#spock's mind must have been so lonely

[spirk-trek]

imagine amanda watching how mothers on vulcan share a telepathic bond with their children and not being able to do this for spock

imagine how it would break her heart, how she might worry they'll never connect when she sees a mother touching her daughter's face or holding her son's hand with purpose, without words

imagine spock melding with her as soon as he's able, showing her he loves her because he can't say it, he'll never be able to say it

imagine her being so proud of her little boy for researching and teaching himself to meld with a non-telepath just for her, all for her

holding him after when he's so exhausted he goes boneless in her arms and she strokes his hair and thanks him

and he mumbles something about it being illogical to thank him before falling asleep and she holds his little hand and feels the tiniest sparks of love still there, so small she might've imagined them before he's snoring softly

[kirk-spock-fics]

ok i know this account is relatively new but ive been going insane trying to find this fic i cant remember anything except its kirk and spock stranded on a planet, they start off in a town thats name means solitude or lonely in a spanish based language, and spock ends up growing his hair rlly long. theyre stranded for ages and theres this creature that might be a massive worm and also these little bat things that swarm around. anY help finding this would be so appreciated im going insane T-T

Hi!

Unfortunately, I can't find any fics that include all of the things you've mentioned, but there are a few that match different parts. (Maybe you've conflated aspects of two or more different fics?)

You might be looking for:

The Lotus Eaters by aldora89

explicit aos, kirk/spock warnings: 'Minor character death. Mind control themes and sort-of-zombies. Dark at times due to twisted xenobiological shenanigans. Mild themes of stress-related weight loss.' tos, kirk/spock romance, action/adventure, hurt/comfort, slow build, slash words: 93,594 'Stranded on the planet Sigma Nox while searching for a missing away team, Spock and Kirk find themselves pitted against a disturbing native life form. With the captain out of commission on a regular basis and Spock struggling to preserve his stoicism, staying alive is difficult enough – but when a slim chance for escape surfaces, their resolve is truly put to the test. Together they must fight for survival in the heart of an alien jungle, and in the process, uncover the mystery of the planet’s past.'

The planet they get stranded on features two species - one insect-like (worm) and one birdlike (bat).

Sha Ka Ree by ThereBeWhalesHere

explicit tos, kirk/spock, au canon divergence stranded, survival, hurt/comfort, slow build, mutual pining, slash words: 180,505 'The year is 2258. Jim Kirk is a Lieutenant on the U.S.S. Farragut, Spock the science officer of the U.S.S. Enterprise. When the ships come together for a priority landing party, these two strangers find themselves fighting against the odds for a chance at life in an alien world, and the only way they'll make it through is by relying on each other.'

The classic 'stranded on a planet' K/S fic. Famously featuring long haired Spock.

If anyone knows which fic this is, please share it in the comments or in an ask/submission!

Coincidentally there's an AOS fic I've been looking for myself for years that sounds similar. Kirk and Spock are (possibly stranded?) in a town on a planet when Kirk gets accused of murder. (similar plot/vibes to Wolf in the Fold) I can't remember what happened in between but eventually Kirk escapes and runs away to the wilderness and Spock follows him and they try to survive while waiting for the Enterprise crew to find them. But I haven't been able to find it anywhere and I think the creator may have removed it from ao3.

Here are some more fics about Kirk and Spock being stranded on a planet:

Anodyne by Lizzy0305

explicit aos, kirk/spock stranded, pon farr, pining, mind melds, accidental bonding, humour, romance, slash words: 78,568 'Jim and Spock crash-land on a deserted planet. Due to an approaching ion storm, the Enterprise cannot be reached which makes rescue impossible for a few days. Spock’s irritable mood, general strangeness and fever are soon explained when Jim finds out that besides food and shelter, apparently he also needs to find a willing mate for his First Officer, so no one dies. On an uninhabited planet, his options are rather limited.'

Into You by SupposedToBeWriting

explicit aos, kirk/spock, au lieutenant spock and lieutenant kirk on the enterprise stranded, enemies to friends to lovers, angst, hurt/comfort, slow burn, slash words: 54,775 'Lieutenant (junior grade) Kirk and Lieutenant (also junior grade) Spock aren't the best of friends. In fact, they don't like each other very much at all. Spock has too much on his plate (being one of two Vulcans on a starship, his looming betrothal, his own internal wrestle with identity and duty) to be patient with the illogical, insensitive human. But when the pair get stranded on an island planet together, they must learn to work together - and discover the dark secret that the island is hiding.'

Side by Side by Herenya_writes

teen CW: mild torture tos, kirk/spock stranded, alien culture, slow burn, miscommunication, pining, injured!spock, injured!kirk, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending words: 113,641 'The Enterprise is called away from a research mission to act as representatives of the Federation and sign a trade agreement with the planet Reskar. Everything seems to be going well (even if Jim hates playing diplomat) until strange illness strikes, leaving Spock and Kirk alone on the planet. The welcome quickly turns foul, and the Enterprise is forced to leave her captain and first officer behind. Stranded on the planet, Spock and Kirk struggle to survive and struggle to unravel what this tangled relationship of theirs is.'

[sshbpodcast]

There is no Data, only Zuul: Body Possessions in Star Trek

By Ames

Starfleet personnel are always getting themselves possessed by things, for either nefarious or humanitarian reasons. Sometimes both! On the nasty side, alien entities can use your form like a disguise, get access to things they really shouldn’t have, or use your body to hurt someone or yourself. But on the happier side, they can continue living through situations they might not otherwise have been able to, can become corporeal if they weren’t before, or can use you to communicate like a big fleshy boombox.

We all know the real reason possession episodes in Star Trek are so common and coveted: because it lets the actors play entirely different people sometimes! We all saw Nimoy constantly hampered by having to play a Vulcan with such restrained emotions, so when he gets possessed all the time, it’s really a blast for everyone! This week, A Star to Steer Her By is listing as many possession episodes as we can think of, so see them all below or listen to all the chatter on this week’s podcast episode. And if we missed any, it’s because we weren’t entirely ourselves at the time.

[images © CBS/Paramount]

“Wolf in the Fold”

Somehow, I’ve yet again forgotten to discuss “Wolf in the Fold” on the episode, just like in our discussion about historic figures in Trek from last month. Well, I’m making up for it now because, unless I’m missing even more episodes, this is the first time we see someone being possessed! While it’s fun to have a body-hopping serial killer on the loose, it’s also a sort of strange usage of the trope since it’s specifically Jack the Ripper, which even in the sixties when this aired, feels like it’s really overdone.

“Return to Tomorrow”

One of the most successful uses of the body possession storyline gave Leonard Nimoy a chance to stretch his legs a little as the constantly scheming Henoch of the bodiless race of people too advanced for this universe. We loved seeing the conflict between him and Sargon and Thalassa in trying to rejoin the corporeal world only to determine that’s not where they belong. That’s why it made my top five episodes of TOS! We also got a tiny bonus of Spock’s consciousness getting stored in Chapel too!

“Is There in Truth No Beauty”

Nimoy gets to act outside of the normal Vulcan parameters again in season 3 in another favorite episode of mine. Here, Spock gets possessed by the Medusan Kollos who needs to make use of a physical body to save the ship from flying outside the galaxy again. Watching Kollos interact with a world he’s not usually a part of is actually fascinating to watch and such a great reason to keep possessions on your sci-fi table.

“The Lights of Zetar”

Update 1/28/24: I must have been possessed when I wrote this because I forgot another one from The Original Series! Scotty’s love interest Mira Romaine just keeps getting assaulted by these non-corporeal beings, the Zetarians, who are looking for a host body to cram themselves inside, sort of Being John Malkovich–style. And it’s not until they’re forced out of Romaine’s body in the pressure chamber that we saw the last of this light show lifeform.

The Search for Spock

On the subject of Vulcans, there’s also the plot device of the katra that was employed as an excuse to get Spock back when someone changed his mind about getting killed off. Sure, it’s kinda contrived and undoes a meaningful death scene, but Spock’s katra taking over McCoy every so often is actually a nice little inclusion to get to watch because DeForest Kelley just nails it.

“Lonely Among Us”

When we get to The Next Generation, people just get possessed left and right. It starts off early in season one with an incorporeal alien possessing various members of the crew before settling on Picard. However, “Lonely Among Us” is a pretty confusing, incredibly forgettable episode since the possession device just isn’t as interesting and we don’t really get a chance to understand what the aliens actually want.

“Conspiracy”

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the conspiracy bugs that took over a good section of the admiralty did a pretty great job of using the people they were possessing to their advantage. Sure, their plans were bound to fail since there were too many dead giveaways that they weren’t the perfectly normal Starfleet officers they were claiming to be (after all, who eats that many mealworms in front of people?), but it was a good try!

“The Schizoid Man”

Data’s gonna get possessed quite a lot throughout TNG, mostly because of his android programming. What lifeform could turn down the chance to live forever in his hyper advanced robobody? Ira Graves seems to be the first to really try as a way of escaping death, but can’t get acclimated to Data’s super strength and poses a danger to anyone he touches. It’s an intriguing moral dilemma that’s always great to see, especially on Brent Spiner’s face.

“Evolution”

Speaking of Brent Spiner’s face, here’s another episode we forgot to bring up in the episode discussion! Like the aforementioned “Return to Tomorrow,” the beings are using the crewman’s body as a way to communicate with everyone around them, especially that weirdo Stubbs who wanted to get them all killed. All is forgiven though.

“Clues”

We’ve complained a lot on the podcast that TNG rarely let Marina Sirtis do, well, much. So it was actually pretty fun to see her get possessed by some reclusive aliens in “Clues.” Again, it’s another instance of some life forms using characters’ bodies to communicate since they lack the physical bodies to do so. And we get some bonus moments of Troi throwing Worf across the room, which I never knew I needed until this ep.

“The Host”

Back in TNG times, having a Trill symbiont just wrote over someone else’s mind, so it was more like being possessed than the merging of personalities that we see more in DS9. So when Riker lets the Odan slug convalesce in his belly, Odan gets to run the show, continue some peace talks, even bang Dr. Crusher a little in one of squickier ethical moves the Trill get to play.

“Power Play”

We’ve already covered what a good time it is when Data and Troi get possessed by alien lifeforms, so it’s that much better when they’re both possessed at once! And throw in O’Brien just as a bonus. The Ux-Mal people that possess our three heroes lead us through twist after twist in this romp of an episode, but also give Spiner, Sirtis, and Meaney some real fun scenery to chew. This one runs the gamut of all the positive aspects of possession stories.

“Sub Rosa”

And then we run into some of all the negative aspects in “Sub Rosa,” where the possession that we see is just a quick scene at the end of an already unpleasant episode. Add to that the corpse of Bev’s grandmother getting possessed by her lover, and we’re just at a hard pass. No wonder this one swept our bad lists of all of The Next Generation. At least it was just one scene.

“Masks”

Here’s another notoriously bad one. While it’s greatly entertaining to watch Brent Spiner playing like half a dozen different characters when some alien technology uploads some wacky cultural figures into his cybernetic brain, it’s also a bit lazy since the episode doesn’t really use the medium of the character possession to say a whole lot of substance, at least not as successfully as other episodes.

“Eye of the Beholder”

Another that we forgot to mention in the episode, so you get to see it here! As we sang when we covered in our rewatch to the tune of the M*A*S*H theme song, suicide’s contagious. Telepaths beware because lingering thought engrams can and will possess your brain and make you jump into a plasma stream like poor Lt. Kwan. This is a particularly weird episode that kinda fits the theme and kinda doesn’t, so I’m not surprised we forgot this final instance from a very long list from TNG.

“The Passenger”

Let’s move onto Deep Space Nine, which starts off the character possession pattern with another dud of an episode. Vantika uses some kind of personality infestation to take over Julian’s body and effectively escape death, which is as good a reason to possess someone as any. But Siddig, the poor thing, just didn’t have the chops for it, at least from where we sat cringing. Release the vampire cut!

“Dramatis Personae”

We’re still in season 1 and we already have another possession episode somehow. “Dramatis Personae” is a wholly forgettable episode, especially if you’ve gotten yourself possessed by the laziest character in an otherwise nondescript mutiny. It’s a good showcase for Odo to figure out the ruse, but the character choices for all the possessed people ended up just being boring somehow. At least we got a cool clock out of it.

“Facets”

We’re back to Trill shenanigans, this time of the Deep Space Nine flavor. The workings of the species may have changed, but we at least still have possessions on the docket when joined Trills go through their zhian'tara and beg their friends to let themselves get possessed by past personalities. The episode itself is a bit of a mixed bag, as it seems to be an attempt to deepen Jadzia’s character but in reality is an excuse for the other actors to act entirely out of their normal characters.

“The Assignment”

Early seasons possessions in Deep Space Nine were fairly varied, until we get to season 5 when it’s all prophets and pah-wraiths all the time. Stay out of the firecaves, lest you get possessed by a pah-wraith bent on destroying the wormhole like Keiko did. Considering how much the battle between the various incorporeal aliens drives the rest of the series, we really couldn’t imagine the series without these bratty bodysnatchers.

“The Reckoning”

We get a literal battle between the blue wormhole aliens and the red wormhole aliens the following season, as they possess Kira and Jake respectively to shoot energy at each other and generally treat us fleshy things like playthings. Possibly the best thing about this episode is who doesn’t get possessed: Kai Winn. She so badly wants the chance to have the Prophets inside her and they are so not interested and it’s amazing.

“Tears of the Prophets”

You know who doesn’t care what body they possess? Freakin’ pah-wraiths. And they net themselves a doozy in the season 5 finale. It’s always a treat to watch Gul Dukat strutting around the station, but it’s also super consequential when Kosst Amojan does it wearing a Gul Dukat suit. Few other possessions have had such lasting effects on a Trek show, but that’s also a testament to the writing of DS9.

“What You Leave Behind”

One last one from the categoy of getting possessed by prophets and pah-wraiths (and we’re not even counting Sarah Sisko since we never actually see the real her in an episode!). I said it above, but possessed Dukat is best Dukat, which isn’t hard because they’re all best Dukat. As rushed as the firecave plot in the series finale felt, what a way for Kosst Amojan and Gul Dukat to go!

“Cathexis”

Moving on to our friends in the Delta Quadrant, we see an early instance of a possession when Chakotay somehow finds his soul outside his body, as one does. Sure, there’s some weird magical native tropes, but for a while it’s an alright mystery of who the alien entity is masquerading as at any given time until we learn there’ve been TWO battling spirits the whole time!

“Warlord” 

We’ve seen a couple instances in other episodes of people using the possession method to keep themselves from death, and this episode is no different. The warlord Tieran inhabits a new body to retain his control over his people, but he underestimated Kes’s mental resilience. This one proves to be a good showcase for the Kes character, whom we’ve mentioned in the past we miss terribly!

“Infinite Regress”

If you thought Spiner played a lot of different characters in “Masks,” strap in and enjoy the delightful range of Jeri Ryan playing an absolute ton of Borg victims in “Infinite Regress.” There’s a Ferengi and a Vulcan and a Klingon and a young girl and a whole bunch of other individuals leaking out of the vinculum that broke Seven’s mind a little. The episode itself is a little uneven, but worth it for watching the mother of the crewman lost at Wolf 359 who then got assimilated herself.

“Warhead”

There’s a great joke in The Simpsons about a robot running around on fire yelling “Why?! Why was I programmed to feel pain?!” Similarly, this episode answers the question “Why?! Why would you program a weapon to be sentient?!” with the obvious: to exceed its programming, of course. And also to possess the EMH and allow for a lot of fascinating discussion about artificial life, fate, and accountability.

“Body and Soul”

Our list moves on from the Doctor getting possessed by an artificial intelligence to the Doctor himself possessing a Borg! In a way similar to Spock’s consciousness hitching a ride in Chapel’s body back in “Tomorrow is Yesterday” to evade detection, the EMH gets to ride around in Seven’s body mostly for the comic effect of it all. Jury’s out on how successful the comedy is versus how uncomfortable it is; keep up with our watchthrough on the podcast for when we get to it!

“The Crossing”

Our first foray into body possession in Enterprise retreads a lot of the same ground crossed in other episodes: noncorporeal creatures trying to hitch a ride in a human body, experiences eating food for the first time, and some scenes even more offputting than the Doctor/Seven combo above when alien-possessed Reed tries to mate with T’Pol. Ugh. It all adds up to a kinda rehashed episode and these subspace wisps can really get bent.

“Observer Effect”

I’m wrapping it here even if there are more possessions after Enterprise because this post is a beast. And “Observer Effect” is a great way to end the conversation with yet another original take on the alien passenger, these ones an incorporeal race who give themselves a front row seat to watching how species handle a catastrophe and debating among themselves if any of what they’re doing is ethical. It’s incredibly compelling.

—

We’re feeling like ourselves again, so let’s bring this one to a close. Newer Trek has a lot fewer examples I could think of (I could only think of the sight gag reference to “Masks” from Lower Decks, myself), so if you’ve got any more possessions on your mind, reach out! You should also keep watching this space for more fun blogtivities, follow along with our voyage through Voyager on SoundCloud or wherever you get your podcasts, hail us on Facebook and Twitter, and get out of my head!

[worfs-fabulous-hair]

Series I'm currently on : TOS

Episodes watched: 01x07-01x09

Episode names:

What Are Little Girls Made Of

Miri

Dagger of The Mind

Thoughts:

What Are Little Girls Made Of

The title sounds really creepy, like who was in charge of that ?

Everyone dramatically looking into the camera during their close ups

Come alone I definitely won't kill you

" were you ever engaged before Spock ?" We're not at that part of the series yet ma'am

Ah , security officers on an isolated planet with the captain I wonder what's going to happen

Yup , they died they weren't even there for 5 minutes. He was pushed by this alien dude that keeps creeping around like a Scooby Doo villain

Why does star fleet just keep sending very small groups of people to be isolated on planets with no inhabitants in the name of science

Like this dude created androids because he was lonely and they have the audacity to be surprised by this

Of all things he could have had this android do why make her kiss Kirk ?

