#i love thinking of spock as deeply flawed

[communistkenobi]

ive never seen any star trek stuff before i started watching tos recently, and ive been liking it a lot but the level to which i like it is definitely not proportional to how good i think it is. like its good but its also kinda shit in a lot of ways, they had kirk say the gender binary is a universal constant, most of kirks Blonde Love Interests Of The Week show zero agency in the romance or sometimes the plot in general, they constantly defy the "dont fuck with alien cultures" rule bc Other Cultures Are Weird And Need Us To Fix Them, and also its just kinda dumb sometimes! i like it mostly because A) the character dynamics are really fun and B) i love seeing the 60s bleed through the script and getting to psychoanalyze the writer based on the thematic storytelling ("this is about the cold war. this is also about the cold war. this is- yup you guessed it the cold war, theyre feeling anxious about nukes again this week. this ones about the writer hating religion. this ones about integration. surprise twist this ones an implicit criticism of solitary confinement. this ones about the cold war again but this time its a really weird but ballsy take"), but its still very much a show from the 60s written by incredibly flawed people so of course its going to be flawed? its been interesting to watch it as a shadow on the cave wall of american politics from that era and ive been having fun but idk why anyone would try and say its not politically fucked in a lot of ways. like its fine you can like this old show and also admit that the writers were not actually all that enlightened about colonialism

I really really like the show! and honestly I genuinely like that it’s openly a piece of American Cold War propaganda, I think it’s very interesting and entertaining as a living historical artefact. I’m less interested in critiquing any one part of it because I feel like the misogyny and orientalism and ableism and etc are not flaws grafted onto an otherwise uncompromised whole, they are an integral part of what tos is and what its place is in the broader popular culture. Like I do not think you can subtract any of those qualities and keep tos enact at the end it, because those gendered and racial and abled assumptions are baked into it, as they are in a lot of sci-fi. And I find the reactionary and bigoted elements just as compelling as the good parts, not because they don’t offend my political sensibilities but because I want to appreciate “the whole text” for what it is and what it does. For me they aren’t things to be ignored or blocked out, they are part of how I enjoy the show and how I understand it as a piece of art.

obviously nobody is required to engage with it in the same way, and if those things are deal-breakers (or even if you want to ignore them) then that is completely fine, I’m not your dad etc, but I think part of why I’ve been getting so much pushback from people about bringing these things up is because they are primarily invested in it as a character drama with the word “socialist utopia” pasted on top of it, and so they are engaging with tos is an idealised expression of their political values. Which isn’t novel, that is like the default mode of engagement with art online (and I am not exempting myself from this), but if you bring up the racism or colonialism or misogyny most people invoke “but it’s socialist!” as a blanket defense, as if that’s at all responsive to any of those descriptions of the show.

anyway I ALSO really like the show as character drama, legitimately Kirk and Spock are really fun characters and I’m very invested in them individually, but my main enjoyment of Star Trek is that it’s American mid-century space-race propaganda, and a lot of it is deeply reactionary as a direct consequence

[1shirt2shirtredshirtdeadshirt]

Spock has resonated with me deeply from childhood. The idea of contact with aliens always excited me, and what a sterling concept for what it could look like in Spock/Vulcans. Gene envisioned a best case scenario that just *worked*.

But I think it is Spock's humanity, the facet of Spock that he feels is imperfect and should be ashamed of, that I think makes him appealing to so many in every generation: We all know what it is to be the outcast, to feel othered, to feel at home nowhere, awkward, unwelcome. To have a less than perfect family with impossible expectations. To feel ashamed of our families and of ourselves.

And above all else, that hard earned journey we all must go through of trying (and frequently failing) to love ourselves.

It took Spock connecting with his humanity -- and humans like Pike and Kirk who showed him just what incredible potential humanity has when we send out the best of us to make connections -- to realize his own humanity had value and worth. That perhaps Vulcans were wrong about humans all along.

I think it took having people around him like Pike and Kirk -- who did not try to change him, ask him to be more Vulcan or human, just unreservedly accepted him as he was -- to learn he could accept himself. I always say that journey from "Jim, when I feel friendship for you, I'm ashamed" in S1 to "this simple feeling" in TMP is one of the greatest character story arcs of all time. It felt like such a deserved win.

That lesson of "if you do not fit in where you are, find your people, find the ones who love you and lift you up exactly as you are and learn to embrace yourself" -- I think that is why Spock was and still is such a powerful character. That hard earned journey of self love, accepting one's self, and found family I feel resonates with so many people.

To add another layer, as a queer person, that found family concept is very near and dear to our hearts in the community; sadly, many of us have known the sting of being unwanted. I had many found family members live in my home when their biological family kicked them out.

I feel like that pain of constant rejection and the self hate it can create is very present in Spock, and it is a poignant representation of vulnerability in a character who always tries to be so strong and indifferent. We all know what it is to try to maintain a facade outside while a storm is brewing within. I believe that speaks to so many of us who have known what it means to feel self loathing, to be on the outside looking in, desperate for approval, but never willing to admit it.

As Jim says, Spock's is the most "human" representation in a character that is ironically alien, and I think that speaks to a lot of us: to the aliens trying to pass as "normal" while everyone else can't seem to stop pointing out our differences or flaws.

Spock gives us hope that even one so fractured, insecure and unforgiving -- especially to themselves -- can eventually find a way to love themselves. Spock gives the audience courage that with the right support and people around us, maybe we could sort it out for ourselves, too.

Sorry if I gushed a bit there, but damn. I love Spock. He's not only my favourite TOS character, but quite possibly my favorite fictional character of all time. There's a reason his name or likeness appears in just about every series in Star Trek.

--------------------------------------------------------

TLDR: Me when Spock --

I cannot be normal about him. Oh, at all.

Who is your favourite Star Trek character of all time?

[flutishly]

Why I’m not remotely excited about Picard Season 3

All of the SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard seasons 1 and 2. Also ranting. This is very, very long.

I genuinely didn’t realize that Star Trek: Picard was returning so soon. I knew that seasons 2 and 3 were filmed back-to-back, but I somehow still didn’t process that this meant that Picard would leap ahead of the Star Trek queue and be the next show after the absolutely delightful Prodigy ended its first season. (On that note: If you haven’t seen Prodigy, go do that now. In fact, you can probably do that instead of watching Picard season 3, which I obviously haven’t seen because it’s not out yet but for which, as you can probably guess from the title, I am not excited.)

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: The new era of Star Trek has had its ups and downs, but fans rarely agree on what those ups and downs really are. I for instance genuinely love Discovery and think that even with specific flaws in its first two seasons and some sloppy pacing in its most recent fourth, it’s a fascinating show populated with characters that I adore. The vast majority of Star Trek shows come with their own flaws and criticisms, as one would expect of any TV show.

But unlike most other shows (including other new Star Treks), Picard is one that roots itself in a firmly established, beloved character while promising a new story. Legacy characters crop up in lots of different ways in recent shows, but none truly center a fully-fleshed character the way that Picard does. (SNW comes closest with Spock; I will touch on this again momentarily...) Picard also readily reaches into the backlog of TNG characters and arcs in order to further its world.

The problem is that it does so while having promised viewers something new. This, it turns out, is decidedly not true.

The show began promisingly enough. Picard season 1 made an active effort to be an independent show, focusing on a retired Jean-Luc Picard finding a new purpose to his life while surrounding himself with new mentees and colleagues. The season arc questions the humanity of synthetic- or synthetic-hybrid lifeforms. Despite a sloppy ending, the season has a decently coherent thematic structure, integrating elements from both legacy stories and new ones. Soji’s arc is quintessential Star Trek, as she questions her humanity and purpose. Picard’s arc sees him forced to grapple with his longstanding trauma from his encounters with the Borg, alongside reflections of his life, friendships, and role as a mentor/father-figure. Raffi’s arc sees her reclaiming aspects of herself and forgiving others; so do both Rios and Jurati (albeit in very different ways). In between, there are smaller threads of deeply human questions about purpose, doing good, and recovering from trauma. The season doesn’t work so well as a whole because of poor writing decisions in its wrappings (and the sense that it tried to do too much all at once), but it’s still a decently compelling bit of television that tries to give Picard a new perspective, alongside new challenges.

Picard season 2 takes almost everything that season 1 did and throws it out.

The season opening is not bad. It’s a fast-paced, almost whiplash-y set of action sequences that promise to set the plot moving. After watching the first episode, I was asked by someone who had not yet seen it to describe it in three words. I opted for four: “TNG movie meets Picard”. There were some emotional/melodramatic bits, but most of the time was spent on keeping the plotting snappy and the action moving forward. It promised certain themes and character beats. Except none of that came to pass. “The Star Gazer” was a reset episode, taking the characters from season 1 and placing them in new and different places (sometimes in accordance to where they’d been at the end of season 1 and sometimes not). “Penance” reset everything again, as did “Assimilation”. For the entire first third of the season, Picard seemed not to know what its point was.

Yet once it settled into a new normal, the show seemed determined to define these parameters. Soji was obviously gone from the first episode (even if actress Isa Briones was given a small minor side-role) and Evan Evagora’s Elnor disappeared almost as quickly (with even more minor reappearances in the form of baffling, narratively unjustified flashbacks or hallucinations). Rios was isolated from the main team and given his own plot (that can only be described as “extremely obvious” in terms of how it played out and concluded; this is not a compliment), thus also getting sidelined. Raffi and Seven of Nine spent the entire season circling around each other in trying to define their relationship, but the show played it coy for so long that it was genuinely bizarre to watch Rios kissing his new love interest within moments of meeting her, but Raffi and Seven getting dragged out for the whole season (despite... actually having been a couple? and one promised by the season 1 ending??). It made little sense.

