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electronickingdomfox · 18 days

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"Corona" review

Novel from 1984, by Greg Bear. I had my doubts about this novel during the early chapters, but it grew on me, and by the end I was pretty enthralled. More slow-paced than the usual TOS adventure, it presents truly interesting ideas, and their ethical ramifications. The most scientific concepts may be hard to grasp for the uninitiated like me, but the language is never dry. In fact, many passages dealing with physics come off curiously poetic and beautiful.

It doesn't delve much into characters, save the new introduction (a journalist girl named Mason), and at times McCoy, who is revealed to be a much more tormented man than normally assumed. Though in the case of Mason, she's a mere observer for most of the novel, and doesn't have much to do until the end, when her true role in the story is revealed.

What the narrative does fine, however, is creating an increasingly disquieting mood, once the Enterprise crew comes face to face with the dead-eyed Vulcan researchers of a distant station. In particular, their creepy children. The titular "Corona" is easily one of the most alien (one could say, Lovecraftian) entities that have appeared so far in these books. At first only obliquely referenced, its true nature and purpose are revealed in a gradual, pretty effective way. The reader doesn't really know what's going on, and it's not like anything terrible is happening (there are no murders or monsters around, nobody is injured). Yet I appreciated the feeling of lingering horror behind it.

The technology presented is a bit baffling, and it tends to play loose with canon. For example, we have the Enterprise sustaining warp eleven for seventeen days! Kirk is said to have a brain implant to receive directly certain transmissions (a gadget that was introduced, I think, in the TMP novelization). And the Federation has developed a new device to implant a person's memory in a new body, should the worst happen in the transporter. In all aspects, it's a cloning machine, but is much better received than I'd expect (after all, cloning machines are usually the domain of villains). All these things, as well as the misleading cover, made me think the story was set some time after TMP. However, the stardate firmly places the events during the five-year mission.

Another point of interest, is the introduction of novel ideas in regards to Vulcan culture. In particular, a coming-of-age ritual that awakens dormant conditioning in Vulcan children, to help them become adults. There are also full sentences in Vulcan. I don't know if all this was invented by the author, or taken from some reference material (or even fandom ideas!), but it's certainly the first time I encounter it.

Overall, this was a solid story. I'm surprised the author didn't write any more Star Trek books.

Spoilers under the cut:

A remote scientific station in a nebula has been cut off from communication for ten years (funny how nobody cared to check on the poor losers during all that time). But now, Starfleet has received a distress call sent from the station a decade ago, through conventional radio. The scientists at the station were studying Ybakra radiation, and were all Vulcan: T'Prylla (a distant relative of Spock, and presumably the woman depicted in the cover), her husband Grake, their two children Radak and T'Raus, and two other scientists. Besides them, the other members of the scientific expedition had been put in hybernation chambers, until the radiation in the nebula subsided. The Enterprise is tasked with a rescue mission. Though, after ten years, I don't know why the mission is so urgent: either everyone's fine, or everyone's dead by now.

However, Kirk has his own problems aboard the ship. Starfleet wants him to test a new monitor system, for command and medical decisions, capable of overriding the Captain's orders if it considers them contrary to Federation policies (so imagine how well this sits with Kirk). The monitor computer is imbued with the personalities and memories of several renowned admirals, who supposedly would find together the best course of action. Also, sickbay has been equipped with that new "cloning machine" I mentioned above. On top of that, journalist Rowena Mason will travel in the Enterprise, to cover the results of the new monitor system. She's a true country bumpkin that has never left her home planet, has all sorts of prejudices about non-human races like Vulcans, and feels pretty anxious about being in a starship. Kirk is annoyed by Mason sticking her nose in his business. But wants to keep her around as objective observer, to have some proof to rub in, in case the monitors fail (as he secretly wishes).

Once they arrive at the station, it becomes apparent that something doesn't add up. A redshirt glimpses a young boy, that the tricorder doesn't register at all, and the station seems at first deserted. When they later encounter T'Prylla and the others, they're in good health and polite, but also pretty stonewalling against any rescue attempt. And the children, rather than the adults, seem to be in charge of the compound. McCoy wants to revive the frozen scientists with the new machine in sickbay, but T'Prylla also objects to this. There's a further complication when the medical monitor registers the sleepers as legally dead (nervous system destroyed by radiation), and thus not elligible for resucitation.

Meanwhile, Chekov starts feeling influenced by a conscience inside his head, that forces him to do things against his will. He sends detailed plans of the Enterprise to the station, and later sabotages the shuttlecraft; the only means of transport for the landing party, since Ybakra radiation seems to be messing with transporters.

Tired of the newcomers' interference, Grake decides it's about time to show them their scientific achievements. The Vulcans have developed a transformer to control subatomic particles around the nearby area, which allows them to pop up anywhere in a certain radius. And through this transformer, they can also reproduce the conditions at the universe's birth. So they plan to start their own Big Bang. They show them a miniature demonstration of it. And there's an interesting insight into the characters, when each of them interprets different things in those images. Kirk realizes this is all madness, and blames it on the effects of Ybakra radiation on the scientists. He manages to get Chekov and T'Prylla inside an isolation container, which frees them from the radiation effects. And T'Prylla, again herself, tells them about the alien influence inside their minds. It manifests as a corona around one of the suns in the nebula, and its control is greater in the Vulcan children.

With the shuttlecraft dead, the landing party has to risk using the transporters. Almost everyone comes aboard the Enterprise, but the transporter can't retrieve Spock and Mason, who are sent back to the station. Spock feels Corona is about to control him, so in a last, desperate attempt, he transfers part of his conscience to Mason, though in the process, some of Corona's comes into her too. The journalist must overcome her fear of Vulcans, and use Spock's knowledge to awaken T'Raus, by means of imparting a coming-of-age ritual on her. For his part, Radak has materialized inside the Enterprise, and tries to sabotage the engines. But his mother imparts on him the same ritual. Once "adults" per Vulcan custom, Corona's influence on the children diminishes. But the Big Bang machine is ready, and starts the countdown to restart the universe.

Since Mason has part of Corona's memories inside her, she tries to reason with the entity. Through T'Raus, Corona explains its motives. Its race had existed in the first moments of the universe's birth, when everything was just energy in flux. As the universe cooled down and matter appeared, its whole race died. Only Corona survived in certain radiations, such as those in the present nebula. And all this time, it's been trying to go back to these initial moments of the Big Bang. The universe in its present state, is a dead corpse for Corona, and living beings are like germs.

In the Enterprise, Kirk hesitates about destroying the station while Spock and Mason are still there. But the fabric of reality is already starting to disintegrate at subatomic levels. The monitors consider that Kirk has failed for not destroying the station yet, and they override his command. The ship starts firing, but Corona controls all energy in the area, and deactivates both phasers and torpedoes. This gives Mason a bit more time to convince the entity of the worth of living beings. At last, Corona has a glimpse of her memories. And in the recollections of her planet's clouds, and the feeling of freedom she associated with them, the entity finds a parallel with its own world and memories. Corona decides to give living things a chance, and spares the universe. At least until the final moment when entropy reduces everything to nothing. Then it should be restarted. And it may seem corny to have the poor country girl saving the day against such an entity. But I think it's somehow fitting that precisely the most humble character, communicating with the greatest, is the one who achieves this. Also because, as a writer, her most distinct skill is that of communication.

In the aftermath, Mason has overcome her narrow views of the world. And McCoy finds out that the monitors will now let him revive the sleepers. As a parting gift, Corona tampered with the system to redefine what counts as "legally dead". There's also a funny moment when McCoy contacts one of the personalities inside the monitors: his (now dead) teacher from Academy days, who almost flunked him. And the teacher reprimands him for slacking off, when he learns that McCoy is still just a Lt. Commander. The monitors, however, proved to be faulty, and Starfleet will discontinue their use. But Kirk ponders what would have happened if they hadn't overriden him, and whether he could have fired at the station himself.

Spirk Meter: 2/10*. A couple of brief moments. At one point, Kirk feels he's almost in telepathic communication with Spock, and doing what he just would do. Later, Kirk is certain that Spock is still alive in the station, as he can feel his reassuring presence.

There's a bit of Spones too. This novel makes McCoy and Spock very similar at their most intimate level. We're told that McCoy also suffers because he can't control his emotions, too extreme in his case. And he has adopted brusqueness to disguise them, just as Spock has adopted logic. McCoy seems also pleased whenever Spock agrees with him. And when everything starts coming undone, described as McCoy's most terrifying experience ever, his last thoughts are reserved for Spock, whom he feels sorry about. He recognizes that, behind all their bickering, he hides a deep respect for the Vulcan.

Apart from this, Kirk really wants to fuck the ship. Take this passage into consideration:

"At the touch of his fingers -resting on buttons set into his chair arms-and at the sound of his voice, he could make the Enterprise come alive. Stroking... He put such errant nonsense from his thoughts (and a good thing neither Spock nor McCoy could read minds at a distance)"

Funny that he's specially concerned by Spock and McCoy's reaction to this...

*A 10 in this scale is the most obvious spirk moments in TOS. Think of the back massage, "You make me believe in miracles", or "Amok Time" for example.

#star trek tos #star trek novels #novel review #spirk #k/s #spones

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dolamrothianlady · 4 years

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Feels Like Home

Jim Kirk x Reader 1,621 words Unbeta’d cause I just wanted it out there, but @outside-the-government is the most amazing lady and and beta and I also wanted to surprise you with this one :)

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Soulmate AU (touch): Captain Kirk wants to get to know his crew; you just want to tend to your plants.

Jeepers if you’ve got a better summary pls share it because just that took me so long and I’m still unhappy with it.

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There had been rumours that Captain Kirk was making his way around the ship in his downtime, meeting all the new crewmen and taking the time to learn a bit about what their respective jobs were. Admittedly when you first heard them you had a bit of a laugh, but the rumours persisted, and it sounded like he really was. Not only that, but he was getting pretty close to your own small botany room.

You had no real idea what you were even supposed to say to Captain Kirk; you’d really only seen him from a distance during ceremonies and while boarding the ship. Of course you also noticed how unbelievably good looking he was, but protocol was first and foremost in your mind, and that sucked.

You were elbows deep in soil, trying to re-pot your latest acquisitions when you heard the door behind you quietly shoof open.

“Sorry, I’m a bit tied up here,” you called over your shoulder, hoping it didn’t come across as rude. “I’ll just be a moment.”

You were met only with silence, which was actually better than the alternative, and you finished up with ease, patting down and smoothing the soil around the base of the plant. It would probably need staking to help it grow but that was a problem for another day. You nodded your approval at your efforts as you brushed the soil from your hands, turned, and your greeting caught in your throat.

“Evening, Lieutenant.” Captain Kirk smiled companionably. “Spock said I’d find you back here.” He held his hand out for you to shake, and you felt your heart falter.

“Oh, I don’t…” You looked down at your hands and smiled awkwardly. “I’m all dirty, sorry. Can I shake your hand after? I’m just trying to re-pot a few things before the end of my shift.”

His smile didn’t waver; if anything it grew. “That works pretty well, actually. I’m guessing you know why I’m here?” “From what little I’ve heard you’re checking out all the departments and crewmen?”

“Spot on. I’d like to watch you work if that’s not too weird or anything.”

“Fancy becoming a botanist, Captain?”

"Oh I am more than happy to leave that in your capable hands. I just wanna learn about what you're doing, and watching you would be pretty interesting."

"Well alright then." You half turned towards the work bench behind you, gesturing towards the plants. "These ones we picked up on the last planet we visited, and the leaves and flowers seem to be fairly similar to tomatoes, and I'm hoping they'll fruit so that I can test my theory."

"And how are you proposing to test that?"

"I'll just eat one when nobody's looking."

Kirk nodded along, and you could pinpoint the exact second he realised what you'd said. He frowned, opened his mouth a couple times as if trying to figure out what to say in response, and then looked at you quizzically.

"Sorry, what?"

"I'm kidding! I'll run all my tests and see how it goes," you said seriously. "Then I'll eat it."

He narrowed his eyes a second before smiling back at you. "A sense of humour, I like it."

"It's about time someone other than the plants appreciated it. I make my best jokes when no one else is around."

"Joke away while I'm here if you want. I want to get to know you, not Lieutenant Botanist."

"Forgotten my name already or have you got a thing for nicknames?"

Kirk shrugged happily, giving away nothing. "Did you want a hand with the planting?"

"If you're willing to get dirty I won't say no."

His lips twitched and you could see the effort it took to let it go. “If you’re willing to teach I’m happy to learn.”

As it turns out, Captain Kirk was an excellent student. He followed your direction to the letter, and wasn’t at all the stern and serious captain that you had initially thought he would be. He seemed to be genuinely interested in what you did, as well as why and how you went about it, and it was nice to have someone so interested in what you spent your time doing.

You’d been casting him surreptitious glances every so often and it was while the two of you were washing your hands at the sinks that he sighed and asked you to spit it out.

“Spit what out?”

“Whatever it is that you’ve been stewing over while I’ve been here.”

You hesitated. As companionable as he had been, he was still your captain, and an afternoon of planting wasn’t going to change that.

“I’m serious. I can order you to tell me if that’ll make it easier for you.”

It would have, but you still mumbled an objection. “I’m just...I’m wondering why you’re here.”

“To get to know you,” he said simply, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“I suppose I must just be too accustomed to working under captains who leave most departments to do their thing.”

