#stardust enterprises

[olivrsm]

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

TOURNAMENT PARTICIPANTS

Greetings, everyone, our contestants have been finalized, and I want to provide a certain opportunity before the preliminaries begin. Namely, to provide additional propaganda for competitors in need of it. So, I have created a form to collect this new propaganda, and a list of both preliminary and non-preliminary participants under the cut. An asterisk next to a name indicates they have fewer than three pieces of propaganda, which is the amount that will be included in each poll. This form will be open for the duration of the tournament. You can make as many submissions you want for any character.

NOTE: The order of participants does not reflect the bracket matchups. Preliminary matchups will be announced next week, and the complete bracket will be announced after the preliminary round is finished.

UPDATE: Additional characters have been added in bold because I failed to fill out the bracket by counting incorrectly. One has been added to the preliminary round, and the others are regular competitors.

PRELIMINARY PARTICIPANTS

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER/ANGEL

Cordelia Chase

Illyria*

Kendra Young*

Winifred "Fred" Burkle

DC COMICS

Alex DeWitt - AUTOMATIC ENTRY

Barbara Gordon

Cassandra Cain

Katma Tui*

Koriand’r aka Starfire*

Pantha*

Stephanie Brown

Talia al Ghul

Tara Markov*

JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE

Dragona Joestar (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The JOJOLands)*

Holy Kujo (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders)*

Lisa Lisa (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency )

Lucy Steel (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run)

KAMEN RIDER

Is (Kamen Rider 01)*

Kanon Fukami (Kamen Rider Ghost)*

Poppy Pipopapo (Kamen Rider Ex-Aid)*

Saki Momose (Kamen Rider Ex-Aid)*

MARVEL COMICS

Elektra Natchios (Marvel Comics)*

Elektra Natchios (NMCU)*

MY HERO ACADEMIA

Ochako Uraraka - AUTOMATIC ENTRY

Magne (My Hero Academia)*

Momo Yaoyorozu

Nemuri Kayama*

Toru Hagakure*

STAR TREK

Deanna Troi (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Jadzia Dax (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)*

Kes (Star Trek: Voyager)*

Seven of Nine (Star Trek: Voyager)

Tasha Yar (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

T'Pol (Star Trek: Enterprise)*

SUPERNATURAL

Bela Talbot

Charlie Bradbury

Eileen Leahy*

Mary Winchester*

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA

Tetra (The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker)*

Zelda (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)*

WARRIOR CATS

Bumble*

Leafpool

Spottedleaf

Squirrelflight

YU-GI-OH!

Aki Izayoi/Akiza Izinski (Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's)*

Aoi Zaizen/Skye Zaizen (Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS)*

Kotori Mizuki (Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL)*

Mai Valentine (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

NON-PRELIMINARY PARTICIPANTS

Abbie Mills (Sleepy Hollow)*

Ada Vessalius (Pandora Hearts)*

Agent Texas (Red vs Blue)*

Alex DeWitt (DC Comics)

Allura (Voltron: Legendary Defender)

Alys Brangwin (Phantasy Star IV)*

Amber Volakis (House MD)*

Amy Amanda Allen (The A-Team (TV))*

Amy Pond (Doctor Who)*

Amy Rose (Sonic the Hedgehog)

Ann Takamaki (Persona 5)

April O'Neil (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012))

Arcee (Transformers)

Asuna (Sword Art Online)*

Athena Cykes (Ace Attorney)

Azula (Avatar the Last Airbender)

Britta Perry (Community)*

Brunhilda aka Mym (Dragalia Lost)*

Carmelita Montoya Fox (Sly Cooper )*

Casca (Berserk)

Celica (Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia)

Chi-Chi (Dragon Ball)*

Chloe Bourgeois (Miraculous Ladybug)

Chloe von Einzbern (Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA ILLYA)*

Clarke Griffin (The 100)*

Daenerys Targaryen (Game of Thrones)*

Dahlia Hawthorne (Ace Attorney)

Elya Musayeva (Топи/The Swamps (2021))*

Eve (Paradise Lost)*

Flora Reinhold (Professor Layton)

Gamora (Marvel Cinematic Universe)*

Grelle Sutcliff (Black Butler)*

Gwen (BBC Merlin)*

Gwen Stacy (Marvel Comics)*

Hélène Kuragina (War and Peace)

Hinata Hyuuga (Naruto)*

Irene Adler (BBC Sherlock)*

Iris Sagan (AI: the Somnium Files)*

Jade (Dragon Quest 11)*

Jade Harley (Homestuck)

Jane Crocker (Homestuck)

Jennifer Lopez (John Dies At The End)*

Jiang Yanli (Mo Dao Zu Shi)

Julia (Hellraiser)*

Julia Wicker (The Magicians)*

Juvia Lockser (Fairy Tail)*

Kaede Akamatsu (Danganronpa V3)

Kairi (Kingdom Hearts)

Kallen Kouzuki (Code Geass)

Kamala Khan (Marvel Comics)*

Katara (Avatar the Last Airbender)

Katherina Minola (The Taming of the Shrew)*

Katherine Pierce (The Vampire Diaires)*

Konan (Naruto)*

Laurel Lance (Arrow (CW)*

Leia Organa (Star Wars)*

Lisa Cuddy (House MD)

Lucy Heartfilia (Fairy Tail)

Madison Paige (Heavy Rain)*

Malty S Melromarc (Rising of the Shield Hero)*

Margaret Houlihan (MASH (Movie 1970) )*

Marinette Dupain-Cheng (Miraculous Ladybug)

Marwa (What We Do In The Shadows (TV series))*

Megaera (Hades)*

Mikaela Banes (Transformers)*

Mikan Tsumiki (Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair)

Mikoko Sakazaki (Kaiji)*

Mikuru Asahina (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)*

Mildred "Millie" Knolastname (Helluva Boss)

Milla Maxwell (Tales of Xillia)*

Misa Amane (Death Note)

Misaki Unasaka (Buddy Daddies)*

Nami (One Piece)*

Naomi Misora (Death Note)

Natasha Romanoff (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Natasha Rostova (War and Peace)

Nemu Kurotsuchi (Bleach)*

Nezuko Kamado (Demon Slayer)*

Nya Smith (Lego Ninjago)

Ochette (Octopath Traveler 2)*

Ophelia (Hamlet)*

Ophiuchus Shaina (Saint Seiya)*

Orihime Inoue (Bleach)

Padmé Amidala (Star Wars)

Pussy Galore (Goldeneye)*

Pyrrha Nikos (RWBY)

Quiet (Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain)*

Ran Mouri (Detective Conan)*

Rey (Star Wars)

River Tam (Firefly)*

Sakura Haruno (Naruto)

Sansa Stark (Game of Thrones)*

Skye (Lost in Blue)*

Sonia Hedgehog (Sonic Underground)*

South Dakota (Red vs Blue)*

Stephanie “Steph” Nocanonlastname (EverymanHYBRID)

Susan Pevensie (Chronicles of Narnia)*

Sweet-P (The Caligula Effect)*

Sylvanas Windrunner (Warcraft)*

Sylvia (Two Gentlemen of Verona)*

Teresa (Maze Runner series)*

Throné Anguis (Octopath Traveler 2)*

Yan Hui (Back From the Brink)*

[theflowerofhumanity]

Stardust Melody

In the weeks after he reunited with Nyota, Jim Kirk did everything in his power to make up for their breakup. He brought her his signature hand-picked flowers until her apartment, office, and classroom practically overflowed with them. She got to pick the movies they watched, the restaurants where they ate dinner, and the location for their Saturday outings. Best of all, he was reaching an agreement with Starfleet Command that would keep him in a captain’s chair at least part-time—primarily on brief, safe diplomatic missions. These voyages could last up to a month, but almost never longer than that, and he would be on Earth for months at a stretch, splitting his time between Operations, Command, and Spock’s training courses at the Academy.