There are two arcs throughout the season that work, though to differing degrees. The first is Seven of Nine’s. I’m a devoted Trekkie, but I’ll admit that Voyager is the gap that I’m still filling though I’m decently familiar with Seven’s arc and character. Yet even without having all of the background, from a writing perspective, Seven of Nine’s story is the most immediately coherent. She starts the season in point A and gets to point B pretty directly and understandably. It feels like a more mature version of the classic “what does it mean to be human?” question, taking threads that arose in season 1 and expanding on them. Seven of Nine struggles to see herself as fully human and bears the weight of her Borg past in physical and emotional manifestations. What I liked about her arc is that she never really fully comes to terms with any of it, even admitting as much out loud. Instead, she also learns to accept that despite how she views these as inherently bad pieces of herself, others see them as a whole that is worthy of love and respect. This gives her some space for herself, in a way. It could have been better-written in terms of the specific relationship aspects, but on the whole it works pretty well.

The second meaningful arc is Jurati’s, which mostly survives on the basis of Alison Pill’s excellent acting. I’m not convinced of the writing for this aspect; Jurati starts season 2 at a far lower point than she ended in season 1 and there is an inconsistency in how her character is presented. Her penchant for poor decision-making remains, however, and is the driving force behind her bizarre plot. That said, the core of her arc is not so unlike Seven of Nine’s - it’s one of finding oneself. We have already seen that Jurati is fairly weak-willed, but here it becomes part of a very disturbing bit of internalized play in defining her self-loathing and recreating herself. I didn’t like it, but Pill does an extraordinary job of selling Jurati’s motivations, discrepancies, and horrors. I’m not sure another actor could have pulled it off (given that the writing is still pretty sloppy), but Pill does and so it deserves commendation.

The rest of the season is, quite simply, not good.

There are decent ideas or lines throughout. Picard’s rousing inspiring speech to Renee is a lovely reminder of what Star Trek strives to be; the very premise of Renee’s mission being the linchpin on which humanity’s pluralistic approach to space travel and its environmental future turns is also fairly nice. There’s an important political message buried in Rios’s side story with immigration, as well as Guinan’s dissatisfaction with our contemporary Earth. These little sprinkles only serve to remind us how poorly they fit together.

More than that, there are pieces that could work but don’t, like Picard’s tragic backstory. It’s... fine? I guess it’s fine. It could have contextualized Picard’s emotional reticence and family issues. Instead, it was used with all the subtlety of a serial killer’s axe, in order to further a truly inexplicable romantic subplot that gave Picard absolutely no new depth nor made any sense given the characterizations of season 1. From a technical standpoint, it was also disappointing in its idealized/romanticized framing of mental health struggles. It could have been good; it wasn’t. The recurring theme of season 2.

Same with Q and Guinan in general. Q’s initial involvement is reminiscent of his TNG-era shenanigans. He’s sly and mysterious and his interests are muddled at best, other than the fact that we see their disastrous consequences. Except then... it turns out to be... a sign of love? A misplaced “last hurrah”? I’m all for acknowledging the depth and complexity of the love that Q holds for Picard, but like... seriously? That was the best the writers could come up with? How does it track with any of what we see throughout the rest of the season? All to get Picard to reframe his relationship with love, and with a total disregard for the real people who died to get there?

Guinan’s plot is similarly weird. The idea of recasting a “young” Guinan was cute and I’m fine with it, but... what purpose did she actually serve the narrative? I’m sitting here and thinking about the season and I simply cannot recall what she contributed. Summoning Q, sort of? Existing? Did it have to be Guinan? Was she there just because we know the name?

But the show is called Picard, so let’s focus on the man himself for a moment. What was season 2 about, if we look at Jean-Luc Picard?

On its surface, Picard’s arc was about making space for love. The lifestyle change suggested at the end of season 2 - in which he would no longer resign himself to moping alone around the vineyard and would instead set forth on new adventures with his new crew - was gone at the beginning of season 2. Other than seeing several of the crew newly in Starfleet (Rios, Raffi, and Elnor), there is little indication of how Picard’s synthetic body impacts his life or has affected his perspective. In fact, it seems to come up only haphazardly when he’s physically injured. (Which is itself a bizarre plot point, but sure! Sure.)

In one of the two major threads going for him in season 2, Picard has to come to terms with his parents’ toxic relationship and its complexities. As I mentioned above, this might have been thoughtfully handled, but it mostly wasn’t. The tonal dissonance between the portrayal of mental illness and the murkiness of the abuse/perceived abuse meant that I struggled to take away anything of meaning from the tragedy. It felt like it was constantly just trying to shock and tease the viewer, particularly in how it flipped the script of abuse. Why? What for? Picard might be well-served by a more detailed exploration of his childhood, but was this it?

The other thread is the one that had me rolling my eyes. Somehow, the season’s message of “Picard learns to love!” gets translated into “learns to have a romantic love!”, as though this is the end-all. Picard is certainly a character who has shied away from romantic relationships before and that could have been worth exploring in part, but why does it have to do at the expense of understanding Picard’s general discomfort with acknowledging love? There are so many ways this could - and frankly should - have played out, that didn’t involve a romance with a character that is... well, maybe technically of a similar age as Jean-Luc, but not really the same stage of life? (...synthetic life?) It was weird and uncomfortable and just... pointless. It didn’t make Picard’s character have greater depth, on the contrary - it promoted the extremely silly idea that there is one superior type of loving relationship. Why?

This isn’t a review of season 2, though. No, I didn’t like season 2. I wanted to, at first, but I found myself growing more and more baffled and exhausted as it progressed. Pockets of amusement or entertainment or appreciation (see again Picard’s speech to Renee, which I really did quite like!) appeared for brief moments throughout the episodes and then disappeared again. But the main problem? The main thing that angered me about season 2?

It seemed determined to forget that season 1 had happened, and it did so very obviously at the expense of its own characters. And THAT is why I’m not excited for season 3, or as I call it “the producers went: hey, wait, let’s bring back TNG oh my gosh!!!!”.

Once again: Star Trek has been a leader in the world of reboots and nostalgic callbacks. TNG is a reboot, after all. It opened with a hand-off from an extremely aged-up Dr. McCoy, as a way to tie things together to the Original Series. It found an excuse to include Scotty, Sarek, and Spock in plot-specific ways. Later, it gave Kirk space in its first movie. DS9 and Voyager both played on fan nostalgia in their respective series with the inclusion of legacy characters - Q, Worf, Barclay, Riker, etc. - and indeed even Enterprise tried desperately and disastrously to find ways to milk nostalgia, even as a prequel reboot itself.

As I mentioned at the top, modern Trek has continued this trend. Disco‘s worst earliest instincts were rooted in its attempts to mine nostalgia; while the inclusion of Pike and Spock in season 2 ended up being pretty beneficial for the franchise as a whole (yay SNW! itself an obvious exercise in nostalgia; I’ll expand in a moment), it wobbled in season 1 with Sarek. Lower Decks has consistently been at its most tiring when trying too hard to play to nostalgia rather than telling its own stories (except for the occasional wonderful gag, but the jokes are usually just... too much). Prodigy also felt a little tiring when it tried too hard to be nostalgic for the sake of older fans, rather than just telling its own story, but it did this only sporadically.

And then there’s Picard. Whereas SNW takes legacy characters who have either never gotten their due or are at an earlier stage than what we’ve previously known of them, Picard is the only real sequel to a legacy show, fully centering on a legacy character. In season 1, the show promised that while Picard himself was returning, the show was not a TNG sequel. Indeed, Picard’s biggest season 1 legacy costar isn’t even from TNG, a rather inspired decision on the part of the producers/writers. And with the exception of some cameos and Brent Spiner’s enduring mission to act out as many related characters as he can (a once-mildly amusing trait, now gone sour), the show made a point of introducing new characters: Dahj and Soji, whose stories kick off and define the season. Raffi, Elnor, Rios, Jurati... even the antagonists! Even the legacy characters are fresh! Seven of Nine and Hugh are both in vastly different places than where they’d been in the past. And yes, I’m including Riker and Troi - in their delightful interlude of an episode - who are there to demonstrate just how much things have changed since TNG. This is a new show, a different show, populated by characters who are guiding and interact with Picard in different ways.

So why is season 3 just TNG season 8? Without having watched the trailers, it’s hard for me to say whether or not I’m misreading what the plot actually is, but all of the promotion has been about the TNG crew and their involvement. Soji and Elnor - both wildly sidelined by season 2 - have been fully abandoned; will there be any plot justification for this? Rios and Jurati at least were given send-offs in season 2, but they too were cast aside. I can’t really figure out what’s supposed to have happened to Laris (though while Orla Brady still appeared throughout season 2, the character of Laris... didn’t). This leaves only two of the “new” characters for Picard season 3 - Raffi and Seven of Nine (who is, of course, actually a legacy character). And of course even season 2 seemed more interested in legacy characters, with the returns of both Guinan and Q, and even Brent Spiner’s umpteenth Soong.

Nostalgia can be great. I appreciate a good dose of nostalgia as much as the next person. I cheered at the appearance of Deep Space 9 on Lower Decks. The TOS-nostalgic Prodigy episode “All the World’s a Stage” was excellent. SNW is a great show. But nostalgia cannot be in place of something new. Say what you will about Disco, but it did something new in its first season, even as it tried to link its story to legacy characters (and indeed, failed most strikingly in that effort). Picard seems to have initially understood that lesson and then thrown it aside. Season 3 abandons any pretense of telling some kind of new story about Picard’s post-Enterprise life. It bends over backwards to include the old gang (including Spiner, who I dearly love, but seriously... why?) and to fully center them.

