#but the amount of rules [and contradicting rules at that] we have is KINDA insane

[spootsaline]

gotta be real i think staff is being gentle with me sometimes because they know im being stupid as hell unintentionally and trying my best

[raapija]

hi! first of all thank you for all your translations and your posts in general it truly feeds the brainworms so very well!!!

i was wondering about how people often talk about "jere from vantaa", what kind of place is vantaa?

also how hard is it to learn suomi because honestly i've kinda fallen for the language heh

Thanks!! 💚

So, Vantaa is a city that's part of the greater Helsinki region (Helsinki is our capital city). I think people that are from Vantaa often think of the as more simple and don't like getting grouped into other Helsinkians (people from Helsinki??? What are they called??). He likes to think he is just an ordinary small-city fellow, not a superstar by any means, and likes to stick to his roots and not make a big deal out of himself.

Vantaa is still an insanely big city, in Finland at least, 243 000 people is A LOT in here 😂 It's a culturally significant place with lots of museums, old churches and architecture, musical festivals, a big-ass science centre... It's now sort of fused in with the rest of the Helsinki metropolitan area, but still has a long and rich history on its own. I'm not a Vantaa expert, wikipedia probably has a way better (and more accurate) answer to that 😂

And what comes to the Finnish language... Well... It's one of the hardest languages to learn in the entire world 😅😅 It has insane grammar, crazy-long words, difficult pronunciation and worst of all, umlauts like å, ä and ö. You really have to have a burning passion for learning it, I won't lie.

The amount of grammatical cases is absolutely bonkers (14, or 15 if you count in accusative) and the rules sometimes contradict each other 😍😍 It really is a horrible language to learn, I'm so happy I'm a native so I don't have to think about it 😂 Also, there are two ways we can speak it, the literary version that is used in more official situations and then the spoken way, which is a sort of a dialect and can sound a bit different. And on top of that, there are even more dialects and regional shit HONESTLY I could talk about how bad it is for days 😂😂

Here's an iconic example of how easy our language is 💚🇫🇮

[floralgothpersephone]

Top Fave Fandoms

@akai-vampire tagged me in one of these fun little tag games. Thanks darlin! <3 <3 <3 I appreciate the thought! 

Rules:  Name your top 10 fav character from 10 different fandoms (and tag 10 people).  

Most people are putting in .gifs for each fandom... but I wrote a ... well a paragraph about my experience in each fandom instead because I am feeling some deep sort of nostalgia these days and felt like reflecting... so its all under a read more tag if you are interested in my ramblings. 

In order of my own discovery, and not importance! 

Twilight: Team Edward. don’t @ me, it was my first fandom experience and I wrote SO MUCH fanfiction before I knew it was even a thing. I published it on DeviantART thinking I was so clever, and finding fanfic dot net was WILD. My interest in that fandom was immediately crushed dead the day after Breaking Dawn was officially released and I realized I had read better fanfiction then what cannon gave me. I never even saw the movies because my interest was just gone. *shrugs* But the re-emergence of Twilight recently is giving me life. 

Teen Titans: BBRae... Then RobRae.... then RaeX.... then StarRae... then CyRae... listen.... Raven deserves all the love and attention??? Also, I was in this fandom back when the original series was being released and was in complete denial when it got canceled. And for years I was just reading fanfiction that had been completely abandoned as fanfiction authors just kinda disappeared one by one? It was like, interacting of pieces of history left behind in a void. I was still deep in the Teen Titan fandom when Teen Titans GO! Got released. So during that very very long time of zero new content, I got to re-evaluate all of my fanfiction standards and completely read most every single Teen Titan fic ever written in my thirst for more. Suddenly ships didn’t matter as much to me, I’d take anything and everything. So when Teen Titans GO! Came out, I LIKED IT AND STILL DO. I still think the years and years and years of being in the Teen Titans fandom and being pretty damn isolated from social interaction kinda ruined me for fandoms that are still alive. Social fandom interaction??? hahahahaha, whats that??? 

