#This gif is to share a little bit of whimsy and joy with you all. Because we are having so much fun!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

A fierce duel commences!

[goofyjelly]

you ever read something and start getting a para-social relationship with the AUTHOR?! that's me reading this one specific star trek book.

Like, whenever I recognize a specific thing he does I literally put the book down for a sec and go "Oh, that's so Greg." (Greg Bear loves to end paragraphs with "..." all the time, and also to randomly detail just How Horny Is Kirk Right Now? (updates that we are all dying to know, of course) )

On that note, this post will now become a long post where I drop some highlights of this book. Im having the time of my life btw, this is enrichment for me.

CORONA (by Greg Bear)

first of, yes, that name might not have aged the best- but theres no way Mr Bear could have known that 💀😭

Our main character is Rowena Mason, a reporter from an earth colony on a planet called Yalbo. And prior to this investigative reporting stint she's going on the Enterprise, she's never been off her home planet and has never seen non-humans in real life before.

We stan including that one bit from the movies!!!

Also Kirk doesn't call her Mister and instead moves to a first name basis, so he's the only one calling her Rowena which would be disrespectful if they weren't on the same very specific wavelength so props to the both of them for vibing each other out I guess.

Also it's slightly canonically accurate in the way that no one wants a reporter on the ship, so to preemptively stop her from reporting anything too bad, Kirk starts being a little flirty. we love to see Kirk flirting for the good of the ship.

CRAZY parallels btw. Im just- I don't have anything else to say other than this is perfect and I absolutely love this book. reading is about having fun and I am having so much fun here y'all.

(also, a prime example of the "..." thing I mentioned earlier ^^^. yes I'm insane. yes this is so fun to me. and YES, I have so much joy and whimsy reading books)

She's just a country bumpkin!

also we're 37 pages in and they've reached first name basis after Kirk's not so subtle flirting.

Mr Bear- can I call you Greg? Greg, your mind works in mysterious and fascinating ways and I am loving it.

I had to physically put my book down and take a walk after that one. AND I CANT EVEN EXPLAIN THIS TO ANYONE! NOT ONLY DO THE PEOPLE AROUND ME NOT KNOW STAR TREK, BUT EVEN IF THEY DID-

I'm normal y'all.

I felt the need to share this entire interaction.

I also have no idea how canon this book is (I'm not talking about how canon are ALL star trek books, I'm talking this one specifically).

There are a lotta inconsistencies i.e., they can go up to warp 12 comfortably, every Starfleet officer has a chip in their brain so they can receive confidential information, and, my favorite thus far;

McCoy doesn't record his personal logs on a computer, he has a physical, paper diary and ball point pens he keeps in his quarters. (which, I mean, this could be canon. technically he's never said he *doesn't* have a diary-)

also I just realized that I've been able to do this whole post without giving spoilers for the book's actual plot- like, when plot is going on Greg locks the fuck in, its awesome.

And now, on a note bordering spoilers: why do we put Chekov through so much ? (not just a Corona™ Thing, but the whole franchise just wants this little guy to suffer a bit- that's really harsh 😭)

Also also I think it's a lovely choice how Kirk is just chronically horny throughout the whole novel. Like, every once in a while Greg will drift off into Kirk's thoughts and what he's thinking about and it'll usually end in Kirk being like "shit, nows probably not the time to be horny. I've gotta Lock In". I love it. 10/10 no notes

tldr; I'm having fun reading the Trek Books lol. I've got a few and I've finished around three so far. They're all so fascinating to me (pun definitely intended)