#we are mindmelding get in

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

Human Sayings Jake Sully Tries to Bring to the Na’vi Accidentally (imagine these all in Na’vi all janky as fuck):

-Jake, during a war council meeting: you win some you loose some. 

Tarsem, nodding sagely: This is very wise, Jake Suli. 

-Jake: Lo’ak will be back before eclipse, Eywa willing if the creek don’t rise. 

Neytiri: tHE CREEK IS RISING?

Jake: Wait, no--

-Jake, before Lo’ak’s iknimaya: break a leg!

Lo’ak, tearing up: wHaT?!?

Jake: wait--

-This man is constantly knocking on wood. There’s so much wood available, he lives in a tree for God’s sake. He’s like “the hunt will be blessed today, knock on wood,” or “I think it might rain later, knock on wood,” and all the Omaticaya are so confused. 

-He called Neytiri’s medicine bag a fanny pack one time. 

-During a war council meeting: Alright, let’s table this. Revisit after dinner. 

Tonowari: You want us to attack the human fleet with tables??

Jake: Ugh, no, sorry. 

-Told Neteyam not to be “such a wet blanket” one time when he told Lo’ak not to jump down to Jake from a really high waterfall when they were little. Definitely broke his nose when Lo’ak misjudged the jump and landed on him. Definitely also got in trouble with Neytiri when the kids won’t stop calling each other wet blankets for at least a month. The wetness of the blankets ratchets up based on how mad the person is. Kiri once told Lo’ak he was a sopping blanket when he stepped on Spider’s foot. 

-Told Neytiri Neteyam tripped over a branch by saying he “ate it” once and she was horrified, mostly because why would an eight year old be dumb enough eat a branch. 

-Told Mo’at he was “feeling under the weather” once when she asked how he felt. She did not question it at all, deciding if he really wanted her to know he’d tell her in real words.

-Told Ronal he and Tonowari were going to “shoot the breeze.” Ronal was disgusted with this waste of time and resources. 

[bumblingbabooshka]

Biosuit Tuvok

[vulcanhello]

star trek the savage trade was. so much. there were implications. there were friendships. there were ten thousand unfulfilled ideas. it was not well written but it WAS a ten course meal of food for thought

the most interesting part of this book was the complexity between spock and valek which was completely disregarded even though it arguably had the most interesting stuff going on. for example; when they meet up again after over ten years

varen is her twin brother, which we’ll get to. but here she’s pretty rude towards spock, despite later telling kirk that she felt bad for bullying him/formally arguing against his existence when they were kids. which. okay. only to LATER find out she’s been amongst humans for over ten years. she even starts this little romantic thing with kirk like this

she does stuff like this multiple times. kirk as the narrator even frequently mentions how ‘un-vulcan’ her actions are

i thought it might have been heading in a direction where she also felt like her emotions were getting the better of her as a kid, maybe making her feel like spock was better than her even being half vulcan, but no. it was just about her going along with every other vulcan’s prejudice towards him. then there was this whole thing where she came to take back her opinions because she respected sarek and amanda so much, and of course once spock grew up and proved himself’ she respected him too. but like. there’s so much there. the main point made here regarding all this was that vulcans underestimated spock because obviously spock is great but he couldn’t earn respect until he proved himself in his profession. until then though it was public debate over his existence. imagine your classmate getting up and arguing you shouldn’t be alive. and the only person who’s disagreeing with her is her brother. WHICH.

next point: spock ‘when i feel friendship for you i feel ashamed’ has longtime childhood friends he still keeps in contact with? obsessed. what’s this? you’re not going to include him in the narrative? bro. varen is apparently spock’s only friend from way back and this isn’t even talked about. it’s basically just the reason why valek was angry with spock as kids but she already didn’t like him so it wasn’t like her brother and spock being friends was a catalyst. what i’m getting at is that this author put SO MANY interesting things in the story and then just didn’t use them. ACTUALLY GOING OFF THAT

obsessed when novels mention sybok. this one’s especially interesting as according to her, sybok was seen as better than spock. in the final frontier novel it went that sybok felt like an outcast already, and was noticeably more emotional than other vulcans. spock, who assimilated and became as vulcan as possible to offset being half human, was still seen as less? insanity. i just feel like there’s so much going on here talking about spock’s childhood and then when you read the end of the savage trade spock’s just chillin with ben franklin absolutely uncaring (which good for him. if i met a childhood bully who was now everything she bullied ME for? i would be ruthless. spock elects to lose to benny frank in chess multiple times so he’s above all that)

anyways there was so much the author could have done with valek because she was really really interesting but her and spock almost never interact and it ends up falling pretty flat. LOST OPPORTUNITIES, like pretty much every star trek book in existence

ok one final thing the spock and varen being vulcan lab partners thing was really cute

[findafight]

One of these days I'll write that "stobin actually are telepathic but only to each other" story where everyone makes jokes about how they can read each other's minds throughout the eight months post Starcourt so stobin THINK the others know.

