#aeryn sun my beloved | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

freckleslikestars · 1 year

Text

In the beginning, I found you...interesting.

#season one farscape really is such a trip #farscape #farscape memes #what if we explored each others bodies in this desolate and fucked up space ship #aeryn sun #aeryn sun my beloved #john crichton #ben browder #claudia black #pk tech girl #the flax #my gifs #farscape gifs #claudia black gifs #Farscape shitposts

68 notes · View notes

radiantaerynsvn · 1 month

Text

johnaeryn: to build a home

happy 25th anniversary to farscape and to these two

#johnaeryn #john x aeryn #aeryn sun #farscapeedit #john crichton #farscape #farscape25 #by lesbibianism #my edits #fancam #edit #honestly... not as elaborate as i wanted to make it but with adhd and being busy with other things i ran out of time it is what it is #i wanted to post it today #so yeah hope its still okay despite having to rush to finish this lmao #anyway i love them so much :( they're everything to me #i'm halfwayish through s4 on my rewatch in between movies and i don't want to lose them again #my silly little beloved show thats always there for me <3 #greatest love story ever told

112 notes · View notes

grimaom · 2 years

Text

farscape 3x22 deleted scene: alternate fantasy of john & aeryn’s life on earth together

“what the hell are you doing?”

“saving us. he was going to run us down.”

“no no, baby, we are at a crosswalk here. he has a red light, we have talked about this, he was gonna stop!”

“well, this is a stupid planet!”

#tbh the truck was in the wrong here🙄#also aeryn’s outfit here ?? love it #oh aeryn in gucci sunglasses #my beloved #farscape #aeryn sun #john crichton #john x aeryn #claudia black #ben browder #gif

63 notes · View notes

0mythical-bitch0 · 1 year

Text

Names that give Valyrian Vibes, Some I’ve made up. please someone use them.

Aedyn- English, Fiery, Little Fire

Aegarax- Valyrian god of all creatures that walk, run, swim or fly, creator of the first dragon

Aeisha- Aisha, Arabic, Alive and Well, Aye-E-Sha

Aelia- Ancient Roman, Sun

Aeliana- Latin, Sun

Aelicia- Spanish and German, Nobel

Aelita- Fictional, Starlight seen for the last time

Aella- Greek, means Whirlwind

Aelora- Elora, Greek, Sun Ray, My god is bright

Aelyx- South African, the Mountain of Strength

Aeolian- Latin or Greek, Of the wind, God of the winds, Lord of the winds, The Rapid, The Changeable, Quickly moving, Changeful, shifting, varied, of or Arising from the wind

Aeolus- Greek, Changeable, Varied

Aerian- of or belonging to the atmosphere or to the air, Aerial

Aeris- French, An earth full of flowers

Aerith- Earth, Flower, Flower-Like

Aerol- Greek, One who is of a Golden Heart

Aeruna- Aruna, Sanskrit and Hindu, Crystalline reddish-brown, Tawny, Dawn, Dawn Light or Rising Sun, Aye-rue-nuh

Aerwyna- English, Friend of the sea

Aeryn- Irish and Welsh, Daughter of Eire, Daughter of Ireland, Berry

Aesira- Arabic, Muslim, Islamic, Brave, Powerful, Fighter

Aether- Greek, Brightness, Bright upper sky

Aethel- Old English, Nobel

Aethra- Greek, The Upper pure air, the bright clear serene sky, the air heavens and sky, one of the Oceanids

Aetius- Latin and Greek, Eagle

Aetos- Greek, Eagle

Anaëlle- Hebrew, God answered

Andrea- Greek, Manly, Virile

Astraea- Greek and Latin, Star maiden, Starry night, Greek goddess of Justice, innocence, purity and precision

Aphaea- Goddess of fertility

Astraeus- Greek, Starry, Titan god of Dusk, stars, planets, the art of astronomy and astrology

Azaelea- Azalea, Greek, Dry, Flower

Azrael- Hebrew, Angel of God, Help from God, Helped by God, Help of God, Angel of Death

