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electronickingdomfox · 2 days

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"Killing Time" review

Novel from 1985, by Della Van Hise. Published right after Ishmael, it involves again time-tampering. Only this time, the villains (here Romulans) are successful in their attempts to rewrite history, so most of the novel is set in an alternate universe. The basic difference is that, in this new universe, the Federation was founded by Vulcans instead of humans, so Spock is the starship captain, while Kirk is a mere Ensign with a troubled past.

The story presents some interesting concepts, like the flow of time and history being somehow ingrained in the very fabric of the universe, so no matter the alterations, it tends to revert to its original course, or rip itself apart (a concept which, in some shape or another, was also present in The Entropy Effect and the previous novel). There's also much discussion about "alternate selves", paths not taken in life, and whether these versions of ourselves still exist somewhere and can be reached through dreams. Sometimes, the "mechanics" of time-alteration are a bit iffy, or poorly explained. For example, it seems very unlikely that people like Uhura or Scotty would have the same exact post in the alternate universe (shouldn't they be replaced by Vulcans?). And since it's explained that travelling at warp drive makes one immune to the time alterations, why aren't more starships (the Enterprise included) spared from the effects? Anyway, this is just to be nitpicky; after all, the story doesn't require much more suspension of disbelief than other TOS novels.

Other than a bit of purple prose here and there, I didn't find the writing bad. And characterization is pretty fine. The portrait of Kirk as a rebellious Ensign is a curious precedent for the 2009 movie Kirk, and his grief is quite moving. Spock and McCoy's interactions are spot-on. And so far, this novel has the best, most complex portrayal of the Romulan Commander (from "The Enterprise Incident"), as a cunning, powerful woman, and yet vulnerable in her love/hate for Spock. It's perhaps the latter who comes off most out-of-character; at times Spock seems a bit too emotional and soft, though not to the point of being unrecognizable.

On the other hand, the structure is a bit clumsy. A good chunk of the book keeps going over and over the effects that history alteration has on the mind, turning people crazy, or inducing dreams about the original reality. Since the Romulan scheme is fully revealed quite early on, these chapters don't have all that much interest: we already know what's happening, we already know why people are having those dreams... (So no, I'm not interested in the content of Ensign Kirk's dreams, since I already know what's there; stop trying to put him in that vid-scan thing, McCoy). However, the plot takes off once the characters finally decide to do something about all this mess, and get involved in further Romulan schemes. The later chapters, thus, are more interesting, and there are some pretty emotive scenes towards the ending.

In conclusion, this isn't one of the best novels, though it has its high points. It would have been rather unremarkable among the long string of TOS novels, were it not for the controversies surrounding its publication. For those, see the "Spirk Meter" at the end.

Spoilers under the cut:

The Enterprise is patrolling the Romulan Neutral Zone, when several crewmembers start experiencing disturbing dreams. A common theme in those, is seeing Spock as the Captain, in a somehow changed Enterprise. While Kirk sees himself as a mere Ensign. There are also some rumors about an experiment going on in the Romulan Empire...

After an abrupt change, the next chapter presents a totally different reality. Kirk is now an Ensign recently assigned to the "VSS ShiKahr", commanded by Spock. Having been in prison for the murder of an Academy teacher (of which he has no recollection), Kirk was subjected to the Talos Device, which left him having frequent nightmares and addicted to drugs. He was given the choice between a rehabilitation colony, or forceful draft into the Fleet. Anyway, he has little interest in serving in a starship, or life in general, since he knows he'll never get his own command due to his past. His life is made even more miserable by his bully roomate Donner. Soon thereafter, strange phenomena are experienced by some crewmembers. Spock gets fleeting glimpses of another reality, that leave him dizzy. And one crewman succumbs to madness, and tries to blow up the entire ship, after sabotaging the matter/antimatter valves. After performing some scans on the insane man, McCoy discovers that his brain has two separate sets of brain waves, as if they belonged to two different persons altogether. Further cases of insanity throughout the galaxy are suspected, when a Vulcan Admiral orders the ShiKahr to invade the Romulan Empire in a suicidal mission. Spock, of course, stalls the order as long as he can.

The narrative changes focus then, to present what's going on in the Romulan ship "Ravon", where Commander Tazol remembers his recent confrontation with her wife Sarela. She was strongly opposed to the Praetor's plans to interfere in Earth's past, and assassinate three key figures in the founding of the Federation, so it never comes to be. Sarela is afraid the plan will be a total failure, like all the other plans of the Praetor to tamper with timelines. Nonetheless, Tazol is a complete blockhead, and proceeds with the plan. The idea is receiving the Praetor aboard (a mysterious, hooded figure that only his close advisors have ever seen face to face), and then enter warp drive to avoid the history-altering effects. That way, everyone aboard the Ravon will keep intact their memories of the so-called First History, along with its records, to later compare them with the situation in the Second History (the altered timeline). It turns out that, as Sarela expected, Second History isn't all it's cracked up to be... The Federation wasn't founded on Earth, true, but in its place, a similar Alliance of planets was started in Vulcan. The Romulan Empire has hardly benefitted from this, and now its enemies are mostly the tough Vulcans, instead of humans. The Praetor orders Sarela to his quarters, for a private discussion of the situation, much to Tazol's chagrin.

Meanwhile in the ShiKahr, McCoy has been performing vid-scans (a kind of visual recording of people's dreams) on several persons. Some of them show dreams of a "golden-haired Captain". While others show disturbing "negative scans". McCoy is a complete genius, because from this flimsy evidence he concludes, correctly, that reality has been shifted. And those that have ended in different positions in life, will become maladjusted to the changes, and eventually turn mad. Also, those showing negative scans now, are persons who are already dead in the original timeline (and this opens up an interesting ethical dilemma when reverting the changes, since it will mean instant death for those persons; sadly, this isn't further explored). For his part, crazy Admiral is still doing his crazy thing, and now orders the ShiKahr on a diplomatic mission, on a planet of savages that weren't expecting diplomats at all. The landing party is attacked, Donner is killed (good for him) and Spock is injured.

Cutting back to the Ravon, Sarela discovers that the Praetor is actually... a woman! Something that's not allowed in the Romulan Empire, thus the need for the permanent hood in public (and it also explains why all the Praetor slaves are now pretty boys...). Automatically, Sarela's respect for the Praetor goes up tenfold (huh, wasn't the Praetor a complete idiot a second ago, with all those stupid plans? The fact she's a woman should change nothing!). Well, as it turns out, the stupid plans weren't hers, but came from her father. She just went ahead with them because it was too late to back out, and also because she still expects some good to come out of it. Thea (the Praetor) explains that she's going to use Spock to sign a peace treaty with the Alliance, and introduce Surak's teachings among Romulans, to further the cause of peace (doesn't sound like a very evil plan, if you ask me). By kidnapping Kirk, she'll blackmail Spock into doing all this, while disguised with the hood as if he were the real Praetor. She still holds a grudge towards Kirk and Spock, since in First History, those two stole a cloaking device from her, revealing thus that she's the Romulan Commander from the series. Thea suspects that the Vulcans will, sooner or later, discover the time tampering and revert it, but some effects of Second History (like the peace treaty) will be indelibly embedded in the universe, anyway. Sarela agrees to help her, specially after she receives her own pretty boy slave.