Akagami no Shirayukihime: Obiyuki... this was a complete accident and I only fell into this fandom because my fave Teen Titans fandom author was writing for it, and I was reading the fanfiction without ever seeing the show, and like, kinda loved these characters a TON??? Oh no??? Real talk, I read most of the fanfiction published by the fandom before ever actually watching the actual tv show or reading the actual manga. But the fanfiction was so good and so engaging and I was learning all about these characters through this mystery game of putting all the parts together by all the different authors??? I loved learning about these characters through the people who love them the most, and it was magical. But then that became my dirty dark secret as I was suddenly welcomed into one of the most kindest and generous online communities I have ever met??? I have nothing but absolute love for the Obiyuki fandom and family. I had never experienced that kind of community before and looking back on it I still don’t think it was real, stuff like that you can only dream of sometimes. I sat down and actually read that manga and Fiona sat with me so that I watched the tv series so that I could properly engage with them because I liked the people so much. And when life hit me square in the face and I had a complete mental breakdown in grad school, and socializing with people online would give me complete anxiety attacks... and I had to step away from it. But I still mourn loosing that, and I keep trying every so often to see if I can interact again but I fear some chapters just close, and I hold the time I had with it, and the memories from then very lovingly. I will finish those fanfictions though. Even though I have no idea what has happen in the manga anymore I want to at least finish those stories like what they deserve. 

Miraculous Ladybug: Love Square. Sooo much love square. All the love square. Only the softest, gentlest, most innocent fluff to cope with the world and all my anxieties, and this stupid show gave me all of that. Plus, there was so much fanfiction to choose from that I was actually able to use tags and warnings to be able to navigate finding things that were safe and not feeling like my options were limited? It was so good to me. I also had never actually watched this show, and was only reading fanfiction of it for... honestly a full year. And when I did actually watch the first 2 seasons... I still didn’t watch the new episodes when they got released, because I much prefer watching the fandom loose their collective mind and getting to play the mystery game of what the hell happened in the show according to the little spoilers and the things people were screaming about. It was fun spectating, and putting it all together. Then reading the fix-it fanfiction and being like “whoa wait, hold up CANON DID WHAT???” ... Honestly I am pretty certain I still haven’t seen at least 10 episodes. But I know everything that happened now! Have I mentioned that I have an insane amount of anxiety of actually watching tv shows on my own? I must have company or else it will never happen. Shout out to Fiona for sitting down and watching Ladybug episodes with me while I screamed into a pillow. And for the record, I did start writing a fanfiction for this one. But I learned my lesson and decided not to post anything until it was finished so I didn’t have to live with the guilt of yet another unfinished story to my name. It was a little mermaid AU, and Adrien is the mermaid princess obviously, while Marinette is a badass pirate. It was fun to outline and write like, 3 chapters but i doubt I will ever actually finish it. 

Greek Mythology: Hades/Persephone. Yoooo this is my current thing. I am living for the walking contradiction of the powerful stern Lord of the Underworld falling for a little tiny goddess of Spring... and then finding out the little tiny ray of sunshine is really a complete force of nature to be reckoned with and he just crowned her Queen of the Dead. Beautiful. Poetry. *chefs kiss*  Also. I DON”T HAVE TO WATCH ANYTHING. AND ALSO. ITS AN ANCIENT STORY SO LIKE, NO SPOILERS TO NAVIGATE. lol. But honestly this is just a re-awakening of little middle school Becca who was obsessed with the Odyssey and was learning how to throw pottery so that she could actually date her pots, to help out the archaeologists in the future. (honest to god, that one of my main motivations as a little 6th grader making her first pots on wheel) And she was making these super shitty small greek pots and giving them to her English teacher because her English teacher loved the Odessey too. And then Greece had a complete economic collapse and crushed all of baby-Becca’s dreams to get to travel to Greece and see the greek pottery. And she delt with that heartbreak by pretending it didn’t matter and went and found other cool pottery to fall in love with instead. But now its back with a vengeance and once again Becca’s plans to go to Greece got destroyed by yet another economic collapse but this one is just Pandemic style. I am going to get to Greece so help me gods.  And yes, I have written fanficiton for this one too, and its honestly like, pretty fleshed out and written down heavily in my notes. I just have to like, type it all out and polish it. But, we will see. I am not allowed to have nice things until I finish the stories that are already posted. :[ 