“You are, and it’s my opinion that a captain should know his ship and his people.”

“Most would prefer not to get too attached.”

Captain Kirk shrugged as he leaned back against the bench. “I don’t care for how others went about their duties. This is what feels right to me, so I’m gonna pursue it. I like learning new things, and I’ve met a lot of interesting people these last few months.”

You caught the twitch of his lips as he mentioned ‘interesting people’, and didn’t bother smothering your laugh. “Ensign Hale, right? He tell you about his penchant for singing?”

“Yeah is that a widely known thing?”

“You work down here long enough and you figure out when to avoid certain storage rooms. He belts out show tunes with enough enthusiasm that it takes a while to figure out he’s not as good a singer as he thinks he is.”

“Just for future reference that’s-”

“Storage room 84. Steer clear around dinnertime; he likes to get his practise in before he eats so he can work up an appetite.”

“I don’t think I wanna know how you got that information.”

“I won’t burden you with the knowledge. It came at a price.”

He laughed, and it struck you how easy it was to forget he was your captain. You chastised yourself, straightened up, and shook the pins and needles from your hands before grabbing for the cloth you needed to clean your counter down.

“Don’t do that,” he said softly, and you frowned down at the cloth in your hands.

“I can’t just leave a dirty bench-” you started, and cut yourself off when he took a step closer.

“That’s not what I mean. Don’t...hold yourself back. That’s not what I want. This- this easy friendship that we started, that we built, is what I want. I’m your captain, yes, but I want to get to know you. I can’t force you to be friends with me, but if you’re willing, I would like it.”

You rubbed your palms together absentmindedly as you considered his words. “I would like to. Be friends that is.”

He smiled, and then glanced down at your fidgeting hands. “Nervous tic?”

Looking down at them as well you shrugged, flexing your fingers and ignoring the odd, almost heat, that seemed to be fluttering through your joints. “Nah they just feel a bit weird. Perhaps I’m working too hard.”

“You and me both it seems. Bones keeps telling me I need to slow down; he’s even got Rand bringing me dinners with more vegetables than meat.”

“Well that’s- they’re not wrong.”

Kirk groaned exaggeratedly. “Not you, too. After I’ve spent all this time here with you you’re not even gonna side with me?”

“I’ll side with you when you’re right.”

“I could command you to.”

“You wouldn’t though. You’re too righteous.”

“I’ll do it out of spite.”

You stared each other down, and you couldn’t help but laugh at the way he narrowed his eyes at you. “Do it then.”

He held the stare a few moments longer before letting out another sigh and scrubbing a hand over his face. “Alright fine, you win. I’m not gonna command you. You knew I wouldn’t.”

“I did. It was fun to watch you try and glare at me.”

“Truce?” He held his hand out for you to shake. “No excuses now since we’ve washed our hands.”

You hesitated for only a scant second; long enough for you to rub your fingers together, hoping to rid yourself of the odd feelings still flittering through you.

It was only when he firmly clasped your hand in his that the strange feelings made sense. Made such perfectly wonderful sense that you wondered why it hadn’t occurred to you before.

“It seems we’re to be more than friends,” you whispered, your nervous laugh quickly dissolving into a sob, and his answering smile was brilliant.

His other hand came up to gently wipe your tears away before you took the extra steps forward that brought you over to him, sliding your hand out from his so that you could instead wrap them around him.

His arms immediately came around you, bringing you impossibly closer, and he nuzzled into your neck, breathing you in before letting out a shuddering breath. “You’re the one that I’ve been waiting for,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to your neck.

You felt at peace, almost deliriously so, and wished you could hold onto this moment forever. When you shifted to kiss his cheek he turned, his lips meeting yours, and you sighed happily into it. He felt like home.

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Tags List

@feelmyroarrrr @star-trekkin-across-theuniverse @imagineangryspacegrump @8bit-arc-reactor @kaitymccoy123 @kat-cakes123-blog-blog @chook007 @resistance-is-futile81 @k-urbanfangirl

This was the product of little sleep and also perhaps a few too many love songs, special mention going to Nick Cave’s (Are You) The One That I’ve Been Waiting For? because I got Kirk’s last line from that. I really do hope you enjoyed it - I’ve got a soft spot for Kirk and soulmates so this seemed a win-win

also, dear anon, I forgot to add in daisies somewhere, but hope that you enjoy it nonetheless :)

ps. ‘keep reading’ has been a little bitch during editing so please tell me if it has disappeared

#jim kirk x reader #james kirk x reader #jim kirk #james kirk #reader #star trek fanfiction #star trek au #soulmate au

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kinetic-elaboration · 3 years

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August 5: 3x02 The Enterprise Incident

After several weeks of being in like a TOS desert (Assignment: Earth; Spock’s Brain) finally we get to The Enterprise Incident, one of the best episodes, possibly of all time. Why was D.C. Fontana so good??? How??

McCoy narration! How unusual. I like how it contributes to the generally jarring opening, with Kirk acting so out of character and so on. All of the crew being fooled and the audience too.

I’d say this scene is the only one Kirk haters have ever seen--where he’s all arrogant and impatient and mean--but he’s not being slutty enough.

When you need intel, you go to Uhura.

This is an interesting ep because the Enterprise is being uncharacteristically sneaky. Usually, they’re obviously doing the right thing in the straightforwardly right way, but this really is an espionage mission, which includes, in addition to the garden variety lying, major stuff like uh treaty breaking.

Wow, a Romulan with a name. Unusual. Is he the first named Romulan?

They want the Enterprise. They want his lady!

Hmmm, you have a Vulcan on board, do you? Very interested in that. It’s pretty funny that the Commander calls up as soon as Tal mentions Spock,like she has a sixth sense that picked up on a potential hottie on the enemy ship.

Oh no, Kirk and Spock aren’t getting along. Trouble in paradise...

Spock looks very disapproving. And Kirk is acting downright despotic. Hot.

Imagine being the Romulan hostages lol. That’s awkward. “Go their ship and uh sit in their brig, nbd, we’ll bring you back.” (And then later one of them is unceremoniously stripped naked.) (And then later still they’re completely forgotten about!!!)

Scotty’s face when he sees the hostages is very funny. Like “oh I know what to do with YOU.”

I love the Female Romulan Commander already.

Wow Kirk is such a liar. Just say it loudly enough and it will SEEM true. Navigation error etc.

“It’s no myth that Vulcans can’t lie,” Spock lied.

“It’s not a lie to keep the truth to oneself.” Feel like I gotta outright steal that.

Oooh, the Commander has a temper.

Kirk is “a highly sensitive and emotional person.”

He’s living for the drama.

This must be all very confusing for the crew.

I love Captain Scotty. He’s so intense.

“You make a brave noise.” Burn.

Spock’s been an officer for 18 years. I’d do the math on that but I’m not sure when one becomes an officer specifically.

“Do you like Captain Kirk?” (I don’t even remember why I wrote this down, but uh, yeah.)

...Damn this whole scene is so good.

“I don’t make house calls.”

Except for Kirk.

It’s bizarre that the Romulans are in Klingon ships (that look like Federation ships on the inside) for pretty much no reason but I do like the design of them in general.

Funny how “Attend me” sounds an awful lot like “My wife, attend.”

Lol at the crocheted board shorts on the male Romulan officers. The Commander is MUCH more stylish.

“Are the guards invited on our date?”

“It would be illogical to assume that all conditions remain stable.” What a F L I R T.

Very bold of her to basically declare “Spock, you’re Captain now.”

Kirk looks like the drunk friend, swaying in the background, gearing up to something.

“Vulcan death grip” lol. Sounds like made up Vulcan nonsense to me! (And it is.)

Even if it weren’t, Spock is an adult Vulcan and a trained Starfleet officer, he would never just accidentally death grip someone.

And now it all comes out. Because Chapel was nosy. Love that she just casually knows all this stuff about Vulcan abilities.

They told Bones pretty late about this whole plan. I feel like Scotty and Bones should have been in the original loop.

“You’re lucky they didn’t start an autopsy.”

Love that part of Kirk’s transformation into a Romulan was putting on eye shadow.

Also love Scotty’s face journey when he sees Romulan!Kirk.

Look at these decadent Commander’s quarters. Spock must love them.

Recruiting inducements lol--is that what the kids are calling it these days?

“Don’t beam me into a bulkhead.” Don’t even joke.

Spock hasn’t sent the coordinates because he’s DISTRACTED while on his DATE.

I love their little square drinking glasses.

“I do... appreciate it.”

“If you don’t tell me your name, I’ll have to make one up for you.”

TOS Spock apparently more smooth than AOS Kirk.

When she stood up, that mini-skirt basically became a shirt--barely.

His lady leaves the room and he immediately call his man--what a slut.

The Commander’s “casual” outfit is easily one of the best TOS costumes. So pretty! 10/10 would wear today.

“Stimulate...our discussion.” Sure. Your discussion.

He’s been moved emotionally.

Dammit Tal! Stop cockblocking the commander.

Love how obvious it was that she and Spock were hooking up--she's dressed up, he appears dramatically from behind the flowing white curtains in her frankly huge quarters.

The cloaking device looks suspiciously like Nomad again.

“How could you do this to me?” Girl, you’ve known him for an hour. Calm down the drama.

Also love the earrings.

That was a weak slap. She should have sent him sprawling with her Romulan strength. I guess her heart wasn’t in it.

Romulans are Vulcans but with unfiltered Drama.

I like her jellyfish chair.

Now Spock shall fillibuster his own death by reading a very long prepared statement.

She hears the phrase "historic tradition" and sighs like "this is gonna be the longest 20 minutes of my LIFE.”

Silly of Kirk to assume they wouldn't fire on the commander and/or that she wouldn't ORDER them to fire.

“Alien contraption.” Scotty enjoying himself.

Hmmm, the Commander was bragging to Spock off screen about the cloaking device--what else might she have said that we didn’t hear?

Mr. Spock will escort you to your quarters--more like Mr. Spock will escort you to HIS quarters amirite?

She would like his weaponry.

“Military secrets are the most fleeting of all.” Well that line didn’t have to go that hard.

“It was the only choice. You would not respect any other.” Where’s all the talk about loyalty and oaths now?

“They do not look aesthetically agreeable on humans.” Textual evidence for my theory that Vulcans, though humanoid, have some sort of indescribable Alien Aura quite apart from the eyebrows and ears.

That was such a good ending. Last major dialogue scene was a serious one between Spock and the Commander, but then there’s a little humorous coda, too--a good shot of Spock looking pensive, but also the peanut gallery having a little laugh.

I love that episode so much. I love how... difficult Spock is to read. On the one hand, I do think he was really attracted to the Romulan Commander. I also think he was hiding a lot of the truth about why he didn’t join the Romulans--I mean yes, that was never a real option and it would certainly be wildly out of character for him to do it. But he also talks exclusively about loyalty to Starfleet, his oath, his uniform, as if but for the happenstance of these things, if he were making a decision for himself instead of following his duty, he might prefer to be with her and the Romulans. But what about the obvious other factor--Kirk himself? What about “A starship runs on loyalty to one man, and no one can replace it--or him?” I feel like his connection to Kirk is like the unspoken undertone to all of this. Especially because, as Captain and XO, they were the only ones to know about this plan from the beginning, and probably came up with the details of it themselves. But we also know that Spock takes the mean things that Kirk says to heart, even if they’re only said as part of a mission or larger ploy. And we also know that he truly desires belonging, and that being part one thing and part another often makes him feel as if he belonged nowhere. But the Romulan Commander didn’t seem to care about his human heritage. She asked him what he was, and only mentioned the human part one other time, not in a negative way. I do see the temptation for him.

It’s also interesting that Kirk initially refers to the Commander as “he,” implying he didn’t know specifically who was in charge of the ship. That means that while he and Spock clearly planned for Spock to undermine and then “kill” Kirk, and almost certainly to play on Romulan/Vulcan cultural connections, they probably did not plan on Spock seducing anyone. He did that on his own.

This would reboot so well. Like, aside from the S/U aspects, it’s a perfect candidate: a spy narrative that has a little bit of the gray morality they’re so attached to; Kirk and Spock tension; Kirk being Dramatique; cool aliens--and it would have been very interesting to see this story play out in the context of the destruction of Vulcan. (More generally, I think completely forgetting about the Romulans after the first reboot film was a huge mistake but whatever.)

Mmmm, I just... I want to watch it again lol. D.C. Fontana was truly the queen of alien world building. That sense of alien-ness that I get in the Spock and Commander scenes is like what I’m going for in some of my own stuff.

#the year 2021 #2021: fandom thoughts #2021: star trek #star trek tos

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calliecat93 · 3 years

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Star Trek Into Darkness. I had heard a LOT of negative reception to this one. A lot of it is due to the casting decisions with Khan that I’m not touching with a 39 1/2 foot pole. But in general it’s. It seen as a great film at least in the areas that I’ve circled. But that’s other people’s opinion, I need to form my own. So my opinion?

It’s... slightly better imo than 2009, but still not great.

Pros are still the same as before. Good cinematography. Good acting. Good effects. Very good action. I also failed to mention this the first time, but the films ARE more diverse with the Enterprise staff than in TOS. We not only have varied PoC, but different alien species and styles as well. It’s one of the advantages of being closer to modern times and just helps add so much.. well, life. I also continue to love Uhura, Scotty, Sulu, and Chekov in these things. They’re allowed a little more than they got int he show without overpowering the main... well duo since Bones sadly isn’t that lucky. But still, they’re great characters and I love them.