For his part, Spock instructs Christopher Pike (here still a happy captain of a ship) to stop the crazy Admiral, before he causes all-out war. After this, the ShiKahr intercepts a Romulan shuttle, apparently crippled and adrift, and takes it aboard. The only passengers, apparently, are Thea and Sarela, and they're taken into custody. However, hibernating inside the shuttle, and thus not detected as life forms, were Thea's slaves. They wake up a while later, disguise themselves as Vulcan guards, and order Kirk to the briefing room. Sensing a trap, Kirk attacks them, but the Romulans subdue and kidnap both Kirk and his new roomate: Richardson. They depart in the Ravon, and leave the two hostages stranded in a desolate planet, with just basic survival gear. Spock learns about this too late, so he has no alternative but cooperating with Thea. Secretly, though, he plans to infiltrate the Romulan Empire to get the secret of time travel (unknown to the Alliance), and the details to revert the timeline.

Spock, dressed as the Praetor, McCoy, half-dressed as his...slave, and S'Parva, some kind of dog-girl with telepathic powers, accompany Thea back to the Ravon. Spock, as many other people, is also succumbing to madness, which in his case manifests as pon farr. He covers it up as a simple infection, and requests the medical assistance of slave-McCoy to create a distraction. The moment is seized by S'Parva to get inside the computer system. Later, Spock reviews the data, learning about the slingshot effect to travel through time. Both Spock and S'Parva receive also telepathic transmissions from Kirk and Richardson, respectively (S'Parva having formed previously a mind link with Richardson through an experiment). This way, they learn the location of the hostages. Nonetheless, Spock ends up losing consciousness due to the worsening of his symptons. Thea, who still loves Spock in some way, forms a temporary bond with him, and helps him out of pon farr (that is, they fuck).

Once in the Praetor's palace in Romulus, Thea learns about all the incidents of madness happening in the Empire. And finally, after a lengthy conversation, Spock manages to convince her of the necessity of reversing the changes. If this goes on, soon half the galaxy will be destroyed by madness. Spock regrets that he can't stay with her, as his present persona will disappear along Second History. Nonetheless, he will bring Kirk along to the past, to restore the timeline; that way, both of them will keep some remembrance of this alternate history, and will later use their influence to realize Thea's plans for peace. Thea relents, and after rescuing Kirk and Richardson, they make a slingshot maneuver in the shuttle, arriving in Earth's past. However, Thea leaves them to their own devices from now onwards.

Having arrived in San Francisco a while before the assassination, Kirk, Spock and Richardson enter the conference room, where the three politicians are due to make a speech. Kirk creates a distraction by revealing Spock's alien features to the surprised humans, and this prompts the assassins to reveal themselves. In the commotion, everyone escapes to safety (including the politicians), while Kirk and Spock confront the assassins. These are actually human-looking androids, and after a difficult fight, they destroy them, though Richardson is killed in the process. Then Spock takes out a disruptor to destroy the android remains (his excuse for not using the disruptor earlier being that Kirk needed to reassert himself as Captain by getting into a fist-fight, which is... a bullshit excuse, really). After this, Kirk and Spock (also mortally wounded in the fight) go to the rooftop. And there's a pretty sad scene, where both wait for their current selves to disappear in the reality shift, thus dying in a sense.

Everything is back to normal, though Kirk, Spock and Richardson keep having dreams about their alternate lives. Kirk also finds a ring that belonged to his other self, and reflects with melancholy about the fate of "Ensign Kirk". After a mind-meld with Spock, both of them get a clearer view about the events of Second History, and decide to cooperate with Thea to achieve peace. In the end, Kirk leaves the ring behind, knowing it will disappear and return to its real owner, somewhere.

Spirk Meter: 10/10*. Now, this novel is generally regarded as the K/S novel par excellence. Is it very slashy? Yes. But is it something completely in a different league? Well, no. Most of the Marshak & Culbreath novels are as slashy as this one (and The Price of the Phoenix definitely more). Hell, a good deal of this stuff is just taken from TOS episodes, and while in "Amok Time" Spock got out of pon farr by rolling around with Kirk, here he uses the more conservative approach of sex with a woman (and Kirk is totally okay with that, not showing the slightest jealousy). I suspect that most of this fame is simply due to the novel's publication history, and not to the actual content. I've encountered two versions of this incident. The most popular one tells of readers being so scandalized by the novel's first edition, that some higher-up (even Roddenberry himself) had to intervene, and censor the novel for subsequent printings. Della Van Hise's version (presented in several fanzine articles, that you can read in sites like Fanlore) tells a much less exciting story: Basically, the editor made some cuts here and there, she approved of the changes, and then sent the novel for printing. There was an error, and the unedited version was printed instead. When the publishing house noticed it, they corrected the mistake in the second edition, which was the one supposed to see the light from the beginning. In my opinion, Van Hise's version sounds more realistic. I have difficulty believing that the same public who received Triangle a couple years before without batting an eyelid, would start a riot for this. Let alone that Gene-t'hy'la-means-lover-Roddenberry would give two shits about it (was he even that involved in the franchise by 1985?). Apart from this, the edits seem very cursorily: a slight toning-down of some affectionate scenes, cutting curse words here and there, removal of partial nudity (even in medical settings that have absolutely nothing to do with K/S), etc. They really don't look like the kind of heavy censorship of someone set against K/S after a scandal.

