#but also I think the idea of them doing something with gary mitchell is fun

[kinetic-elaboration]

July 10: More Gary Mitchell

Thinking a little more about Gary Mitchell and my desire for Reboot Gary Mitchell specifically.

The thing is that my vision of Gary in the TOS verse is really clear: one of those personal headcanons that is so well ingrained in my own brain that I refuse to accept it as not actually canon. I think he and Kirk knew each other for a long time. I think they had one of those relationships that will not yield for anything. Sometimes it’s romantic. Sometimes it’s platonic. Sometimes it’s sexual. Sometimes they see other people. Sometimes they fight. But they always return to each other. They are each other’s person. And it just feels like it’s always going to be that way.

Spock’s appearance puts a little bit of a wrench in that, because Gary and Kirk both suspect without saying that perhaps Gary isn’t his person anymore.

And then Gary dies when Kirk is only 32-ish years old, and it turns out that this assumption he had when he was, like, 25 about the person who’d define his life in one way or another was entirely wrong. His defining person is this man he doesn’t even meet until he’s past 30. That’s still pretty young, but for a person who sets his life out at 18 and has a defined plan for it--as Kirk necessarily would have to get to the rank of Captain at ~32--to have such an expected event occur at such a comparatively settled age would probably have surprised 25-year-old him, if he had heard about it.

None of this really fits in the AOS verse because the timeline is totally different. Kirk doesn’t have a life plan that he sets out on at 18. He meets Spock earlier both in terms of calendar age (25 instead of 32-ish) and career-age (in the Academy instead of after attaining the rank of Captain). And he meets Bones earlier, too. I haven’t thought about it in depth but based on early TOS eps I think Bones is, or could have been, someone Kirk knew in passing before they served together, but not for a very long time or in a very deep way. They seem comfortable with each other but I don’t see any opportunity for them to become besties pre-5YM. So that changes the situation too. There’s less blank space for an early (potentially romantic) soul mate or a best friend in AOS Kirk’s life.

In other words, he just doesn’t have time to get into a long term, complicated, off-and-on relationship with Gary, predating his Major Friendships, because there’s only 3 years between his recruitment into Starfleet and his first meeting with Spock. (And no time at all between enlistment and meeting Bones.)

So if AOS were to have rebooted Gary (as they should have done), the only two options are that they had a comparatively brief affair in that 3 year Academy-education window OR that Gary was someone he knew before Starfleet. I would go with the second. I think it would feel likes less of a retcon, in the way that arguing there was a Significant Ex present but unspoken of within a prior movie would have been. It technically fits, but it feels like the rug is being ripped out from beneath you regardless.

There’s also something fun in the idea of Kirk meeting an old Riverside ex in Starfleet when he didn’t even know that ex was in the service in the first place--his shock would give a place for the audience’s surprise to go, as well. Also, if TOS Kirk and Gary were roughly the same age but Kirk was his professor, Gary couldn’t have gone straight from HS to the Space Academy. So it would be in keeping with his character to have him join late in this universe too, and not to overlap with Kirk at all.

Finally, Kirk’s history in this timeline involves several more years in Iowa than his history in the TOS-verse and we have no idea what he did during that time. He leaves with literally no notice to anyone. Did he have a job? Did he still live at the Kirk House? Was he just bumming around on that old George Kirk pension/sorry-your-dad-died-in-space compensation $$$? No idea. In other words, it’s a part of the timeline more appropriate for new information than the Academy Years that are glossed over within ST09 itself, and there is a place there for an on-again-off-again ex to have existed without going into, like, Jim Kirk: The High School Years. (Nothing wrong with the high school years, just that I do think Jim/Gary is an adult relationship.)

It’s still impossible to give them the depth of past that they had in TOS because there just aren’t enough years in there. But his main squeeze from say 18-22 would still be an interesting addition to the universe.

I need not add, but will, that introducing Gary as a friend without also using him to make Kirk canonically bisexual is a coward’s move and I would never support that lol.

[scioscribe]

have you got any Star Trek fic recommendations? I love what you’ve written and I’m super into the fandom atm

Oh, boy, do I.  I’ll try to keep this reasonably compact, but there’s a ton of excellent fic.  My to-read folder for this fandom currently has 262 items, and I’m also way behind on leaving comments on the stories I’ve loved because I’ve been glomming them so enthusiastically.  Hopefully this will shame me into appreciating the authors as they deserve.

My definition of “reasonably compact” apparently means “twenty-two separate recs,” so have a cut, everyone.

Kirk/Spock

Communication: One of my all-time favorites.  It’s a beautiful, incredibly romantic epistolary romance where Kirk and Spock wind up captaining separate ships during a war with the Tholians.  They write each other letters where they slowly feel out a resolution to their mutual pining, and the characterization is exquisite.

To Sing the Sun in Flight: I will happily read a million “Amok Time” AUs, but this might be my favorite.  It’s simple, hot, beautifully written, and perfectly characterized.

Our Bodies Safe to Shore: Excellent, plotty, and emotionally complex fic where Spock’s body is taken over by a hostile alien intelligence, one that can read his thoughts and imitate him, and he’s locked helplessly inside.  And the alien has noticed his feelings for Jim.

Joyboy: Post-Tarsus IV story where Kirk and Spock meet as teenagers, when Spock is with his father on a diplomatic mission where the Tarsus survivors are brought for temporary shelter.  Great characterization, maybe especially of Kirk, who gets to be both the woobie (he’s being shunned by a lot of people for doing sex work on Tarsus to stay alive) and the controlled, honorable budding leader.  Little bit of underage, but not particularly explicit.

Fulfilling the Needs of the One (Or the Both): Sweet Old Married Spirk story that blends slice-of-life with a nuanced emotional plot where Spock suddenly fears that he hasn’t been giving Jim the emotional support and romance Jim needs.  (Jim begs to differ.)

Sunlight: Kirk, Spock, and McCoy start filling out one of those “getting to know you” questionnaires together for a crew newsletter, and of course Spock and Kirk have ridiculously detailed opinions about things as simple as the other one’s hair color and eye color and what kind of animal they would be.  Also some cute McCoy characterization and appreciation for shortish Jim, which I always appreciate.

Freely Given: The last by this author, I promise!  This is the best “McCoy subtly plays matchmaker” fic I’ve read, where his prods and a trip to a planet where on-the-mouth kisses are a common form of greeting make Spock start thinking about what he wants from his relationship with Kirk.  Delightful, sharp Bones, a Kirk who wants to make sure his authority as captain isn’t coming into play here, and a beautifully analytical Spock who is slowly realizing the depths of his pining.

Great Expectations: My favorite bit of xeno!  Kirk and Spock are about to have their first time together, but Spock shies away from getting completely naked, and when he finally does, Kirk has an unfortunate reflexive reaction to his unfamiliar genitals.  Before sweetly and humorously consoling Spock about it and boldly and sexily going where no man has gone before.  This is hot and romantic and perfectly characterized, and I just want to give Spock a hug.

