Zara Williams
Star Trek Confessional
After Star Trek: The Next Generation
Gxrl watches an episode of her favourite
show, the episode where Commander Riker
plays the trombone for his hologram lover.
Smoky bar. Gauzy light. Brunette on the arm
wearing red. Gxrl laughs, not realising this
will inspire ten years’ worth of fantasies.
Romanticisation of bars.
After Star Trek: The Next Generation
Gxrl watches an episode of her favourite
show, the episode where Commander Riker
plays the trombone for his hologram lover.
Smoky bar. Gauzy light. Brunette on the arm
wearing red. Gxrl laughs, not realising this
will inspire ten years’ worth of fantasies.
Romanticisation of bars.
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|
Gxrl watches another. Gxrl watches the one
with Counselor Troi in the blue dress spilling off her shoulders, dark hair a river at nighttime, eyes as black as space, with twice as many stars. Gxrl laughs, not knowing that this will inspire ten years’ worth of fascination over blue, off-the-shoulder dresses. |
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|
Netflix asks if gxrl is still there, if gxrl is still watching.
Of course they are; what else is there to do? So they click ‘Next episode’, the one where trickster god turns into Aldebaran serpent: shining disco ball of light. Cosmic mystery. Cosmic nuisance. Eldritch so-and-so. Gxrl laughs, not knowing that this will contribute to ten years’ worth of loving monsters. |
Zara Williams (they/she) is a twenty-something queer poet and storyteller based in Scotland. They are editor-in-chief at Monstering, a magazine by and for disabled women and nonbinary people, and have published work with Mineral Lit Mag, Corvid Queen, L'Éphémère Review, and The Rising Phoenix Review. A graduate student of Medieval Literatures and Cultures at The University of Edinburgh, they have a fascination with stories, and all things magical and dusty. You can observe their stream of consciousness in real time on Twitter or Instagram @zdeawilliams.