#C'mon Kirk they're not all that bad

[chiropterx]

💋 - hug, cuddle, kiss (Belost, Rethan, Silixus)

THREE (3) CHOICES

Send an emoji below + three (3) different characters / muses that my muse must pick from! Some choices are considered ns / fw

"You... you guys are..." Aliens. The word is left unsaid, hanging off the end of Kirk's tongue but the awestruck expression never leaves the man's face as he surveys the aforementioned three standing before him. They were all very... big, almost certainly a warfaring race if that armor was anything to go by. Lord, what had he gotten himself into this time?

And such choices! The first alien that spoke had to be at LEAST 7'0 tall! Kirk had to crane his head up just to see his face and he was sure the other two were even bigger, with chests that made his entire body look like a matchstick.

One of them had a... prosthetic eye? Silixus, the first alien had named him. Kirk peered closely; his scientific curiousity could never be appeased and while he was no technician, the prospect of studying alien technology proved hard to resist. He'd always dreamed of overcoming debilitating conditions, and sight was as precious as hearing. "Uhh... I'd hug Silixus, I guess?" Yeah, hug. That would do. The first alien, Belost, seemed the most affable one with a boyish grin across his youthful purple face. The last one though, Rethan... oh god, was he a serial killer? A mercenary? Kirk had no idea, and it was more daunting not knowing if these gestures would be taken badly but that Belost fellow... well, it couldn't be THAT bad if he'd suggested it. Fuck it. He'd risk a quick peck to Rethan's mask, and Belost seemed like he'd be most likely to tolerate prolonged contact in a cuddle.

[anxiously-going]

Mirror Image

This is part of draft for the AOS Mirror!verse I started back in January 2019 when I first started writing fanfiction.

Leonard McCoy readjusted the bag hanging from his shoulder for the tenth time before punching in the code to his home for the next four years. The door slid open to reveal a simple living room with a kitchenette to one side with a short hallway that led to one of the two bedrooms and a door opposite that for the other room.

He had never particularly cared for the mild fame his family had back home, but it certainly came with its privileges. Namely, getting more of an apartment than an ordinary dorm room. Even having to share the space wouldn't be so bad since there were separate bedrooms.

Len walked down the hallway to stake his claim on the furthest room. He hadn't been particularly eager to be at the Academy, but his mother had insisted and gone through all the effort to get him in on good standings, so turning up early to make sure he got the room he wanted was a small prize.

His bags hit the ground with a dull thud when the door closed behind him. He fell back against it with a small sigh.

So this was it. A bed sat in the middle of the room. To one side a closet, to the other a bathroom, and just at his elbow a dresser. His new home.

Vaguely he wondered how Jocelyn was enjoying having the house to herself. An ache started in the middle his chest and spread from there at the thought of her. He had tried convincing his mother that a simple life, in the family clinic, with a family of his own could be an honorable thing. Besides, he needed to be there for her. He couldn't leave her alone after his father's death.

But she would hear none of it. Her father and brothers had serviced in the Imperial Fleet, and so would her son.

It was a shame that Jocelyn wasn't interested in long distance relationships. She'd handed him the divorce papers along with his acceptance letter into the Academy.

Len nearly fell backward when the door swished open behind him, but a pair of hands pushed him upright and held him steady.

"Guess I'm not the first one in the dorm."

Len turned to find his apparent roommate giving a lopsided smile and offering a hand "James Kirk, Command."

"Leonard McCoy, Medical." He shook the young man's hand firmly.

"I guess you just got here too?" James asked gesturing to the bags on the ground.

"I did," Leonard confirmed. "But I'm not moving. And you're not in command yet so don't expect me to follow any kinda orders."

James chuckled. "That almost sounded believable. I'm gonna hold you to that 'yet' part though." He hoisted his bag onto his shoulder and turned and walked away.

"Hey, Doc," James called down the hall. "Dinning hall's open, you comin'?"