Centennial: More Old Married Spirk!  Kirk is turning one hundred, and he’s feeling his age a little.  But Spock has the perfect gift for him.  Absolutely heartwarming, and written with grace and restraint.

A Private Obsession: Outsider-POV narrated by a man from a rigid, sexually conservative planet.  He owns a factory where Kirk and Spock (clearly stranded and/or forced undercover for purposes the narrator doesn’t know) wind up working.  He becomes sexually and romantically obsessed with Kirk and painfully jealous of Spock–and the ease with which the two men love each other–and, of course, leveraging Spock’s failing health to get Kirk into his bed doesn’t, and can’t, solve his problems.

Famous Last Words: Super adorable fic where there’s a shipboard poll of everyone’s favorite quotes of famous people’s last words, and all of Kirk’s have, um, a certain subtext about seconds-in-command, love, and sex.  Contains flirting and foreplay and love confessions via quotes.  Which is fitting, because Kirk and Spock are enormous nerds.

The Game: Funny, insightful story with Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Scotty playing a game–come up with something another person at the table would never, ever say–that then takes a sharp turn into devastating pining.  This ends as UST, but I can’t believe they don’t get together.  I mean, come on.

Warm Thoughts: Lovely, aching post-”Amok Time” story where Kirk wants to talk about what happened on Vulcan, Spock really doesn’t, and everything is brought to a head by an absolute hurt/comfort gift of a situation where Kirk comes back from a planet with an inability to get warm.  Spock can ostensibly use mind melds to help him a little–but things keep slipping through that he’d rather not deal with.  Excellent hurt/comfort and pining.

…And a Bottle of Rum: Adorable, hilarious, sexy established relationship fic where Kirk tries to use the “Shore Leave” planet for a bit of fun pirate role-play and Spock tries to be a good sport about it.  Hilarity ensues: “Help, help,” Spock called dutifully, and was set down again with a thump as Jim collapsed in a paroxysm of laughter.

Not So Last Words: Heartbreaking post-Wrath of Khan soulmate AU.  Your soulmate’s last words are supposed to be written on your wrist, but Kirk can’t understand how Spock could have died without saying what’s on his.  There is beautifully layered tearjerker stuff here.

Round is a Shape: There are a bunch of “older Kirk is self-conscious about his weight, Spock loves him just the way he is,” and I will read them all, because I am a chubby sap.  But this is my favorite.  Utterly adorable.

And the Truth Shall Set You Free: Smug telepathic aliens force Kirk to publicly declare his feelings to a shocked, unresponsive Spock who has been avoiding him lately.  The aliens feel like they could come straight out of an episode–there’s lots of debating about morality!  I love debating about morality!–and the romance is lovely and the crew is 1000% in Kirk and Spock’s corner.  And it’s delightful.

Cut Point: Spock gets an exceptionally flattering haircut, one that would probably make me moan, “I want to touch his hair,” even more than I already do.  Suddenly, everyone on the ship can’t stop talking about how good he looks, while Kirk loses his mind due to what he thinks is unrequited love.

Gen

Way, Hey, An’ Up She Rises: Nuanced and exquisitely written first meeting story about Kirk coming onto the Enterprise and Spock evaluating him.  Really well-characterized and great at the tentative feeling of the two of them feeling each other out.  And has “pretty shitty but not actually an indiscriminate villain” Gary Mitchell, which is a take I’m especially fond of.

Second Decent Destiny: Very shippy and technically pre-slash, but reads comfortably enough as gen.  “Amok Time” AU where T’Pau doesn’t alibi them to Starfleet and Kirk winds up with an honorable discharge for diverting the ship.  Spock joins him in extremely early retirement and the two of them try to figure out where they’re going from here.  Lovely, and a very good idea for a second-chance life.

Fortune’s Favoured Child: The formatting on this is kind of terrible, but it’s extremely well-worth it if you love Kirk hurt/comfort as much as I do.  In the aftermath of the deaths of Edith Keeler and his brother, Kirk is foundering a little, and seems to snap under the impact of yet another crisis–and in the process, reveals layers of suppressed pain that even his friends didn’t know about.

Lost and Found: Again, superb Kirk hurt/comfort–well-plotted, tense, angsty, and perfectly executed.  Kirk has been kidnapped and brutally tortured by Romulans, and as the story opens, he’s been brought back to the Federation in disgrace, having made a televised confession to all manner of crimes and (presumably) spilled Federation secrets to stay alive.  His crew is supposed to keep him in the brig and bring him to justice, but of course their loyalty is such that their immediate response is basically, “Fuck no.”  (I am bowled over by the sweetness of a particular gesture here.)  And Kirk gets to be both extremely damaged and extremely resourceful and inventive.

Other Ships

Matchmaker of Mars: I initially left this off by mistake because I was going through my bookmarks, and I always just get to this one through my gift page!  It’s Uhura/T’Pring 1930s Science Fiction Writer AU, which should be enough to make you want to read it--it has lovely characterization, note-perfect pastiche, and the two of them struggling to deal with John W. Campbell.

Oh, okay, so this was the short version.  It could have been longer, I promise.  This was relative restraint!

[thesportssoundoff]

Manny Machado To The Yankees Maybe? Well...

Joey

July 12th

There's been a lot of scuttlebutt around Yankeeland about the reported increased interest into All Star SS/3B Manny Machado. This has been met with either tremendous applause from fans or angry derision from fans. The weird thing is that it's a 50/50 split between the Yankee fanbase itself, not even from a "throughout the major leagues" standpoint. Yankees fans either LOVE the idea of adding Machado or HATE the concept which is really strange given the way this fanbase almost always comes to a consensus pretty quickly. To lay out the opening a bit, I'll do my best to present what both camps seem to be saying:

For Machado:

-It's the chance to add yet another all star player at a position where the Yankees don't necessarily have a "need" for an additional player but would probably benefit greatly for improved play.

-It's the chance to further fortify a strength and dare teams to get through this lineup four times in October with a juiced ball (let's be real here) without suffering significant damage.

-It opens the door to moving Andujar or even Didi to potentially improve your squad down the road.

Against Machado:

-This team needs pitching!

-We love Andujar and Machado is just a minor upgrade over him!

-Machado wants to play SS and this team has a collection of players who can play shortshop.

-Why trade for even MORE offense?! Did we mention this team needs pitching?!

In the interest of giving myself a break from solely taking MMA and boxing, I've decided to go ass first into this whole Machado to the Yankees rumor and conjecture to give my own thoughts and opinions on the matter. Am I for it? Against It? Well....

1- Even if you don't get him, getting involved is a damn good thing.

Let's start there.  The mere presence of the Yankees and their top 3-5 farm system forces teams to be honest in bidding for Manny Machado. If the Red Sox, Dodgers, Brewers, Phillies and the such want to make a move for him, having the Yankees involved helps make them pay for it. Giving those teams competition reminds me of when the Yankees sat down with Carl Crawford for the sole focus of getting the Red Sox to up their bid on the player. Sometimes if you're going to be painted as the asshole of the MLB, it's okay to actually BE the assholes of the MLB. Teams aren't going to be sympathetic to your cause so might as well give them a reason to hate.