It wasn’t the adventurous bachelor life he had so often envisioned when he used to think about his future. It wouldn’t be anything like his groundbreaking days on the Enterprise. But it was a life that included his best friends and the woman he loved without cutting out space travel entirely, so it seemed well worth the compromise.

The two of them were enjoying a lazy beach day at “their” private spot, the little cove where they’d shared their first kiss. Jim delighted in driving them there in his antique car, which would soon be put away for safekeeping with the threat of chilly autumn rains looming. It might have been one of their last warm, pleasant Saturday afternoons for the rest of the year. It could have been a forlorn thought if Jim and Nyota didn’t find creative ways to entertain themselves at any time of year. She’d even started taking the occasional hike with him (to make sure he didn’t overdo it, she said).

Jim had been dozing in the sun, but sat up as she emerged from taking a dip. His scar was still an ugly, visceral reminder of how close he’d come to death, and the thin jagged line that separated his stomach from regenerated flesh never tanned. Still, he tried not to be too self-conscious, focusing instead on how grateful he felt simply to be alive and on the way his gorgeous girlfriend looked at him, scars and all.

“Has anyone told you how stunning you are recently?” he asked, grinning, as she came over dripping with seawater. He of course told her that at least twice a day.

@multirptrash

[fanfic-phoenix]

We Dare

Rating: Teen

Word Count: 1202

Read on AO3

Jim entered his room silently and found Spock, not asleep, but lying quietly in his bed in an approximation of rest. He felt Spock’s dark eyes following him as he kicked off his boots, pulled off his clothes, and crawled beneath the covers without showering. He lay on his side, facing Spock, and said, “Long day.”

***

Stiles' fear raised its head on the bridge. Spock voices his own fears to Jim.

Weakness is something we dare not show.

-Spock, Balance of Terror

Jim’s head pounded in time with his pulse - the inevitable consequence, of course, of clenching his jaw for so damn long.  Add to that his throat, which ached, and his back, which was ominously stiff, and he was more than ready to be done with today.  Yet he did not - could not - leave his chair.  He would not leave until the shift was concluded; to do otherwise was to risk damaging morale.  His crew needed to see him well, to see him confident and smiling, so see him they would.

The rest of Alpha crew, however, had already been signed off-duty.  Jim had insisted upon it.  It had been a too long, too stressful, too violent shift.  They needed rest.  Spock had shot him look at that, as he’d called through from Sickbay to announce it, but refrained from calling attention to his hypocrisy in front of the crew.  Jim was grateful for it.

Spock.  The desire to see him was almost overwhelming.  The Vulcan had been discharged already - that constitution of his was good for something - and sent a message indicating that he had retired.  To Jim’s quarters.

For the record, after a day like this, Jim was not looking for any… Vulcan biology.  Nevertheless, the idea of returning to his quarters and finding Spock already there was pleasing.  His younger self had never been one to dream about coming home to his lover - Jim’s dreams had been made of stardust and adrenaline even there - but now he could have that, he never wanted to let it go.

He shifted awkwardly in his chair, then stretched his arms over his head until he heard things start to pop.  Jim loved the centre chair, of course he did, but it played hell with his spine.  What he needed was a pillow - but he couldn’t have one of those on the bridge.  Mortal frailty was, naturally, expected of Starfleet’s captains, but it was not acknowledged.  It was not welcomed.

That was why, as he stood to leave, he made no mention of the terror they’d all lived through, of the pain that racked his overtired body, or the fact he was more than ready to slip into Spock’s arms, and not convinced he’d ever be prepared to leave.

Jim entered his room silently and found Spock, not asleep, but lying quietly in his bed in an approximation of rest.  He felt Spock’s dark eyes following him as he kicked off his boots, pulled off his clothes, and crawled beneath the covers without showering.  He lay on his side, facing Spock, and said, “Long day.”

“Days onboard the Enterprise are standardised.”  Spock’s voice was low, slightly rough, but Jim could still hear the joke creeping in at the edge.  “However, if you mean to say that today was challenging, I cannot disagree.”

“Challenging?”  Jim reached out - slow enough that Spock could easily stop him - and traced the line of Spock’s cheek and jaw with his knuckle.  He relished the slight prick of stubble.  It’d be entirely removed come morning; Jim was the only man allowed to witness it.  “Your talent for understatement… cannot be overstated.”

Spock did not smile, but there was a slight warmth in his eyes, and he leaned into Jim’s touch.

“Are you ready to sleep?”

“I am unsure,” said Spock.  “Nevertheless, I wish to stay.”

“Then stay.”

Before Spock, Jim had never considered himself… cuddly.   He’d indulge his partners, sure, if that was what they wanted, but it was never for his own sake.  And, truthfully, he still didn’t consider himself cuddly.  He simply acknowledged that his optimal sleeping position was on his side with Spock tucked close, typically with his forehead pressed to Jim’s shoulder blade as he burrowed a little deeper into the covers.  Sometimes he’d wake and find that, at some point in the night, Spock had draped himself over Jim like a blanket, seeking his presence in his sleep.

And it was, apparently, Spock’s optimal position too.  Close to him, but not trapped.  Able to leave if necessary - although, so far, he had not.

He was surprised, then, when Spock presented his back and quietly, shyly, asked if they might change places tonight.  If Jim would hold him, instead.

There was never any question of Jim saying no, of course, but he felt concern start to burn his stomach.  He arranged himself as directed, slinging an arm over the lean waist, hooking his chin over one broad shoulder, and asked, “Spock?”

It seemed for a while that Spock wouldn’t answer.  The silence stretched on, broken only by their breathing.  And then Spock…

Sighed.

“I was not offended by Lieutenant Stiles’ distrust,” he said.  His voice was little more than a rumble in his chest; Jim had to strain his ears to hear.  “I was…  Dismayed.”

Jim let no sound, no emotion, slip past his guard.  To interrupt now would be fatal.  Spock would not speak of this again.

“My entire adult life, I have served Starfleet.  I have been stationed on the Enterprise for twelve years.  If my loyalty is not yet proven…”

It was testament to his upset that there were no decimals, never mind that he’d allowed the sentence to fade away.  Jim could fill the gaps.  If Spock had not proven himself by this point, he never would.  Or - perhaps worse - if the sight of the Romulans, the assumption of shared ancestry, could undo over a decade of hard work, what did it say about Spock?  About Stiles?  About Humanity?