Kirk is... better. I feel like they did a better job making some of his actions understandable and sympathetic. He loses his mentor, almost loses Spock and being reprimanded for breaking Prime Directive for it, and his failure to have these feelings properly addressed is messing with him. It’s understandable and makes me feel bad for him and he is trying to do the right thing. I fully sided with him when justifying breaking Prime Directive to save Spock and while he’d have done a FAR better job explaining it to Starfleet, it’s what TOS Kirk likely would have done. Him also trying to have his crew spared also shows that he HAS grown and despite his recklessness, he has a heroic soul. However... I DID agree that Kirk deserves to lose his captaincy. He DID get it handed to him. He IS immature and unprepared, as his reactions here and how he’s still sleeping around (which WHY is that still a thing after the first?!) only emphasizes the point. So I am liking him more and I can say that I like him, but Beyond better do a better job because this still is not James Tibirius Kirk, just a standard action hero with the same name.

Spock was fine. Felt like we should have heard more about how he’s been doing since... you know, the destruction of his planet last film and all. But he still felt good here. He has a better grasp on himself compared to before. Still don’t like his forced relationship with Uhura, though they don’t drag out their conflict at least. They bring up his self-sacrificial nature and his seeming lack of care about how it would affect him or his loved ones and while maybe it got wrapped up too quickly, it was properly addressed. Essentially he felt like Spock. He felt more like TOS Spock while still being his own character compared to last time so that’s good! I was overall happy with him here. Also glad that he was smart enough to contact Prime Spock in case he had faced Khan before. Prime Spock sadly felt included for fanservice, but this would be Nimoy’s final time as the character, so I can’t complain about it. It was nice to see him one last time.

Bones once again gets screwed over. I will give them some points since he does at least get to show his intelligence and medical skills FAR more than last time where they only used it to have him drug Jim. Ut otherwise he exists and is still a fun character with Urban continuing to put his all into it. Him helping Spock with the torpedos got a grin out of me. But again, the filmmakers completely ignored his role and importance. In a film where Kirk is going through some major emotional trauma, this would have been a great place to let McCoy shine since it’s his role to be the one who gets Jim through his emotional issues. The episodes Obsession and The Ultimate Computer are excellent TOS examples of it. But they don’t. His reaction to Jim’s death and slaving away to save him was good though... even though he doesn’t even get a thank you for it (nor Uhura for that matter). Appreciate your doctors folks.

The Triumvirate is a tad better, but still not formed or given any focus at all. It’s still mainly Kirk and Spock who ARE more friendly and who I actually believe are friends. I actually care about their relationship now and it doesn’t feel forced or just that way cause canon said so. But they still have the two on opposite ends and not Kirk being the balance to Spock and McCoy. I will say though that while it only happens a little, I DID enjoy the three interacting together. It felt like ‘yes, they are together and it feels RIGHT’. I don’t get how the perfect package is sitting there in front of them but they ignore it. But it IS better. But these three were at their greatest potential together and the films just seem afraid to tap into it for some reason. I really don’t get it except they want to use Kirk and Spock to keep cashing in cause they think that’s what the audience wants. Yeah you get your money and general satisfaction... but you lose true story and character potential and fan respect for those who want to see those characters and their dynamic again.

Also... yeah the ending was trying to pull the reverse form Wrath of Khan with Kirk dying instead of Spock. While it DID have emotion behind it and was very well axted, filmed, and the score was perfect, it didn’t work. Not only because we know that there is no way they’re going to kill Jim off so the impact of his death is killed instantly, but because it is only there for the reverse. You wanna know why Spock’s sacrifice in WoK worked? Even if one could see it and predict that he’d come back and are fully aware of it in the years since? Because we’d had 80 episodes of seeing Spock. We had gotten to know him. We had seen his relationship with Kirk. We had seen them go through so much together. We had seen Spock’s struggles and related to him. When I watched WoK despite knowing that he’d be back. i was sad because of all that time I’d spent with him, and was relieved and happy when he came back in Search for Spock. The films don’t have that time. They had a film that didn’t portray their relationship properly and a second that did better, but still misunderstands it. Thus, the film succeeded in making it sad, but they failed in capturing the powerful emotions and meaning that it had before. It’s there to essentially cash in on WoK without any of the effort, and that pisses me off to no end.

Khan was okay. Again not going into the casting thing, but the character is nowhere near as food as TOS Khan. Carol was okay, but we needed the scene of her undressing because...? Plot was better than last time with good pacing and actual emotion/themes in it. The Nurse Chapel reference pissed me off especially for it’s implications about Kirk’s ‘womanizing’ ways that shouldn’t exist and considering that was who Roddenberry’s wife played, seems pretty damn disrespectful to the woman. Marcus was just a standard ‘evil authority’ character who IDT was needed at all. Also again, HOW did the timeline changing cause ANY of this?! The films see no reason to explain, it’s just an excuse to justify their own vision no matter if it works or not. It’s their way of doing what they want without puttin any work into justifying anything. I think that the film IS better than 2009... but it’s STILL not Star Trek. It’s a sci-fi summer blockbuster that uses the Star Trek name and characters to bring the viewers in. I’ve heard that Beyond had new writers and directors that actually DO understand TOS, so I am hopeful that that’s true and we get a good movie out of it. But Into Darkness, while I don’t agree it’s worse than last time (though the blatant cashing in without the work makes me fully understand why people feel that way), it’s still a film that doesn’t understand it’s source material.

#st watchthrough

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og-danny-dorito · 5 years

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Spock Headcanons (There's No Reason This Time I Swear)

S F W:

- I don't even know why I like him so much I just do, but my dumb gay ass just loves this man. seriously no kidding

- spock is a child of two worlds; an outcast but a familiar part of both systems in their actuality, residing as the cross section between Vulcan and human that was frowned upon for so long. his intelligence was left unconsidered as he passed all of his classes with excellence, being known as not the intelligent Vulcan boy but as the dysfunctional human hybrid of a being

- so obviously he's probably got some insecurities

- they're not bad, but he tends to be a bit self deprecating sometimes when referring to capability of things. for instance if you ask him if he can say uhhh.... if he can draw something for example. he’ll most likely state that he has no talent or not enough skill or his previous artwork was terrible so he doesn't suggest asking him for it.

- he knows what he logically isn't and is capable of, but the human doubt still crawls in the back of his mind like a parasite. he still feels emotions, just less outwardly, he's definitely capable of feeling and if you are observant enough you'll notice that he expresses himself through very very small gestures

- when he quirks a brow at something he either finds it surprising or he's being sarcastic, two things which don't happen often (except the latter)

- he's very private, obviously, but is still open to conversation about his interests. mostly he says that he just reads and works in his spare time, but that's not exactly the truth

- when he has nothing else to do, spock finds interest in cat videos and cat videos only. seriously, he'll watch them for hours if he's not got nothing to do, just staring at the screen in silence as he watches cats do stupid cute things like they're the most interesting beings in the world

- he secretly would like a cat as a pet, but yknow it's not really easy to keep pets on Starfleet considering he doesn't want to deprive the animal of connectivity with nature

- can and will debate you about whether cats or dogs are better. sulu once said he thought cats were problematic in spock’s general area of 10 feet in diameter and there was a very heated debate that went on for a good hour or so before sulu got frustrated and decided to just let him win

- spock also likes weird and exotic plants considering that their chemical composition is interesting. he finds it fascinating that different planets use the plants around them for food or medical treatment or a number of other things, so he finds that a way to start off with a culture study is to study the biotany of the planet first

- had NEVER seen a cactus before coming to earth, and now has like 10 of them just sitting in his quarters. he'll never tell anyone but they're named after the constellations that can be seen from Vulcan. he's just a nerd I swear

- Shakespeare nerd, although that's fact not a headcanon

- romantically I think he'd have fairly bad self worth issues. a lot of the time he views himself as unworthy of his partner, and he'll have trouble with physical contact the first few times mainly because he doesn't exactly know what to do with himself

- not much for pda at all. he says it's because it's indecent, but it's really because he gets all flustered when you kiss his cheek or snake your fingers around his in public where there are people all around. he gets super embarrassed and it's cUTE

- wouldn't have a favorite part of his partner physically; he's genuinely only attracted to the mind. male or female or not even using that gender binary, if you fit whatever standard he holds for intelligence and actually love him he doesn't care what you physically are

- vulcans bond through souls so appearance basically doesn't matter. this doesn't mean he doesn't find you attractive, it just means he wouldn't care if you weren't. he loves everything about you anyway, beautiful or not to the world around you both

- you could call him pansexual and I feel like he prefers someone with a more feminine or elegant way of handling themselves. someone that generally is elegant and cunning seriously catches his attention, and on top of that someone who can and will openly challenge him genuinely makes him intrigued and enrapt with you

- he does kindof have a taste for people who can be reckless (cough Jim cough) due to impulse or bravery, seeing as he admires the fact that the person is willing to take a risk

- cannot be with someone closed off and cold, it just won't work cause he himself is basically a block of ice. he does feel but like barely, and even then he doesn't really show it

- one good way to tell the emotion is to look into his eyes. they speak more than he ever would about his feelings to anyone out loud

- writes poetry to give as presents to those he cares about; most commonly to lovers or his mom (at least he used to write for his mom, until she died). he writes actually very well, although his poetry is more structured than eloquent in a sense of interpretation and imaginativeness. he writes about things that he likes about you, which ends up describing all of you with very specific details you probably didn't realize until you read the lines

- appreciates art in all forms, although he's fairly certain he'd be bad at it. if you write stories or draw he's always open to helping you interpret characters or figure out a good way to express your own feeling through the ar if you're having trouble. encourages you to try new things with pretty much everything, but mostly art

- VERY very good at giving advice, he's basically the Strict Mom of the whole crew (I say strict mom because there are multiple different people who take the mom title, such as Leonard “Bones” McCoy; Stressed Mom). for instance if you're injured or being faced with mentally stressing conditions he'll most likely tell you to take breaks more often or suggest speaking about them to either your peers or to someone you trust. usually people go to him when they don't know what to do and he calculates the probabilities of each and suggest they put aside most emotional matters to think through it more clearly

- his ideal date would probably be like going to a museum or something, but all he’ll do is stay in a section with all the cool rocks and taxidermy animals while asking your opinion and knowledge on them curiously. he may know about pretty much everything in there but he doesn't care, he likes to watch you marvel at all the cool things in there

- 100% does buy the stuffed animals and figurines that are supposed to be models of stuff. yes, he knows that he can find that rock from that one planet practically anywhere but he still WANTS it because it GLOWS in the DARK

- probably would not think you're like seriously dating until the second month or so, mainly to calculate stability between you two

- is open to a marriage if he's been courting someone for a particularly long time, being at least three years or so. he's very very plan-oriented and organized and so he expects you to be lacking impulsiveness when making life-changing decisions

- bonding with his partner means the most to him in all honesty, though. it hold s such a high regard in his heart and soul that he genuinely feel s very very seriously and passionately about it. it's something he doesn't take with a grain of salt, mostly because he wants to be with the one he loves forever. you mean the world to him, and he wants to keep you as close as possible for as long as possible

- down to have kids, maybe a girl that he'd name Amanda, after his mother, or a boy named Grayson or some Vulcan name that you wouldn't be able to pronounce correctly without extensive practicing

- just thinks kids are nice, although he'd probably be a little hesitant and VERY protective

- OH and before I finish this is completely unrelated but I feel like he likes summer more than any other season since it reminds him of his homeland so much. that and he also likes that everything grows up nicely during this time

- his favorite flower is either the notch-leaf phacelia or the harvestbell mainly because he likes the colors and structure of them; he just thinks they look neat

- he'll get them for you whenever, most likely organize the flowers specifically himself for you, combining yours and his favorite flowers to look beautiful even though the could be completely different

- denies that he's a hopeless romantic, merely stating that he just wants you to know that he loves you by giving you poems and flowers

- but we all know The Truth

- tbh he just cares a lot, although he's bad a thing showing emotions. Spock is calm and collected, but inside a whirlpool of thoughts flood his head daily. be patient with him and he'll open up over time, letting you see into the depths of the mind you'll come to cherish so deeply

#spock #spock headcanons #spock headcanon #spock imagine #spock imagines #star trek: the original series #star trek: the motion picture #star trek headcanons #Star Trek headcanon #Star Trek imagine #star trek imagines #star trek beyond #star trek #Star Trek tos #tos

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alltingfinns · 4 years

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For the July celebration of Sherlock’s Ten Year Jubilee I am continuing what I was already doing the rewatch:

“Look at you and John.” Superquickly “What about us?”

The theme of this episode is John and Sherlock being defensive about their relationship.

(Okay that is John’s theme in general, but Sherlock isn’t usually.)

Wait, did Henry and Sherlock just decide to ignore that John went off on his own? Both of them?

They do play with some classic horror staples like the scary sound with an innocent origin and jump scares.

Ohh, that sideways glance at John as he dismisses the hound, not realizing that Sherlock lied when he said he didn’t see it.

The way the scene is filmed whenever there’s a closeup of Sherlock with John in the picture almost looks like they are separated and then superimposed. Sherlock’s doubts are separating them.

Spock as a Vulcan was not free from feelings but rather constantly keeping them under check. He also claimed to be quoting an ancestor when saying that “whatever remains” quote, so a descendent of Doyle? SH is canonically fictional in the ST universe.