2- It's not JUST that he makes the line up better.

The upgrade over Andujar with Manny Machado on offense is not as large as you'd think. Even if Andujar is very much a Starlin Castro 2.0 (a guy who isn't going to walk much, K's a bit more than you'd like probably and will live on those hot streaks where he goes XBH crazy), that's a very valuable type of player and he's putting up damn good numbers. Adujar's .279/.313/.495 115+ OPS is not that big of a steep endless decline from Machado's .314/.383/.573 163+OPS. Manny's better offensively by a large margin but he's having an outlier-y season. It's defensively where this team would gain a serious step up. Machado has historically been a very, very good defensive third basemen while Andujar's defense was what prevented him from playing much last year. This year he hasn't been the world's biggest butcher but his lack of range and slow feet have been well discussed. In an argument suggesting Andujar be shopped at the deadline, RiverAveBlues painted a pretty stark picture:

"That’s a long way of saying if you hit the ball at Andujar, he’s going to make the play. Hit the ball anything more than a step or two away from him in either direction, and he’s probably not going to make the play. Does that mean he won’t make those plays forever and ever? No, of course not. Andujar could improve his reads and first step and range. Young players are known to get better, after all. That said, Andujar is something of a defensive liability. His value is tied up heavily in his bat, specifically his power and ability to make contact since he never walks."

http://riveraveblues.com/2018/07/three-reasons-yankees-make-miguel-andujar-available-trade-deadline-174411/

The Yankees are already carrying one so-so defensive infielder with Gleyber Torres (who to me is fine defensively despite what feels like the usual lapses from a dude who has been a SS/3B his whole life) and a catcher who is having a really poor year defensively. Throw in so-so work from Greg Bird and Neil Walker and this infield could use somebody who could shore up some of the holes it has. That's why it's not just Machado batting 3rd/4th that makes this a smart move.

3- You can't trade for what doesn't exist.

Fun with numbers! Here's five pitchers, names removed:

A- 4-4 78.2 IP 4.00 ERA 2.96 SO/BB ratio 6.05 IP per start 1.206 WHIP B- 10-5 105.1 IP 4.44 ERA 3.38 SO/BB ratio 5.85 IP per start 1.177 WHIP C- 5-7 102 IP 4.11 ERA 2.32 SO/BB 5.67 IP per start 1.294 WHIP D- 4-5 86.1 IP 4.80 ERA 2.91 SO/BB 5.86 IP per start 1.286 WHIP E- 4-8 103 IP 4.28 ERA 2.72 SO/BB ratio 5.72 IP per start 1.359 WHIP

A is Sonny Gray at this time last year B is JA Happ C is Tyson Ross D is Matt Harvey E is Cole Hamels

Those are the four most realistic trade options since the Mets probably aren't moving their big 3, The Angels aren't going to move Garrett Richards now with his injury and MadBum is destined to be stuck in San Francisco. The top four options on the market are all pretty much a step below what Sonny Gray was and the key here is that outside of Harvey, the likes of Happ, Ross and Hamels have all been trending down recently. With Gray, he was streaking going into the trade deadline (his final ERA pre-trade would be in the 3.43 range). They THOUGHT they were getting what they need now; a guy who could start in the playoffs and slide behind developing ace Luis Severino. They thought Gray would be at worst a solid #3 and unfortunately it just hasn't panned out that way. Chances are there's no real upgrade available above what they believed they were getting last year. Their investment in Sonny Gray WAS the chance to get the lock down long term rotation help---and it went bust. It happens sometimes.  Any pitcher they're getting is probably worse than Sonny Gray, a perceived ace in his mid 20s who was believed to have the stuff to win in New York. It just didn't work out.

The Yankees need a guy who could be a solid #2/3----but that guy doesn't really exist in this market. There's no help to be had in this barren wasteland of faded aces and reclamation projects. JA Happ is the top pitcher available and would you feel comfortable with him starting game 3 of the ALDS vs the Indians or the Astros? I'm not quite sure. Happ would absolutely help you in terms of having a proven established guy in the rotation instead of Domingo German or Jonathan Loaisiga. The reality is the Yankees need what doesn't exist which means they can either create a starter (with Justus Sheffield from the minors) or hope that they can find a way to manufacture offense to outscore teams early and ride the bullpen late.  Or hope that Masahiro Tanaka and Sonny Gray suddenly get back to being good.

4- I'm not up for a rental

If you're giving up pieces for Manny Machado, it can't be for a rental. Obviously for tax purposes, the Yankees want to be able to stay under that 189 million dollar number so they can't agree to a deal this year. That said if you're giving up pieces for the best 3B in the game then you better have a clue as to where he fits in going forward. If that's as your 3B or SS of the future matters of course but you better ensure you leave a long term idea as to whether you'll have the player long term.

5- Whatever they do, it can't be out of panic.

Seriously. The Yankees are 3 1/2 of Boston with plenty of games to go, they have the best record in the league against good teams. They've beaten Houston and Boston and Cleveland with an as is squad. They'll get back Gary Sanchez and Gleyber Torres soon with the hopes that Torres can continue his All Star play with better health while Gary Sanchez can try to regain some of the form that made him a feared bat in 2016 and 2017. They JUST got back Masahiro Tanaka who probably will help solidify the rotation some. They own a tremendous bullpen and there's help in the farm system. I want them to try and grab one more impact bat; either at 1st, 3rd or even out at LF. I'd like for them to grab the best lefty arm they can to solidify this bullpen finally. I'd even be really happy if they could get an upgrade over Domingo German. The reality though is that any move they make has to be done for something resembling a long term vision. A Jaime Garcia type doesn't do much of anything for this team, a rental who isn't a difference maker just adds another body to the squad. I understand a 40 man roster crunch is coming shortly but I'm not concerned about that because you can ALWAYS find ways to get that cleaned up (Bryan Mitchell, Callum Smith, Garrett Cooper and Ronald Herrera all dealt). Make the moves that fit the long term vision this team has had over the last three years. There's no need for filler deals.

In the end? I mean how could you NOT want to be in Manny Machado? You're trading for a peak prime all star who can play 3rd or short. You're improving your line up AND helping yourself into October. He's a monster with RISP, he's coming into his own as a power hitter and he wants to be here. He's not THE difference between going to the WS and not but I feel a hell of a lot better about Judge-Machado-Stanton with Sanchez, Bird, Didi and Gleyber sprinkled in than I do otherwise. I also feel as though he, all things being equal, is clearly better than just grabbing a mediocre starter. If the market doesn't have arms? Make teams score 8 to beat you.

[bettydgunter90]

069: Do You Really Need to Be a Millionaire?

  How important is it to be fabulously wealthy? Is it possible to live a successful life without making gobs of money along the way?

In this episode, Seth and Jaren talk about the purpose that money does and doesn’t serve in the life of an entrepreneur.

