#“I agree with you Ron but if we get in trouble again...I'll kill you”

[sp-growingpains]

I talked about Jean's kids so much that I had to draw them. (Technically, Ronnie's second time). Ronnie and Rowan! A little R&R if you will.

I love twins who don't look identical! They're wombmates.

[cantsayidont]

Despite its protestations of progressive values, STAR TREK media has always explicitly presented (and, with only fleeting exceptions, consistently celebrated) the Federation as an expansionist imperial power, engaged in a large-scale project of colonialism.

The usual apologia/rationalization for this, both from the franchise itself and from its fans, is that the Federation is also a post-scarcity socialist utopia. However, that is expressly not the case in TOS, despite the attempts of the later series to insist otherwise.

Indeed, the plots of some of the most famous and acclaimed episodes of TOS are specifically about resource extraction and ensuring the Federation's access to crucial resources, including lithium (in "Mudd's Women"), pergium (in "The Devil in the Dark"), and dilithium (in "Mirror, Mirror," et al). We are told repeatedly that the Enterprise has a mandate to use force to secure these resources if gentler methods fail. Moreover, while the Federation has a strategic interest in these resources, it's clear at various points in TOS that their extraction and exploitation are, to a significant extent if not exclusively, overseen by private interests for profit. For instance, in "Mudd's Women," Harry Mudd remarks:

Well, girls, lithium miners. Don't you understand? Lonely, isolated, overworked, rich lithium miners! Girls, do you still want husbands, hmm? Evie, you won't be satisfied with a mere ship's captain. I'll get you a man who can buy you a whole planet. Maggie, you're going to be a countess. Ruth, I'll make you a duchess. And I, I'll be running this starship. Captain James Kirk, the next orders you're taking will be given by Harcourt Fenton Mudd!

In "The Devil in the Dark," Kirk ultimately takes a regulatory position — he will not permit the pergium miners to kill the Horta or continue to destroy her eggs — but at no point does he suggest that stopping the pergium production that threatens the Horta is a viable or even acceptable alternative. The accord he proposes is contingent on the Horta's agreement that she and her children will support the mining efforts on her planet, since Kirk emphasizes that "a dozen planets" are depending on the miners to supply needed pergium. (What would have happened to her if she hadn't agreed is not stated, but the episode strongly suggests that she would have been severely punished for noncompliance with Kirk's mediated solution: forcibly relocated to some kind of Horta reservation away from the main mining operations, perhaps.) When the Horta does agree to this proposal, Kirk assures Vanderberg, "you people are going to be embarrassingly rich," which once again suggests that while the miners may have contractual agreements to delivery pergium to Federation worlds, they are still a private, for-profit business, not a Federation department or nationalized entity.

Profit is also Ron Tracey's motivation for breaking the Prime Directive in "The Omega Glory": He believes that he's discovered a "fountain of youth" that he can own, monopolize, and exploit, and that the value of that resource will be enough to buy his way out of legal trouble for his regulatory violations.

We mostly don't see the Enterprise crew handle money except on away missions in other cultures or times, but there are a number of indications that the Federation in this era has not abandoned money: For instance, Harry Mudd's list of past offenses includes purchasing a space vessel "with counterfeit currency," while in "The Apple," Kirk rhetorically asks if Spock knows how much Starfleet has invested in him, which Spock begins to answer, "One hundred twenty-two thousand two hundred …" before Kirk cuts him off. More tellingly, in "I, Mudd," we have the following exchange:

KIRK: All right, Harry, explain. How did you get here? We left you in custody after that affair on the Rigel mining planet. MUDD: Yes, well, I organized a technical information service bringing modern industrial techniques to backward planets, making available certain valuable patents to struggling young civilizations throughout the galaxy. KIRK: Did you pay royalties to the owners of those patents? MUDD: Well, actually, Kirk, as a defender of the free enterprise system, I found myself in a rather ambiguous conflict as a matter of principle. SPOCK: He did not pay royalties. MUDD: Knowledge, sir, should be free to all. KIRK: Who caught you? MUDD: That, sir, is an outrageous assumption. KIRK: Yes. Who caught you? MUDD: I sold the Denebians all the rights to a Vulcan fuel synthesizer. KIRK: And the Denebians contacted the Vulcans.

Whether Deneb is a member of the Federation at this time is unclear, but Vulcan certainly is, and so we may assume that Vulcan and presumably the Federation itself are also part of "the free enterprise system."

The first indication that the Federation does not use money is in STAR TREK IV, and it's not obvious there if Kirk's remark that "They're still using money" is talking about money more broadly or just physical currency, which the Federation may have phased out even if it still uses credit or electronic transfers of monetary value. (Certainly, McCoy's attempt in STAR TREK III to charter a starship indicates that he had some means of paying for passage, since the captain of the ship specifically demands more money upon learning of the intended destination.)