They do not.

Not until they're hashing out the final plan in the RV and Steve goes "wait wait wait. Much as I hate to say it, I think Robin and I should split up."

"why?? This is a good plan!"

"well, yeah. But for one, I'm already injured and fighting vecna/Henry/one is probably going to be harder than keeping the bat things distracted, and I don't want to slow you down. TWO walkies don't work in the upside down, so the only way our groups can be in contact if I go with Dustin and Robin goes with Nancy and Eddie to defeat vecna. If something goes wrong we can let the other know."

Dustin, looking incredibly unimpressed, huffs "if walkies don't work, how are you going to let the other know, Steve? How's that work? You got a magic radio?"

Robin, who had been nodding to Steve's suggestion, says "through our mindmeld, duh. We tested how far it stretches when I went to Chicago to visit my Nonna over new years and it took like, an hour away from Hawkins to finally cut out. We'll totally be able to think at each other from across town."

And the motorhome goes silent. For a second. Then

"what the fuck do you MEAN mindmeld"

"wait, are you saying every time we joked about you reading each other's minds you actually meant it!?"

"are you telling me that not only is there a creepy evil Hawkins and a superhero girl, but also mind reading? Have you been reading my mind!?"

And Robin and Steve are befuddled because obviously?? They can read each other's minds?? (Or at least, what they send to each other) everyone has been joking about it since summer?

Apparently everyone else thought they were having eye contact conversations when they were actually having intense internal mind debates over what candies to get at the movies. Though sometimes they were just having eye contact conversations.

Anyways they switch the groups and promise to answer questions about their telepathy after everything is done even though it's not their fault no one believes them when they said "we can read each other's minds" when asked how they knew what the other was thinking back in July. No one dies.

[sleepymccoy]

Spones fake romance subplots that make me want to write normal star trek episode scripts (can you imagine?),

Spock is required to battle some alien thing, and spend the night beforehand alone under alien observation. He was injured so Kirk is desperate for McCoy to get access to him. Kirk finds out that spouses are the exception and insists that Spock and McCoy are married. They have to act married with absolutely no chance to set boundaries or communicate what they're doing beyond a hasty whisper

On some planet and they do something together that the culture accept as a proposal (walking through an archway, getting excited about the same xenobiology thing, whatev) and no matter what Spock and McCoy say the aliens believe they're newly engaged and insist on throwing a party in their honour. Kirk tells them to play along please, they're so excited and it's making things easier. Also it's hilarious.

They need to travel through alien space that requires all people in their space be married (cultural thing about single people being half a person, not able to hold a job). Spock and McCoy team up cos neither of them want to, but at least the Vulcan privacy customs will mean they don't have to PDA. Unfortunately, they keep having to attend diplomatic dinners and Kirk insists they at least compliment each other occasionally, ffs

The enterprise is in trouble for some fuckery and everyone is on their best behaviour. Spock and McCoy get caught fighting somewhere inappropriate within starfleet because they weren't paying attention to where they were walking. While getting a dressing down Spock knows the admiral telling them off is a romantic so he says that he and McCoy were kissing. McCoy, head in hands, cannot disagree or it'll make things worse. "Yep, we were making out." So they have to play a couple from then. Kirk loves it. He involves it in their trial defence.

Classic hiding from the cops on some planet behaviour and in order to give themselves an alibi for being found in a cupboard they make out. They then have to, individually in their interrogation cells, try and guess what romantic backstory the other would be spinning and do their best to match it. They do a terrible job

They go to a conference together and get cheaper tickets by applying for the travel as a pair. They put themselves down as colleagues on everything, but when they get to the cruise they're in the honeymoon suite and an attendant politely advises them to play along or they'll be bumped to the next ship. McCoy finds a way to deeply enjoy every moment until things actually get a little bit romantic and then he's super uncomfortable. Spock appears unaffected (he's very affected).

