#Uhura: ... i genuinely have no idea

[rollforjackass]

i truly and honestly believe that it would have been much funnier if snw had spock just. 100% miss out on anything crazy that happened. time travel shenanigans? he was in the lab. ship invaded? meditating. gets split into two separate versions of himself? no wonder reports were getting done twice as fast!

man has the most normal and boring starship tour of his life up until the events of the cage happen, remains totally unimpressed with humans and the federation in general, and then hops aboard with kirk and experiences the most batshit five years of his whole life

[t0ast-ghost]

S2 episode 25 (Bread And Circuses) oh goodness oh my. I’m not ready. I’m so ready.

Okay get ready:

- They’re all standing on the enterprise bridge completely still. As if in tableau.

- Of course they’re beaming down to a dangerous planet with only the top three officers. Why even use reason at this point.

- Kirk outside the ship in his green shirt <3 (I keep thinking of it as his pjs)

- McCoy is very hostile towards Spock today. Hope they don’t get put in a situation with sharp objects…

- “Once, just once, I’d like to land someplace and say, ‘behold, I am the archangel Gabriel.’” “I fail to see the humour in that situation, Doctor.” “Naturally. You could hardly claim to be an angel with those point ears, Mr. Spock. But say you landed someplace with a pitchfork.” This is proving my theory that they’re the angel and devil on Kirk’s shoulders

- “We come from another… province.” Canadian moment

- “What do you call those?” “I call them ears.” There is no end to Spock’s audacity

- “Captain, I thought you might find this interesting.” Spock hands Kirk a newspaper with a shirtless man on the cover

- “Will you help us?” No one can outright deny this twunk

- Spock in a hat

- McCoy in a regular short sleeve shirt and bell bottom pants is <3

- no words for this one

- it’s like this episodes message is mirroring our own world or something… nah

- McCoy is already picking fights. Spock is indulging him. They’re not enemies to lovers. They’re enemies AND lovers.

- McCoy not afraid to slap a bitch

- So Merrick killed all of his crew… right?

- McCoy and Spock just flirting (debating) in public

- AND they threatened McCoy and Spock

- As Jim takes the communicator to assumedly order the crew down he has a shit eating grin… so it’s safe to assume he’s not gonna do that

- “Must you always be so blasted honest?!”

- He’s just talking on his cellphone

- Scotty is talking to his diary, Uhura is listening

- Jim is so scared for what’s about to happen

- McCoy and Spock about to face off against two shirtless men

- “I don’t mind fighting but… why you?” That gladiator took one look at them and went, ‘why are they making us fight these two nerds?’

- Camera goes to McCoy -> sound guy ups the catcalls

- I love Spock fighting really hard in the background and McCoy just.. he don’t want to

- “Do you need any help, Doctor?” “What ever gave you that idea?” “[random gladiator]Fight, you pointed eared freak!” “You tell him, buster! Of all the completely… ridiculous, illogical questions I ever heard in my life!” Then Bones falls on his ass and Spock comes to his rescue, happily ever after

- Those pants make Kirk’s ass look flat… unfair

- Spock trying to break the bars while McCoy sits in the most strange way possible

- Spock has tried to get them out the same way fifteen times. He wants his boyfriends safe.

- Me: awww McCoy and Spock having a genuine moment… nope they can’t last ten seconds (maybe they are divorced)

- McCoy pins Spock against the wall of the cell to make his point

- Spock’s pouty expression…

- “Why you wouldn’t know what to do with a genuine warm decent feeling.” “Really doctor?” They’re giving each other ‘fuck me’ eyes

- Their fight ended with “I’m worried about Jim too” like McCoy knows Spock feels emotions but represses them and is ‘trying’ to understand him

- Kirk, I implore you not to kiss this woman- that went out the window so fast

- Never mind what I said about the pants making his ass flat. I was severely wrong. Forgive me.

- KIRK STRAIGHT UP KILLED THOSE GUYS

- Ohhh Merrick stole the communicator

- Kirk giving commendation to Scotty for not breaking the prime directive is priceless. ‘Good self control, Mr Scott.’

- I love how Spock and McCoy are both saying things about Flavius (agreeing with each other)and as soon as Spock speaks about studying the sun religion, McCoy looks like he’s going to explode

I both like and hate the relationship they have with Spock and McCoy in this one cause it’s so magnetic but I don’t know if it’ll ever be evolved past this and that makes me sad.

Masterpost

Episode written by Gene Roddenberry and Gene L. Coon

[thegeminisage]

ok, now that i've watched all of tos (none of the movies yet...) i am going to do the top ten worst and best episodes, according to Me. they are as follows:

WORST EPISODES

10. the savage curtain - idk who thought putting abe lincoln in a cage match with the vulcan version of ghandi against like, ghengis khan and space hitler would be a good idea. but it wasn't. i did like seeing the vulcan father of logic though like "im gonna go sacrifice myself for peace" ok king

9. i, mudd - all of the mudd episodes are bad. he's not charming at all whatsoever. however, this one is better than the other one because uhura gets to pretend to sell out kirk and they're SOOO cute about it. her little giggle when he PICKS HER UP BY HER SHOULDERS and tells her how proud he is. PLEEEEASE

8. charlie x - the entire premise of this episode is that the bad guy is just autistic. and then they make him live on a planet without people because he can't adjust to normal life ???

7. shore leave - obvious racism of this episode aside, the faux-irish jig that played while kirk was being menaced by his extremely unfunny old bully nearly drove me over the edge. we DO love a good mccoy death fakeout tho

6. a piece of the action - if i had any interest in gangster films before this it's all gone now. that being said. i loved when kirk drove the little car. he was so bad at it. he was so happy.

5. mudd's women - like he's literally just selling women?? and the plot twist is that secretly they're ugly?????

4. who mourns for adonias - this is just "what if ALIENS build the pyramids bro" except for the 1960s. nail in the coffin for this one was kirk proudly declaring they didn't needs gods - because they already had the One God, thank you very much!

3. the paradise syndrome - WHY WOULD YOU HAVE NATIVE AMERICANS MISTAKE KIRK FOR GOD. WHY. like i know why but Why. i think the very worst part of this episode was that it had an amnesia plot that would have FUCKED if you had simply removed the people. if there hadn't been people in this it would've been in my top 10 episodes. i think this broke me.

2. the omega glory - this is the same as the last episode except there's no amnesia, and also the "native americans" are white cosplayers who worship the american flag and mistake kirk for god because he can recite the pledge of allegiance yes really. if i had a nickel for every time this happened i'd only have two nickels etc etc at least kirk didn't knock anybody up in this one ig

1. patterns of force - why would you make your two jewish leads wear swastikas and then literally be whipped by nazis. i know he's such a bad person but not even william shatner deserves that. number one worst episode everyone says it's omega glory but it's this one

BEST EPISODES

10. plato's stepchildren - this episode is hard to rank because like it's both good and bad. the torture scenes were genuinely upsetting, especially the ones at the end w/ spock & nurse chapel, because they weren't just violence being inflicted on tied up guys, but they were SUPPOSED to be upsetting, like it was literally the point. and also this episode bears the distinction of THEEE kirk & uhura kiss. literally historic.

9. the trouble with tribbles - i feel like everyone's heard of this but it really is as good as everyone says. sometimes 1960s humor doesn't translate to 2020s humor but it was genuinely hysterical start to finish. also, the distinct trilling sound was so imprinted in my brain i recognized it in the 2009 movie where i had never registered it before.

8. the naked time - aside from the KING SHIT george takei pulled with the fencing this episode also contains the "i am in control of my emotions [sobbing]" moment and kirk & spock LITERALLY having a slapfight. this episode has everything. an absolute masterpiece

7. the empath - i feel like this paired with "the world is hollow and i have touched the sky" really made me a Bones Understander. i feel a little bad about that bc everyone says the characterizations in s3, or actually that the season as a whole, is kinda shaky? but i watched without knowing that and i feel like i Get It now. also, this was the only score i went and relistened to on spotify

6. tholian web - the spock & mccoy episode ever. there's so many things to say about this from the death fakeout to kirk's little space suit but what TRULY got me was the instant and totally nonverbal agreement to lie straight to kirk's face to both preserve personal dignity and troll the shit out of him (while chekov and sulu are like also silently laughing as they listen in no less). what this episode made me realize was that it's a good thing they argue all the time and make kirk play referee because if they were on the same side kirk wouldn't stand a chance. like he'd be finished.

5. the city on the edge of forever - ok, so, this episode made me feel like i was having a mental break. the time travel. spock's little hat. when he watches kirk kiss edith and then goes back into their room to pretend he didn't see anything. mccoy and kirk basically hugging at the end when edith bites it.

4. requiem for methuselah - the first time i watched this i was kinda like :/ because how does kirk fall in love with a woman in FOUR HOURS? that aside the ending scene blew my tits clean off. i paced around my house for like 30 minutes going "what the FUCK was that" because i couldn't simply lie down and sleep after seeing it. rewatching the episode with uh. new context made me like it a little better. but even if it had been garbage the last scene shook me so thoroughly it would still need to be on this list. i'm getting wound up just thinking about it. number one most shocking tos moment.