Hadestown: Hades and Persephone, love that made the world go round. This gets its own bullet because its a different category because its a Musical even if its also a Greek Myth. And talk about reading all the fanfiction before seeing the source material. But isn’t that the case with most Broadway musicals? LOL. But its okay, I actually went and SAW the musical for this one, and once again, Fiona joined me. I’m starting to wonder if my Fiona is just my fandom anxiety buddy. Also shout out to the Rona for canceling my plans to see it again, not once, but twice now. (I have to go back because I didn’t get to see Amber Gray perform the first time, and hello I am obsessed with Persephone she is my favorite and I really really really just need to hear Amber growl in person okay???) I do have nightmares that she has left the show for good and I will never see her perform Persephone. Like legitimately have had that nightmare multiple times this week. I am just recently trying to navigate the Hadestown fandom on tumblr and still fumbling around with that. No fanfiction for this one yet, but I am making fan-pottery so like. That counts. 

Aaaaand you only get 6 fandoms because these are the only 6 that truly matter. Anything else I have been interested in has only been a passing fancy and never one of the true hyperfixations. Also if you got this far and actually read everything, well done, I am impressed. Thanks for taking interest in my ramblings.  <3 

If I am tagging you its cause I want to play the game, don’t feel pressured if you don’t want to play. <3

@bookloverfio @ruleofexception @wingsofgossamer @claudeng80 @puns-are-funs65 @ourladyoftheundcrground @peachdoxie 

[nautiscarader]

Wars in the Stars: The Elevation of Skywalker - thoughts

So, I’ve had more than 24 hours to think about Star Wars episode IX, The rise of Skywalker, and here are my thoughts (spoilery). I should also point out, I come here as a Star Wars noob, so be warned.

It’s a mess. But at the same time, I think it’s a visually stunning and emotional one. That doesn’t automatically make it good, but the more I think about it, overall balance of my reactions is positive. There are parts of this that will divide the audience, and they might go down in history as the next midi-chlorians, I kid you not. What I’m saying is, prepare for the shitstorm, Internet. Or rather Sith-storm...

The movie starts with a lot of exposition and catching-up. Unfortunately, this takes away some of the mystery - information about Palpatine is told right in the crawl, so it lost all the subtlety laugh from the trailer, and the pacing of the first act is ridiculous. That being said, I don’t think it’s bad, it drives you in, but from purely narrative standpoint, it could use an explanation.  

Palpatine steals the show, again, and his story is clearly the most interesting, as it dives into the nature of Siths at whole. It turns out that Palpatine was indeed alive, he crawled back to a planet of the Siths, were - and here’s where the weird part begins - he set up a whole mad scientist lab to grow more siths, including Snoke. And build a new fleet of ENORMOUS destroyers, each equipped with death star cannon. He lures Kylo there, announcing that his Last Order will be destroying every Resistance planet in a day, and he needs to bring him Rey. 

That leads me to question: where did Palpatine find time to build this enormous armada? Because, in the movie, it was shown almost as if he had poofed them out of shadows with some sick Sith magic. I guess it is true, you have a lot of time during the retirement...

And meanwhile, thanks to Kylo’s fight with Rey, we also learn of Rey’s lineage... because it turns out that she is.... DUMBLEDORE’S LONG-LOST BROTHER!

Wait, no, wrong movie.

She is... sigh.... Palpatine’s grandaughter.

Yeah, this subplot really disappointed me, as it invalidated the ENTIRE idea of Rey, as shown in FA and TLJ. She was supposed to be nobody from nowhere. The message that you can achieve greatness regardless of your birthright was amazing. And now, we know it was for nothing, because Rey is the opposite of Nobody. People were speculating she was Luke’s daughter, because they were desperately trying to validate her powers, as they were unable to accept that it can be just a random person. Are we gonna learn that this broomstick boy from the end of TLJ also has some connections? Maybe he’s count Dooku’s great-grandson? Or Yoda’s cousin twice removed?