Getting sidetracked.

John had much better patient relation with Henry. Why did he think repeating Sherlock’s name was going to help?

John looks pissed.

“Look for the dog/woman” (I am not even attempting to write out the French) classic crime novel theme with a canine twist. Usually it’s about looking for motive though.

A bit silly that they don’t notice the man who screamed “NOTHING WRONG!” pointing at them just a minute later.

Still don’t get quite why John is so pissed before Sherlock tells him to leave him alone. Sherlock is upset and not handling it well but John takes it personally?

Maybe the emotion got to him too?

For the first time I saw “diana” in Henry’s flashback. His memory is clearing up.

All those other guys, just looky-loos? Except they came in their cars which isn’t the most discreet peeping tool out in the moor, so are they waiting their turn?

Sherlock knows John’s type but still doesn’t realize that he belongs to it.

Henry’s like “I knew I shouldn’t have gotten the ironic cable package”

“Only a nutter if you’re wrong”

Aww, even when things are rough John is more concerned with Sherlock than the case. His music even chimes in.

But here comes the party crasher.

Frankland is almost too obvious with that sabotage.

Omg! The Netflix subtitle referred to them as “sambo”! A serious couple who live together! It’s like whoever’s translating this thought there’s no point in being subtle about the “live-in PA” implications.

Yeah, no, John. Frankland may have fooled you with his schtick but he clearly knows who Henry’s therapist (and other weak points) is.

And then not at all subtly implicating Stapleton. I think someone went to the same deflecting-guilt coach as the president!

Look on the bright side John, for once the girl thought you had a thing for a guy that wasn’t Sherlock.

He really likes standing on that cliff. (When you are tall but still want to be tall.)

“Oh look you’ve got damp” is about my level of small talk.

Act eccentric enough and you can sneak out some sugar without raising questions.

Between Sherlock standing dramatically in high places and spotting John looking concerned in a cemetery...

UMQRA didn’t lead anywhere but sex.

A serious discussion about their friendship and Sherlock’s humanity in a cemetery...

Sherlock technically doesn’t insult John, he just calls him not a genius. Still doesn’t mean that John is average (or less) in intellect.

Sherlock, dear Sherlock. It really seemed more plausible to you that John was in on some Mycroft conspiracy to call Lestrade Greg, than the possibility that it is his given name?

I’m assuming this is where the mystrade ship set sail since it’s the first real connection of any kind between the characters.

Not your handler.

And again John shows his cleverness with appreciation from Sherlock.

The tenderness in “you don’t have to keep apologizing”.

Oh poor John. If you don’t take sugar in your coffee it can taste outright nasty when it’s added, especially if there’s no milk. But Sherlock just pouts the slightest bit and John weakens.

The Sherlock mirror was going to put the dog down but couldn’t.

I don’t get the denial about Sherlock being autistic when they have John mention aspergers. Of course the stigma is so strong you have plenty of people saying aspergers isn’t autism at all, which is sort of like saying hay fever isn’t pollen allergy.

It’s plot convenient that they go to Baskerville but is it just for the literally lab condition? He does analyze the sugar there.

John smiles a bit at “could be dangerous”. At this point that sentence should be engraved in their wedding rings.

I wonder what he promised Mycroft in return. “No fat jokes for a week.” “A year.” “Fine.”

You really feel for Henry.

The aerosol is dispersed in a room with the warning “Keep out! Unless you want a cold.” COVID-19 premonitions in my 2012 episode of Sherlock?

Also, how many others were unwitting test subjects?

Clearly light sensitivity is a symptom. Obviously didn’t come up in Dewer’s Hollow.

John trying to call Sherlock with the John music, ahh.

There’s almost no time between “can you see it” and Sherlock’s appearance so he must have been close by.

Sherlock has at least the morsel of decency to look guilty when John says he was wrong.

Why is everything about the bunny the absolute funniest thing?

A jellyfish!

Also Sherlock sneaking glances at John while doing lab work...

I had to look up Aequorea Victoria because I almost thought they picked it for the Victorian reference, but it is best known as a source for GFP (green fluorescent protein). They did their homework.

It may be a bit silly, but I really like the mind palace sequence.

It only works because Sherlock at some point read about CIA classified projects. I feel this is an untapped bit of his background. How much work has he done for his brother?

He figures out that Barrymore feel such a familiarity with Tatcher that he would refer to her by Maggie.

Aerosol Dispersal, how is that not what you focus on, Sherlock?

People make fun of the “top secret sweaters” but 1) people print sweaters for the silliest reasons and 2) it probably started out as a team name thing for the scientists involved before things went haywire and the project shut down. The project H.O.U.N.D. may have been a collective team name that ended up attached to the disaster. They made those sweaters thinking they were going to do a lot of other projects which they presumably didn’t.

Goddammit, Sherlock! You know a mind altering fear drug is around and you tell Lestrade to bring a gun? All John said was that Henry attacked her, although I guess he heard Louise saying gun.

There was a lot that I had no further comment on.

“Why not kill me?” “Because he needed to discredit you.”

Don’t know if I’d look so relieved by the idea of dying from an explosion. But it does look like he’d rather die than face it, and he may have been tired from the secret keeping and the conspiracy upon conspiracy.

Sherlock did see why they didn’t put the dog down, but this episode in general enforces the “playing Sherlock Holmes” for John’s benefit. It’s possible that his main takeaway from their fight was that John doesn’t like him having feelings.

Ahh, I see. I guessed John figured out that Sherlock “drugged” him back when he was angry about sugar. The realization now is that Sherlock locked him in the lab.

It’s so mean and so funny. I feel bad for laughing and yet I do.

Okay here he calls John average.

John wants him to admit being wrong but Sherlock fears that he will lose John’s interest then. “Won’t happen again.”

Poop jokes! Kind of feel that was specifically to take advantage of the “go see a man about a dog”.

Wonder what’s on Moriarty’s mind?

#rebecka’s sherlock rewatch #sherlock #johnlock #john watson is bi #suicide mention #little bit #10yearsofjohnlock

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weerd1 · 5 years

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Star Trek DS9 Rewatch Log, Stardate 1909.17: Missions Reviewed, “Inquisition,” “In the Pale Moonlight,” and “His Way.”

In “Inquisition,” Bashir is repairing Chief’s shoulder after a kayaking accident (again) and preparing to go to a medical conference. When he wakes up for his trip he is remarkably groggy and matters are made worse when he is called to ops because Starfleet Internal Affairs, led by a Director Sloan, has come to investigate DS9’s senior staff as someone has been leaking information to the Dominion.

After some time confined to quarters, Julian is just briefly questioned by Sloan, but all seems well. Returning to his quarters, he finds they have been searched, and he receives a cryptic message from O’Brien that Miles had been questioned for two hours, and ONLY about Julian. In a second interrogation, Sloan reveals that he believes Bashir was actually turned during his time in a Dominion prison, and has sublimated all memories of this, making him the perfect spy. Sloan admits that Bashir’s motivation is to save lives, hence using the genetically engineered think tank from “Statistical Probabilities” to try and convince the Federation to surrender. Bashir continues to deny, but Sloan, seemingly with no accountability to anyone but himself begins to raise the stakes. Things just become difficult when Julian is suddenly whisked away in a transporter, and finds himself with Weyoun on a Dominion vessel. The Vorta tells him that in fact he HAS been working for the Founders, but now he has been compromised. Bashir, still simply can’t remember any such programming. Soon after though the Defiant arrives, and Kira and Worf beam over to rescue Bashir. When he’s back on the Defiant though, he is treated as a prisoner. The crew has turned against him. When even O’Brien literally turns his back on Bashir, Julian reaches out to turn Miles back to him, and realizes that O’Brien doesn’t have the shoulder injury he just treated the day before. Everything disappears and a black-clad Sloan is standing with Julian in a holodeck. Sloan explains to Bashir that he runs a branch of Starfleet intelligence called “Section 31” and all of this has been to confirm Bashir’s loyalty for recruitment into the covert organization.

Sloan promises Bashir will see him again. Back on DS9, Bashir realizes he’s been gone since the morning he woke up (which was actually after just an hour’s sleep to keep him off balance). Sisko makes inquiries to Starfleet about Section 31, and the admiralty will neither confirm nor deny their existence. Sisko and Bashir decide they want to infiltrate this organization, so if 31 comes calling again, Sisko advises Bashir to join.

The introduction of something that will become a major plot point throughout the rest of Star Trek. Section 31 will of course continue to appear in DS9 for the rest of the show, we will find out they were already operating in the Earth Starfleet in the 2150s during “Enterprise.” Section 31 is responsible for thawing Khan and trying to provoke a war with the Klingon Empire in “Star Trek Into Darkness.” And finally, the existence and actions of S31 play heavily into the second season of “Discovery.” The Kafka-esque feel of this entire episode is perfect, even if it seems like this is something they would generally do to Miles for the annual “let’s screw with O’Brien” episode. Bashir is a perfect choice though- well placed, genetically engineered, has already made friends with men like Garak, and someone who replicates espionage on the holosuite. Can’t overstate how perfect William Sadler is as Sloan either. It’s a pointed discussion. A utopia like the Federation may not be able to exist without someone behind the scenes doing the wrong things for the right reasons. At least one of out main crew would never do that, right?

“In the Pale Moonlight,” is told entirely as a personal log entry from Benjamin Sisko. He is talking about how “it all went wrong” when he posted a casualty report; the Federation/Klingon alliance is not doing well against the Dominion. Talking with Dax, he realizes they need to get the Romulans to break their non-aggression pact with the Dominion and come into the Alpha Quadrant alliance. Sisko is convinced that the Founders plan to invade Romulus when the main war is done, but will need proof to get the Romulans to act. He approaches Garak to see if anyone can get such records off of Cardassia, but Garak reports back that the Dominion has killed every operative he still as contact with on Cardassia.

Garak suggests faking the proof; he can get a blank Cardassian data rod, and he knows a forger who could build a holo program to demonstrate the “briefing” regarding turning toward Romulus. Sisko is resistant…until another casualty report comes, and Sisko realizes perhaps the ends do justify the means. They proceed with the plan which keeps having moral red flags pop up, but finally convince a Romulan senator to stop at the station and see the “evidence.” The senator analyzes the data and discovers the forgery. He leaves, potentially to tell his government that the Federation tried to trick them into the war, likely leading them to join the Dominion. The senator’s shuttle explodes on the way home, and the Romulans discover the forged rod, believing it to be real and the reason the Dominion destroyed the shuttle. Sisko knows it was Garak who killed the senator (and the forger on the side) and had really planned this from the beginning. But when the Romulans attack the Dominion, Garak tells Sisko they may have saved the Alpha Quadrant, and all it cost was one senator, one criminal, and the self-respect of one Starfleet Officer.

Sisko closes out the dictation of his log:

“So… I lied. I cheated. I bribed men to cover up the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But most damning of all… I think I can live with it… And if I had to do it all over again… I would. Garak was right about one thing – a guilty conscience is a small price to pay for the safety of the Alpha Quadrant. So I will learn to live with it…Because I can live with it…I can live with it. Computer – erase that entire personal log."

I know I say this more than once during this show but: Holy shit. First there’s Avery Brooks’ performance throughout the episode. As he dictates the log he is just mesmerizing to watch. Andrew Robinson as Garak of course is fantastic. This is of course the origin of the internet meme “It’s a FAAAAKE!” from Senator Vrenek.

And the moral conundrum is really captivating. This is an episode a lot of DS9 detractors use to point out how antithetical they believe DS9 is to “Gene Roddenberry’s vision.” I would argue they forget that classic Trek had many of the same tropes. Watch “Errand of Mercy” and how quickly Kirk and Spock are willing to risk the lives of what they believe to be simple peasants in order to stymie the Klingons. Or “A Private Little War” where Kirk provides rifles to a stone age tribe so the can fight a proxy war against a side supported by the Klingons. Kirk referring to himself as a “soldier” or his line from “A Taste of Armageddon,” “We can admit that we’re killers, but we will not kill today.” Yes, Trek offers a positive view of humanity’s future, but it also uses its science fiction setting to examine the human condition without ever saying humans are perfect. There is no way to examine the human condition without examining what we as a species are willing to do in war. As someone who still periodically has to assess what I did defending my county (and more than once found myself not meeting my own ethical standards) I appreciate Trek asking us to do that, asking us to take a look at ourselves, what we have done, and what we can live with. I can live with it. I will learn to live with it.

Will you?

“His Way” introduces us to Bashir’s new holosuite program, a swinging 60’s Vegas club and lounge singer named Vic Fontaine. The AI in the program is remarkably astute and quickly sums up everyone Bashir introduces to “Vic.” Even Odo becomes intrigued when Vic looks at he and Kira, begins to ask about their status but shies away. Odo begins to go the holosuite to ask Vic for advice on Kira.

They run through a series of exercises to help Odo learn to be “smooth,” and eventually program another 60s character, a torch singer based on Kira. Vic actually on his own reaches out to Kira to tell her to be in the holosuite to have dinner with Odo, and tells Odo that they are working with the hologram again. The two are having a wonderful date when Odo begins to lament that this isn’t the real Kira. When he find out it is he storms out. The two of them meet on the promenade and begin to argue about whether or not they should try it again. “Well then after dinner, I suppose I should try to kiss you then!” Odo shouts. “Maybe!” Kira counters. “Why wait, maybe I should just kiss you now!” “Maybe you should!” and he does. After five years of mooning over her, Odo and Kira have finally come together.