3. the dagger of the mind - look, i understand that this episode was technically just run-of-the-mill stuff as far as everybody else is concerned but they put james t kirk in a little brainwashing machine. and the machine was shaped like a chair. and it gives people amnesia sometimes. i don't know how i'm expected to behave normally

2. this side of paradise - this is the episode where a flower jizzes on spock and gives him feelings. and look: it's really funny, and there's a lot to love about it. but the ending where kirk hurls verbal abuse at spock for a solid 92 seconds WITHOUT STOPPING followed by: spock beating the shit out of him until he gets his logic back. i have rewatched this perhaps 1,000 times at minimum. what the fuck were they doing

1. conscience of the king - this episode got me into this mess. i don't think i can elaborate further without significant self-incrimination. let's just say what happened was i thought "oh i'll just watch this one tos episode for context for the fanfiction" and one month later i'm writing fic about [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT

ok, that's my list. i thought about doing honorable mentions for episodes that had scenes i liked even though the overall episode didn't make it into my top 10. but then i realized that would mean recapping basically the entire series and this post is already too long. i do have to give the pon farr episode a shoutout though because even though so much of it was offputting there was literally a titty window in kirk's shirt. like, it's the pon farr episode. ok NOW i'm done

[tea-earl-grey]

finished TAS!!!! which also means I've now finished all of Star Trek... post incoming about that. but first – my TAS review under the cut:

i honestly wasn't looking forward to TAS much. i hadn't really heard about it other than fans lovingly poking fun at the animation and a couple of references made in Lower Decks so i expected it to pretty much be nothing with the occasional funny line but i was pleasantly surprised.

don't get me wrong... it doesn't attempt any of the social commentary or unique scifi ideas that TOS did and the vibes are much more Saturday morning cartoon but once you know that, it's really fun! in some ways, i enjoyed it more than s3 of TOS (well there's less sexism & racism at least which is a pretty low standard to set).

yes, the animation is clunky for modern standards but it has good vibes & nostalgia to it and a lot of the background drawings/alien design is really good and allows for so much more flexibility than live action (yet again why there should be more animated Trek but unfortunately Paramount seems determined to keep cancelling things).

it's been said before but Yesteryear is the clear stand-out episode. most of the other episodes are fine and fun but Yesteryear goes out of its way to present a really great character study of Spock & exploration of growing up mixed race in a xenophobic society. in TOS proper it was so rare to get genuine character insights (part of the reason TOS was a frustrating watch for me) so this episode was an absolute coup and should be a must-watch for all Trekkies.

all of the other episodes were pretty okay. most of them had big "let's put those guys in Situations" energy and were well aware of it. (yeah sure Kirk & Spock got turned into water-breathers why not? of course we're going to defend the Devil on trial. sure let's send the gang on a mythical quest outside of our universe.) i did really appreciate that there was a focus put on characters other than Kirk, Spock, & McCoy. it was great to see Uhura command the Enterprise and have a whole episode of just Spock, Sulu, & Uhura together having an adventure.

and in my opinion the boring/bad episodes of TAS were much more tolerable than the bad episodes of TOS because of the half an hour run time. so often in TOS, there was a good episode concept and a great first fifteen minutes and then the story started to meander to pad out the runtime until the end. whereas in TAS, the episodes ran quick enough that either they didn't run into pacing problems or the poorer episodes were quick enough that i didn't start to resent them.

would i recommend TAS as a show in general? if you're a Trekkie and like TOS era – sure! it's a fun continuation of TOS just like the books and comics. if you're not huge on TOS but like Lower Decks – check out a few episodes because Lower Decks has a lot of alien species/gags that come from TAS. if you don't like either TOS or Lower Decks – maybe watch Yesteryear but i wouldn't be in a rush to watch the rest.

overall – fun but nothing super special.

[fluorescentbrains]

God I feel like they’re trying so hard to “fix” chapel in snw and doing a horrible job of it. Like not saying tos wasn’t outrageously misogynistic in many ways but I’m not sure turning the relatively mild mannered nurse in unrequited love with Spock into this (kind of generic) action hero baddie who is Spock’s sexual awakening that he cheated on his fiancée with was really the move. I know one of her major story points was losing her fiancé/teacher which explains in part why she’s so much more subdued in tos but it still feels like she had a seismic personality shift between snw and tos that she never really recovered from? And every development between Spock and Chapel just makes things that happened in tos/tas so much worse. People are allowed to change their mind about commitment and stuff but the idea that Spock at his absolute worst is what gets her to want to settle with one guy is kind of horrifying.

I feel like they did a mich better job developing Uhura in a way that felt organic to her tos counterpart? I’d much rather she and Spock have a romance that resolves on good terms and they stay friends (hypothetically I’m not sure it’d work with Uhura as a cadet).

Or have SNW chapel be a completely new character for the show so she can ditch Spock eventually? I feel like it would have worked out so much better if she was like, TOS chapel’s sister. She and Spock still have a thing but eventually she moves on and leaves, Spock’s kind of torn up about it when tos chapel joins the crew and starts developing a crush on him; Spock can’t return her feelings even if he wanted to because romance in general isn’t something he’ll ever excel at and he has no idea how to balance his lingering feelings with professionalism and hers that he doesn’t return—but presumably they get better and become real equal friends by tmp

that’s the thing that gets me like everything they’re doing with t’pring and chapel is making the already dubious stuff that happens in tos WORSE… the implication that chapel is going to be hung up on spock for like 10 years while the fire slowly goes out of her just sucks so bad.

and it really does reduce her storyline to constant spock drama. they could’ve written her as having a crush on spock without turning it into a love triangle. it could’ve even been genuinely sad and poignant that she knows and the audience knows her feelings will never go anywhere, just as we know what happens to pike… alas. the gods of heterosexuality demand a sacrifice

[lenievi]

[aos spones] post-Beyond snippet

I found a thing, it’s probably like 2+ years old, but... maybe I should write a post-Beyond fic one day... it’s spones, it’s just a snippet (it’s actually about 1 600 words lol), it’s set in an AU where Spock and Uhura never dated, so don’t get confused during the first scene. STID didn’t happen but what happened at that time was that McCoy’s father died.

---

“That is why I decided to redirect my efforts and continue his work… on New Vulcan.”

The words pierced McCoy’s chest as if a wild beast cut its claws into him and opened him up. That wasn’t supposed to happen.

“You…” He wet his lips. “You’re leaving Starfleet?”

Spock looked away.

McCoy’s mind was a whirlwind of emotions and questions. He grasped the one that seemed the safest. “What did Jim have to say about that?”

“I could not find the time to tell him,” Spock replied.

“Well, I can tell you he’s not gonna like that. Hell, I don’t know what he’d do without you.” Jim was clever and resourceful, but he needed someone to bounce his ideas off. McCoy sure as hell didn’t even try to humor him most of the time. “Me—you know, me, on the other hand, I’d—I’d throw a party.” It was weak. He wasn’t fooling anyone.

Spock gave him a smile. 

McCoy chuckled.

Spock shifted and their arms brushed. McCoy focused on the ring on his little finger.

“Three years ago, when my dad died… I wanted to leave. To continue his job,” he said quietly. “I didn’t join Starfleet because I wanted to. I saw a flier.” He huffed out a laugh. “Hell, even now I’m not sure I like it. But... I’m still here. Want to know why?”

Spock touched his cheek. Lightly, the tips of his fingers caressed along McCoy’s jaw before they stopped under his lower lip. 

McCoy’s eyes widened. “What’re you…” he breathed out.

“Leonard,” Spock muttered, pupils dilated, mouth slightly open.

The sound of McCoy’s given name, so foreign on Spock’s lips, startled him. McCoy looked at Spock. Really looked at him and grasped his shoulders. “My god, you’re getting delirious!” McCoy maneuvered Spock and lowered him on the ground, letting his head rest in his lap. “Stay conscious. We’ll move in half an hour.”

McCoy leaned against the cave wall and looked at the ceiling. He closed his eyes, still feeling the lingering sensation from Spock’s touch on his face. What was that? What the hell was that?

-

Spock’s blood loss was a problem. It prevented him from entering the Vulcan healing trance. And he needed it. Badly. McCoy hoped that Spock would be able to walk soon. If they left the rocky complex, perhaps his communicator would be able to pick up something. Someone. 

“Doctor,” Spock said softly.

McCoy looked down, noticing his fingers in Spock’s hair, tangled and gripping the coarse strands. He blinked, easing his grip. “Sorry.”

Spock raised his brow, and McCoy snatched his hand away. 

“Sorry,” McCoy repeated, avoiding Spock’s piercing eyes. 

Maybe he hit his head more than he initially thought.

Spock sat up. “I am able to move now.”

“Good.” McCoy stood up, brushing the dust away from his uniform. “Good.” He offered Spock his hand and pulled him up. “Let’s go.”

-

McCoy glanced at Jim. He stood alone, leaning his forearms on a high table, and watched the construction of future Enterprise-A. McCoy smiled into his glass. 

Since early afternoon, Jim couldn’t stop talking, couldn’t hide his smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes. McCoy had groaned and grumbled, but hearing Jim’s deep laugh and seeing his genuine smile after months, was a weight off McCoy’s mind. Even if this time the Enterprise had disappeared in the cloud of swarm and left them mourning. As they said – every cloud had a silver lining, and if the result was a happy Jim, McCoy would take it with both hands, no questions asked.

He raised his glass at Jim’s back and drank.

The sofa depressed as someone sat on his left side. McCoy turned his head and met Spock’s eyes.

“You’re still here?” McCoy asked, eyes widening.

“An illogical question, Doctor, since you can see me.”

“Aren’t you in a good mood?” McCoy smiled, just a small upturning of his lips on one side. 

