What Captain Picard taught me about masculinity...

In 1987, I remember my Mom and I being so excited to hear that a new Star Trek series was coming. We both loved the original, although, I hadn't watched all of the originial series then. You could only catch reruns on TV, and that mostly happened during the day (although, it was great when I was sick!). I remember the night we watched Encounter at Farpoint and it was so exciting! Each new episode after that brought new wonders, new stories, and a lot of great scifi writing every week. Star Trek night was sacred at our house and thank the gods for the invention of recordable VHS!

Thus began my deep love of all things Star Trek, but most especially my love of the character of Jean-Luc Picard and by extension Sir Patrick Stewart.

Thinking back, really, besides my attraction (I've always had a thing for bald men), I was enamoured of Captain Picard as a character. Picard was able to be commanding and make tough decisions, but he loved art, history, and music. As the series progressed, you got to see more and more of Picard being vulnerable, even early in the series. My Wife and I watched Season 2's "The Measure of a Man" two nights ago. It's the episode where there is a hearing to determine whether Data is a person and has autonomy or not. It's also one of the first episodes in the series where you find out that Picard had a life outside of being a captain, and you also see how much he truly cares for those in his command.

My most favorite scene in that episode is when he talks to Guinan. He tells her about Riker's arguments and shows her his worry and fear. Then, when she points out about how societies make "disposable people" (and honestly, this is some seriously badass writing here. Whoopi's acting is amazing!), you can see the horror on his face when he realizes what she means, including telling her that no, actually, it's not harsh to call it what it is: slavery.

There are so many episodes that show his vulnerability and it has influenced how I write a lot of my own characters. Like the episode after the Locutus of Borg two-parter where goes home to his family. And the end of the episode where he's tortured by the Cardassians where he admits to Troi that the torturer actually had broken him, even for a moment. Then there's the episode where he lives a whole life in a day (where he learns to play the flute). And the episode where he falls in love with a woman who is serving under him and has to deal with the realities of having to order her to do something where she might die.

In reality, these are just stories about human beings being very human. That's what Star Trek teaches in it's storytelling, and always has. As I said, Star Trek has heavily influenced my own writing, along with other great shows like Babylon 5 (which has my favorite work by Walter Koenig -RIP- in his role as Bester), and Farscape. And Picard, as a character, was pivotal in how I write men, particularly.

But, Sir Patrick, himself, showed this vulnerability and compassion in real life, too. From his deep friendship with Ian McKellan, to being open about the abuse of his father, to all of his advocacy for human rights, and being open in his autobiography about his own issues with mental health. He showed us, as a man, that compassion and vulnerability doesn't make a man weak, it just makes you human.

In my Wiccan tradition, especially around this time of year, we say "What is remembered, lives." I think, for me, his spirit is something that will always be with me. With all of us. Not just because of the body of work he left behind, but because of the impact he had on that work and his life. His passing made me sad, but I also know that he had, at 86, a long and incredible life. Thankfully, his work is always there for us to go back to.

There's also a part of me, now that I'm transitioning, that realized, in that last few days, that he is the type of man I'd like to be. That I can be vulnerable and creative and strong, but also show sadness and fear and cry when I need to. I can love and be loved and not have to feel that it's "not manly enough." I can be a man that advocates for compassion and love. Sir Patrick showed this by example, even though by his own admission, he wasn't perfect. None of us are.

Honestly, I think if all men emulated people like Sir Patrick Stewart over people like Elon Musk, Trump, and Andrew Tate, the world would be a much more pleasant place to exist.

Writing Updates:

Not much new happening since the last newsletter, except that there will be two weeks of scheduling weirdness for Tales from Flat Space and my Twitch stream due to some medical appointments and procedures. (Nothing bad, I promise, it's just interfering with reading days.) So, the schedule will be:

• November 3 -- Twitch reading stream of Control chapters 25-27. (1500 Ireland time)
• November 5 -- No Twitch co-working stream.
• November 10 -- Release of Control chapters 25-27 on podcasts and YouTube. No Twitch stream.
• November 12 -- No Twitch co-working stream.
• November 17 -- Regular Twitch streams and podcast schedule resumes.

A Blessed Samhain to all of you, and what is remembered, lives.