If we accept at face value the assertion of TNG and DS9 that the Federation has genuinely abandoned the use of money, rather than simply going cashless, the most reasonable Watsonian explanation is that this has been a relatively recent development during the 70–80 years between the TOS cast movies and TNG, most likely related to the development of replication technology (which the Federation did not yet have in Kirk's time).

Of course, from a Doylist standpoint, we could chalk up some of this incidental dialogue to the franchise's evolving construction of its own setting, in the same manner as anomalous references to Vulcans as "Vulcanians." Roddenberry and his apologists might also insist that he always meant to depict a socialist utopia, but was prevented by the nattering nabobs of negativity (i.e., the network's BS&P); I'm very skeptical of such claims, but the writers were acutely aware that depicting what Earth is like in Kirk's time would be opening a can of worms, which is why we didn't actually see 23rd century Earth (even briefly) until the movies.

However, the focus on resource extraction and its ramifications is such a load-bearing story element in TOS that the revisionist assertion that the Federation was already a post-scarcity socialist utopia in Kirk's time (as both DISCOVERY and STRANGE NEW WORLDS have attempted to claim) would require really substantial retcons of the original show, perhaps to the extent of insisting that some of those events never took place at all, or happened radically differently than what's in the TOS episodes most STAR TREK fans have seen. For me, anyway, that crosses a line from willing suspension of disbelief to "don't trust your lying eyes," and suggests a frustrating and somewhat disturbing determination to insist that TOS is something much purer and nobler than it is rather than grapple with its actual conceptual flaws and ideological shortcomings.

[theartofimaginaryfriends]

Chapter 5 - Catalyst

Fic series: The Final Straw (HP/PJO Crossover Fic)

Premise: A fight breaks out during first period.

Masterlist

Taglist: @ilvermornymascot, @lukecastellandeservedbetter

Word Count: 1,540

A/N: Back to our regularly scheduled programming! I was up all night last night working on the chapter because honestly sleep isn’t a thing anymore. I think this is my personal favourite chapter by far and yes it is absolutely because I made a “my father will hear about this” reference. Might bring that one up again, but we’ll see XD Hope you enjoy!

"What do you think it means?" Harry asked at breakfast the next day. "The prophecy. I mean, the bridge? What tether? The one I had to deal with wasn't this hard to decipher." 

"Our prophecies never mean what you think," Nova said. "Whatever the bridge is, it couldn't mean a literal bridge. Maybe it's a person. Someone that acts as a bridge to connect both sides." 

"So, you?" Percy raised an eyebrow. 

"Or, it could mean a God," she gave him a look. "Like Janus."

"I never want to deal with him again." The son of Poseidon complained.  

"You never wanted to deal with a prophecy again. Anything's possible." Annabeth said. Percy glared at her and scowled. Things hadn't been patched up between them since the previous night. "I wonder which of us will be the heroes. I hate to say it, but Percy and Harry are guaranteed to be involved." 

"It could be anyone," Hermione snapped. "Harry couldn't possibly be involved in another prophecy. Not so soon." Annabeth opened her mouth to respond until Nova held up a hand. 

"I'm going to stop both of you now before this gets out of hand." The rule Ilvermorny had about students sitting with others of different years and houses expanded to the wizards and demigods. So far Nova was overwhelmed by all the fighting happening around her and wanted to keep that at bay at her table at the very least. Especially while she was still waking up. "We should just drop talk about the prophecy for the time being. It's not helping anyone, and parts won't be figured out or revealed until the right time."

The table agreed and fell silent. Around them, were groups of students having the same conversation Nova just cut-off, or arguing with each other. It seemed that the various rooming situations either worked out really well or went very wrong. Rachel and Luna, in particular, had gotten along right away. "What's a wrackspurt?" 

Hermione scoffed, and Ron groaned at Rachel's question. Harry and Ginny, on the other hand, tried to suppress giggles. Luna's eyes lit up as she explained what they were to the redhead and barely looked up when Professor Lieberman, the Pukwudgie Head of House, handed over their schedules.  

When the Professor got around to Nova, she handed her a small envelope as well. "The Headmaster asked me to give this to you." 

"Thanks, Professor." 

After scanning the schedule, she headed to combat and duelling in the training grounds. The class had a mixture of students from all four houses, a few of which were the transfer students. She tried to mask her annoyance when she noticed Clarisse and Draco were in the class together. Something was bound to go wrong.  

The students made their way to the two professors teaching the class and listened to the introduction. "Hello, class. For those that don't know, I am Professor Sullivan, the flying and duelling instructor. I will be sharing a class with Professor Beaumont as it is vital we teach you, students, every form of fighting." 

"But demigods can't use magic," An Ilvermorny student called out.  

"And wizards don't have any weapons!" A demigod added.  

"Please leave questions and comments at the end of the lecture," Professor Beaumont commanded. The class quieted down, and the ones that were speaking out looked sheepish. "You both make good points. Although some Demigods can use magic, it is just different from the wizards."  