Shatner must have gotten dizzy on this weird spinning table thing

" mind your own business Mr. Spock I'm tired of your half breed interference" ????? Like they just cut to something else

How many times is Kirk going to get duplicated

"I'm not a bad guy I just want to kill all humans and turn them into androids so that we can be the superior race" sound like a bad guy to me man

It's the dick rock from the meme

I love how Spock interacted with Android Kirk for less than a minute and immediately was like this isn't my captain it's an imposter, security we're going to follow that man

Scooby Doo villain becomes philosophical and tries to killed evil doctor after that , he dies in the process

Evil doctor is an Android like the captain has been telling everyone since they got there ( the makeup job for the reveal is really bad)

Whoo Android Kirk has died

Man nurse chapel has had a rough few days she just wanted to see her fiance

Also apparently the thing about " I'm tired of you meddling Mr Spock " thing was a sign for Spock to know it wasn't him and that he needed help

Spock was offended by being called a half breed

Other episodes under the cut

Miri

Earth the second

Zombie apocalypse ?

" everything looks like it's from the 1960s on earth" " man the 1960s we're ugly"

Yo I was right it's basically a zombie apocalypse

Spock went outside with the security crew the security crew is gonna die

A plague that kill adults

Ominous children sounds

They've been infected with the plague who would have guessed that going down with no protective gear or understanding of what your getting into would cause this

Spock's fine though cause he's Spock ( that's literally the explanation they give )

Also the security team hasn't died yet and I'm actually surprised

Army filled with 300 -400 y/o children

Jim gets attacked by zombie while he's attempting to talk to the army of children

" I may not be affected by the virus but I'm a carrier even if I wasn't I wouldn't want to go back to the ship without you captain " how can they make Spock so gay without trying.

The kids stole their communicators and machines so now their stuck with 300 year old equipment

300 y/o girl that the crew has been taking care of becomes jealous of Janice because the crew have found cures and will leave so she goes to the child army to create revenge plan

Child army makes more ominous noises while they surround captain Kirk with clubs and beat him

Why leave the man who is eager to inject himself with a strange liquid , alone with said strange liquid prepared in a hypo

Like he injected himself and went unconscious

But he's fine , cause he's bones

Dagger of The Mind

Oooo sensory drugs , my favorite kind

Why are they sending a barrel of drugs down to a colony ?

A man in the strange human sized cargo box that got beamed aboard

Space prison / mental asylum

Dangerous criminal is the one who was in the large human size box

Man this guy is really effective with his neck chops

" I just want to strike a deal " is holding a gun

The criminal gets apprehended and claims to a doctor at the prison. Turns out he's right , arguments ensue between bones , Kirk and Spock

"beam down and come look at everything yourself captain " cause nothing ever goes wrong when that happens

Every time a pretty woman shows up you can see Spock sigh like oh shit here we go again, these guys are going to go monkey brain again

They started going down in the elevator and Kirk just starts hugging the doctor because it's going fast ? Like bro that's excessive

Look into the strange swirly light box to calm down

Never mind the swirly light box is evil

The criminal doctor guy keeps trying to tell people that the head doctor is gonna kill the captain , its somewhere between working and not working

I've been wandering if this was too early on for vulcans to have telepathic abilities or if Spock was going to try to mind meld with this guy to find the truth

Sometimes Jim makes some really bad judgement calls like he just sits in the hypnosis chair and is like hey it be cool if you used it on me and now it's being used against him.

Also Jim needs to stop falling in love so easily

These guys have replicas of star ship cabins .

I completely forgot that they established that these places have force fields to keep people from transporting themselves out at the beginning of this episode until it was brought up again just now as plot point

Spock to the rescue

Evil head doctor get brain washed by his own creation

Spock awkwardly sitting in the corner of the room while Jim makes out with Helen

Oof the head doctor died

Every episode they just kinda leave like nothing happened and I'm starting to find that kinda weird

[lucycola]

The Lone Survivor: Part 2

Spock x Fem!Reader

Premise: Fem!Reader accidentally bonds with Spock when rescued from her own starship crash. The Golden Trio realize the footage from the wreck could wrongfully incriminate the reader. They attempt to find a way out of this. PART ONE HERE

SLOW BURN. Eventual smut in later parts. More Bones dialogue than probably necessary but WHATEVER. Fatherly Bones. There will be more one on one Reader and Spock in part three. Right now it plays like a normal episode with build up because I’m stubborn. 

WARNINGS:  Movie amnesia, sexual themes if you squint, mentions of death, and implied one-sided matrimony.

Part 2: The Night We Met I Knew I Needed You So

There was no mistaking the final moments illustrated in the found footage from the Calvary. It was you assaulting the crew on the bridge-you setting a course straight to destruction on Toravalve 9.

However, Mister Spock had disagreed. He had reached into your mind and saw you in your own eyes. It couldn’t have been you.

After carrying you back to the medbay you were put safely back in your bed with a Doctor McCoy who hovered over you like a disgruntled mother bear. With the tricorder at your forehead you pleaded with him to relax. 

Captain Kirk had been summoned to hear what you both, or rather, Mister Spock had to say. For some stranger reason Spock omitted the existence of the orange tape. He deliberated his own findings via meld instead. 

“A copy of sorts, Captain.”

“And you’re sure you saw the Lieutenant looking...at her own self?”

“As unlikely as it may seem, it is was I saw. Although it was also demonstrated that the Lieutenant received a severe head injury before witnessing her own self attack the crew members.”

“And you’re sure it wasn’t some kind of...” Kirk deliberated for a moment, “... out of body experience.”

“Also unlikely. Although it is perceivable Lieutenant L/N maybe have suffered delusions after cranial trauma I possess a suspicion that an illusion was made unto the Lieutenant and the crew.”

Kirk glanced at you for a moment and back to Spock, quizzically at first, but then with a dashing smirk. “A hunch, Spock? How very...human.”

Spock quirked a brow, hands still stonily behind his back, “All endeavors begin with a hypothesis.”

“You believe me,” you murmured, from your bed still although no longer in your white, medbay gown you were graciously presented with black Starfleet fatigues. Nurse Chapel had gently maneuvered your unruly waves into two pleats that were coming undone slowly.

A stark contrast to the pristine, polished head science officer.

The fingers on Spock’s right hand flexed at the sound of your voice.

He only turned his head to look at you, “Empirical data is what needs to be obtained-whether I believe what memories are buried in your subconscious is incidental.”

“They still don’t feel real,” you admitted. Not even your name felt real.

“Such an admission will not help your case and I advise you keep that opinion to yourself, Lieutenant.”

You felt like he was chiding you. Your ground your jaw slightly and you knew he could feel it: the aggravation, the impatience. Fear.

His right fingers flexed again, but his expression, unchanging as ever, gave nothing away.

The electric pool of warmth in the back of your mind hushed you, told you to remain calm. Diplomatic.

How could looking at your own self feel real? ‘She’ seemed so real. You had walked around the corner and met yourself, squaring you up instantly. She lunged for you and you wrestled with her, shocked at the fact that you had your own hands around your throat. They weren’t your hands. It was an imposter. 

How? That was the real question. 

“How do we find proof then, Mister Spock?” Kirk asked, reinserting himself.

“We locate the imposter and confirm my hypothesis.”

“You make it sound so easy,” Kirk replied.

“Indeed it will not be so. Commander Craft is aware of the meld that took place and will order me to testify my findings against the lieutenant. Until the Lieutenant’s sanity can be declared-”

“I’m sure I can help with that,” the doctor said, almost appearing out of nowhere.

“What is left is concrete evidence,” Spock added.

“The imposter,” Kirk finished, nodding. 

“Who’s Commander Craft?” you asked.

He turned to look at you. You were made to feel the oblivious child with everyone in the room talking about you. However, you listened and you absorbed. You were careful with your input. Listen first, talk later, you thought to yourself. The presence in the back of your mind hummed in monotonic approval as if to say, good girl.

You wondered what those words tasted like on Spock’s lips. You shuddered in embarrassment and turned your head away.

Spock coughed uncharacteristically, “Commander Craft is the elected official heading the investigation crew from the Federation. We were contacted yesterday and were to present a full report of our findings and happenings.”

Which included the bond. That detail in itself was still above you, not fully explained nor understood. You could feel it for what it was and knew he was there. Not why or how, however. 

 “We must garner more time,” Spock continued to his captain, “And possibly keep myself from testifying.”

“We could declare you insane,” the doctor quipped earning another brow arch from his opposing.

“You’re asking for a loophole,” Kirk stated.

“Essentially, Captain.”

Kirk seemed to know there was more to it, the way he pursed his lips and put his fists on his hips. You knew yourself that if Spock testified against you with what he saw in the meld then there was no evidence against you truly-just what you yourself witnessed. However, Spock would be asked to tell the whole truth and that included the tape. If you were deemed crazy then your own experiences would be null and void.

Did Kirk already know about the tape?

Kirk sighed,” Spock, I...we’d be misleading not only Starfleet, but the Federation. This isn’t the first time you’ve-”  he glanced at you, “-taken the unorthodox route to obtain justice.”

“Then I am asking for your trust, Captain.”

Kirk’s eyes narrowed then softened. He relented and with a sturdy tone which meant business as he relayed, “I suppose you already a loophole in mind then?”

“Indeed, Captain.”

“I would expect nothing less.”

Spock paused, fighting to look at you.

“Well, aren’t you gonna tell us?” the doctor asked.

“Proposals are not so elementary to make on Vulcan, even when it is logical...but also yet not as it could fare unfavorable circumstances. Especially if one party is unwilling.”

It took Kirk a moment, and even the doctor even longer.

“You mean...?”

“Yes, Captain.”

“You’re willing to marry her so you don’t have to testify?” he asked incredulously.

You were stupefied, impressed, but stupefied. The stoic Vulcan could play dirty. An actual proposal.

“You’re going to marry her?” Bones asked, mortified, “She’s a person...not a pawn! This is her life we’re meddling with. Marriage is a serious thing-”

“You’ll find, Doctor, that I am quite serious.”

“You could wreck her life.”

“I intend on saving it.”

Spock, your heart breathed.

“It seems like a reach for you, Spock,” Kirk said, “They would never believe the both of you, even if Y/N did agree.”

“It will be most believable as the Lieutenant and I have already made a bond.”

Silence befell everyone.

“You can’t be serious,” the doctor said finally, a fierce protectiveness in his voice. “At a time like this-”

“It was not intended as I am careful to shield my mind when partaking tactility with other forms-but, she called to me.”

And he had found you in the dark.

“She accepted it-although it is possible that may be due to the extreme duress she was suffering.”

“And you were there to save her,” Bones finished, a grave distaste in his voice.

“Such a bond can be mediated by a healer with moderate difficult just as a Terran divorce can be secured.”

It was a slap to the face. He was as willing to ‘save’ you as he was to dump you and leave you for dead. Red hot turmoil threatened in your core and you clenched your blankets. What was the point then?

Your crew was dead, your reputation tarnished, and everyone thought you were a murderer.

Let me die, you thought, just let me die.

“Certainly not,” Spock said quietly. Both the Captain and the Doctor eyed him wearily as this random statement.

“So you...negating your-”

“No, sir. I am simply waiting for Lieutenant L/N’s input on the matter.”

“There’s no way in hell she’d agree to this. The bond is clearly one-sided, Spock. How could you be so irresponsible?” Bones chided. 

“A explanation escapes me.” He was still looking at you with smoldering eyes, with bright stars dancing behind them. Cold, but fierce.

What other shot did you have? How else could you bide time while searching for this monster? You wanted to give up. It would be easy.

Kirk leaned in to his second in command and suggested softly, “Perhaps you should ask more properly, Mister Spock. She is a lady. Bones is right. It’s her life.”

“Lieutenant-”

Kirk elbowed him.

“Y/N,” he corrected himself, “Will-”

“Yes,” you blurted in a hushed voice, “I will marry you, Mister Spock.”

x

You were left in your bed again under strict supervision this time. You reveled in the shock of what you’d just agreed to, and even the shock of the situation in its entirety. Rediscovering the monster that claimed your crew and your identity was still fresh and seeing it through your own eyes again with the meld drained the life out of you. You were exhausted, but your mind still raced. ‘It’ was on the ship-it had to be. They didn’t find a copy of you or anyone else in the wreckage. You wondered how recognizable some of your crewmates were and you had to still your frantic thoughts. 

“What ever is going on up there it needs to stop. You heart rate is very high.” Doctor McCoy was already readying a hypo. 

“That...thing. It might be here-”

“We’re on high alert, looking for any copies of ourselves. It’s not the first time this kind of thing has happened,” he tried to assure you.

“There are no red lights.”

“They get annoying after awhile. Whatever it is, it’s damn good at hiding. But we’ll flush it out. The Captain has a plan.”

“Did Mister Spock tell you the imposter can read your memories? That’s how it tricked me. Did he tell the captain?” you asked, wring your hands with the blanket. 

“Your guess is better than mine.”

You thought back to Spock’s omission to the orange tape. Always flipping back and forth between elusive affection and monotonous professionalism. Marry me. Divorce after. 

“He’s hard to place sometimes.”

“And you agreed to marry him.”

“I did,” you blurted stubbornly. “We’re bonded.”

Bones suddenly became eye level with you, bracing both hands on the rail. “But do you know what that even means?”

You arched a brown similar to Vulcan fashion, “Do you, good doctor?”

Bones shook his head and instead asked, “Sleep now or later? Does it help with the nightmares?”

“Yes, I think so. Now, I think. Doctor?”

“Yes, kitty?”

“Thankyou.”

x

Sleep was apart of the healing process and being roused from it interrupted that. That was at least what Bones tried to argue when the captain requested your presence in the conference room. Flanked by your fiancé and the kindly captain himself you were expected to hold an interview of sorts with Commander Craft via telecom before his arrival at the crash site. Several ships had already come to help clean up. 

“What am I supposed to say?” you half pleaded with them, “I’m not good at lying.”

“You do not have to be deceitful. However, if you find yourself under duress the commander may suspect a guilt as I had sensed upon our initial meeting,” Spock replied, one arm linked on your good side. 

Your other arm supported a crutch when had a nervous hand floating behind it via the captain. 

Kirk shot a reassuring look your way. “I recommend the truth. Tell him what you told me, and you’ll be fine. He’s a bit of a stickler for rules and he’s tough on the stand-”

“Jesus,” you muttered. 

“Or...a bit of theatrics couldn’t hurt if you get too overwhelmed. You did just lose your crew.” 

“How could I forget?” Your lip quivered. 

You three paused at the door. 

“I trust my first officer, Y/N,” Kirk turned to face you, “As unorthodox as this has become, I put trust into his melds and by what he has told me you didn’t do anything wrong. That thing-that monster did.”

You couldn’t stop the tears dribbling. “Captain, I let my crew die.”

“Any death having occurred was unintentional on your part, Lieutenant, ”Spock said in his chilly tone, “As was demonstrated in your memory you tired to apprehend and fend off the creature, but to no avail. You did everything in your power. The human emotional phenomena your are experiencing is common upon singular entities having being spared from genocide.”

“That is?” Kirk asked. 

“Survivor’s guilt,” you sighed, finishing the statement for you fiancé. 

x

Commander Craft was not unkind, nor did he smile. He was neither young or old and his questions were fairly basic as the captain’s were three days earlier. You recounted all you could remember, and it was stressed by you and the captain that you had lost most of your general memory due to head trauma. Whether he seemed convinced was unknown to you. You tried to hold back in your distress. The warmth in the back of your mind wrapped around the little knot that pain and anxiety was birthed. It was squeezed it slowly, like the grasp of a hand. You delivered your answers calmly. 

“The double of yourself, you saw. Did you see it transform from your father to yourself?” the commander asked.

“No sir.”

“Have you seen a copy of yourself since you boarded the Enterprise?”

“No sir.”

“And no foreign entity has been detected on the ship?”

“No sir,” the captain replied. 

“Mmm,” the commander paused for the first time in what seemed like hours. “L/N, had you ever experiences delusions or hallucinations before?”

“I don’t remember.”

“And did you experience the trauma to your head before or after you saw yourself sabotaging the ship?”

“I...” you glanced, “I’m not sure. After?”

“Do you remember hitting your head at all?”

“I remember the copy throwing me hard against the wall and everything going black.” You tried to strengthen your voice, but it kept cracking. You heart continued to race. “And-”

It flashed. 

“When I let my father on the ship. I went black there too. But I’m not sure if I hit my head that time.”

“And Mister Spock you were able to witness what Lieutenant L/N saw?”

“Affirmative.”

“But...through her point of view.”

Fuck. You had a feeling he would try to pull the crazy card. 

“Were there any observation tapes recovered from the crash?”

“My  crew obtained few, but to my knowledge they are still processing them,” the captain answered smoothly. 

“Has any other information been made available to any of you?”

You could feel the edges of your vision blacken. You couldn’t make eye contact with him. Cold sweat had broken from your brow.  A cold, steady hand placed itself to your brow. The natural warmth on your mind shimmered. 

“She has a fever, Captain.”

“I won’t tolerate any nonsense, Lieutenant-”

“Commander, she has just lost four-hundred members of her family to a people-eating imposter!” Kirk bellowed lowly, “She’s kept it together well so far. I commend her efforts. You have the wrong idea about her.”

“Until I can find proof of this ‘imposter’ and until her psyche can be cleared by one of our doctors then we’ll see. This isn’t the first time the Federation has had to deal with the Enterprise’s shenanigans.”

“People eating?” you whispered in disbelief.  Oh my god. 

Spock caught on to Kirk’s unnecessary honesty. “It was discovered the imposter’s prime directive was to use the Calvary’s crew as sustenance.”