“You have proven yourself a hundred times,” Jim said fiercely, rather than give voice to the fears that floated freely between them.  “A thousand times.  Stiles is one man.  The rest of the crew…  They trust you, Spock.  More than that, they admire you.  Respect you.  Like you.”  He couldn’t see it, but he could sense Spock’s raised eyebrow, and he huffed a laugh.  “Believe it or not, they do.  And a being is not obligated to like their commanding officer.”

“I am aware of your tumultuous relationship with Starfleet Command,” Spock said, but there was a smile in his voice.  Just barely.

“I know I can’t make this better,” Jim said, though it rankled to admit to any kind of helplessness.  “I know Stiles acted disgracefully, and I know there’s going to be more and worse on Earth when this gets out.”  And it would get out, because these things always did, and if a crewman of the Enterprise, subject to a great many screenings and tests, could fall prey to xenophobia, it heralded a poor reaction from the general reaction, a blow to trust settled centuries before.  They both knew this.  “But the Entreprise is your home.  I won’t let anyone disrespect you here.”

Spock was very quiet, very still.  Anyone else, Jim might have suspected him of falling asleep.  Jim knew that he hadn’t.

“And… you know my trust in you is absolute.  It has never been in question.  It never will be in question.”

A thin tremble ran through Spock’s shoulders.  He murmured something in Vulcan, something Jim couldn’t translate, but Jim knew what he meant, even so.

[stellarred]

WONDROUS MYSTERY

Q10 *pointing*: Say, isn't that Q?

Q6: Yes. I believe it is, sister.

The two Qs watch Q approaching.

Q10 * shakes her head*: Unbelievable. He's over four billion years old, a creator and destroyer of worlds. He's the evolution of stardust. Omnipotent. All-knowing and all-seeing.

Q6 *sighs and shakes his head*: Yep.

Q10: And he goes and falls for a reserved, stuffy, middle-aged, bald starship captain...

Q6: Yep. You got it.

Q10: I don't get it.

Q6: None of us do. It's a mystery.

The two Qs can only stare at Q as he bounces over a star and lands next to them, smiling broadly.

Q6: What has made you so happy today, Q?

Q: What else? Jean-Luc is coming this way! Ciao!

Q zips off towards the Enterprise, which can now be seen cruising in the distance.

Q10: I just can't understand it.

Q6: Well, I will say this. He always looks happy.

Suddenly, the two Qs hear a loud, "GET OFF MY SHIP! GO AWAY, Q!"

Q flashes next to the Qs again, flushed and smiling.

Q10: What are smiling about, Q? The guy just kicked you off his ship again!

Q: Actually, he kicked me out of his bedroom--

Q6: Why, Q?! Why do you keep chasing him? He hates you!

Q: He's wondrous. Mon capitaine et mon mari! Oh, how I adore my Jean-Luc! *Q clasps his hands over his heart.*

Q vanishes.

The two Qs just look at each other dumbfounded.

Q10: I guess not everything in the universe can be explained.

[sshbpodcast]

Character Spotlight: Leonard McCoy

By Ames

We’re still boldly going through all the characters of The Original Series in A Star to Steer Her By’s latest blog collection, and this week the spotlight is on Dr. Leonard McCoy! We’re not even going to be at all objective about this one because Bones is the favorite TOS character of most of the hosts here at SSHB, so be prepared for us to gush about his curmudgeonly actions, witty one-liners, and constant back-and-forth with Spock.

It helps that DeForest Kelley brings so much more to the role than is on the page, so let’s dive in and discover what our favorite McCoy moments are, scrape the bottom of the barrel for some lesser moments, and generally fan all over the CMO of the starship Enterprise. Read on below and listen to this week’s banter on the podcast (discussion at 1:04:23) for more about this old country doctor. We hope you have a mint julep handy!

[Images © CBS/Paramount

Best Moments

Promoted too fast One of McCoy’s most highlighted facets is his obstinance, which is often played to hilarious effect. So when the ship is under threat from Balok’s Fesarius in “The Corbomite Maneuver,” it’s quite fitting that McCoy is stubborn enough to make what might be his last living action writing up Lt. Bailey just to spite Kirk for promoting him too fast. Now that’s no bluff!

Well, either choke me or cut my throat! Make up your mind! McCoy is at his most badass in “Space Seed” when his patient, Khan, has grabbed one of the good doctor’s handy wall knives and held him up. “It would be most effective if you would cut the carotid artery just under the left ear,” Bones says while his life is being threatened, and everyone watching this show goes “Daaaaaamn.”

Something called a mint julep. It’s a drink, Jim! Speaking of McCoy being a straight-up badass, when the subsonic transmitter is undoing the euphoric effects of the spores in “This Side of Paradise,” he straight up slugs the guy who dares imply that his job as a physician may have become obsolete on a planet with no disease. Without so much as dropping his drink! Grade-A badass right there.

My patients don't walk out in the middle of an operation Don’t forget that McCoy is a half decent doctor, especially considering most medical work in the future is waving a medical tricorder over people. But he proves his physician’s skills in “Journey to Babel” when he performs surgery on Sarek, transfusing a blood sample from a reluctant Spock and saving the ambassador’s life, all in the middle of a battle with Orions!

I’m trying to thank you… As we mentioned in the Spock spotlight post, the jail scene in “Bread and Circuses” is just stunning acting work from both Nimoy and Kelley. It’s such a short scene, but it’s got everything. And when McCoy ponders that Spock is afraid of living, afraid of showing his human half, afraid of feeling, they display in their acting that they’re both in the same emotional place and I love it.

A child could do it Like in “Journey to Babel,” Bones gets to prove his medical prowess in “Spock’s Brain,” even if it’s a little bit laughable overall. He does need help from the Teacher to give himself the temporary knowledge to reconnect Spock to his big Vulcan brain, but when that wears off, he keeps it together, and with a little help from his green-blooded friend, gets the job done.

Please give yourself every minute No wonder this episode was our favorite from TOS. What a great showcase for DeForest Kelley. His grappling with impending death in “For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky” is expertly played and beautifully explores how to measure a life’s happiness. McCoy’s romance with Natira is lovely and I heartily wish he didn’t have to leave her, though as I said in my review of Sawdust to Stardust, the novel Ex Machina revisits Yonada and is quite good!

I’ve been drafted There’s just something about Bones McCoy in The Motion Picture, standing on the transporter pad that he hates so much, grumbling at Kirk about getting drafted back into Starfleet, complaining like a cantankerous old coot about all the renovations made to his medical bay, all while wearing the most disco of civilian attire that is just plain charming.

I choose the danger While we found it a biiiit presumptuous for Spock to cram his katra into McCoy in The Wrath of Khan, it allows for some just plain great DeForest Kelley acting in The Search for Spock, so we can kinda forgive the violation. All movie long, McCoy gets to act like he’s mildly possessed by Spock, and then bravely face the fal-tor-pan ceremony that could be dangerous to humans. “Hell of a time to ask.”