Now, for the slash elements (I read the first edition, so this is based on that version): Kirk and Spock are quite affectionate, often reassuring each other with a touch on the shoulder or the hand, or confiding things that they wouldn't trust to anybody else. The mental link between them (which is a staple in many novels and comics, and thus not that remarkable) is given, however, a special relevance, with them often using it to transmit warm feelings, and even communicating over great distances. The link is so strong, that some effects of Spock's pon farr start affecting Kirk. And when the reality first shifts into the alternate universe, Kirk experiences great anguish, upon feeling the link broken. It's also noteworthy that other characters that share this kind of link (Spock and Thea; Richardson and S'Parva) are in romantic relationships of sorts. Apart from the permanent link, Spock performs several mind-melds with Kirk. The first time, when he finds the Ensign sleeping in the garden and suffering nightmares, he attempts a meld to soothe his mind (similar to "Requiem for Methuselah") but Kirk rejects it. Spock, who's already starting to go crazy, attacks Jim then, and forces a mind-meld with him. The fight and Kirk's submission are vaguely homoerotic, and this was by far the most censored passage in the book. The second meld happens when they're both waiting for "death", Spock resting his head on Kirk's shoulder, and the Vulcan uses it to bring Kirk to the other reality along him. The third meld was already covered in the plot summary. Apart from this, when Spock receives glimpses of his previous life, he misses a companion by his side, once wondering if the man he sees there is his t'hy'la. And when Kirk visits his quarters at night to get his medication, Spock interviews him while still shirtless, and understands that he can't keep secrets from him. But perhaps the most blatant examples aren't what Kirk and Spock actually do, but what other characters think about them. Thea is unreasonably jealous of Kirk, and kidnaps him with the belief that Spock will do anything to rescue him, since he's his treasured human and dearest to him in all the combined universes. Actually, this isn't the real reason why Spock complies with Thea, but he agrees with her assessment that "James Kirk is even deeper in your blood than Vulcan". Richardson, as well, has the impression that Kirk and Spock belong together in any universe.

Although this is definitely a K/S novel, there's also a bit of Spones, and it's kind of hilarious that it went totally unnoticed by censors, considering the sexual element is more blatant, compared with the rather spiritual relationship of Kirk and Spock. For starters, when Kirk is first having dreams about Spock as a Captain, McCoy dismisses it as just a typical fantasy of wanting to be under Spock's authority (which totally seems like McCoy projecting there, since that's not the real cause at all). Once Spock gets the first symptoms of pon farr, McCoy is very stubborn about going with him to Romulus to treat his illness, even if he has to be his slave to do so (and as previously seen, those slaves are also the Praetor's lovers). And when Spock gets worse, McCoy confronts him about being so proud and rejecting something that should be pleasurable, pointing out that many people would want to sleep with him... while blushing himself. Finally, McCoy refuses to leave Thea alone with Spock to do her thing, and has to be brought out basically by force (like, what was his alternate plan?). It doesn't help either that McCoy is said to care for Spock more than professional ethics should have permitted.

Also incredibly explicit is Kirk's relationship with Richardson. Kirk comes out from the shower totally naked in front of him. And later they both swim naked in a pond, while Kirk experiences the heat of pon farr through his link. Not enough? Well, Richardson often calls Jim "Juliet", while Kirk calls him "Romeo". Yup.

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

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lesenbyan · 8 months

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I think it says a lot about the narratives we're still not allowed to tell that I always feel immensely more kinship with sci-fi and fantasy biracial characters than those in fiction that more mirrors current day

#personal;#there are VERY FEW things i've seen in current day that have black/white biracial characters to be fair #but considering one of them is Dear White People but they never ever Once in what i saw cover the micro aggressions black people do #towards those of us who are half white #not nearly so well as like. that spock gifset i just rb'd #or the way the academy on vulcan treats him bc his human half #vulcans see him as human and humans see him as vulcan and that isn't what i see in things set in fictional Today #bc the moment you show black people microaggressing against another PoC you're called racist #when like. i have faced SO MUCH MORE microaggression from black people than white #black people who call me oreo. who 'shame about the white'. who have literally threatened my safety.#it's never been white people #the only oreo jokes i get from white people are from white friends with permission and that's it #other than yanno. the systemic shit that individual people can't change #it was a black person in high school who threatened to rape me (and i proceeded to forget about for years bc who could i talk to about it?)#black people who hit on me and then when turned down turn it into disparaging me for being half white and how i'm tainted goods #but the MOMENT you start talking about or displaying that you're called racist #even if it's your lived experience #in my experience white people have treated me far more as a person. and black people treat me as a color.#anyway i guess this is gonna be my day

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spirk-trek · 3 months

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S2E1: Amok Time ⋆.˚ ✧ · ˚⊹ ·

keep reading for some rambling from me about these scenes because i love them!!! :)

I’ve always thought that each character’s reaction directly following Spock killing Jim was profoundly… aware. Spock standing slowly, horrified, the blood fever suddenly gone, not victorious or triumphant. This was no ordinary kal-if-fee, and you can read that in everyone present. Even Bones has a look of shit, I didn't think about how affected Spock would be, just look at him. To me, it was always this palpable sense of 'this isn't how it was supposed to turn out' and discomfort at having witnessed an ending which, at least to Vulcans, must essentially seem like an open expression of emotion.

Spock begged T'pau to spare Jim and she was surprised he could even speak. Bones had to pry the ahn woon from his hands because the shock of what he had done wouldn’t allow him to look away from his Captain's face. The way he walked over to the waiting line of guards like a ghost. Addressed T’pring with such a subdued tone, even when complimenting her logic. Rejecting T’pau’s departing ‘live long and prosper...’

I wonder how it looked to them, seeing this half-Vulcan man, the legend Spock, take down an outworlder whom he calls ‘friend’ before their eyes and not abandoning the devastation of it for the logic required of their traditions. Were these reactions brought about by Joseph Pevney's direction, or could the humanity of the actors simply not be totally lost in their portrayals? It's always spoken to me. I just love this episode.

#star trek #spock #spirk #star trek tos #captain kirk #the original series #television #history #fandom #amok time #pon farr #leonard nimoy #william shatner #celia lovsky #acting #film #1960s

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ensignsimp · 3 months

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Jealous VOY Vorik HCs:

A/N: He's so cute when he's angry. Some inspo taken from this post: POST from @spocks-husband

Prompt: Jealous Vorik

Vorik is (naturally) a young arrogant and naive Vulcan.

He doesn't understand the complexities of human friendships and relationships.

That's why when he sees you acting so causally with your affections towards your friends, he gets overwhelmingly jealous.

He gives anyone you show affection to a cold icy death stare.

Vulcans are naturally jealous and overprotective of their bondmates.

He comes up behind you and hugs you when he feels jealous.

When you innocently ask him what's wrong he just shakes his head and presses a kiss on the top of your head.

He feels reassured through your bond but that doesn't help him when it comes to comparing himself to others.

He worries that he isn't taking care of your emotional needs, that you find more comfort in the arms of others than in his.

When Paris starts flirting with you it really bruises his ego.

He starts to get more agitated and constantly feels the need to keep you safe.

He secretly fears you'll leave him for someone else.

One day while in the Mess Hall, you are eating when Tom comes up to you.

"Hey, if you ever get bored of hanging out with him," Jabbing his thumb at Vorik. "You should join me and Harry in the holodeck tonight."

Vorik nearly flipped the table as he reached across to grab at Tom's throat.

He was almost feral hissing and spitting like a pissed-off wet cat.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY MATE! VEH DUNGI STAU DU!" (*I will kill you!)

You and B'lanna have to drag the two of them apart.

After you pull Vorik to your quarters you find out why he's been acting so strange.

He's been unable to meditate due to the extra workload in Engineering. This amplifies his already fried nerves.