Leonard wore a look of bafflement as he met his roommate in the common area. "You're James Kirk."

James arched a brow at the man. "Last time I checked, yeah. And you're Leonard McCoy. Only surviving doctor of an outbreak in Georgia last year." Len bristled at the mention of home. "You're not the only one who can run a name search, pal," James finished brusquely. "People are gonna ask about it. You'd better get used to talking about it."

"It's not their business," Len answered sharply.

"They're not gonna care. You're mildly famous for it. People are gonna talk. Especially the other med students. I've got an idea," James waggled a finger at the doctor. "Follow me."

"I know where the dining hall is, Kirk," Len rolled his eyes.

"We're not going to the dining hall. You like cheeseburgers?"

Leonard followed James across the campus and into the library. "What are we doin' here?"

"Emergency exit," James answered.

"Don't those normally set off alarms?"

"Not this one." He popped the door open and ushered Len to the outside. "Welcome to San Francisco."

Leonard arched a brow. "How do you know how to sneak off campus after only one day here?"

"Family secret," James smirked. "C'mon, let's go get dinner."

Len followed uncertainly.

"When the Empire landed on Tarsus there were nine of us that survived the execution order," James started conversationally as they headed down the sidewalk. "When I heard who was on the list, and that it included me, I pulled as many of the kids as I could. It wasn't many. But the order was to be carried out immediately so I didn't really have a lot of time. The youngest was four. I held him so he wouldn't cry when we hide with the bodies when they came through to take a count. Tom and I kept the others hidden. Tom stayed with the kids and I'd go out and scrounge for whatever food I could. It was two weeks before help came. The Empire basically recruited Tom and I right out of the hole they dug us out of. They took our kids away and shipped them out without ever telling us where they went. I still don't know where most of them went. Tom... I don't know what happened to him either. I was told he washed out. Pike tried to help him like he helped me, but he just couldn't reach him. I nearly washed out for that matter, but Pike, well, he wouldn't let me go. He took me under his wing, defended me against everyone trying to get rid of me, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him."

"Why're you tellin' me this?" Len asked wearily.

"People are going to ask what happened in Georgia. It's just gonna happen. And you're going to be expected to talk about it like it was nothing, like it was an accomplishment. Because it was. You saved a lot of lives, McCoy. But you can't sound like it affected you."

Leonard scoffed. "Sure. I only watched half the town hospital die. Who's gonna be affected by something like that?"

"The attitude is a great defense mechanism, but someone's gonna see through it and then you're gonna be in trouble."

Len halted. "What do you care anyway?" he demanded, throwing out his arms.

"Because I get it," James answered calmly.

"Oh you 'get it'?" Len scoffed incredulously.

"Yeah, I do."

"Enlighten me."

"You're angry. Here's this young kid, who doesn't know the first thing about what you went through, telling you to pretend like it was nothing. Not only that, but he has the audacity to congratulate you for surviving something you had no business surviving. And if you were honest with yourself, you probably didn't even want to survive. But here he is pretending to get it, pretending to understand. Pike did the same thing to me. Except, y'know, it was some old guy who didn't really care. And at first I hated him for it. I gave him a bloody nose for it, actually. Look, you can hate me all you want, you can even punch me for it. But I'm warning you now, the way that he warned me. You will not last here, if you let it show how it affected you. I'm not saying, 'don't be affected' that's impossible. I'm saying, 'don't let them see it'. You cannot let it show. Because if you do, they'll either kick you out, or worse. They'll let you stay and let someone else tear you apart and make an example of you." James waited a minute, hoping Leonard was taking in his words, before speaking again. "Look. We don't know each other. That makes it hard to listen to a thing I say, but I'm telling you now because Pike waited with me, and I nearly got sent away. And, yeah, maybe I'd be on a better course, but I would've lost Chris. And I don't know what I'd be without him. You're drifting. The Empire is…far from perfect, but it is an anchor. And you need that right now. Or you're gonna find yourself in worse trouble."