What is this, the Dark Ages? While it could be seen as a blatant infringement of the Temporal Prime Directive to give a kidney pill to the woman on dialysis in The Voyage Home, you’ve just gotta love it when Starfleet doctors take matters into their own hands for the sake of a patient. Does the Hippocratic Oath trump the prime directive? Probably not, but McCoy is a hero to that woman regardless.

Not long after, they found a cure Sometimes Star Trek just doesn’t deserve DeForest Kelley, whose acting chops are frequently the best on the show, in our humble opinions. And the debated worst of the TOS films actually has some legitimately great McCoy moments – watching him euthanize his father only to learn a cure has been later found in The Final Frontier is such a moving scene that we really feel for.

Aside from a touch of arthritis… Only Leonard McCoy could get away with cracking a joke during his conspiracy trial prosecuted by relentless Klingons, as he does in The Undiscovered Country. And he even gets a couple of laughs out of the spectating Klingons in the audience, which may make up for getting convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. Take that, Chang!

—

Worst Moments

I was thinking about the buffalo The very first introduction of McCoy in “The Man Trap” sees him doing some pretty irrational things. How is Plum’s mind so clouded that he can’t see Nancy for what she really is, especially when she’s literally sucking the salt out of the captain? And it’s an emotional scene, but I still can’t forgive McCoy for killing the M-113 creature, a sentient being and the last of its kind.

Don’t peek! Something rubbed us the wrong way about Bones’s flirting with yeoman Barrows in “Shore Leave.” Maybe it’s the age gap. Maybe it’s that they didn’t have a ton of chemistry. Maybe it’s that we ship him and Natira way more. Or maybe it’s that when she asks him not to watch her change, his response is “My dear girl, I am a doctor. When I peek, it’s in the line of duty.” Gross, doc.

Two drops of cordrazine can save a man's life Every so often, we really question Dr. McCoy’s doctoring skills and how his shenanigans wouldn’t fly in later series. And as much as it serves as the impetus for one of the best TOS episodes, being careless enough to inject oneself with a hundred times the normal dose of cordrazine in “The City on the Edge of Forever” – time ripples or not! – is just plain ineptitude.

You are out of line… sir. McCoy says in “The Doomsday Machine” that he hasn’t had time to run an examination on Decker to declare him medically or psychologically unfit to command. Well, why not, doctor?! If in “The Deadly Years,” we had time to hold a trial about Kirk being too senile to command, you surely have the authority to order the commodore to a checkup. You’re the CMO for chrissakes!

I’m a doctor, not an escalator Everything McCoy does on Capella IV in “Friday’s Child” is very strange to me. a) Why had McCoy been there when these people are still in primitive stages? b) Why didn’t McCoy TELL Grant that drawing his phaser would get him killed? c) What fetishist wrote the slap fight with the pregnant woman? This whole incident was just eyebrow raising, one of McCoy’s specialties!

A total resentment towards women See what I mean about Bones not understanding doctoring sometimes? A woman crewmember makes a mistake that bonks Scott on the noggin, so McCoy diagnoses Scott with misogyny in “Wolf in the Fold,” and prescribes a trip to a brothel. That was a thing that happened. What incel wrote this nonsense? Sometimes, Star Trek, your being written in the sixties really shows.

They reproduce bisexually Another weird medical gaff McCoy makes is stating that the tribbles reproduce bisexually in “The Trouble with Tribbles.” Someone on the writing team apparently had no idea what that word means and it resulted in making McCoy just sound incompetent. The tribbles reproduce asexually, and their being born pregnant is what Bones was trying to relay when he flubbed it hard.

I think I left it in Bela’s office Not only did McCoy NOT get to play dress up in gangster clothes like Kirk and Spock in “A Piece of the Action” (what a waste; he would have looked great!), but the button at the end of the episode reveals that he’s left his communicator on Sigma Iotia! Well. Go and get it, nincompoop! That’s cultural contamination! Beam it up! Amateurs, I swear to Okmyx.

…you pointed-eared hobgoblin! Most of our worst McCoy moments have been a bit tongue-in-cheek until now, but you do have to admit that McCoy’s constant stream of casual racism at Vulcans is absolutely problematic. And as much as we credit the beautiful jail scene in “Bread and Circuses” (as I already did above), it’s also the time that he called Spock a “pointed-eared hobgoblin” and that’s not okay. The rest of that scene is still great though.

Will I become like Chekov, doctor? Okay, doc, I know everyone’s going mildly nuts in “The Tholian Web” because of the space crazies, but Uhura’s claim that she saw the captain should have been taken seriously. It was a symptom no one else had displayed. You already knew Kirk was vanishing and reappearing. And later you take Scott seriously when he makes the same claim. Justice for Uhura!

They've lost confidence in you We mentioned this episode in our Spock coverage, but it bears repeating. Everything was out of place in “The Tholian Web,” and McCoy was in rare form being extra racist to Spock the whole time. Even if it’s for good reason (Spock is terrible at command!), McCoy comes off as petty, emotional, and cruel all episode long and that’s not the kind of light-hearted ribbing he usually gives Spock.

It tastes just fine One final blundering McCoy moment comes in The Animated Series episode “The Eye of the Beholder.” “The water is too pure,” according to Spock, before McCoy reveals that it tastes fine. What are you doing drinking untested water on a planet where people have disappeared, bonehead? And getting crushed by a dragon somehow? What is this, amateur hour?

— This blogpost is dead, Jim! We know Bones is a doctor, not an engineer, so fittingly next week we’ll make sure to aim our character spotlight at an engineer! Join us for our celebration of all things Montgomery Scott here on the blog, and also in our continued watchthrough of all Trek over on SoundCloud or wherever you podcast. You can also hail us over on Facebook and Twitter, and maybe don’t keep your scalpels mounted above the biobed, doc. Just a thought.

[snuh]

Chris Foss: Enterprise Stardust - Futura Books #86007, January 1974

[mappingthemoon]

Books Read 2023

Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations / Mira Jacob

A Grief Observed / C. S. Lewis

Grit Lit: A Rough South Reader / ed. Brian Carpenter & Tom Franklin

Two or Three Things I Know for Sure / Dorothy Allison

Weather: Air Masses, Clouds, Rainfall, Storms, Weather Maps, Climate (A Golden Nature Guide) / Paul E. Lehr, R. Will Burnett, Herbert S. Zim ; Harry McNaught (ill.)

Improbable Memories / Sarah Moon

Endless Endless: A Lo-Fi History of the Elephant 6 Mystery / Adam Clair

The Difference Between / Billy McCall

The Submissive (The Submissive #1) / Tara Sue Me

Last Night at the Casino [v. 1] / Billy McCall

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing / Marie Kondo ; Cathy Hirano (tr.)

