was falling out with Wrestling even when I was getting into YouTube, but every now and again I did catch some playing, and it did catch my attention, but I wasn't a big viewer of these. However, I knew of their importance of the grand scheme because again, tying it back to what was discussed so far, it did bring in another crowd into YouTube, and form their own communities. The best thing of all was that each one felt unique, their own styles to the Announcing of the matches which made them seem real back then. I think that's one of the reasons why they were so appealing, were the announcers and what they felt and the stories they told.
Sadly, for this part I cannot link a video from this part. Given how Videos back then had to be 10 minutes at the most (Moving up to 15), each "episode" was multiple parts, so it wouldn't make sense to link just one. However, They do still survive out there, again, buried behind all of the new and fresh, you just need a point in the right direction.
Specialty Reviewers-
There was a time, long ago, when Reviewers had a choice to make. Do they stay with the old traditions or do they move to generalized reviews? Instead of staying with what they started with, which was reviewing one part of Media, take the dive and open the floodgates, and many reviewers opened those floodgates. Which was another way that YouTube was changing. You see, back in the old days Reviews were more done out of recording their television screens, or pictures, since the capture card was years away from being created in the fashion it is today.
As such, you had multiple different reviewers, and their specialties for what they were reviewing. The most important thing is that back then they stuck to lanes. A Movie reviewer only stayed in Movies, so on and so forth. You had unique and individual reviewers for Movies, TV, Video Games, even Comic Books. Sometimes, they were in video form, or they were just video essays to tell what one was reviewing.
Sadly, again, These are either lost to the ages or so old that they are unable to work here in the blog. But they, like the CAWs, are still out there, and they are ready to take a look, a look into quite a different time.
I think that is where we shall take our leave for now. A Group of 5 Major things of the old Youtube Experience, all spread out for you. Youtube was a wild west back then. It's rules not built up and tight as they are today. However, that is what made them fun. So then, until next time, everyone.