Eyeing the glass in McCoy’s hand, Spock said nothing. 

Three years ago, shortly before their five-year mission, Spock had found McCoy drunk in his apartment in San Francisco. They had never talked about it again, but McCoy hadn’t got drunk since then.

“I know my limits,” McCoy said, putting the empty glass on the table with a soft thud.

“I did not mean to imply—”

“You didn’t.” McCoy waved him off. He leaned against the back of the sofa, turning his body towards Spock. “What’s on your mind?”

“Your ring.”

“My ring? What about it?” McCoy frowned and examined his little finger, where a thick, white gold band was. His chest tightened as he thought of its previous owner.

“Three years ago—”

“No.” McCoy shook his head. “No. We’re not doing that.”

“Doctor—”

“I have a meeting at Yorktown’s Medical Center tomorrow morning,” McCoy said, ignoring the drop in his stomach. “I should go.”

As McCoy stood up, Spock caught McCoy’s wrist. 

“I apologize.” He tugged at McCoy’s hand. 

McCoy lost his balance and fell on the sofa, his shoulder slamming into Spock’s chest.

Spock let out a tiny hiss through his teeth.

“You okay?” McCoy asked, moving, his thigh brushing against Spock’s. 

Spock’s hand moved toward his side with a jerk before landing on his thigh, fingers curling into the fabric.

McCoy saw red. “Why didn’t you go into the healing trance?” He grasped the hem of Spock’s dark blue shirt and pulled it above the navel. The scar was an ugly green and brown, surrounded by bruises.

“My mind was otherwise occupied,” Spock said, avoiding McCoy’s gaze. “The scar is only a mild inconvenience. I’m not in danger, Doctor.”

“Mild inconvenience, my ass.” McCoy’s fingers hovered above the injury, close, but not quite touching. If he were a better pilot, the skin wouldn’t be scarred. If he had better equipment, Spock wouldn’t have to be in pain. Restoring it to its original smoothness would be a question of minutes. 

Spock shifted – just a light touch against McCoy’s knee.

Blinking, McCoy moved, so his knee didn’t touch Spock’s thigh anymore, and said, “You and I are going to the hospital. Tonight.”

“That won’t be necessary, Doctor.” Spock straightened and smoothed his shirt, covering the exposed skin. “I will go into the trance tonight.”

“No, I want to examine you.”

“May I remind you that you have no authority here,” Spock pointed out. “And you cannot order me.”

Spock’s words hit McCoy with unexpected strength. Something awful coiled in his stomach as he remembered what Spock had told him back on Altamid. “Right, when are you leaving?”

“Doctor?”

“You said you were leaving Starfleet, didn’t you?” McCoy stood up. “So of course I can’t fucking order you, but it was my fault, and I need—”

Spock seized his arm in an iron grip. “Calm yourself,” Spock whispered in his ear. “The Captain is coming.”

“Problems, gentlemen?” 

“None, sir,” Spock said, letting McCoy’s arm go. “Doctor McCoy just forgot to control his emotions. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Bones?” Jim’s eyes were searching.

“He ignores his health. Nothing out of the ordinary,” McCoy parroted, keeping his voice even. This was between him and Spock. No point in dragging Jim into it.

Jim studied them with a calm look. “It’s a wonder you two didn’t kill each other on Altamid,” he finally said.

McCoy rolled his eyes. If Jim thought he was being funny, he had another thing coming.

“Captain, I apologize,” Spock said, not sounding apologetic at all, “but there is something I and Doctor McCoy need to discuss.” Then the hard lines around his mouth softened. “And… happy birthday, Jim.”

Jim smiled and patted Spock on the arm, not saying anything. “Okay, go. Talk it out.” He waved his hand in a shoo motion. “I don’t want to see you arguing tomorrow at dinner.”

“Are we having dinner, Captain?”

“Do you have other plans?” Jim asked.

McCoy probably imagined Spock glancing his way before saying, “No. Dinner with you and Doctor McCoy is acceptable.”

Yet there was something off about his tone. Maybe he planned to talk to Jim tomorrow, and he didn’t want McCoy there? Hell, McCoy didn’t want to be there. Just imagining Jim’s face shattering after hearing Spock’s decision to leave the Starfleet made him want to punch Spock in the face. Stupid unfeeling bastard. At least he didn’t spring it on Jim on his birthday. That was his only redeeming quality at the moment.

“Doctor, shall we?”

McCoy nodded his goodbye at Jim and followed Spock out.

-

They walked in silence through Yorktown’s dimly lit streets and corridors. McCoy tried not to think about the buildings above their heads, hanging like stalactites, almost threatening to fall and bury them. When an upside-down monorail crossed the sky, McCoy shivered, thanking anyone who would listen that Spock didn’t make a comment.

“Doctor,” Spock said when they reached an empty park. “I believe we started on a bad note earlier.”

McCoy stopped, waiting for Spock to do the same. “You told me you’d heal yourself. You lied.”

“I…” Spock looked up at the artificial sky. “I received a box of Ambassador Spock’s belongings.”

McCoy wet his lips. “I can see how that’d disturb you.”

“There were things I needed to meditate on,” Spock continued and turned around, finding McCoy’s eyes. “My decision to leave Starfleet might have been made in haste.”

McCoy froze. Spock’s eyes seemed like the only thing around. The only thing in the universe. Unflinching. Making McCoy drown in them. Why was it so important that Spock didn’t leave?

“Jim will be pleased,” McCoy said, his voice rough.

“I do not plan to mention it to him.”

“You don’t?” McCoy furrowed his brows.

“What he does not know, cannot hurt him.”

That McCoy could agree with.

“However, I am sorry to rob you of an opportunity to throw another party.”

“I don’t think I’m good at throwing parties,” McCoy murmured. 

Spock’s eyes were dark. Warm. The change, the softening after McCoy’s words, was almost invisible. On a different face, McCoy would miss it. But not on Spock’s.

“Perhaps it is… better there won’t be a need for it then,” Spock said softly. 

McCoy nodded, and another monorail passed above their heads. 

[republictrooper]

Strange New Worlds s2e2 Spoilers

Ah, yes, yet another metaphor for modern discrimination and prejudice that doesn't really hold up and may be slightly insulting if you think about it too long.

I mean, Star Trek is a show about metaphors, I get it. But it's only so many times you can go with Metaphors that center a white cis actor playing basically a straight cis white person being on trial/in danger for some sci-fi property like genetic modification or etc. before it kinda gets a little insulting? Like, Black people, queer people, they're in danger TODAY, for various reasons that have little to do with a "justifiable" Eugenics War or fear of Magic Powers, and simply because it is useful for the powers that be that they be an underclass.

Like, you borrow from that well too much without giving the actual modern people adequate representation, it starts getting very noticeable. Mostly, it reminds me that the Federation is a centrist liberal's idea of a socialist utopia, with all the weaknesses granted from that ideology, rather than a full socialist utopia as might be dreamed up by an actual socialist, much less a Marxist Communist.

But also, HELL yes, Neera, tear through the Federation's Hypocrisy and the absolute shit-show that is the Prime Directive like a hot knife through Butter, I LOVE you. You could argue that her actions with Admiral April were self-serving grandstanding, but I felt like they were genuine and the type of needed-to-be-said thing that made it worth it, and certainly a gripping few minutes of television. I think what sealed it too was seeing her comfort La'an about her genetic heritage. This isn't just grandstanding or a crusade for her, it really is about what is right. I can understand April insisting on the regulations, but I dont think he had the right to be as angry at Pike as he was.

Hell yeah, Uhura, stand up. I was so proud of her for refusing to share people's private info. I mean, it seemed more like a way to protect La'an than protect a right to privacy, but you know. I like her backbone anyhow.

Batel doesn't know when to quit, literally and metaphorically. Like, I understand that she's trying to balance her duty to Starfleet with her need to keep access to her favorite boytoy, but like, dang. Her presence in the transporter room suggests Pike has forgiven her, but I'm not sure she earned that. As much as she was rooting for Una, in theory, she seemed more content to be relieved Neera turned out to be good counsel than actually willing to help.

Pasalk and Spock's knock-down, drag-out fight was absolutely hilarious - and I love sassy Spock on the defense stand. I'm not sure I buy Pasalk as an antagonist. He was so flimsy I didnt get why he was so insistent on doggedly pursuing Una.

This episodes climax definitely once again showed the weakness of this being a prequel. of course it's obvious Starfleet's Prejudice is wrong here, but there was no way this could have ended in anything but a loophole that let Una stay but didnt help anyone else. If it happened, then Bashir's story in DS9 makes no sense. Like it or not, the Federation still comes off as bad guys here. Which I think the episode doesn't necessarily shy away from, but it is a little depressing, not gonna lie. Like it or not, Una got off on a technicality and the Federation is everything Neera said it was in that opening argument.A true sequel set in the post-VOY/DS9 future could have dealt with that in a more meaningful way, but instead we got... this.

The clapping at the end didnt land for me, but Pike's awkward bro-hug was the perfect end to this episode. We got through it, we saved Una, and it's good to have her back, but like. Man. That was weird, huh?

Anyway, ok episode, not gonna replace Measure of A Man as Star Trek's best courtroom/thinly veiled metaphor for prejudice any time soon.

And yes, Neera and Una Are DEFINITELY exes. Can't fool me with this "friend" talk.