You toppled forwards and were caught and cradled by your fiancé. 

“Take her to the medbay, Mister Spock,” Kirk ordered. 

“Call for the doctor. I am not taking my eyes off her until we arrive!” the commander snapped. 

“By the time Doctor McCoy arrives she will succumb to shock. I must attend to my t’hy’la in the most logical and efficient manner possible.”  

Kirk fought the need to smile, not realizing that your theatrics weren’t really theatrics. 

x

PART THREE

[ichayalovesyou]

~Act One: In Denial of Pon Farr~

Blood Moon~by Saint Sister, Madrid (Album)

“To return home, and take a wife… or die.”

Spock is feeling anxious and unusually lonely, more resentful of his complex heritage than usual. Feeling rejected, but not by Jim, he finds his thoughts wandering to T’Pring. Who he feels deep resentment toward, she hasn’t contacted once him in the two decades he’s been gone from Vulcan. He has yet to realize it is the beginnings of Pon Farr.

“I am sure, you craved me once before. When I think of all the fruit I’ve found, and how easily you left it on the ground.”

Evening On The Ground (Lilith’s Song)~by Iron & Wine, Woman King (album)

“I hoped that I would be spared this.”

Spock’s yearning and loneliness transforms into anger and frustration. He knows Pon Farr has begun, and he hates it. He has no desire to return to Vulcan, worse still, he loathes that he yearns for someone who he does not know. Worse still, she’s not the only one he’s longing for…

“We were born to fuck each other one way or another but I’ll, only lie, down by the water side at night”

I Want You (She’s So Heavy)~(Originally) by the Beatles, performed by the Cast of Across the Universe, Across the Universe (Album)

“How do Vulcans choose their mates… Haven’t you wondered?”

Spock cannot bear the tearing between Human & Vulcan halves that has come ferociously to light under the stress of Pon Farr. His duty is to that man on the bridge, but the call of Koonut Kalifee is only getting louder. He has no desire to burden Jim with horrible display of emotion. Yet desire is quickly becoming all that he can think about.

“I want you, I want you so bad, it’s driving me mad, it’s driving me mad.”

~Act Two: Blood Fever, The Nightmares of Plok’tow~

Howl~by Florence + The Machine, Lungs (Album)

“To have their logic ripped from them, as this time does to us.”

The first, foreboding rumblings of Plok’tow have begun. He dreams of a hunt, he’s chasing someone, he does not know who. Each time the blood of this faceless, slaughtered, ravaged victim is a different color, every time he turns around, green, red, green, red, green, red, green, red…

“Like some child possessed, the beast howls in my veins, I want to find you, tear out all your tenderness.”

The Horror of Our Love~by Ludo, You’re Awful, I Love You (Album)

“It strips away our veneer of civilization.”

The dreams are getting worse, more violent, detailed, intense. He knows his quarry-

Jim.

He tears his captain apart in a thousand visceral, grotesque ways, physically, mentally, no love, no hate, no want, just blinding hunger. And the most frightening part, he enjoys it. He begins withdrawing from Kirk, for fear of what may happen should dreams threaten to become reality.

“Carnivorous and lusting, I’ll track you down among the pines.”

Become the Beast~by Karliene, Become the Beast (Album)

“It is the Pon Farr, the time of mating.”

The last of his Blood Fever dreams occurs after Kirk confronts him about his behavior. This one is, much to Spock’s relief, not violent. The lyrics are spoken through the faces of fellow Vulcans- T’pring… childhood tormentors… Sybok… his cold and disapproving father… T’pau… Surak… himself.

The rage and hunger has cooled into ice rather than fire, for now.

“Do I terrify you? Do you feel alive? Do you feel the hunger? The desert howl inside?”

The Woods~by San Flemin, Jackrabbit (Album)

“You humans have no conception.”

When James Kirk grabbed the shiv from Spock’s hand in their confrontation, a shard of Spock’s Blood Fever came with it. Spock was spared a nightmare this final night, but not Jim. The dream even dared to be pleasant initially, alone together in the woods. Before the arena of Koonut Kalifee erupted violently around them, as did Spock. Yet, before Spock could deal the final killing blow, Kirk found himself sinking into the sparkling sands below. He startles from his slumber, feeling suffocated.

But he does not remember how, or why.

“The nights are lovely dark and deep, but I’ll appear when you’re asleep. You’ll wake up with a sudden hurt, your mouth and nose all full of dirt”

~Act Three: Kalifee, the Death of A Friend~

Take Me Down~by Brother, Pax Romana MMV (Album)

“I’ll get you to Vulcan somehow…”

All Jim knows is that Spock is getting worse, and that he needs him. Not knowing, and not daring ask whether the shiv was meant for himself or Spock haunts Kirk, as does the ghost of his forgotten dream. He does not know what will come of this wedding. Only that he will do whatever it takes to make certain Spock lives. No matter what, it’s a race against time.

“The powers that be, the powers that run you through, I’m taking a stand I know what it comes down to, God knows I do.”

Hunting Grounds (feat Joe Cotela of Ded)~by In This Moment, Mother (Album)

“He is deep in the Blood Fever, he will not speak with thee again.”

Kalifee has begun, Spock has completely lost himself to the Blood Fever, and Kirk must fight for his life. He finds himself outmatched by the environment, and by Spock’s rage. He knows two things, he has no desire to die, but he cannot, under any circumstances, kill Spock. (I imagine this duet could be as seen as Maria Brink=Kirk, Joe Cotela=Spock)

“Like a predator sink my teeth into your neck.”

Die Today~by The Txlips Band & Guitar Gabby, Queens of The New Age (Album)

“Kill Spock? That’s not what we came to Vulcan for is it?”

The Kalifee has been an intense drain, Kirk knows, deep down, that not even the “Triox Compound” could save him in this fight. He feels his life flash before his eyes, he bears no ill will toward Spock, he’s not in control of himself. He reflects on their relationship, and how much it has meant to him, and accepts, that for Spock to live, he has to die.

It was worth having known him, saving a friend isn’t the worst way to go out…

“If you die today, if we die today, at least I’d be in your arms.”

Pearl Diver~by Mitski, Lush (Album)

“You may find, that having, is not so pleasing a thing as wanting.”

Spock is absolutely distraught, he’s disgusted with himself, he loathes every single Vulcan he’s ever known, but most of all he is angry with Kirk. That he had to be the moth to his flame. How dare he want to get close to him! How dare James Kirk ever have the stupidity, the courage to love him?! The wanting had driven Jim to his death, and himself to murder. It was illogical, and he will never, forgive either of them for it. Curse having, curse wanting, and curse himself too.

“But hunter you were human don’t forget it and go safely. And I? I’ll live without you, though the struggle will be daily.”

Sweet Dreams~by JOSEPH, I’m Alone, No You’re Not (Album)

“I shall do neither, for I have killed my Captain, and my friend.”

Spock languishes in the agonizing hours between the Kalifee and confronting Bones about what must be done. He prays for a short and cruel life… and dares ponder the question, do Humans have Katras?

“I’ll return to my sleepless night, dreaming with my eyes open, watch the shadows play on the ceiling.”

[The final act is a little on the smutty side, here’s a read more just to be safe.]

~Act Four: The Need is Met~

To Be Alone~by Hozier, From Eden EP (Album)

“I shall offer no defense, their is no excuse for the crime of which I’m guilty.”

Though overjoyed and relieved that Kirk is alive, Spock continues to anguish over the reality that had Bones not intervened, he would have killed him. Jim knows better this time, he will not let Spock continue down this path. A tender and honest conversation puts salve to Spock’s fears. In any event, while the Kalifee burned away the Blood Fever, it becomes clear the needs of Pon Farr still remain. Kirk suggests, delicately, to put a new Bond in place of the old.

Spock accepts.

“You don’t know the hell you put me through, to have someone kiss the skin that crawls from you, to feel your weight in arms I’d never use.”

Mermaid’s Calling #2~by the Cast of The Lure, The Lure (Album)

“The ancient drives are too strong, eventually they catch up with us.”

The thrum of Bonding needs no words, it is not just a joining of minds, but of bodies as well. They complete one another, no thoughts, no voices are required. They soon find that the physiological differences between them can be more than a little… fascinating.

“…”

The Deep~by PHILDEL, Wave Your Flags (Album)

“One touches the other, in order to feel each other’s thoughts.”

The tangible, physical world of course has it’s pains and pleasures, to be joined physically is one thing, to be joined in soul and mind alongside those sensations is a different ordeal entirely. If this, completeness, is what it means to be Bonded, Kirk now understands why Vulcans go mad over it.

“Give me a sign ‘cause it runs through my mind like your heat, caught in the web you’re so easily lead to the deep.”

The Mermaid~by Kate Rusby, Life in A Paper Boat (Album)

“In this way, our minds are locked together...”

Unbeknownst to anyone else in the universe, James Kirk & S’chn T’gai Spock are now Bonded, and neither has ever felt less alone. For once, it does not matter to Spock that he is of two worlds, here, he is home. For once, Kirk does not feel as though he is forced to live the Enterprise’s life, this time, she helped him live his. A shining, blissful moment in the vast, expansive sea of stars that they have devoted their lives to exploring.

For them, the journey itself, is home.

“In peace now, the sea it comes, and peace now, in her arms where I’ll be love, sleeping in the sea.”

[darkfeanix]

More Stories I Probably Won’t Write

But a guy can dream, right? Anyway, the first two are brand new ideas, and third one has been sitting in the back of my mind for over a year.

1. New Spring Redux; a Wheel of Time on Prime AU. Because Kate Fleetwood took the role of Liandrin and ran away with it. I’ve been toying with the idea of an Alternate Universe where Liandrin is the one in the Room Where It Happened instead of Moiraine, and the changes she would have to go through in herself to be the one who searches for the Dragon Reborn. At the start of season one, she literally believes that men make the One Power filthy. While that could be a side effect of her time in the Red Ajah, I’m interested in the idea of that being a personal bias she always held, and one she must overcome if/when she learns the Dragon Reborn is a man. This story would most likely be a hybrid of book and show canon, but the characters would all be based on show canon. If I were to write this, I think I would want to do so before season two comes out, so I won’t be influenced by any future developments of Liandrin’s canon character arc.

2. The Magnus Archives/9-1-1: Lone Star crossover. Tarlos-centric, because why else would I write 9-1-1: Lone Star fanfiction? Post-TMA finale, in which (SPOILERS!) the entities were scattered across infinite realities. Instead of a fire house, the main cast of the show work for a Magnus Institute-esque organisation. Carlos, starting out as a police officer like he is on the show, has an encounter with an avatar of one of the entities, and it leads him to the MI-like organisation and - most importantly - TK. That’s as far as the idea goes so far. Like I said, it’s brand new.

3. Star Trek/9-1-1: Lone Star fusion. Tarlos-centric (of course). One of the OG fandoms, quite possibly responsible for the birth of slash? Yeah, I want to go there with my ship. Probably start them out as lower decks crew. Indulge in tropes that were popular in the original Kirk/Spock stories. Mix of Lone Star characters and alien OCs as supporting characters.

[lockdownfest]

LOCKDOWN FEST MASTERPOST WEEK #2 EXTENSION

*

BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE (2007)

Stuck in the Middle with You by InsanelyWriteful (M) 6k, WIP. With the zombie pandemic in full swing, Nigel flings himself into the fray on the hunt for groceries. Don't even get him started on trying to find that most-sought-after, priceless item of all items: toilet paper. As far as the world's concerned, that doesn't exist anymore. With the world going to hell, Nigel finds himself trapped with a strange man named Aiden Galvin. But, hey, there are worse fates than being stuck with a hot piece of tail, right?

BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA

Two Weeks In Quarantine by JedIzuku (T) 48k WIP, Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto. A virus threatens all of Japan. Everyone needs to self-quarantine for two weeks to help prevent the spread. Izuku Midoriya learns that his friend, Shoto Todoroki, would be quarantined alone because of his father’s work. And Izuku won’t stand for that.A love story.

CHARLIE COUNTRYMAN

Stuck in the Middle with You by InsanelyWriteful (M) 6k, WIP. With the zombie pandemic in full swing, Nigel flings himself into the fray on the hunt for groceries. Don't even get him started on trying to find that most-sought-after, priceless item of all items: toilet paper. As far as the world's concerned, that doesn't exist anymore. With the world going to hell, Nigel finds himself trapped with a strange man named Aiden Galvin. But, hey, there are worse fates than being stuck with a hot piece of tail, right?

FALL OUT BOY

Gradually and Then Suddenly by earlgreytea68 (G) 3.3k, Patrick Stump/Pete Wentz. Life in quarantine: fourth-grade science, couch concerts, blanket forts.

HANNIBAL

Point of View by house_of_lantis (M) 3.8k, Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter.  Summary: Franklyn Froideveaux gets an unexpected peek into Dr. Hannibal Lecter’s personal life during their self-isolation. 

HARRY POTTER

Locked Inside Your Temper Trap by VeelaWings (E) 4.3k, Draco Malfoy/Neville Longbottom. This was a minor problem. Not the being trapped in a humid greenhouse with a sweaty, gorgeous Draco, mind you. No, it was being trapped with a sweaty, pissed off Draco who would inevitably blame Neville.Plus the obstacle of not having the privacy to enjoy a fast and dirty wank with all this evening’s material.

Top Priority by JayGwen23 (T). 8k, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter. England is trying to stop the spread of an aggressive, new virus that is affecting both wizards and muggles. Everyone is being told to self isolate. House mates, Harry and Draco are stuck at home trying to brave it through the madness, while trying not no go mad themselves.Written for Lock Down Fest.

Bored Harry by foxymoley (G) FANART. Harry's been stuck in his room at Privet Drive and is bored out of his mind!He uses his wand in a mug as a lamp as Hedwig stretches as much as she can in her cage.

Harry Potter and the Secret in the Library by EvAEleanor, tasteofshapes (E) 11.6k, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter. Draco stands outside the library for a moment, before he turns the handle and pushes the heavy double doors open. What he expects to find is a silent library cloaked in darkness. What he gets instead is a fire crackling merrily away in the grate, the library lit only by firelight, and Potter lounging on the fur rug in front of the fireplace, clad only in a terry-cloth bathrobe, a glass of wine in one hand.“What the… Potter—!” Draco yelps, and Potter looks up from the book open in front of him and raises an eyebrow at Draco.

The Magic of Muggle Films by sunshinedraco (E) 5.3k. Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter. Harry is happy to get home from an Auror mission in Northern Ireland, but may have been exposed to a contagious disease. Draco Malfoy, who comes with a team of Healers to inspect Harry and also happens to be the subject of Harry's long-term awkward crush, is also accidentally exposed. The two are quarantined together. You know what happens.

Sweetheart by WolfyWordWeaver (T) 3k, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter. Remus Lupin comes home after a long day working at the hospital and quickly realizes that something is wrong with Sirius. Avoiding COVID-19 doesn't mean avoiding all hurts and Sirius has to deal with a major hurdle. While Remus doesn't have all the answers he does know how to do his best.

Stuck Senses by TheUltimateUndesirable (E) 12k, Neville Longbottom/Luna Lovegood. In the mist of the 2020 pandemic the wizarding world is left with a dire and unknown future as Covid-19 makes it's way into Europe. Hogwarts ends up on quarantined leaving students, professors and a Luna stuck at the school. How long will anything last and what will anything become? No one knows.

Augmented Agony by Drarrelie (T) 365, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter. Of all days... Draco's luck was apparently just as abysmal as ever. This work is part of a series of connected weekly drabbles written during 2020. It takes place in 2001, before the rest of the currently published drabbles in this series, while the two of them are still in Auror training.

If It Takes All Night by tackytiger (M) 11k, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter. It's not the first time Harry's been the victim of a botched curse (that's one of the reasons he doesn't like crowds), but he feels bad that Malfoy had to get caught up in it too. So they're bonded. That's ok, they just have to make sure to be touching at all time. No problem. Because Malfoy smells so nice, and has such lovely shiny hair, and his skin is so very warm.But this isn't going to be a problem for their friendship at all.Is it, Harry?

I'll Tell You Mine (If You Tell Me Yours) by MarchnoGirl (E) 4.2k, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter. When a cauldron of Veritaserum explodes all over Harry and Malfoy, Harry has the chance to finally discover Malfoy’s secrets. And maybe something about himself too.

Correspondence in the Time of Quarantine by Lediona, Zigster (T) 1.5k, WIP, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter. After informing Scorpius of my plan to bring him home, he wrote back immediately to ask if he might bring a friend with him to isolate at the Manor. When I inquired about the identity of this friend, imagine my surprise to discover that it was none other than your son, Albus Potter.

Garden War by Cibee (Cibeeeee) (T) 5k, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter. Harry and Draco are quarantined in their houses, a lake across from one another. What better ways to spend this time than to annoy each other with letters and attempts to prove that their garden is better ?

LITTLE WOMEN (2019)

Chocolate Kisses by lady_needless_litany (T) 3k, WIP, Theodore Laurence/Josephine March. If Jo had to be shut in her house for the foreseeable future, at least she had Laurie to keep her company.

MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE

Strange Attractors by dance4thedead (T) 882. There's an asshole in Matt's apartment. An unworthy love letter to the fic "The Goldilocks Principle". Set in late March 2020, during the COVID-19 crisis.

I walk this lonely road by xxx_cat_xxx (T) 1.6k, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov. Part 3 of Red in my Ledger.

MERCY STREET

We run a very tight ship by middlemarch, sagiow (t) 3k, WIP. Jedediah "Jed" Foster/Mary Phinney. "There must have been a moment, at the beginning, where we could have said -- no. But somehow we missed it.” Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.Every single passenger on the ship would have that thought. At least once. Sometimes, on an endless loop, like the announcement about pina coladas on Deck 4. It turned out, the only way out was through. With card tricks.