At the same time, though, Palpatine’s plot really drawn me in, as it questioned whether Siths can die at frikking all. It looks more like they can keep amassing more and more power from killing each other, Highlander-style. At first, I thought that Palpatine having a son kinda contradicted the Sith’s rule of two, as it is pretty much guaranteed that the pupil will kill its teacher, but then I remembered that way back in the prequels, Palpatine was taunting Anakin to kill him, almost wishing to die. We learn that he created Snoke, purely so Kylo can destroy him. There was also the fan theory that it was Palpatine who created Anakin, and at this point, it is almost guaranteed that he did that. So it turns out that Palpatine was playing an insanely long game. Why? because she wants Rey to take the Sith throne.

Speaking of Kylo Ren, he gets a redemption arc he didn’t deserve IMHO. He does help Rey, but his previous actions speak much much louder, making him an angry neo-nazi edgelord. And what drags him to change? His mother, connecting with him via Force, kinda like Luke did in TLJ. This, btw, saps Leia of her life. So, yeah,a single “Ben” is enough to make him realise “Oh shit, I shouldn’t have turned right and create a neo-nazi empire. My bad.” 

He does however, help Rey. In fact, he saves her life, just like she saved his before, utilising the healing powers we’ve seen in Mandalorian that was shown before its natural Saturday release window JUST so the writers can say “it’s been established!” (a whole 48 hours prior to that). And... after he brings her from the dead.... they kiss.

Yeah, not a fan of that either. I was oblivious to Reylo, as the protagonist/antagonist ships always happen, but I have to admit that their interactions, and joined actions, especially in TLJ kinda showed me why people like it... why would they overlook the fact that he, again, HAS A NEO-NAZI EMPIRE, is beyond me, though. Still, after they kiss, he dies, so, there’s that. 

There were a lot of throwbacks to the original trilogy, which will undoubtedly make a lot of fans happy, and will make equal amount of them rage by raising another “it’s a ripoff” argument. 

The humorous elements, though sparse, were great. I also loved the few interaction moments between Rey, Finn and Po, especially one quarrel they had, which kinda encapsulated their team relationship.

And I would lie if I said that the huge final battle didn’t make me smile. It was enormous, it was satisfying, it made me grip my seat’s arms, as the fat could switch at the very last second. It was Star Wars, plain and simple. 

So, yeah, despite its many, many flaws I begrudgingly give it a thumbs-up, but it is damn close to the down one. Out of all of the three new sequels, this is certainly the weakest for me. Which is a shame, because as I said, it has raised a lot of very interesting ideas I wish were established or planned, and then developed earlier. Which is weird, given that now the movies are in the gloved-hands of a corporation that has...

 Yeah, I had to add it. Again, Palpatine’s back, yo for his final performance, and he’s the best. 

[deathishauntedbyhumans]

Into You-A Spirk RP

Stranger: Are you nuts? There's /nothing/ going on between Spock and I. -JTK

You: ...right. So you're telling me that the fact that you and the hobgoblin having eye sex in front of the entire bridge on the daily is just a coincidence? Excuse me for living, but I don't believe you. LM

Stranger: Okay, first of all- who says 'eye sex' anymore? Second of all, we haven't been having any kinda sex at all! Nothing. Zip. Vulcans don't have eye sex. -JTK

You: Tell that to the one on board your ship, because I don't think he's gotten the memo. LM Also, I say eye sex. Who doesn't say eye sex anymore? Is that not a thing you young and hip kids say? LM

Stranger: That's definitely /not/ something us hip and young kids say. How're we having eye sex? What's that even mean? -JTK

You: Are you seriously telling me you haven't noticed the way you two stare at each other? If I didn't know Vulcans were touch telepaths, I'd think he was trying to climb into your brain and live there. LM

Stranger: That's soooo not true. I look at everyone! I look at you all the time. -JTK

You: Yeah, but you don't look at me or anybody else the way you look at Spock. You two just... stare at each other. All the time. LM You spend more time with him than anybody else on the ship. I know the two of you spend your off hours together. Everyone's seen you in the rec room playing chess. LM

Stranger: ...Yeah, playing chess! Chess isn't sexy. Plus, there's not a whole lot to do around here. Y'know? -JTK

You: Chess is probably foreplay to a logical guy like Spock. LM Look, kid. All joking aside, I've seen the way you look at him, and I've seen the way he looks at you. Even if you insist there's nothing going on, that's not going to change that fact that you look at him like he's your world, and he looks at you like you're the sun he orbits around. LM