"Our goal in this class is to teach you how to fight against an opponent you would have never expected." Sullivan continued. "However, for today, we will have the wizards with me, and the demigods with Professor Beaumont. Is that clear?" 

"Yes, Professor," the class chorused.  

"Any questions?" 

Nova raised her hand, trying not to feel stupid. "For those of us that fit into both categories – because I know I'm not the only one – where do we go?" 

"Fan of flying?" Sullivan asked.  

"You know I'm not." Nova sighed.  

"Go with the demigods." The Professor smirked. "If you're not afraid of flying, you'll be with me today. If you are, join Nova." 

The groups split off, and Percy made his way next to Nova. "Flying?" 

"Yes, we can fly on broomsticks," Nova braced herself for the teasing. "No, they aren't the basic straw brooms in media." 

"I'm pretty sure I'm the first person to ask you about that," Percy mused. "And yet, you already sound annoyed." 

"I know you well enough to know that I'm aware I'll never hear the end of it," she rolled her eyes. 

"You two!" Professor Beaumont interrupted their banter. "Have something to share with the rest of the class?" 

"No," they said, sheepishly.   

"Great, then I'm going to assume you were listening to instructions," Cassia said. "I don't care who you partner with, just try not to kill each other." 

"Frank, what were the instructions?" Percy leaned over to his friend.  

"Get into groups of two, and practice combat," he told them. "We have an uneven number, though." 

"We could be a group of three?" Nova suggested. "Take turns fighting each other. Third person watches and dictates who wins each round." 

"Sure, why not," Percy shrugged, grabbing his pen from his back pocket. "You and me first, Nova? I miss training with you." 

"You’re on, Jackson," she removed a bronze hair clip and flipped it to reveal Harpe. Percy got into position facing her, and uncapped Riptide. Nova was a bit nervous facing off against Percy. He was the only one able to match Luke in a fight when they were twelve, and she remembered it well. He was skilled, and Nova planned to give him a real challenge.  

The demigod made the first move, almost losing his balance when Nova dodged him. She moved forward, forcing Percy to back up from where he stood. She managed to stay in control of the fight until Percy deflected her blade, and forced it out of her hands. Grabbing the hilt, Percy shrugged and tossed it back to her. Nova easily caught it, and they continued on.    

They parried for quite a bit, neither of them willing to give up. Weaving through the other teams, they swiftly moved across the grounds and stayed evenly matched with one another. Without realizing it Nova and Percy had moved closer to the castle walls. The roles of offence and defence were switching between them constantly. It was as though they were silently communicating as they continued to train.  

Percy was offence when he realized they were closer to the castle and saw it as an opportunity to overtake Nova. He maneuvered their fight so that her back was against the wall, and rested his blade against her throat. His left arm braced against the wall right above her head. "You know if you don't apply pressure, I could easily get out of this hold."  

"If I drew blood, I'd get in trouble," he replied. "And seeing as you have an advantage, why not use it?" 

"Catching my breath, I suppose." Nova lied, blushing.  

"We could stop the fight here." 

"What would be the fun in that?" 

"Touche-" 

"BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU THROW THAT THING!" Nova's attention moved from Percy to the students up on brooms. Draco was descending from his position and angrily marched up to Clarisse who had gone to collect her spear.  

"Better go deal with this," Nova groaned.  

"Clarisse may not listen to you, I should help." Percy insisted, moving away from the wall to let her go.  

"She won’t listen to anyone but Will," Nova shrugged. "Go train with Frank, I'll be fine." 

The Head Girl made her way to the two, as they began a shouting match. "I should be allowed to throw my spear wherever the hell I want, Pretty Boy." 

"And I should be able to have a friendly competition with my classmates without worrying about being killed!" He argued back.  

"Dude, a bludger has the potential to kill you," Nova intervened. "I get your point, but think realistically. Wizard sports are about as safe as weapons." 

"No one asked you!" Clarisse and Draco chorused.  

"Yeah, I don’t care," she crossed her arms. "Here's what's going to happen. Clarisse, you're going to throw your spear in any direction away from the wizards. Malfoy, your father will not hear about it, so shut up and stop being dramatic."  

Both parties stared at her completely speechless, Clarisse reeling in anger. Draco just looked shocked, not having said that phrase since his fifth year at Hogwarts. Harry tried to suppress his laughter as the crowd watched, but failed. "Seriously, Potter?" 

All the Chosen One could do was nod, too busy laughing to say anything. Everyone stood around awkwardly, not sure what was so funny. "Thank you, Nova, but we'll take it from here." 

Nova stepped back, and let the professors talk to the two of them and sort something out. "Since it's the first day, I won’t give either if you detention. However, I will deduct ten points each from Horned Serpent and Wampus."  

"Professor!" Draco whined.  

"Five more points!" Sullivan snapped. "Now get back to your activities and no more arguing for the rest of the period."