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Please discard this question if it makes you uncomfortable but,

Your takes on the Naruto characters are so much fun to read, they're so unique and sometimes too relatable haha XD but they're also very intimidating to someone still figuring themselves out (me aa (⁠´⁠ ⁠.⁠ ⁠.̫⁠ ⁠.⁠ ⁠`⁠)). My question is, how did you grow to be comfortable enough to share them in public? And not just Naruto posts, do you have any tips on being more comfortable with oneself?

This is more about being vulnerable with yourself and your ideas then it is about Naruto, topics like these can be very burdensome, so if you don't feel like responding please don't. Wishing you a good day <3

Hchxuxz this is probably going to be a ling answer but i’ll try my best not to write you an essay.

First of all, it took me years to grow into being comfertable sharing my headcannons. When i first joined tumblr i was in the marvel fandom and it was very open ended but not really the best for feeling like you could be free with your headcanons.

I explored things like my own gender through the character of Hawkeye (Clint Barton, hence my AO3 name) and it was hard at times because in that fandom if people don’t like what you’re doing they say so and tbh there’s so many marvel fans that it’s overwhelming

But then I joined the star trek fandom. Because of the premise of star trek (diversity and tolérance) it was a lot more welcoming. People wanted to read about my trans McCoy headcannons and I got to read headcanons i hadn’t seen before (like Trans Uhura, Pan Spock, etc. Things i’d never thought of) and it really opened up my idea’s and allowed me to explore even more.

I didn’t stay in star trek fandom (even though i still adore star trek) because i just… didn’t have the creativity i wanted there. But it’s the fandom that really helped me open up and find comfirt

Not just fabdom helped me though. Space had a lot to do with me finding myself. I was lucky enough to live in other countries away from family, which gave me the freedom to explore who i really am and who i wanted to be. My husband and I were living in Israel when he first told me he was Bi and I told him that i thought I might be androgynous (my gender has changed since then as i found more comfort in myself, but it was a damn good starting point)

The big question though: how did I grow to be confertable enough to share my ideas

Marvel fandom helped me a lot with this. Even though i did leave the fandom, it was my first real experience with people getting mad at me for my takes and at first i let it get to me. I got genuinely upset.

Then when I started tompull away I realized i was letting it affect my real life. I was getting upset with my friends and my husband, and I wasn’t ok with that

I didn’t want to be that person

So i stepped back, took a breath, and thought ‘why do i care?’

I’ve been bullied my whole life for a variety of things. From being a ‘tomboy’ (gender non-confirming) to liking the wrong things (star trek and stargate fan in junior high and naruto fan in high school) to having shit spelling to just… being myself

I got tired of letting the bullies win and decided that I wasn’t going to do that anymore. Sure they could have their say and try and tear me down, but at the end of the day I have love and support and that’s what matters

I have an amazing husband

An amazing kiddo

My parents arn’t perfect but my mom will sure as shit fight anyone who try’s to call me ‘mom’ or ‘mommy’

I became comfertable sharing my reality and my headcannons simply because i stopped carinh about what others think. If they get downright rude and insulting i block them.

As you find yourself and search the world for your meaning and your reality, remmember this one very simple thing anon.

Other people matter, but their opinion’s stop mattering when they start tearing you down. No one has the right to tell you what your reality is. No one has the right to tell you how you should feel.

I found confidence because i realized other’s only tear you down to make themselves feel good. Stop letting them have that win. Stop giving then that confidence boost at the cost of your own confidence

You are amazing

You are beautiful

The world needs you as you are and as the person you are meant to be. Whoever that person is

[hummingbird-of-light]

Against All Odds

Part 219

McCoy

McCoy couldn’t be more content and happy. Scotty had moved to lean against a tree as he read, and McCoy had his head resting on Scotty’s thigh. A light breeze blew past keeping the air a perfect temperature. He’d already read the part Scotty was reading the day before when Scotty had dozed off. He opened his eyes to watch the sunlight dance through the tree branches and the clouds float by.

Scotty’s voice was gentle music in his ears. How his boyfriend didn’t know how wonderful his voice was McCoy couldn’t understand. The accent that softened the sounds; McCoy sighed. He could listen all day.

His thoughts drifted along like the clouds above them. Green eyes broke into his thoughts, and he kept a frown from being seen by Scotty.

Jocelyn.

How could anyone think they’d make a good match? The Darnell’s were only trying to social climb. How could it be anything else? Jocelyn couldn’t possibly feel anything for him and he definitely had never had feelings for her. It had been months since they had last visited.

If he ever had to be pressured into marrying, he’d want someone kind, someone like Christine or Uhura or Jaylah. People with good hearts, with no mean words, whose actions never benefited only themselves.

McCoy blinked at the clouds and swallowed. No. He would never be pressured into marrying. He knew his father wouldn’t make him. At least he hoped David wouldn’t. He glanced at Scotty, whose attention was still on the book. If someday he wanted to marry Scotty…

No. That was thinking much too far into the future. They were young. There was school to finish, jobs to think about. Careers.

McCoy realized he had never thought about that before. Somewhere in the back of his mind he’d known he’d be king and that would be his job. If Father changed the succession, could he really do something else with his life? What would he want to do?

A long breath escaped him as he deflated at the thought. What in the galaxy could he do; would he want to do? His eyes widened at the thought. Dr. Boyce had taught him many subjects over the years, with focuses on skills he would need as a ruler. What did he actually like or want to do? What could he see himself happy doing in his life if he was free from kingship?

It took a moment to realize Scotty had called his name.

“What?”

“I asked if ye were alright? You’re breathing something fast.”

McCoy pushed himself up to sitting.

“I… I just realized I have no idea what I want to do if I don’t have to be king.”

“Oh. Would ye have to do something?” Scotty asked.

“I don’t think I’d have to, but I could! And… I’ve never thought about it before. I’ve just, I’ve always known everything was getting me ready to be king someday. I’ve never taken a serious interest in anything else. I never wanted to, because it would only lead to hurt later when I had to stop or couldn’t.”

McCoy could hear the excitement in his own voice.

“And now! If Father really considers it and changes things… I could do something! I could be a teacher or a doctor or, or, I don’t know! Something!”

He couldn’t help the grin on his face.

“I could be something! Be my own person!” He let out another sigh and he laid back down, resting his head again on Scotty’s legs.

“I’m glad for ye Len,” Scotty said, running his fingers through McCoy’s hair. “Should I… should I keep reading?”

“Yes please,” McCoy answered.

He closed his eyes again, smile still on his face. Scotty was nearing the end of the chapter. He’d pay attention now, as best he could with the new excitement running through his veins.

Part 220

Scotty

Scotty kept on reading but his mind was focused on something else. That genuine perfect smile on Leonard's face as he had told him about what he might want to be. A teacher or a doctor or whatever he liked. How did it feel to break free from the chains of expectations? It surely wouldn't be easy. After all, Leonard had been prepared to be king his whole life. If the line of succession really would change, then he'd have all the possibilities in the world, but it would be hard work to find something appropriate.

Scotty thought about his own dream of serving on a starship one day. He had often joked about it with Jim. How the blond would be captain and the Scotsman would be his CEO. It were high hopes they had, but they'd do everything for it.

Scotty suddenly stopped reading as a crazy thought crossed his mind.

"Ye could join Star Fleet with us," he whispered, surprised by his own idea.

His eyes moved over to see Leonard's reaction. He would probably laugh or think of it as the biggest joke in history. Someone scared of flying serving on a spaceship? That was ridiculous.

A soft smile formed on Scotty's lips as he found his boyfriend asleep. The soft summer breeze played with the boy's dark hair. He was smiling in his sleep.

Scotty placed the book aside and lay down next to Leonard. He rested his head on his arm and just let the free hand run trough his love's hair.

"Maybe..."

Maybe Leonard would want to stay with him forever. Only time could tell.

But for now Scotty was kinda glad that Leonard hadn't heard his words. After all, they were just teenagers. It would probably scare the hell out of Leonard if he knew that the Scotsman was already thinking so far ahead. And he didn't want this to get awkward.

His PADD bleeped and Scotty sighed. Who could text him right now?

Reluctantly, he turned away from his boyfriend and sat up once again to grab the device.

One message from Robbie.

He asked if they could have another video call in the evening. Just the two of them.

Scotty felt a lump in his throat. Of course Leah had said that she had managed to cheer Robbie up the day before, but it still made him nervous that his little brother wanted to talk in private. Was something wrong?

He send Robbie a time and moved on to the next message.

Khan.

'It's good to hear that you're okay, more or less. There is actually something else I wanted to ask you. Would you join me for a session with my therapist after summer break? She said that it may be a good idea. I know it's a lot to ask after everything I've done, but maybe it will help.'

Scott blinked in confusion. What? Was that really Khan writing?

The Scotsman chewed his lip absent-mindedly, musing about what to answer. He raised his finger and started typing, then deleted the message again.

Did he really want it? Did he really want to help the boy who had nearly forced Jim to leave school? Who had threatened him? Who had choked him?

His mother always used to teach him that everyone deserved a chance.

'Sure. Just tell me when and I'll be there. Gonna turn my PADD off now.'

He sent the message and then did as he wrote.

He couldn't take any more messages at the moment. All he wanted was to be with Leonard. No further interruptions.

[lostyesterday]

I saw other people doing this and I wanted to also, so here’s my ranking of the major NuTrek shows from least favorite to favorite, splitting shows up by season whenever my opinions differed significantly between them:

Picard season 3: I’m so sorry to the Picard enjoyers but this season was not for me. I found it tedious, and the nostalgia-heavy focus is really not the kind of thing I enjoy.