Links and Resources

The Surprising Truth About ‘Success’ and What it Means for You by Seth Williams

The Story of the Fisherman and the Businessman

Breaking Bad

Thou Shall Prosper by Daniel Lapin

Joe Rogan Experience #1208 – Jordan Peterson

048: Investing in Belize Real Estate w/ Will Mitchell

066: Real Estate Investing in Portugal and Uganda – Nathan Amaral Explains How it Works

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Thanks again for joining me this week. Until next time!

Right-click here and “Save As” to download this episode to your computer.

Episode 69 Transcription

Seth: Hey everybody, what’s up? This is Seth Williams and Jaren Barnes and you’re listening to the REtipster podcast. Today we’re not interviewing anybody. We’re just going to sit back and talk about an interesting topic. It’s really just the whole question of “How important is it to be rich?” Do you really need to become a millionaire from real estate or whatever your business of choice happens to be? How much does this really matter in the grand scheme of things?

I think everybody sort of has their own number at which, “Okay, that’s enough. Now I can stop or now I’ve made it”. But I think it’s important to question some of those assumptions sometimes. A lot of times we spend our lives chasing after goals that we haven’t actually thought through that much. Or maybe there is a reason for why we’re doing that, but there may be other more important reasons that argue otherwise that we haven’t thought a whole lot about.

We just kind of wanted to jam a little bit and go back and forth about this idea of how important is money and how much do you really need in order to be considered a success and how do you define success in the first place.

Jaren: I love that you call this a jam because that’s totally what it is. It’s just like we’re just getting together and…

Seth: And just riffing man.

Jaren: Yeah, I love it.

Seth: There is actually a parable of the fishermen and the businessman. Maybe you’ve heard this before, but I thought it was an interesting thing for us to read here because it’s highly relevant to this discussion. What do you think Jaren, should I read it?

Jaren: Yeah, man. Storytime with Seth Williams. This is great.

Seth: It’s not too long. Hopefully, you can deal with me.

Jaren: Everybody just decided to hit 2X on their audio device.

Seth: Did you know the audible app? I think you can listen to it at 3.5X or some ridiculously fast speed.

Jaren: You have to train your ear for that.

Seth: I don’t remember what it was, maybe it’s 3.5 but I was trying to deal with it the other day and it was nuts. Like I couldn’t understand anything that was being said, but I don’t know. I guess there’s a time and a place. Okay. So, here it goes.

There once was a businessman who was sitting by the beach in a small Brazilian village. As he sat, he saw a Brazilian fisherman rowing a small boat toward the shore, having caught quite a few big fish. The businessman was impressed and asked the fishermen, “How long does it take you to catch so many fish?” Then the fishermen replied, “Oh, just a short while”. “Then, why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?”, the businessman was astonished. “This is enough to feed my whole family”, the fishermen said. The businessmen asked, “So, what do you do for the rest of the day?” And the fishermen reply, “Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go out to sea to catch a few fish and then go back and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I’d take a nap with my wife. And when evening comes, I join my buddies in the village for a drink. We play guitar and sing and dance throughout the night”.

The businessmen offered a suggestion to the fishermen, “Well, I am a Ph.D. in business management. I could help you to become a more successful person. From now on, you should spend more time at sea and try to catch as many fish as possible. When you’ve saved enough money, you can buy a bigger boat and catch even more fish. Soon you’ll be able to afford to buy more boats, set up your own company, your own production plant for canned food, and distribution network. By then, you’ll have moved out of this village to São Paulo where you can set up a headquarter to manage your other branches”.

And the fishermen continued, “And after that?” And the businessman laughed heartedly, “Well after that, you can live like a King in the comfort of your own house. And when the time is right, you can go public and float your shares in the stock exchange and you’ll be rich”. And the fishermen asked, “And after that?” The businessman says, “After that you can finally retire, you can move to a house by the fishing village, wake up early in the morning, catch a few fish, and then return home to play with your kids. Have a nice afternoon nap with your wife, and when evening comes you can join your buddies for a drink. Play the guitar singing dance throughout the night”. And the fisherman was puzzled, “Isn’t that what I’m doing right now?” he thought.

Jaren: Wow. Yeah, I’ll tell you. I think he found a new career, so that was very good. There’s a lot to impact with that story. I think I read it in a book somewhere, but it’s one of the most profound stories, little parables that I’ve read.

Seth: Yeah, I know. The story kind of just says it all. I don’t know what else there is to unpack after that, but just this whole idea of “What really makes you happy?” What is it you want out of life? What’s going to make you feel as though, “Okay, I’ve made it, I’ve done what I was born to do?” How important is masses of wealth to do that? I don’t know, it’s a tough thing because I totally understand the draw to want to make money. Why else would I be a real estate investor if I didn’t understand that?

That’s a huge driver behind a lot of stuff that I do, but it’s not just about that. I think I’ve figured this out more and more. I think it earlier on in my life it was kind of just like “Make money, make money, make money”. Like somehow figure out how to make money. I don’t care what kind of business it is, as long as it’s not hurting people, just make money. And kind of as I’ve gotten further in life though, maybe it’s wisdom somehow, I have attained or something, but just realizing that if the goal is happiness or fulfillment, money is not necessarily the thing that’s going to make that possible. I think it definitely makes life easier in some respects, but it also makes life harder too.

Jaren: Yeah. I would give a little pushback there because I’ve seen studies, I think you’re right to a point, but I’ve seen some studies that say that the threshold of income that produces the ability to have a euphoric sense of fulfillment or you’ve arrived in life or you’re okay is about $70,000 per year.

Seth: I think it does depend on what country you’re in. But yeah, I think that’s right for the U.S. for the most part.

Jaren: For the U.S. Yes. And I think that there’s something to that as well, right? I think that you have to make at least some kind of money, like a certain standard of money to not be worrying and not being fear because knowing where my wife’s come from and her back story, there is a point where poverty just sucks. It’s just constant scrounging just to survive. And I do think that there’s that sweet spot where it’s like, okay, there is a point where it’s enough but it’s hard to identify that once you’re there. Because “Well, if I had just a little bit more if I just had a little bit more” and then your “At $70,000” becomes $100,000 and $150,000 and $250,000. And then, “Oh, as long as I’m a millionaire, I’ll finally get there”. And when you’re a millionaire, “I just need to get 10 million. If I got 10 million, I’d be good”. And you’re on this hamster wheel that continues to grow and grow.

Seth: Why do you think people keep because I think it’s a very common thing. I know some very entrepreneurial people, people who do not by any means need to continue working. Like it’s just totally unnecessary. Like they have more money than they’ll ever know how to spend, but they keep going for some reason. Like why? Is it because it’s fun? It’s like a game to them? Like, it’s just that’s how they entertain themselves or I don’t know. What do you think is going on there?

Jaren: Yeah, man. I think it depends on the person for sure. We’re way overgeneralizing.

Seth: For sure.