Pnin / Vladimir Nabokov

My Heart Is a Chainsaw / Stephen Graham Jones

"Waltz of the Body Snatchers" / Alfred Bester, in Andromeda I: An original SF anthology / ed. Peter Weston

Blue Highways: A Journey Into America / William Least Heat-Moon

The Stars My Destination (The Gregg Press Science Fiction Series) / Alfred Bester

Laughter in the Dark / Vladimir Nabokov

Man and His Symbols / Carl G. Jung

Mysteries of the Unexplained / ed. Carroll C. Calkins

The Westing Game / Ellen Raskin

The Seven Ages / Louise Glück

The Wild Iris / Louise Glück

Vita Nova / Louise Glück

Doctor Who: Impossible Worlds: A 50-Year Treasury of Art and Design / Stephen Nicholas & Mike Tucker

Where's Waldo? (Where's Waldo #1) / Martin Handford

Where's Waldo? The Fantastic Journey (Where's Waldo #3) / Martin Handford

Doctor Who 50 Years #3: The Doctors / ed. Marcus Hearn

Rabbit, Run / John Updike

Mother Night / Kurt Vonnegut

Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (Books) / Bibliographic Standards Committee, Rare Books and Manuscripts Section, Association of College and Research Libraries, in collaboration with The Policy Standards Office of the Library of Congress

"Descriptive Bibliography" / Terry Belanger, in Book Collecting: A Modern Guide / ed. Jean Peters

The Essential Doctor Who #2: The TARDIS / ed. Marcus Hearn

Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited / Vladimir Nabokov

Chicago: City on the Make / Nelson Algren

Gustav Klimt, 1862-1918 / Gilles Néret

American Gods: A Novel / Neil Gaiman

Marcel Duchamp, 1887-1968: Art as Anti-Art / Janis Mink

The Empathy Exams: Essays / Leslie Jamison

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men: Three Tenant Families / James Agee & Walker Evans

Hallucination Orbit: Psychology in Science Fiction / ed. Isaac Asimov, Charles G. Waugh, Martin H. Greenberg

Dream Street: W. Eugene Smith's Pittsburgh Project / W. Eugene Smith ; ed. Sam Stephenson

Twilight / Gregory Crewdson ; Rick Moody

Magic Eye: A New Way of Looking at the World / N.E. Thing Enterprises

Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns & Moonage Daydreams / Steve Horton & Michael Allred ; Laura Allred (ill.)

After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path / Jack Kornfield

The Gin Closet: A Novel / Leslie Jamison

The New Kid on the Block / Jack Prelutsky ; James Stevenson (ill.)

A Book of Common Prayer / Joan Didion

Mariette in Ecstasy / Ron Hansen

Camp Damascus / Chuck Tingle

The Mass Production of Memory: Travel and Personal Archiving in the Age of the Kodak (Public History in Historical Perspective) / Tammy S. Gordon

Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas / Rebecca Solnit & Rebecca Snedeker

Other Voices, Other Rooms / Truman Capote

Fabulous New Orleans / Lyle Saxon ; E.H. Suydam (ill.)

Weird Pennsylvania: Your Travel Guide to Pennsylvania's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets / Matt Lake

Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence (Griffin & Sabine #1) / Nick Bantock

Sabine's Notebook: In Which The Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Continues (Griffin & Sabine #2) / Nick Bantock

The Golden Mean: In Which The Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Concludes (Griffin & Sabine #3) / Nick Bantock

Breath, Eyes, Memory / Edwidge Danticat

Last Night at the Casino, v. 2 / Billy McCall

What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions / Randall Munroe

Collection-Level Cataloging: Bound-with Books (Third Millennium Cataloging) / Jain Fletcher

Speaking Pittsburghese: The Story of a Dialect (Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics) / Barbara Johnstone

My Misspent Youth: Essays / Meghan Daum

Slender Intuition: Essays on Artist's Block / Brian Hitselberger

The Mister / E L James

Crapalachia: A Biography of a Place / Scott McClanahan

The Transcriptionist: A Novel / Amy Rowland

Explanations/Opinions below the cut:

Ok so I have several reading lists/stacks that I rotate through: my to-read spreadsheet (which has almost 300 titles listed in chronological order by date added, with the oldest being from 8/22/2014), my to-read bookcase/nightstand (which holds ~50 books I’ve acquired over the past few years but haven’t yet read), a stack of oversized unreads that don’t fit on the nightstand shelves (this gets its own list bc I need to read them and find a permanent home for them before the stack gets too tall), and “interruptions” (books that override the list order bc I didn’t want to wait to read them, for whatever reason).

Maybe it’s weird that I’m so attached to reading things “in order”? Idk. I’ve always been like this. It’s only a mild compulsion – obviously, I am perfectly capable of ignoring what’s supposed to be next on the list, in favor of reading something that catches my interest more strongly in the moment, but in general, I like to read things either in the order I added them to the list, or the order I personally acquired a physical copy (if I went by the list only, I’d be drowning in unread books [yay, college town thrift stores], so I gotta stay on top of that pile pretty regularly). So that is why I am often reading things that I first became aware of/added to my list nearly 10 years ago. Sometimes this practice results in feelings like, “Dang, I wish I would’ve actually read this 10 years ago,” but also sometimes, “WOW, I’m so glad I’m reading this RIGHT NOW, as opposed to 10 years ago when I first heard about it!”

I think my favorites this year were Mariette in Ecstasy; Other Voices, Other Rooms; Crapalachia; and Speak, Memory.

Mild disappointments were the essay collections by Leslie Jamison and Meghan Daum, two authors I’m pretty sure I discovered via popular and relateable quotes reblogged on tumblr ca. 2014, but the collections taken as a whole just had too many moments of cringe – casual classism, arrogant self-absorption, and other annoying and unrelateable qualities typical of privileged 20-something writers (this tone definitely appealed to me when I was a naïve and melodramatic snotty 20-something, so there’s that).

As a kind of memorial, Rachael and I read David’s three favorite books: The Stars My Destination, Mother Night, and American Gods. In all the time I knew him, including all the times we used to sit on the porch together, reading quietly while he drank whiskey, I never thought to ask him his favorites. I kept looking for pieces of him in the stories, wondering what lines stood out, what made a book memorable, what did it say about him that these were his favorites.

Being an elder Millennial, I’m in the stage of nostalgically re-acquiring important artifacts from my childhood, so that’s why there are some children’s books on my list. Where’s Waldo? was one of the most coveted books in my grade-school library! There was always a list of people waiting to check it out, but usually, whoever actually had the book that week would let the other kids gather around and look together.

My Heart Is a Chainsaw was a recommendation from my goth teenaged birthdaughter <3 which I probably read too much personal symbolism into but maybe not!

I thought John Updike was overrated, lol.

Favorite photography book: W. Eugene Smith’s Dream Street. His pictures made me so homesick, and it was wild because he took them from 1955-1957 but they still really, REALLY, to me, looked like the Pittsburgh of my ‘80s/’90s memories (bc Pittsburgh doesn’t change, and also the “idea” or “brand” of Pittsburgh in the ‘80s/’90s was ofc consciously referencing its industrial working-class past). He took over 10,000 photos but was never able to “finish” the project to his intense, obsessive standards of perfection (I KNOW THAT FEEL) and felt it failed to capture the multifaceted essence of the city. WELL, not in my opinion at least!