Braeden- Irish, Broad, Brave, Wise

Caelestis- Latin, Of the sky, heavenly

Caelius- Latin, Heaven

Caelum- Latin, Heaven, a constellation

Caelus- Roman, Latin, God of the Sky

Caesar- Greek, Head of hair, long hair

Celaeno- Greek, Black, also a Pleiad Nymph

Daedalus- Greek, Craftsman

Daegal- Anglo-Saxon, Dweller by the dark stream, Night dweller

Daelyn- small valley

Daemara- Damara, Greek, gentle, calf

Daemari- Damari, Greek, gentle, fertility goddess, eternal, strength

Daemeter- Demeter, Greek, earth lover, Greek goddess of the harvest

Daemetrius- Demetrius, Greek, follower of Demeter

Daemitri- Dimitri, Greek, earth lover, follower of Demeter

Daemian- Damian, Greek, To tame, Subdue, Day-me-in

Daenali- Denali, Native American, The high one, the great one

Daenyra- Made-up, Great light, the bright one, Dae, Korean, great, big, the great one, shining, Nyra, Arabic, light, light of god, Day-near-uh

Daera- Greek, Gift of God, Sanskrit, Place of Worship

Daere- Welsh, Fiend

Daeriel- Idealism, intuition, romance, generosity, creativity, wisdom and tolerance

Daerius- Darius, Persian, maintains possession well

Daeryn- Made-up, Great ruler, Given ruler, Dae, Latin Give, Korean Greatness, Ryn, Welsh Ruler, Day-rin

Daevina- Davina, Scottish and Hebrew, Beloved, Day-Vee-nuh

Danae- Greek, Hebrew, She who Judges, God is my judge

Elaena- Greek, Shining Light

Esmael- Spanish, God will hear

Feyre- Beautiful, Fairy, Elf, Fair, Fey-ruh

Gaea- Greek, Personification of the Earth

Gaelithox- Valyrian God of fire, stars, moon, sun, and the dawn, rival of meraxes

Haedrian- Made up, leader, sea-lover, wanderlust, Guide of sea-travel, Hae, Chinese, Sea, Drian, Christian, One who takes initiative and loves to travel, H-adrian. Hey-drEE-in.

Hael- Angel of kindness

Haera- Hera, Greek, Goddess of marriage, Air-uh

Helios- Greek, Sun

Hephaestus- Greek, God of Artisans, blacksmiths, carpenters, craftsmen, fire, metallurgy, metalworking, sculpture and volcanoes

Heron- Hero

Hyperion- Greek, He that walks high, the god above

Icarus/Ikarus- Greek, Latin, Follower, the one who reaches the sky

Ikaerys- Ikarus, Greek, Latin, the one who reaches the sky, Ick-Kay-Reeze

Jaella- Arabic/Muslim, Hebrew, Prominent, mountain goat

Jaelynn- American, May god protect, Supplanter

Kaeden- American, Fighter

Kaelum- Latin, Chisels the Sky, one who chisels the stars in the heavens

Kaeya- Indian, Monsoon Flower

Laela- Arabic, Dark Beauty

Maegara- Megara, Greek, Grudge, May-Gar-uh

Maëlle- French, Chief, Prince, Ambitious

Maeve- Irish, Intoxicating

Megaera- Greek, The jealous one, one of the furies, deities of vengeance

Mikael- Scandinavian, Who Resembles God

Mikaela- Michaela, Hebrew, Who is Like God

Nevaeh- American, Heaven

Naela- Quranic, Indigenous Australian, Winner, Go getter, Gracious, Charitable, Of Wide Eyes

Phaedra- Greek, Bright

Raphael- Hebrew, God has Healed

Saelena- Salena, Greek, Moon Goddess, Say-Lee-Nuh

Saera- Muslim, A New Star

Salaena- Salena, Greek, Moon Goddess, Suh-Lay-Nuh

Samael- Hebrew, Venom, Poison of God, King of Demons, The Angel of Death

Selaena- Selena, Greek, The Moon, See-Lay-Nuh

Solaena- Solana, Spanish, Sunshine or Eastern Wind, Soul-Lay-Nuh

Vaelencia- Valencia, Latin, Roman, Spanish, Srong, Healthy, Valor, Vay-len-C-uh

Vaella- Old Norse, a lament or cry

Vaellia- Made up, Embrace the unknown, Vael; to dive into the unknown, Lia; relaxed, weary, gentle, Vay-Lee-Uh