Oh. MY. GOD. How frickin’ sweet. This episode is simply adorable, and the whole scene with them on the promenade is just lovely. Always good to see your OTP (that’s internet talk- “one true pairing”) made canon. It is just about damn time, and their joining is perfectly executed. Also, my sincere and heartfelt thanks to whomever on the DS9 writing staff decided we needed to see Kira in a slinky 60s dress perform “Fever” while laying coquettishly across the piano Odo was playing. I just can’t thank you enough for that.

From the larger Trek standpoint though, we are beginning to deal with questions on the sentience of AI. Yes, The Doctor over on “Voyager” would seem to have been “awake” long enough to gain a self-awareness, but is Vic simply a hologram, or are these “lightbulbs” a new lifeform as much as Data was on TNG? There are some big SF philosophical questions going on behind this delightfully romantic episode.

NEXT VOYAGE: Ancient Bajoran prophecy comes back into play as it is Prophet vs. Pah-Wraith in “The Reckoning.”

#star trek #star trek: Deep Space Nine #ds9 rewatch

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juniper-and-lamplight · 6 years

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Recent Reads - May 19, 2018

Multifandom--Dirk Gently, Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, a bit of Star Trek--and a mix of old and new, as usual. I've already recced some of these fics individually, but life's too short not to be effusive about the things you love, so I'm including them here too <3 Recs under the cut...

The Answer to a Question - @a-candle-for-sherlock - 22k, T, Holmes/Watson

"These are the stories behind the story we know: what really happened to Watson's marriage, and what made him follow Holmes to Reichenbach; what secrets were hidden in the mountains, and what a dead man wrote to the man he left behind." This fic made me Feel Feelings and also made me (almost) late for work.

To Join These Men in Holy Matrimony - A_Candle_For_Sherlock - 10k, T, Holmes/Watson

"Sherlock Holmes is a contradiction, an enigma, a force; at once the most generous spirit and the most self-contained man I have ever known. I've known more of him, I think, than anyone on earth. Yet for years I'd learned nothing about his boyhood, nor his fears, nor his future hopes, nor his father’s name. I never felt it as a lack until I knew he loved me." A moving story about family, forgiveness, self-acceptance, and historical queer marriages.

The Narrator - candle_beck - 8k, M, Holmes/Watson

"Watson is a degenerate gambler, a reluctant romantic, and the least reliable narrator in the history of the written word." A brief, gritty glimpse of my favorite Victorian disasters.

where the falling angels meet the rising apes - @cosmicoceanfic - 26k, T, AU (crossover, Dirk Gently & Discworld)

"A story of Death and the boy who could see him, through the years." In my sadness over finally finishing the Tiffany Aching books, I allowed myself to indulge in Discworld/Dirk Gently fics, and this one was an especially satisfying blend of the two universes. Highlights include Dirk & Bart's friendship, and Farah having a stare-off with Death.

you could bring my healing - cosmicocean - 38k, T, Dirk/Todd, AU (fantasy)

"Where the whole thing takes place in a fantasy world that is not unlike but not quite mostly for legal reasons Ankh-Morpork, Dirk is generally an existential dragon, Todd is a washed up electrical lute player, everyone is kind of awkward and useless except maybe for Amanda, and there is a boatload of fantasy references, plus one (1) Star Wars one." Sheer escapist delight.

Start at the Beginning - @dont-offend-the-bees - 61k, T, Dirk/Todd (AU, fake relationship)

”Y’know, make it up. Pretend to be in a relationship with someone. Can’t be that hard to fake, right?” it was still a stupid idea, but Todd was actually pretty invested in it now. He leaned forward, folding his arms. “C’mon, think about it- you got any other desperate homeless friends?” Takes a wacky ensemble piece and transforms it into a different sort of wacky ensemble piece. Sparing use of fake dating tropes makes this fic all the more enjoyable.

Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder: A Lovely Sentiment, But Rarely Applies To Anniversary Gifts - DontOffendTheBees - 7k, M, Dirk/Todd

"In which Dirk and Todd celebrate three years together- but forgot they were supposed to be doing that." Featuring: Todd Brotzman's "funhouse of self-loathing," Dirk & Todd's mutual uselessness, Amanda & Farah's mutual exasperation, winks to Douglas Adams canon, and a clever meta twist.

How We Go Together - ekb112 - 3k, E, Kirk/Spock

"'Have you ever been in love, Spock?' A series of moments in Jim and Spock's relationship." I like a semi-annual spot of K/S. It's a classic ship for a reason, and this fic scratched the itch just right.

Easy As Breathing - electricteatime | @kieren-fucking-walker - 1k, G, Dirk/Todd

"Their days start together. Warm and close, but all elbows and knees, tangled in covers and noses buried into hair. It takes time to swim up through the pull of sleep to break the surface, but when they come to they wake up to each other." A lovely soft distillation of a relationship.

Dress You Up in My Love - electricteatime - 3k, T, Dirk/Todd

“'So, what? Your solution is a pair of skin tight leopard print pants? How is that better than anything I’ve worn?'

Dirk just grins wildly at him, it’s the most like himself he’s looked in days. 'Put them on.'” A fluffy missing scene fic with a wonderful sense of interiority. (How is electricteatime is so good at characterization?!?)

A Flame Undamped - Frayach, read by wench_fics - 5k, 40min, M, Harry/Draco

"A happy ending. Because I can finally imagine one." Hurt/comfort doesn't even BEGIN to cover this sequel to The Price We Pay for Wings. No one does pain and poignancy--and sometimes, healing--like Frayach.

Saturn in Retrograde - gooseflesh - WIP series, M, Dirk/Todd

"As with most things in Dirk Gently's life, things are fine until they're not. A mystery and minor inconvenience for Todd Brotzman takes a terrifying turn when Dirk insists on investigating, and it'll take more than a hunch for them to hold onto to all that they've built." I'm not typically an angst gremlin, but I can't stop reading this WIP, even as the characters' situation worsens exponentially.

Death by Kittenshark - howldax - 1k, G, Dirk/Todd

"'You know,' Dirk says sternly, 'if you murder me, there will be nobody around to feed you.'" Cats (even cats who are also sharks) are gonna cat. Charming and fluffy.

i was born in a summer storm (i live there still) - janeseyre - 10k, G, Farah & Todd & Dirk

"Farah confronts the vestiges of her past as she, Dirk, and Todd travel east to visit her mother. It turns out Farah isn’t as over her father’s death as she thought she was." A deeper look into Farah’s families, both biological and chosen; full of lovely little smile moments and Farah getting the closure she deserves.

The Burning Heart - @may-shepard - 119k, M, John/Sherlock, AU (post s3 fix-it)

"Although he’s certain he’ll never get over Sherlock, John plans to move on, and build a new life with Mark, unaware that Sherlock is not quite as dead as he appears, and that Mark is hiding secrets of his own." As is my habit with zeitgeist-y fics, I didn't get around to this one until well after the rest of the fandom, but I'm glad I did. Here's to an assassin plot that's actually plausible and compelling!

The Easiest Way - nntkiwff - WIP, T, Dirk/Todd, Farah/Todd (“basically OT3”)

"'Is that everything?'

'Yes, essentially,' Dirk says, as Todd is saying, 'I don't have magic powers.'" A slow burn WIP, set immediately after the return from Wendimoor, featuring multiple perspectives (including Ken!), in-depth characterization, and some excellent lines, like this one about Farah: “She says all of this as though she is ashamed of being cursed, instead of proud that she blew up an evil warlock.”

Blood Magic and Rebirth (or, The One Where They Are All Feminist Academics) - @notcaycepollard - 1k, G, gen (Harry Potter)

"Moon cups, Luna thinks. Moon cups and blood magic. And she remembers the old itch under her skin, and a music box fluttering into a flock of birds, and wonders just how powerful it could be." This is 1000% headcanon for me now.

A Little Bit Scandalous - @oneprotagonistshort - 1k, E, Dirk/Todd

"Dirk Gently was self-aware enough to admit that he had… a thing. A quirk. One of those idiosyncratic little peculiarities that made up a tiny part of his personality. A kink. He just liked that extra edge; the need to be quiet or someone might hear, the blood pounding in his ears while he stayed hyper-alert for footsteps, the way Todd kissed him so urgently that he lost his breath." I especially appreciated the characterization behind the kink in this one.

Relative Distance - Quesarasara | @itsnotgonnareaditselfpeople, read by @lockedinjohnlock-podfics - 45k, 5hrs, E, John/Sherlock

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." One of the author's tags on this fic is "What if everyone just acted like a damn adult for a change?", which really clarifies how the fic differs from the later seasons of the show.

it's an institute you can't disparage - @shortcrust - 19k, T, Dirk/Todd

"Todd wakes up beside Dirk Gently four years to the day after having met him realises - abruptly and with categoric certainty - that he wants to do so every day for the rest of his life. What the fuck, he thinks." Hilarious, insightful, and absolutely nails a) the ridiculousness and pathos of Todd Brotzman mired in needless self-doubt, and b) my favorite Ship Dynamic: compatible disasters.

there's cell reception on this widow's walk - strix_alba - 2k, T, Farah/Tina

"In which Tina sort-of-kind-of asks Farah to stay with her in Bergsberg, and Farah kind-of-sort-of wants to say yes." Awkward flirting, Farina styles! Tina mentally describes Dirk & Todd & Farah as a “bunch of hot, uptight weirdos,” which is p e r f e c t.

Just Like That - @sussexbound (SamanthaLenore) - 8k, E, John/Sherlock

"For the first time in what feels like years he WANTS." The perfect combination of unf and feeeels.

Further fic recs | Fic Bookmarks

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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How Star Trek: Next Generation’s “The Chase” Changed Canon Forever

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What do space heists and archaeology have in common? The answer is one of the most important and bizarrely under-appreciated episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season 6 banger, “The Chase.” Written by future Battlestar Galactica showrunner Ronald D. Moore and Joe Menosky, and directed by Jonathan Frakes, “The Chase” is a perfect example of a late-era TNG episode insofar as the characters all feel super-cozy, and the story has a subtle intensity without resorting to a ton of explosions or violence. At the same time, “The Chase” also offered a Watsonian answer to a question with a seemingly very obvious Doyle-ist answer: Why do Star Trek aliens look the way they do? In “The Chase,” we learn all about the rules of Trek aliens, and along the way, the TNG lore is expanded in other big ways, too.

“The Chase” aired on April 26, 1993, and as such, exists in the interesting time when TNG and DS9 were airing new episodes simultaneously. DS9 had already expanded the canon of Trek by permanently parking itself in the histories of both the Bajorians and the Cardassians, but in doing so, DS9 had also brought another Star Trek plot element back into vogue in a big way: The ancient space mystery! These kinds of stories usually focus on a long-dead alien species that had a profound impact on history and influenced everyone’s basic perception of why things are the way they are. In a sense, the entire first season of Star Trek: Picard falls into this story phylum. In the 1993 DS9 pilot, “The Emissary” — which aired just six months before “The Chase” — we learn the ancient gods of Bajor, the Prophets, are really timeless aliens from another plane of existence. This kind of idea is nearly as old as science fiction itself, but prior to DS9, Star Trek did this all the time. The notion of ancient and influentially alien races pops up in TOS a lot, including references to “the Old Ones,” in “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” and “Catspaw.” There’s also Sargon’s race of energy beings from “Return to Tomorrow,” who low-key take credit for the existence of humanoids. This idea also pops up with “the Preservers” in the episode “The Paradise Syndrome.” Before “The Chase,” TNG had a few episodes like this, too, including “The Last Outpost,” and pivotally, the Season 2 episode “Contagion,” the first time we learn that Picard had previously considered a career in archeology before staying on the career path that led to starship captain.

The notion that Picard has an Indiana Jones-esque tendency embedded in his personality is one of the smarter layers in his character. I love Kirk, but, other than horseback riding and mountain climbing, his hobbies are comparatively kind of generic throughout TOS and the films. (Sulu has more unique hobbies!) One of the reasons the character of Picard is so easy for people to embrace is his multifaceted love of all sorts of stuff that doesn’t have much to do with exploring space. In “The Chase,” we get a character-development metaphor that illustrates this is the ancient artifact called the Kurlan naiskos, a statue with little statues inside of it, representing as Picard says, “the many voices inside the one.” The storytelling lesson? Cool characters work better when there’s contradictory stuff inside of them.

It’s also helpful when those “many voices” can create cool stories. In High Fidelity, John Cusak’s Rob Gordon explains character development like this: “What really matters is what you like, not what you are like… Books, records, films – these things matter!” With Picard, the vastly different interests that feel divergent from his Starfleet persona — hard-boiled noir novels, archaeology — help round him out in a way that you can imagine him as a real person, existing beyond the confines of the TV show. But, prior to “The Chase,” the archaeology thing hadn’t really been explored in any real way. It’s almost like in the final two seasons of TNG, the writers remembered Picard has a cool intellectual superpower called “archaeology.”

After “The Chase,” we get a Season 7 two-parter called “Gambit,” in which Picard goes undercover using his former archeology professor’s name, Galen, to track down—you guessed it—ancient pieces of an alien artifact that could have untold power! The interstellar adventures of Galen Jones never really took off as a TNG spin-off, but again, if you squint, aspects of Star Trek: Picard don’t feel that far off from “The Chase” or “Gambit.” (As post-” Unification” stories, these episodes also double-down on the idea that Picard is personally invested in the history of Romulus and also making peace with the Romulans in general. Thanks, Spock!)