OCEAN’S 8

You Shall Go To The Ball by ShadowHaloedAngel (T) 1.4k, Daphne Kluger/Rose Weil. The lockdown means the parties are all cancelled, but Rose and Daphne decide to have a little ball at home instead. After all, when else can you have a costume party for the hell of it? And with your own fairy godmother on hand, your gown is always going to make you feel like a princess.

OVERWATCH (video game)

nobody nobody nobody nobody nobody (ooh) nobody nobody nobody nobody nobody nobody nobody nobody nobody nobody nobody nobody nobody nobody nobody nobody nobody nobody nobody nobody nobody no— by faorism (M) 9k, Jesse McCree/Hanzo Shimada and other ships. Like most things now, it's more a matter of not if, but when. (Or: five times Jesse kept himself together and one time he really, really didn't.)

PITCH PERFECT

Icy Hot by Notsoawesomenerd (E), 7k. Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell. No, this is not a story about the topical pain reliever. This is a story about the interesting things Chloe can do to Beca with ice and ice-related items.

Desperate Measures by aliciameade (M), 6k, Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell. Chloe and Beca have everything they need to weather the mandated period of social distancing and staying home: food, water, shelter, games, entertainment, and each other's company.The one thing they don't have?Much-needed privacy.

RWBY

The Man in Your Head by goreds (G) 431, Ozpin/Salem (RWBY), Ozma/Salem (RWBY). Salem has a friend in her head. Not that she considers him a friend...

STAR TREK: ALTERNATE ORIGINAL SERIES

fourteen by sciencebluefeelings (T) 2.6k, James T. Kirk/Spock Prime. Two years ago, Spock waited for Jim. Now it's Jim's turn to wait. 

STAR TREK: ORIGINAL SERIES

Seventy Two Hours by LiraelClayr007 (G) 2.4k,  James T. Kirk/Spock Prime. Kirk lowers his voice, makes it almost too low to hear, and this time he is pleading. “Bones. You know why I can’t stay here. You know what this’ll do to me.” He closes his eyes, then says one more time, “Please.” He can’t look when he says it. He already knows the answer.“Sorry, Jim. It’s only three days. If it’s any consolation I don’t think you were actually exposed, but we have to be sure.” He looks at Kirk, then at Spock, then shrugs. He knows what he’s putting Kirk through.Or: Kirk and Spock are accidentally exposed to something on an alien planet and have to spend seventy two hours together in an isolation chamber. Easy, right? Except Kirk is going to go mad, because he's head over heels for Spock.

STAR WARS

grey and sprawling by srawratskcuf (Doreen) (E) 7k WIP, Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren. Ben and Hux have had a rocky long-distance semi-relationship ever since Hux went away to college. Basically, they call each other once a week and have phone sex, and absolutely do not talk about their feelings.When Ben finally saves up enough to fly across the country to visit Hux, his ten day trip gets extended indefinitely. Sheltering in place together will make or break them.

SUPERNATURAL

some kinda something by quillquiver (E) 2k, Castiel/Dean Winchester. There are only so many places to hide shit when you’re playing with 700 square feet of totally shared living space. This is something Dean has become very aware of in a very short amount of time.

Que Sera, Sera by wigglebox (G) 4.3k, Castiel/Dean Winchester. A few months into his new human life, Cas comes down with a fever and cough. Usually, that wouldn't be a concern, but now there's a contagious, new illness spreading across the country, and the anxiety that comes along with it.

I Don’t Understand These References by CeliPuff, Winchesterlovr0508 (M). 1.5k. Castiel/Dean Winchester, Gabriel/Sam Winchester. Dean says the president extended the quarantine so Sam suggested I make a journal. I suspect it’s a ploy to keep my hands off his brother but being extremely old, I’m entitled to do what I want. And I happen to have eons of experience in multitasking.I prayed to Gabriel to run some interference. I believe this is a foolproof plan.

Apocalypse by Maleyah (Katherine_Kat) (E) 36k WIP, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Gabriel/Sam, Michael/Adam Milligan. Dean moves through Cas’ kitchen with the ease of familiarity, as he sets about re-heating the leftovers. Ironically Cas’ kitchen is better equipped than the one in his apartment. It’s just that he’s been pouring all his money into The Roadhouse. The apartment is a rental anyway.“You have got to be shitting me!”His eyebrows shoot up at the language. Cas doesn’t curse often, but given the fact that the world is slowly descending into madness, he has a good guess what is provoking it. He glances behind him, across the counter that connects the open kitchen to the living room, where Cas is staring at the television. 

THE MAGICIANS

hard rain, honey, and the sweet sun by Allegria23 (E), 7k, Quentin Coldwater/Eliot Waugh. Eliot and Quentin are staying in their apartment. They both have some ideas.

THE WITCHER

Love in the Time of Video Conferencing by Elizabeth (M), 15.6k, Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier. Pestilence is a bitch, and the entire university has had to shift to e-learning overnight. Jaskier is a systems admin being forced to pick up slack for the overwhelmed help desk. Work ended hours ago, so why is he on a support call with the most technologically-incapable history professor he's ever met? And really, what is the deal with this guy?Based on the "OMG they were Zoommates" prompt from the AO3 comment Tumblr.This is, five times Jaskier and Geralt used Zoom for tech support, and one time they used Zoom for... something else. I apologize if this upsets you; it helps me cope with the emotions, so I'm hoping to channel stress into fluff and put it out there so it can possibly help others.

YURI!!! ON ICE

Music from the Heart by Multiple_Universes (G) 6.5k, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov. A curse falls over the land. It keeps people stuck indoors and will not let them out. The most powerful magician in the land seems unable to break the hold of the curse. But, as they say, love will always find a way.Inspired by videos of people singing from their balconies during the coronavirus quarantine.

[starbuck09256]

A chance of chess

Early MSR AU

Tagging the always wonderful @today-in-fic 

rated PG (at least this first part) 

The soft spring breeze fills his nostrils as he runs through the park. His breath steady as his heart rate increases. Since moving back to DC he has been to a few parks trying to find the one with the best route. This one is filled with cherry tree blossoms and beautifully lined trees. It also has some basketball courts and an area where people can play chess. The neighborhood isn’t really close to his own home but it’s worth the extra 10 minutes of running to get here. The biggest ticket will be the coffee shop, with a decent cappuccino and a good drip at a decent price. He wonders if this is where he will fight the monsters that Patterson has been bringing to his tiny lair in the basement. After being so successful with Monty Props he earned the right to leave the normal BAU section into a forgotten dungeon in the basement. But he loves it down there. The noise dimmed the lights bright and his focus uncompromised by the chatter of useless gossip around him. He can leave the area a mess and no one cares. He can stay until 2am without someone lecturing him to go home and get some so called “rest”. This park is beautiful and the neighborhood is not as up and coming as to guarantee an overpriced lack luster cup of joy. He continues around the path sees a set of one man sitting alone at a chess table small pieces placed on their respected places as he looks down at his watch. Another gentlemen finally gets up walking over to the balding man and touches his shoulder. He gives a sad expression that even in the few short years he has been with the FBI is idneitifalable even at this distance, the death of a person seems to manifest in similar ways across the races. The sadness that racks through the bald man's eyes is paulable. His broad shoulders sigh in defeat as he starts to look at the small pieces in front of him. He hasn’t played a game of chess in awhile. In one of his advanced psychology classes they use it as a way to understand the mind of others. Chess is a game played first in the mind and then on the board, intent, sabotage, traps, or just luck playing in a way that riddles the ways of society. His heart rate comes down and he walks to the man. He hasn’t packed up yet and while he doesn’t want to intrude he sees an opportunity to further his love of the game. But the man stands he is younger than Mulder thought his broad shoulder and the way he carries himself scream military. Mulder can’t help himself.

“Wanna play a game?” the bald man gives him a sad smile. 

“Not today, but tomorrow I would be happy to kick your ass.” 

Mulder can’t help but smile. “Pretty sure of yourself there?” he can’t help but grip. 

“See you at 7.” the bald man walks down towards the street turning to walk down the block. 

He’s ran around the park twice. He got there early already invigorated by a new challenge. He even reviewed a few classic chess moves last night. The bald man is there setting up quietly. Mulder approaches. 

“Ready old man?” he says as he jogs up to the table. 

“I doubt I’m a whole lot older than you Mister?” 

“Fox Mulder, just Mulder is good.” 

“Walter Skinner, Skinner is fine.” Mulder nodded and sat down. 

“You ready?” he asked. 

Skinner adjusted his glasses and peered over the younger man. 

“Absolutely. White or black Mulder?” He takes the white and helps set up the board. 

The two of them were evenly matched in skill. Mulder tries different psychological games on the older man with no success. After several stalemates and a win for each of them. Mulder thanks Skinner. 

“Same time next week kid?” Skinner asks and Mulder nods. 

And so it goes for several months when Mulder was in town. Skinner and him would pay two times a week. They would talk about the nonessential things, Skinner was a hard man to read. Mulder ends up doing most of the talking. Then on one buserly morning Skinner wasn’t there. Mulder looks around and waits for almost an hour. Another gentleman whom he knows by the name of Frohike comes over. 

“Skinman is in the hospital.”

 “Shit, what for?”

 “He was shot had to have an operation and the best doctor flew in for it. Heard the doc is quite a looker.”

Mulder sighs and takes his pieces back to his basement. He taps his fingers along the case file. Finally after concern eats at his resolve he heads back to the park to ask which hospital Skinner is at. Two hours and a phone call to Patterson later he is outside Skinners room watching a beautiful redhead in a white coat annihilate him at chess faster than Mulder thought possible. He could feel her laughter through the door, her bright hair was just like her smile. She was so tiny in that over-sized doctor coat even though she had 2 inch heels on. Mulder is slightly fixated on her. He knocks on the door waiting for an introduction. Skinner grunts as he welcomes him. 

“Had to come down here for your weekly ass-kicking?” Skinner mutters moving in the hospital bed to shuffle his big frame with the wires from the IV. Mulder chuckles. 

“Hi Fox Mulder, glutton for punishment.” he smiles at the pretty doctor. Skinner interrupts him “Agent Fox Mulder with the FBI”  she steps back slightly, and Mulder can’t help feeling a little smug at the clear pass Skinner is throwing at him.

“Doctor Dana Scully.” her grip is delicate and strong at the same time. 

She smiles at him. Mulder can not help stare into her deep sea blue eyes. He clears his throat, her hand had felt warm and welcoming in his hand. She has soft delicate features and he realizes how right Frohike was, she was more than just a looker.

 “So how is the old man doing?” his voice doesn’t hold back the concern he feels. 

“Not that old Mulder.” Skinner coughs. Scully chuckles. 

“He.. uh... took a bullet about 2 centimeters away from the lung cavity. He is very very lucky to be alive. Even if he is terrible at Chess.” her eyes darting to Skinners. 

Skinner coughs again. “Yea, yea. I lose to this fool a lot too.” 

Mulder can’t help but chuckle at that. Skinner has certainly gotten better and he has become much less rusty. 

“Ah, So your a doctor and amazing at chess?” Mulder asks and Scully blushes slightly at that. 

“Uh I would say your friend is not that good, could be the meds though.” She is polite and not egocentric. 

“So Agent Mulder, maybe you can shed some light on the creep men that keep coming by and peering in on Mr. Skinner. Since Mr.Skinner refuses to provide any details as to where and when he was shot. Maybe you as his friend can convince him to bring the perpetrator to justice.” Mulder eyes dart to the man. 

“Doctor Scully can I have a minute alone with Agent Mulder” 

“Sure Walter maybe he can talk sense into you.” 

She hands Mulder Walters file and walks out the door. Mulder watches her as she leaves. He turns to Walter,

 “wow doctors like that I can see why you’ve extended your stay.” 

Skinner grunts. “She’s pretty but also a hard ass, like someone I know.” Mulder can’t help but chuckle. 

“You should play her sometime Mulder, she’ll give you a run for your money.” 

He starts to cough then. Mulder gets up from the seat next to him checking his lines. 

“Hey, hey” Walter spurters. Mulder grabs him a glass of water on the table. 

“What the hell happened to you Walter? Afraid the pretty doctor will find out you are NSA?” 

Walter rolls his eyes. He mutters thanks and settles in. 

“Mulder if I was ever going to suggest a woman to keep you in line and be your ally, it would be her, I’ve known Doctor Scully for a long time. Was a good friend of her fathers before he died last year. She took it rough. Changed careers, she was at the Farm.” 

“She’s ex CIA?” 

Mulders was impressed before now he was down right shocked. 

“Yes, she is smart and capable of taking both of us done in seconds. But she is also very guarded and lonely.” 

“Right because you would know that.” 

Mulder is now seeing where this whole thing is going. 

“Well I’m dating her mom so yea..” Mulders eyes flash up to his bald friend.

 “Walter you keep unfolding like a flower.” 

“Yea well just challenge her to chess, see if it can lead to a dinner.” He coughs again. 

Mulder helps Walter settle back in shaking his head. 

“I don’t know Walter,” Walter looks at him. 

“I haven’t known you very long Mulder, but Dana’s been through a lot and she could use a friend, and someone decent at chess.” Mulder nods 

“I’m going to get a cup of coffee.” 

Walter sighs as the door swings close and Mulders footfalls fade. 

The coffee is terrible and he almost spits it out while looking around the small cafeteria. Doctor Scully is sitting in a corner reviewing a file. She catches his eye and smiles. It’s soft but it doesn’t reach her eyes. He sees it now the underlying fear within her. He goes over and pulls out his bag of chess pieces. 

“Skinman has said you are a formidable force, have time for a game?” he asks. 

He is a little shy, he hasn’t dated much since being in DC. She bites her lip and looks at her watch he watches as she reaches up and rubs her face. 

“Ok one game.” she concedes and Mulder can’t help the grin that spreads across his face. 

He sets up the pieces and she can’t help but laugh at his spock figurine for a Bishop. 

“What?” he asks and laughs when he sees her point. 

“Oh yea lost a piece not too long ago anyway. Black or white doctor Scully?”

“Just Scully is fine, white Mulder.” 

“He's talked about me hasn’t he?” at her sheepish look up. 

Mulder realizes that the beautiful Doctor Scully is kind, thoughtful and must be crazy. 

“He told you I was crazy?” Mulder huffs 

She can’t help licking her lips “He might have mentioned the alien thing..yea” but she doesn’t laugh at him. 

“And you still want to do this?” he nods towards the game. 

“From what Walter said, I think we could both use someone to just talk too.” Mulder nods smiling at her. 

One game turns into five Mulder 3 Scully 2. When she gets paged she writes down her number on a napkin and the words rematch. He grins all the way out to his car. 

He waits one day and calls her. She answers on the second ring, and while it starts with talking about chess it ends 5 hours later at 1am when her soft snores come across the line. She calls him the next day to apologize for falling asleep on him. He tells her she can make it up to him by having dinner together. After a fair amount of time which scares the hell out him that he pushed too far too soon she sighs yes. He doesn’t know the history there but from the sound of it she’s been very hurt in a prior relationship, making dating unappealing. So he does one better and says how about just coffee. He can almost feel her smile through the phone, perfect she says. They meet on a rare Saturday morning they would both normally work and he walks with her around the same park he met Walter over a year ago. Coffee turns to lunch then to a new thriller at the local theater then to hours spent rummaging through a vintage bookshop. When 7pm rolls around she looks up from the copy of Jose Chungs catching his eye over his copy of a popular sci-fi. She comes up and brushes his arm, 

“Maybe dinner too..” her smile is soft and shy and he can’t imagine a world without it. 

The dinner goes great and he calls her as soon as he gets home. She hesitates a bit and feels like they are rushing into something. 

“Something good I hope?” he can’t help the pleading in his voice. 

There is no one on the planet he has been able to handle for an entire day, let alone want to spend the entire evening talking to as well. He has so many questions, so many theories and  all of the sudden he wants her opinion on them all. Doctor Scully is captivating, she is brilliant, kind, funny and drop dead gorgeous in a way that should make her much more pretentious and not nearly so available. She talks to him anyway even though they talked most of the day, even though she doesn’t like butter on her popcorn she might be perfect. Then when he pushes for another date she says “I don’t think so.” and he hears the soft click that matches the sound of his heart breaking.

[transxfiles]

A Roll Of The Dice by two_drama_nerds_in_a_boat | @homeworkforpigeons

Summary: Star Trek is an incredibly popular tabletop roleplaying game. Mostly gen with some Spirk at the end.

Word Count: 1822

Find this fic on AO3

Gliding through the stars would never get boring, he decided. Even at Warp Speed 9, with all the bright lights zipping past him so quickly they were nothing more than blurry spots in the sky, it was a simultaneously haunting and stunning sight. The Captain sighed, leaning back in his chair-

“Oh, do get on with it Jim,” muttered Hikaru from across the table, rolling dice between his fingers. “We don’t have all day.”

“But the monologues are important. For… character development.”

Nyota rolled her eyes. “Not when you spend an hour on them every turn. Besides, we already let you have the Captain’s Log thing. Now come on. I want to fight some hostile aliens.”

“Aren’t you supposed to stay on ship with Scotty in case things go wrong, Communications Officer?”

“Goddamit you two,” Bones said, fist slamming the table, sending papers fluttering and figurines toppling onto the board.  “We’ll never get anything done with the two of you fighting.”

“Come on Jim,” said Rand, shoving some dice into his hand. “Your. Turn.”

He looked at Spock, who just did that thing where he would raise only the one eyebrow, and sighed in defeat.

“Fine.”

He dropped the dice, watching them roll until they made their way a surprising distance from him, finally stopping by Scotty.

No one really knew how they’d all gotten together. Jim had to admit, they were an odd group.