Stranger: [Delayed] C'mon. He doesn't look at me like /that/. -JTK

Stranger: He looks at everyone like that! -JTK

You: He absolutely does NOT look at everyone the way he looks at you. No way in hell would he ever look at me with that same lovesick puppy expression he gives you, Jimbo. LM

Stranger: He does /not/ give me a 'lovesick puppy' expression. Spock doesn't even /make/ expressions like that. -JTK I mean, he dated Uhura for over a year and he never fawned. -JTK

You: I don't know what he had with Uhura. That ain't my place to judge. But Jim? He definitely makes expressions like that when you're around him. LM

Stranger: You're ridiculous. -JTK Aren't Vulcans, like...all straight? -JTK

You: Hardly. As far as I know, Vulcans form bonds based on telepathic compatibility and a load of other logical junk. I've never seen gender as one of the deciding factors in anything I've researched. LM

Stranger: Well...I don't know! I just figured bonding was all about reproduction. -JTK Plus, if he was into me, he'd just tell me. -JTK

You: Despite what they want us all to think, there's a good amount of care and consideration that seems to go into bonding. LM Would he, though? Would Spock, our emotionally-stunted, rules-up-his-ass XO really just up and tell you if he had a thing for you? LM

Stranger: Well...I mean, wouldn't he? What's illogical about having a crush? -JTK

You: He's half-human too, kid. LM I hate to say it, but feelings are hard enough to deal with when you're all human. Being a guy from a race that feels too much all the time and a race that doesn't feel enough probably doesn't make figuring that shit out very easy for him. LM Y'know, you're pretty interested in this whole thing for someone who's supposedly not interested. LM

Stranger: [Slight delay] ...I'm just curious. -JTK Besides, this is all speculation. Even if we /were/ interested in each other, there's no way it'd work. -JTK

You: Yeah? How do you figure that one? LM

Stranger: You know me. I self-sabotage like no other. ;) -JTK

You: Y'know, I do know you. And in all the time that I've known you, I've never once seen you look at anyone the way you look at Spock. So correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't think your self-sabotaging would go down the same damn way as it did back in the academy. LM

Stranger: ...You don't? -JTK

You: No, I don't. Call me a fool, but I actually have faith in you, kid. LM

Stranger: You /seriously/ think me and Spock should be a thing? -JTK

You: Why the hell not? I've seen weirder shit out here in space. LM For what it's worth, I'd rather see you two happy with each other than staring off into the distance apart because neither of you can 'fess up and make a move. LM

Stranger: [...] Okay. Valid point. -JTK /But/, if we get together, we're totally gonna have sex in your sickbay. Does that change your mind? -JTK

You: Ugh. I'd ask if you have to, but I know you well enough to know the answer to that. LM Just lock the doors when you two get rowdy, yeah? I may know it's happening, but I don't need to see it. LM

Stranger: /If/. If we get rowdy, we'll lock the doors. ;) -JTK

You: You'd better. LM Now go talk to your boyfriend before I come to my senses and realise that this whole conversation was a mistake, yeah? LM

Stranger: Ugh. /Not/ my boyfriend, but fine. -JTK ...Thanks, Bones. -JTK [Delayed, message sent to Spock's comm] Hey! Hey, you busy? -JTK

You: I have been reading through the debriefing for our next planetary mission. Is everything alright, Captain? S

Stranger: Ugh. /Sooooo/ boring. It's gonna be /so/ boring. But, anyway, yeah! Yeah, everything's fine. Totally fine. -JTK

You: I do not believe a peace mission to a preciously warp-incapable planet is going to be as boring as you believe. S

Stranger: It'll totally be boring. I mean, they seem pretty peaceful, so far. We'll probably just sit through a long dinner. -JTK

You: ...Have you read any of the debriefing thus far? S

Stranger: [...] I haven't opened it once. -JTK

Stranger: /But/ in my defense, I've been dealing with a crisis! -JTK

You: A crisis? I believe you said that everything was "totally fine" only moments ago? Has something transpired between then and now to change that? S