But. The reason why “The Chase” is so important to Star Trek canon isn’t just connected to the ongoing character development of Jean-Luc Picard. Picard’s personal stakes in unlocking an ancient archeology mystery help make the episode move, but the larger revelation of what is going on is slightly cooler. There’s a scene where Picard is describing the four billion-year-old genetic mystery and the camera slowly zooms in on him, really letting you know that this shit is about to get real. It goes like this:

“It’s four billion years old. A computer program from a highly advanced civilization, and it’s hidden in the very fabric of life itself. [SLOW JONATHAN FRAKES ZOOM LENS BEGINS, OMINIOUSLY.] Whatever information this program contains could be the most profound discovery of our time. Or the most dangerous.”

The culmination of “The Chase” is all about various governments trying to unlock the secrets of the genetic computer program to figure out its secrets. This is the Raiders of the Lost Ark stuff. The Klingons think it’s a giant weapon. The Cardassians think it’s an unlimited power supply. Belloq thinks it’s a radio for talking to God, even though nobody invited him. Even the Romulans are in on it, wanting to obtain this four billion-year-old puzzle for themselves. In the end, the big revelation is that all the “humanoid” bipedal species we’ve seen throughout Star Trek were created intentionally by an even more ancient set of humanoids. This tap-dance with real science doesn’t contradict evolution per se, but in the ancient message the ancient humanoid woman says: “Our scientists seeded the primordial oceans of many worlds, where life was in its infancy. The seed codes directed your evolution toward a physical form resembling ours.”

Star Trek Villains Who Actually Had a Point

By Ryan Britt

Why Star Trek Needs More Characters Like Captain Lorca

By Lacy Baugher

So, the TLDR is that in the Trek universe, we evolved naturally, but only because we were given a push. This is as close the Trek canon will come to the notion of panspermia, the real-life theory that organic life could have been intentionally seeded on Earth. But, Trek alum Ronald D. Moore would revisit this idea in a big way in his famous reboot of Battlestar Galactica. This has all happened before and it will all happen again… sometimes, in a different franchise.

So what’s the big deal with the revelation that all the humanoid alien species share a common ancestor? Well, the knee-jerk answer is that this episode provided bandaid on the slightly unrealistic notion that most aliens in Star Trek just like humans with different foreheads or wrinkled noses or funny ears. And that’s true, “The Chase” does provide a Watsonian answer for why the Star Trek universe looks the way it does, at least when it comes to extraterrestrials. Haters might say this was a bad idea because it called attention to something that doesn’t need explaining, sort of like the Trek version of the midichlorians. But, that negative take misses a slightly larger truth, which debunks an important myth about the foundation of Trek.

The reason why The Original Series mostly tackled aliens who looked like humans in bad make-up is only partially an economic one. Yes, it’s widely impractical to do Hortas and Gorns every week, but in creating the writers’ bible for TOS, Roddenberry also made it clear that humanoid aliens were part of a dramatic choice, not just an economic one. In early pitch documents, Roddenberry describes “the parallel worlds” concept like this: “It means simply that our stories will plant and animals life, plus people, quite similar to that on Earth.”

Roddenberry wasn’t just doing this to save money. The “parallel worlds” concept was clearly something he wanted so the stories would connect with a casual viewer and not just hardcore science fiction fans. Prior to Star Trek, the general perception of filmed science fiction was that it was genre dominated by “Bug-Eyed Monsters.” By introducing the “Parallel worlds” concept, Roddenberry was creating a buffer against the series becoming too much like monster-of-the-week science fiction. Yes, this decision conveniently saved a little bit of money, but it’s very clear that wasn’t the only factor. Even at the beginning, Star Trek wanted to do humanoid aliens not because it was easy, but because telling those stories would be more interesting.

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What Moore and Menosky did with “The Chase,” was to come right out and make that dramatic choice into a thoughtful and exciting episode. The physics and biological science of the Star Trek universe might not exactly line up with our own, but the way in which the various shows prioritize people over technology is a relative constant. In “The Chase,” TNG reminded everyone that Star Trek was always about telling stories about people, even if those people were literally aliens. In this way, “The Chase” didn’t so much as change canon, but rather, clarified it. The reason why the Romulans, Humans, Cardassians look the way they do has an answer. But the real answer to that question requires even more introspection than the episode has time for. Which, in a nutshell, is what a lot of good Trek is supposed to do. “The Chase” is both an overt metaphor and a hardcore in-universe story at the same time. Many voices, inside the one.

Editor’s note: Norman Lloyd, the actor who played Professor Galen in “The Chase” (and inhabited many, many other roles in his long career) passed away earlier this week. You can learn more about his life and career here.

The post How Star Trek: Next Generation’s “The Chase” Changed Canon Forever appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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anotheruserwithnoname · 7 years

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Thoughts on Star Trek Discovery after 5 episodes

(Spoilers for Discovery S01E05 and Orville S01E06)

Episode 5 of Star Trek Discovery aired last night in Canada (up here the network Space airs it, so we don’t need to rely on streaming to view it). “Choose Your Pain” was its title and it’s ironic that it aired a few days after The Orville’s surprisingly hard-hitting “Krill” because it actually allows for something very close to an apples-to-apples comparison.

I’m going to go into spoilers, plus this will be a very long post (apologies; this is Exhibit A to show why I’m not on Twitter), so I’ll put a break here. The tl;dr is that, although I’m still willing to give it a chance, I’m still not “feeling” Discovery, which after 5 episodes is a concern; whereas, I find The Orville not only captures the classic spirit of Trek better, it managed in one single episode to make its Klingon analogue more interesting than the real Klingons in their current incarnation.

Before I begin, I wanted to set the scene to explain where I’m coming from. There is a lot of Discovery-bashing going on, and I don’t support that and this essay isn’t intended to be a bash. Although I am very critical of the show and not 100% certain that I’m going to stick with it much longer (though I’ll probably stick with it till its midseason break, at least), it’s not my intent to become a basher because then I’d be a hypocrite. I was a defender of Star Trek Enterprise throughout its entire run, and was upset to see it bashed mercilessly, to the point where I divorced myself from Star Trek and Star Trek fandom after it ended in 2005. Fortunately, Doctor Who had just come back on TV so I switched my allegiances to Who (which I’d been a fan of since the early 80s, but it became more intense). Fast-forward to 2017, and due to a mix of disappointment over what the series has delivered since Christmas 2015, combined with decisions regarding the show moving forward, I'm now divorcing from Doctor Who (as anyone who follows my blog knows). So with Star Trek back on TV the opportunity to move my allegiances back to Trek exists ... but Discovery isn’t doing it for me. Not yet. Instead, The Orville, Seth MacFarlane’s underrated (in more ways than one) homage is the show that is earning my affection. I know I’m not alone in that.

But here’s the thing, and why I don’t really see the need to “bash” Discovery: because The Orville is so much like “proper” Star Trek - the optimism, the crew-as-family dynamic, the introspective and “ripped from the headlines”-inspired stories, and general sense of fun - this actually allows Discovery to seek its own path (even if that means delivering “improper” Trek), allowing both shows to co-exist (which they could regardless - it’s not as if they’re in direct competition).

But Discovery has problems. Before I get into that, though, some positive thoughts.

This week’s episode introduced Rainn Wilson as Harry Mudd, a character immortalized by Roger C. Carmel in the original series. And I thought he did a good job. I don’t have the same issues with recasting characters as some others do (I liked the guy they had playing Sarek earlier, too). My only complaint is they made him darker than Carmel’s version, which felt a bit inconsistent. But then again this is 10 years before Kirk encountered him and people change (it could be argued that Carmel’s version is more insane than Wilson’s, and maybe we’re seeing why in Discovery). I loved the reference to Stella, his wife, which was a great call-forward to the TOS episode “I, Mudd”. Trivia: Carmel was supposed to reprise Mudd for an episode of TNG, but the actor died before it was filmed; I believe some aspects of what was planned for Mudd - including a scene where he was supposed to actually pay tribute to his frenemy, Captain Kirk - were later reused when they brought Scotty forward into the TNG era in “Relics”. So having Mudd appear in a modern-day Trek is an idea that’s been kicking around for 30 years.

Obviously, Mudd will be back and I’m looking forward to it. I’d rather he be the recurring baddie than the new Klingons. More on that in a moment.

I also liked the on-screen reference to Jonathan Archer, Christopher Pike and Robert April early in the episode. Robert April was established in the animated series as the very first captain of the Enterprise, predating Pike. Since TAS is not considered canon (or at least it wasn’t considered canon during the pre-2005 era; it might have changed since), this is the first “canonical” acknowledgement of April in live action. I appreciated that.

I also liked Capt. Lorca in this episode. After two weeks of being just “there”, Lorca came into his own with this episode. And his backstory is interesting.

But I have criticisms of this episode, and of the show itself as we hit week 5. Starting with a minor point, after four weeks of keeping a lid on language, the swearing in this episode was awkward and clearly put in there “because we can” - there was nothing charming or cool about the first use of the F-word (twice in the same scene, yet) in the Trek franchise. I’m not one to go “oooh, swearing, bad” (The Thick of It is one of my favourite TV shows, for god’s sake), but there’s a time and place, and it just didn’t work - it came across as vulgar and awkward. If they’re going to have people swear in Discovery, fine, but don’t make it feel like “hey, we can swear now!” Torchwood ran into this same issue - and the swearing during Series 1 felt unnatural as a result. If they want Lorca and his crew to turn the air blue, they should get Armando Iannucci in to show them how it’s done.

What will be the deal-breaker for me is if this show continues to be populated with characters I don’t give a damn about. I like Michael (who was for the first time not the focus of an episode) and Lorca has potential - all the characters have potential - but 5 weeks in they should be further along than they are in terms of establishing them, even taking into account the two-episode prologue and the fact a core character only debuted this week.

Five weeks in, and without cheating online, I still don't remember the names of most of the main characters because they’ve made so little impression on me. Michael is fine, Lorca is fine, and I know the new guy is named Tyler (mainly because I’m curious as to whether he’s related to Jose Tyler of Christopher Pike’s Enterprise in “The Cage”), but the rest - by now they should have made enough of an impression for me to at least remember their names, not just call them “Michael’s roommate”, “the jerk who runs the spore drive and who might or might not be the chief engineer but we can’t tell”, “Odo 2.0”, “the doctor who lives with the spore drive guy and who I thought was the ship’s doctor until he mentioned that he answers to a chief medical officer who we’ve yet to see”, “the incompetent who got herself killed by the spore monster last week in a scene Seth MacFarlane would have rejected as too silly”, “the roboty woman on the bridge who kinda looks like Nebula from Guardians of the Galaxy,” and “the woman whose head is half shaved”. In fact I think this was the first episode in which those last two individuals were actually identified by names on screen.

By comparison, I had not just the Orville character names but their functions nailed down by Episode 2 of that show. And I had much more invested in them as characters, even early on (and by “Krill” I find I want to know more about what’s happening with Borus and Klyden and their child, Alara’s love life, and whether Ed and Kelly are going to get back together or not). With Discovery it’s almost as if they’re all being set up to be redshirts. (As it is, I really don’t expect to Michael’s roommate - I looked it up; her name is Tilly - to survive the season. Too much telegraphing about her being naive and having dreams for the future.) Maybe they are if the show is taking the Game of Thrones “anyone can die” approach and if there is a reason why we’ve never heard of Spock having an adopted human sister before now.

When I started writing this very long (sorry!) blog entry, I mentioned an apples-to-apples comparison between Discovery and Orville. This week, “Choose Your Pain” and “Krill” both involved captains boarding enemy vessels and learning more about the bad guys. And it really drove home the fact that the new Klingons are rather boring. Never mind the different make-up and all that - I’m sure they’ll come up with a workaround to explain that the same way Enterprise did back in 2005 with the Augments story arc (and I didn’t miss the fact they name-dropped eugenics this week) - they just don’t have the spark of the Klingons of old, or even the Abramsverse versions. Not saying there aren‘t promising signs - I kind of like the fact the show is shipping cult leader Voq with the female officer L’Rell. Every episode so far has included focus on the Klingons. But in only one episode, The Orville managed to develop a very well-rounded picture of the Krill, making them relevant, interesting, sympathetic, and “villains” we want to see more of. The Klingons on Discovery? I want more Harry Mudd, fewer Klingons. Of course, a big difference between Orville and Discovery is the use of humour. Discovery pretty much has none, while Orville is a dramedy. Which was driven home during the climax of the Discovery episode when we were actually treated to an unexpected piece of Orville-like comedy when the female Klingon captain, who has the hots for Tyler. Encountering him trying to escape, she let off with something like “After all we mean to each other, you’re leaving?” (not an exact quote). It was a funny moment, but poorly timed. Seriously, we’re supposed to see her as a threat (and an ongoing one seeing as Lorca doesn’t finish her off as opposed to every other Klingon he encounters), and she spouts dialogue more appropriate for a spoof? Compare to The Orville, which usually knows when to be funny and when not to be. Having Ed Mercer and Gordon Molloy facing the possibility of having to kill a bunch of Krill children in order to save a human colony, and Mercer saying “If we kill those kids ... we have no souls” was a far more hard-hitting and dramatic moment than anything “Choose Your Pain” offered. And once things got serious, they got serious. The ending of “Krill” was chilling as Mercer realized that instead of saving a bunch of kids, he created a bunch of future enemies instead, instantly giving the series a long-term aspect as the potential is there for it to revisit this fact years from now, if it survives that long. The Avis rent-a-car jokes were funny, and the opening sequence where Bortus does his best Matter-Eater Lad impersonation (Google it) was cute, and I loved the gag where Ed starts talking before Alara can open a channel, but it was the serious moments that made “Krill” stand out. The next episode looks serious as well as it casts a long-overdue spotlight on Lt. LaMarr.So to sum up: I’m not ready yet to say “Discovery sucks” as some have. I don’t think it does, despite all I’ve written here. It has issues, yes, but every Trek series has issues and teething pains. I am concerned that the characters aren’t gelling for me and that’s what’s going to make me decide to keep watching in the long term. On the other hand, The Orville is proving to be a great show that also has had its rough patches and its teething pains, but it managed to hit the ground running a lot faster in terms of establishing characters and stories and tone. I am in the market for a sci-fi show to replace Doctor Who, and so far The Orville is winning the battle against Star Trek Discovery. But I’m not willing to write Discovery off ... yet.