PS I'm moonmoth on LibraryThing.

[dreadfutures]

History of Elvhenan

Headcanons for my Bloodied & Broken fics and #elvhenan au.

Part One | Part ?

I. The Dreaming World.

Before there were elves, there were Spirits. Fluid beings without shape, more akin to the nebulous clouds of stardust and vapor that inhabit the distant cosmos then to intelligent creatures. But as the currents of this mutable and infinite world began to run together and stream apart, they pooled into deeper and more complex forms.

These eldest beings breathed pure, incandescent creation, stoking the forges of evolution with every burning thought. These were the first dragons who danced, writhed, clawed and flew through the dreaming world. Their passage shaped strange and primal landscapes, and the eddies they left in their wake would churn mysteriously for ages to come.

Out of these eddies emerged power and energy and, with growing momentum, life.

The first true spirits had little to reflect. They traversed. They searched. They spread. If they found vacuums, they filled them.

And then, one by one, they touched the Waking World.

II. First of the People.

The land was alive, too; great beings, the pillars of this earth, shaped continents and tectonic plates with their movements. The hum and scrape of their shifting, restless movements in a sleepless vigil, sent echoes through the soil and stone and found harmony with each other. And from that harmony, from the very stone itself, thought took on shape for the first time.

Possessed of hearts that beat in time to a much larger pulse, and voices that rose and fell according to the direction of a sweeping conductor, the Children of the Stone shaped their homes the way the Titans shaped the world. And as they shaped, carved, *mastered* this mimicry...so too did the Spirits in the Dreaming world mimic them.

Curiosity saw itself in these explorers. Vigilance arose from the care the children took in listening to the needs of the Stone, its movements, the slow-arcing momentum of its dreams. Enterprise watched as utility became art, as shelter became civilization.

The Dreaming World saw itself reflected in the Waking.

And the more the Spirits observed, the more they wondered how true that reflection was.

They reached out.

And they shaped bodies from the earth themselves.

III. Age of Ashes.

One by one, then many at a time, then multitudes of spirits made land in the waking world. They would someday term it the Unchanging World, but that is a misnomer: in the early days, it changed with their every whim.

With clumsy and unrestrained force, they drew upon their Dreaming essence and hewed monuments from mountains; cities of glass rose up from earth to sky; the laws of nature were mutable and unstable amid the confluence of magical influence. And it all collapsed as quickly as it arose.

Bands of people clashed over territory to shape. Others competed to build ever grander structures, to test the limits of what awas safe and what was daring and what *was*. Still others hoarded resources they found, jealously guarding what they found beautiful in this strange new world.

They created War, among themselves, and Famine, and Fear.

From this chaos, a warlord rose whose fury rivaled that of the unforgiving wasteland's sun. Elgar'nan led his people through battlefields in search of a home, a place to rest when blood lust and vengeance would no longer sustain them. One day, he came across a great walled city that was home to, perhaps, the last oasis of fresh water. When they would not part with even one sip of water, Elgar'nan demanded their unconditional surrender to his banner. He believed that such cruelty had no place among the People.

So he showed them, and the world, what such cruelty would beget: more bloodshed. He razed the city to the ground, leaving behind an uninhabitable wasteland.

It was then in this wasteland that Mythal appeared, joined by her First Children: Dirthamen, born of the curiosity that had led her to become Bodied in the first place; his cunning twin, Falon'Din, who saw the forking paths of fate and folly with the clarity of his mother. With them as her attendants, preaching mercy and protection for all those weary of war, the People were more than willing to submit to her banner. Her promise cooled even Elgar'nan's flames; though he would never submit to her rule alone, the idea of a home was a potent one, and he was not immune.

Not long after their alliance formed, the first child born of the Bodied arrived to them: Andruil, the combined ambition of the All-Mother and her husband, though none knew her nature at her birth.

It was a sign, perhaps, that Mythal's truest desire was not for a peaceful home after all.

What she really wanted was an empire.

-:-:-

I am writing a fic series (#elvhenan au) set in early Elvhenan. None of this is canon, no matter how many dots I feel I may be connecting. While these are mostly relevant to my AU, most of these events are what I consider to be "true history" for my longfic, Dead Pasts and Dread Futures. These are the things I have in mind when Solas, Mythal, and other ancient beings think of their pasts.

[pulpsandcomics2]

Enterprise Stardust by K. H. Scheer & Walter Ernsting     (Ace, 1969) 

Perry Rhodan #1

[we-are-the-doctor]

The Age of Steel: Stardust

Dr. Nicholas Rush sat in his cold sterile office. Echoes of himself adorned his desk leaving the walls sterile and cold. He poured over research data, his eyes heavy and vacant with fatigue. 

One string of equations pulled him from the fog. Finally, after years of searching he found the proof he needed. He pulled out his phone and called Director Fury on his personal line. A number reserved only for emergencies.

“I have coordinates. Meet me in an hour.” He hung up and took his glasses off, closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair. He ran a hand through his long unwashed hair. He’d spent the whole night trying to narrow down the location of the signal. Something was broadcasting a strange energy wave, practically screaming out through the cosmos. He was determined to answer that call.

He stood from his desk, finished his coffee in one gulp, then left to meet Fury at the secure location. Shield had several outposts for secure meetings, the wooded bunker outside town was the ideal spot.

It was an hour drive, Rush forced himself to keep his eyes open and glued to the road. How many days had it been since he slept? Too many to count now. When his body did give out, nightmares tormented him. He’d been told he had night terrors, he couldn’t remember those instances. Only the visions just before being ripped awake.

Death, so much death. He could see a blazing orange sky and fleets of space ships raining fire upon this alien world. It was so familiar to him but it made no sense. He wrote it all off to this mission.

Arriving at the location, the forest air was cool and the night was tranquil. His heart was racing a mile a minute, he tried to keep his thoughts clear. If Fury approved it, he’d be able to send a team to space to investigate it. 

The two men sat down inside the underground bunker. The room held a single table and was lined with survival supplies.

“It’s targeting us. Whatever this signal is, I’ve been able to isolate the radius here.” He pointed to that triangled coordinates. 

Nick Fury took the map and squinted his good eye at it. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding.” Stark Tower, Wayne Enterprises, and the Xavier Institute of Gifted Youths. While that was a large radius, it was no coincidence. Whomever was sending this, they were intentional about it. 

“I’m not sending anyone into deep space blindly.” He stated and slid the map back to Rush. “Have your men send a probe, we’ll go from there.” 

“What if I take a crew myself? Sir, I’ve been running this data, I don’t think it’s a hostile.” Dr. Rush countered.

Nick Fury stood and grabbed his coat, effectively ending the discussion from there. “Out of the question.” He stopped and turned back, “As a friend, please take my advice. Take a few days and get some sleep, call me if you need anything.” His stern tone softened with sincere concern. He could see the dark circles, the way his pants hung on his hips, he’d lost a lot of weight. Dr. Rush wasn’t dealing with his wife’s death. He drowned himself in his work and closed the world out. 