You'll stroke his hair to calm him down and press little kisses to his temples.

He flips you and pins you to the bed.

He starts to nuzzle your face with his.

His breath tickles your ear and you can hear him whispering things.

"T'nash-veh katelau, ashau, t'nash-veh ritsuri-wuh-set'ko." (*My mate, love, my obsession.)

You decide it's best to just let it get out of his system.

After a while, you can hear him purring.

It takes everything in you not to record it.

You feel him relax his grip and fall into your embrace.

You'll make sure he does his meditation in the morning.

#star trek #star trek x readers #star trek voyager #voyager #st voyager #voy #st voy #star trek vorik x reader #star trek voyager vorik x reader #voyager vorik x reader #voy vorik x reader #x reader #star trek vorik #star trek voyager vorik #voyager vorik #voy vorik #vorik

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perlukafarinn · 3 months

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I'm back with another unbearably homoerotic story from The New Voyages (this one even has a foreword written by Leonard Nimoy)!

The story in question is Ni Var, written by Claire Gabriel and published in the first New Voyages volume in 1976. In it, Spock is split in two - his human half and his Vulcan half. He and Kirk also have unnecessarily intense and emotionally loaded interactions pretty much every page. Just look at this passage that happens right after Spock is split:

The moment Kirk sees Spock, he knows something is wrong. They have an emotional talk that turns into an argument that turns into Kirk asking Spock what's wrong and if he can help.

It's the way Kirk reads Spock like an open book! How Spock finds comfort in Kirk's offer to help, even if he's not ready to accept it.

And just when you think it can't get any more intense, bam - City on the Edge of Forever callback!

Kirk is having an extremely normal one.

Anyway, Kirk finds out about the split soon enough because damned if Spock can keep a single secret from him once he's determined to find out.

We are distracted from the main plot, however, as the Enterprise is sent on a mission to a planet whose natives love the taste of human flesh. Of course, Kirk insists on joining the landing party but Spock is Not Having It.

They are having this fight in front of the crew. If the rumors didn't exist before, they certainly do now.

Spock loses the argument on account of Kirk being Captain and goes back to his quarters to discuss the issue with his Vulcan half.

This, the text points out, is the first thing Spock's two halves are in complete agreement on. Protecting Jim. I am banging my head against the wall.

Then Vulcan Spock goes on a mental tangent about humans and emotions and one human in particular, and this passage drives me bonkers.

"Until he met Jim Kirk."

"A man for whom he felt friendship, perhaps even what Humans call love."

Clawing my eyes out. The romanticism of it all. These are completely normal thoughts to have about your commanding officer!!

And then Spock decides to risk what he calls "for a Vulcan, torture" to ensure Kirk's safety. What this whole subplot is for is essentially to show that Spock's two halves can be united and the thing they unite over..... is Jim.

I am unwell.

Spock does manage to keep Kirk from throwing himself to the proverbial wolves, the plot moves on, and then they're back in front of the machine that split Spock and can be used to unite him again. Kirk has an angsty moment about that time he was split in two (the whole story, in addition to exploring Spock's split identity, is filled with callbacks to The Enemy Within and the toll that experience took on Kirk mentally and it's great).

This isn't a particularly Kirk/Spock moment but I had to include it because I love the mental image of Kirk flipping himself off and Spock laughing at it. Kirk would fuck his clone, actually.

Then the time is at hand to unite the two Spocks. Kirk puts a comforting hand on Human Spock's shoulder but then hesitates to do the same to the Vulcan half and this whole page has me crying, screaming, throwing up, etc.

God.

Spock is united, all is well, and the story ends with Kirk grinning at Spock and Spock responding with an oh-so-subtle smile.

In conclusion: gay.

#spirk #kirk/spock #k/s #the premise #star trek tos #start trek #the new voyages #again the star trek novels stay intensely homoerotic

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section-69 · 2 years

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My brother asked me what Deep Space Nine is about, and none of the sane answers I could give (family? war? terrorism? hijinks?) were wrong. But how could I tell him it's about Benjamin Sisko (it's all about Benjamin Sisko) existing in the moment Jennifer dies just as he exists "now", whatever "now" means. It's about Benny Russell being real and imagined and the dreamer and the dream. It's about the Prophets existing outside of time it's about God's plan really being God's map, because if time isn't linear and everything happens at once then a Prophecy is just a History we can't yet see. It's about a parallel "mirror" universe based on a single interaction between a single human and a single Vulcan happening differently and sprouting a different history with different prophets and different prophecies. It's about Sisko being a human and a prophet and an emissary to a people he hadn't heard of until he joined the space navy. It's about a dead father phasing through reality to say hi to his son. It's about the son killing himself and turning back time so both he and his father will live. It's about Ben leaving his pregnant wife to go save the alpha quadrant, which he'd already done and had yet to do. And it's about him promising to come back, tomorrow, yesterday, a hundred years from now, and all are true and none are true because It's Not Linear.

I told him it's about baseball, mostly. I think that sums it up.

#star trek #ds9 #don't mind me I'm just feeling #sisko #my posts

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your-name-is-jim · 2 years

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Have you ever been engaged, Mr. Spock?

So, I know that in 50+ years everything has been said about Kirk/Spock, but I want to talk about this anyway. :D

In one of the first episodes, specifically "What are little girls made of?", we get a pretty interesting scene:

In context, Christine is hearing her fiancé's voice after 5 years, but because of his unusual request, Spock wonders if it's actually him talking. Christine is sure that it's him, and she probably thinks that anyone who's been in a close romantic relationship would get it. Which is why she teases the First Officer: "Have you ever been engaged, Mr. Spock?"

After her question, the camera switches to Kirk (okay, I could actually write another essay about why the hell do they show Kirk right after Christine asked Spock if he's ever been engaged???, but whether you believe it or not, this isn't what I want to focus on here :D), then we finally see Spock.

NOW, let's see what happens. First of all, Spock doesn't answer the question. Why? We might never know what Star Trek writers were thinking when they wrote that episode, because it was very early in the series. If I had to guess, I'd say nobody had planned Amok Time when the first part of season 1 was shot, but it's also possible that they were already considering giving Spock a Vulcan fiancée/wife. Either way, since we can't prove anything about the creators' intent, we can at least talk about what is actually canon in the series.

Spock's answer to Christine's question "Have you ever been engaged, Mr. Spock?" would be "Yes". Spock is currently engaged to T'Pring, he's been engaged since he was a child. Even if we don't know anything about it when we watch season 1 for the first time, "Yes" is the canon answer, the only 100% official one.

So, let's think about it again: Christine asks Spock a private question about his romantic life, and Spock doesn't answer. Well, to be precise, this is what he does:

Yeah, it's just a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, sure, but you can see that he lifts his right eyebrow. That's his way to answer. Now, I'm sure a lot of you are starting to suspect what I'm getting at, but let me sum it up first:

Someone asks Spock a personal question about his romantic life. ("Have you ever been engaged, Mr. Spock?")