Vaelor- Made up, Valor, Brave, Courage, Vay-Lor

Vaelora- made up, Honored one, Victorious Ruler, Vae, Germanic, mighty ruler, Lora, crowned with laurel, honor, victory, Vay-Lore-uh

Vaelyra- made up, Harmonic Ruler, Vae, Germanic, mighty ruler, Lyra, Greek, Lyre, harp, also a Star, Vay-Lie-ruh

Valera- Latin, Valiant

Vallea- Italian, Valley, also a tree in South America

Xaeden- Greek, Flourishing in abundance with god

Xaevion- Xavion, African, Fighter

Zaeden- Arabic, Growth

Zael- Hebrew, house of god, habitation of the lord

229 notes · View notes

autumnslance · 7 months

Text

Fic Stats Breakdown

Rules: give us the links to your fic with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and finally the fic with the least words.

Stats page my beloved. When I feel uncertain about myself, going there to see how much I’ve written, and how much it’s been interacted with, is always enlightening.

Also where you’ll see the accurate count of Bookmarks; you still can’t see info on private Bookmarks, but you get the actual number of them.

Tagged by @rinzukodas if you want to do it, by all means!

1. Most Hits: Unexpected. It's the one with the most updates, so makes sense.

She made it halfway across the room to the large man when she stopped and frowned. ’Was Thancred flirting with me?’ She always had such a hard time telling, and he seemed to have a mischievous reputation and way with women–especially if those visions were true and not some strange aetheric fever dreams. Aeryn shook her head. Thancred was a gregarious man, objectively handsome–the open cut of the oasis style shirt and jacket he wore tonight flattered his athletic form–and they’d fought alongside one another a few times now. He had been looking out for her, naught more, his perceptive skills noting her discomfort.

2. Second Most Kudos: Unexpected again! Cuz that and Downtime compete for my most read and popular fics. I should update Downtime.

3. Third Most Comments: Downtime! I tend to reply often, so my comment counts are high, but Unexpected is #1, while Bearing Sins of the Past is #2 for comment threads.

“I believe the Exarch wished Urianger’s aid with some arcane matter,” Alphinaud said, as he joined his sister. “They are like to be occupied for several bells. Why don’t you join us?” He said. “We were going to explore the Crystarium’s new nightlife, before retiring to our quarters--and knowing Alisaie, continuing to stay up half the night.” “Me? You’re the one wanting to gab endlessly as you write every stray thought into your journal,” Alisaie countered. Minfilia looked between them, bewildered for a moment--then she smiled, realizing the honest affection beneath the banter. She nodded. “I...think I would like that.”

4. Fourth Most Bookmarks: Rogue’s Prelude. An earlier longfic (37.2k words) of my headcanon of Thancred meeting Louisoix, Papalymo, and Yda as a youth in Limsa Lominsa.

The docks were busy; the tide had come in recently and had brought a number of ships with it, divesting cargo and people into the city. Thancred enjoyed the sights, sounds, and even some of the smells as he wove between fishermen stalls and merchant carts, seeking unfamiliar faces. He didn’t even look as he brushed past a few Thavnairian traders, listening to their sing-song language as he cloyed a purse from one animated fellow, arguing with the bosun of the ship they had just left. He should really pay more attention to his surroundings when in a foreign city. As should the older elezen man Thancred noted, leaning on a staff while a pretty blonde hyur woman consulted a map. Her elder listened to her with patience--or perhaps he was simply half-asleep in the sun and heat. Thancred ambled toward the pair, falling in behind sailors moving crates from the pier onto their ship, now that their passengers had disembarked. As he moved past his mark, he deftly nicked the contents from the old man’s belt pouch-- --and found himself skidding a few fulms down the dock, a brief flash of light and a sound like a small, localized clap of thunder ringing Thancred’s ears and causing stars to burst before his eyes. A few people nearby were startled; he thought he maybe heard someone laugh.

5. Fifth Most Words: Bearing Sins of the Past. A 25.1k longfic that unexpectedly came out of various FFXIV Write prompts about my WoL Aeryn's backstory; her bio-father's involvement in the Dragonsong War, and the Dragoon that hid that knowledge for twenty years to keep her safe--and bury his own guilt.