Stranger: No, no. I mean- I /am/ totally fine. -JTK

You: You are contradicting yourself, Captain. S

Stranger: [Slight delay] Right. Shit. -JTK I'm not making any sense. -JTK I /am/ fine, but I've got a lot on my mind. I've been thinking about some things. -JTK

You: I would like to help, if I can. S

Stranger: ...Yeah? -JTK

You: Of course. Is there anything I can do? S

Stranger: [Delayed] Are you into me? -JTK

You: [delay] I do not understand the question. S

Stranger: ...Y'know. Are you attracted to me? Do you have romantic feelings for me? -JTK

You: [delay] This is not a discussion we should have in this format. S

Stranger: Wait. /Wait/- you /do/? -JTK

Stranger: For real? -JTK

You: If you are uncomfortable, I assure you that I would never attempt to do anything to make you feel as such. However, I understand if it is too much of a distraction to have aboard. I... apologise. S

Stranger: [Delay] Wait...You think I'm uncomfortable? -JTK Are you /nuts/? -JTK

You: I... do not believe so? S

Stranger: You /are/. Seriously, you're insane. Why would I be uncomfortable? -JTK

You: ...I merely assumed that was the reason behind your line of questioning. Is it not? S

Stranger: /No/. I was just...Well. I honestly expected you to say no. -JTK

You: I am not prone to lying. S

Stranger: No, I mean-....I just didn't expect you to /actually/ be into me. -JTK

You: [delay] You are an incredibly intelligent, competent captain, and beyond that, you have been a friend to me not only when I have not known how to reciprocate such gestures, but also when I have not deserved them. You are a stunning man in your own right; I admire your capability and surety in everything that you do. There is no reason I can think of for me to not be "into" you. The depth of the emotion I have grown to both acknowledge and accept was overwhelming at first, but in time, I am... glad that I am lucky enough to experience it. I enjoy your presence. Merely standing on the Bridge with you at my side is enough to make me believe in the possibility that there is no such thing as a no-win scenario. You are an enigma, Jim, and you are one that I am constantly grateful for in my life. S

Stranger: [Very delayed] Wow. -JTK I'm not, like...Well, I've never really been big on huge, romantic gestures, but now I get why people dream about them because...I don't know what to say. -JTK

You: You do not need to say anything. S I believe that you deserve to know how important you are to me, especially if you were previously unaware of it. S

Stranger: I knew you /cared/. I just didn't know it was...like that. -JTK Shit. Bones is never gonna let this go. -JTK

You: ...what does Doctor McCoy have to do with this? S

Stranger: He /totally/ knew. He knew the whole time! He told me, 'Jim, I've never seen either of you look at anyone the way you look at each other'. And I told him he was wrong. -JTK

You: That is... disconcerting. S

Stranger: Yeah. /Tell me about it/. Can't believe he realized it before I did. -JTK

You: Was this the crisis you were referring to, before? S

Stranger: [Slight delay] ...I was crisis-ing over whether or not to bring it up. -JTK

You: I do not believe "crisis-ing" is a real verb. S Do you regret doing so? S

Stranger: You can't correct my grammar if you're in love with me. -JTK ...Not yet. -JTK

You: I do not believe those two things are mutually exclusive. S

Stranger: They're /definitely/ mutually exclusive. It's in the rules. -JTK

You: There are no "rules" pertaining to this subject matter. S

Stranger: Oh, there totally is. There's a whole book titled 'So, you wanna fall in love with Jim Kirk...' -JTK

You: In that case, it is a rule book I have not been made privy to. Perhaps you should lend it to me. S

Stranger: Nah, I'll just let you know whenever you break a rule. -JTK

You: That seems to put you at an unfair advantage. S

Stranger: Well, evolution already put /you/ at an unfair advantage. :( Don't I deserve a win? -JTK

You: I am inclined to say no out of habit. S

Stranger: Ah-ah! That's another rule. -JTK

You: These rules are very much tilted in your favour. S

Stranger: Well, do /you/ have a book? -JTK

You: Figuratively speaking? Perhaps. Though it does not appear to be as extensive as yours. S

Stranger: Pffffttt! So not true. I bet you've got rules, too. -JTK

You: Well, I cannot think of any at the current time, but I will keep you posted if any come up. S