Jaren: But I think that if you’ve been an entrepreneur your whole life like I think of Gary Vaynerchuk. Like the guy is made for business. The guy doesn’t have to work. He could totally go read books all day, hang out with his family. But he loves it. It’s the game for him. And that’s his version of catching a few fish every day. For me, I don’t know if I’m there to be honest. I have to do things and a lot of it that I don’t really necessarily want to do because I’m kind of in that point where I’m like trying to reach a certain threshold of income every month and set up systems. I’m trying to generate cash to buy cash flow assets so that whether I’m in a beach in Belize hanging out with our friend Will Mitchell or maybe hanging out with Nathan in the Azores, I have to build those things up first. That’s where I’m at in my evolution of entrepreneurship.

But for me, when I’m at a point where I don’t have to worry about money anymore, I promise you my day is going to look totally different. I’m going to be reading a whole lot more, a lot more. I probably would still do some version of blogging or podcasting or giving back. Because again, I feel like, as I said in the interview with you, I feel like this medium is the best for impact and that’s something that’s really important to me. But I definitely would not be taking motivated seller calls. I will bet you money that will not be happening.

Seth: I know, man, I think about that too. Like, I don’t know, if I woke up tomorrow with enough passive real estate to just like dump millions into my bank account every month. Like way more money than I could ever spend. Definitely, the fire would not be burning quite as hot, I guess. Put it that way. But I’d probably shift my attention towards like giving a bunch of money away because that’s a lot of fun when you can really make a big difference with a good mission or organization that’s trying to do things and all they need is the money. I’m not the kind who’s just going to like bust my button until the day I die. Like if I’m able to make it to a certain point, basically I’ll be done doing anything for the purpose of making money. It’ll be more for the purpose of like enjoyments or helping others.

Jaren: Or having a higher mission. Yeah. Let’s explore that a little bit man. Because you said even in your example just a minute ago, you said if I had cash flow that was making me millions, millions of dollars a month, that’s when you would shift gears. But the big thesis of today’s conversation is “Do you need millions and millions to start running an organization that gives money away and stuff like that?” Like when do you know, “Okay, enough is enough. I’ve made enough. I’m good. It’s time for me to get off the hamster wheel.”

Seth: Yeah. I don’t know why this is coming to mind right now. It is relevant, but have you ever seen the show “Breaking Bad”?

Jaren: I’ve seen some episodes, yeah. My mom and my stepdad were totally obsessed with that show.

Seth: Yeah. There is a season two episode one, the episode is called “Seven Thirty-Seven”. The reason it’s called that is that Walter White, the main character who through a series of unfortunate events ended up in the drug business manufacturing and trying to sell meth. If you haven’t seen the show, this guy is a high school science teacher, respectable guy. Like, not the kind of person you would ever think would somehow end up making and selling drugs. But he is a trained chemist and he happens to be able to make the highest quality meth anybody has ever seen. He realizes he has this skill. And it was all motivated by the fact that he was diagnosed with lung cancer and he didn’t have a lot of money and he needs to make money fast somehow so that his family is taken care of and his kids can go to college and all this stuff.

And this episode “Seven Thirty-Seven”, he arrives on this number. He needs $737,000 to afford to do everything that he wants his family to be able to have when he’s gone. Like pay for college, pay off their house, all this stuff. That is his number. And as you can imagine, the show goes on for five total seasons and he gets to that number through a lot of very difficult, horrible things that he has to do. And then he just keeps going. Because he realizes like “I’m good at this”. Like this is kind of fun and he sort of enjoys the power and the pride and the manipulation. And I think in the show he ends up making like $80 million or something like that.

But it makes sense in a way. If you sacrifice everything that you have to sacrifice and put the time and effort into learning how to make money. Like it’s not an easy road for most people. Money is kind of hard to make. I think some people are blessed with really good salesmanship skills and it comes fairly easy to them. But most people aren’t that lucky. They have to really, like for me, it has been anything but easy to figure out how to make money in life. And when you finally figure out something that works, it’s like you kind of want to squeeze everything you can out of that because it’s like, “Hey, this was a lot of work to get here”.

And it doesn’t hurt to realize on this Earth anyway, money, it gives you power in certain ways. There are opportunities you would never otherwise have and things you can do. I think it’s probably fairly easy for most people to do the math and figure out what do they really want, what are the biggest expenses is going to be in the next 20 to 40 to whatever years of their life. It’s like the math of it probably isn’t that hard, but the emotion of it is probably what’s harder to keep in check and actually sticking to your goal. I think everybody probably has aspirations of coming up with that number, but when you get into it as any entrepreneur knows, there’s something almost kind of addictive about it. I don’t know if that’s the right word.

Jaren: No, I think that’s a great word, man. Yeah, because I’ve been talking to my wife and I’ve been kind of feeling some of that. I miss the excitement of the simple wholesaling day sometimes where it’s like literally every single month was either going to be the best month ever or the worst month ever. There are so many months where it was like to the last day of the month we were going to see if we were going to make it or break it.

Seth: That would be a living hell for me. I would not enjoy that.

Jaren: I mean it’s so intense, but man is it a rush. There is an addictive aspect to it where it’s like, I’m sure if we got Tyler Hazel on here who is the Head of Acquisitions at Simple Wholesaling at the time that I was the Head of Dispositions, he would a hundred percent affirm of what I’m saying. There is an aspect of it that’s intoxicating.

Seth: When you were asking me in the last episode about what would be so bad about going back to a job, I think maybe that’s part of it. It just seemed so monotonous. Like when you’ve seen the other side or seen what can be, like closing a deal that makes you $40,000 – $50,000 in one shot. I mean contrasting that with like, “Yep, another paycheck of couple thousand bucks”. It’s so boring. Yeah, definitely, it’s thrilling when you figure out how to make money.

Jaren: Again, to play devil’s advocate a little bit, I’m definitely somebody who never wants to retire ever. I think that getting to a point where you have enough money where I can just sit around and watch TV all day like that lifestyle just does not appeal to me. I would much rather when it’s my time to be taken out, I want to be on a stage or on a mission trip or doing something significant with my time. I don’t want to just like get old and watch TV until I die. That’s so repulsive to me. And so, how do you figure this thing out? Because it is a question that I ask myself a lot. Like, okay, if I loosely have an idea of like I want to own X amount of rental units that should generate this range of cash flow every month for us to live off of or not only live off of but to give wealth away or use for purposes or whatever.

Once I’m there, how am I going to be able to walk from it and what am I going to be walking towards? Do you think that it’s wise for entrepreneurs to early on in their entrepreneurial pursuits to really lay this out and really have a meeting with themselves and like, “All right, when you reach $20,000 a month, no under any circumstances we’re walking away and we’re doing something different”. Or do you think that it’s okay to just be like, “Hey, I’m at 20 I want to go to 50. I want to go to a 100”. And how do you know when you need to stop versus when it’s okay to keep going?