In the end, they were all just sort of bored, and lonely, and they needed something to do after school. Originally, it had just been Jim and Bones. They took turns DMing, setting up short campaigns for the others to play, but it got incredibly boring very quickly. They got tired of it. They needed a permanent DM - so they’d found Spock, who, despite his attempt to put on mask of no emotion, seemed to take both happiness and pride in being Dungeon Master. And after that, everyone else had sort of fallen into place. Because once they had Spock, they at least a consistent location to play - his basement. Which, though still not ideal, was better than bouncing between Jim’s too-cramped (shared with his brother) bedroom and Bones’s tiny garden shed. So while Spock’s basement was a bit musty, it was honestly ideal, really, because though it was dark and sometimes damp, they made it their own. They had a little cooler with snacks and drinks it, and they’d put down a rug, and they had a little table, and every time a new person joined them they all went down to the local flea market as a group and helped pick out a chair for them, and ever so slowly the basement became theirs.

After Spock joined, Nyota was close behind him. She was new to their school that year, and she wanted friends, so she sought them out. She knew Spock through T’Pring, of course, and though Spock’s relationship with T’Pring was more than a bit strained, still, Nyota didn’t seem to mind. She wanted “Something amusing to do outside of school,” she’d said, something to “fill the time” and “make an afternoon more enjoyable.” A statement to which Jim had (nearly) replied with a few lewd, though somewhat humorous comments - though he did instead opt to stay quiet.  Somewhat due to Bones kicking him not-so-discreetly in the shin, telling him that “She won’t stay if you don’t play nice.”

And with Uhura came Rand, a new friend of hers, and with Rand came Chapel, a blonde girl Jim recognized from one of his science classes (he was taking a lot of those; it was one of the few things in school he actually enjoyed taking part in, and since he was on one of those advanced tracks, he was taking as many as possible) and it also drew a young Scottish kid, who was quickly nicknamed Scotty (because if you’re that goddam Scottish, James Tiberius Kirk is sure as hell going to give you some sort of nickname) and Scotty drew a kid named Hikaru, and Hikaru drew in the Russian exchange student, Pavel, and in some way or another, they managed to get together enough people to create a long-term campaign.

They named their ship the Enterprise, and decided on their mission: To explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life, and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before.

(That last bit used to be no man, but Nyota, Rand, and Chapel had all insisted that was at least a little bit sexist, and so they decided to change it to no one.)

The first time they’d all played a campaign on their own had resulted in some of the most fun Jim had in months. Spock DMed (of course) and they got to go down to a planet for shore leave and Scotty got with some prostitute (or planned to, at least) and then she was murdered and they all needed to work together to solve the mystery, and it turned out that the entity that had murdered the woman was actually Jack The Ripper (a reveal that had prompted many of them to ask Spock what exactly he was on when he wrote this) who was an immortal alien who basically ate fear.

“The crew of the Starship Enterprise is once more face to face with the hostile Klingons,” Spock said, hiding behind his notepad.

Jim grinned. “I walk past the Science Officer, our hands brushing as-”

“Oh shut up,” said Nyota, obviously suppressing a giggle. “You’ve tried to seduce him, what? Thirty times now?” She looked to Chekov. “How close am I?”

“Well, it’s a bit higher than the thirties,” he said. The bastard was reaching into his backpack for a notebook, no doubt to add another tally to some list he’d made for keeping score.

“I’m getting closer every time!” Jim said.

Spock raised an eyebrow in his direction. “Roll for charisma,” he sighed.

He did, tossing the die across the table. And, as was the usual, he rolled a two.

“Oh come on,” Jim groaned. “Can I try again?”

“Jim, we have discussed this before. You cannot spend the entire game attempting to seduce your Science Officer.”

“Now that we have gotten that over with,” Spock said, “I feel as though I must inform you that, due to a yet unknown technical malfunction, you now find yourself stranded in uncharted space, and, as I previously stated, surrounded by Klingon warbirds.”

After that, the game resumed as usual.

There was, of course, a miraculous victory from the crew of the Enterprise (with only a few casualties, mostly in the NPC department) and somehow Jim’s player character had ended up shirtless again, but they defeated the Klingons and saved the day. And then, soon enough, it was seven in the evening.

Time to leave.

Jim made his way over to the sofa, picking up his backpack where he’d dropped it earlier that evening. He slipped it over his shoulders before turning to his friends.

“Psst,” Jim said, careful to be quiet as he beckoned Nyota and Bones over to him. “Guys.”

Bones looked confused at first, but after a glance at Jim’s face, he knew exactly what was going on. “Oh no. No, nope, no way, not gonna happen.”

“Jim,” Nyota said, trying a different approach, “come on. Just wait a little longer if you’re nervous. I told you I could coach you if you wanted, and that offer still stands.”

“I don’t know… I just. Ugh. I have this gut feeling that I have to do it now.”

“Then just do it!” Bones said, voice getting gruffer with each passing moment. “You don’t need us with you to ask him out.”

“Well, it would be helpful?”

“Helpful,” Nyota deadpanned.

“Like… cheerleaders?”

"Cheerleaders?" Bones made a face.

“You’ve never actually asked someone out before have you.”

“Sure I have!”

Nyota and Bones gave each other a look.

“Please,” he hissed, voice still held at a whisper. No one could really explain why, but Spock had excellent hearing. He was just kind of like that. And Jim wasn’t willing to let him overhear this conversation. “You don't have to be right next to me, just nearby? In case something goes wrong. Or I catch on fire. Or Spock catches on fire…”

“I’ve got a date with T’Pring,” said Nyota. “I can’t help you with your love life right now, Jim.”

“Bones looked up. “Sorry Jimmy Boy. I’m busy too.”

“What? No excuse Bones? At least Nyota had something prepared.”

“Oh shut up.”

“You shut up.”

“You-”

“-are both acting like toddlers,” Nyota finished. “Come on Jim, get it together. Ask him out.”

“On what? A date? Does Spock even do dating?”

“You’ll never know until you get your shit together.”

With that, she slung her backpack over her shoulder and left, saying goodbye to them all on her way up the stairs.

Jim groaned.

“Well, that’s one way to do it,” Bones muttered.

“Bones…”

“Come on Jim, it’s not that hard. You just go over to him, tell him you like him. Ask him if he wants to go out with you.”

“And what do I do if he says no?”

“Say that it’s okay, you understand. Smile. Hold it together until you get somewhere you can cry safely.”

“Bones.”

“What? It’s solid advice.”

“Okay.” Jim took a deep breath. “What if he says yes?”

“You tell him that you’re really happy, and you like him a lot. I’d say give him a hug or something, but this is Spock we’re talking about, so avoid physical contact for now. And whatever you do, don’t say ‘cool’.”

“Don’t say cool?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Just don’t do it.”  

“Mm-hm. That’s how you charmed Miriam?”

“Oh shut up.”

And then, as though following in Nyota’s footsteps (probably purposefully, the bastard), Bones grabbed his backpack and ran up the stairs. Leaving Jim alone with Spock in the basement.

“Fuck,” Jim muttered.

“I fail to see a reason for such language,” a cool voice said from behind him.

Jim almost jumped out of his skin.

He spun around, face-to-face with the boy himself.

"Hi Spock!" Said Jim, voice jumping an octave from nerves.

Cue signature eyebrow raise. "Jim."

Jim took a deep breath. "I was wondering..." he felt his hands drop to his pockets as he tried to get the words out. "Well, you see... I like you-"

"I should hope so. We spend a fair amount of time together, in school and outside of it."

"Spock-"

"I am messing with you, Jim."

Jim looked up.

Spock was smiling.

Jim looked up the stairs, eyes tracing the paths Nyota and Bones had taken, then looked back at the ground at his feet, then looked back at Spock. "Did you overhear-?"

"Your entire conversation?" Spock shrugged. "Perhaps."

"Do you want to-?"

"Yes."

"Oh... wow, I...."

"Jim?"

"Spock?"

"Do not say 'cool'."

[tessatechaitea]

Justice League Annual #1 (1987)

Martian Manhunter has five thousand different super powers compared with the one super power of the rest of the team (Black Canary's sonic scream. The other "super powers" are just technological accessory based).

If this comic book isn't about Martian Manhunter's addiction to Oreo cookies then what am I even doing with my life? The only reason I love Martian Manhunter is that he loves Oreo cookies and I view him as the father I never had. Whenever I had a problem growing up, I would think, "What advice would Martian Manhunter give me?" And that's why I was so fat in Junior High School because the answer was always "Eat more Oreos." I know Martian Manhunter's eventual addiction is to "Choco's" but fuck Choco's. Fuck them like every other off-brand Oreo cookie. They fucking suck. Speaking of things that suck, this dick isn't going to suck itself. Now picture me pointing at the comic book because I need to read it. That's how I begin reading all of my comic books. And I say it loudly so the neighbors will think, "Oh boy! That guy next door isn't a nerd at all! Total sex maniac!" The "Hunting the Manhunter" blurb on this cover reminds me that Millennium is coming up and I think I hated that? No, no. I'm sure I loved it! There are two things I couldn't get enough of in my teen years and comic books was the second one of them. Kord Industries has bought some property in the middle of Ultra-Nowhere, South America, and some of its employees have gone off to scout the location.

Wasn't that the episode with the shape-changing hottie who loves sucking the salt out of men? You know what I'm talking about. Also she was probably a male monster posing as a female monster. Proof of that theory is that every single episode of the first season of the original Star Trek could also have been the name of a gay bar.

Inside the abandoned research facility, the Kord employees encounter pretty much the same thing Kirk, Spock, and the other one encountered:

Vampire John Travolta! It's possible I'm misremembering the Star Trek episode.

While on monitor duty, Guy Gardner discovers that large groups of people on four different continents seem to be under the control of a single will and Batman asks Martian Manhunter, "Do you think this is League business?" What the fuck else would be, Bat-Turd?! A new Internet fad like planking or the Harlem Shuffle? I mean, it totally could be that except that the Internet doesn't really exist during this story. I mean if you want to be a pedant about it, I suppose the teenage Internet across college campuses. But nobody likes a pedant so just shut the fuck up and live in my reality while you're reading my stupid comic book review. Just take the fucking Red Pill and relax! Except don't do that because the idea of The Matrix Red Pill has been co-opted by the worst of humanity who think they're somehow the most logical and philosophical people on the planet when they're really just awful monsters rationalizing all of their mean desires.

How did people come away from reading this comic book hating Guy Gardner and not also despising Batman?

The Justice League splits up into teams of two to cover the mass hypnosis issues in Paris, Tokyo, Sydney, and Los Angeles. I'm not sure Batman knows how to balance teams because he sends Doctor Fate and Martian Manhunter together while leaving Mister Miracle with Blue Beetle. Here are my teams: Guy Gardner with Blue Beetle because Blue Beetle is effectively worthless and Guy Gardner has the most powerful weapon in the universe. Batman would go with Black Canary because her sonic scream is sort of like a bat's echo location. Martian Manhunter would go with Scott Free because they're both aliens. And Booster Gold would team up with Doctor Fate because their outfits match. Blue Beetle and Mister Miracle head to L.A. with some, um, problematic dialogue? I think?

This is an "anal sex/everybody in Hollywood is gay" joke, right?

With newer comic books, a scan of 620 pixels (basically the width of the main column of the blog (although I think the width changed when I added the Goodreads app. I should probably fix it so the 620 pixel pictures stop bleeding off into the right-hand frame (if you're reading this on Tumblr, just ignore it. Just ignore everything since Tumblr fucked up their code and now I can't even center pictures or get the captions to sit snugly right up underneath the scans))) was usually enough to read the dialogue clearly. But with these old comics on newsprint, they're fuzzier and the font seems much smaller. Sorry about that but I won't betray my artistic integrity by scanning less than the full panel! At least not in this case is my defense against the pedants who can easily find many examples of me doing exactly that. First Black Canary is treated like shit by Batman and now she teams up with Booster Gold who can't stop hitting on her until she reminds him she's a competent limb-breaker. This must be the kind of comics Comicsgaters wish we could return to! "Remember when women were treated as sexual objects and not one member of the Justice League was Black and constantly said, 'Booyah!'? What great times!" Black Canary and Booster Gold become John Travolta Vampire slaves almost immediately because Batman chose the improper team pairings. It's bad enough that Batman would fail at making proper pairings but it's extra bad when Batman is being written by a writer and the writer made that choice. I mean, how do you pass up the opportunity to team Booster Gold with Doctor Fate?! They would look so fucking good together! Batman and Guy Gardner (you know how you can tell Hal Jordan is the real Green Lantern? Because people will say "Green Lantern" when discussing him instead of "Hal Jordan") wind up in Tokyo where Doctor Light is all, "Hello, boys! I'm a vampire now!" Then she blinds the fuck out of them because Batman forgot to put on his Bat-sunglasses.

Batman steals this move from Doctor Light in the next regular issue.

Doctor Light kisses Batman and he's all, "Yeah, yeah. Okay. Okay. I get it. Being a vampire is pretty awesome. No wonder writers write vampire versions of me every other year or so."

I don't think the editors briefed Willingham on what Beetle's Bug can and can't do.

Beetle lands at Kord West and is immediately swamped by John Travolta Vampire's thralls. So he does the thing he does in nearly every comic book except the one where Maxwell Lord shoots him in the head: he runs away. But he doesn't run fast enough and winds up possessed aboard the Bug with Mister Miracle. The story hints that Miracle gets possessed just after the scene changes but he's Scott Free, the world's greatest escape artist! I would guess he'd be the one to save everybody else but judging from the cover, it's Martian Manhunter who keeps from getting possessed. In Australia, Doctor Fate wades into a group of infected people because he's a gigantic arrogant prick. He's all, "I'm a frickin' Lord of Order, assholes! I know a spell that can get to the root of this problem!" And then the Vampire John Travolta is all, "I'll kill Kent Nelson if you don't leave his body." And Doctor Fate is all, "Well, J'onn, I've gotta go! Nice hanging out with you! Ta ta!" Which leaves Martian Manhunter as the only person left on Earth who isn't infected (or at least the only person left who is in this story). I bet that's pretty lonely. But Martian Manhunter is used to being lonely. I wonder if he's capable of making his right hand into a female martian so he can fuck it? Martian Manhunter has no idea what he's dealing with so he puts on Doctor Fate's helmet to gain all of the other powers that he didn't already have without it. But only for a few seconds because Superman would never be able to get an erection again if he found out Martian Manhunter had all of his powers and could also do magic. J'onn wears the helmet just long enough to learn what Doctor Fate learned about the contagion: it's a sentient cell! It's smart cancer! And I guess Vampire John Travolta was Patient Zero. Now J'onn just has to figure out how to fight Smart Cancer. I don't even know how he'll defeat it because I just looked up Smart Cancer in the Who's Who to read about its weaknesses and wouldn't you know it? There's no entry for Smart Cancer! Maybe it was in an update that I don't own. Like that version of Who's Who that was just loose pages to stick in a binder! I have that one too but it's possible I just didn't buy all of the expansion packs. Martian Manhunter heads to the source of the contagion to meet Smart Cancer head on. What he finds is a boss from Castlevania.

When you have thousands of people at your disposal, is the most effective way to use them shoving them together into one giant person?

The first thing Smart Cancer's Granfaloon does is try to smash J'onn with its people fist. In effect, it's smashing a dozen people head first into the ground so that dirt sprays up all over the place. So I guess a dozen or so people are now dead, right? It's not like Smart Cancer gave them invulnerability to massive head wounds.

I think this panel is the one where all the Justice League editors through their hands up in resignation and sighed, "I guess the Justice League is ridiculous now."

Martian Manhunter realizes, like me, how fucking stupid Smart Cancer is to put all of its people in one gigantic people-shaped basket. Since all the minds are linked, he realizes he can throw the Fate helmet on one of the people and Doctor Fate can possess Smart Cancer. It works but only for a limited amount of time. Doctor Fate can't hold that many people under his sway. But Doctor Fate does know who can control Smart Cancer: the martian! He can shapeshift his cells into some kind of prison or something. I don't know. It was explained in the most basic medical and scientific terms but they were still beyond my attention span. In the end, Martian Manhunter contained the Smart Cancer in him and that's where it lives now? Oh, and speaking of "the end," check out this clever and titillating final panel:

"Why's it gotta be the ass of the only woman on the team?" I say while pulling my pants down.

Justice League Annual #1 Rating: What?! I don't rate annuals! I mean, maybe sometimes I rate annuals. This one was okay. It was sort of interesting but I was disappointed that Vampire John Travolta wasn't the actual enemy. I hope Smart Cancer fights its way out of J'onn and makes another appearance later.

[antiquecompass]

Untamed Fest Day Eighteen: Emotion

Wherein jealousy is a horrible thing.

Logic. Lans were supposed to be Logical. Like Spock. And there had to be a logical explanation for things, like emotions, such as jealousy, for example, per se, and the reason Sizhui was currently drowning in that particular one. 

And Sizhui hated it because he couldn’t think of a logical explanation for it. It wasn’t a trust thing. It wasn’t that they’d had a disagreement or anything. It was just….

Jingyi never smiled at Sizhui the way he was currently smiling at Ari Ramos. 

And maybe the reason was because Sizhui was only thirteen and his emotions were, as Dad so eloquently put it, whackadoodle right now, but…

This sucked.

Because Sizhui was hurt and frustrated and had no right to be either of those things. He didn’t own Jingyi. They both had other friends. And even though Jingyi was his best friend, no one had the right to be full of jealousy the way Sizhui did right now. 

And fine, if Jingyi wanted to smile at Ari like that, and date him, and his perfect teeth, and his perfect hair, then Sizhui was going to swallow down that jealousy and learn to smile like he meant it and be supportive whenever Jingyi came to him asking about how he should ask Ari out, because that’s what best friends did. They were supportive.

And besides, Sizhui liked Ari. He’d been one of the first friends Sizhui made when he started the Academy. Ari was smart and caring and kind. All good things. All good things for Jingyi to have in his life. But right now? Watching the two of them smile like that and laugh together? He didn’t like Ari one bit.