When Nick Fury left, Dr. Rush left behind him and went home. He cursed under his breath, he didn’t understand. His instincts told him this was a signal for help, or something-- someone calling to them. He couldn’t ignore it. A probe would take too long, even with their hyperdrive technology it wasn’t fast enough. A year could be the difference between tracing the signal and losing it forever. His heart slammed in his chest as he sped down the open highway. 

“Doctor.” 

He looked in his rearview mirror, then behind him seeing nobody in his back seat. Rush rubbed his eyes, he was hallucinating. Surely he was hearing things. His heart kept racing, unable to slow it down. Black spots filled his vision.

“Doctor.”

 The voice boomed in his head, jerking him awake just as he swerved into the opposite lane. He jerked his car back in to the right lane and pulled off the road. He stopped and rested his head against the steering wheel. Within moments Rush drifted in and out of sleep. He had to get home but his body was crashing. 

[denimbex1986]

'In the realm of cinematic brilliance, few actors possess the captivating range and depth that Cillian Murphy effortlessly embodies. With the release of Oppenheimer, it feels like a good time to reflect back on just some earlier brilliant Cillian Murphy roles, for those that might be unfamiliar with them. From the early days of a zombie-infested London to the cosmic depths of space, Murphy’s performances have etched themselves into the annals of film history. Join us as we delve into some of his most remarkable roles, each a testament to his artistry and ability to bring characters to life in ways that linger in the hearts and minds of audiences worldwide.

Jim – 28 Days Later (2002)

For many, this might be their first exposure to Cillian. If you love zombie movies they just don’t get much better than 28 Days Later. In my opinion, the movie is one of the absolute best films within that genre. After waking up in a hospital with no recollection of what’s happened, Jim (Cillian Murphy) starts to make his way through a ravaged London. Cillian Murphy’s introduction in 28 Days Later is unforgettable. The first thing most think of is Jim walking across an empty Westminster Bridge. it’s an impressive shot, considering that it was done for real. Backed by an outstanding soundtrack from John Murphy, and directed by Danny Boyle, Jim’s quest for survival is a savage one.

Tommy Shelby – Peaky Blinders (2013 – 2022)

Peaky Blinders shows us the criminal life of the Shelby family during the early 1900s. At the heart of it is Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy). Tommy is a very determined character intent on building a criminal enterprise. Tommy’s enterprise eventually, thanks to greed, expands outside of just his hometown of Birmingham. Tommy is ruthless and often puts his business before his family, which can be a really tough watch. Traumatized by his time in World War I, Tommy comes across as quite cut-throat, and relentless. Ironically his one weakness is his family.

Cillian constructively balances all of these heavy themes throughout the series. Told over six seasons, with a corker of a cast (Tom Hardy, Paul Anderson, Helen McCrory), Peaky Blinder is considered by many as Cillian’s finest acting role. I can believe that claim too as he’s had so much time to actually live and grow with the character. Like Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, it’s hard to imagine anyone else portraying Tommy Shelby. Peaky Blinders was created by Steven Knight,

Capa – Sunshine (2007)

Sure, Cillian Murphy has worked on a stack of movies with Christopher Nolan. After the success of 28 Days Later, Cillian once again teamed up with Danny Boyle, and this brings us to Sunshine. Once more backed by composer John Murphy, Sunshine is a claustrophobic trip towards the center of the sun. Why you ask? Well, the sun is dying. A team of astronauts packs a colossal bomb on their ship, the Icarus II. They do this in hopes of reigniting the sun back to its full strength and potential. Cillian does a superb job at keeping Capa grounded in the first act of the movie. Cillian the calm and concentrated character in the situation. However, the closer they get to the sun, the more Capa is horrifically tested. Capa is pushed to his limit, and Cillian captures that whole progression with ease. We are only “stardust” indeed…

Cillian has been featured in a diverse list of simply amazing projects, and these three outings are just the tip of the iceberg. From Inception, Batman Begins, Red Eye, and that project I haven’t named which you’re thinking of right now.

Cillian is having an impressive run, and after Oppenheimer, we can’t wait to see what he will do next...'

[revrads]

These ones are special! I tried redrawing some scenes from @themurdochmemesteries 's Enterprise x The Immortal crossover fic!

Go read the fic y'all!! :D

Also bonus hehe >:)

[emryslikefrombbcmerlin]

The Fabric of society- What are we made of?

The fabric of society- what is the fabric of society? 

The social customs, practices, habits, rituals, etiquette, protocols, and similar interactions comprise the core behavior of a particular society.

These could be formed from religious beliefs, laws, even weather, or “always been that way.” It could be seen in clothing styles, common foods, greetings, sports, music, gestures, phrases, and a multitude of other things which usually go unnoticed.

It's all the things that people quietly share with each other and accept as being a part of the community.

The common norms that allow the coexistence of people. The idea clothes are not just for occupying hangers and filling closets. The idea is that money is how you pay for things, not poems. The idea is that certain behaviors are expected to be observed.

“Social Fabric” is the relationships and connections we make with one another; making us all a part of the common thread of society as a whole.

The social fabric is maybe the most important part of our society. The family is also the strongest of human institutions which holds together the fabric of society with bonds of sharing and caring. Within this broad umbrella, the board does much, specifically designed to encourage local enterprise and the social fabric of society.

Humans are the fabric of society. Their interactions, their relationships. So what are WE made of then? If we are the fabric? What is our fabric of being?

Culture, religious beliefs, interpersonal interactions, behaviors, our families, friends, and moral expectations all contribute to the fabric of society. Since humans and our core nature construct that of our society, the question remains, what are we made of? 

Now the easiest route I could've taken would've been to say that the fabric of society has multiple threads that make it up as a whole and the most important thread would be the social fabric. The fabric of all relationships and interactions with another human. Family is the most important of all relationships as well as the strongest, thus having the largest impact on the fabric of society as a whole. Multiple factors come into play that make it the most important, such as learned behavior, culture passed down in families, and traditions and values taught through the family. 

However, I didn't choose this route because it's right on the nose and I'm sure many people will have touched on it already. I've always spoken about individuality and how important it is. Now I want to speak about humans as an individual being part of a larger spectrum. Just one drop of water in that of a vast ocean, and what we all have in common.

The fabric of society is woven and kept together by the individual strands, humans. So the next question we have to answer is- “ What are we (humans) made of? “.

Many pieces of literature throughout history have stated that humans are made of balance, in a metaphorical sense. It's common to see the statement “Humans are made of war, of death and deceit. Humans are made of Justice, life, and beauty.”. Two opposing traits are always used to describe humans. Balance. 

Science describes humans as made of atoms, elements. Stardust. “For decades, science popularizers have said humans are made of stardust, and now, a new survey of 150,000 stars shows just how true the old cliché is: Humans and their galaxy have about 97 percent of the same kind of atoms, and the elements of life appear to be more prevalent toward the galaxy's center, the research found.” writes Elizabeth Howell. 

So, what exactly is stardust? According to science, stardust is made of particles remaining from a supernova explosion; you are made from matter from the Earth, you are made of stardust from old supernovas. Stars won't shine forever. Like ourselves, and every other living being, the stars are born, they live, and they die.