Seth: I guess it sort of depends on what drives you. If you can answer the question, “Why do you do what you do?” It’s a very open-ended question, but I don’t know, everybody has something that motivates them. Some underlying reason that they’re doing anything that they’re doing right now. I think it also helps to be honest about that. I think sometimes people almost like tell themselves lies or they come up with the reasons that sound good on the surface, but really there’s something like going back to Breaking Bad. He spends all five seasons talking about “I’m doing this for my family. I want to be able to provide for my family”. And in the process totally destroys his family. I mean everything just goes caput. Like in the last episode, one of the last scenes, he’s talking with his estranged wife and she’s like, “Don’t tell me one more time that you did this for the family”. And he says, “I didn’t do this for the family. I did this for me because I was good at it”. That’s one of the things I got. If he had been honest with that all along. I don’t know. I don’t know if that would have changed his direction or just if it would have helped them have more clarity about his motivations for everything. But it took him till the end to be honest about it in that fictional story.

Jaren: Yeah, I think that’s really solid, man. Because something that I really tried to do like I’ve said, I think when you interviewed me, something that I brought up for good or for worse, my personality is achievement-oriented. I draw my sense of fulfillment from what I accomplish and I can use that as a superpower. But that also is my biggest weakness in my Achilles heel in who I am as a person. If you negatively attack that sense of my security is wrapped up in what I do, that is a huge character flaw. But it’s also what gets me to do things that other people aren’t willing to do. It’s what drives me and it is what fuels my success. So, I think that it’s being honest with yourself and just being okay with flaws and all, what you have in your DNA. Honesty is the first step to be able to capitalize on it because you can set up things to protect you from the worst parts of the manifestation of how you are and you then can capitalize on the good parts and double down on.

Seth: Yeah, it actually reminds me, there was an article I wrote for Inc this past year that kind of talks directly about a lot of this stuff. Maybe I can play the narrator again and read some of this for you because actually I spent a lot of time trying to organize my thoughts when I put this together. So, if I just read it, it’ll probably come out better. By the way, I’ll link to this in the show notes. This is retipster.com/69. But the article is called “The Surprising Truth About ‘Success’ and What it Means for You”.

Every time I hear somebody talking about what it takes to be “successful”, I cringe. Success is one of those catchall words people use to describe everything good in life. But the problem is that it’s impossible for everybody to agree on what success really means. Merriam-Webster gave it a shot and they came up with a definition of the attainment of wealth, favor or eminence. It’s like, what do you think? Is it fair to sum up every successful person based on their wealth, favor, or eminence? The problem with that definition, I think, or any definition of success is that success is very subjective. Not every successful person sets out to attain wealth, favor, or eminence. Some folks are looking for things like freedom or spiritual enlightenment or self-discipline or relationships with great people.

There are different ways to measure when a person has found success and ultimately success has to be defined by you. This next section starts with “Are you climbing the wrong ladder?” In the entrepreneurial world, a lot of people go into business for themselves because they’re looking for freedom from a boss. Freedom from the 09:00 to 05:00 or the ability to live life on their terms.

But many successful entrepreneurs will inevitably start following Merriam-Webster’s definition of success instead of their own. They start going after the money, the house, the car, things like that. And there’s nothing inherently wrong with those things. But I’ve found that most entrepreneurs want to be remembered by more than just wealth and fame. That’s not really what it all boils down to. Yet somehow that’s the path they end up on. And eventually, I think we realized like it doesn’t take us where we want to go. It’s like spending years climbing up a ladder only to look down and realize the ladder was leaning up against the wrong wall. So why do so many people end up chasing after achievements that don’t make them happy? And I believe it happens because when an entrepreneur never intentionally sets their own definition of what success looks like.

And the article goes on and on from there. But kind of what we were saying, I mean it is really important to really think this through, like what matters to you. And sometimes that you have to ask yourself some tough questions and challenge your assumptions and also acknowledge that there’s a lot of beliefs that are infused into our heads from a very early age that are not correct or not healthy. They’re not going to bring us to where we want to go. I feel like the older I get, the more and more I realize that kind of stuff. Things I’ve just always thought that isn’t right. It’s important to be able to take a step back and challenge what you thought you’ve known all along.

Jaren: Yeah, that’s super deep man. I think I’m actually going to take on a homework assignment for myself because I am seeing the significance of this conversation. I’m going to take some time and define, really quantify what success looks like from a dollar perspective. Like how much money should I be making every month from real estate. But more importantly, what are the things that I truly define as success. Because for me success looks a lot more like being faithful to self-discipline than anything else. Like, even if I didn’t ever accomplish the financial numbers that I want, being the kind of person who is in shape.

That’s something that I’ve personally struggled with a lot in my life and continue to do so, unfortunately, is like, I want to be a lot healthier and a lot more fit than I am currently. And I want to be able to be the kind of person that works out every day or at least five, six times a week. And I want to be somebody who has spiritual disciplines and is faithful to them and has the ability to govern oneself as it were. And other people might not care about that stuff. But that’s the kind of stuff for me that I really just need to get honest with.

I love what you said about honesty and I really want to reemphasize that because it’s okay if it looks ugly. If your motivation is grit, start with it being that your motivation is grit and own it. There are pros and cons to that and you’re going to have to explore that. But if that’s honestly, you just want to make a buttload of money, start there and be like, “Okay, I just want to make a buttload of money. Why do I want to make a buttload of money?” And then go from there.

Seth: It’s the “Five Whys” exercise. Whatever your answer is, ask yourself “Why?” again. And whatever your answer is to that, ask yourself “Why?” again. Why do you need a million dollars? Why do you want to make a buttload of money? Why the answer to that? And again, and again. Eventually, you’ll probably drill down to what actually matters and what’s really going on beneath the surface.

In that article, actually, I came up with a few questions that people might want to just think about if they’re not sure what they really value. I’ll just proceed to read these questions exactly as they’re written in the article here.

The first time I tried this, I found it was surprisingly difficult to think outside the established norms of seeking wealth, status and admiration from others. If you’re struggling to come up with your own unique definition of success, try asking yourself some of these questions.

“When in your life have you felt genuinely happy? Who were you with? What were you doing? What circumstances led to your happiness? What would it take for you to recreate those moments?” That’s one thing to think about. And then “When was the last time you felt content, satisfied and fulfilled? If ever. Assuming you even know what that feels like. “What made you feel this way? Which of your needs, wants, and desires were being met at that moment?” And then, “What do you value most in life?” Come up with a shortlist of things that matter most to you. “Which items on this list matter more than the others?”

Put the items in order of priority and be honest with yourself again, as you do this. And whatever your answers are, you’ll probably find there’s a lot more to the story than just money, power and influence as it’s defined in the dictionary. When you know what’s going on beneath the surface, you’ll be able to develop a better understanding of your values and your own definition of success, whatever that is.

Jaren: This is really good, man. For the listeners out there, if you take this as a challenge and you sit down and you really go through these questions and you get clear answers on these, I think it’s going to really help you navigate through the waters of becoming financially independent. Because real estate, if you employ what we teach at REtipster and know what the guests say here, eventually you are going to start making really good money.