X’rhun narrowed his eyes. “I agreed to the secret for your damnable Ishgardian politics,” he said. “But it’s just us out here. Are you truly protecting Aeryn—or yourself?” Alberic turned, and X’rhun braced himself, as he was certain the dragoon was about to strike him. Instead, Alberic remained in a state of tension, staring without seeing at some middle distant point. “You ever carry something so long it’s become woven into you?” he asked quietly.

6. Least Words: Savior, the very first thing I posted to Ao3. 262 words, 2nd person POV about the aftermath of the Final Steps of Faith. There are technically shorter works, but they tend to go into my prompt or specific topic-chaptered fics.

You couldn’t save them. They had sacrificed themselves, to ensure you lived, to ensure this moment. They had come, once again, to your side. To end the war. To protect the city. To save a friend.

#Fanfiction #Lyn Writing #Stats #Ao3 #Final Fantasy XIV #literally haven't posted any other fandoms to Ao3 yet #I have old WoW stuff I ought to clean up and post #debating writing some FF16 fic too

5 notes · View notes

rjalker · 2 years

Text

Aeryn Sun my fucking beloved

#Farscape #Rjalker watches Farscape #not really but still I'm talking about it!!!!!!!!!!!!1

3 notes · View notes

johnaeryns · 3 years

Photo

every character i love ♡ aeryn sun {farscape}

You order me? You will never order me again.

#farscapeedit #scifiedit #scifigifs #bbelcher #userstream #throwbackblr #chewieblog #dailytvwomen #femalecharacters #femaledaily #aeryn sun #farscape #gif #favoritecharacters #my beloved #my baby girl #my princess #my scary alien gf

368 notes · View notes

this-man-is-my-friend · 2 years

Text

Aeryn Sun, My Beloved

#she's so cute #i love her #aeryn sun #farscape #john crichton

2 notes · View notes

themetamorphic · 5 years

Text

eulogies

HARVEY: Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to pay our final respects and to say farewell to our dear friend, Commander John Crichton…a schmuck. Mule-headed, reckless, and probably brain-dead before I met him.

*

RYGEL: ‘John Crichton, valued friend’--no, wait a minute. ‘Valued friend’ is a bit of a stretch. ‘John Crichton, unwelcome shipmate’--hmm--‘may you have safe transport to the Hallowed Realm’--hmm. Actually, not our Hallowed Realm. That's for Hynerians. Go find your own hallowed realm. With the ceremony complete, I declare you officially dead and claim all your possessions for myself.

*

ZHAAN: The Goddess graciously receives to her bosom all those who pass from this existence, regardless of faith or belief. She holds, however, a special place for those who travel this life as a journey. Aeryn Sun will surely harvest favor. Her life was a series of strides toward enlightenment. Casting off the chains of prejudice and hatred. Reaching beyond violence and bigotry. She sought a balance of lasting inner peace. In her name.

*

CHIANA: Talyn...He uh... he-he was our protector...umm...our family... RYGEL: May I say a few words? CHIANA: He uh... he was a lost soul...searching for... uh... RYGEL: Talyn was special. A joy to his mother and a credit to his species--both of them. With fondness we lay Talyn, offspring of Moya, to rest in his Sacred Ground.

*

HARVEY: I had toyed with Slim Pickens on the bomb. Yeee-hahh! But this feels far more appropriate to the moment. Don't you think? Now that Einstein has removed all wormhole weapon knowledge, my purpose is fulfilled. We've done everything we can together, John. Somehow you'll have to make all your future decisions on your own. My eradication program has begun to remove all vestiges of me. Soon... I'll be nothing but a pleasant remembrance... of the good old days. Good-bye, John. Thanks for your memories.

*

CRICHTON: I don't know, Pip. Maybe it eats the whole galaxy. Monumental black hole. Giant, swirling headstone marking the spot where we all used to live and play and slaughter the innocent.

#'this whole show is a series of goodbyes'#this has been in my drafts forever #i still don't know what to do with it

10 notes · View notes

lowtideandhightea · 2 years

Note

farscape and xena for the fandom meme? :3

Farscape:

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most) You thought I was gonna say Aeryn Sun, light of life! And you wouldn't be wrong, but I think my boy John Crichton deserves the Blorbo title more. He definitely takes up a very special portion of my mental real estate.