McCoy starts addressing Spock by Vulcan pet names to be a shit stirrer and some diplomat overhears it and deduces that they're secretly dating. Lots of the diplomat finding ways to leave the two of them alone, but Spock and McCoy are none the wiser and just enjoy a squabble. Ep ends with the diplomat winking at them as they all stare blankly, before being transported away

Similar, but post Katra some Vulcan assumes that Spock and McCoy were married and asks all these questions about it over dinner, but doesn't outright say it so everyone's just answering the weird questions as honestly as they can. Nothing they say makes it clear that they aren't dating until like the end of the dinner. McCoy loses his shit about it

Spock is required to mindmeld with McCoy for some plot reason, the aliens they're with think it's awesome and are like!! Can you do that on everyone!!! So cool! So Spock is like, "nope, only McCoy. Because... We're... Married?" And McCoy will always support Spock in a consent thing, and mind melds are v invasive for him, but even so. They're only on the planet for the first like fifteen min, the rest is them on the ship with McCoy making endless fun of Spock over it

Someone is hitting on McCoy but he's not keen. Lets her down easy by saying he's seeing someone. Spock wanders by as this convo is wrapping up and due to convoluted shit pretends he's the someone. McCoy is grateful, but very annoyed about how it all worked out really. But when they have a fight the lady shoots her shot again so McCoy gets like romantic about it to keep the story alive

Actually hell yeah, what's your favourite?

[t0ast-ghost]

HEY ITS ME “The Devil In The Dark” the title of episode 26 of Star Trek TOS!

Prepare thyself:

- The name Schmitter is… difficult not to find funny

- Spock inspecting the orb 

-“Every time the creature appears someone dies.” Immediately cuts to someone about to die to the creature

- yeah but you don’t have to die to radiation poisoning or asphyxiation I’m pretty sure you can just beam up and get everyone on your massive ship.. okay at least Kirk did suggest it in the end

- the orb is a baby isn’t it..

- “I have already given Dr. McCoy sufficient cause for amusement. I would prefer to cogitate the possibilities for a time.” DAMN MCCOY let Spock work

- Kinda hating on Kirk’s “I wanna get you all back to work” vibe

- wow he just sent a whole team of redshirts.. they gonna die (edit: surprisingly they do not)

- Kirk’s a little too kill happy for me

- “Should we separate?” Spock doesn’t wanna separate

- Lmao get rocked Kirk

- Spock is sooooo worried about Kirk. But in a normal, completely emotionless way, of course

- HES GINNA MINDMELD WOTH THE CREATURE?!?

- McCoy is gonna be so surprised when he sees the Horta

- Kirk asking McCoy to do impossible things moment

- “I’m a doctor not a bricklayer.” IM A DOCTOR LINE WHOA

- Bones angrily whisper yelling into his comm is priceless

- Spock crying

- OH MY GOD WHAT IS ON HIS HANDS (such a good line, at this point he probably could cure a rainy day) he looks so happy to be covered in goop

- “The Horta has a very logical mind. And after close association with humans, I find that curiously refreshing.” Bones’ reaction, he looks so offended in the background

- Spock: “She found humanoid appearance revolting, but she thought she could get used to it.”

McCoy: “Oh, she did, did she? Now, tell me, did she happen to make any comment about those ears?”

Spock: “Not specifically. But I did get the distinct impression she found them the most attractive human characteristic of all. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that only I have…”

Kirk: “She really liked those ears?”

Spock: “Captain, the Horta is a remarkably intelligent and sensitive creature with impeccable taste.”

Kirk: “Because she approved of you.”

Spock: “Really, captain my modesty..”

Kirk: “..does not bear close examination, Mr Spock. I suspect you’re becoming more and more human all the time.”

Spock: “You… captain I see no reason to stand here and be insulted.” McCoy and Kirk smile to each other as Spock walks away.

How… how do I explain this? Like what- never mind. See you next time

Masterpost

[sanguine-tenshi]

I get the whole, describing Astarion to himself being romantic and what not, but... we literally have mindmeld worms in our brains and one of the first things they do is show us our own face from someone else's eyes...

I'm just saying!

When I got the "I'll be your mirror" line I thought we would at least offer, ya feel?