Spock raises his right eyebrow and doesn't answer.

The 100% canon answer to that question is that he is indeed involved in that kind of matters. ("Yes, I am currently engaged.")

Why doesn't Spock say anything? Well, we know that Vulcans don't like lying, but they can refuse to answer. So we can deduce that Spock doesn't want to reply to that kind of question, especially when the truth isn't "no, I've never had a mate", but something that would make others too curious. Spock is a private person, he doesn't like the way humans make everything about feelings and emotions. Maybe it wouldn't be a problem for him to deny everything about his potential romantic/sexual relationships, if it was the truth.

Anyway, speculations aside, the most important thing is that the episode "What are little girls made of?" sets a precedent:

- Someone asks Spock a personal question about his romantic life. - Spock raises his right eyebrow and doesn't answer. - The answer is YES. SO, YOU KNOW...

- Someone asks Spock a personal question about his romantic life. - Spock raises his right eyebrow and doesn't answer. - The answer is YES. YOU KNOW RIGHT?

- Someone asks Spock a personal question about his romantic life. - Spock raises his right eyebrow and doesn't answer. - The answer is YES.

From "Star Trek The Motion Picture" novelization, Roddenberry's footnote:

Someone asks Spock a personal question about his romantic life. ("Did you and Admiral Kirk become lovers, Mr. Spock?")

Spock raises his right eyebrow and doesn't answer.

The answer to that question is...

YOU KNOW, RIGHT?

#spirk #k/s #kirk x spock #spock #star trek tos #james t. kirk #star trek the original series #christine chapel #roddenberry footnote #star trek the motion picture #star trek novels

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jennelikejennay · 9 months

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Strange New Worlds spoilers ahoy!

On first blush, Spock and Chapel's breakup makes no sense. It was a three month fellowship, for crying out loud. Of course she was happy about going. And Spock just wasn't in the room when she got the news.

But the cracks in that relationship have been building for a while. It actually starts in season one, when Chapel admits that she does not actually want the people who want her. If they're too into it, she runs. Why?

Later we see she's got PTSD. She doesn't want to talk about it with Spock. Which is fine, everyone has their own way of coping.

But I suspect she's actually terrified of emotional intimacy because it would be opening a can of worms she's not sure she can either handle or stuff back in. She relies on ironic distance to keep things from getting too real so she doesn't have to feel too much. I totally understand it—but it isn't what Spock wants.

Spock, for all his stoicism, actually longs for emotional connection. He never had that with T'Pring. He thought he could have it with Christine...he has feelings and he wants to keep feeling them. With her. He experiments with smiling and stuff because it feels good to let a tiny bit of his feelings out. He thinks Chapel, as a human, will get that and help him with it.

But...she can't. She's more emotionally pent up than the Vulcan is! I love her for it, but I one hundred percent understand why Spock can't handle it. He was taking a very tentative step into the world of feelings, and it turned out it was harder to navigate than he thought. The emotion he was ready to share, she wasn't.

He thought they shared the same feelings.

He won't make that mistake again.

What Spock needs is someone emotionally competent and aware, someone who shares their feelings without hesitation or embarrassment. Someone we've seen make the most pent-up and repressed person on the whole show feel at ease.

Spock needs Kirk.

#strange new worlds #Star Trek #spock #christine chapel #jim kirk

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anewstartrekfan · 11 months

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Explaining/rationalizing Bones’ speech in Requiem of Methuselah

A lot of people call what Bones said about Spock never knowing love because it isn’t in his book, uncalled for and straight up inaccurate to the show. And to that I say it’s intentional. Bones in that scene is pissed at Spock for being insensitive when Rayna died and wanted Spock to help Kirk cope.

My evidence is two fold.

1. There’s a scene earlier in the episode where Bones uses reverse psychology to get Spock to drink some brandy with him and Kirk.

The scene itself is innocuous on its own. Just banter between the triumvirate. But when you compare it to the big scene stealer, it shows McCoy’s abilities and intentions. It also shows how much Bones has gotten to know Spock over the show. Whereas in conscience of the king Bones would just straight forwardly ask Spock if he wanted a drink and Spock would shoot him down, here in Requiem, Bones has to almost goad Spock into partaking in this human vice. And at the end of the episode he does the same thing when he says Spock will never know the lengths men will go when they love someone.

It’s just with the Brandy scene Bones is playful. Whereas when Bones says Spock will never know what love is, he’s laying it on thick so Spock will do the opposite. To get it into that thick Vulcan skull that yes he does love Jim enough to help here. As evidenced by the love theme from empath literally playing in the background as Spock erases Kirk’s memories.

2. When Rayna dies Spock is cold AF

Listen, I understand that Spock is Vulcan, and literal, and logical. But no amount of that is ever gonna excuse the first 6 seconds of this exchange.

Kirk whispers: What happened?

Spock, normal volume: She loved you captain.

Like good lord look at Kirk’s face Spock just ripped his heart in half.

Especially when earlier in the episode Spock was trying to hide Rayna’s true nature because he’d hoped he was wrong. (He wanted to protect Jim’s feelings) Also before she dies, Spock tries to warn Jim not to overwhelm her with his love but Spock stops short of saying that explicitly. And the reason this matters is Spock sees himself in Rayna. He sees what will happen if he allows himself human emotions.

It kills her.

So Spock, explains plainly to a clearly emotionally devastated Kirk why she died to answer Kirk’s question and to justify to himself why he will never let himself have these emotions. And Bones, Mr. “Emotions are good even when they’re bad,” stands there in silence because in this instance, what Spock is saying is literally correct.

“The joys of love made her human, and the agonies of love, destroyed her.”

Notice how the first half of that statement doesn’t have a positive connotation at all. It’s just “made her human.” Meanwhile the second half is clearly negative.

Yeah Bones was not gonna let Spock get away with saying that in the long term.

"You see, I feel sorrier for you than I do for him because you'll never know the things that love can drive a man to. The ecstasies, the miseries, the broken rules, the desperate chances, the glorious failures, the glorious victories. All of these things you'll never know simply because the word love isn't written into your book."

Is what Bones said fair? No. Could Bones have gone about it less harsh? Of course. But after what Spock said there was no freaking way Bones was gonna let him off the hook that easily.

In closing, Bones’ speech at the end makes sense when you take into account he’s shown to know how to manipulate Spock earlier in the episode and there was no way he was gonna let Spock get away with shit talking emotions to the degree that he did. Regardless of the accuracy Spock could have been kinder to Kirk and the old man. Instead, how Spock explained what happened left Kirk in such a state that he admits how lonely he is.

And he’s not even drunk.