Picard season 2: This season is maybe objectively worse than season 3, but I personally found it slightly more interesting even if I still disliked it. The Borg Queen/Agnes plot had potential. In theory I might have liked the Seven/Raffi stuff. In practice, I found the structure and story boring and disjointed.

Lower Decks: This is the placement on this list that I feel the worst about. I don’t even dislike Lower Decks. I like all the main characters and in theory I like the concept of the show. Unfortunately, the style of humor is very much not my thing, and I have had to force myself to keep watching the show for the sake of the characters.

Strange New Worlds: Mixed feelings. On one hand, I find this show significantly more enjoyable and watchable than Lower Decks. On the other hand, I agree with a lot of the major criticisms others have made about the show, and it is much too reliant on nostalgia and legacy characters. I feel a bit bad about liking it more than Lower Decks. I like La’an and Uhura especially.

Picard season 1: This season was kind of all over the place, but when it was good it was actually really good. There were about three episodes that I genuinely liked a lot, and I really liked almost all of the new characters – especially Soji, Elnor, Raffi, and Rios. There were also a significant number of parts I wasn’t a huge fan of, though, especially the end.

Discovery season 2: I have some of the same criticisms about this season of Discovery that I do about SNW. I think it’s overly reliant on aspects of the older shows, and is the weakest season of Discovery. I do still enjoy a lot of parts of it, though, and I love a lot of the characters.

Discovery season 1: Funnily enough, I didn’t really like this season the first time I watched it (it was the first Star Trek show I’d ever seen), but I’ve grown to like it more and more every time I’ve rewatched it. I think this season took a lot of risks, which was a bold move for the first season of the first NuTrek show, and personally more appealing to me in comparison to the safer routes taken by SNW and Picard season 3. Some of those risks didn’t work out, but a lot of them paid off in my opinion. There are a lot of episodes in this season that I really like, and I love the characters, especially Michael.

Prodigy season 1 (I’ve only seen season 1 because season 2 tragically isn’t legally available in my country): This was a consistently solid season. There wasn’t a single episode I disliked, and I found the overall series arc very enjoyable. It had a way more interesting and nuanced plot than I expected, and I thought several of the characters were great – especially Gwyn and Zero.

Discovery seasons 3-5: Easily my favorite NuTrek content. I get why some people don’t like the later seasons of Discovery, and I wouldn’t ever argue that they’re flawless, but I really love them a lot. I love most of the characters – especially Michael and Book. I find the stories to be consistently solid, and I think the jump to the 32nd century was a great idea that really improved the show.

[coredrill]

finally got back to snw s2 LMAO, thoughts below the cut

on one hand i’m a little “ah dang” abt taking a break when i did cause i did really enjoy most of eps 7-8-9 but also. the spock/chapel plotline annoys the absolute shit out of me and i don’t think i would’ve enjoyed them the way i did if i’d kept up week to week LMAO

i think it’s funny how they’re essentially doing the “fieldtrips with zuko” but with jim before he joins the crew……..like last season finale was “jim earns pike’s trust” and this season we got “jim earns la’an’s trust” in ep3 and “jim earns nyota’s trust” in ep6 and “jim earns una’s trust” in ep9 so by the time he joins everyone is gonna love him already LMAO. it does make me 🙄 cause i know the chances of a “jim earns spock’s trust” field trip are low bc paramount is allergic to the idea that spock isn’t thinking abt women 24/7, but i hope jim still gets one with ortegas cause i think that’d be fun

i like the gorn changes on a story level (atleast i did up until ep10, that kinda pushed it) but less so on a meta level ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i thought the musical episode was fun for the most part but the final song was a bit too masturbatory for me lmao. either way i do like that they are GENUINELY giving time to uhura and fleshing her out as a character, i’ve liked her arc so far and i hope she continues to develop in the future :]

and finally my very predictable complaints………..girl WHY did they spend 15eps on the spock/chapel build up just to have them break up 4eps later 😐 especially as i have no doubt that season 3 will continue to be all melodramatic about it and refuse to let chapel and spock do literally anything outside of it……also the idea of “spock throws soup at chapel because she broke up with him in song and dance in front of their friends” is funny, but i really do not dig it as the “why spock is closed off going forward” explanation. i think it really just devalues a lot of his struggles in TOS as well as michael’s final words to him for this to be the culmination of his whole exploring-humanity arc……..but also i just am a hater about this in general LMAO, when is disco coming back 🥺

[thegeminisage]

tng update time and oooooh am i ever mad about it. tonight we watched "hero worship" and "violations."

hero worship: i wanted to like this episode. but, firstly, it's just yet more evidence why children should not be on starships. this has been bothering me the entire time i've watched this fucking show. i hope there aren't any kids on voyager or whatever because this is literally fucking killing me

secondly, i felt really weird about everyone just...going along with this kid's idea that he was an android. i feel like there's a way to be lenient of his trauma without reinforcing the delusion or whatever sorry ik that's not how you're supposed to say it. it just didn't seem like solid therapeutical practice is all. i will admit there was also some secondhand embarrassment watching this kid's impersonation of data but i think it COULD have been cute (which seems to be what they were going for) with a better execution

i DEFINITELY think data's interactions with him should have been supervised too, not because i don't love and trust data wholly but because he has this way of missing certain emotional cues. and while that isn't a problem in day-to-day life, like, that's just the way he is and i resent anyone who would make him feel like it's a bad way to be/there's something wrong with him because he is PERFECT the way he is!!! for someone who is so vulnerable i think that data could accidentally do harm where it isn't intended (almost did a couple of times!), and data wouldn't be happy about that either because of course it would never be his intention. like i LOVE episodes where we just throw data into the deep end and let him figure it out, i love watching him go, but this is a child whose entire family/ship just DIED HORRIBLY who thinks he is responsible for the event. im not saying dont let data be his buddy data deserves so many buddies im just saying give data some INSTRUCTIONS at least. for both their sakes

anyway it was mid at best. it had a few good moments but ultimately not enough to salvage it for me

violations:

okay wait hold on i feel like i need to start a brand new text block for violations. you're only allowed 4000 characters per paragraph and i have stuff to say. i have Things To Get Off My Chest. please picture steam pouring from my fucking ears right now

actually forget the bullet list i don't need a bullet list this is not a normal liveblog Post. do you know every day i see threads on r*ddit and sometimes even tags here on tunglr dot edu about how people don't like tos because it's sexist. thats all well and fine and good. tos IS sexist. ARE WE SAYING TNG IS BETTER?????

tasha yar and the rape gangs. the naked time: 2! where both women got turned into insatiable sex object. deanna's impromptu and nonconsensual pregnancy. tasha's impregnantion by rape and her death at the hands of her rapist. that time they filmed deanna's feet. beverly crusher for all of season 1 having absolutely no personality outside of being a mother. lwaxana troi getting gang raped by ferengi for laughs. genuinely uhura on tos in the fucking 1960s got treated better than deanna troi on tng in the 1990s. yes tos has extremely bad moments sexism wise. JUSTICE for janice fucking rand. but truly how can you be as sexist against women when they aen't there. meanwhile, tng has women in every goddamn episode and all it takes is for one bad writer to

actually you know what is so funny. gene roddenberry and two women are credited with writing this episode. ALL of them are going to hell, gene roddenberry especially. i hate hate hate HATE his rape fetish. justice for janice rand AND tasha yar AND DEANNA TROI!

the thing about this episode is, it could have been good. there were good parts about it. for example: worf's joke about being probed. they knew what they were doing and it was hilarious. deanna getting to talk about her overbearing mother. riker's little speech to deanna when she was in the coma with literal tears in his eyes and this is a WHOLE separate rant but

my problem with tng is that you don't see them care about each other. we're TOLD that they care about each other. they SAY, "oh, x is worried about [character who's in danger this week]." but we almost never SEE them act it out. every once in awhile riker gets weirdly protective of picard, and worf seems kind of protective of everyone which i like, and picard also does a good righteous rage on behalf of others, but i don't usually get to SEE it. like when wesley goes missing or whatever he and his mom don't always immediately rush into each others arms on their reunion. when deanna passes out you don't always see riker abandon what he's doing and rush to her side. nobody asks "are you okay?" with genuine concern. and even when we DO get for example geordi driving himself crazy wondering what went wrong over data's fake death we don't get any follow-through - there's no reunion between geordi and data at the end the way there would be for kirk and spock.