Sizhui needed to get out of the lunch room before he said or did anything he would absolutely regret. 

He needed to deal with this; he needed to get over himself, because he couldn’t be angry at two of his friends for something like this--not because of petty, stupid, illogical jealousy.

Sizhui ducked into the first hidden alcove he could find, the small spot behind the main staircase, and put his head in his hands. His face felt hot and he knew he was on the verge of tears and it was so stupid.

“Sizhui?”

Zizhen’s soft voice called out to him, as he folded his long, gangly legs and ducked his head to fit into Sizhui’s hiding spot.

“Sizhui? Are you okay?”

Sizhui nodded, not yet ready to speak. 

“Then why are you hiding under the stairs?”

“Would you believe me if I said I was looking for a secret passage?”

“Do you need me to believe that?” Zizhen asked.

He did. He really did. 

Zizhen’s hand was a warm comfort as it patted the top of Sizhui’s head. “Then we should go to the library. I’m sure the archives must hold some old school blueprints.”

***********

“Hey, Sizhui! Wait up!”

Sizhui braced himself as Jingyi jumped on his back, like everything was normal. And it was, for him. 

“Where have you been?” Jingyi asked. “You disappeared at lunch!”

“I was in the library with Zizhen.”

“Oh,” Jingyi said, sliding off his back. “You should’ve grabbed me too. I wouldn’t have turned down a lunchtime study session.”

“I didn’t want to interrupt,” Sizhui said.

“Interrupt what?”

“Your conversation with Ari.”

“It was nothing important. I would’ve rather spent the time with you. And Zizhen, of course. I never get to see you two geniuses in afternoon classes anymore.”

Math was Jingyi’s nemesis, so while Zizhen and Sizhui were in more advanced Math and Chemistry courses, Jingyi was in the normal sections. It sucked having half their core classes apart, but right now, Sizhui was actually thankful for it. 

“Come on,” Jingyi said, tugging on Sizhui’s arm and pulling him towards the parking lot. “Carpool’s waiting on us. You’re coming back to Auntie Molly’s right?”

Sizhui would follow Jingyi just about anywhere, even with the foul taste in the back of his mouth right now, and his gut still churning with stupid, illogical emotions.

“Of course,” Sizhui said, forcing a smile on his face and trying to ignore everything else.

**********

A year of trying to deal with, suppress, dismiss, and generally get over his jealousy and himself had not worked.

Sizhui was not used to so miserably failing at such a self-appointed task. 

He’d gotten better at covering it up, at least he thought, until school started up again and Ari returned having hit his growth spurt and easily towering over Sizhui now.

Sizhui had seen photos of his dad and met many other members of his line of the Wen family. They were not tall people, with the exception of Wen Ning. His mother was also a petite woman. There was no way Sizhui was ever going to be that tall or that broad or that tan. He was already the shortest of his friends and it looked like it was going to forever stay that way. 

Anyone with eyes could see how attractive Ari would become once all the baby fat was gone and he’d grown into his jaw. And he  look well-matched next to Jingyi, who had also shot up over the summer and was starting to gain more muscle and even more confidence. Both of them were in the boxing club too, and were now making plans to train together.

So Sizhui had started his Sophomore year feeling small, and a little ugly, and a lot left behind, and terribly confused and angry at himself for still being so jealous.

Charlie Brown had it right; nothing quite took the taste out of peanut butter like unrequited love. 

And because it was all so stupid of him, Sizhui had decided that avoidance was the best tactic. Ever since school started two weeks ago he’d tried to dodge Jingyi as much as he could. It was horrible, and terrible, and lonely, but until Sizhui got his head on straight, he didn’t want to take the chance that he’d blow up in Jingyi’s face for something that was absolutely not Jingyi’s fault.

Which was why Sizhui was currently hiding in his father’s office during his lunch period. It was a stunt he hadn’t pulled since his first year at the Academy, but Zizhen legitimately had something else to do this time, and Sizhui quickly scrambled for his safety net when it looked like Jingyi was about to grab him and drag him away.

Luckily, Sizhui and Zizhen actually had discovered some of the school’s hidden passages, and his Papa said nothing when Sizhui had suddenly appeared out of the small closet in his office. 

Sizhui, of course, had forgotten just how well his best friend knew him. When he heard the familiar stomping of Jingyi’s feet coming down the hall, he immediately dove under his Papa’s desk. 

“Cousin--Mister--Teacher Lan,” Jingyi said, as he pushed opened the office door. “Apologies for bothering you on your lunch. And barging into your office. And the stomping. Have you seen Sizhui?”

Sizhui looked up at his father, silently pleading.

“Not in the past second, no,” Papa said.

“Oh,” Jingyi said, voice quiet. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Sizhui heard Jingyi shuffle his feet and let out a sigh.

“Did I? Did I...did he...Is he mad at me or something? He’s been avoiding me for weeks now. I just--I want to know what I did so I can fix it. Please, let me fix it? I miss him. Please tell me how to fix it. I need--I just--please.”

Papa stood, carefully blocking Sizhui from view, but he could hear as he pulled Jingyi into a hug, muffling what sounded like a sob.

“I can’t speak for Sizhui,” Papa said. “I highly doubt the fault lies with you, Jingyi. I know Sizhui has much on his mind at the moment. I’ll be sure to tell him you were looking for him.”

“Thank you.”

“Now, try to go enjoy the rest of your lunch.”

It was near silent as Jingyi shuffled out of the room, quietly closing the door behind him.

Sizhui waited as Papa pulled out his chair and gave him a reproachful look.

“Family conference?” Sizhui asked.

“Family conference,” Papa confirmed. “End of the day.”

***********

“I used to despise your Uncle Cheng,” Papa said as soon as they were in the car.

“Really?”

He nodded. “He had your dad’s company at all times. I knew they were brothers, so course they were close, but your uncle always made your dad laugh, loud and carefree and I hated it. I hated it because I could never make him laugh like that. I hated your Uncle Cheng because he got to spend the entire year with your dad, and I only had the summers.” He glanced over at Sizhui. “Jealousy is a very ugly emotion.”

“Yes,” Sizhui agreed.

“And you can’t assume Jingyi’s feelings for him, Sizhui. And you can’t punish him for them either.”

“I’m not!”

“You are.” Papa cut the engine as they sat in the grocery store parking lot. “Jingyi has so few constants in his life, but your friendship is one of them. I know you’re trying to protect yourself--and him--but this, avoiding him, it’s hurting him far more than it’s helping either of you. If you really need to be away from him, if you truly can’t stand his company any longer, you should respect him and your friendship enough to tell him that. You need to make it clear.”

“Yes, sir.”

Papa leaned over and kissed the top of Sizhui’s head. “And you’re not going to find a reasonable explanation for why you’re feeling this way. Crushes are crushes, Sizhui. Some go away, some evolve, and some don’t. If you want to stay friends with Jingyi, you have to decide which one it is and control it.”

“I’m trying,” Sizhui said. “I’ve been trying. For over a year now and I just--”

He stopped, near tears. 

“I don’t want to feel like this, Papa.”

“I know, little bun. I know you don’t.”

**********

Auntie Molly’s house was a treasure trove of antiques and various knick knacks from all her travels. Normally Sizhui was delighted to have a chance to poke around her house. On this particular Friday evening, he was actually shaking in his Converse.

“Is Jingyi in?” he asked.

Auntie Molly looked at him over the rhinestone rim of her hot pink cat-eye glasses and gave him a smirk.

“Upstairs,” she said, opening the door. “He’s been quiet today.” She walked over to a table covered in a half-finished jigsaw puzzle. “Everything okay with you two?”

“It will be,” he promised.

Jingyi’s ‘bedroom’ here was a guest room with a closet full of costumes and an old brass bed frame. It always smelled of mothballs, no matter how many times they tried to air it out, but it usually didn’t matter, since Jingyi spent just as many nights here as he did at Uncle Xichen’s or Sizhui’s own house. 

And he hadn’t been at Sizhui’s since Sizhui had started his whole avoidance bullshit.

Sizhui was such an idiot sometimes.

He knocked as he pushed open the slightly ajar bedroom door. 

“Hey,” he said.

“Sizhui!” 

Jingyi shot up so fast he started to fall off the bed. Sizhui rushed to catch them and they both ended up in a tangle of limbs on the floor.

“So much for the Lan grace,” Sizhui muttered.

“Oh shit,” Jingyi said, hands cradling the back of Sizhui’s head. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did I hurt you? Oh shit, I’m so sorry, Sizhui. Are those bumps? I feel a bump. Let me go get some ice.”

Sizhui wrapped his arm around Jingyi’s waist to keep him in place. “Stay,” he ordered. “Breathe.”

Jingyi did.

“I’m fine,” Sizhui said. “Are you okay?”

Jingyi nodded.

“Good,” Sizhui said. “So, hi. I’m an asshole. And I’m sorry.” He looked down at his hands, not able to look Jingyi in the eye. “I was---I had to sort some things out. And I should’ve told you that, but I wasn’t thinking clearly, or at all. It really was me, okay. It had nothing to do with you.”

“Are you really ‘it’s not you, it’s me’-ing me right now?” Jingyi asked.

A harsh laugh escaped Sizhui’s throat. “I know it sounds like bullshit, but it’s true. I’m working on it, okay.” 

He looked up, met Jingyi’s eyes, saw nothing but forgiveness there. And something else. Something like hope.

How was he not supposed to be in love with his best friend when he looked at Sizhui like that? Like Sizhui and his words meant everything?

“I’m working on getting over it,” Sizhui said, ignoring the crack in his voice as he forced the words out. “I’ve just got to deal with it.”

“Let me help you,” Jingyi said. “Whatever it is, we can fix it together.”

Sizhui shook his head. “Not this time, Jingyi.”

Jingyi looked pissed at that. “But Zizhen can help?” he asked.

Sizhui grimaced. He did not think about how that would look to Jingyi.

“Would you believe me if I said it was a math problem?”

“Like hell it is,” Jingyi said.

So, that was a definitive no. He'd have to use his secret weapon.

“Can you just accept that explanation for now. Please? For me?”

Jingyi’s shoulders dropped at those words. “You used the magic phrase. You know I can’t say no now.”

“And I’ve never used it before,” Sizhui said. “So, please, just this once, let it go.”

“Okay,” Jingyi said. He took Sizhui’s hands and interlaced their fingers. “Will you tell me one day?”

One day, maybe, years from now, when they’d both settled down in their own lives and Sizhui had found someone he could love like he loved Jingyi. Maybe then they could look back on this and laugh at how stupid and lovesick and jealous Sizhui had once been. 

“Sure,” Sizhui said. “One day.”

**********

Sizhui had tried patience and meditation and yoga. He'd tried finding someone else to turn his affection and attraction towards and found none because they weren't Jingyi. He'd taken his Papa's advice and examined his own heart and feelings and came to the conclusion that he was almost definitely stupid in love with Jingyi.

He needed advice though, and maybe some confirmation. He needed his fathers.

Sizhui stared up at the stairs which led to the turret and his dad's office and started to climb.

[v-thinks-on]

The Adventure Continues

Part 7 of A Crazy Little Thing Called Love

First | Previous | Bonus

“May I say that I have not thoroughly enjoyed serving with humans. I find their illogic and foolish emotions a constant irritant.”

Spock stepped into the captain’s quarters.

He found Captain Kirk sitting at his desk, wrapping up a log entry: “With the energy-being gone, hostilities have ended and the ship is back under our control. We are now bringing the Klingons back to Starbase 5, and from there they can return to their Empire. In the meantime they remain on the Enterprise as our guests.” He turned off the recorder, waved Spock inside with a grin, and stood to meet him.

“Jim,” Spock said, his voice low, “I must apologize for lashing out earlier. I should have been able to resist the creature’s influence, but it was able to find and exploit my weakness.”

Jim put a hand on Spock’s shoulder and looked Spock firmly in the eye. “It exploited all of us.”

“All but one,” Spock replied, his eyes wide in admiration. “You were apparently immune.”

Jim shook his head. “I was able to resist it thanks to you, I think, but for a moment there I wanted to kill you so badly it terrified me.” There was silence as his words sunk in.

Very slowly, Spock rose one hand and placed it on Jim’s shoulder. “And for that, I am sorry. None of what I said under its influence is true. I am fascinated, not irritated by your illogic and emotions, foolish though they may sometimes be.” He hesitated. “And I have enjoyed serving on the Enterprise.”

“Good,” Jim said with a wide smile. “I’m glad we don’t irritate you too badly.”

“Hardly,” Spock replied. “I find I much prefer serving among humans to living among Vulcans.”

“We must accept the fact that Captain Kirk is no longer alive... I shall not attempt to voice the quality of respect and admiration which Captain Kirk commanded. Each of you must evaluate the loss in the privacy of your own thoughts.”

“Spock to transporter, has the captain successfully been beamed aboard? Spock to transporter, I repeat-”

Dr. McCoy hit the button to turn on the intercom with the side of his fist. “We’ve got him, and just in time too! It looks like he’s gonna be alright.”

“Good,” Spock replied. “Keep me updated on his condition-”

“Spock!” Captain Kirk exclaimed into the intercom, leaning heavily on Dr. McCoy, while Nurse Chapel hovered at his other shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’m okay.”

Spock quirked an eyebrow even though none of them could see. “I was doing nothing of the sort,” he said, though a suggestion of a smile threatened to ruin the effect.

Kirk grinned back at him. “Bones is just going to run some tests to make sure I haven’t sustained any damage.”

“And maybe you’ll appreciate the drink I mixed up more than your first officer did,” Dr. McCoy cut in.

Spock ignored Dr. McCoy. “Understood. Spock out.”

Captain Kirk waved Mr. Spock into his quarters after their shift. He half-sat, half-leaned against his desk, his arms crossed over his chest. He and Spock watched each other, each evaluating the other’s condition and waiting for him to make the first move.

Finally, Jim spoke gently, “What happened while I was gone?”

“You heard my official account in the log,” Spock said.

“I understand Bones pretending nothing happened, but why you?” Jim asked, perplexed. He searched Spock’s eyes for an answer.

“I believe humans would consider it an expression of goodwill,” Spock explained.

Jim nodded in understanding, but did not relent. “So what happened?”

Spock hesitated. “I am honored by your professed faith in me, however I am afraid it is not deserved.”

“Spock,” Jim exclaimed in protest, a hand on Spock's shoulder.

Spock did not meet his captain's eyes. When he spoke, his voice was so low it was barely audible, “I was emotionally compromised.” He looked up and continued a little louder, “I stayed in the fragmented space even though I knew it was killing the crew because I hoped I would I be able to find you alive. When the Tholian ship attacked, I fired without thinking of the consequences. Dr. McCoy was correct to question my judgement.” His eyebrows rose to emphasize his words.

Jim frowned. “Bones is a good friend, but I know he goes too far with you sometimes. As I said in the orders you didn’t watch” - he gave Spock a wry smile - “He can give good advice, but at the end of the day you’re in command. Staying in the fragmented space was a risky decision, but I probably would have done the same thing if our roles were reversed, and it turned out alright. I hear Chekov had a bad time of it, but at the end of the day everyone was okay, and I, for one, am glad you rescued me.”

Then he hesitated. “I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere so lonely before. If I was drifting out in space at least there would have been the stars, but there was nothing, just darkness. I think I would have gone mad if I didn’t suffocate first.”

“Jim,” Spock said softly, his eyes wide. He reached out a hand to comfort the captain, but didn’t know what to do with it.

Jim met Spock’s gaze and carefully took Spock’s outstretched hand in his own. “I know, I’m not alone any more, thanks to you.”

Spock felt the rush of Jim’s emotions; his relief and affection and vibrant joy that were all reflected in his bright hazel eyes. “Jim,” was all he could think to say - there was so much Spock still didn’t have the words for.

Spock felt a spark of mischief before Jim grinned and spoke, “Why don’t you stay the night? I wouldn’t mind the company.”

Spock quirked an eyebrow at him. “If you are suggesting-” he began.

Jim interrupted with a shake of his head. ���Just that you keep me company - for emotional security.”

Spock searched Jim’s expression as though appraising it. He did not reach deeper into Jim’s mind, even though he wondered what the captain was thinking. “Very well,” he said at last with a nod.

Spock left to gather his belongings, and soon returned to find the captain already in bed, shirtless, of course, reading the latest in the endless stream of reports that required his attention and approval. He glanced up as soon as the door slid open and smiled up at Spock, whose eyebrows rose at the sight of the captain still working.

“Just keeping occupied while I waited.” Jim put the reports aside. “I know, I need rest, doctor’s orders.”

“Dr. McCoy is quite right on that account,” Spock replied, not without some skepticism.

“I’m not the only one who’s had a stressful day,” Jim pointed out.

Spock nodded in acknowledgement and went to the bathroom to change. The ship was not so warm that even a young Vulcan could comfortably sleep in minimal clothing as humans did. It was probably for the best; brief contact was one thing, but spending the entire night with their minds touching would be another entirely - and humans dreamed.

Spock emerged from the bathroom and Jim watched him intently with an open smile as he made his way over to the bed. Jim shifted over a couple of inches to make room for Spock. He waited patiently as Spock hesitated before finally joining him under the covers. Spock lay flat on his back and Jim molded himself around him.

“Thank you,” Jim whispered as the lights faded to one percent. Spock could feel the human’s warm breath against his cheek.

“I might have seriously injured you, Captain, even killed you. They have evoked such great hatred in me, I cannot allow it to go further. I must master it. I must control…” Spock gripped a ceramic goblet so tightly it crumbled into rubble.

Captain Kirk arrived on the bridge with Alexander - the man they had rescued from the Platonians - concluding their tour of the ship.