Why Bones said what he said comes down to character motives not “was Bones right?”

#star trek tos #star trek #james t kirk #star trek watch through #spock #bones mccoy #leonard mccoy #requiem for methuselah #star trek meta #star trek analysis

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procrastinatorimagines · 2 years

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You knew Spock had feelings, all Vulcans did, they just didn't show them in a way humans, or most species, were used to, preferring to be guided by logic.

Your problem was that you didn't know whether Spock had feelings for you.

And you had no idea how to figure it out, without potentially making a fool of yourself. He didn't exactly wear his heart on his sleeve.

You were both working late, studying the artefact retrieved from the last away mission, and you couldn't stop watching him as he worked next to you at the table.

It took you a minute to realise you were even doing it, too tired and too distracted, until Spock turned to you, feeling your eyes on him.

"Are you alright?" He asked, causing you to sit up straight suddenly, feeling your cheeks heat up.

"Me? Er yeah, fine, just a little tired," you tried, mentally kicking yourself for how unconvincing you sounded.

"The tone of your voice indicates that you are no being entirely honest," Spock devised, placing the scanner he had in his hand down to give you his full attention, "if something is bothering you, you can tell me."

You hadn't anticipated doing this here and now, but you could tell that Spock was not going to let it go until you were honest with him.

"I've just, been thinking," you began, not really sure how to phrase this.

Spock raised one eyebrow, "thinking? About what?" He turned on his chair so his whole body was facing towards you.

"Vulcans and their... feelings," god, you were failing at this miserably.

"Our emotions?" He asked slowly and you nodded, "why the sudden curiosity?

"Forget I said anything," you replied quickly, feeling your cheeks heating up as you walked away.

"I can see from your embarassed reaction that I might have something wrong," Spock tried to deduce, angling his head slightly as he watched you.

"No, you haven't Spock, I mean it isn't-" you blabbed hopelessly, seeing no way out of the ginormous hole you dug for yourself.

Spock studied you for a moment, and then when you felt like you couldn't take his eyes burning into you any longer, what appeared to be a look of realisation passed over his face.

"Ah," he said, "I believe I know what this is about."

"You- you do?" You blinked, unsure of where this was going. You'd known Spock a long time, and the last thing you wanted to do was ruin your friendship.

"Yes," Spock said matter-of-factly, but then said nothing further for a long stretch of a moment.

"... and?" You prompted, not wanting to be the one to fill in the blanks in case you were wrong.

"And you are wondering if I have feelings for you," he told you, watching as you took a sharp inhale of breath. His statement had given nothing away.

"Spock-" you began, hoping to explain yourself in a way that would salvage his conversation.

"I do," he cut you off, and you felt the tension that had been building disipate instantly.

"You do?? You doublechecked, voice quieter than you'd intended.

"Yes, I believed that was obvious," he informed you, "we have been spending a lot of timetogether, working yes, but also eating together and spending time alone together for the sake of enjoying each other's company."

That was true, and it was when you'd developed feelings for him too, learning about each other, opening up to each other, finding out what you had in common...

He noticed your confused pause, and continued, "I can see now that this was not as obvious as I had previously thought, I apologise, on Vulcan-"

"No, it's okay Spock," you smiled, feeling a little silly, "I thought maybe, you know, that you did, but I didn't want to think I was reading into things the wrong way."

"I assure you, you were not," Spock promised, putting a hand on yours. You squeezed his hand, very much relieved

"Might I also assume," he added after a pause, "that this means you have feelings for me also?"

"Huh?" It took you a second to realise what he was asking, before you laugh, "oh, yes, yes I do."

"Good," he nodded, the corners of his lips twitching into what you would consider a smile for him, "because that would have made this rather awkward if not."

Before you could ask what this he was referring to, he leaned in and kissed you.

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bijoumikhawal · 1 year

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There is something funny about Garak bitchily comparing Julian to a Vulcan because actually. Yes. Julian feels so, so, so deeply and with great conviction. And he has to keep tight control on it because acting out of pure emotion could expose him as an augment, and after he's discovered as one it could be used against him. Even the anger we see Julian express is incredibly controlled- except, perhaps, with his father.

Just like a Vulcan. Which like- I have a lot of feelings about and you know I'm not the biggest TOS fan but me and my ex boyfriend did watch it on our little dates, and the way emotion and control over it in TOS is used with Vulcans does edge into Roddenberry's orientalism. It's this idea that Vulcans have an inherently beastial nature (which, we all have a beastial nature, we are beasts we are animals and the inverse is true in that beasts are people) that had to be reformed but when it comes to certain things- violence and sex- its more likely to come to fore. Very much reminds me of how people will comment that Egyptian men (and men from Muslim majority countries in general because they forget there are other religions) simply can't control themselves, and that social strictures must be put in place to help them. Like hiding a woman's hair. Which isn't to say this exploration of emotion in these terms is bad- I'm only commenting on what I remember of TOS and Roddenberry's comments about Vulcan male sexuality.

But with Julian specifically there ISN'T any implication of that. Instead the evocation is that of a person who's body is assumed to be violent learning to keep very careful control of themselves. Which are relevant to the way in which bodies like Julians- Black men, Arab men, Autistic men- are policed, especially in conjuction with each other and especially with a queer reading. It's not that Julian’s emotions are especially wild compared to another human beings. In fact, Siddig specifically went against script directions for Julian's behavior to remove typical expressions of a person (lbr a man) lashing out in anger- if the script says Julian punches a wall, instead he plays Julian leaning against it and sliding down to the floor, face downcast or in his hands. It still conveys being overwhelmed, but it's a very different behavior.

No, it's that his emotions could be perceived as wild, as especially frightening, and used to deprive him of his freedom and autonomy.

#Cipher talk #Ds9 #Julian bashir #Bashir fan club

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ensignsimp · 4 months

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Starry Eyed: TNG FC Solkar x Fem! Reader (2/3)

A/N: Here is part two! Finally right? This part got to be so long! I'm going to have to make it three parts!

Prompt: Solkar reads an old Terran romance novel. (Oh gods.)

Terran mating was more complicated than Solkar expected. He had read the book Cochrane had given to him. However, it did not yield the results he was looking for. He attempted to follow the book's instructions but was stopped when he asked Sloane where he could acquire a horse.

"Why do you need a horse?" Lily asked confusion plastered on her face.

"I require it for the Terran Mating Ritual," Solkar stated as if it were a common fact.

"Who told you that?" She asked, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

Solkar pulled the book from his robe pocket and handed it to Sloane. She took the book and rolled her eyes, letting out a long frustrated sigh. "That's where that went. I loaned it to Zef and then it disappeared."

She looked back at Solkar who had an eyebrow raised in equal confusion. "This isn't that kind of book, it's, it's a," She stammered, struggling to explain the difference between real human relationships and a sexy fantasy novel. "A work of fiction, it's not real."