#star trek discovery #the orville #calling it as i see it

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startrekreviews · 7 years

Text

TOS Novel #42: Memory Prime

TOS #42: Memory Prime by Gar and Judith Reeves-Stevens Book Jacket’s Summary: “Memory Prime is the central core of an immense computer library, an entire network of research planetoids. Here, the Pathfinders, the only artificial intelligences legally permitted to serve the Federation, control and sift the overwhelming dataflow from thousands and thousands of research vessels across the galaxy. The greatest scientists in the Federation have gathered at Memory Prime for the prestigious Nobel and Z-Magnees prize ceremonies, unaware that a deadly assassin is stalking one of them. As Captain Kirk struggles to save his ship from sabotage and his first officer from accusations of murder, he discovers the hidden assassin is far from the deadliest secret lurking on Memory Prime.” Yeaka’s Notes: First of all, this story is already confusing, so you may as well watch the TOS episode “The Lights of Zetar” before reading this to at least get Memory Alpha and Mira Romaine fresh in your head. This serves as a semi-sequel, in the sense that it’s set on Memory Prime, a rebirth of the TOS Memory Alpha concept—a universal Federation library. Only this time, it’s armed and ready for military ‘drills’. Mira Romaine, a scientist who had a fling with Scotty, works there, along with a few new original characters of the human and Andorian variety. Memory Prime also houses an entirely new type of species—synthetic consciousnesses that need a specialized team to communicate with the outside world. Meanwhile, a group of renowned scientists from across the Federation are headed there onboard the Enterprise for a peace prize ceremony, and some unknown assassin is somewhere doing something. In the beginning, this can be difficult to track—there are several different factions, and many are only explained a few hundred pages after their introduction. Fortunately, the core TOS cast is engaging enough to make the story compelling even when it’s hard to understand what’s going on. Almost immediately, Spock’s arrested, and a commodore with a thing against Kirk takes over. There are moments where others actually doubt him—even Bones—but overall, the crew is staunchly loyal, and they all perform miracles in pursuit of the truth. Mostly, Kirk and Bones try to solve the mystery of just who’s trying to kill the delegates, and Scotty, Uhura, and Mira soon join in, with Sulu and Chekov holding down the fort and ready should Kirk need them. There are a ton of twists and turns, but the character relationships at the core of it all make it wholly rewarding. Scotty and Mira are as cute as ever, Kirk, Bones, and Spock have their usual great banter, and Uhura’s just plain badass. Add to that a plethora of references to other books, and you have an intensely Star Trek read. There are parts that make no sense, both from plots and characters. There’s more technobabble in this than three episodes of Voyager combined. It takes its sweet time to explain itself. But in the end, it’s a great read. Kirk, Bones, Spock, Scotty, Uhura, and Mira are particularly enthralling. The climax is complex and surprising. The wrap-up is thoroughly satisfying. For its sheer love of Trek, it’s a keeper. Noteworthy moments: (below cut; some spoilers)

Ch2/p12 Spock plays mental chess with Kirk and Bones who tease him in the lounge, Spock has a “chilling moment” where he fears Bones has been nominated for a prestigious award, then remembers “The prize committee had some standards, after all. There were Vulcans on it.” When Kirk honours him, Bones is disappointed they couldn’t get a smile out of him but admits “two blinks are a good start”, Spock wonders if Kirk set their surprise attack up so obviously on purpose so that Spock would be able to prepare and contain himself, which he appreciates

p16 Scotty’s woken up by Sulu operating and crashing the transporters; Kirk has to mediate between Scotty and Spock

p37 When Chekov and Uhura are left in charge of the bridge, Uhura asks why the station commander is bitter, Chekov says because “she is not a starship commander [...] such as I am” Uhura reminds him only for 30 minutes, but he says it’s a start

Ch6/p55 After Spock’s interrogated by Starfleet, Bones looks over him just in case to make sure he’s okay

Ch13/p121 Bones references becoming an admiral when he’s 140 (TNG: “Encounter at Farpoint”); Chekov casually blabs about classified dealings as soon as he’s off the ship, the officer he blabs to offers to tame him to a bar in the hopes of learning more

Ch16/p148 The crew’s ready to mutiny when the commodore in charge mistreats Uhura, but she has them stand down and they listen to her rather than the commodore

Ch17/p159 Klingons have an off version of the “Nob’l” peace prize’s origins and love to tell it (They remember it being suspended for “k’Han” and “g’Reen”) and other Klingon versions of history

Ch18/p164 Kirk and Bones jailbreak Uhura

Ch19/p182 To contact Spock covertly, Kirk sends a message to “Amanda” from “Winoa”

Ch21/p215 Kirk calls Spock’s name as he wakes up, Bones says he’s injured but that’s the normal Kirks state

Ch22/p223 Vulcan’s history with Surak and his cousin T’Pel, who started a group of Vulcan assassins for hire that left with the Romulans

Ch26/p266 Sulu and Chekov, left in charge of the Enterprise, remain loyal to Kirk

Ch30/p303 Kirk tries to sacrifice himself to save Bones and Spock

p308 Bones has fun hearing of Spock’s younger exploits from Spock’s old teacher, who tells Spock Bones is quite logical

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kinetic-elaboration · 3 years

Text

November 18: 1x24 This Side of Paradise

Today’s ep: the first, but not the last, instance of Spock’s inner hippie coming out.

Also another ep where Spock is wrong, again. “Absolutely zero chance of survival,” he says, minutes before they find survivors.

I see Spock just volunteered himself for the landing party.

Kirk is such a romantic. “Ah, there’s nothing sadder than a dream that’s died...”

Omicron Ceti III... that reminds me of something... could it be Futuruma?

(It is Futurama.)

“He’s alive, Jim.”

Sulu asking the important questions: is it possible they’re not alive? I mean given some of the ship’s prior adventures, it’s a valid possibility.

Ah-ha, Spock’s old... “friend.” Another hussy he’s cheating on T’Pring with. I guess he’s into blondes.

Kirk is so suspicious. He knows a romantic interlude when he sees it.

This settlement would be very popular today. Simplicity. Gardening. Happiness.

“I wouldn’t know what was right or wrong with a farm if it were two feet away from me,” Sulu says, while sitting right next to the danger plant. I love Sulu. He has such an easy, good-natured humor about him that I really don’t think is appreciated enough.

Spock’s still a Vulcanian, I see.

So he knew Leila 6 years ago... Only six? What was he doing on Earth then?

“It is said he has no feelings to give.” People love to gossip about Spock.

Kirk giving Bones the disk like “Ta-da, friend, I have anticipated your needs!”

I want to know how Bones broke two ribs. Barroom brawl?

“I missed you.” / “Logically, you should be dead.” Wow, what a romantic.

I think it’s interesting that he related his lack of emotions to being a scientist, not a Vulcan. He did that in the Naked Time, too, drawing on his identity as an officer when the space disease made him feel weepy.

Even though Leila is also a scientist.

“We’re vegetarians.” Lol Spock will fit right in.

I find it interesting that Starfleet has the authority to evict these people from the planet.

“It gives life, peace, love”--that doesn’t sound suspicious at all. Is it a drug?

Spock getting hit in the face with the spores is HILARIOUS.

She’s so surprised that suddenly feeling emotions hurts him--duh, he’s not human, so it’s different for him!

So is this Spock’s “inner face”? Ready to declare his love all at once?

“Would you like to use a butterfly net on him, Jim?”

I can’t believe Jim was halfway through his sentence when he was suddenly like “Where’s Spock?”

Spock’s seen a dragon? I bet he liked that.

I really like this romantic theme music.

This is absolutely the attitude adolescent Spock took with Sarek. “I don’t think so Sir.”

“I thought you said you might like him if he mellowed a little.” First, I love when Kirk and McCoy do this like ‘you said this’ ‘no I didn’t...’ thing. And second, they talk about Spock in their off time!

“The frequency is open but he doesn’t answer.” Leaving Jim on read I see.

Jim does not like this weird Spock, swinging from the tree limbs.

Lol Spock wants to “straighten out” Jim. That raging bisexual? Unlikely.

Spock is under arrest: the charges, silliness while on duty.

I love the creepy music they play over the plants. The music + the look of the plants is very invasion of the body snatchers. They just look alien.

Interesting that Jim is (partially?) immune.

I love when Bones gets really Southern. You can tell he really worked on toning down that accent, but this is his true self.

Oh no, Uhura took out communications, now it’s unfixable.

Plant on the bridge!!! So creepy.

Captain’s log: I’ve been bested by spores.

Spock is very interested in this “mint julep.” He knows what it is! It’s a drink! (He definitely had to ask.)

So the plants are, in fact, aliens. Traveling to space to reach this planet that they like very much.

“It’s a true Eden, Jim. There’s belonging... and love.” The two things Spock wants most!!

“I don’t know what I can offer against paradise.”

I can’t believe that after that long, sad soliloquy, Kirk gets hit in the face with spores lol. It’s just a funny visual!

Kirk’s little suitcase. Full of shirts. All the essentials.

And then... a random medal? I guess it’s there to show that even spored, Kirk still cares about his accomplishments and still has pride in them. Personality-wise, he just doesn’t seem as susceptible.

The getting-over-the-spores thing is a little...weak. Like I guess he just cares so much about the ship he can’t abandon it? The thought makes him angry and that kills the spores? A little weird.

And of course, he goes straight to Spock as the first person he wants to save, eve though that involves poking him to anger, which is risky. “Aroused, his great physical strength could kill.” Interesting choice of words lol.

“My mother was a teacher.” Spock doesn’t like mean references to his mom.

Also I guess this is the ep that canonically establishes Sarek as an ambassador.

Kirk has to work really hard and say a lot of very mean stuff to get Spock angry. (Unlike AOS Spock who just hears the words ‘your mom’ and is ready to throw hands.) (In his defense, she did just die.)

Also omg his parents are still alive! Stop talking about them as if they were dead!

“I don’t belong anymore.” Yes you do bb! On the Enterprise!

“Well if we’re both in the brig, who’s going to build the subsonic transmitter?” Impeccable logic. I feel like Spock set him up for that one on purpose.

“Enterprise” in McCoy’s thick Southern drawl.

I like that Spock changed back into his uniform first.

Jim is definitely jealous of Leila.

This Spock and Leila conversation... Really makes me curious to see Spock attempt a romantic relationship.

Saying “that man on the Bridge” is so much more dramatic than just saying “the Captain.” Like... so much more!!

“You couldn’t pronounce it” lol. I’m so glad this scene exists to make it clear that he has a last or family name and also that we will NEVER know it. I completely reject that dumbass fanon name, you know the one. It’s pronounceable! That means it’s wrong!

Hilarious that that’s the note they end on.

I guess Leila was over the spores there for a bit. But I still don’t really have a firm grasp on what her actual personality is. Everyone else’s seemed to change a lot while under the influence.

I feel like they kind of did start a 500 person brawl.

Glad Bones got his mint julep!

“Would you like to see how fast I can put you in the hospital?” I think you already put him in the burn unit!

I can’t believe he throws the mint julep away when the spores go away. Does he not actually like them?

This episode is very judgmental lol. Also, I know they’re humans, but it doesn’t seem in the spirit of the Prime Directive either.

What my mom calls Kirk’s Puritan work/strife values. True. He’s a Midwesterner but he’s a little Puritan too clearly. “Maybe we were meant to struggle” says the man who lives in a post-scarcity utopia.

I kind of feel like Spock DOES want to stroll to a lute.

And of course this whole “poetry” interlude is itself incredibly Dramatic.

“For the first time in my life, I was happy.” What?? No, stop being such a drama queen. Wasn’t seeing a dragon cool? Meeting Jim??

I don't know if I think the concept of just being happy and gardening to survive is so bad tbh. Like... I guess a part of me (the Puritan part?) does rebel at the idea of just being....blank and placid all the time, and never striving for anything. But like that was really the worst the spores did. There's no real explanation as to why it's bad, other than, well, it makes you not so ambitious. I'm very torn about the moral of the story.

Still overall, a very good ep. A good Spock ep--lots to think about re: his characterization, when I’m more awake. A very good Kirk ep, too.