“Alexander,” the captain said, once his guest had a chance to look around, marveling at their very alien technology, “I have some business to attend to” - he glanced up at Mr. Spock, dutifully bent over his viewscreen at his station - “But you’ll be left in Scotty’s very capable hands.”

Mr. Scott stepped over to them. “Aye, sir.”

“Alexander is to be treated as an honored guest. Without him, we might very well still be at the mercy of the Platonians.” The captain turned to Spock. “Mr. Spock, a word?”

Spock stood up straight and gave the captain a sharp nod. Kirk waved him off the bridge and onto the turbo lift.

“Detect anything interesting?” Kirk asked as they tread the familiar path back to the captain’s quarters.

“No,” Spock replied, “Just routine observations.”

Kirk grinned at him.

They said little more until they were behind closed doors. They stopped in the middle of Jim’s room, standing hardly a foot apart. Before either could speak, Jim extended a hand to Spock, his first two fingers out. Spock mirrored the gestured and brushed Jim’s fingers with his own, letting the captain’s emotions wash over him.

“You are unharmed?” Spock asked, his voice low.

Jim nodded. “What about you? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so angry.”

Spock inclined his head in acknowledgement. His eyes lingered on the floor and he seemed to war within himself. At last, he looked up and met Jim’s eyes. With some difficulty, he said, “I could have killed you.”

“They could have killed either of us,” Jim insisted. He put a hand on Spock’s shoulder.

Spock hesitated. “I know I was not acting under my own power, but I still feel the associated guilt - and anger.”

Jim nodded in understanding, unable to keep himself from smiling a little. “I’m sorry. I know it’s not very logical, but it is human.”

Spock inclined his head again. “It appears I am becoming increasingly human, for better or for ill.”

Jim’s smile spread across his face and shone in his eyes. “You’ve always been human, and it doesn’t make you any less vulcan.”

Spock’s eyebrows rose in disbelief. “The population of Vulcan would be inclined to disagree.”

“They don’t know what they’re missing.” Jim put both his hands on Spock’s upper arms. “Not that I’m too disappointed - their loss is my gain, after all. If you hadn’t left Vulcan, I wouldn’t have the best man in the fleet.” Jim thought he saw Spock’s cheeks turn a little greener than usual.

“At times I find that you are prone to exaggeration, Captain,” Spock attempted to protest, but the feeling resonating in his voice gave him away.

“Am I?” Jim challenged. He scrunched his forehead and shifted his eyebrows in a poor imitation his first officer.

Spock quirked an eyebrow at him in response.

“Why don’t you see for yourself.” One of Jim’s hands wandered down Spock’s arm, to stop at his wrist, just before his sleeve gave way to skin.

Jim gave Spock a questioning glance, and Spock’s eyes widened a little, inviting him to go ahead. So, Jim took Spock’s hand in his and raised it toward his face, his intention clear. Spock closed the distance, resting his warm fingers on Jim’s psy points. Their minds came together without any need for the traditional litany and they were each bathed in the other’s presence.

“A very old and lonely man. And a young and lonely man. We put on a pretty poor show, didn't we?”

Spock pressed his fingers to the captain’s temple and splayed them out along the side of his face. “Forget,” he murmured.

Their minds crashed together without another thought and Spock was overcome by a wave of guilt and grief: I’m sorry, I should have known better. I killed her. It’s my fault. I ignored your warning. I was so angry, so jealous, so desperate. I was everything he said I was; selfish, brutal, savage, cruel. I was no better than he was. All I wanted was for her to be free. I didn’t know. I pushed too hard. It’s my fault. I tried to make her love me and it killed her. I killed her. She’s dead. I killed her. She’s dead because I loved her.

The thoughts of love and death cycled on and on in an endless vortex, dragging Spock deeper and deeper with them.

His mind cried out and answered with anguish of his own. He could not bear to see his captain, to see Jim in such agony, and his own helplessness threatened to consume him, as though Jim was dying on a distant planet and he was stuck on the Enterprise, light years away. He knew the misery of love though Dr. McCoy had so easily dismissed the possibility.

“Jim,” he heard himself croak.

Like a strike of lightning, the sound seemed to illuminate Jim’s mind for an instant. Spock grabbed onto the sudden clarity with all his might. He knew what he needed to do. He quieted his emotions as he had done all his life and answered the onslaught of Jim’s anguish with logic.

What’s done is done. It cannot be helped. It is not logical to linger-

Jim’s mind revolted against Spock’s cold logic with powerful emotion that threatened to throw Spock out of the meld by sheer force of will. Jim’s very identity seemed to war against Spock’s mind and he recoiled at the rejection, but he did not give up.

He merely needed to try something different. If not logic, then emotion, as ill versed as he was in its ways.

Confident reassurance came easiest, to quiet Jim’s raging mind. The ship was at peace. Their crew was safe. They were free to explore the galaxy.

The torrent of emotion subsided, but the undercurrent of guilt and self-loathing remained, threatening to pull Spock into the heart of the storm all the same.

So, he answered with admiration, with every impossible victory and human virtue the captain had. Rayna’s death was not your fault. You could not have known. It was easy for someone like Jim, to whom human emotion came so naturally, to forget that it would be difficult for an android unaccustomed to such emotion to handle the powerful force of love.

Love. Spock slowly lowered his mental shields to allow just a portion of all the overwhelming emotion he felt for the captain. Everything illogical and irrational he did and felt, but could not bring himself to regret.

You are not alone.

Spock slowly pulled out of the meld and drew his hand away from Jim’s face.

Jim’s bright hazel eyes met his, and Jim threw his arms around Spock’s torso. Jim buried his face in Spock shoulder and squeezed Spock against him.

Spock remained still as though frozen, uncertain how to respond, but unwilling to pull away. He felt Jim’s heart beating fast in his chest and could hear his unsteady breath.

“Thank you, Spock,” Jim said at last. He leaned away just enough to look Spock firmly in the eye. “You’re right, I’m not alone, and nor are you.”

[lucycola]

The Lone Survivor: Part 5

TOS!Spock x Fem!Reader

Spock saves the reader from an icy starship crash, only to accidentally form a bond with them in the process. They are called to investigate a happening in the morgue, seemingly to face the unseen enemy that caused the crash in the first place.

PART(S) ONE TWO THREE FOUR

WARNINGS: Blood, violence, death, corpses, language, and sexual implications. The body eating gets vivid so if you can’t ride, please don’t. 

I’m so so so so sorry this took so long to come out. I’m not good at actions scenes so I did my best! Part 6 will be out soon. If I missed you on the tagged list I’m so sorry! 

Part 5: Isn’t is lovely? All alone. My heart made of glass, my mind of stone.

Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy tried to shield you from the carnage, but you broke through their human shield to see Commander Craft surveying the morgue with a grim expression.

Only a portion of the crew were brought aboard-the rest were still being recovered by multiple teams below. Along with Craft came other starships to help with the recovery. The tundra below was harsh and made recovery an even more difficult process. Bodies that were still intact were brought aboard the Enterprise to be identified. The others well were left in makeshift morgues below waiting to be put together with their other pieces.

What you hadn’t known before yesterday was that some of your crew had been devoured.

More had been devoured now. Bodies were littered about the morgue, torn from their bags. Some were only half eaten at the limbs and thighs. Heads and torsos were still left in contact where it was less meat and more viscera and soupy organs. The poor morgue workers were left alone.

“Blunt force trauma,” McCoy noted into his recorder. “Why didn’t it eat them?”

“It appears...it only ate the Calvary crew. The ones that had been on ice,” Kirk murmured, fist pressing into his teeth.

“It likes its food served cold,” you said, absent mindedly.

“Fascinating,” Spock said.

You glanced over the logs last input by the crewman, “He listed finding my father. Right here! Doctor L/N. My father’s dead. It must have kept his form.”

“Which must be why the creature could not be detected on our scanners. It perfectly mimicked the dead,” Spock said, bouncing ideas off of you, “It may be possible to feign the absence of a pulse or temperature-or perhaps it can alter its physical state enough to where it appears to be a lack of both.”

“Why did it take so long to recognize Doctor L/N, then? The man’s been dead for years.”

“The bodies were beamed up in droves, Jim,” Bones answered, “Then picked through. After were found the Calvary’s lone survivor we stopped bringing up one by one.”

“How...” Commander Craft said slowly, through ground teeth, “Could you be the only one?”

“I don’t know,” you answered.

“Four hundred men dead and you...still alive having wrecked in an escape pod,” the commander snarled, seemingly refusing to even look at you. He still surveyed the frozen dead.

“What?” you asked in disbelief, “I was in an escape pod?”

“Don’t play cute with me,” he jerked to look at you finally, eyes blazing, “You launched the pod right before the ship went down. My crew scouted out the area you were recovered from. Only a single pod launched with only you in it. Or did your husband not tell you that’s where he found you?”

“Spock, is this true?” Kirk asked.

“It seems I may have accidentally omitted such a finding...as I was not aware of it.”

“You’re a Vulcan-you don’t miss things,” Craft spat.

“One forgets my human half-although I have never found myself so personal with you, Commander, to share such a fact.”

Craft looked to you and back to Spock and then back to you again.

“You were both with one another the whole evening?” Commander Craft asked.

“I had two guards posted out side their quarters,” Kirk said, his temper flaring, “I doubt she’s in cahoots with the damn thing. Spock looked into her mind and it seems she’s nothing but a scapegoat for a monster to get its next meal! Now you can stop targeting my officers and start cooperating.”

You reached for Kirk’s arm desperately, “Captain, I didn’t put myself in that pod. Captain, I didn’t do this-you’ve got to believe me still.”

“It doesn’t matter what I believe. What see is your crew in bits and pieces down here and that thing is going to do the same to my men,” Kirk said, patience wheedling thin. “Bridge, this is the captain. Issue a red alert. Lockdown all decks.”

“But captain,” a woman’s voice replied, “You just issued a command stating that the ship take a landing and to disregard any other orders.”

“Lieutenant, where was I when I gave such orders?”

“On deck three.”

x

The red alert beacon seemed like it would never fade into the background but it was eventually drowned out by the sound of blood rushing in your ears. Kirk had ordered you all to stay together after a trip to the armory and that you were all going to the third deck, whether the commander liked it or not.

The assent to the third deck was painful as the commander and Kirk had it out with one another. The lift felt extremely cramped, but the tension in the air made it worse.

Splitting up the party had perhaps been briefly suggested by your husband to cover more ground, to which the commander argued, “Don’t let Spock take her anywhere. I don’t trust those two!”

“No ones going anywhere unless it’s with me,” Kirk retorted, “Set your phasers to stun. We don’t know who the real crewmen will be apart from this thing. We don’t want to kill anyone else.”

“Then how to do we know you’re not the imposter then? How do we know the real you isn’t already on the third deck or even the bridge by now?” the commander asked, nearly spitting.

“I wouldn’t have asked to land. I’m getting really tired of you,” Kirk said.

The doors to the lift finally opened, showing and eerily empty third deck washed in the red light.

“Daddy?”

A small voice, a woman’s voice in fact so far away you could barely hear it.

The doctor stepped passed you eyes bugging out of his skull, “Didja hear that?” He whirled back around to you, “Did ya’ll hear that?”

“Indeed, doctor,” Spock replied, “It seemed to be coming from that corridor.”

“Daddy!” came the woman’s voice again, now sobbing and strangled.

“Joanna?” the doctor asked, immediately breaking away with full stride.

You seized him around the waist, trying to prevent him from going, “Wait-doctor-!”

“Simon!” came a wavering moan from the adjacent hall.

Commander Craft was less vocal than Bones and bolted immediately with a tailing Kirk who was then seized up by Spock, “Captain, don’t-”

“Daddy!” Joanna’s wail was blood curdling and McCoy broke free from your hold like a frenzied horse. You bolted after him immediately.

“T’hy’la!” Spock began to which in the confusion Kirk said, “Go after them-I’ll get Craft!”

x

Could it possible the creature could multiply? You hadn’t seen it for yourself, but fear blazoned in your body and drove your legs to pump themselves as far as they could go. You were younger than Bones, but your weak leg gave out. Spock was faster than you anticipated and with thundering footfalls you felt him upon you.

He swept you up quickly, “That was foolish.”

“It’ll kill him, Spock!”

“I do not think it can be many places at once or it would have acted upon the crew sooner.”

“It’s just throwing its voice?”

“Possibly.”

He was moving at a light sprint, cradling you up like a baby.

“If it likes its food cold it will go for the bridge. It’ll wreck the ship to the snow below,” you breathed, clutching onto Spock’s uniform.

“I suspect the same thing-” his running faltered a bit, “-it will pursue the captain in attempt to control the ship.”

“Fuck.”

x

“Jim!”

“Sam?”

Long ago had Kirk lost sight of Craft, now lurking beyond every corner. It seemed the third deck was empty and he found out quickly why it was so quiet, save the bells. He came upon the mangled bodies of his crew, not eaten, but twisted like rag dolls in their heaps.

Now it was mimicking his brother. The bastard of a thing-whatever it was.

“Jim, help!”

“I’m coming, Sam!” Kirk called, moving carefully down the hall, phaser in hand. It was leading to him to his own cabin. He knew his brother was dead, but it was almost like he couldn’t stop himself. It was a painful desperation and it burned like fire in his chest.

He opened the door and stepped inside. His room was the same as it had always been. Bed in one area, dress and mirror in the other. His antique weapon collection of old era muskets, sabers, and spears freckled his walls but were hard to be seen as the lights were oddly set dim.

“Captain!” a distressed voice cried from the corner. A female voice.

“Y/N?” Kirk asked, moving closer, “Kitty, is that you?”

The person moved from the corner and into the light and indeed to the captain it appeared to be you. But how? Kirk questioned.

Your face was beaten and your body was bloodied. Your dress which once was white was almost completely dyed scarlet and it was ripped all the way down, revealing your right shoulder and breasts.

Kirk snatched the blanket off the bed and brought it to cover you. “How did you get here so fast? Did it do this to you?”

“It ran as soon as it heard you. It was a man. He looked just like you. I thought it was you,” you cried.

He skimmed the tears off your face with his thumb, “There, there. I’m here now.”

“You’ve got to help me. Spock tricked me, Jim,” you said, moving closer. “I need you.”

x

The third deck was so confusing you (the real you) thought you and Spock would get lost but you honed in on the doctor’s desperate cries of “Joanna!” like breadcrumbs.

You both came to a dead end to see the doctor there, bumbling at the wall, clearly confused.

“Doctor!” you cried in relief.

“I heard Jo one second and the next-I’m at a loss!” he attempted to explain, scratching the back of his head.

The doctor stared at the bare wall as if his daughter was apart of its making. She was there in his ears and the next she wasn’t.

“She was never there,” you sighed, still cradled in Spock’s clutch.

“It was a trick, Doctor,” Spock concurred.

“Lemme down,” you reached for Bones almost desperately.

You felt like you had to touch him to truly know he was alright. His face looked alright as well as the rest of his body, but his eyes were still large with bewilderment and grief. Joanna had not been there, but she had sounded so real and seemed to be in so much pain as the ghost of your own father had been.

“Doctor, are you well enough to care for my wife? It seems she has reinjured her leg to some extent,” Spock inquired, allowing you to bear weight on your good limb.

Bones reached for you immediately and then asked Spock, “Where the hell are you going?”

“I must relocate the captain and Commander Craft for their safety,” Spock explained, already having turned promptly to leave.

He broke out into another sprint, which looked faster than it had while you were being carried. Vulcans were faster, stronger than humans naturally, it seemed.

Bones fussed over you and you shushed him, “It’s just a limp-I’m fine-no, we are not going to sickbay!”

“Where do you suggest we go then? We might as well be sitting ducks.”

“We’re going to catch up with, Spock,” you said in a definite tone.

“In your condition and mine? it’ll take this old man two weeks to get you there,” he said, shaking his head.

“Hey,” you grinned, “It’s not the first time you’ve walked a pretty girl down the aisle.”

Bones face heated up with a large grin.

x

The door shifted open and Spock was greeted with the sight of his nude wife fondling his captain. Except you were had been left in Bones’ care behind him. Something white hot and broiling ignited in his very being.

You could feel it from down the hall.

He’s mad-why is he so mad? you questioned internally, limping as fast as you could.

Kirk fired his phaser immediately into the creature’s belly, after letting it draw itself close. The mirror version of you somehow enclosed its hand around the firing phaser, crushing it completely.

Kirk shook his hand free, screaming. The creature seized Kirk by the shoulders and flung him effortlessly into the wall. He hit part of his antique weapon collection, spears and swords clattering to the ground with him.

“Captain-!”

“I’m alright.”

The imposter whirled around and grinned like a Cheshire, “Well the infamous Mister Spock! I can read the crew’s thoughts y’know. Plenty of gals seem to like you. But you only like this one, don’t you?”

The imposter ran her hand down her naked form, taunting him.

“Too bad your captain got the upper hand on your wife first. Didn’t even stop himself when given the opportunity.”

“That’s a lie, Spock,” Kirk choked.

Spock shot at the creature, phaser still set the stun. The creature was knocked back only a little, seemingly unfazed. Spock shot multiple times only with the same result.

“I like it rough,” the creature laughed, “Keep on.”

“Why did you place Lieutenant Y/L/N in the escape pod when you could have devoured her?” Spock inquired.

“I seek the weakest link of all that visit my land. I seek their fears, their sorrows and hers was most adequate for my use,” it said, “The other ships that follow after every crash always tend to stay longer when there’s someone to blame. Everyone likes someone to blame.”

“How many other starships have you sabotaged?” Kirk asked, moving slowly about the weapons on the floor.

“Enough to feed me my due.”

Kirk launched one of the old spears at the imposter and it grazed its belly, spurting purple blood.

“Run, Captain!” Spock ordered.

The creature seized the spear and thrust it a Kirk as he ran to the door. Spock was faster and quickly moved in front of Kirk, catching the spear deafly with one hand. The blade was merely inches from his nose. The phaser clattered to the ground.