And... much as I love TNG, I find that I am incapable of getting excited about this. I look at how season 2 flailed in its attempt to tell an interesting story, how it fully wasted its potential (2024!!! the Bell Riots! they could have done so much!), how it dismissively discarded its new characters, how it backtracked on any meaningful story about Jean-Luc Picard that might have been told... and I ask myself what season 3 could possibly bring, especially knowing that the seasons were produced back-to-back. Will it rise above season 2′s mediocrity? Will it manage to actually say anything new and meaningful about these characters? About this world, which is the real point of Star Trek?

My sense is no. It’s hard to get excited over that.

[deepspacedukat]

Happy Salamander Sex Day to you!!!!

I have a very important, extremely scientific question… what kind of reaction would the Vulcans/Romulans have if they couldn’t read someone’s thoughts using the touch telepathy we’re so fond of? It’s not that the person is blocking them out, it’s that the telepathy doesn’t register.

-Horta-in-Charge

By no means am I asking for all of them because we have too many blorbos with pointy ears. Just in general… with maybe your personal favorites and your lovely Jorik 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

Happy Salamander Sex Day to you too, friend!!! ILYSM! 💙💜

Ooooooh, that is a VERY important question!! *cracks knuckles* For the sake of these, I imagined that they were reacting to their s/o or prospective s/o in this situation.

Jorik: Assumes that it’s a failing on his part, because they’re perfect so it must be him. “I am sorry, ashayam. I will make amends.” Proceeds to double his efforts in every other department to prove that he is still a worthy prospective mate.

Spock: Raises a single eyebrow. “Fascinating.” Proceeds to study the phenomenon. As an afterthought: “However, this will not change our relationship status.”

Vorik: Tilts his head like a puppy. “Hm... No matter. I shall simply convey my thoughts verbally. You do enjoy my voice after all.” Tilts their chin up teasingly. “Do you not?”

Solok: “Another Human failing... It is fortunate for you that your other credentials blind me to this new flaw.” Smirks in a definitely-not-smug way and proceeds to posture as normal in an attempt to impress them. Deflates when they walk away, and hurries to follow them with an apology on the tip of his tongue.

Letant: Is disappointed, but cuddles them closer. Not even bothered, just deeply in love. Possibly even more intrigued with them because of the added mystery of being unable to read them. “Don’t think that just because we can’t communicate telepathically that I’m going to give you up. You’re mine, e’lev.”

Vreenak: Is disappointed in an angsty way. Pouts and acts slightly grumpy/prickly. He knows it’s nobody’s fault, but he had really hoped to share that particular intimacy with them. Eventually when his Human kisses his forehead and tries to console him, he relents and holds them close. “You’re enough just the way you are. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to act so childish.”

Bochra: Shrugs and goes back to nibbling their neck as if nothing happened.

[thequeenofsastiel]

I was tagged by @wintercrushes to list my top nine movies, so here we go.

In no particular order:

As a little girl, I found Mulan deeply empowering on a fundamental level. Almost every movie I saw had a man at the center of it, or as the protector, while women were generally either rewards for their bravery and/or damsels in distress. Mulan was brave, strong, adorably awkward, and willing to risk everything for her family. Seeing a woman be incredible like that, even if she had to impersonate a man, made me feel like I could be too. Also I was awkward as well, and it was nice to feel like that wouldn't stop me from being a hero if I wanted to be. I credit Mulan and Captain Janeway for making me feel that being a woman was a beautiful thing.

The Road to El Dorado was also a meaningful movie for me as a child, but that was related, I believe, to my bisexual identity. Miguel and Tulio were originally meant to be a couple, and I found their relationship deeply compelling, far more than most straight relationships. I was also completely in love with Chel. Dem curves. Plus it was just fun, with amusing dialogue and excellent music. It remains one of my absolute favorite movies.

Another movie I watched as a child which I believe I found compelling because of my queer identity. Though I didn't realize it at the time, I think on a deep level I understood all the queer subtext in Interview With The Vampire, and, though it was darker and sadder than I tended to enjoy, I was fascinated by and in love with Louis and Lestat's relationship. I haven't seen it in many years, though, and I would very much like to watch it again.

While I don't know how objectively good of a movie Independence Day is, it's one of my favorites that my dad and I watched all the time when I was a kid, and every 4th of July we put it on. We can quote the whole thing. I think I'll always have a soft spot for it.

Did the novel deserve better? Absolutely. This adaptation didn't do it justice at all. Regardless, World War Z remains one of my favorite movies, and is definitely my favorite zombie movie. Regrettably, I can't explain why, I just know that every time I watch it I enjoy myself greatly.

I think that Cabin in the Woods is absolutely excellent. Hilarious, surreal, an excellent parody, and entirely unique, this movie is a delight for me from beginning to end.

While this movie, as with the whole series, did not do Gene Roddenberry's vision for Star Trek justice, being far more about action and war, instead of a thoughtful commentary on social issues delivered through a vehicle of exploration of space and attempts to understand and connect with other cultures, it's still a delight to me. I adore the relationship between Spock and Kirk. In truth I find all the characters interesting and enjoyable to watch, though I didn't care at all for the relationship between Spock and Uhura. But I find most straight relationships to be a bit of a turn off and always have, so I don't think my opinion is necessarily rational here.

This list would not be complete without Ever After, my favorite of the very few straight romance movies that I actually enjoy. Drew Barrymore's Danielle is an emotionally strong bookworm whom I absolutely adore, and Henry, despite his flaws, draws me as well. I love them together. Why that is, exactly, is not something I can fully explain. But I do.

I think that The Lion King 2 is vastly underrated. Getting to see Simba as King, and all the ways his childhood trauma impacted his behavior, was fascinating. I also adored Kiara, and, as I am a sucker for redemption arcs, ESPECIALLY those that stem from overcoming poor parenting, watching Kovu shake off his mother's toxic influence, and become the kind lion that he is on the inside, was deeply meaningful for me, as I was facing the same challenges. And there was something very sweet about the two of them finding themselves in each other.

I realize that a lot of these are movies that were influential to me as a child, and I think that's likely because I much prefer television shows over movies as an adult. I like the long form nature of them, and getting to see people change in a gradual way that feels more realistic and requires fewer montages, fun though those may be (looking at you, "I'll Make A Man Out Of You") is much more appealing to me.

I'll tag @heretherebedork @absolutebl @sastiel-daily and @infinitysgrace

[good-wine-and-cheese]

Hi!! I know you love Monster, but what are your other favourite mangas/pieces of media?

Oho, the elusive interests question! I have a hard time quantifying an exact order, so I'm just going to spew a ton of things haha

Manga/Anime

Huge fan of Urasawa's other work, for one. I haven't read all of them yet, but I can safely say 20th Century Boys is my favorite of his, (and has the best story and narrative pacing imo) and Master Keaton is a comfort anime/manga ☺️

Tiger & Bunny! I'll admit series 2 would take it down a few notches but series 1 as a standalone was just so good. Excellent character writing and a great time for dilf enjoyers. Series 2 still had great character writing, it was just really, really hard to follow the first act tbh.

Carole and Tuesday has a weirdly similar energy to T&B to me for some reason. Gives me the same type of joy. It's about struggling through the music industry and the culture of that and its BEYOND incredible.

I'm going to put Mushi-Shi and Moribito on the same talking point here because they have similar energies and similarly laid back protagonists in a fantastical world. Mushhi-Shi is, in my opinion, THE perfect anime. It's not my all time favourite, but it's the most well put-together for my tastes and great to soak up the atmosphere to. Moribito on the other hand is a beautiful story of found family, the dangers of imperialism eroding native cultures, and some coming of age. With a very good female protagonist might I add!

Currently I'm hopelessly obsessed with Kaiji. I dunno something about the battle of lowly peons against the capitalist hell machine is scratching an itch lol. It has tense and deeply flawed and honest human moments to rival Monster though, seriously.

Eureka Seven is another oldie I love, kinda a coming of age romance with mecha dressing that's steeped in music and counterculture. Naturally the OST is god tier and I have yet to find one that will ever match it.

I love the Ajin: Demi-Human manga. Wasn't as big a fan of the anime, but the art and characterization in the manga is really really strong.

Slowly, Blue Period is creeping into my favs. I just relate to its narrative about artists wanting to communicate and the struggle of non-linear skill progression, falling in and out of love with art, and there is a very interesting cast of fun characters.

There are others that are really good, but just don't speak so directly to me (or aren't on my mind right now LOL). Honourable mention to Mob Psycho 100 which is another near-perfect anime it just doesn't have the same level of resonance to me as these others on my list. Same for Legend of the Galactic heroes - really good media, but not QUITE speaking to me like these others.

I'll also put Mononoke (not Princess, just plain Mononoke) here too because my god is that ever an experience.

Non-Manga/Anime

So the biggest and oldest is Star Trek. I've been a Trekkie WAY longer than I was ever into anime. Spock, Data and Seven of Nine are my people. It was notably only 2020 when ifinalky watched Deep Space Nine and my FUCK is it ever the best of the bunch! Unparalleled character arcs my dude. It also manages to be the queerest and straightest Star Trek series at the same time.

Spiderverse! This movie was so absolutely bomb. I need to eat it again.

Entergalactic was similarly fucking GORGEOUS but followed a fairly standard, sweet romance. The characters were good and the music was REALLY good but it's the animation, man. That shit is such eye candy and will stick with me for a while I think.