[strange-destinations]

also, the hypothetical 'devo peggy-sues to the start of ethersea' fic is just a long string of devo thinking to himself 'ah yes, i will fix this thing we did wrong' and taking some sort of action that inevitably leads to everything becoming a million times worse. for example,

immediately calling the chaperones on guthrie instead of going along with his little sea portrait heist. good: beck doesn't end up orphaned! the paintings don't end up destroyed! bad: guthrie now has a major grudge against them. amber now thinks devo is a narc.

carefully checking for any sign of danger whenever they come back to Founder's Wake so they don't do the Sallow Part Two: Part Two. good: no Sallow Part Two: Part Two. bad: cambria takes the opportunity to get more creative, which nobody is ready for. amber thinks devo is weird AND a narc.

keeping zoox from mindmelding with every giant animal he bumps into. good: ???? bad: devo singlehandedly stunts zoox's entire character development arc. amber thinks devo is weird AND a narc AND massively overprotective for all the wrong reasons

confronting brother seldom very early on about You Know What: i feel like i don't have to explain why this is a bad idea and why devo should have thought it through

[whovianwatchingstartrek]

A Whovian Watches Star Trek for the First Time: Part 106 - Deep Cover within a Deep Cover

Star Trek: Discovery - Season 1 Episode 11 - The Wolf Inside

We open this episode with a monologue from Michael about her time so far in the Empire universe, and how the constant need to watch her back is effecting her. Additionally, we find out that this universe's Saru is a slave, which is sad to see, but for this universe's standards should have been expected. Also the use of a transporter as a method of execution is absolutely brutal to see.

Michael has managed to obtain the information on the Defiant, however cracking the firewall from the Shenzhou is difficult, and sending it to Discovery would be noticed.

Unfortunately back on Discovery, our crew has discovered the death of Colbert, and their immediate assumption is that in his current state, Paul did it. Sylvia has an idea to cure Paul's condition however, and takes him down to the engineering lab. Her theory is that the Spore Network is simply using all of Paul's physical resources to keep the portal between the universes open, and that a fresh dose of spores might wake him up, and she puts this hypothesis to the test.

On the Shenzhou, Michael has been given the location of the leader of the Klingon rebellion, someone called "The Firewolf" and is ordered to kill him.

In a private conversation with Lorca, Michael reveals that she is really hopeful that this rebellion could lead to a Federation like entity if it wins. It's even made up of the same mix of species as the Federation founders, just substituting Klingons for Humans. She is reluctant to go through with her orders. Her plan is to beam into the Firewolf's camp with Ash to negotiate. The pair are captured immediately after appearing, and are taken to the firewolf.

Apparently Sarek is among the firewolf's camp, and they refer to him as "The Prophet". Sarek performs a mindmeld with Michael, and sees the memories from the Federation Universe, and he clears any doubt about Michael's intentions. Michael, looking for advice on how to help with the war in the Federation universe starts asking the Firewolf questions, however a lot of the Firewolf's answers start to trigger Ash's sleeper programming, and a sword fight ensues. Sarek manages to break it up however, and continues to vouch for Michael.

Meanwhile on Discovery, Sylvia's experiment is having a positive effect on Paul, and moving the stress on his brain to some of his other organs, however it then goes wrong, and medical staff have to step in to stabilise him, but he goes braindead, albiet only temporarily. Once Tilly is alone with him, we get to see Paul's perspective inside the spore network, and we're teased with him encountering his empire universe counterpart.

Back on Shenzhou, Ash finally confesses as much as he can about his current state to Michael, and he starts to remember his true past. Apparently, he is a Klingong that was molded into a human and given false memories to infiltrate discovery. More specifically, he is the Federation Universe's counterpart to the Firewolf. He attacks Michael to avenge T'Kuvma, but the Shenzhou crew apprehend him, and Michael orders to have him Transporter Executed. As he sufficates in Space though, Discovery transport him aboard, and turns out this was partially a ruse to get the Data on the Defiant to Discovery. We're then hit with a final blow of another ship appearing to destroy the Rebels themselves, and we're hit with another surprise that apparently the Emperor is Georgiou, something which I really wasn't expecting.

I'm liking this whole corruption arc for Michael, and I thought the Ash twist was fun. It was nice seeing more of this universe, but I wish we could have spent a bit more time fleshing out the Rebels. Good episode, but I think the previous one was a bit better. Still excited to see where this goes now that the Emperor is directly involved though.