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped) 1812 my beloved 🥺

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave) Jool. Look, she wasn't great but we really weren't given any time to like. bond. & it didn't help that she's the one character where it really feels like the writers just didn't really know what they wanted to do with her.

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week) idk that i have any characters that would qualify for this!

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave) Sikozu

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason) tbh both Crichton and Scorpy fit here alarmingly well but for wildly different reasons. Honestly, even Rygel. Honestly, this whole show is like watching horse plinko <3

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell) Crais, The Creep

Xena:

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most) Gonna be doing this twice, because Controversially, Callisto. Look, I love Xena and Gab, but Callisto I'm constantly like! Man! Girl didn't get a redemption arc bc it wouldn't have made any sense! She was fundamentally tragic but it does not change! That every day she woke up and made her choices, eyes wide open, on purpose, to do her worst! She recognized that she was wrong but she was just. wholly incapable of wanting to be right. There's so much to unpack there, and I'm just constantly sifting through the suitcase.

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped) Amarice! Me, every time Eve does something I don't care about: "Amarice didn't die for this!" She was Xena and Gab's original baby Amazon and I wanted her to hang around longer ):

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave) Livia. Am I going to count Livia separately from Eve? Absolutely. Look, the whole like. Follower of Eli thing? Snoozefest. But there was this really interesting conflict and narrative set up with Livia. I think every day about her yelling "Rome is my mother!" and I regret every day we were never set up to examine that ):

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week) Alti! Man, idk what it was (okay I do. It was the gay vibes) but every time she appeared as a villain, you knew it was gonna be an absolutely fucking fantastic time.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave) Callisto is PEAK poor little meow meow, I do not deny it 😔

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason) Joxer. Look, literallly no moment in the entire series is as relatable as when Xena's stuck in a timeloop so she just kills Joxer bc like! it doesn't matter! I'm going back to sleep! Arguably, also Ares. Look, I just love them annoying him in the farm episode.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell) idk, maybe Ming Tien? Maybe there's another character worth sending to superhell, but I just watched Bitter Suite the other night so. shrug emoji. Honorable Mention to Autolycus, who honestly could have been scrunkly, glup shitto, or horse plinko, and yet lost out on all three

#emma talks a lot

1 note · View note

galactic-pirates · 6 years

Text

Fandom Questions

@chiaratippy I consider myself tagged, thanks :)

Rules: choose any three fandoms (in random order) and answer the questions, then tag some friends.

I seem to always choose the same fandoms so I’m going to go for different ones this time. Consider that a challenge hehe.

I choose:

Dark Matter

Castle

Farscape

God, it took me a long time only to choose the fandoms. That does not bode well. LOL

The First Character You Loved:

Two! (aka Portia Lin, aka Rebecca)

Hmm, it’s hard to remember that far back. Probably Beckett even though I’m tempted to say Alexis.

Aeryn Sun

The Character You Never Expected To Love So Much:

Three (aka Marcus Boone)

Captain Montgomery, I’m still a little bitter about what happened with him. What was so bad about being the supportive boss?

Rygel probably.

The Character You Relate To The Most:

Hmm probably the Android. I wish I could get an upgrade installed so I could better pass as human haha :)

Oh man. I want to say Alexis but she’s way smarter than I am. Still Alexis is probably the closest.

John Crichton. I too make millions of references to TV/movies in my everyday life :)

The Character You’d Slap:

One - back when he was in it obviously.

I really didn’t like Gates but I’d be too scared to slap her to be honest.

Hmm definitely Sikozu, way too full of herself.

Three Favourite Characters (In Order Of Preference):

Two, Three, Nyx.

My opinion on this changed over the seasons. If the show had ended a couple of seasons ago Castle and Beckett would have been up there but now ... Hayley, Alexis, Kevin Ryan.

Aeryn, John, D’argo

A Character You Liked At First But Don’t Anymore:

Hmm, I can’t think of one to be honest. I haven’t watched all of season 4 and so if Four crosses too far over the line then maybe him. Otherwise, like with One, I didn’t like them to begin with very much /shrug.

Castle and to a lesser extent Beckett but that wasn’t really the characters fault (I could rant but I won’t).