And money is an amplifier. If you have insecurities or you got issues in your heart right now, when you throw money at it, it’s just going to get 5,000 times louder. But if you got this stuff worked out on the get-go, then when you throw money at it, then you’re just going to be able to amplify really good stuff that the world needs.

Seth: Yeah, totally. I think it was Will Smith who said, “Money doesn’t change people. It just amplifies what’s already there”.

Jaren: Oh, nice. I didn’t know he said that. That’s awesome.

Seth: Well, probably several people have said that, and somehow, I can attribute that to Will Smith. I think it’s true though. It’s a lot of truth to that. So, anything else we want to explore this topic?

Jaren: I don’t know man. I think we kind of hit it right on the head. I think that it’s just something to think about. I don’t think we have a very clear answer to the question because I don’t know, it might be the right decision for this fisherman to scale. Because then all of a sudden, he can not only provide for his immediate family, maybe he can provide jobs for his entire village and some people are called to do that stuff. And that’s important. Creating jobs is really, really important. But you just really need to know why. If your goal is to provide for your family and fish a little bit in the morning and have a drink with your buddies at night and you’re already doing that, well, then why reinvent the wheel? Money is not going to change that.

Seth: It is interesting. I know this is sort of varying down a different road in the conversation, but I know plenty of people in my life who straight up believe that the attainment of wealth like to be rich, I guess for lack of a better term is wrong. There’s something wrong with that. When somebody has excessive wealth or they’re in the dreaded 1% so to speak in some way those people are like corrupt or somehow, they got there from bad motives or taking advantage of people. This is a huge thing in a lot of different online realms where people charge money for courses. For some reason that gets pigeonholed as like those people are bad because they’re charging a lot of money for a course, which I mean the whole conversation is just nuts.

I mean all kinds of crazy assumptions are wrapped into that, but a lot of times people won’t necessarily come out and say, “I think it’s wrong”, but that’s really what they’re getting at. That’s the underlying assumption behind everything, all their beliefs about people who are wealthy. The funny thing about that, I was listening to Jordan Peterson one time talking about this. I think he was being interviewed on maybe Joe Rogan or something, but anyway, they were talking about this whole issue of being in the 1%. The 1% richest people in America.

He said it’s actually interesting, if you make more than $32,000 a year, you’re in the top 1% of the world. Why is it that being in the 1% of America somehow makes you bad but the 1% of the world is okay? Because most people make over $32,000 a year. I thought it was just an interesting point in terms of how people define good or bad or acceptable versus unacceptable.

I think that book “Thou Shall Prosper” by Daniel Lapin has a ton to say about that whole subject. And one of the things that he gets at is he’s sort of talking about how a lot of entrepreneurs, like say if they give a lot of money to a local nonprofit and they are on the news because of it, the news will say something like “Local businessman gives back to the community”, ignoring the fact that you already gave back to the community in a huge way by employing tons and tons of people and giving people the livelihood, like how is that not giving back? But when you actually give cash to somebody, then you’ve officially started to do a good thing. I thought that was a really good point. I had never even thought of it that way, but it’s totally true.

Jaren: That book really changed my life because of this topic. I was kind of growing up as a troubled kid and then kind of getting into what I call the missionary mentality. There was a lot that I almost like glorified poverty. Like I grew up in an upper-middle-class family, but for whatever reason, I associated with drug addicts and I legitimately as crazy as this is probably going to sound for the audience members, as a kid, my aspiration was to be nomadic. Like I wanted to be homeless. And my mom used to actually drop me off in Santa Cruz, California and I used to go hang out with a bunch of homeless people. And I actually had a guy tell me that, “Hey, as long as you graduate high school, you can come out here on the streets and I’ll teach you how to be homeless and how to survive”. And that was like legitimately the direction that I was wanting to go with my life.

I really had this like the anti-rich, anti-wealth thing. Like all the problems in the world are related to money and all this stuff. But that book like just sold it. It just settled it in my heart that “No, no, no. You can do far better for the world if you can create jobs and you have money”. The more money you have, the better you can make an impact on the world for the positive. And my wife really taught me that too because growing up in real poverty, you talked to anybody that grew up in real poverty, they say, “No, no, no. Money is an amazing thing. Money is a very, very, very, very, very good thing because money means food. Money is a good thing”. I really encourage it to everybody. That’s why I always listed as one of my most recommended books.

Seth: There were a bunch of things he said in that book that I had stopped the audiobook and write it down because it was just so impactful. One of the things he said was that, “Most of the good things that you are is a reason to blow other people’s horns rather than your own”. It’s really true. Any good attribute of myself is either like nature or nurture. I was born with it because of who my parents are and who their parents were or somebody taught me to do the good thing that I do. I just emulated what they did.

It’s almost kind of like the question of “Is there even such thing as real true creativity or is everything just a reiterated version of what somebody else has done?” I don’t know. Sometimes it’s very easy to glorify oneself and think of like, “Wow, I’m an amazing person. Look at this awesome thing I did for the world”.

Jaren: Especially if you look like Seth.

Seth: I know. It’s very easy. Like I said, that’s a good book. Obviously, Jaren has talked about it a lot. I’ve talked about it a little bit, but if you ever want to get an audiobook or a book to read, go check it out. Cool. Well, I think that’s all I’ve got to say on the subject. You, Jaren, you got anything else?

Jaren: No, I think that’s it and I hope you guys are enjoying us. Switching up the format a little bit here, I know that these last couple of episodes have been a little different and I think we’re going to be continuing down the same vein. I think moving forward we’ll touch back on more real estate specific topics and things of that sort, but I think we’re going to mix up interviews and then just having it be me and Seth to explore a topic. So, if you guys have any topic ideas that you’d like me and Seth to explore, reach out to one of us. Maybe we can do in Facebook or if you want to reach out to me, jaren@retipster.com. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Seth: Not Jared, but Jaren with an N.

Jaren: Yeah. Or Darren like everyone. My name is, it’s funny, I have to be very articulate when I say Jaren because some people think I say Sharon, like I’m a girl. It’s terrible.

Seth: I’ve been present several times when people have called you Jared, which I guess, Jaren is an unusual name. I haven’t known many Jaren’s so I sort of get it, but still, it’s like, come on man, pay attention.

Jaren: I’m used to it.

Seth: Well folks, if you enjoyed this episode or even if you didn’t, if you want to follow along with what we’ve got coming up next, you can do so from your phone if you text the word “FREE”, F-R-E-E to the number 33777.

I hope you guys enjoyed this. I hope everybody is doing okay out there in the world. And if you want to check out the show notes from this episode, again, that’s retipster.com/69. We’ll talk to you guys next time.

Jaren: Later guys.

The post 069: Do You Really Need to Be a Millionaire? appeared first on REtipster.

from Real Estate Tips https://retipster.com/069-do-you-need-to-be-a-millionaire/

[kinetic-elaboration]

April 3: 2x13 Obsession

Okay, trying this again! My live-blog thoughts from watching Obsession last night. I didn’t remember this ep very well, and I was a little uncertain about it going in. But ultimately I think it was a really solid Kirk episode and a really solid triumvirate episode.