BUT RIKER AT THE HOSPITAL BED. ohhh i was eating. it was so good. he wasn't even saying anything of merit but just the SIGHT of her passed out like that had him almost in tears. riker, who is the epitome of good humor and dealing with space horrors with laughter. IN TEARS. it was so good. a true show instead of tell moment. and in THIS fucking episode

my issue is: they had three on screen rape scenes. the first rape scene was extremely long. like they couldn't show anything explicit because this is 90s tv but it was VERY VERY LONG so it hardly seems to matter. and THAT was bad enough. but then they made us watch it AGAIN when he planted his dad's face in the memory and A THIRD TIME when he was like "ugh she's being so sweet to me even though i raped her i can't NOT rape her again." like at least that time she was able to hit him and get away but it feels like a hollow victory when he's already gotten away with it TWICE, AND!!! when worf had to come in and save her anyway at the end.

it was doubly horrible that he got away with the crime SO WELL that nobody suspected him - like, picard is out here asking deanna to let him into her mind a second time and she GOT RAPED. A SECOND TIME. deanna is like oh yeah you can come in! and it could have been a compelling mystery and plot twist to be like OH IT'S THE DAD but really it's the son except we SAW HIM DO IT the first time. there wasn't even any mystery to solve or anyone to suspect, he wasn't misdirecting US, we just got to watch him successfully misdirect this poor stupid naive trusting WOMAN

also, the thing about deanna's attack being a rape scene while riker's was someone dying under his command and beverly's was IDing her husband's dead body is that for riker and bev these are REAL THINGS THAT HAPPENED TO THEM. deanna never got raped by riker. like, he wouldn't do that and they wouldn't still be as close and comfortable with one another if he had. (i am mad on his behalf TWICE now that they left it open whether or not he committed that particular crime when every other piece of evidence says he wouldn't. the guy is not a closet serial rapist and leaving the endings open to be edgy is extremely poor form.) like, they literally JUST made deanna's attack a rape scene to sexualize her and feed roddenberry's fetish and HE'S DEAD. HE WAS DEAD WHEN THIS AIRED. HE CAN'T JERK OFF TO IT ANYMORE

they didn't even explain why that guy kept leaving people in comas. deanna i get because he was stalking her and wanted to fuck her but why riker? why beverly? that made it MORE suspicious. why all those other people on the other planets? was he raping every single one of them? how did he plan to keep going after he'd framed his dad for his crimes?

and it COULD HAVE BEEN GOOD. beverly's thing with IDing her husband's body was fun and terrifying. deanna could have gotten a memory that spoke to character development instead of being sexualized like this. in fact i think it was lowkey a pussy move not to deal with any of riker's close encounters because of the two of them riker is the one who has actually been raped! "someone died under my command" is generic and lame. but the way the telepathy worked was cool, the plot twist could have been cool, you could have felt real betrayal from liking this dude if he hadn't been all evil smiles from the beginning. and they dropped the ball SO HARD. and i could forgive them for doing that! i have given tng so many benefits of the doubt! BUT THREE RAPE SCENES IN 45 MINUTES?

the worst part is, there was no emotional resolution. they had that guy say the word rape out loud and then the credits rolled. deanna and riker didn't speak one word to each other. she was never like, i know you didn't actually rape me like that's not what happened. no one was like, beverly go have a hot drink and call your son. there's NO EMOTIONAL FOLLOWTHROUGH ON THIS SHOW. tos was guilty of that sometimes too but this level of it is fucking unreal

tng enjoyers im sorry for my meanie posts earlier. love who you love etc etc. i'm just. baffled. HOW IS THIS BETTER THAN TOS. at least what happened to janice rand (and uhura one time) was over quickly and didn't replay three FUCKING times!!! "tos is too/more sexist" I AM TURNING MY BRAIN INSIDE OUT TO TRY AND UNDERSTAND THIS FUCKING STATEMENT

[tea-earl-grey]

at long last i finished watching TOS (only like.... a year after i meant to originally watch it)!!!! now i only have TAS left and i'll have seen all of Star Trek!

some TOS opinions and takeaways under the cut:

fundamentally i'm just not a TOS fan. i watched a lot of the episodes when i was a kid so i definitely have nostalgia for them and i can recognize when episodes are good and how much the show has influenced pop culture and science fiction as a whole but just as like.... a show to sit down and watch for fun? i enjoy pretty much every Star Trek show more than TOS.

i primarily like Star Trek (and fiction more broadly) for the characters and while there are some really great character moments for Kirk, Spock, & McCoy and some one-off characters, i just struggle to find that 60s style of plot driven scifi engaging (which i find fascinating because i still LOVE 60s era Doctor Who which has much much worse production values than Star Trek and i feel like most people would say is less engaging). and to be fair, a lot of the reason i found some of the TOS plots boring was because they were the blueprint for so much other scifi media so i can't really hold it against the show.

that said, i really don't want it to sound like i hate TOS. i don't. i just think the ideas and concepts it has are better explored in the movies & future tv series than in the show itself. i totally get the appeal especially for people who grew up with it.

there were plenty of episodes i did really really like though (ones i've seen before and new ones that i've barely heard of) and my top episodes are: The Trouble with Tribbles (a childhood favorite of mine), City on the Edge of Forever (an obvious classic), Is There In Truth No Beauty (i had never seen or heard of this episode before but i loved it so much! i thought it had some really unique storytelling and i loved Miranda so much so i totally see why they brought back the actress for tng), Journey to Babel (another obvious pick), Court Martial (one i had seen before but i liked it much more now that i was more familiar with the characters), The Conscience of the King (great Kirk episode, tragic backstories, and fun stuff with Hamlet!), and The Ultimate Computer (an old scifi concept but executed really well on every level)

most of the episodes i aggressively hated were just the really sexist & racist ones. Elaan of Troyius, The Paradise Syndrome, The Omega Glory, etc. i'd say about 60% of the episodes i just... don't have strong opinions on at all. they're fine.

i do really like Spock, Kirk, and McCoy, i definitely ship mcspirk some (yes McCoy is essential to the Dynamic). Spock is a pretty obvious character to like given how he's the prototype for pretty much every alien othered character who came after tos. it's been said before but Kirk is so much of a more likeable character when you set aside the "handsome male hero womanizer" archetype and realize that in most episodes he's a very genuine compassionate and sensitive leader who's been through some great traumas. and McCoy i definitely don't think about quite as much but he's the essential "id" to the dynamic, the one rooted in humanity and bringing back a sense of individual personhood to Spock (who's a bundle of repression) and Kirk (who constantly goes through the captain arc of "my ship and my crew comes before myself")

i do (as i've said before) prefer shows that emphasize an ensemble cast so i'm always a bit :( at the lack of time we spend with Uhura, Sulu, Scotty, Chekov & Chapel. i like them all but it'd be nice for them to have some more depth.

the TOS movies still remain my favorite part of TOS era. i genuinely really love all of the movies (even Final Frontier despite it being Like That, there is a good movie hidden in there)

[space-dog-from-space]

9/12

The Doctor, the Hag, and the AU, or, Bones and the Hallmark Christmas Movie Curse

Every year in December, the Enterprise's senior staff gather to watch 21st century Hallmark Christmas movies. Unfortunately for Bones, he hates Hallmark Christmas movies more than he hates the idea of being spaced. And this year, he is grumpier than usual. Luckily, the Christmas Hag appears and sends Bones on an isekai Hallmark adventure (against his will) to discover the true meaning of Christmas: Spirk.

Chapter 9 - War Room

The gang prepares for war against the country club, Walmart, and Old Man Janson.

The bright morning sunlight shone through the nearly ineffective blinds directly into Bones' face, waking him up.  He grumbled at the light and turned away from it, intending to go back to sleep when he realized that there shouldn’t be morning sunlight on a spaceship.  He opened his eyes, looking at his surroundings briefly, realizing that he was in his room at the Smalltown Motel, and not in his quarters on the Enterprise.  

Bones groaned.  "Well, so much for hoping this had all been a dumb dream, after all," he sighed when he looked at the digital alarm clock.  Ten o' clock.  "And I overslept."

He forced himself to get up out of necessity.  If he didn't have a looming deadline he probably would have just gone back to sleep.  He was still exhausted from the long walk in the freezing cold the evening before.  It had been a disaster.  First of all, he didn't know what direction the town was in, so when the road Scotty's vehicle drove down turned into a T-intersection, Bones had no idea which direction to take, and ended up choosing the wrong one.  He easily could have frozen to death out there if a rare passing vehicle hadn't stopped for him.

"You know," the driver of the vehicle said when Bones got into the passenger's seat, eager to thaw out his fingers.  "You don't get to go back to your universe if you die."

Bones turned towards the driver, and was surprised at how unsurprised he was to see her.  "Do you usually drive around aimlessly on rural roads at night in the dead of winter or did you come looking for me?"  He asked the Christmas Hag.

The Christmas Hag rolled her eyes.  "I didn't need to look for you, I'm omniscient," she said, turning the car around in a three point turn before heading back towards town.  "But I did come to save your dumb hide."

"Well, thanks," Bones said, genuinely grateful for the rescue.

The Hag scoffed.  "Don't think I did it out of the kindness of my heart," she said, sounding bored.  "I don't get paid if you die before you learn the true meaning of Christmas."

Bones shook his head.  "Hate to break it to you, but I don't think this quest you've sent me on is going to teach me anything about Christmas," he said flatly.  "Unless the true meaning of Christmas has something to do with Jim and Spock's habit of being annoying motherfuckers."

"Look man, I'm too tired for this," the Hag said, scrubbing a grey hand across her face.  Bones was about to retort when she snapped her fingers, and that was the last thing he remembered before waking up in his motel room.

"Ugh.  Right," Bones said once he recalled his evening, pinching the bridge of his nose.  Then, with a sigh, he got moving.  The ice sculpture competition, and his deadline, were tomorrow night.  He didn't have time to waste.  

—

Bones wasn't sure where Spock or Jim would be at this hour, but at least it was a relatively warm and sunny day for searching the town for them.  He had started his search by knocking on Spock's motel room door, but there was no answer, so Bones assumed that he wasn't there.  His next idea was to check The Coffee Shop.  Jim had said that he would speak with Uhura about what Spock had discovered, and while he had probably already done that twelve hours ago, Uhura's store was probably still a good place to start his search.

The sleigh bells above the door sang as Bones walked into the shop, prompting a small cluster of familiar faces to look up at him suddenly.  Bones froze in the doorway, taking in the sight of Scotty, Sulu, and Chekov all huddled around a table strewn with maps and documents, all looking at him as if he'd walked in on something he wasn't supposed to see.

