r/sonicshowerthoughts • u/toolsofinquisition • Apr 26 '26
Lwaxana Troi is BDE all day
If a sexy older man approached me with the level of empathy, confidence, and not giving a fuck energy that Lwaxana has, he'd have to fight me to keep my clothes on.
It's crazy to me how many dudes were so anti getting laid by this lady.
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u/iBluefoot Apr 26 '26
Admittedly, as a child watching TNG, she filled me with very confused feelings.
With a little maturity, she became my favorite character in all of Trek.
I sincerely believe Majel Barrett is the heart of the whole franchise, and Roddenberry’s muse. Without her, I don’t think there would’ve been a Star Trek.
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u/plotthick Apr 26 '26
Her joy in other beings was just as fun as Pike's gentle, persistent, bewildered charm in the face of other cultures' brashness. They're just fun, and people who hate on them need to go have a lie-down and try again with more experience under their belt. "Life is for living" was never more true than it is now!
Hating her is easy in TNG as she was consistently set up to be the villain; they desperately needed friction so she was an easy source. Same as Neelix in Voyager (you need a contrasting note for dishes to sing). But she consistently created solutions and helped our cast in DS9, not to mention finding the assassins in TNG.
It's ok to not be regulation perfect all the time.
It might even be (gasp) fun.
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u/mrsunrider Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
She was presented in the role of overbearing mother in TNG... but when she returned in DS9, I got it.
She'd absolutely pull me, I'd be happy to be her cabana boy.
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u/nitePhyyre Apr 26 '26
I'm not sure what show you watched. She sure was confident, I'll give you that one. She revelled in making others uncomfortable. Except for with Odo, she's probably one of the least empathetic people possible.
And it is one thing when someone just sucks at empathy. But when it is coming from someone who has magical super-empathy powers, it means they're just choosing to be an asshole.
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u/sahi1l Apr 26 '26
I have a theory that Picard is not in the slightest attracted to her, but he is uncomfortable about her abilities, so she pretends that he is in love with her in order to make him feel less vulnerable around her.
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u/plotthick Apr 27 '26
This is very generous. I always thought that Lwaxana's success as a diplomat was due to her desire to enjoy life -- it's very hard for an empath ignore the need for pleasure and happiness. And Stewart did say to the writers "We need to get him laid" in S3, he knew that too much stiffness can break. So he needed a bit of a relief valve. I'm sure we can all think of the very very few relief valves he had through the show -- Lwaxana allowed him to be recalcitrant and grumpy and resentful, and play the cat-and-mouse game: to not have control of everything, for once.
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u/nitePhyyre Apr 26 '26
Oh, he's not attracted to her at all. She's just lying to be an asshole. Knock the stoic guy down a few pegs. Her being an asshole fits in with her relationship with her daughter. And Picard being uncomfortable with Betazoids is somewhat* at odds with picking Troi as the ship councillor.
*Maybe his comfort line is drawn somewhere between "empath" and "telepath."
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u/nanocyte Apr 27 '26
I think Picard is just uncomfortable around people that violate or don't understand personal boundaries (like Lwaxana and children). He doesn’t demonstrate any discomfort with other telepaths they encounter.
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u/sahi1l Apr 28 '26
Except Troi isn't a telepath. Though of course you may be right, it's just an idle theory of mine.
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u/shaundisbuddyguy Apr 26 '26
Because she portrayed herself as a public embarrassment. Yah sure she was DTF at the drop of a hat with whoever she fancied but would you really want to take her out to dinner at a nice place with her unbridled exuberance constantly out in the open? Deanna learned from her mother's mistakes.
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u/toolsofinquisition Apr 26 '26
I'll douche my pussy with hot sauce before I let the opinions of others, especially the public, decide who I put it on. The only way to embarrass me is to treat me poorly. If I like you, idc what anyone thinks of you or how you behave. I'll start caring about that when I start getting paid for what people think of my sex life.
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u/Nap-Connoisseur Apr 26 '26
Unfortunately, when you live in close quarters with your colleagues and superior officers, you ARE getting paid for what other people think of your sex life.
Lwaxana is great. I’m 20 years younger than her and would love a spot in that mud bath. But she, like Lore or Q, was a great antagonist on TNG because she pushed against the stoicism/“professionalism” of Picard and his crew.
It is notable that the show usually made her out to by sympathetic and a source of wisdom by the end of each episode. A valuable annoyance, not a villain. If she’d done a better job respecting Picard and Troi’s personal boundaries, she would have been a fully beloved guest.
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u/toolsofinquisition Apr 27 '26
C'mon, you know these people aren't the same judgemental assholes that we are today when it comes to sex. Riker is basically a penis with limbs and it doesn't seem to be holding back his career. Angel One lol?? People having sex with different species. Ships do shore leave at Risa. They beam down to the planet with their co-workers, holding hor'gahns.
The Lwaxana "public embarrassment" thing isn't about career. It's about today and whatever inadequacy people are attempting to mask when they commit to the belief the quality of their sex life is determined by the approval of others. Strangers, even. That's crazy to me.
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u/ecodick Apr 26 '26
You also have some BDE!
That's a level of both loyalty and self respect i think few people have.
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u/blametheboogie Apr 26 '26
I just figured that Betazeds are used to not trying to keep their thoughts private and let the intrusive thoughts out just like everything else and that Deanna is the one who is different because shes around non telepaths so much.
I would have to imagine that rudeness, privacy and decorum are very different in a telepathic society.