How many times as hard as rock is this mineral you’re looking for? Let’s be precise. (Aka how Spock flirts.)

I’m really into the sets and special effects today. This big rock that is obviously Styrofoam. The ominous cloud of smoke.

Set phasers to disrupter-b? I feel like he just made that up.

Oh no, three red shirts set out on their own! I feel like this one is pretty smart, though.

Leslie!!! RIP my favorite extra.

“Something that can’t possibly exist… but does anyway.” That’s it, that’s the show.

Well Kirk’s obsession is obvious right away. That’s good. We’re getting right to the point.

They have to meet up with another ship in order to transport perishable vaccines!! I know from first-hand experience that that is very important! Get it together Kirk. Admitting straight out, “I’m okay with some other people dying so I can further investigate the monster” is not a good look on him.

Also I feel like TOS often confuses “cure” and “vaccine” (as in Miri) but even if these are actually vaccines, they could still save lives urgently!

McCoy’s autopsy report: uh, just look at their faces??

The Yorktown, the Farragut… someone on the AOS team loved this episode apparently. (I remembered that the Farragut was Kirk’s first assignment but I did not remember the Yorktown.)

Interesting that the creature smells of honey because “rotting honey” was the smell that indicated the presence of Area X in the Southern Reach.

Some gratuitous touching.

When Garrovick Jr. first showed up, the shot was so ominous and dramatic that I legitimately thought that the creature was a shape-shifter and that was him lol.

Is this another episode where Kirk sees himself in a promising young man and then proceeds to judge him incredibly harshly as a way of judging his own past self? I think it might be!

Garrovick looks like he’s sitting in front of a green screen during this interrogation. Honestly, the colors in this episode are really going off in general! I can see how this would be fun to watch on a new color tv.

“Go to your room! You’re grounded!”

“Put it in your report, Spock!” I really wish we’d seen AOS Kirk do that. Like, fighting with reports and regulations is one of my favorite parts of TOS but we only saw AOS Spock use that as a weapon and it was made to show what a stick in the mud he was but like… they all do it! And AOS Kirk should have too.

And now a scene where Spock and McCoy gossip about Spock’s boyfriend.

I honestly love McCoy and Spock scenes. They have such a great rapport… the respect is not even grudging, it’s clearly there, but they make it more palatable to themselves by adding in some barbs and little digs at each other. But it’s still McCoy that Spock goes to when he needs advice or even, as he says here, just someone to bounce an idea off of, and McCoy is there to listen to him.

Oh, Spock definitely understands obsession.

Kirk’s quarters are looking very purple today.

Mccoy is trying to wax poetic and Kirk just wants him to get to the point.

Time to lie down in an Emo Fashion again.

Not to be nitpicky, but if the creature killed 200 people on the Farragut, and that was half the crew… wouldn’t the Farragut be a lot bigger than the Enterprise? I don’t think that’s right. Also, not to be even more nitpicky, but how did they finally get away from it? Did it get on their ship? If it killed all the people on the surface, could they not have just… stopped hanging out on the surface?

Anyway. McCoy is such a good best friend.

Garrovick was Kirk’s Pike.

Oh no, bringing in the big guns: the boyfriend. A blue shirt conspiracy.

Spock sounds like he’s in one of those HR training videos. Like, he’s attempting to sound conversational while still blatantly quoting from the Starfleet Handbook.

“Why are we delayin’ here?” Heavy Southern drawl.

They really are ganging up on him.

Intuition is a command prerogative.

I love how Bones says “We’re not ganging up on you” after a long scene where they gang up on him.

Oh no, the creature’s on the move! Just straight up floating through space. Cool cool cool.

Kirk’s so distracted by the creature that he’s not even looking at Spock’s ass.

Another bad day for Scotty.

I like Chapel but honestly, imagine Rand in this scene with Garrovick… I miss her.

Garrovick, what an idiot. Throwing shit and hitting switches across the room.

I legit don’t understand how the creature moves in space. Or what this has to do with gravity… which doesn’t exist in space.

Monster hunt, monster hunt!

Spock is agreeing with Kirk now, about the creature’s intelligence.

Whatever is going on with the vents in this ship, it seems like maybe they’re not the most well made.

“Let’s just nuke it.” That’s always a good idea.

Spock is trying so hard to make Kirk feel better. Even calling him “Jim”—which he used to do almost every episode and now rarely does anymore.

Lol, now he’s off to try the exact same thing with Garrovick. “If Jim won’t let me comfort him, perhaps this other irrational human will.”

“Garrovick, let me explain your own thoughts and feelings to you. I’m an expert on humans, you know. I’m around them all the time.”

“I know you want to be emo, but could you please just listen to me??” The absolute transparency with which he’s trying to be helpful.

Kindness actually isn’t an emotion… it’s a choice. Spock really will call anything a human emotion in order to avoid having to deal with it.

I'm sorry but he SNAPS THE KNOB OFF, goes "eh," throws it away, and then tries to stop the gas coming through the vent with his HANDS? How did Sarek raise this boy?

Garrovick is so Dramatic. A true Kirk protégé.

The creature tried to eat Spock and Spock didn’t taste so good.

"I'm asking for your military appraisal of the techniques used against the creature." Professor Kirk coming out.

Poor creature was lost, I guess. Just wants to go home.

And SPAWN. That word just gives me flashbacks tbqh…

Kirk and Spock having their usual ‘who will sacrifice himself first’ – off.

Realistically it should be neither the XO NOR the Captain but this is a tv show.

I do remember this part. Carrying that weird little device down to the planet. It is very aesthetically pleasing. I kind of want it for my apartment, to display as like a modern art sculpture. Minus the bomb

Mmm, a delicious snack for the creature. Yum. Got that gross green blood taste out of its mouth.

LMAO at Garrovick trying to be all heroic, knock Kirk out, and become the sacrifice. You thought!!

Spock and Scotty at the controls so you know how serious the transporter situation is.

McCoy versus the transporter again.

"It was my cross-circuiting to B that recovered them." Yes, Spock saved his space husband, he saved the day, and we should all acknowledge it.

Aw, that’s sweet, Kirk volunteering to reminisce with Garrovick about his father.

The end! I ended up enjoying it a lot overall. We gotta stop having episodes where Kirk is questioned or learns lessons though lol. I want my unabashedly heroic captain! Still no matter what he is always a hero in the end. And as I said, really great triumvirate ep with good individual characterizations, and scenes with each part of the triangle together.

If the Farragut incident was 11 years before this, and, as established in the last ep, Kirk is 34, that means he was 23 at the time. Pretty young to be a lieutenant imo. He was also a lieutenant at the time he was teaching Gary Mitchell at the Academy, which I’m going to personally headcanon, starting now, was right after Garrovick’s death. He returns to San Francisco, takes a year or a semester off to teach, and meets Gary.

Next up is Wolf in the Fold, a rare Scotty-centric episode.