I don’t know. Farscape is such a weird show that even the characters I don’t really like still sort of ‘fit’.

A Character You Did Not Like At First But Now Do:

Three grew on me. I liked Six more initially but nope Three is where it’s at now heh.

Can’t think of one sorry.

Can I say the whole cast? I know that’s random but the first time I tried watching this show my eyes bugged out (it was just too weird) but then tumblr kept putting gifs on my dash and I just had to watch and I’m so glad I did. Yes the characters are weird, yes things don’t make sense sometimes but there was a lot to love. Who would have thought a puppet could become such a beloved character imbued with so much personality?

Three OTPs:

I don’t ship anyone romantically but Brotp Two and Three, or Two and Five, or Five and the android :)

Alexis and Hayley!

Aeryn and John of course

I always seem to tag the same people so I’m going to try not to this time. If you don’t like the tag then please ignore - oh! and please feel free to do these questions even if I don’t tag you, just consider yourself tagged :)

@bookwormchocaholic, @barpurplewrites, @little-inkstone, @wizzygold, @worryinglyinnocent

#chiaratippy #fandom questions #I answer things

2 notes · View notes

grimaom · 2 years

Text

todays thoughts consist of john and aeryn in sunglasses & trying not to sob that i’m on the last season of farscape

#oh aeryn in gucci sunglasses #my beloved #i’ll be waiting to do another rewatch until the fall #shout out to my roommate for putting up with it✌️#farscape #aeryn sun #john crichton #grims ted talk

21 notes · View notes

stoplookingup · 7 years

Text

This is not silly redux

I originally posted this after seeing Wonder Woman, but in light of the Doctor Who casting announcement, it’s worth repeating. (Original posting here.)

____________________________

Some men are really pissed off about all the girl cooties that have been contaminating their action-genre movie and TV franchises lately. Granted, most men I know are not like that. Most want nothing to do with the bitter, disaffected minority of male fans who fill up online comment sections with vitriolic misogyny (and racism — which, not surprisingly, often comes with it). But those vocal yahoos are just a super-concentrated distillation of something bigger and more pervasive: the sense that women are, at best, guests in a man’s world.

To more "enlightened" men, we are welcome guests — but guests nevertheless. When they look at Fury Road, The Force Awakens, Rogue One, Wonder Woman, or Star Trek Discovery [editing to add Doctor Who featuring Jodie Whittaker] — not just women-led stories, but installments in beloved male-dominated franchises — and think, That’s nice, let the girls have some fun too, they are trivializing something that is, to me, Earth-shaking and paradigm-shifting. No doubt, they feel pretty good about their broad-minded acceptance of the female presence, oblivious to the fact that we had to break down the door with a battering ram to get in. What is petty to them is profound and validating to us. And the fact that, the moment I typed that, I felt silly — afraid that someone will accuse me of being melodramatic and overemotional — is actually what I want to talk about.

I am a child of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The coolest things on TV aimed at girls my age were The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family, shows that incorporated pop music and fashion, but basically just slapped a fresh coat of groovy paint on the same old gender roles. Moms nurture, dads work. Boys play sports, girls do art. Boys sing lead, girls sing backup. And anyway, I was a tomboy, with little use for domestic stories about family, friends, and dating. I wanted action, adventure, and excitement. I wanted courageous feats of derring-do performed in pursuit of noble goals like honor, exploration, and justice. I wanted bravery, brains, and heroism.

I wanted Star Trek.

I fell in love with Star Trek when I was about ten, and in no time at all, I had hooked my best friend, Rifka. Soon, all of our playtime was spent pretending to be the characters we admired in the fiction we loved. I was Kirk, she was Spock (I’ve written about this before, here.) While Star Trek was our main gig, we play-acted other stories as well: Bonanza (I was Little Joe, she was Adam); The Hardy Boys (from the books — the TV show was still several years away; I was Joe, she was Frank); Lost in Space (I was John Robinson, she was Don West); Hawaii Five-O (I was Steve McGarrett, she was Danno Williams); Batman (though rarely, because neither of us wanted to be Robin). Always men.