Midnight Mass was very enjoyable. Excellent cast, excellent dialogue, my fav died first but that's just how it is for me

I honestly adored First Kill and am sad it got cancelled. It wasn't great media exactly but it was so fun and messy and I dig that lol. Calliope and her mom owned the whole show

The Boys is absolutely off the walls insane and even if the story weren't that great (it is, especially in later seasons) just the amount of bullshit that happens in it makes it a fun watch. EXTREMELY graphic and nsfw though. Like extremely, unapologetically, and unappealingly. In the Roberto way. You understand.

I've fallen out of love with it a bit, but Stranger Things season 1 will never not be incredible TV to me. Kind of in a similar way to Mob psycho. Eleven is my little child.

I used to be very into LOST and want to rewatch it at some point honestly, kid me was blown tf away and it introduced me to some very cool concepts of storytelling even if it went way off track lmfao

That's......all I can think of off the top? I like a lot of media! Again though its hard for me to quantify favs, just what speaks to me at a given time.

[vulcnlogic]

I often think about Spock turmoil is ingrained Vulcan prejudice. It’s very much hinted at and sometimes out right states that Spock was a victim of bullying and this creates this push back and internal self criticized his human half. Obviously spock loves and adores his mother but he likely saw and heard the way his own people speak about his parents and family and him. Thus he needs to be more Vulcan than others and definitely is not very accepting of his human half. It’s all because he hyper fixated on this idea of Vulcans are emotionless and do not feel emotions at all. Versus the actual reality. Vulcans are deeply feeling they simply control it better and focus on logical problem solving. It’s very ironic in this sense that he’s very logical but does not see the flaw in his own logic until later in life.

[insomnia-productions]

17 and/or 35 for the weird questions for writers 😊

Thank you for the ask!!

35 - my favorite writing rule to smash is anything related to sentence length and structure. with the help of commas, colons, semicolons, and dashes, i will defy the will of the gods and forge sentences that are as grammatically correct as they are indecipherably long

17 - ooh okay i actually have a new wip i haven't spoken about on here, so i'll take the opportunity to talk about it! The working title is Kick The Bucket, and it's a revamp of a plot idea i had back in high school. By "revamp" I mean that I took some sweet, soft romcom characters and turned them into most esteemed assholes

The elevator pitch is that it's a Jerk x Jerk style love story between a living person and a ghost who needs their help to move on. I'll put the rest under a cut -

Since this ask is about lore and minutiae I'm just gonna ramble about the characters and all the niche information I have about them so far. As with all of my characters, they're both based on pieces of me that I peeled off of my psyche and expanded into whole people. If this gets long and rambly.... im sorry i haven't talked to anyone about these two yet and im love them

First: April Anand, the one that's alive. She's a grad student studying medicine (following in her father's footsteps, in more ways than the one). If I had to explain her in the shortest way possible.... April idolizes Spock, but thinks that his biggest flaw is being too emotional. She's one of those people who thinks that being pragmatic and emotionally detached is the only way to be intelligent. Consequently, she's also very arrogant and firmly believes that she always knows best. Naturally, she would rather die than admit to being vulnerable or Having Feelings. Her general rule is that if she ever has an emotion, no she doesn't. Underneath it all, though, buried so deep that she isn't even aware of it herself, she's exhausted by her own expectations, and she's afraid that she isn't a real person, that there is no extant part of her that was not crafted by the expectations placed upon her. She's afraid that she'll always be alone.

A random collection of facts about April:

Her movements are often sharp, decisive, and forceful, especially when she's annoyed or angry.

Calls her parents once a week for updates on how her 15-year life plan is going.

Deals with stress by working harder

When she's frustrated at herself for being unable to do something right or not being able to focus, she gives herself a single hard, sharp, controlled slap and keeps going

If she analyses the data and concludes that she was wrong about something, she will readily admit it. She'll never apologize, though.

I took an MBTI test for her and got ISTJ

If I were to assign her one of the five primal fears, it would be Loss of Autonomy, but also Fear of Mutilation

Her favorite flowers are sunflowers.

She's very good with makeup and enjoys wearing it. She likes the idea that she can so completely control her presentation and the way people perceive her. At the same time, though, those moments of transformation make her uneasy, the idea that she could be someone other than the person she has made herself, that she contains multitudes beyond what she was crafted into.

Second: November Niran, the one that's dead. November was a renowned violinist in the world of classical music - a child prodigy, trained by his parents, both failed musicians themselves. He's also exceptionally vain and self-absorbed. He's lived alone since 19, when he essentially disowned his parents. November is just as arrogant and averse to vulnerability as April -- but where she is genuinely very self-assured, November's self-aggrandizing and somewhat narcissistic demeanor is mostly just a front for a deep insecurity and self-loathing. He's a chronic over-thinker, picking apart every thought and feeling he has, and he is deeply, crushingly lonely. November claims that he can't move on because he never fulfilled his bucket list - but really, it's because he was unable to form a single genuine human connection, the only thing he really wanted to do.

Facts about November:

(TW for suicidal ideation and mentions of ambiguous suicide in the final bullet point)

His surname means ‘never ending’. So his name kind of means ‘never ending November’, which has two different levels of meaning- one referencing November the person, and the other referencing November as the last month of autumn.

He turns more translucent when he's upset or embarrassed and will phase straight through the floor to get away

He composes his own music, but never had the confidence to perform it

He's actually an excellent gift-giver, when he tries.

His primal fear would be Fear of Separation

His favorite flowers are daffodils.

When he was alive, he had a recurring dream of standing on the lake shore, or at the beach, or on a cliff, watching as a great incoming wave rose far above his head, blotting out the sun.

November died by drowning in the lake. When he was alive, he used to stand at the end of the dock imagining what it would be like to sink into the cold silence of the water. The idea of not existing anymore unsettled him, so he never really intended to do anything other than imagine it. Now, though, he can't remember exactly how he drowned. He doesn't think he would have done it, but he can't stop thinking about it.

The story follows the two of them as April tries to exorcise November, or otherwise get him to move on and stop haunting her house. I wouldn't say that they improve each other, but along the way they adjust to each other's unique brand of terrible, and eventually fall in love. It's kind of bittersweet that way, because once November gets that genuine connection he's been longing for, he's finally able to move on, leaving April behind.

I've... definitely rambled enough for one post so I shall leave you with this cover I made for their Spotify playlist. oh and their Spotify playlist lol. i Cannot draw but i think this image does give a general idea of the vibes

[ichayalovesyou]

Unpopular Opinion: A lot of ppl misread Spock and McCoy’s relationship in TOS. I’m surrounded by ppl IRL who think McCoy is an evil aggressor and Spock his timid victim, while in canon both of them are best friends who bicker like an old married couple and are obviously willing to die torturous and painful deaths for each other.

I wrote a much longer answer (along with a bajillion other posts about these two chuckleheads I’ve made and reblogged in the past that agree with you anon) but it disappeared so I’m just gonna bullet point the gist.

1. Spock and Bones bully each other, not one way or the other. And it’s not really even bullying since there’s no imbalance of power, Spock outranks Bones but Bones has CMO clout that can trump that shit professionally. Some people love Spock and Vulcans too much and so blindly that they forget that those intense flaws the character and his people have actually hurt other people, not just them.

2. Bones is prejudiced against Vulcans, some of those reasons are valid (Ex: repression being more important than understanding, cultural and social practices Bones sees hurt Spock every single day that Spock ignores) some of them are not (forgetting they have emotions in fits of frustration, projecting his fear of fucking up Spock medically into making jabs at his hybrid/unorthodox biology).

2b. In that same vein Spock is prejudiced against humans, some reasons are valid (they don’t understand him, some of them don’t even try, some human behaviors are actively grating on Spock’s neurodivergence etc.) some of them are not and/or are personal issues he’s making everyone else’s problem (condescending, belittles Bones accomplishments and profession, uses the worst examples of humanity as basement for his judgement of all humans, deeply internalized xenophobia toward his human half etc.)

3. The way Spock and Bones bicker teaches them which judgements are valid and worth reflecting on, and which ones are bullshit and need to be shut down and apologized for. Bones actually does the vast majority of the apologizing whenever he fucks up in this regard (Day of The Dove, The Tholian Web, Bread & Circuses etc), because for the majority of the series, Spock seems to consider both apologizing and forgiving as human needs, and thus, human weaknesses that he cannot permit in himself.

4. Exactly what you said OP, when the chips are down, they protect and defend each other verbally and physically. They both have hella “no one is allowed to roast you except me” and again, Bones ends up defending Spock more often verbally than physically, my favorites being in The Omega Glory when he tries to explain to the Kohns that Spock’s heart is just physically in a different place, and Plato’s Stepchildren where he looks like he wants to throttle Parmen for forcing Spock to emote against his will. Spock on the other hand is all about the begrudging compliments and the “taking a bullet for you made 100% logical sense shut up” routine he also does with Kirk.

So yeah! You can use all these examples to explain why Bones isn’t a bad person. Deeply flawed? Absolutely, but not pure evil, certainly not toward Spock at least. Who is every bit as emotionally fraught as McCoy is, though he’d be absolutely loathe to admit it.

[manga-and-stuff]

Interview with the English and Japanese voice actors for Asuka from Neon Genesis Evangelion

TIFFANY GRANT

Some time in early 1998, Matt Greenfield encouraged me to write an essay defending Asuka from her critics. I did, and you can read it on my website. At that point, as I recall, about half Of the Eva TV series had been released on home video (two episodes per VHS about every other month for around $30).