Solkar was more confused than ever. "If it is fiction, how does a Terran Mating Ritual take place?"

Lily went quiet, she went to open her mouth but closed it again, as if she were recanting an unspoken statement. "You know, I have to go." She turned away completely shellshocked.

Solkar realized that this must be a sensitive subject for their species as well even with their open displays of emotion. He decided to return to the bar to see if could observe Terrans more closely.

"Perhaps I may learn through observation." Solkar thought

When he reached the bar he noticed quite a few patrons already sitting in pairs. He watched their behaviors closely, some were just speaking, while others held hands or caressed each other's faces. Then in one of the darker corners of the bar, he noticed a pair of Terrans biting each other.

He found Zefram at the bar arguing with (Y/N). He gained his attention waving subtly, "Please, Cochrane, approach."

He quickly jostled over to him, pulled up a chair to the table, and sat across from him. When he was close enough Solkar carefully pointed at the couple. "I believe those patrons are attacking each other."

He looked over to where he was pointing and gave out a bolstering laugh. He even slapped the table a couple of times. Solkar did not understand why Cochrane would have such a reaction.

"No, no, they're, they're kissing." He said wiping a tear from his eye.

Solkar raised an eyebrow in bewilderment. "Kissing?"

"It's what humans do when we like each other. It's a way of showing affection." He sighed, still chuckling. "I was wondering when those two would get together."

Solkar examined the display more closely, the couple had their lips pressed together, one even licked the other's lower lip. He felt his face flush at the erotic display. Zefram watched their otherworldly visitor with a soft smile.

"What do you do to show affection to each other?" He asked in a cocky tone, leaning in.

Solkar looked away from the couple quickly aiming his gaze on the far wall. "We do not perform such displays in public on Vulcan."

He still didn't have much reference of what to do. However, he decided that sticking his tongue down her throat was not a good way to start. He looked back to Cochrane sitting across from him who was still red-faced from laughing so hard.

"You never did tell me who you were referring to the other night." Zefram said, "Come on tell me."

Solkar was rather unsure if he should divulge the information so he shyly pointed to (Y/N) who was helping another couple across the bar. Zefram's eyes widened in surprise, and he looked back at Solkar.

"Really?" He sounded caught off guard. "Her?"

Solkar nodded, "I istaya tor, tor ish-veh t'nash-veh katelau. "

Cochrane looked befuddled then shook his head. "If you want to try be my guest."

Lily then walked into the bar, most likely looking for Cochrane. She went up to (Y/N) and talked briefly before she turned to Cochrane and Solkar. She quickly strode over to Cochrane with her book in hand, then once in range smacked him on the head with it.

"What are you doing giving this to him?" She snapped

"Ow, hey, I was only trying to help." Zefram said rubbing his head "You know I'm not very good with these things."

She looked to Solkar who stiffened slightly.

"Who is it?" Lily asked.

Zefram jabbed his thumb over his shoulder towards (Y/N). Lily let out an exasperated sigh and looked at Solkar with kinder eyes.

"I'm sorry Zef confused you." She pulled up a chair, "But he's right, he can be useless about these things. Why don't you tell me how this all started?"

Solkar folded his hands atop the table. "(Y/N) was one of the first humans I had a social interaction with. I hold a deep respect for her, she has made this social gathering spot available to my crew as well as myself and I find her behaviors fascinating."

Lily and Zefram looked at each other, they were not sure what to expect. They looked back at Solkar who's face was slightly flushed green.

"Have you told her any of this?" Zefram asked.

Solark shook his head in the negative. "It was why I was trying to learn how to initiate the Terran Mating Ritual."

Lily smacked her forehead realizing what he had finally meant, "Solkar are you trying to ask her out on a date?"

"A date?" Solkar asked

"It's when you spend time together to get to know each other," Lily said.

"In my culture, our parents arrange our bonds at seven." Solkar stated casually, "We can choose later whether or not to change the arrangement."

"Wait so you're married?" Lily asked shocked.

"I am not currently bound in any such way. My prior mate preferred another." Solkar said he seemed a little disheartened.

"So you're divorced?" Zefram said raising his eyebrows amused.

"While match-making services are available, I did not see any logical reason for seeking their aid," Solkar said.

Zefram leaned back into his chair for a moment, "The first human-vulcan relationship. We're really in unexplored territory."

"I'd try talking to her during the metroshower lucky for us it cleared up just in time for everyone to see it," Lily said smiling almost laughing.

"I do not understand," Solkar was unsure of what his new companions meant, "How would that be the most logical time to request such an event?"

"Trust me, it will be romantic." Lily said

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hopefulcanary · 10 months

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I'm seeing a lot more "McCoy is racist [against Vulcans]" crossing my dash which... is sure an opinion.

A shit one, for sure.

Especially when Disco & SNW have leaned pretty hard into that "humans are lesser because ew emotional cooties" nugget (hm, what's a word for that), without the softness they've shown in previous iterations. When a Vulcan Fleet admiral shows zero empathy for a literal refugee, and y'know, actually seems to delight in targeting Una for being an Illyrian.

Especially when Amanda Grayson herself acknowledges to her own son how hard it's been for her as a human, living in Vulcan society. When Michael dealt with her own shit as an adoptee. When Spock is shown to bridle against this society who's fucked him up for being different.

When the argument hinges on treating Spock like he's a fragile baby boy somehow at the mercy of this supposed racist af human doctor, when the reality is he's a senior officer who sure spends some time being obviously hostile to a subordinate, sometimes without cause, but always with that rank behind him while he implies or outright states how unskilled he believes the CMO of the fucking fleet flagship is. In front of other officers too, just for some fun undermining action? Yep!

I love Spock, I think he's fucking amazing and I love how much depth we're getting, but ffs denying that in TOS he has both the power in this dynamic, and that he's from a planet of equal power to Earth's in the Federation (sorry fans who also think Vulcan is some backwater world that Earth somehow subjugates) which is shown to have really mercilessly racist opinions of humans all the way up to the highest echelons, is just...

Denial.

Like do y'all realize how much The Galileo Seven in a post-SNW context makes Spock actually look pretty dang cruel and monstrous?

McCoy is obviously a complex character with an attitude, who has no qualms in clapping back to authority himself and obviously has an issue with Spock, solo. He's also a man shown to be pretty damn respectful of Vulcans as a whole, and in cases where he isn't, it's because he thinks the cultural aspect he's critiquing is harmful and shitty.

Which I wish the parts of fandom taking an issue with that a big sarcastic Welcome to Dr McCoy, because that's a huge part of his characterization. He does that to everyone. He's the goddamn emotional heart of the Triumvirate, and he reacts emotionally to horrible shit. He and Spock are stellar foils for that.