[kandisheek]

FIC REC WEEK 12 – OTHER MARVEL SHIPS

TONY/STRANGE

Of Overqualified Hands & Pi Figures by lantia4ever

Pairing: Tony/Strange Rating: G Words: 1,861 Tags: Pre-Doctor Strange, Hurt Tony, Identity Porn

Summary: After the battle of New York, Stephen is called in to work at the ER, crowded with civilians injured during the alien attack. One reluctant patient in particular is bound to make his day even worse (or maybe...just maybe...a little better).

Reasons why I love it: Stephen being amazed that there's someone in the world who can not only keep up with him but outwit him? Priceless. I love their banter so much, and the last few sentences always put a smile on my face. This fic is really fun, and I hope you check it out for yourself. Along with the rest of the series this fic is a part of, because it's amazing.

Bonded by lucifersfavoritechild

Pairing: Tony/Strange Rating: E Words: 8,552 Tags: Psychic Bond, Mindmeld, Mutual Pining

Summary: “Is it going to be like this the whole time? We’re going to hear whatever each other’s thinking?” “Not just thoughts,” Wong said. “Emotions, physical sensations, dreams. I’d advise against getting into any fights. If one of you dies, the other will too. If you’re lucky.” “This day just keeps getting better,” Tony muttered. | As a result of a spell gone wrong, Tony and Stephen form a mental link.

Reasons why I love it: Wong and Rhodey commiserating about their respective idiot friends is the funniest thing ever. It's so sweet how the bond allows Strange to be super protective of Tony, and I love the mutual pining towards the end. Also, this fic has some scorching hot smut, like holy shit, it's so good. I love this one, and I bet you will too!

No Need by surveycorpsjean

Pairing: Tony/Strange Rating: E Words: 5,554 Tags: Bathtub Sex, Romantic Fluff, Post-IW

Summary: Tony groans, “We are too old to have sex in a bathtub.” “Who said anything about sex in a bathtub?” “Me, obviously."

Reasons why I love it: I legit swooned during some parts of this fic. It's so nice to see them being soft and gentle with each other, and I especially love how Stephen takes care of Tony. Plus, the smut is hot and schmoopy and everything I love. I enjoyed this fic so much, and I bet you will too, so give it a shot.

Doctor Of The Mystic Arts by inkinmyheartandonthepage

Pairing: Tony/Strange Rating: G Words: 1,843 Tags: Kid Peter, Worried Tony, Pre-Relationship

Summary: Peter breaks his arm at school and is taken to the hospital, only the hospital forgets to call his dad, Tony. Luckily there is another Doctor who can help him get home.

Reasons why I love it: Awww, Strange is so sweet with Peter, it really warms my heart. Christine is a badass, and Tony the concerned parent is always lovely to see. This fic is fantastic, and I hope you check it out for yourself!

Embers by surveycorpsjean

Pairing: Tony/Strange Rating: M Words: 8,274 Tags: Post-Avengers:IW, Everyone Lives, Getting Together

Summary: They’re horribly different in all the best ways.

Reasons why I love it: This fic is like, the quintessential reason why I ship these two together. Their characterizations are perfect, the way their relationship develops is amazing, and the dialogue is top notch. And as an added bonus, the post-canon Avengers team dynamics are just delightful. I love everything about this fic, so if you haven't already, I hope you go and check it out!

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

I know I've been saying this in my tags, but from birth to around age three Lo'ak and Jake Sully were mortal frenemies and they both loved it secretly.

Lo'ak's throwing food at Jake and kneeing him in the dick when climbing in or out of the sleeping pile day after day like it's personal AND intentional. Tantrums begin when Jake enters a room and end when he leaves because he's aware Jake will cave and Neytiri won't put up with that shit. Anything Jake leaves near his level will go directly in his mouth, it doesn't matter what that shit is. If Jake isn't watching him constantly he will kill himself straight up. Jake asked Mo'at once if babies who are not quite yet sentient could be suicidal. If Jake leaves him alone for more than an hour he will scream until Jake comes back. Unlike Spider, who Norm complains constantly about losing cause he can silently climb anywhere, Lo'ak makes his presence known at all times. Jake just carries him around in a wrap over his chest like he's a large and inconvenient fanny pack that might try to vacuum up whatever Jake and his warriors are working on if Jake bends down too far. Jake has an x-ray saved from Norm of the time Lo'ak swallowed a whole spoon somehow.