Considering that society is described as all interactions, I propose the notion of human touch. Humans touch everything, physically and emotionally. Touched is what we say when we feel deeply, and similarly, we touch everything around us.

[charliethomascoxuniverse]

Boardwalk Empire’s’ mystery IRA man Charlie Cox

IRISH CENTRAL  By CAHIR O’DOHERTY (X)

...As the ongoing story of Nucky Thompson, the undisputed ruler of Atlantic City who was equal parts politician and gangster unfolds this season, we’re introduced to a brand new Irish character played by British newcomer Charlie Cox.

Cast as a young and possibly on-the-run former IRA man from Belfast (we’re not going to say if he is for certain, and neither is Cox because that would be considered spoilers) Cox’s new role is the biggest professional boost of his young career – and it may well be thanks to his pal and sometime mentor Robert De Niro (the pair starred together in the romantic fantasy Stardust a few years back).

But as an uppercrust Englishman in an Irish role, the first question is how did he learn the Belfast accent?

“I have friends from Ireland and I mimicked them a little bit to begin with for my first audition,” Cox, 28, tells the Irish Voice from his parents’ home in France (where’s he gone to recover from Boardwalk’s punishing production schedule) this week.

“I also watched The Commitments over a dozen times, and when I got the invite to audition in New York I discovered that the character came from Belfast, so then the pressure was really on.”

Cox did what any enterprising young actor desperate to find a completely different Irish accent in a pinch did -- he Googled the Internet. Eventually, via the iTunes music store, he found a link to a Christian evangelical website made in Belfast and he created his accent in the show based on what he heard.

“From that podcast I found a perfect Belfast accent and I now know more about Jesus than I ever thought I would,” laughs Cox, who in his personal life is a British public school boy with a Catholic background.

“Of course I also researched the kind of life he might have had and the strife he would have known in the Ireland of that period. Believe it or not I also read Angela’s Ashes -- which is a remarkable book -- and I realized how arriving in Atlantic City where literally anything was possible must have blown my character’s mind after the life he had led up to that point. I keep that inner tension and awareness burning all the way through the new season.”

Cox is under a blanket ban from the shows producers not to reveal too much about his character’s personal arc in season two because they don’t want the Internet to light up with spoilers spread by obsessive fans of the show.

“What I can tell you is that he is very concerned with what’s going on in his homeland and that there’s a reason he stays around Atlantic City, although he could conceivably return to Ireland at any time,” Cox offers.

Fans of the epic series may be surprised to know how close to filming time the scripts for Boardwalk Empire actually arrive. If you thought the entire season was written and in the can before the first cameras rolled you’d be quite wrong -- often actors learn their characters fate just a few weeks before they shoot the scene.

“That kind of schedule keeps you fresh as an actor, and it means that you don’t get complacent about what’s going to happen to the person you’re playing. But the whole of acting is the same. You’re just one step away from your next job or your last one and that awareness should stop you from becoming conceited or complacent,” says Cox.

Right now as the final edits of the second season are still being cut, Cox doesn’t know what will happen to the majority of the other characters in the show. With a production this big it’s impossible to keep tabs on everything that’s happening unless you’re the producers or the writers -- and they’re famous for keeping all that information to themselves.

Meanwhile for Cox, the opportunity to act alongside a legendary director like Martin Scorsese and actors like Steve Buscemi is both exhilarating and nerve wracking.

“All actors at some level want to be acknowledged for what they do and I’m no different,” says Cox. “It’s exciting to think that this may lead to other opportunities but I’m not going to get carried away by it.”

“People told me I’d be on easy street back in 2007 with Stardust and that didn’t happen. The fame and fortune thing is nice as far as it goes, but it used to be you got famous because you were talented and that’s not quite the case anymore,” he adds sensibly.

Cox shies away from any further plot scoops into his upcoming season, but he will happily admit that he researched the activities of the IRA unit founded by Michael Collins that was known as The Squad or the Twelve Apostles.

These men, hand picked by Collins himself, acted mainly as assassins and they targeted policemen, collaborators, civil servants, MI5 members and most famously the so-called Cairo Gang (a British intelligence group who had formerly served in the Middle East).

“I was fascinated to learn about the history of that period, and it really brought my character’s own background to life for me,” says Cox.

“Once you start delving into that you get a real sense of the period and the stakes in play. And I have to mention the costumes and sets. They’re so well done and so meticulously researched they do so much of the work for you.”

As a lifelong rugby fan with his own seats at Twickenham, both Cox and his father thought they might have taken the research into Ireland too far when they started cheering the Irish rugby team in its match against Australia recently.

“My dad was suddenly standing up and shouting, ‘Come on Ireland -- I mean England!’ at the television and we both started to laugh at the level of involvement. Maybe this character has taken over our lives.”

~*~

[hailbop1701]

WIP UPDATES: A BRIEF Summery

Star Trek:

Starfleet Investigative Service Fic - DoomTrek (I dunno how that happened but it did) Bones/FemOC. The Enterprise gets an agent afloat! Bone's thinks she's way too good at her job.

Stardust and Desert Winds - Papa Bones finds an orphan Vulcan. What else is he going to do?

The Roommate Files: Pandora's Box - Working on Chapters 4-7 of my librarians/Indian jones mystery type thing. Don't ask me to explain it. Chapters 1-3 have already been posted. On Ao3 Here

Personal Log Series: McCoy's Log throughout well, everything starting during the Academy.

Wild Horses - Started as a present-day western au and turned into a present-day western supernatural au. I have a supernatural kick going that I don't know how to stop.

Hollow Castle- I am working on chapter seven and trying to not hate myself. Thank you for your patience. 🖖 Ao3 Link Here

Keyword Drabbles - I have several in the works and the muse only comes around so often. She's a hot mess forgive her. Ao3 Link Here

Almost Human:

No Title (Yet)- Kennex Vs. the Matrix but more deadly stay tuned.

Some kind of story - Kennex saves girl but really girl saves kennex and he's salty about it. She's then salty-er.

Keyword Drabbles: See above ^

Hawaii Five-0:

Ideas that could be - A series of what could be fics that I may or may not continue...

Prompt Drabbles - It comes to me when it comes to me. Drabble 1 and Drabble 2

Supernatural fic #1: Danno as a shifter solving crime. It's complicated and still in the planning stages.

Supernatural fic #2: Because I couldn't decide between shifter Danny and Six Sense Danny I'm doing both like the masochist that I am. So this one is him seeing dead people. I guess I just love this theme.

Unknown for now - Danno saves a kid and she comes back to haunt him...in the nicest possible way.

THE BOOK

It's a Science fiction, Supernatural, and Fantasy, with a kitchen sink thrown in. I have two chapters officially done and by officially I mean the first draft and I'm working on the third....and the ending....and the middle... *Internal Screaming* it's going fan-freaking-tastic. *thumbs up*

If any of you would like to be kept updated please don't hesitate to annoy the shit out of me. My asks are always open maybe I'll get motivated. Weirder shit has happened. 🤔