Please keep in mind that I had only recently finished recording the TV series. There was as yet no English release of Death & Rebirth, End of Evangelion, Director's Cut Platinum Edition, and there most definitely were no proposed live-action or "Rebuild" films.

Back in 1998, I had not yet read any Of Sadamoto's manga. Having now read all Of it, I was very excited to be able to participate in this project. One especially impactful moment I experienced reading Sadamoto's books was Yuko Miyamura's own essay in volume 4, which touched me deeply. When we first met, I had her autograph it for me!

For this volume, Carl thought it might be interesting if I shared with you how my thoughts about Asuka have evolved over these many years. First, my perspective on Asuka was changed dramatically by working on EOE and even

more so by the Director's Cut footage. I said, "If these scenes had been in the TV show to begin with, people would've had a lot more sympathy for Asuka."

But the main thing that has happened since 1998 is that Neon Genesis Evangelion has become an international phenomenon. When I started recording this loud, assertive character that often swore in German, I knew I was having a great time with the role and that it was enjoyable for me as an actor. There was no way any of us could've known then what lay in store. Eva became a cult phenomenon.

The enormous popularity of Eva is, I fully understand, the primary reason I get invited to conventions around the world. In this way alone, my association with Asuka has forever altered my life.

But I also feel something deeper than the obvious frequent flyer miles is at work here. For several years, I actually denied that I was anything like Asuka—a period I refer to as my "l Am Not Spock" phase. I wrote "In Defense Of Asuka" during that time.

Once I fully embraced my "inner Asuka," I realized the many ways that I related to this complex, flawed character. In the past twelve years, I feel I have become even closer to Asuka emotionally.

I think Shinji behaves in the way that most of us actually would react, but I believe we all wish we were a little more like Asuka—speak your mind, consequences be damned!

I find that I don't just defend Asuka now. I actually admire her. I don't know how I'll feel in another twelve years, but if you don't like Asuka just a little bit, I have only one thing to say : What are you—Stupid?

YUKO MIYAMURA

To be honest, a long time ago, I used to hate Asuka and Evangelion.

If I were to comment using Asuka's words, I would hate, I hate, I hate EVERYBODY!"

As to why I felt this way, well, I think the best way to describe it is to say that it was close to the feeling of being bullied. If a person has been bullied, would they want to remember it? I don't think they would.

Acting the part of Asuka was lots of fun at first. However, as Asuka started to mentally break down, acting her become quite tough.

The part that I disliked the most was during the scene when Asuka finally understood the meaning of the A.T. field. Just when she was able to mentally become strong and confident again, she was attacked by the mass-produced units and brutalized. That time

In the film is really cool and there are lots of characters that I like in it. For Asuka on the other hand, it's the worst situation ever.

Furthermore, after that scene, she is strangled by Shinji with such apathy, and that's where the series ends. The mass-produced units, the Angels, their destiny; it just ends with all of them being defeated.

I closed the Asuka inside Of me deep within my heart. While she was inside there, I didn't really like to bring her out. Remembering my complex feelings for Asuka and Evangelion was quite hard for me, and I didn't like it.

This all changed when I first met and talked to Asuka's English voice actor, Tiffany.

Tiffany, as another person who acted as Asuka, was the only one who could understand the pain that I felt acting as Asuka. We both understood all the difficult emotions about

Asuka and her complex personality, and we talked about many things. After this, the feelings within me toward Asuka became more caring and understanding.

Even though at first I felt anger and dislike for Asuka, I now hold her close to my heart and I think of her like a daughter. Up until then Asuka had to deal with all the pain, sadness and sorrow by herself. Now it's different—I'm with her.

Today I'm a mother myself, and I'm raising my own daughter. The feelings I have for my child are similar to what I feel for Asuka. Even though it's different from my own real-life situation, Asuka is an important existence to me and I feel that I am able to accept her Into my life.

What destiny lies ahead for Asuka?

Furthermore, what choice will she make?

Whatever happens, I will accept everything about Asuka. I will cheer her on because I feel I am close to her. No matter what, I will defend Asuka.

It has been about ten years since the time when the other Units took Asuka and Shinji and tried to strangle her. Now, a new Evangelion has begun!

In the new movies, the once-complex Asuka is now happier. I'm excited to see how Asuka stands and faces her destiny in the new movies, compared to Asuka's fate from ten years ago of being defeated.

If I were to say a comment in the new movie in Asuka's words, it would be: "You hurt my pride... I'LL GIVE IT BACK TO YOU TEN TIMES WORSE." I like this confident side of Asuka.

Whatever becomes of Asuka in the world of Eva, I will always love Asuka the most!

Source: Neon Genesis Evangelion | Shin Seiki Evangerion | 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン

by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto

[starkiller1701-a]

When you get this, reply with 5 things that make you happy and send this to the last 10 people in your notifications

The timing of this is rather perfect, because I have just come to the realization that my favourite Star Trek movie is The Motion Picture.

And what I love about it is the drama of it, but done as Star Trek, seen through the Star Trek lens. The movie is also an introspection on what makes us human. We see Kirk as a deeply flawed individual, selfish in his desire to return to the Enterprise and his craving for adventure. We see Spock, yearning and looking for that missing piece, we see him mistakenly go down the wrong path only to find the appropriate path for him where he least expected it. Deker and Ilia, more colour and depth of our humanity, and even V'Ger is an individual whom we can all relate to. And this is why overall I love Star Trek. Thinking about this movie, thinking about going up to the unknown staring into that great big void and knocking on the door just excites me like nothing else and propels me forward. I genuinely, sincerely, and deeply love it.

And these are the things that make me happy: Art, Exploration, Learning, double cheese burgers, and being human.

[nerteragranadensis]

so I watched Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan last night with my dad, and I keep thinking about something he said afterward

he said the Enterprise doesn’t have a real naval command structure, because everyone on the bridge is always waiting on the captain’s word before they act. when the engines come back on they have to wait for Kirk to tell them what to do. at that level, they should already know what they’re supposed to be doing, without having to be told.

and obviously this is partly because it’s a movie, and partly because by the midpoint of the story the Enterprise is so far beyond “normal” operations that they are kind of dependent on Kirk’s out-of-the-box decision making. but it got me thinking.

because the other thing my dad said was it’s kind of sad to see Kirk stuck in the past, trying to go back to a certain part of his life over and over again instead of moving forward. it’s weird that Bones encourages him to do that, because it’s not healthy.

(and my dad is a recently retired pilot, a guy who did have to leave a job he loved, and who’s moved on and found new passions in the last few years. he knows what he’s talking about.)

and it made me think of Kirk in a different light. it made me think of him as someone who found a job he was passionate about--captaining a starship--but never quite fit into that role in the way he was supposed to. and you can read that in a number of different ways, but Wrath of Khan specifically ties it to the Kobayashi Maru, to that iconic line, I don’t believe in no-win scenarios. once you realize how central that concept is to Kirk’s character, you start seeing it everywhere in the original series. Every other episode has some kind of no-win scenario, which Kirk and the gang of course find a way to circumvent because they’re just that good, and they don’t believe in no-win scenarios. it’s great! that’s one of the reasons I love TOS, because everything always works out in the end and it’s comforting. but it’s also a fantasy. and in Wrath of Khan, the fantasy runs out.

because Spock dies at the end (which really blindsided my sister, who also saw it with us). Jim goes running back to the only life he’s comfortable in, commanding a starship, and he loses his best friend for it. he fights as hard as he can to get out of the no-win scenario unscathed, but this time it doesn’t work. Wrath of Khan is, overall, a celebration of all the best parts of TOS, but I think there is a subtle line of criticism running underneath it. the opening scene of the film is Lt. Saavik (the love of my life) taking the Kobayashi Maru test, and failing. throughout the rest of the movie she keeps asking Jim about the test, about where she went wrong, about how he dealt with it when he was at the academy.  and as the movie goes on we slowly learn more about the test, that Jim took it three times, and then we find that he solved it by cheating. what does that say about him, as a character?

I don’t believe in no-win scenarios.

I think there are two ways you can read that line.

Arrogance. Jim is willing to fight dirty to avoid failing at his goals.

Perseverance. Jim is unable to accept failure, not for his own sake, but for the sake of those around him.

personally I think both of these readings are supported by the text. Jim Kirk certainly loves his friends, cares about his crew, and would never sacrifice them for anything. (which is why Spock silently leaves the bridge and walks into the radiation chamber; he knows no one would ever ask him to sacrifice himself like that.) I think this is a heroic sentiment, the idea of I will not give up lives to solve this problem. but Jim also likes winning. he likes solving the problem and saving his ship and being a hero, and maybe that’s what ties him to the Enterprise more than anything. maybe that’s why he doesn’t know what to do with himself without it. 

Jim Kirk’s greatest strength is the same as his fatal flaw: his inability to accept no-win scenarios. Wrath of Khan demonstrates this, maybe better than any other piece of TOS canon. and, further, I think Kirk’s characterization in Wrath of Khan is eerily close to his characterization in the AOS movies.

because the AOS movies fail at a lot of things, but they did manage to carry over this character trait--heck, Jim says his famous line in the first thirty minutes of the first movie. and it’s probably only there because it’s so iconic, because it’s something fans will recognize, but it carries some real weight even in this new story, because of the prologue and the death of George Kirk, which was a no-win scenario.

it’s like baby’s first explanation of the Kobayashi Maru--actually, the AOS movies in general are very much baby’s first Star Trek, which I think is a large part of why they’re mostly bad. but one thing they succeed at, one thing they actually do really well, is distill Jim Kirk down to a concentrated essence. AOS Jim Kirk is deeply arrogant and selfish, but he’s also ridiculously committed to his friends and crewmates. (often within minutes of meeting them! he threw himself off of an atmospheric drill rig for Sulu, a man he met maybe fifteen minutes prior.)

in Wrath of Khan, Jim tells Saavik that the Kobayashi Maru is an important experience because how we deal with death is just as important as how we deal with life. at the end of the movie, after Spock’s sacrifice, that line comes back to haunt him. I haven’t faced death, he says, I’ve cheated death. I've tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. I know nothing. 

it’s fitting, for this movie, this story, that Spock dies at the end. it forces Jim to confront death, confront failure, in a way he never has before. whether he’s avoided it out of trauma, arrogance, or something else is up to the viewer, but he has avoided it, and now he can’t. he’s finally faced the no-win scenario, and he has to learn to live with it.

I’ve never seen Star Trek: Into Darkness, and I may never see it (I’m still genuinely upset about what they did to Khan), but I think it is fitting that it’s Jim who dies at the end of that story. because the Jim Kirk of the Kelvin timeline is surrounded by death, practically born into a no-win scenario that would haunt him for the rest of his life. he may be arrogant, but he cares about the people around him more than anything. when faced with the classic Star Trek no-win scenario, he chooses to sacrifice himself. it’s not failure if everyone else makes it out, seems to be the idea, which is a kind of thinking that stems from trauma and extreme selflessness. it’s not necessarily healthy, but it’s the kind of decision this version of Jim Kirk would absolutely make.

Jim Kirk’s greatest strength is the same as his fatal flaw, and that’s what makes him such a great, enduring character. and Wrath of Khan is willing to explore Jim Kirk as a character in a way few other Star Trek stories did, and that’s what makes it such an enduring movie. it’s also really fun to watch. I had a great time, but it also made me think. it was a story, set in the fun, colorful Star Trek universe, about characterization and sacrifice and the nature of heroism.

[to-boldly-nope]

Late Nights and Vulcan Kisses

Pairing: AOS Spock x Reader

Plot: Reader has a nightmare and Spock helps them go back to sleep.

Words: 919

Warning: nah fam, we good

You slept next, well, actually on the Vulcan while he stayed awake, reading something on his PADD. You were laying on top of him, your back on his stomach, and the back of your head on his shoulder. He informed earlier that it would be uncomfortable for you, but you ignored him.

You stirred a little, making Spock look up from his PADD. "(Y/N)?"

He heard no response and went back to his reading, but you moved again and whimpered.

"(Y/N), is something wrong?"

Your eyes opened and you saw the dim room.

"(Y/N)?" Spock repeated for the third time.

"I'm fine," you said, your voice raspy and low. "Just a nightmare."

You got off of him, your bare feet touching the carpet of Spock's quarters.

"I will make some tea," Spock said while setting his PADD down and following you.

"Spock, are you capable of dreaming?" You asked as you sat down at the table.

"Yes, I am. Dreaming is important to sentient beings."

You placed your hands on the table and stared at them, trying to remember what happened. What did happen?

You looked up and saw Spock's back as he tried to look for the tea bags.

That's what happened, he tried to rescue you, but you were safe. Spock wasn't in the end.

You bit your lip as you hid a sob. It was illogical for you to cry over something that didn't happen but you couldn't help yourself.

"T'hy'la?"

"I'm fine, Spock, just still spooked after everything, that's all," you sniffed as you quickly wiped your tears away.

He carefully slid the teacup over and you took it as he sat across from you at the table. "If it would make you feel better to ta-"

You shook your head as you dragged your finger over the rip of the cup. "I'm fine."

"I have learned that when humans say that, they mean the opposite."

"Spock, please, I'm fine," you told him softly while bringing the teacup to your lips. "I just-I just have to think about my nightmare."

"I agree you should think about it, what would have you this distraught?"

You sat the porcelain cup down on the table and sighed, "I was on an away mission. It was like when Vulcan was destroyed, the planet was about to become a black hole. Scotty was about to beam me up but he couldn't find me so you went after me."

You deeply inhaled, trying to keep yourself from breaking down. "You beamed down to where I was, but buildings and rocks were falling. You told Scotty to beam the two of us up, but only I made it."

"I see," he muttered.

"So, yeah, it's nothing to worry about."

"If it affects your mental health, then it is something to be concerned about," Spock told you as he placed his hand over yours. "I want to help you in any way I can."

"Thanks," you smiled at him as you looked at him with admiration. "You know, I wish to be like you, Spock."

"Pardon?"

"I wish to be like you," you repeated with a shy smile, "I wish I could purge all emotions. Emotions make me feel weak at times like right now. The chief of security sitting here and crying over some stupid nightmare, it's ridiculous."

"Sometimes I wish that I could show emotions only so I can understand what you go through," Spock whispered. "But it's the Vulcan custom."

"Spock, you wouldn't want to understand these emotions. They make me angry and sad. I feel helpless and hopeless and-and I can't do anything right and the world's after me and possibly wants me dead. Spock, if you would show emotions, then I wish you would show and feel happiness and love."

Spock slightly smiled at you as he held your hand tighter. "Your tea is getting cold."

You smiled back as you picked up the cup with your free hand. "I'm just being overemotional."

You felt two fingers trail across your hand and you froze. You never received a Vulcan kiss from Spock before. Spock noticed you freeze and he stopped.

"(Y/N)?"

You shook your head and sat down the cup, "I'm fine."

You flipped your hand over and put two fingers against Spock's fingers. You gave him a small smile as he slightly blushed green.

"I appreciate you staying awake with me. I know this is weird for you but I'm just glad that I have someone to help me when I'm like this."

"I feel like that you will bottle up these emotions if I wasn't here to help, is that correct?" He asked.

"Yeah," you laughed. "Yeah, I'll do exactly that."

"How are you feeling now?"

"Better," you said before yawning, "And tired."

"Then I should suggest that we should return to bed. If I recall, you have an alpha shift soon."

You slowly pulled your hand back and stood up and Spock did the same. The two of you walked to the bed and before you both laid down, you hugged Spock from behind tiredly.

"Thank you," you whispered in his shoulder blade. "Thank you for loving such a flawed human being."

"You are my t'hy'la and I will still love you when every sun in the universe burns up and there's nothing left. Now, go to sleep."

He reached down and pulled your hand from his torso and put his fingertips against yours. You smiled tiredly before reaching up and kissing below his ear.

[magnetic-rose]

can we get a taste of what your 40 min long mccoy video would be like please speak your truth

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok so like when i started watching star trek for the first time, mccoy wasn’t my favorite character. it was spock. i thought mccoy was an amusing grumpy doctor man and i didn’t really give him more thought than that. i was also a really big spock/kirk shipper because i mean... have you watched TOS lmao. 

funnily enough, it was jj abram’s extremely EXTREMELY flawed 2009 movie that made me appreciate mccoy more. i didn’t really care that much for the portrayal of kirk OR spock in those movies. there’s a whole other essay i could write on how they took a genuine and caring friendship and turned it into a macho rivalry and i HATE it. but because i didn’t like spock or kirk’s portrayal as much in 09 trek, it kind of forced me to appreciate mccoy more. even if he wasn’t given a lot to work with, it’s obvious that karl urban put a lot of love into the character because he’s a fan of TOS.

i kind of like TOS and AOS mccoy pretty equally. i think they’re the closest of their counterparts in terms of personalities and ideals. i think that mostly comes down to karl urban’s respect for the source material. so the stuff i love about the character fits both versions of the character for the most part.

the thing about mccoy is that on the surface he is just a grumpy doctor man with poor bedside manners. but here’s the truth about mccoy: the man has the biggest heart of gold. he’s a meanie because he cares. he barks out orders and huffs and puffs and yells indignities because he can’t control just how much he cares about EVERYTHING and about everybody’s safety. 

bones is an extremely anxious character! he’s always worrying about someone or something. he’s always fretting when someone risks their lives. he wants to protect people so bad. jim and spock nearly give him heart attacks on the daily with their recklessness. but bones is kind of a hypocritical bastard too. he’ll chew jim and spock out for risking their lives, but at every opportunity mccoy has to sacrifice himself for others, he takes it. we see it in miri where mccoy injects himself with a potentially life-threatening vaccine because he doesn’t want to test it out on others first. we see it in mirror, mirror where mccoy risks almost getting left behind in a tyrannical alternative universe so he can save a spock he doesn’t even know. the biggest example of it is in the empath, where mccoy makes sure that aliens brutally torture him instead of spock or kirk. mccoy will always value others before himself. the self-sacrificing love of my life.

something i love about mccoy as well is how much he WASN’T a fighter. he didn’t have the brute strength of a vulcan or the fighting skills of kirk. he obviously passed starfleet’s basic fighting training, but that’s about it. mccoy is a healer through and through, even when he’s portrayed by hunky alpha male karl urban. i love this personality trait in both version’s of mccoy, but i love it a little bit more in 09 trek if only because i find it so endearing that someone who looks like karl urban is such a caretaker and non-combatant. 

he’s a pacifist but he’s not a push-over. in space seed, khan held a knife to his throat and he dealt with the situation with such calm confidence that he earned khan’s respect (the ONLY member of the enterprise to have khan’s respect btw!)

mccoy is the ultimate “kind, but not nice” character. he’ll try to get a rise out of spock and angrily debate him but will also jump to his defense in a moment’s notice if something unjust is happening to him (see: plato’s stepchildren.)

and to finish this off because it’s almost 1 am and i’m hella tired: my favorite thing about mccoy is that his greatest strength is also his greatest weakness: his emotions. mccoy is a deeply emotional character, that’s the entire point of him. he is the id to spock’s super-ego. they don’t butt heads because mccoy just wants to be a contrarian to the annoying vulcan. they butt heads because spock will always choose the logical solution and mccoy will always go for what’s morally right.

but the thing about that is that while spock represents extreme logic, mccoy represents extreme emotions. mccoy feels things SO deeply. while his emotions and his morals are what make him a great person, they’re also his downfall. mccoy will sometimes let his emotions control him to the point of pure irrationality. he’s SO concerned with doing what’s morally right he fails to see the bigger picture. when someone will always unflinchingly choose being good over being lawful, it’s going to create serious problems for them in certain scenarios. 

anyways i really could write a ten page essay about this because i just love mccoy so much. he’s one of my favorite fictional characters ever created. but it’s now 1:03 am and i have work tomorrow. thank you so much for sending this ask tho! i will always make time to gush about my baby daddy.