"Oh, sorry," Bones said, still standing awkwardly in the open doorway.  "I thought the place was open."  He was about to turn around and leave, continuing his search for Spock and Jim, when Chekov stood up.

"No, no, I am sorry.  The store, it is open," Chekov said, heading for the counter and grabbing an apron off a hook on his way.  "Please, come in."  Bones did so, following Chekov to the counter.  "What is it I can get for you?"  Chekov asked as he walked around the counter, tying his apron strings.

"Coffee, please," Bones answered.  "Black.  And to stay."

"Yes, I can do that right away," Chekov said, trying to sound chipper, but falling flat.

"Thanks," Bones said, hesitating a moment.  "Hey, is something wrong?  You guys seem a bit tense," he said to Chekov, gesturing back to Sulu and Scotty who were whispering to each other over the table.

Chekov grimaced.  "There is….  problem to be sorted.  We are waiting for news.  It is an anxious wait," he shrugged nervously, passing Bones his coffee.

As if on cue, the sleigh bells jingled and Chekov's head shot up.  His eyes lit up, and Bones turned around to see Uhura walk in, with Jim and Spock in tow.  Scotty and Sulu seemed just as excited at the newcomers' arrival as Chekov, both standing up eagerly to greet them.

"How did it go?"  Sulu asked.

Uhura sighed, peeling her coat off before sitting down heavily at the table.  "Not great, but I suppose it could be worse," she said, as they all gathered back around the table.  Spock locked eyes with Bones, and nudged Jim, whose eyes lit up in recognition.

"Hey!  Leonard!  Come over here!"  Jim called, waving him over.  Bones grimaced inwardly, but picked up his coffee and walked over to their table, standing off to the side.  "This is the guy who tipped Spock off about the whole thing," he said to the others as Bones approached.

He gave a short wave, and an awkward round of introductions began.  Awkward for Bones, at least, since he already knew everyone at the table, but they didn't know him beyond recognizing him from a brief encounter.

"I'm guessing there was something to those rumours, then?"  Bones asked, playing along.

They all nodded gravely, except for Sulu, who turned to Uhura and said, "Nyota, please, I'm dying here.  What did Mr Janson say?"

Uhura sighed.  "Well, he isn't going to refuse to sell his land to the country club.  They're offering him a pretty good deal on it I guess."

Scotty swore under his breath.  "Well if that's not just like the old bastard.  Sees his chance to get some money and skip town without a care what happens to the rest of us."  He huffed, adding, "You explained what would happen here if he sold to them, right?"

"Of course she did," Sulu rolled his eyes as Uhura nodded.

"He did give us an ultimatum, though," Uhura said, not sounding enthusiastic about it.  "If we can match the club's offer, he'll agree to sell it to us instead."

The table fell silent for a moment, before Chekov hesitantly asked, "How much is the price?"

Uhura placed a sheet of paper on the table, sliding it into the middle for everyone to see.  Bones wasn't sure how the currency worked in this universe, but judging from the expressions of those that did, it was a big number.

Jim groaned.  "We can't afford that!  Even if we pooled every cent to our names we couldn't afford that, not without selling our businesses," he lamented.  "And that's antithetical to the whole 'save our businesses' thing."

"Also," Uhura said, clearly not wanting to be the bearer of even more bad news, "There's a deadline on it.  His deal with the club will be finalized tomorrow night.  If we can't come up with the money before then, the deed goes over to the club."

Scotty put his face in his hands.  "This is hopeless.  We've lost already."

"Maybe we can get a loan from the bank?"  Sulu suggested.

Scotty scoffed.  "Didn't you hear her?  We've only got a day, we can't wait around for months for a bank loan to get approved."

Sulu grimaced.  "We can fundraise?"  He said, with very little confidence.

"Again, lad, one day."  Scotty said bitterly.  "There's no time for any of that!"

"At least I'm spitballing ideas, you've just given up already!"  Sulu snapped at him.

Scotty leaned over the table, stabbing a finger of emphasis at Sulu.  "I have not given up-"

"Then what's your bright idea?"  

"I don't have one!"  Scotty threw his hands up.  “That’s the problem!  There aren’t any-”

Uhura slammed her hands down on the table, interrupting them.  "Guys!  Shut up!  No fighting in the goddamned war room."  She glared at Sulu and Scotty until they relaxed back in their chairs.  "I know it looks hopeless, but we have to try."

"Nyota's right," Jim said.  "If we put our heads together, we're bound to come up with some feasible plan.  The people of this town care about their town.  Once they know what's going on, we'll have their support.”

“And I’ve sent word back to the city paper, so we might be able to get some additional support there,” Spock added.

Uhura nodded.  "Exactly.  Alone we're screwed, but if we can rally an army…"  She waved an arm nebulously.

Scotty sighed.  "Aye.  The chances for success seem slim, but you're right.  We have to try.  The town'll help."

Uhura turned to Bones, who was awkwardly observing them from a few feet away.  "Speaking of recruiting…  How about it, Leonard?  Give us a hand?"  She asked, hopefully.

"Of course," Bones said, as if he could have said no. 

Uhura smiled.  "Great, grab a chair.  We've got plans to make."

[trek-tracks]

Heyy. I took a long vacation from Tumblr. But...

Have you watched Strange New Worlds? What do you think of it?

👀👀

Okay, this is going to be a bit of a long one, and there will be spoilers, so anyone who hasn’t watched SNW should probably scroll by.

Overall, I feel quite positively toward SNW. I think the characters are compelling. I’ve always wanted to know more about characters like Uhura and M’Benga, and I love that they are getting a chance to shine; I enjoyed the “fairy tale” episode. I think the cast is lovely. I love the found family aspect, and I’m really enjoying Pike as a character. (One day, I’m still hoping to meet Anson Mount because we graduated from the same tiny grad school department…maybe it’ll happen.) I hope we get more from Ortegas next season (I am, uh…very bi for her, and unexpectedly being in the same room with Melissa Navia two weeks ago was a lot). I enjoy the episodic format with some overarching ideas. I love it when I recognize the Toronto locations masquerading as alien planets.

That being said, for a show called Strange NEW Worlds, I wish it would be more adventurous, relying primarily on exploration and ideas we haven’t seen yet, rather than rehashing things that were supposed to be brand new in TOS, and in doing that making the TOS characters look naive and foolish. Discovery (another show I feel generally positive about) does that, too. Instead of the Mirror Universe being new, everyone’s been there. Instead of tribbles being unstudied, they’ve already been engineered by a Federation scientist. 

Basically, my own private joke now is that TOS Kirk just thinks he's the first Federation person to encounter these things, but really it's Starfleet or his crew planting species and phenomena in the universe's version of a sandbox, like you'd bury "treasure" for a child to find, because Kirk just gets so goshdarn cute and excited when he thinks he's made first contact.

Kirk, to Starfleet: Didja see?? I found a species called the GORN! They're new! 

Starfleet, sitting down to talks with the Gorn ambassador who's been a Federation envoy for five years: That's great, honey. Put your drawing on the fridge.

Don’t get me wrong — I love fan service, and am as susceptible to it as anyone else. In my mind, though, there’s a way to go about it. Writers of any prequel need to be careful about having the benefit of hindsight and pretending it's foresight. For example, I was initially skeptical of Spock’s arc, thinking that it would leave him far more emotionally developed and different than he was in TOS, and potentially negating his later character arc as something he had already experienced, and in more depth.

However, at the moment I’m trying to trust the writers, because I can see how Spock’s trajectory could easily lead toward him opening up, getting burned (metaphorically, not like in ep. 10), and retreating into a more Vulcan-like aspect for his next ship, having to learn to open himself up again.

I do think that they are focusing too much on Spock right now. I love Spock. I love him a lot. But I want other characters to have more of an existence outside of his periphery. I don’t want to get burnt out on Spock being the focal point of the entire universe. (Luckily, a lot of things Spock seems not to know about in TOS that he finds out about in SNW can be explained by the fact that Spock loves to obfuscate and lie.)

I am, on the other hand, genuinely uncomfortable about what the series has done with the Gorn, not because I’m a TOS purist who wants to have the aesthetic stay exactly the same — I don’t need to see a lizard in a leotard — but because, to me, making the Gorn irredeemably monstrous negates some really important messaging in Arena; maybe the Federation judged too hastily, because we knew nothing about the Gorn. Maybe relentless colonization is an issue, and seeking revenge will just beget a never-ending cycle of revenge. Maybe we should decide to make peace.

Yes, the Gorn in Arena seemed disproportionally cruel and violent, and perhaps they were. However, the point of the episode was that humans have that same capacity in them, as well, and we need to actively choose against violence.

Currently, making the Gorn a previously-known species that is essentially a mindlessly violent Alien chest-burster just doesn’t sit well with me. (Also, with all that, total missed opportunity for Sam Kirk to say something like “At least I didn’t get killed by those parasites” dun dun dun). Maybe the writers think they’re making Kirk’s choice in Arena even more powerful by making the Gorn more alien, but it’s not working for me at the moment.

I was also a little weirded out to see one of the episodes take so liberally from LeGuin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” without clear credit or even a nod. In one of the subsequent episodes, La’an tries to get out of eating one of Pike’s egg-based breakfasts; I so badly wanted him to say “Come on, don’t be the one who walks away from omelets.” (Yes, that would have been very silly. But it was right there. Well, maybe next season there will be time for Sam to get scared by a…flying pancake, dun dun dun…)

My main philosophy is this: fine to ditch the aesthetics, just keep the progressive ethics. Perfectly happy to see 60’s sexism, for example, get the boot; I just worry when other messages seem regressive. But maybe there is a long game here! 