Leonard slumped against the wall of the shop they had stopped in front of with a sigh. "I don't even want to be here."

James arched a brow. "I would never have guessed. How'd you end up here then?"

"My mother wanted me here a long time ago. Was my plan to take over the clinic one day though, so I stayed home. I wanted to stay even more after… She needed someone to take care of her. But she started talking to my uncles who'd served and their friends... I never even filled out an application. Just got an acceptance letter in the mail and was out the door a week later."

Jim nodded slowly and began walking again. "Sounds like a rough year."

"Year to the day," Leonard agreed and fell into step next to him. "One year ago today Michael Thompson walked into the E.R. with what we thought was just an sinus infection. Six months later…" He shook his head. "Nearly every patient I'd worked with that ended up sick was dead. And two of the other doctors there were sick. Three months after that all our patients were dead and me and couple nurses were the only ones not sick. At the end of the fourth month it was all over. Me and two others survived. Everyone else who stepped into that hospital during those ten months was dead."

"Sounds like survivor's guilt."

"I minored in psychology, kid, but thanks for the eval."

"You did do a lot of good though. You know that, right?"

"I know the media only tells half the story," Len answered quietly.

[lesbeamofsunshine]

okay Strange New Worlds rant ahead:

they made Spock and T'Pring a Romance when it absolutely was tf not in TOS, it was explicitly an arranged marriage neither of them wanted, ASIDE FROM THE FACT THAT SPOCK IS CLEARLY GAY, and I don't like that it looks like they're headed toward a story where T'Pring is unfaithful. that's not what the ka'le'fe or whatever it was called in TOS was about, it was T'Pring choosing Ston over Spock, yes, but it was her right. and don't get me started on that "Spock, are you naked?" "No, but he was about to be" scene. that was horrid. completely un-Vulcan. AND since Spock and T'Pring had an arranged marriage obviously T'Pring's mother can't be against their engagement. what do these fuckers think an arranged marriage is??

and I hate that they made Spock and Christine an actual thing. like yeah she was kind of in love with him on TOS but... ASIDE FROM THE FACT THAT SPOCK IS CLEARLY GAY... would they really have had a romance? really? do they really think that could be a thing at all for any amount of time? c'mon.

and I think it's funny how many times Christine has almost died. it would be funny if they did just straight up kill her off one episode bc they might as well with how non-canon this show has been so far

I HATE TIME TRAVEL I HATE IT SO MUCH. this is a problem in other treks as well; they're like "wouldn't it be fun if Starfleet officers went back in time to Our Time and it's just like it really is now?" and the answer is yes but also no. no because to do that you have to ignore your own canon, like the eugenics wars of the 1990's. somehow through the power of time travel across multiple shows they've changed the decade of the eugenics wars in Star Trek canon and I am bitter about it. like how do you justify that in TOS the eugenics wars were said to be in the 1990's when in SNW Khan Noonien-Singh wasn't born yet then? I just really hate time travel. no one gets it right, with the exception of Back To The Future. like sometimes it's fun but mostly it just fucks everything up. butterfly effect anyone? no? that means nothing to you? don't get me started on Picard season 2 either ay ya yai.

also it kinda sucks that the Kirk brothers are played by different actors. I think it was funny that Sam Kirk was just Willy Shatz in a moustache. (Willy Shatz is what I call William Shatner in my head.) tbh I don't think the casting for either of them is right. like idk I just think it's probably hard to find someone to match Willam Shatner's energy but I don't think they nailed it. also, in every iteration of James T. Kirk that is not William Shatner, the guy is either too blond or not blond enough and in this case he is not blond enough. it seems like it should be a small thing but to me it's a big thing.

they also totally fucked up nurse Chapel's character so bad it's not even funny. like in TOS she has a very classy, elegant personality but in this she's like. what is even happening. how did they mess up so bad. like I don't even know how to describe it. not that a character with SNW Christine's personality is bad, it's just not anything like TOS Christine.

okay rant over for now