Next is The Devil in the Dark. YET ANOTHER absolute classic. Season 1 really just keeps going at 100mph.

#the year 2020 #2020: star trek #2020: fandom thoughts #star trek tos

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tomfooleryprime · 7 years

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Hi there! I love your work! Thank you for sharing it with us. I have a couple of questions: 1) Do you usually reply to your reviewers? 2) Do flames and negative reviews ever affect you and your productivity? If yes, how do you cope with it? I'm just beginning to post my stuff on FFN, and find that I get discouraged by people's flames, etc. Thank you for any advice you can give me!

Hi back at you, and thank you! I always try to respond to my reviewers, but I’m sorry to say I’ve been falling behind on that lately. Real life sort of got hectic and I stepped away from fanfic for a few weeks, so a lot of reviews went unanswered. I hope to remedy that this week and get some updates posted.

It’s hard sometimes not to internalize negative comments, but the ones that are made just for the value of trolling don't really affect me. I actually kind of pity flyby trolls that say anything from “your story sucks” to “I hope you die in a fire” without actually referring to my writing in any concrete way. Those kind of comments say a lot more about them than they do the quality of my writing.

Some comments annoy me. Like people who have never once commented on a story but will get to chapter 17 of a 100,000 word fic and say, “A true Star Trek fan would know his name is Harry Mudd, not Harry Mud.” Yeah, and someone with any common sense would probably understand that sometimes auto spellcheck isn’t your friend and I do this for free and don’t hire a professional editor. And all I can think is, “Oh, you got through the first 16 chapters and couldn’t find a single nice thing to say and the only time you come out of the woodwork is to make a snide remark?”

I actually really enjoy constructive criticism (that’s a lie, I don’t enjoy it, but I appreciate it because it makes me better). There have been a few people who have helped me tremendously and are helping me still. I’m far from perfect and still have a lot to learn. But there’s a huge difference in someone legitimately trying to help you craft a better story and someone who’s just an asshole.

Sometimes negative feedback does get under my skin. I once had someone DM me and claim I was a racist for “Westernizing” Lieutenant Uhura, and it was almost enough to make me quit writing Spock/Uhura stories. I think that was the worst one, because it felt like someone was attacking me personally through something I had written.

But I try to respond to everyone respectfully, the good and the bad. Unfortunately, very few people have the courage to put their name to hate and they review anonymously, and the only way to respond to anon flames on fanfiction.net is to include an author’s note in your story. You could always moderate anon reviews, but that doesn’t change the fact you’ll end up reading them.

I’ve had a few people tell me, “I thought all good authors wrote only for themselves and don’t care what other people thing.” What a load of horseshit. Well, sure, of course most writers write for themselves, but all authors are human. We’re all subject to vanity and the desire for affirmation in virtually all aspects of our lives. Writing is a time consuming labor of love. It costs hours of outlining and brainstorming before I even begin to write, and then each chapter involves several more hours of staring at a computer screen and trying to stretch my back when I could be out spending time with my friends and family, exploring other hobbies, or working on my professional goals.

It’s an opportunity cost situation, and though I do enjoy crafting the stories I create, my motivation isn’t limitless, thus the reason my motivation wanes on occasion. So while it’s easy to say, “we as writers should just write for ourselves and not care about what anyone else thinks,” it’s a lot less easy to do. I don’t think it’s necessarily the good artists, actors, musicians, and writers who create only for themselves, but the truly dedicated ones, and talent and dedication are not mutually exclusive. The average creative person doesn’t pour hours of their lives into making something and genuinely not care if no one even notices the effort.

But that’s not to say you don't have talent, you’re just new and it’s so hard starting out writing fanfic for a new fandom. If it’s a dying fandom, a niche fandom, or not a very popular fandom for fanfic writing, that’s even harder. Rare pairs and stories without some romantic element also don't tend to fair as well. Like, how many people are avidly searching for slash fanfics featuring Byron Scully/Loren Bray from Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman? Sometimes it’s easy to get caught in the mental trap of assuming that just because so-and-so’s 5 chapter Twilight fan fiction has 22,000 reviews and your 20 chapter Red Rising story has exactly 1 review that you suck as a writer and should just quit.

When you’re new, it takes a long time for people to find their way to your stories, and I wish I could say that you’ll get readers eventually if you’re good enough. That’s not always true. Sometimes getting your story noticed comes down to popularity and pandering and that really sucks.

I started out writing Sarek/Amanda because I really liked the pairing, but it’s not nearly as popular as Kirk/Spock. I dabbled in writing Spock/Uhura and discovered I really liked it and so I wrote a whole series, and only then did people really start taking serious notice of my stories. I think writing a lot and writing for a more popular pairing got me more traffic. I’ve had a few people ask me to write Kirk/Spock, and though I’ve read some Spirk stories I liked, it’s just not my ship. One person even suggested I could probably get thousands of comments on AO3 if I wrote for Spirk, but I don’t want to write for a ship just to get reviews and comments. It could get me more exposure as a writer maybe because I’d be writing for a new demographic, but I feel like it would show in my writing if my heart just wasn’t in it.

So it took my stories a long time before some of them started getting noticed, and a lot of that was because I wrote for more popular ships and more popular authors started recommending them. It’s always such an honor when that happens and I try to repay that favor, but I’m ashamed to say I haven’t been reading much fanfic lately either and as such, haven’t been doing much recommending.

To be honest, it’s all the positive comments that have kept me writing over these last months. I think I respect those authors who keep writing despite receiving no feedback or mostly negative feedback the most. The only advice I have is to keep at it. Start networking. Write about what you love, but also keep in mind what people like to read and maybe start there.

Best of luck to you, and I’m willing to check your story out if you’re willing to share it.

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riddleblack246 · 7 years

Note

Could you maybe do a professor au for spirk?

((You’ve got it! I hope this is okay. Idea taken from this prompt list.))

This was beginning to get a bit… frustrating.

Not that Spock would openly admit to anything being frustrating, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that this event had been occurring repeatedly, on schedule, with no explanation as to who was causing it or why.

Spock continued to stare down at said source of frustration. The mug was unusually shaped, made to look similar Malaya IV, the planet dedicated almost exclusively to medical facilities. So, that had to be something of a hint. This person had been to said planet for some extended length of time, either for themselves or for someone else, and had been attached enough to said planet to warrant the purchase of a souvenir.

The mug was filled to the brim with coffee. A dash of milk, no sugar, as was the way it had been served to him for the past several weeks. It wasn’t the way he preferred it, no, but clearly whoever made him the beverage was aware of the Vulcan avoidance of excess sugar. So whoever had been carrying out this action wasn’t entirely clueless to the biological discrepancies of other species.

He had initially considered the perpetrator to be a student. He had started teaching early morning classes the previous semester and had seen a wide variety of students arrive to his lecture with thermos of coffee, tea, and various other beverages. It wasn’t unheard of to assume that perhaps one had wished to be generous and bring him a mug as well.

However, two matters soon struck down his theory. One - the mugs rotated over the course of the week. While Spock made a point to wash and rinse the mugs and carefully set it aside on his desk at the end of each day, he never saw anyone retrieve the mug or replace it. He supposed someone could come in at night to get it (he didn’t see a reason to lock the lecture hall), but the building itself was sealed at midnight, so there was no way for a student to get in.

Two - The coffee was always hot. Thermos could do a lot with recent technology, including keep beverages as steaming as they were when they were first made. However, such devices could be on the pricier side, especially for students, and it simply was improbable to believe that a student would use an incredibly expensive device for the purpose of providing coffee for their professor every morning, especially if they did not intend to take credit for this act in hopes of receiving extra credit of some kind (though it was not as if Spock even offered such things).

And so he was left to stare contemplatively into the steaming liquid until more students began to file in and take their seats. His gaze flicked up to scan the room before he resolutely took a sip. He supposed that it was not of consequence. The gesture was appreciated and if the person chose to make themselves known, he would express his gratitude. But until then, there was no reason to give it anymore thought.

The ‘mystery’ behind the morning coffee had slipped from Spock’s mind by the time he made his way towards his lecture hall the next day. He was earlier than he usually intended to arrive, but he had been able to get home sooner to meditate the previous day, and thus had set his schedule slightly ahead for the next day. He made his way down the hall, noting the peaceful quiet of an early morning arrival as he adjusted his bag on this shoulder. He was about to push the door to the hall open when he was stopped in his tracks at the sight of a figure in the classroom. His debate over who could be the coffee perpetrator returned to the forefront of his thoughts as he peered through the translucent glass.

A man hummed softly to himself as he moved over to Spock’s desk. In his hands, he held a large thermos, similar to the one Spock speculated the provider to have owned. In his other, he held a standard white mug with a minimalist design made to emulate the Star Fleet insignia. The man placed the mug on Spock’s desk and picked up the one from the previous day. He carefully placed it into his bag before opening his thermos. He poured the coffee into the new mug, mindful not to spill any drops on the papers left on his desk. Spock remained silent as he watched the nameless man return the thermos to his bag and start towards the door. When he finally looked up, he stopped abruptly, eyes locking with Spock’s as the door was pushed open. The pair stared at one another, silence growing between them.

With the lined glass no longer hindering his view, Spock was able to get a full analysis of the no-longer-mysterious barista. The man was shorter than him and likely a bit younger. He was a bit on the heavier side, but the weight was mostly muscle with what was likely a bit of excess. His brunette hair curled slightly at his forehead and intense hazel eyes stared into his own. He stood with his chest nearly puffed out in confidence, holding the air of a man that is used to leading and unashamed in being caught in actions that were somewhat… peculiar.

“Professor Spock.” The man greeted, tone managing to somehow be both warm and authoritative at the same time. Spock slowly raised an eyebrow.

“Greetings,” Spock replied evenly, “Admittedly, I am not familiar with your name.”

“Oh, sorry about that,” The man smiled, revealing two rows of sparkling white teeth, “I know I don’t get out much outside of my lectures. I’ve been told I’m something of a workaholic.” He raised his hand, separating his middle and ring finger (albeit clumsily) into the Vulcan salute, “Professor Kirk. But Jim is fine.”

Spock blinked, processing the information. Jim Kirk. He’d heard his name before. Mostly in passing between various students in his lectures and in reference from other professors. Nyota, one of his few friends within the faculty, had mentioned him a few times, about how much the students adore him and how he’s so invested in teaching in the command field that nearly every single one of his students was on a starship within five years of their graduation from the Academy.

Spock raised his own hand, mirroring the gesture. “I would ask what you’re doing here, but it’s rather obvious.” His gaze moved over to the still-steaming mug on his desk before returning to Kirk.

“I believe the more appropriate question would be ‘Why’?”

Kirk’s grin turned sheepish. He shrugged before speaking.

“Well, I just thought it would be the neighborly thing to do. After all, our rooms are right next to one another. And there’s no harm in making a good first impression with the head of the science department, right?”

“I suppose not,” Spock agreed, “However, you have made no attempt to speak to me directly, let alone reveal yourself as the one providing me with coffee.”

Spock watched as the man’s tanned cheeks slowly bloomed pink. He bit his lip, the confidence slowly starting to fade into shyness.

“Uh… yeah, you got me there,” He laughed weakly, “Okay… I’ll be straight with you here. I wanted to make a good first impression because a lot of the staff speaks highly of you. I’m also a big fan of your work regarding inter-species relationships and analysis of genetic compatibility.”

Spock kept his expression neutral, inclining his head ever so slightly to indicate that he may continue.

“So I thought I would bring by some coffee as a way to introduce myself, get to know you. But when I saw you in the hall, I… panicked.”

Spock raised an eyebrow once more. Kirk seemed incredibly confident and, in the command field, panic wasn’t exactly a feeling that should be acted upon.

“I left the coffee and headed out before you could see me. I decided to try again the next day… and the next… at that point, it had become almost a routine, so I just decided… not to stop?”

He ended his explanation like it was a question, as if to silently ask if that was an unusual routine to carry out. Spock folded his arms over his chest.

“And might I ask what it was about me that sent you into a ‘panic’, Professor?”

The pink in Kirk’s cheeks deepened into an intense red.

“Well, I…” Kirk swallowed, shifting his posture as he attempted to formulate a reply, “I must admit that… it was because I find you to be rather attractive.”

Silence, once again, engulfed the room. If Spock were to speak, he would have admitted that that was not the answer he had expected. Intimidation, yes. Perhaps even discomfort over his being Vulcan. But attraction?

“And I wasn’t sure as to how I could work up the courage to speak to you, especially when I not only wanted to get to know you and discuss your work, but also…” Kirk trailed off, leaving his intentions open ended.

“You wished to pursue something more intimate.”

Kirk blinked in surprise. “Uh… maybe not so… intensely, but yes.”

Spock nodded in understanding, moving past Kirk to place his bag at his desk and retrieve his mug of coffee. Closing his eyes, he took a sip. When he opened them once more, he found Kirk still standing in the doorway, unsure of whether he should stay or go.

“There is a dining establishment four point three eight blocks from this building,” He supplied evenly, “When you have completed your lecture this afternoon, you may join me in partaking in lunch. You may see how I actually take my coffee.”

Spock watched as Kirk’s mouth grew into a smile, nodding at his suggestion. “I think I’d like that. See you at three?”

“Indeed. Though I would appreciate it if you will knock this time instead of simply letting yourself in.”

#star trek #space husbands #spirk #professors au #college au #prompts #spirk fic #college au fic #anon

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