There’s so much out there to explore, and I hope the show can trust that we’re willing to go to those completely new places.

[jillianallen14]

Spirk fanfic rec

Some amazing Spirk fanfic to bless your dash because I’m falling in love with this shit all over again (this is like the 10th time this has happened lol):

Entering Orbit:  Jim escapes to Iowa to avoid the media frenzy following the Narada incident, but a late-night miscommunication results in Spock turning up on his front porch; rated m; 30,957 words

Papers in the Roadside:  Non-Starfleet AU. Jim owns a small bar in Chicago, keeps on picking up strays and taking care of everyone no matter how hard it makes his own life. Spock is a journalist writing feature articles for the Chicago Tribune; he depicts the world with uncanny skill, but hides more than one personal drama and is possibly under surveillance from the Vulcan royal family. They meet by accident just before their lives start to spin out of control; rated e; 49,637 words

Take Refuge in What You Know:  AU - Kirk has moved into a apartment/house and wants to get to know his neighbors. He meets his neighbor Spock, a loner who suffers from extreme agoraphobia. Kirk thinks he's beautiful enigma; rated e; 120,334 words

Listen, this is not only my favorite Star Trek fic of all time, it’s also one of my favorite fanfics in general. It’s right up there with Text Talk and The Shoebox Project from the HP fandom, which if you’ve read, you know are incredible and frankly life-changing. And this fanfic changed my life. The description the author gives doesn’t do the beauty of this fic justice. I suffer from agoraphobia and Spock’s depiction as an agoraphobic man was probably the most well-researched, sympathetic, empathetic, caring, realistic portrayal of what it’s like to be agoraphobic that I’ve ever witnessed in fiction. It made me cry like a child because I had never felt so seen and understood. This writer is incredible, and this fic is incredible. I can’t recommend it enough. It’s an AU, which I’m usually pretty wary about, but it barely even feels like an AU. It just feels like Jim and Spock. The author’s understanding of both of their characters’ is perfect, like just a spot-on portrayal of who they are. This fic genuinely helped me accept who I am and helped me understand that I am capable of & deserving of love. If you don’t read any other Star Trek fics (and you def should read more Star Trek fics because they’re amazing), then let this one be the one you read. I dare you not to read it three times in a row like I did.

Observations:  First Officer Spock comments on life aboard the Enterprise and his service under Captain James T. Kirk; rated m; 500,000+ words.

So the author of this fic actually did a thing where they made this fic into two books (similar to what The Shoebox Project authors did many years ago in the HP fandom). They don’t get any money from people buying the books; the cost is just to go towards producing the books. This fic is the equivalent of two LARGE novels. We’re talking 600 pages & up. It’s a huge fic. Now, that being said, I read it in one day. ONE DAY. It’s that good. This is another one of my all-time favorite fics, though not quite as dear to my heart as the one I listed above. It’s focused on AOS, and tbh, I forget that what happens in this book isn’t actually canon. Like it’s so well-told, it just feels like it’s now part of the timeless story of Kirk & Spock. The “professional” Star Trek writers would never be brave enough to do what this author does with Kirk and Spock, though. This fic will make you angry, will make you laugh, will make you cry. It has such a good grasp on every single character. It also shows the love between the crew of the Enterprise, which is always a treat, and it’s beautifully done in this fic. It has a sorta-enemies-to-lovers arc between Spirk and an enemies-to-close-friends arc between Spock and McCoy that is beautifully done and fleshed out. This fic is definitely a journey to go through, and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s extremely slow burn, and you will want to slap both Kirk and Spock (and McCoy) upside the head at certain points lol. 

Of Coffee Beans and Green Tea Leaves:  The progression of a relationship, through Coffee Beans and Green Tea Leaves. Basically, it’s an AU where Kirk works at a coffee shop to pay his way through school, and Spock visits often. rated t; 16,429 words

Love, love, love, this fic. It’s cute, it’s in character. They have kind of a rocky start together, so it’s got a little bit of that Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy i-hated-you-but-now-i-love-you-marry-me vibes to it. I’m a sucker for that, if you haven’t figured that out by now lol. It’s really good, and a really enjoyable read. And it’s not too long, if you’re in the mood for something on the shorter end of things.

 Please Don’t Touch the Vulcans:  The "yes" is out of Jim's mouth before he can think about it. Jim is chipper about having time off for the holidays. He asks everyone if they want to spend time together but sadly, everyone ditches Jim over the holidays because they have plans. McCoy visits his daughter, Nyota visits her family, and everyone splits. Not knowing Spock has feelings for him, Jim doesn't even bother asking if he wants to spend time together figuring he has something to do. Something cute, romantic with the boys spending time with one another and confessions; rated m; 17,690 words

Super cute and has lots of Sarek, which idk about y’all, but I’m always a fan of. Sarek and Jim kind of get to know each other a bit, and it’s cute. Sarek knows about they’re in love before Spock & Kirk know lol. If I remember correctly, there’s also some appearances from everyone’s favorite: Old!Spock! You also get a little bit of jealous and protective Young!Spock. So you’re in for a real treat with this one. 

The Ren shat’var Trilogy:  A split-second decision changes Jim's life forever, as he enters into a bond with Spock in the face of certain torture. Enemies to the Federation emerge from unlikely places, and the command team must contend with unexpected threats, as well as challenges within their own intense relationship. In this three-part series, the Enterprise races across the galaxy to confront the unknown, and Jim and Spock discover the true significance of their unprecedented connection; rated e; 184,411 words

Textual Attraction:  Valentine’s Day does not bring up pleasant memories for Cadet Kirk. But the serendipitous switch-up of his cell phone with a particular Vulcan professor’s will make his day far more interesting –and romantic. Perhaps some new memories can be made! 15,900 words

SO GOOD. Just SO good

Spaceman:  Academy AU. Five times Spock realizes he's attracted to a barista at the academy spaceport, and one time he decides to do something about it. rated t; 3728 words

Short, sweet, funny. You’ll love it.

Subtext: Texting your Vulcan first officer in the middle of the night is never a good idea. Especially when you have an obsessive crush on said Vulcan.The holidays are approaching and Jim is left entirely Spockless aboard the Enterprise when his First takes shore leave on New Vulcan. After some midnight pining, Jim sends a text he instantly regrets. That is, until Spock responds and willingly continues their textual communications to an inevitable conclusion; rated t; 13,032 words

Cute, sweet, funny. It’s a texting fic. I think you’ve probably figured out I love those. This one makes me laugh so fucking hard. Like actually laugh-out-loud-omg-did-i-just-snort kind of funny. Spock is great in this one

All Spock Wants For Christmas:  While Jim is away on a delegation mission, he panics about what to give Spock for Christmas. With help from Bones and Uhura, and in between some spam texting with Spock, Jim realizes he already has the perfect gift. And all it needs is wrapping paper and a bow; rated t; 11,966 words

And here we have another cute, sweet, funny texting fic. Sue me lol

The Morning After:  Jim convinces Spock to take shore leave with him on Risa, hoping the time together will help re-solidify their bond of friendship after some recent tension. Meanwhile, Spock convinces himself he's on Risa for one reason and one reason only, to prevent his wayward captain from getting into trouble. After a passionately illogical night of Romulan Ale and chocolate infused liquor, everything changes when Jim wakes with something other than a hangover filling his head. Something he's sure neither he nor Spock can handle. Because if Jim knows anything for sure, it's that his messed up thoughts belong nowhere near Spock's clean, ordered mind; rated m; 50,381 words

HAHA. This fic fucking cracks me up. You’ve got drunk boys pining over each other & not realizing it. You’ve got accidental marriage. You’ve got bed sharing. It’s great, it’s cute, it’s funny. 

Take This Sinking Boat (And Point It Home):  In which Spock pines, Jim isn’t stupid (except he kind of is), and Christopher Pike has had enough of this bullshit; 6698 words

Pike is great in this one, and it’s super, super funny.

Extracurricular Activities:   Spock returns to the Academy from a tour of duty to find an intriguing cadet captures his attention; rated e; 15,433 words

Veritas: Basically, Kirk and Spock are on trial because the Federation thinks they are emotionally compromised by each other, which is putting the lives of their crew in danger. They have to convince a court they’re not actually in love with each other. They think the claims are bullshit. They think it will be easy to prove that they aren’t in love or emotionally compromised, damn it. It isn’t; rated m; 186,80 words

This one is so, so good. A real gem off of Fanfic.net. I remember it was actually one of the first Spirk fanfics I ever read, and it blew me away. The progression of their relationship is really well-done and interesting. It has star-crossed lovers vibes and has some really emotionally intense moments in it, especially for Spock. 

A Habitual Affection:  Living in 1930s New York with the Vulcan you're secretly in love with is no simple thing. But Jim never liked anything simple. And then, the big snowstorm hit...; rated t; 7998 words

A beautiful TOS fic about one of the gayest episodes of Star Trek. Love this one. 

Atlas:  Between what was and what will be stands James Tiberius Kirk, in all his fractured patchwork glory. Because saving the Federation was only the beginning; rated t; 135,529 words

A beaut. Really great characterization, and the progression of Jim and Spock’s relationship is really well-done.