Though there were women in some of these stories, we never pretended to be them. Of course, now, with adult hindsight, I can appreciate characters like Uhura, who pushed the boundaries not only of gender, but of race as well. (Whoopi Goldberg was famously inspired to ask Gene Roddenberry for a role on Star Trek: The Next Generation after having been profoundly affected by Uhura as a child — so much so that, the first time she saw Uhura on TV, she excitedly told her mother, "There's a black lady on television, and she ain't no maid!") But at the time, with a child’s eyes, I wasn’t interested in gray areas, fine distinctions, and historical context. The women were never the bravest, the toughest, or the most important. And we saw ourselves as the bravest, the toughest, and the most important. Period.

Then one day, everything changed. Or more accurately, a gradual change that had been percolating in the background came to a head. We must have been about 12 or 13, an age when we still played pretend, but were vaguely embarrassed about the childishness of it. Whereas we used to play openly during recess and after school with large groups of friends, now it was just the two of us — our little secret. But I was growing more and more uneasy, torn between my love of being in the stories and my sense that I was getting too old for this kind of thing. And something else; something I couldn’t put my finger on, but that made me feel kind of squeamish.

As it happened, we were playing Hardy Boys that day. It was all going as usual; we’d agreed on some mystery to investigate, and we were making up the details as we went along — until I called time out. That’s when I dropped what I was about to realize was a bombshell.

“I want to be a girl.”

I can still see the look on my friend's face. It was as if I’d said I wanted to be Robin. No, worse. A villain. No, even worse. A lamppost.

“But you can’t be a girl,” she said. “Joe is a boy.”

I saw my mistake too late and tried in vain to make it right.

“I’ll be exactly like Joe, but a girl. I’ll do all the same things. Only my name won’t be Joe. I’ll pick a girl’s name.”

Eventually, Rifka reluctantly agreed, and we gave it a shot. But basically, that was it — the end of our pretending. We may have made a few more half-hearted attempts to get up a good game of Star Trek after that, but I’d pretty much put the nails in the coffin and handed out the hammers. It was the end of an era.

Looking back, it’s easy for me to see exactly what was happening. That little voice of heterosexual puberty had entered my head — the one that whispered, “If you want boys to like you, you need to be a girl. A real girl.” I guess Rifka hadn’t quite gotten there yet, but I suspect she did eventually (I would love to ask her, but alas, to my great sorrow, I can’t, as she is no longer with us). I also know exactly what Rifka heard the moment I said, “I want to be a girl.” It was, “I renounce and betray all our shared values. I settle for second best. I give up my hopes and dreams. I strike a bargain with the devil.”

Yes, it was really that stark and simple. Black and white. Girls didn’t fight the good fight, or any fight at all. They didn’t get the grand missions to save humanity, explore new frontiers, or pursue truth and justice. Ever. There was nothing in our world, real or fictional, that said they did. Girls weren’t heroes.

“I want to be a girl” meant “I don’t want to be a hero.” I understand completely now the look of betrayal on Rifka’s face. To be honest, I understood it then, too. I just didn’t know how to find another way.

I am 55 years old now. When I sit in a darkened movie theater or tucked up in bed watching Furiosa, Rey, Jyn, Wonder Woman, Melinda May, Peggy Carter, Natasha Romanoff, Buffy Summers, Kathryn Janeway, Aeryn Sun, Dana Scully, River Song, Zoe Washburne — such a long list now, I can’t even name them all! — I’m sometimes overwhelmed by the magnitude of it, knowing what those characters would have meant to me if they’d existed half a century ago. I am downright giddy at the thought of a new series in the Star Trek franchise promoted with a trailer that features two female characters as the unambiguous leads — a trailer that opens with the words, “Ten years before Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise….”. [Adding: and a new Doctor played by a woman!]

I believe that, because of all these fictional women — heroes — when my daughters say, “I want to be a girl,” it won’t mean, “I surrender.” It will mean only whatever they want it to mean. And if there are men out there who think that’s silly, I will try hard not to care, because this isn’t about them.

#Jodie Whittaker #13th doctor

48 notes · View notes

ao3feed-farscape · 6 years

Text

Situation Normal: All Frelled Up - A Farscape Love Story

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2G5wFkZ

by Grammarwoman

My first vid for my most beloved OTP and their wild, completely cracked-out love story.

Words: 24, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Farscape, Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (2004)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings