#lieutenant kayshon

[best-star-trek-character]

Round Two

[scifihobbit]

Yuletide Letter 2023

I’ve been participating in Yuletide incredibly sporadically since 2009. I love it here! It's such a fun look at what we as fandom care about and such an incredible labor of love from everyone involved.

I'm scifihobbit over on AO3 as well. I am very open to treats. Thanks for reading my letter! (I didn't get this posted in time to include it with my sign-up, but maybe you found it anyway.) We all know the mantra, optional details are entirely optional, so, if you even see this letter, don't feel beholden to it, just use it as a jumping off point if you're so inclined.

I enjoy yuletide for so many different reasons. The gift work isn't the end-all be-all of it. (It's about the friends we made along the way!) So, if you're feeling anxious, know that I'm going to have a great time no matter what, so, have fun with it!

Things I'm a sucker for in general

Character studies

World-building

“There was only one bed”

Found families

Angst with a happy ending

Hurt/Comfort

Broken characters finding ways to heal each other in general

Using smarm to hide wildly low self-esteem

Extremely close, to the point of being unhealthily codependent, friendships

Playing with genre conventions. (i.e. Something that couldn’t be easily shelved in a bookstore that insists on having a literary fiction section and a sci-fi/fantasy section and a thriller section etc.)

Canon compliance. (This is not to say that I wouldn't enjoy a story that takes canon in an unexpected or unusual direction. Like I said, throw genre conventions out the window, but I would love the story to have emanated from somewhere in canon.)

Queers and queerness and queering

DNWs:

PWP (I'm not particularly prudish, I just like me some plot, or meandering conversation.)

AUs

1st person narration

2nd person narration

Major character death (that isn’t canonical)

mpreg (well.... Lower Decks pulled it off, but, in general.)

A/B/O

Non-canon unrequested romantic relationships

Rape/non-con

Fandom: Star Trek: Lower Decks (Cartoon) Characters: (any combination) Kayshon Samanthan Rutherford Shaxs Dr. T'ana

Request: It is hard to explain how much I adore this show. I was raised on Star Trek and this show never disappoints. Every episode leaves me with a smile plastered on my face basically the entire time. I love the entire crew (and especially the main 4), so I've just requested a FEW of my favorites, but feel free to write about anyone on the Cerritos and mix and match! A few prompts/ideas for my requested characters below. (But really, all of these prompts/ideas could apply to just about any of the crew. I just want to know more about them!)

Kayshon: I am still not over the concept of Kayshon! I love him as an addition to the crew so much. The Universal Translator is a constant source of fascination for me, so of course I love the Tamarians and their whole deal. Anything you want to do to explore that would be amazing. I'm also curious about how Kayshon navigates life on the ship and in Starfleet in general. (I love the little moment where Ransom uses a Tamarian phrase and Kayshon is touched.) What does he miss about Tamarian culture? What is he surprised and delighted by on the Cerritos? How does he spend his free time?

Rutherford: My perfect cinnamon roll of an engineer dealing with more trauma than any everyman ever should! I love his energy and optimism and eagerness, and am of course fascinated by his backstory. (If you want to explore that more you should absolutely feel free! But, also, it is a giant can of worms and if you would prefer not to touch it, completely understandable.) Despite what we've learned about Billups, I won't ever be able to stop shipping Rutherford with him at least a little bit, so, if you want to explore that, be my guest. (At the very least Rutherford has a competency crush on Billups and it is adorable.) Whatever engineering adventures you want to send him on I am thrilled to follow. Whatever downtime activities you want to drop him in I'm delighted to read.

Shaxs: I love Shaxs as grumpy mentor to all the floundering ensigns. I love his one-up-manship with Kira. I'm curious to know about his time in the resistance and what brought him to Starfleet. I'd love to see him interacting with other members of the crew (lower deckers or not.) His speech to Boimler about how security's there to protect the crew's emotional well-being too was so wonderful and I'd be delighted to see more of those "missions."

T'Ana: I love a grumpy doctor! (Bones is my fav. I'll be a Pulaski defender for life.) I want to know everything about T'Ana's backstory and what she gets up to in her off hours. What was her time at the academy like? So Caitians used to hunt Betazoids?? Does she indulge in some "most dangerous game" time in the holodeck? Who are her heroes in Starfleet? Who inspired her to be where she is? (Even if she'd never admit it.) What are her friendships with the rest of the crew like? Just give me T'ana content!

More Feelings: I asked for Lower Decks last year, too. So you can check out my 2022 Yuletide letter if you want even more of my giddy delight. Also, my Star Trek and LWD tags are overflowing on this blog.

In general, Vulcans are not my jam. And I find Jennifer kind of irritating... I'm usually annoyed by the mirror universe and section 31, but if there's any place they could be properly skewered, it's in Lower Decks. My Star Trek knowledge runs deep, but I'll admit I gave up on Discovery around the beginning of season 4, didn't finish Prodigy, and have never seen The Animated Series.

Also, since Star Trek essentially invented the AU, there is certainly some wiggle room here around my AU DNW.

Fandom: Severance (TV) Characters: Irving Bailiff Burt Goodman

Request: Irving and Burt ran away with my entire heart and I want so much more about them. This was one of those rare delightful times where I started shipping something not believing the show was going to go there, and then it did!

I would be happy to read about some of their innie's stolen moments. It would be interesting to know more about their life on the outside. (How did Irving take up painting? What kind of solace does he find in it? Why did either of them decide to go through with being "severed"?)

More Feelings: This show is just so good. I love all its weird mysteries (the goats? the green house?) Its aesthetic. The found family of the MDR division. This is another show where I'm incredibly fond of all the characters, so if you want to bring in more of them, please, feel free! I would love to see Irving talking to someone else in MDR about his relationship with/burgeoning feelings for Burt. Feel free to go wild hypothesizing what might have happened after the terrible-awful-no-good-very-bad cliffhanger of season one, or set things firmly within season one.

Fandom: Oppenheimer (Movie 2023) Characters: Leslie Groves J Robert Oppenheimer

Request: Leslie's fascination with Oppenheimer was so interesting to me. I did not expect to come away from this movie with warm feelings about the military general played by Matt Damon, but man, did I.

Anything you want to write exploring their relationship (platonic or romantic) I'd love to read. They're just such an extreme set of opposites that their begrudging admiration of each other is so interesting. Their dynamic is endlessly compelling. I love how intrigued Leslie is by Oppenheimer. I find Leslie's pragmatism vs. Oppenheimer's naivete fascinating.

What was day-to-day life for them like at Los Alamos? Did they ever run into each other years later? (I'm going to be honest, I know next-to-nothing about the actual history around these people, so feel free to play it fast and loose. But also, if you're the sort of writer who likes to get lost in the nitty-gritty, don't let me stop you!)

(Do I think they had "the world might end" sex before the first test? Yes. Yes I do.)

More Feelings: Are you detecting the theme of incredibly driven, rather geeky people being drawn to each other despite/because of their differences in these requests? (I might have just noticed it myself...) I've had a soft spot for Cillian Murphy for a long time now and he was stunning in this movie. Everyone was. It was incredibly well acted and I just feel like the scenes between Groves and Oppenheimer crackled. (Well, most of the movie did.) Again, thanks for reading this letter! Have so much fun! Happy Yuletide!

[axolotlus275]

Are you a failure?

No, of course not. I'm Shaka, when the walls fell.

[oscartheghost]

the way each crew member holds lieutenant kayshon so carefully and respectfully after he gets turned into a puppet and they are trying to get out of the kunstkammer ship in s2e2 of lower decks 😭

[frogayyyy]

LIEUTENANT KAYSHON

[antzonian]

Kayshon, when he turned into a Puppet. Countdown of Lower Decks, Image 2. Who else had the urge to play with Puppet Kayshon? XD

[flyinbanachab]

Lower Decks S2E3 reactions below the cut

Paris is still just a lieutenant? Harsh

THEY PRONOUNCE. THE APOSTROPHE. IN T’ANA. It’s a glottal stop! This makes me so happy I can’t even tell you, I have a whole posted drafted about how much I hate decorative apostrophes

“What up, we doin’ sci-fi stuff today?” is going into my vocabulary

The computer not recognizing Boimler is legit hilarious

I’m glad Shaxs is back but I hope we get more Kayshon time

“I’m an engineer. Solving impossible problems is what I do” as an engineer myself, ...I need this motivational poster

I really appreciated Mariner and Tendi getting some time together, and getting to learn more of both of their backstories. Tendi’s so unlike every other Orion we’ve ever seen, I’m glad we got to dig into that a little

Mariner casually mentioning she’s into many-if-not-all genders? NICE.

The gals’ Orion outfits? Also NICE. I can see the cosplay already

Shaxs calling Rutherford “Baby Bear” gets me EVERY TIME BWAAA <3

“TOM PARIS!” this line delivery slayed me

THE BOX. THE BOX. THE CAT WANTS THE BOXXXXXX I’m DEAD I’M DEAD it’s BRILLIANT

[setyourphaserstoslutty]

Lieutenant Kayshon is Fucking hot

[goesnowhere-doesnothing]

Lieutenant Kayshon!

It's good to see you back on feet, sir

[best-star-trek-character]

Round One

[best-star-trek-character]

Official LWD Bracket!

And here’s the final bracket! Round One will go live tomorrow, 4/23 at 10 am EST!

Full List:

Round One:

Left Side:

Lt. Commander Andy Billups vs. Admiral Les Buenamigo: poll here

Captain Carol Freeman vs. Lieutenant Barbara Brinson: poll here

Admiral Alonzo Freeman vs. Lieutenant Shaxs: poll here

Lieutenant Durga vs. The Dog: poll here

Ensign Jet Manhaver vs. Victoria Nuze: poll here

Peanut Hamper vs. Ensign Brad Boimler: poll here

Rawda of Areore vs. T’Lyn: poll here

Ensign Jennifer Sh’reyan vs. Migleemo: poll here

Right Side:

Badgey vs. Dr. T’Ana: poll here

AGIMUS vs. Toz: poll here

Ensign Sam Rutherford vs. Ensign Barnes: poll here

Ensign Beckett Mariner vs. Shuri yn Yem: poll here

Lieutenant Steve Stevens vs. Captain Amina Ramsey: poll here

Lieutenant William Boimler vs. Commander Jack Ransom: poll here

Buddy the Vulcan vs. Ensign D’Vana Tendi: poll here

Lieutenant Kayshon vs. Chief Carlton Dennis: poll here

Round Two:

Left Side:

Lt. Cmdr. Andy Billups vs. Captain Carol Freeman: poll here

Lt. Shaxs vs. The Dog: poll here

Ensign Jet Manhaver vs. Ensign Brad Boimler: poll here

T’Lyn vs. Ensign Jennifer Sh’reyan: poll here

Right Side:

Dr. T’Ana vs. AGIMUS: poll here

Ensign Sam Rutherford vs. Ensign Beckett Mariner: poll here

Captain Amina Ramsey vs. Lt. William Boimler: poll here

Ensign D’Vana Tendi vs. Lt. Kayshon: poll here

Quarter-Finals:

Left Side:

Captain Carol Freeman vs. Lt. Shaxs: poll here

Ensign Brad Boimler vs. T’Lyn: poll here

Right Side:

Dr. T’Ana vs. Ensign Beckett Mariner: poll here

Lt. William Boimler vs. Ensign D’Vana Tendi: poll here

Semi-Finals:

Lt. Shaxs vs. Ensign Brad Boimler: poll here

Ensign Beckett Mariner vs. Ensign D’Vana Tendi: poll here

Finals:

Ensign Brad Boimler vs. Ensign Beckett Mariner: poll here

[antzonian]

Tendi says "Stay alert, Stay alive!"