There's a month long period after Lo'ak learns to walk where he insists they hold hands to go anywhere and he won't say why but Jake is pretty sure it's because an older kid said something mean to him about his extra fingers, so he keeps doing it even though he's become a permanent hunchback. He complains but Neytiri says he won't act like he likes Jake forever so he should treasure it. He imitates everything Jake does literally all day like the worlds smallest stalker, and Jake can barely take a piss without turning around to find Lo'ak trying to piss the same way somehow. He tells Neytiri it's too disturbing to treasure but she is not convinced.

Around when Lo'ak turns four he deems Jake uncool and begins stalking Neteyam instead (rip to that poor kid, Jake prays for him), and Jake revels in his peace and quiet for about a week until he realizes he's actually really bummed out and Neytiri was right all along and he liked it when his kid liked him.

[clonerightsagenda]

happy ace day!! any acespec hcs for the pasithea powder? 👀

HMMM I hadn't thought about it but my immediate instinct would be Moreau. I don't remember the exact details (I really need to relisten now that the whole show is out!) but we know that they had a kid with someone but are no longer in that relationship and have pretty complicated feelings about the whole thing. Also it may not be the only arospec dream but certainly AN aro dream would be to get to live with your qpp mindmeld bestie. They thought they'd unequipped entanglements from their life to make themself more streamlined and efficient but surprise! Jane Gonzalez happened to them anyway. As she has to so many other people.

[miks-fantrolls]

hit me w an example

"You've never heard of the Purple Uprising, because it never happened. Maybe you've heard of Faygo, though.

Quite a shame about the epidemic it's caused in our purple youth."

"You'll never get a straight answer out of him. Not that he would tell you the details even if it wouldn't get him killed. I'm different though and I like talking, so I'll tell you all about it.

We've all heard about the Sufferer and the mess he made on Alternia. Well, his work just keeps on cropping up again and again throughout time, it seems, wriggling its way in and out of everyone's brains and planting ideas where there otherwise might be none. Purple bloods started to think about their place in society, you know? Obviously not all of them, but just enough of them that a sort of sentiment started going around.

'Why aren't we top-dog?' they started wondering. 'We're a lot stronger. We have powers that could wipe those fish-fuckers out.'

Maybe not the most revolutionary. Honestly, the thought is more caste-specific than anything, but, for once, we start seeing some infighting in the upper-classes. These guys get tired of being third-in-command. They get hungry. They start wanting more than what they've got.

The Purple Uprising is probably one of the empire's best covered-up revolutions, if one could even really call it that. Heck, the uprising doesn't even have a true name because of how swiftly the pink-nailed hand of the Condesce slapped it down.

Seadwellers knew how dangerous a revolt could be from their subordinates and it was important to keep that caste complacent. Purples massively outnumbered violets and fuschias combined, and although I highly doubt they could ever overtake the empire completely, it wouldn't be a good time for anybody. So, Then at the slightest sign of discontent from the purples, Project Mindmeld was ordered.

Originally, the experiment had solely been studying how different substances might influence people and how that could be taken advantage of. Project Mindmeld, as it came to be referred to in lieu of "Exploration of Psychotropic Compounds for the Modulation of Psychic Phenomena in Trolls: A Comprehensive Study on the Efficacy of Pharmacological Intervention in Caste-Based Behavioral Modification," was a top-secret research initiative led by none other than Gene. Actually, it was the first project he ever spear-headed.

With the rise of clown cults and the inherent dangers posed by purple-blooded individuals, the Empire sought ways to control and mitigate their unpredictable abilities. Gene and his team developed a series of experimental drugs designed to suppress the psychic powers and erratic behavior exhibited by purple-bloods and other potentially dangerous castes.

Prior to the development of Faygo and similar substances, Gene asked himself: 'How does one control a subset of people?'

The answer, of course, was to control their youth; Get them hooked on whatever you're offering them, then never let them go."

[findafight]

If Steve MUST finish the series with a love interest/dating someone, I think they should introduce a new character for it, and they should be Vickie's super weird mindmeld bestie.

So Robin and Vickie start dating. Steve and Vickie's best friend are like hell yeah high five good game buddy *Gatorade cooler dump on each other* after successfully matchmaking like they won the fuckin Superbowl in the apocalypse.