“Fascinating,” the creature said mockingly and changed it form from you to Spock himself.

x

Eventually you and Bones were able follow the trail of downed crewman to the captain’s cabin. Upon opening the door you were gifted with the sight of two of your husbands wrestling with one other over some ancient spear.

Where the hell did that thing come from?

Long forgone on the floor was Spock’s phaser and you knelt to grab it.

“Jim!” Bones exclaimed.

Kirk was once again a heap on the floor, already having been assaulted twice by the imposter and saved by Spock. He was bleeding from his right flank.

Bones quickly moved to him, dragging you long with him.

“We’ve got--got to kill it--” Kirk stuttered, staggering upward. You caught him under the arm, supporting him. “The phaser doesn’t seem to work on stun. You have to set it to kill.”

Bones caught the other, “But how can we? Which one is it?”

You shakenly pointed the phaser even though it seemed it had no effect.

“Alright you two!” Kirk yelled, ‘Stop or we’ll be forced to shoot the both of you!”

The wrestling came to a still and the spear was tossed aside, rolling to your feet.

They were identical, completely. Fuck.

“T’hy’la, it is I,” said the one on the left.

“No, that is incorrect,” said the one on the left.

Down to the nose, the hair, the faint hue of green in their cheeks and lips. The familiar warmth pulled you at the back of your mind.

“Kitty, what are you doing?” Kirk began.

You moved forward, with two fingers extended, “Husband, attend.”

The one of the left immediately came forward and you felt the warmth surge closer at is it, enveloping your mind as your fingers touched.

“Fools!”

The one of the right’s entire mouth opened up as if it was a venous fly trap, launching itself at you and Spock. You fired the phaser, blasting a hole on its left side but it still came.

Kirk was faster on the draw, and launched the spear into the creature’s mouth, splattering purple liquid everywhere. Its lifeless body hit the ground with a wet thud.

The spear had ripped through its body and pierced itself into the wall behind it.

“Good shot, captain,” Spock said. “And you as well, wife.”

“Second time’s the charm,” Kirk said, holding his injured side.

You let out a dry sob, mixed in with a laugh. Bones patted your shoulder, letting out a large sigh.

PART SIX

tagged: @groovyfluxie @dontgivedeath @lumar014 @pringtella @moonchildlonan @superninjapervert420 @love-wanderlust15 @ischysiaclark@imyourspacegirlfriend @hiddlestonme @fandoms4ever97 @mywellspringoflife @rebelchild93 @nilalunis16

[sports-and-fandoms]

*SPOILERS* Star Trek Discovery (s2, ep2): New Eden*SPOILERS*

Hello folks! What did I tell ya last week? I did say I was gonna be back! And I am. Now let’s get on with why we’re all here, the review! 

P.S. I actually took notes, lol Hope this will be coherent...

Disclaimer: Um, Spoilers up ahead. Read at your own risk. Some language too...

Ok let’s start from the beginning.

- The Recap: HUGH. That’s all I’m gonna say. Hugh FREAKING Culber! That recap hit me hard in the feels. I can’t be the only one. That was some tough shit. I can’t. 

- Spock’s overdramatic ass and his visions. I love that. He is such a Drama Queen™. (BTW, sorry this has nothing to do with the review, but I never knew how to do the ™ symbol before. I have come a long way... So proud of myself *shoulder pats self* *wipes one lonely proud tear*) I love Spock, very much. So the fact that he has been in a PSYCH WARD for God knows how long is kinda disturbing. Like, what is going on? Also, can I just say, as much as I respect his privacy, he should have told his parents that his nightmares were back and that he wanted to admit himself in a psych ward. Now, many of you are probably like “but why? he wants to keep it to himself” Well, maybe it has something to do with the fact that the man was on a 5 year mission, hadn’t talked to his family in YEARS and that, ya know, a huge part of the known universe was at WAR with 12 tribes of Klingons. If that was my son (thank god he isn’t coz I can’t handle that teen angst/emo mood. Sorry, Amanda.) I would wanna know if he was ok. Sure, he was on a mission on the other side of the galaxy, but that doesn’t mean that he was safe. Does anyone else agree with me here? Just me? Cool. 

- Now, before I talk about this next topic, beware, I have a new obsession. I must have a thing for captains. First it was Lorca, now it’s all Pike. I don’t even know what happened. I blame his pretty face, sexy attitude, voice, eyes, and that oh, so perfectly fitting uniform. His ass looks fiiiiiiine, don’t lie. 

I love how cocky he is. He’s cocky, but he knows what he’s doing and he cares for his crew. All this makes me love him a lot more! 

Anywaaaaaay... 

Onto serious matters, Christopher Pike. So, I love the little tidbit about his background. You can see that, although he mentions his childhood being difficult due to his father’s completely opposite topics of teaching at work (I mean talk about a science (aka knowledge) vs religion conundrum), you can see that he’s learned a lot. It’s all very humbling. It also affects his judgement when he’s in New Eden. Not in a bad way, ok maybe, idk. I don’t know what I would have done. He was following protocol, is all I can say. It’s a very tough decision to make. To tell an entire planet (ok, 11 000 people, but still) that what they’ve believed for years is not true and that Earth is actually still around. It’s hard. I appreciate him telling Jacob, tho. Like, the relief on that poor man’s face, it was everything. A few things he said that I really liked: “highway of mushrooms” (I might’ve snorted a little) and “Be bold, be brave, be courageous” (told you I was taking notes). Also, HE QUOTED SHAKESPEARE. LOVE IT!!! Oh my, when he got shot. Damn, I screamed a little... (I though I had more notes on him, but I literally wrote “Pike’s face”, “That ass, tho” and “I love Pike” so, let’s end it here... )

- Tilly, our gorgeous Queen™ (I will never stop using it). Girl keeps saving everyone’s asses over and over again. She’s perfect. The hero I never knew I wanted, but that I desperately needed. Love her. I love how she was willing to put her safety to risk to help Paul. I love her. She is so soft™ (what did I say?). She is so smart. I’m actually kinda worried about her. This whole hallucination thing is kinda scary. She better be ok, tho. 

- Paul said that he saw Hugh in the Mycelial Network (as we remember). He says, and I quote, “Nothing is truly gone. Life is eternal”. Y’all know what that means. Hugh and Lorca are probably (hopefully) gonna be back. 

I really missed seeing the Discovery jump. It was great! 

- Saru “You never forget your first”. Can we just- You know what, never mind. Not gonna comment. I love him. And there’s also “I put a lot of responsibility on these slender shoulders”. I love it. His lines are perfect. He’s such a great Captain. 

- Michael and Chris’ interactions are GOLD. “Don’t make me laugh.” “I was raised on Vulcan, we don’t do funny.” *makes him laugh*

Next week’s episode: 

- Sarek’s ship.

-Spock might be back. Maybe?? idk... 

-Klingons and Ash. That’ll be fun. I missed Ash. Can’t wait to see our favourite couple’s reunion. 

Final Thoughts:

Ok, I’m not dying. This sounds kinda ominous, but don’t worry, I'll be back next week lol

Anyway, It was really great. I loved the bond of the crew with each other. Love Michael. Love Tilly. LOVE Pike. I really love everyone. I’m glad that they used another crew member, Lt. Owosekun, to build on to her character. I wanna see more of that. I like Pike and Burnham’s friendship/bond. I think this was a solid episode. I wanna see more of the other characters and I wanna know more about Pike. I know that it won’t happen right away (I hope it doesn’t coz then it’ll be boring) so I can’t wait to see and learn more about him. 

If any of you want to discuss this episode, send me a message! I would love to talk more about this!

Until next week, folks! 

[favficarchives]

Cinderella (4/?)

Fandom: Star Trek (TOS/AOS) Pairing: Spock x Reader Summary: AU based on the 2015 live-action Cinderella movie. Spock in the prince of the Kingdom of Vulcan and the reader is a good, honest country girl trying to make it through a life with her awful step-sisters and step-mother. Genre: Romance Warnings: None A/N: This chapter is twice as long as the others kill me

[Preview] [Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4]

You readied the tea and biscuits for your step-sisters and Madame, paying little mind to their tall tales as you quietly relived your evening with Mr. Spock, the prince.

You giggled to yourself.

The prince.

Mr. Spock.

The thoughtful, kind man from forest, who treated you with such dignity and respect you’d not seen in years, was the prince.

How truly, delightfully ridiculous. Absolutely mad.

You giggled once more, offering not a single care to perturbed looks the women at the table shot toward you.

Tonight was a wonderful, beautiful dream. A blessing. A kind reminder, you felt, from your dear parents, that your kindness and courage will always be rewarded, and to stay strong.

And so you would. With your journal entries and your glass slipper always by your side, securely under the floorboards, you would remember this night, this blissful, ridiculous dream night with the prince, for the rest of your days.

-0-

Not a week after the ball, Spock was called to his father’s chambers in the middle of day. There was no discernible reason the young prince could muster as to why his father was still in chambers so late into the day…

Until he approached the doors and saw Kirk offering him a sympathetic look.

Spock walked swiftly to his father’s bedside, trying hard not to focus on how fragile the man looked lying in the bed, pale and alone. Spock sat next to his father, offering no greeting or conversation. Now was the time for Sarek’s words, not Spock’s.

“I fear the time is here, my son,” Sarek spoke hoarsely, the strain of his dying body stealing away the last of his energy. “Your accession approaches, as do your additional responsibilities.”

Behind Spock, closely observing the interaction, was Michael. Though she remained silent and stoic, Spock knew she was in as much pain as their mother. Both women shared a telepathic bond with the dying king, and while his mother was weeping quietly in corner, Michael did all she could to keep her emotions in check. Truly, she would have made a fine Vulcan ruler – if only she were Vulcan.

Spock took a breath before speaking.

“I understand my responsibilities, Father,” he said quietly. “However, I refuse to enter into a lifelong relationship solely for political gain, lest the very fate of our nation depends on it. Though it may go against tradition, I cannot and will not marry without love.”

He could feel Michael stiffen behind him. They were never close, and Spock was certain this would tear them apart even further. Michael dedicated her life to serving and upholding Vulcan traditions and her brother, the heir to the throne for no reason beyond nepotism and racism, shirked them aside. The entire situation was bitterly unjust, but he could not think of any potentially successful way to rectify it.

“What if I ordered you to?” Sarek asked, seemingly joke. Spock bit back surprise at his father’s uncharacteristically jovial manner.

“I cannot and will not,” Spock affirmed.

“Then you must not,” Sarek concluded, his voice barely above a whisper. “You will despise this job, my son. You must find some peace within it. You must find your forest girl. That is your order.”

Spock couldn’t contain the surprise that overtook his face. As he processed his father’s words, Michael rested a firm hand on his shoulder, gently pulling him back from his father’s deathbed. As he moved away, Spock watched his mother race to his father’s side, gently running her fingers along his now-still face and bidding him farewell.

It… was over.

His father…

Michael gently guided him further away, near a back corner of the room, as their mother stood and wiped her eyes. She cleared her throat and started giving orders to the nearby attendants, calling for the doctor, the captain, and V’Las. Michael stood by Spock’s side as their mother took on the next steps, working through her grief to protect her children from such a hardship. Kirk listened to the queen intently, offering his availability for anything she or her family might need.

Spock recognized that he was far from alone, and yet couldn’t help but notice just how lonely he felt.

-0-

“Why do you stay at that house?” Uhura urged, asking you the same question she’s asked since your father passed. “I know it was where you were happy, but it holds no happiness now. You’ve got to learn to move on, Y/N.”

You almost jolted at the sound of your real name. Had it really been so long since you’d heard it? The last time you recall even thinking of your real name was at the ball, so many weeks ago. Perhaps you should’ve given your name to the prince – now king, poor boy – so you could have at least heard yourself say it one last time before it drifted away, lost to time like your parents.

You sighed.

“I made a promise,” you contended. “Besides, where else would I go. I’m an orphan on the path to spinster. I don’t exactly have any viable prospects.”

“You know you can come live with me,” Uhura pushed. “And your parents raised you well. You’re a brilliant and talented woman, Y/N. You’d have no problem finding work outside of that house if you really look.”

Realistically, you knew she was write. Your father’s travels brought back many languages for you learn, and your mother’s instance that she and you help the staff with the house work taught you a number of trades. If you chose to leave, the world would be open wide for you.

Yet, even as you thought it, Madame’s voice filled your head, reminding you over and over that you were nothing more than a raggedy servant girl. Perhaps, when your parents were still around, the world was your’s for the taking. But fate was often unkind, and the world would not open for a lowly, orphaned servant.

Before your conversation with Uhura could continue, the bell of the royal herald rang through the town square, drawing everyone’s attention to the man’s post.

The man, one of the few humans to work with the Vulcan palace, barely contained a smile as he unfurled his scroll.

“Hear ye! Hear ye!” he called out, his smile breaking through, ever so slightly. “Know that our new king hereby declares his love for…”

The square’s occupants fell deathly silent, eagerly anticipating the news. From what you’d gathered in the past few weeks, there seemed to be a rift among the commoners as to whether the prince – King, you corrected – would marry the princess T’Pring, since the “mysterious princess” was nowhere to be found. In fact, you were certain people had money riding on it.

“For… the mysterious princess, as wore glass slippers to the ball.”

Gasps and murmurings broke out in the crowd. Uhura shot you a look, a smirk playing on her lips.

“And requests that she present herself at the palace, where upon – if she be willing – he will… forthwith… marry her, with all due ceremony!”

The crowd grew louder as the herald stepped down from his platform. You could distinct notes of excitement, some of disdain, most of shock. Gossip was surprisingly rampant in the Vulcan Kingdom, and you could already hear the grape vine singing.

“So?” Uhura asked from beside you. You turned your attention back to her, catching the smile on her face and the mischievous glint in her eyes.

“So?” you asked innocently, trying to appear nonchalant under the Gossip Queen’s incredulous gaze.

“So,” she began again, “what exactly are you gonna do about that, princess?”

-0-

You sprinted home, the smile never fading from your face as your lungs burned and your legs screamed. You couldn’t mind the pain, not now.

He wanted to marry you!

Spock!

He wanted to marry you!

The dream, the dream of that night is actually coming true. After so much suffering, after being alone for so long, the man you love loves you back and wants to marry you.

You thanked your mother incessantly. Through everything, you kept her lessons close by your heart. You held on to your courage and kindness, even when it all seemed so hopeless, and it worked! Your happy ending found you! You were finally going to get-

“Madame?” you panted, confused by the woman sitting in your room, waiting for you.

“Well,” she said, her twisted smile pulling at her lips, “You were certainly in a rush to get here. Pray tell, what has you worked up, dear girl?”

If your heart wasn’t pounding from the run, it would have stopped dead.

This was not good. This was very not good.

You were so close to your happy ending. She was going to steal it. You didn’t know how, or why, but you knew she would do it.

Lie. Lie!

“Oh,” you started, trying to seem nonchalant, “I… I just forgot something I wanted to take to town.”

“Oh,” she offered kindly, never once breaking eye contact with you, “you mean this?”

Out from under the chair she sat in, Madame pulled out a glass slipper – the one you kept hidden your floorboard since the ball.

Your stomach dropped, a million questions flying around your head. Well, only two, really.

How?

Why?

Why?

How?

You desperately glanced around the room, looking for any kind of explanation. Next to Madame, on the window sill, lay the diary you kept next the slipper.

Shit.

It’s over.

“How did you find out?” You asked, the completely detached tone of your voice almost taking you back, if you weren’t too exhausted to care anymore. It’s over. She won.

Her smile, always wicked, developed an almost evil taste.

“I should like to tell you a story, my dearest step-daughter,” Madame began, her eyes unblinking. “Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young woman, who met the love of her life. She married the man, and birthed two loving daughters.

“Then,” Madame continued, her motherly façade fading, replaced with all the wickedness you had come to know, “the light of her life died, leaving her and her daughters destitute. The next time around, she married for the sake of her family. Then, that man, too, was taken from her.

“For years, she was forced to live in another woman’s house, and raise another woman’s child – which she did with grace.”

You could have slapped her right then and there, but your mother wouldn’t have had it.

“The woman had hoped to marry off one her beautiful, stupid daughters to the prince, but his head was turned by a girl with glass slippers, who disappeared into the night. The woman returns to her house that night to find her wicked step-daughter dancing around the kitchen, stars in her eyes.”

You cursed yourself for behaving like such a fool. You should’ve learned by now to never show weakness in front Madame. She would always find it, latch on, and exploit it. You were thoughtless to let your guard down, even for a moment.

“Did you think I was an imbecile?” Madame sneered, rising from her seat and striding over to you with the slipper in hand.

“Where did you get it from?” She pressed. “Did you steal it?”

“It was given to me,” you said, “by a dear friend.”

Madame barked out a laugh.

“Nothing in this world is ever given, you ridiculous girl,” she snarled. “For everything you must pay, pay. And after living in my house rent free for all this time, here is how you’ll pay me-“

“No.” you said firmly.

Madame was aghast.

“No?” she pressed, seemingly appalled that you had the audacity to fight her.

“No,” you confirmed. “You have ruined every other ounce of happiness in my life. Destroyed everything I’ve ever held dear. I will not let you ruin this, even if that means it shall only be a memory.”

Madame smirked a wicked grin as her grip on the slipper’s heel tighten and she walked toward the door. She paused in the door way, back facing you, and raised the slipper from her side.

“Then memory,” she taunted, “it shall be.”

In one swift motion, she smashed the glass slipper into the door frame, shards of glass scattering across the floor and stairs. You could barely hear the sounds of shattering glass over your own, pained cry.

It was over. Everything. All of it. Over.

Madame turned in the door, her too-sweet-smile pulling her lips and she looked you dead in the eyes.

“It would appear as though I’m not the only one with shattered dreams, Cinderella.”

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