[fuckyeahspones]

How did you start shipping Spones (brotp or otp, either is fine!)

So I think the brotp thing almost certainly came first, back in the mists of preschool when I was a shipping oblivious baby child. Ships did not occur to me as a thing until I started reading fic later in life (I’m a very slow to warm up demi) and the first one I saw, and wrote for, was Spirk (like most people.) McSpirk kind of grew out of that because who wants to see Bones lonely forever. Then someone, I can’t remember who, challenged me to write Spones, the Healerverse was born, and sometime around there I read quite possibly the best Aliens Made them Do It work I’ve ever read, kianspo’s Infinite Complexities and they were firmly added to my list of ships.

(A side note: My brain does not do OTPs. An infinite multiverse allows me to hold simultaneous not-mutually-compatible ships, each in their own lanes, not detracting from the others.)

Why did you ship them?

So, why I love the ship: First, the two of them are similar and opposite, like photonegatives of each other. Their intellectual curiosity, deep compassion, and underlying discomfort with themselves–both of them are deeply suspicious of their own value as persons, despite that belief being unjustified give them common ground. Their very different social interaction styles give them an opportunity for conflict and growth from both sides.

What are the some of the reasons you like Spock as a character? And McCoy?

They’re my family. I’ve known them since before I was potty trained. I could say I write both of them as self-inserts of a sort, but because they were so critical to my formation as a person when I was teeny tiny, I think the character development goes both ways. Both of them are a big part of who I grew up to be–they gave me examples of how to navigate a world that I didn’t really fit into comfortably. As characters, I love Spock’s curiosity, intellect, and strong moral compass that he couches in logical language. And I love his flaws–his belief that he has to be perfect, his imposter syndrome, and his tendency to reason himself into misery. I love McCoy’s drivenness, his tireless search for solutions to intractable problems, his compassion and caring. And I love his flaws too. The fact that his caring overwhelms him and is expressed as anger. The fact that his teasing of Spock frequently crosses lines (in TOS) and the opportunities that gives ficwriters to show growth and change. 

Some of your fave things about liking Spones: tropes, fics, headcanons, etc?

I love post-Mirror, Mirror recovery fics. I think that the two of them resolving that trauma makes a really good TOS starting point for the relationship. I also love the pigtail pulling. Spock is so deadpan it’s not always as obvious that Spock gives as good as he gets. And, though I’ve seen it more rarely, I adore when it’s made clear that part of their differences of opinion on medical matters are because Vulcan medical practice is substantively different from Earth’s practices, so they are really, at lest at the start, truly baffled by each other.

When I saw your submission in the inbox I got very excited because I am a BIG fan of your work! 

I totally am the same as you, I don’t do otps either -- I am a very big multishipper. I, too, to quote your words, am able to “hold simultaneous not-mutually-compatible ships, each in their own lanes, not detracting from the others”. My brain doesn’t work that way. I can understand why people may only be fixated on one or two ships but the world is too complex and so full of interesting possibilities that I can’t choose to keep to one or two options.

I am so glad someone challenged you to write the Healerverse because that is such a wonderful ‘verse and your writing is impeccable. I also enjoy your gen work too! It’s rarer to find good gen writers so it makes me happy when I can because sometimes I just want to read a story, an adventure, and not necessarily have anything romantic going on. And that fic of Kianspo’s is so great!

All those reasons you listed about Spock and McCoy their dynamic are reasons I love them too. It also makes writing them very satisfying.

I do love their interactions can provide the ability to show growth and change -- something I think a lot of people need to see more in media, especially with the rise of the lack of critical thinking and analysis on the internet, which is dangerous during these times. If we cannot see how people can change and become better people, how can we emulate that and be able to guide people to change and become better themselves? We, unfortunately, do not live in a perfect world, and as a result, we as humans are going to be raised imperfect. The best we can do is try to become and do better every day. And to believe that characters can only be one dimension or always be one state of being is...well. We rob ourselves of the opportunities of the tools available to us. (I’d go on but that would be a terribly long digression.)

It’s fascinating that so many people who have answered these questions and given answers have talked about growing up with these characters and their world, and how that is a significant factor in who they are as people. 

Post-Mirror, Mirror fics are wonderful, though I can understand why it’s not for everyone. It does provide this opportunity for them to become close, to heal from trauma, and start a basis for a deepening of their friendship (and more, if one is inclined). 

You’re right, Spock really does give as good as he gets -- both he and McCoy are very witty, intelligent people, and McCoy is one of the few that can keep up with him in that respect. That’s always interesting to watch. 

And also, a very good point about them being truly baffled due to differences in how medical practices are between their two cultures! It would be nice to see that show up in fic again more, it definitely was a hallmark in a lot of older stories I’ve read. Maybe someone might take the mantle after reading this post? (That’s probably wishful thinking but one can hope!)

For those who wish to read PrairieDawn’s fics, you can here on AO3! And anyone curious, you can read Kianspo’s Infinite Complexities here.

[ We’re doing a Spock & McCoy appreciation weekend, so send your answers to these questions or anything related you’d like to send! ]

[kinetic-elaboration]

February 13: Star Trek Beyond

Some attempted thoughts on Star Trek Beyond.

So first it was bad lol. It is the worst. I thought maybe it would be less the worst than I had previously thought but it really, really is just irredeemably bad.

Trying to keep up with what was actually happening and talk in the group chat was too difficult and I now feel very exhausted lol. And I’m not even sure what I watched.

I liked Jaylah a lot, including her back story, characterization, “house,” traps, and cool mirror tricks.

I also like Kirk in that emergency uniform with the jacket unzipped.

That’s it! That’s all I liked.

In the past I’ve also said I liked the Spock and Bones parts but I honestly wasn’t a fan of them either this time around!

None of the characters felt IC and none of the relationships felt true or were compelling. Which is particularly egregious given that the alleged theme was strength in unity.

The movie was especially lacking in K/S content or even K & S interaction, which obviously didn’t please me. And it’s definitely the worst Kirk characterization I’ve ever seen. There’s no excuse for that either because it’s halfway through the 5YM, which means he should be pretty close to TOS Kirk--yes, he has a different set of experiences, so there’s going to be some variation, but there’s comparatively less excuse for a radically different characterization than in STXI and STID. They should have had Shatner read the script and make notes lol because whatever else you might say about him he KNOWS Captain Kirk.

Like, he (Kirk) lacked humor and charm and, often, confidence. He had moments when he was very smart and moments when he had a commanding presence. But he had just as many moments when he was whiny or bored and his Captain’s log??? I deserve financial compensation for every time I’ve listened to that. Bored of space?? No, this man is bored when he’s stuck on Earth. He stagnates in desk jobs. He is an adventurer and explorer before he’s ANYTHING else; if you don’t get that, you don’t need to be writing Star Trek.

Also, as I have frequently complained, I’m tired of him having no internal conflict or emotional complexity past his father issues. First reboot movie: dealing with his dead father’s memory and his step-father’s abuse. Fine, that makes sense for how they set up the AU. Second reboot movie: entirely motivated by the need for Manly Vengeance upon the person who killed his father figure. And for this redundant story line (in many sense) we had to lose Pike? Third reboot movie: you’d think he’d finally be ready to move on to other conflicts but actually no this time he’s sad about his birthday and having a longer life span than his...you guessed it!! father!! Yet again.

What else has ever motivated him? Legitimate question.

The destruction of the Enterprise was truly horrific. Long, boring, unwarranted, and without any emotional punch. As if it were just any ship! No, she’s a character in her own right and she’s not to be sacrificed like that but please tell me again how Simon Pegg is a true fan who brought the franchise back to its roots?

B said he did like that they split up the crew into unusual units but I have mixed feelings about it. I don’t entirely disagree, but I don’t think they did a lot that was interesting with any of those separated units. Uhura and Sulu are a cool pair (but this would have been a good opportunity to include Sulu’s semi-canonical crush on Uhura but whatever... a different rant) and they almost did some interesting stuff with them. There were glimmers of a caper in that story line and times when I could tell they were straining especially hard to make Uhura, their Sole Female Main--now that they cut out Rand, Chapel, and even Carol Marcus--into something Feminist and Interesting. But it didn’t quite gel for me. Like, Uhura would be having almost interesting dialogue with the villain and holding her own...and then she loses track of her colleague and has to watch that person die, thus undercutting everything she just said about unity and seeming to prove the villain’s point. Is she competent or not?