Vickie says she's so glad Robin and Steve are just as close as if not closer than her and [best friend] because they get it, her last boyfriend thought they were freaky weirdos for some of the stuff they do, but Robin and Steve do the same! It's great! And Robin is like "omg yes I was so worried you'd be freaked out because everyone else thinks we're so weird! Like, sorry, people, you don't have a best friend like us!"

Anyways this leads to Vickie's best friend and Steve spending more time together just from sheer "our possibly codependent platonic soulmates are dating each other but we are also here" and because they are two pairs mindmeld besties these end up being what are essentially double dates that no one thinks are weird because, again, super mega platonic soulmate mind meld bestieisms. And that's how Steve and Vickie's best friend can accidentally date.

[thegeminisage]

for posterity (and so i can close the tab), i'm posting screenshots of the private skip/watch list i made for friends only - since i was too big of a dummy and didn't liveblog my initial tos watchthrough, to my ETERNAL FUCKING WOE, this is as close as i'm ever getting. sad! DISCLAIMER that i disagree with my past self on some of the skip/watch verdicts so please use the official spreadsheet (still a wip) as a guide if you're looking for that kind of thing.

of note from this first screencap: dagger of the mind, which i continue to feel normal about for no particular reason and definitely not relating to a movie with a brainwashing chair that came out in 2014. the corbomite manuever, which i dismissed at first and then came around to liking better later because of the little character moments. conscience of the king, which was actually the first trek episode i ever watched before i went back and did them all in official order (mistake, production order is better) and which of course got me into this mess. squire of gothos, which has this scene that inspired this fanfic. don't text.

it's also worth mentioning that i had to watch not one not two but THREE bad to mid episodes before i hit naked time and enemy within and then they put me right back in it with mudd's women. if i hadn't already seen conscience of the king and knew what was up i would have fucking quit. and that's why production order is superior

of note for this batch: the city on the edge of forever, in which a lot of important stuff happened, but also spock wore a little hat. catspaw, which is the first time i had an inkling of the idea that would later spawn this powerpoint (this is what "giving john crichton" means ifykyk). mirror mirror, which i didn't get until like a week later and then went insane over. metamorphosis, which made me so frothing mad it's unreal.

of note here: the immunity syndrome, which i have rewatched 60000 times for the spones. return to tomorrow, during which my eyes were dinnerplates start to finish. by any other name, which truly had so much going on including what i know in my heart was a tarsus iv reference. bread and circuses, which did indeed make me blush when bones pushed spock against the wall and spock went "really doctor?" i still can't think about it.

of note: the enterprise incident, which again caused mental illness related to the previously linked powerpoint. the paradise syndrome, which was the only amnesia episode, the first time kirk and spock mindmelded on screen, and so utterly fucking racist that all of that stuff was absolutely ruined beyond belief; i instantly moved to a google doc and to write down my mind palace version that doesn't involve All Of That. the one-two punch of the world is hollow + the empath, which made me a bones understander. the tholian web, which made me bonkers because i love a good fake death. plato's stepchildren, sections of which i had to watch through my fingers.

finally, of note for this batch: whom gods destroy, which unexpectedly brought back the brainwashing chair and excited me so much i had to pause the episode to collect myself. that which survives, bc the looney toons sfx made me scream laugh. requiem for methuselah, which genuinely induced a november 5th-like mania i didn't think i'd ever feel again. all our yesterdays, which was the worst i'd EVER felt for a space babe. and finally, turnabout intruder, which introduced "it's better to be DEAD than to be in the body of [x]" into my own personal lexicon.

ok that's everything! we have nine episodes left of tos to go back and watch before we move onto tng, but i know in my heart that tos will always be my favorite. i'll miss you tos :(

[conspiracyofequals]

i've dated exactly two people before and had this kind of relationship (ie mindmeld, hanging out forever) once and it made her miserable because she also wanted to sleep with me. i just want a best friend more than anything in the world and i keep on meeting people who want to be close to me without being my best friend. and then i stay around because i like to get under people's skin. closeness. proximity. and we all get weird about the closeness and proximity. and then they leave because while beautiful and true it wasn't what they were looking for. which sucks because i make a great best friend and a terrible girlfriend boyfriend whatever. but it's fine! the good movie kisses won't save me but the bright lights of joy and friendship will