This got away from me and I could add so much more (who did Spock ask to be there for his nuptials? who did he entrust with his Katra?) lmfao but just, in closing...

Vulcan cultural norms ought to be critiqued if they're relying on acting like weirdo supremacists because they don't grossly emote like nasty humans.

For fuck's sake. 🙄

#no I'm not tagging it #will probably delete later but I'm so mad like #at the end of the day the entire fandom are still humans #and y'all realize that neurodivergent ppl with all our sloppy emotions wouldn't be welcome in vulcan society #I'd probably enjoy the structure but my introverted adhd ass would suffer so fucking hard #keep that in mind #like. Christ Vulcans couldn't even deal with a dyslexic child? yikes

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swimmingwolf59 · 3 days

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For the wip game

Half-vulcan McCoy

This is a saga that I hope I will finish at least some of lol, from the idea that Spock and McCoy are both half Vulcan half human and are bonded to each other as children. McCoy is trans, they don't get along at first as kids, but then their bond grows deeper as they grow up together. It would span many years and theoretically get to TOS someday lol, but most of it isn't really out of my head yet, so we'll see 😅

Here's a snippet for you!

They are in the same class, and on Lenora’s first day the classroom bullies descend on her immediately. It is the first time they have left Spock alone, but it is not a relief.

Lenora’s approach to dealing with them is different from Spock’s – she fights, and she snarls, and she hurls insults right back at them. Her emotions are vibrantly on display, and this only seems to make the taunts worse.

“It is illogical to fight back,” Spock tells her when he finds Lenora huddled in a corner, applying a dermal regenerator to the bruises on her shins. “They will only taunt you more.”

“I don’t care what they say,” Lenora grumbles, not looking at him. “They just tease me about my emotions because they’re too scared to face their own.”

Spock hesitates for a moment and then slides down the wall until he is sitting next to Lenora, close but not touching. “Our parents wish for us to become bondmates.”

“I know.” Lenora clicks off the dermal regenerator, admiring her work. Spock glances over it as well – the patchwork is crude, but her lines are straight, suggesting she has sturdy hands well-suited for medical endeavors.

“Do you wish to bond with me?”

Lenora scoffs. “I don’t even know you. Mother never mentioned this tradition before – I don’t get why it’s so important.”

“…Neither do I,” Spock admits. “Father insists on it, however.”

Lenora picks at her newly generated skin, and Spock has a strange impulse to reach over and grab her wrist to stop her. He doesn’t. “You wouldn’t wanna be constantly exposed to my mind. Trust me.”

“My mother has convinced me to withhold judgment until we have melded.”

Lenora rolls her eyes. “You don’t even like me.”

“Nor do you like me.”

#star trek tos #spones #wip game #thanks for the ask!!

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whovianwatchingstartrek · 5 months

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A Whovian Watches Star Trek for the First Time: Part 113 - Followers of the Red Angel

Star Trek: Discovery - Season 2 Episode 2 - New Eden

Sorry it's been a few days, haven't had time to watch because my Partner's been sick, and I've been looking after him. He's doing better now, so I'm back!

We open this episode with Michael showing Pike the audio recording that Spock left behind at the end of last episode. It's very clear that these signals are related to whatever visions Spock has been having. Apparently, Spock has also been booked into a psychiatric facility, through his own choice.

Discussion about Spock are interrupted however by another Signal appearing. It is extremely far away though, hundreds of year's at Discovery's Top Speed. Pike give's the order to reactivate the Spore Drive. Paul Stamets here is great, I love how the episode is cutting through his grief and his philosophy over life, death and how it relates to him seeing Hugh in the Spore network.

Meanwhile on the bridge, we meet a mystery: There are humans on this planet! Humans who have apparently been here since before the Earth Achieved Warp capabilities. Enterprise did a similar episode, and it was a fun excuse for a western, so that immediately got my hopes up to see if we were gonna Genre shift here too, which we didn't particularly, but this pre-industrial world was still a fun setting

Apparently, these humans arrival on this planet happened during Earth's WW3, which a bit about in Enterprise, but ENT never really went into detail about WW3, so I'm hoping this is a chance to explore that. Unfortunately that didn't pan out. I am still hoping information about WW3 is something we'll get eventually, it seems like a pretty big part of Star Trek Earth's history to leave entirely vague.

We get a little bit of debate between Pike and Michael's different perspectives on what the signals are, Michael taking a more hardline Scientific approach, where as Pike takes a more philosophical approach, assuming these Red Angel signals are some kind of really advanced species and modifies the Sufficiently Advance Technology adage to apply to deities. Kinda reminded me T'Pol's and Archer's "The Vulcan Science Directorate has determined that time travel is impossible" conversations in a way. I find Pike brining up the idea of a god interesting, Enterprise did briefly touch on Religion, but from experience would the first time anything like that has been brought up in relation to a crew member, and I'm curious to see how that's explored.

Over in the hanger bay, Sylvia is working on her Dark matter project, I love her enthusiasm, and just devotion to use it to make a new Spore navigation system so Paul can retire. She's perfect. Unfortunately, it goes wrong and she's knocked unconscious. I love Saru's little speech about how she needs to not overwork herself.

Discovery sends down a ground crew to the planet, and they explore it's church, which apparently has amalgamated a lot Earth's religions together. The worldbuilding of their society is actually really interesting. Apparently, these humans were taken here by Spock's Red Angel, Michael of course wants a more rational explanation, but isn't getting one. We do find out a Soldier's camera recorded this transfer. Our team ask to take shelter in the town's church, as a ruse to find this Camera, but meanwhile on the bridge, one of the planet's radioactive rings is about to collapse and cause the planet's extinction. Saru gives the order to start the rescue of the planet's populace.

Unaware of the impending disaster, we then a little debate between Pike and Michael about whether or not these humans should be reintegrated into Earth Society or if they should be left to develop on their own. They're discovered though, and they're tech is taken so that their captors can prove they're from earth. From here on out, the ground crew get to do some pretty clever low tech solutions to problems, which I loved.

In Medbay, Sylvia starts thinking through a plan to pull the debris away from the planet using the Dark Matter Meteor, and it works! Our ground crew get their tech back, and are extracted back to Enterprise while maintaining their cover. We're then left with a reveal that Sylvia has been seeing a ghost!

Pike returns to the planet to trade a power cell for the Soldier's helmet cam, to find out more info on the Red Angels, and after repairing it aboard discovery, we see that the angel is indeed real, however the feed cuts out shortly after it appears.

I really liked this episode, and I'm loving the build up of the mystery around whatever the Red Angels are, and the various moral and philosophical debates here great. Sylvia Tilly as always was a highlight

#whovian watching star trek #star trek #star trek Discovery #Star Trek DIS #Star Trek DISCO #ST DIS #ST DISCO #DIS #st: disco #DISCO #st: discovery #Discovery #ST: DIS

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