Fill for @yuriolympics mini round 2! I followed the prompt "Hiding your emotions behind a mask" by dreamwidth user alphajaye071 - I was originally thinking of making it a lot angstier, about Janis seeing through Jenn's mask of strength & coolheadedness to the panic behind, but instead this silly thing happened lol
Set during their charged season 1 interrogations. You cannot tell me this wasn't canon
(Also shoutout @persefida whose style I have been studying to figure out how to draw cartoon humans! <3)
Excerpt from "The Family Treasure"
NBC Quantum Leap (2024) 2x10
Transcript:
Sarah Malek: Oh my god, are you okay? Are those bandages? Are you hurt?
Dean Malek: Not exactly. *takes off shirt to reveal chest bindings* It is a bandage, but that’s not why I wear it.
.
Ian Wright: Wow. Transmasculine in the ‘50s. I mean, I had a hunch. But this is …
Jenn Chu: Isn’t that dangerous though, binding with elastic bandages?
Ian: Good eye. Look at you. But there weren’t exactly a lot of options back then. Dean must feel so alone.
.
Sarah: I don’t understand.
Dean: When I wear this, I feel more like myself.
Sarah: So do you want to be a man?
Dean: No. That’s not it.
Sarah: Do you think it’s shameful to be a woman?
Dean: No! Being a woman is great … for some people. But I’m not really one or the other. I’m just Dean.
…
Ben Song as Nadia Malek: You look badass.
Dean: You two like the whole “miss” and “ma’am” thing, but that’s not me. And I’m … I don’t want to be “sir,” necessarily. I wish I had better words for it.
Ben: You know, my best friend b-back at, um, finishing school-
Ian: *laughs*
Ben: They also feel the same way. So they ask us to use “they” and “them” instead of “he” or “she,” which is really binary.
Dean: Binary like spy code?
Ben: Yes, and also, a binary is anything with only two possibilities. A light switch is either on or off. A person is either good or bad.
Sarah: But I don’t think that’s true.
Ben: Exactly. So we need more possibilities than binary, right?
Ian: *tears up*
Ben: My friend identifies as nonbinary.
Dean: I like that.
Sarah: So that’s what you are, nonbinary?
Dean: I mean, I’m not ONLY that. But yeah. Feels like me.
Sarah: But you’re still my sister?
Dean: I’m your sibling.
Sarah: Okay. I can live with that. Come here *hugs them* I love you, Dean.
Dean: I love you, too. Thank you for listening to me when I tell you who I am.
Ian: Well done, Ben Song
.
See also:
Jessie Gender After Dark
0:00
Jessie: I was able to do [an interview] with the wonderful creative team behind the most recent episode of Q
I’m halfway through the S1 of the QL reboot and honestly it’s okay, it has its moments.
But it feels like it’s missing something, I can’t really put my finger on it. I went in not knowing what to expect, trying to put away comparisons to the OG series.
This version of QL is leaning more heavily into the sci-fi side of things whereas I felt like the OG QL sprinkled it in every now and then.
Less social commentary/social justice issues (it’s still there though). My favorite episode has to be when Ben leaped into a kid who was running away from a wilderness camp.
I honestly don’t like the fact that Ben is actually in these people’s bodies and doesn’t just have their physical aura. However, Addison being able to see Ben as Ben in the imaging chamber makes sense. In the OG series I felt like Al should’ve been able to see Sam as Sam.
I don’t like how Ziggy has been reduced to a simple super computer. I know that’s what Ziggy is, but Ziggy in the OG series kind of had a personality.
- will add more to this post as I continue to watch
*googles* I see, Chou and Chu are both different romanisations of the same surname and ig since the character isn't actually written in the main cast credits in-show nobody knew until the finale how it was written
if she wasn't also American it would probably be Jenn Zhōu
or even maybe Zhōu Je-Ni if we take into account Nanrisa is also Korean
but that's just speculation either way Chu or Chou are probably both right but I'm going with Chou considering that's how literally every publication spelled it before the season finale
