Communicating with Darmok
Everyone remembers the TNG episode
Darmok. right? Tamarians are an alien race that communicate
by example, the proper names and places they cite are references to
situations in their history.
What kinds of parables could Picard have used to communicate with Darmok,
from his own experiences?
Might be fun to invent a few: (translation in parenthesis)
Riker, with his pants down. (Embarrasment)
Troi, sensing ... something (Useless information)
Beverly and Picard in 10 Forward (Let's Just Be Friends)
Troi, when the ratings fell (Show me your cleavage)
Geordi, his ams wide. (Loneliness)
Geordi, his arms closed. (Extreme Loneliness)
Worf, in the first season. (Bad hair day)
Extra away team security. (Dead)
Data and Yar in Yar's quarters. (Totally unexpected but not unwelcomed sex)
Geordi, on the holodeck (need some female companionship)
Barclay, all the time (I'm nervous)
Worf, his hands on Tactical (paranoia)
Wesley, his mouth open (talking garbage)
Riker at Risa (perverse and degrading acts unfit for an officer)
Geordi, in his quarters. (No date.)
Data, at rest. (An oxymoron. He cannot relax because he's never tense.)
Data, dreaming. (Something bizarre.)
Wesley, in the Warp Core. (Celebration!)
Worf and Prune Juice near the Water Closet. (A deluge is forthcoming.)
Guinan, in counsel. (Somebody is about to screw up.)
Worf, his phaser taken (incompetent security personnel)
Extra security, beaming down (people about to die)
Worf, when he fires phaser (missing the target)
Troi, her breasts showing (something that's always happeneing)
Wesley, his head severed (a happy day)
Picard, when he had hair (youth)
Kirk, grabbing his stomach (bad acting)
Wesley, when he saved the ship [again] (smartass)
Beverly leaving Picards room (sexual frustration)
Star Trek, when Shatner directed (noncannon)
Worf, on the shuttle with Worf (xerox is on the blink again)
Picard might have pulled some from Starfleet's historical past (ie TOS)
Anonymous redshirt, with Kirk on planet. (Impending, unavoidable death)
Kirk, corner of his mouth bloody, his shirt torn. (After any combat)
McCoy, his profession stated. (Being asked to do something outside of job
description ie "Dammit, Jim, I'm a Doctor, not a ....)
Uhura, her channels jammed. (Unable to communicate)
McCoy/Spock, his eyebrow arched (Surprise, amusement)
Kirk! Saying! Anything! (Being overly dramatic)
Scotty, fixing his engines. (Making something seem harder than it is)
Kirk, his situation hopeless. (We'll find a solution, and get the girl, in
the next 50 minutes.)
Spot, when the hairball fell. (Untidy cabin)
Geordi, his visor off (vulnerability)
Picard, shields down (trust)
Worf, shields down (teeth-gritting frustration)
Lwaxana sensing... SUCH THOUGHTS! (over-confidence in one's sex appeal)
Riker, tugging uniform (attempt to appear confident while costume rides up)
McCoy on TNG, his make-up bad his acting worse. (Big mistake you regret later.)
Geordi, his array rephased his coil boosted. (Episode with a techno-garbage
solution.)
Luwaxana, her ass on screen briefly. (Times you wish you'd been looking away
from the TV. Also means extreme nausea.)
Alexander and Luwaxana, their guest-shots on the same episode. (The worst
of all possible situations.)
Wesley, Alexander and Luwaxana together on a single episode. (Something so
bad it's almost inconcievable.)
Picard, his sexual orientation discussed. (Mindless chatter.)
Aliens, their skin painted, their foreheads bumpy. (Insult to your intelligence.)