Bones and Spock are a pair I care about and like but again I think their canonical relationship in TOS is more interesting than STB showed. I personally read them as like...reluctant best friends who originally just had one person in common, and then realized they also like each other too, but they’ll never really say it. They understand each other but pretend not to. They have fun with the barbs they throw at each other. They both deeply love Jim but in different ways. They enjoy their intellectual debates. (That’s one thing that was definitely missing from them here! The intellectual debates!) So again, there was something there but not enough.

And Kirk and Chekov just happened to land near each other; nothing was done with that relationship per se. They really aren’t people who have much of a relationship in TOS so there’s not a lot to work off of but then on the other hand there IS an opportunity to create something new. Maybe I’m being too harsh and too vague but it just didn’t gel for me. The only specific K and C moment I remember was that supremely un-funny joke about Kirk’s aim as he sets off the “wery large bomb.”

But like there are possibilities.. they’re both pretty horny and Chekov is a whiz kid and Kirk is also very smart and has always been smart... Like in other words people Chekov’s age don’t end up on the bridge crew, in either ‘verse, without the Captain’s say, so even though he’s TOS!Spock’s and AOS!Scotty’s protege, Kirk is important to his life. Something with that maybe??

I’m upset that Spock’s individual story line was about whether or not he should go off and make baby Vulcans because, again as I have complained many times before, that was a conflict he faced and resolved in ten minutes two movies ago, and it doesn’t make sense to me for him to bring it up again now just because the Ambassador is dead. Like... the Ambassador told him to stay in Starfleet!! “Ah, yes, I will honor him by doing precisely the opposite of what he wanted me to do.”

Also--if they had made his motivation different or gone into it more, I would have been more into it. Make it about New Vulcan! Say there’s news from New Vulcan that it’s not doing well. Or what if T’Pring got in contact with him? Or what if we used this as an excuse to bring in Sarek?

This is part of a larger point for me which is that STXI set up a really cool AU and STID tried to do something with it--a little hit or miss, but it tried--and instead of pushing even more at the AU and developing it more and doing more with it... STB just ignored it! Was that part of what Paramount was warning about with making it “not too Star Trek-y?” Was it SUPPOSED to be a movie you could watch without having seen the last two? If so they did succeed but like.. .why? They made the supremely ballsy move of blowing up a founding Federation planet two movies ago and now they’ve just forgotten about that and all the reverberations that would necessarily have?

But of course we got a call back to Kirk being a Beastie Boys fan so.... Guess it was Deep all along.

We all three agreed that the core story of this film was potentially interesting but could have been done as a 50-some minute episode of a TV series rather than a whole-ass 2 hour movie. First off, cutting or cutting down the action sequences would have shaved off half an hour easily.

I’m frustrated in large part because there are certain things that are interesting here. I do like the concept of the crew being pulled on to an alien planet by a ship of former Federation crew, from the early days of the Federation/deep space flight, who were presumed missing but are somehow still alive because they have turned into aliens/used alien tech to prolong life, and who have also captured other aliens, like Jaylah, for the main crew to interact with. All of that was cool.

I would even be okay with these old Federation crew being villains but I don’t think that’s necessary or even the most interesting take.

But...first of all, as my mom pointed out, Krall was basically Nero in his illogical motivations: feeling aggrieved because someone who couldn’t help him didn’t help him and then just maniacally wanting revenge. It made more sense to me with Nero in a way. Maybe that was because he was better characterized, maybe it was because his anger was more personal (the loss of his wife), maybe--probably--it was because he was angry at Spock and Spock had actually promised to help, so there was some kernel of logic in his sense of betrayal, even if it was out of proportion etc. Also, Nero’s mania was portrayed as mania--we were all supposed to recognize that the strength of his emotion was warranted but his logic was deeply flawed. I think we were supposed to think Krall had some kinda... real criticism of the Federation, but in fact he doesn’t! He’s wrong! So like if he’d been angry with the Federation for abandoning him but the narrative and the other characters explicitly recognize that he’s wrong--the Federation tried but he was just doing something very dangerous and he recognized that danger on signing on--that might have been more palatable to me.

I’m not sure I’m making sense here entirely or explaining myself as well as I could.

I just don’t entirely get Krall’s beef with the Federation. I don’t get that whole “being a soldier and having conflict makes you strong and having people you can rely on and connections and community makes you weak.” That seems pretty obviously false. It also doesn’t really seem, not that I’m an expert, but particularly in line with military ethos either.

BUT the idea that he had a life that was comfortable to him as a soldier and then the Federation comes in and forms Starfleet and says, actually, we’re going to pull back on the soldiering and up the diplomacy and the exploration and the science--yeah, I could see that. I DO think Starfleet is military but even if you must insist it’s not, it’s clearly based on and formed from the military, and it has certain military functions. So obviously the first people to join or be folded into Starfleet probably were more explicitly military.

So he’s one of those people. Now he’s supposed to be a scientist and a diplomat and an explorer and he doesn’t like that. He’s given this very prestigious and interesting mission and jumps at it. Starfleet warns him, you might go beyond where we can reach, we might not be able to help you. That’s fine. But then when his ship is stranded and he is lost, he gets angry--maybe somewhat irrationally, but understandably--why?? Why did the Federation do this to him? What was even the point? When he put himself in danger before, at least he knew why. But just flying around space for the hell of it, and this is the cost? So that’s what creates his anger.

I thin this could be tied into Kirk’s diplomacy at the beginning--if the scene were written to not be a comedy bit where Kirk looks like an incompetent buffoon and is completely disrespectful the whole time. He’s good at this job and we should say it. But we could emphasize that this IS a diplomatic mission often, just as often as it’s a military or scientific mission. Maybe we could include other bits of their missions, too, to play up the variety of things they do and roles they play.

Another thing I think could be interesting, going back to my point about Spock, Vulcan, and using the first two movies and expanding on the world building... what if Spock wanted to leave Starfleet for better, more well-defined reasons, and we used that? Paralleled the two? Connected the two?

Because I think Vulcan in the AOS verse is very interesting and the movies didn’t do nearly enough with it. First, we have the Romulans showing up way earlier, at least visibly: in TOS, no one knew what they looked like or their connection to Vulcans until Spock is in his late 30s. In AOS, it happens not long after he’s born. So he’s growing up probably with more anti-Vulcan racism floating around the Federation. THEN Vulcan is destroyed. Now it has nothing and it needs to rely on the rest of the Federation, which must be both humbling and frustrating to many Vulcans, on top of the extreme tragedy of losing everything. Most of their population, a lot of their history, their manufacturing, their scientific facilities, their resources, their animals, literally whatever else you can think of that a planet has--all gone. Now all of the survivors have lived some period on an alien planet, by definition, and they’re probably very dependent on the Federation not just to set up the new colony, but to replace all of the resources--natural and Vulcan-made--that they lost. And they’re a founding Federation member, Earth’s first contact. They’re especially important. And now they’re weak, and reliant on others.

So maybe Spock, early on, hears from New Vulcan and they’re not doing well. Maybe we hear from Sarek or T’Pring (...I’d just like to see reboot T’Pring). Maybe it’s not about, or just about, having children, but about being from an important and ancient family, and being seen as a hero for his part in the Narada mission, that makes him want to go and help rebuild their government (taking his mother’s place perhaps? she was on the High Council) or their scientific facilities, or the VSA, or their space travel capabilities--you know Vulcan had space ships of their own, outside of Federation ships. This would be the perfect place to showcase that tension between wanting to be independent--out of pride, out of fear, even--and needing help, because Vulcan could not survive without the Federation, probably less than 10 years out from the original planet’s destruction.

And then you feed it back into Krall.

So I could see like... well the tension, and then Krall comes in, and he's angry that the Federation "abandoned" him, but we actually explicitly address this. Maybe Spock gets to interact with him and say "I get it. You had a life and a mission and a purpose that was comfortable for you. Then the Federation came in and changed everything. A lot of my people are also feeling upset for similar reasons. But here's why actually you're wrong."

So anyway as you can see I’m smarter and more interesting than Simon Pegg.

I also hated, speaking of writers of this movie, the gay Sulu thing and HEAR ME OUT on this. It’s homophobic. His husband doesn’t have a name? Might not be his husband at all? Looks like he could be his nanny or his brother? As B said “at least grab his butt or something.” That was the most sanitized, no-homo depiction of a gay person I’ve ever seen. He’s gay (see, progressives and queers! gay! you like that right!) but DON’T WORRY STRAIGHTS--he’s in a monogamous relationship and has a child, he’ll show nothing but the most platonic physical affection with his male significant other, and the plot point will be so minuscule you’ll need a microscope to detect it. Also, we’ll throw in a no homo joke about two male characters not wanting to hug and we’ll make sure Kirk and Spock interact as little as possible, because we know they give off Big Queer Vibes every time they’re together.

Yes the last point is a little unfair but can you blame me for being angry about all the “look how hip to the times we are” back-patting that went on in 2016 when canonical bisexual Kirk is RIGHT THERE and we could have had ex-boyfriend Gary Mitchell instead of Unnamed Nanny??

Also Sulu is a hella random choice because again, like... he may not have had an s.o. in TOS but nor was there any indication he was gay. So it seems a LITTLE like they picked him because (1) his original actor is gay and gay people can’t play straight people duh so probably Sulu was Gay All Along I mean did you not get vibes???; and/or (2) asexual Asian stereotypes preclude giving Sulu any kind of love interest, male or female, that is actually... sexual, outright romantic, anything.

Anyway I can’t remember if I had any other thoughts, but I’ve said quite enough I think.

I miss Kirk so much... real Kirk... even my version of AOS Kirk who is probably not even characterized that well but at least I worked with love!!!