Stranger: Good. -JTK ...Can I take you out to dinner or something? -JTK

You: ...I would very much enjoy that, yes. S

Stranger: Yeah? -JTK For real? -JTK Like.../Seriously/? -JTK

You: Yes, Jim. S Seriously. S

Stranger: [Delayed] We're gonna have /great/ sex. -JTK

You: Jim!! S

Stranger: I'm just saying! -JTK Don't act surprised! You knew what you were signing up for. -JTK

You: I will admit that I did not expect you to say such a thing so... candidly, though perhaps I should have. S

Stranger: You should've. You /definitely/ should've. -JTK I've never wanted someone so long before. -JTK

Stranger: /But/, it's not /just/ that. -JTK

You: I understand. S [delay] How long have you... had feelings for me? S

Stranger: [Delay] Well...I've thought you were hot since we met at my inquest. -JTK [...] It's been more than that for a while. After melding with Salek, I /definitely/ had a crush, but...It was pretty easy to ignore. After I woke up, after Khan, it changed again. -JTK

You: [delay] When I first spoke to my counterpart, he urged me to set logic aside and to do what felt right. I knew then that I would not be able to leave you behind. You had already left a lasting impression on me, even after just the events relating to Nero and the destruction of my home planet. S It is a large part of the reason I returned to the ship, instead of resigning from Starfleet the way I had originally intended. S

Stranger: Because of me? -JTK

You: Because of you. S

Stranger: [Delay] Man. You've got it bad, huh? -JTK

You: I suppose I do. S

Stranger: How come you've never said anything? -JTK

Stranger: You really thought I'd turn you down? -JTK

You: The time was never right. S ...I did not wish to risk losing your friendship over something I felt I could control. That was more important to me than making you aware of the depth of my feelings. S And besides that, you are my Captain, first and foremost. I would not wish to do anything to jeopardise our positions relative to one another on the ship. S

Stranger: Are you kidding? Even if I /had/ turned you down, I never would've let you transfer. -JTK

You: The risk felt too great. S And I would never wish to make you uncomfortable, Jim. That has never been my intention. If a confession of my feelings for you had not been well-received, I did not want to make you feel as though you were supposed to do something about it. S

Stranger: [Delay] You're /way/ too good for me. -JTK Y'know that? -JTK

You: I do not follow your logic. S

Stranger: Like...Shit! You were willing to put your own happiness aside just because you didn't wanna hurt me. That's /insane/. -JTK

Stranger: I definitely don't deserve all that, having someone make sacrifices for me. -JTK

You: [delay] I cannot begin to express how incorrect that statement is. S You deserve to have your emotions and experiences validated. In this particular case, I could be content with merely having your friendship if it meant that you were not put into a situation where you were forced to be uncomfortable. S

Stranger: [Delay] You /gotta/ stop saying things like that. I'm trying to act like a gentleman and you're not making it any easier. -JTK Dinner. I'm gonna take you to dinner. -JTK

You: You did mention that, yes. S How am I making it difficult for you to act like a gentleman? S

Stranger: /Because/, I can't act like a gentleman when you say things like /that/. -JTK

You: Your explanation is suspiciously lacking in explanation. S

Stranger: [...] When you say super duper nice things, I wanna suck your dick. -JTK

You: ...Ah. S

Stranger: Hey, I was /trying/ not to say it. -JTK

You: [delay] While dinner is not something I would be disinclined to engage in with you, I am not opposed to more... amorous activities. S

Stranger: ...I don't wanna rush you. -JTK

You: I would not have brought it up if I was not certain of what I want, Jim. S

Stranger: [Delay] /Yeah/? -JTK

You: Yes. Emphatically yes. S

Stranger: ...Well. We could have dinner and then spend a hell of a lotta time making out. -JTK

You: A sound plan, Captain. S

Stranger: Call me Jim. We're practically dating. -JTK

You: A sound plan, then, Jim. S

Stranger: Perfect. -JTK Holy shit. -JTK I don't think I've ever been so excited for a data before. -JTK

You: When will this date be occurring? S

Stranger: ...Does it make me sound desperate if I say tonight? -JTK

You: If it does, then I am just as desperate to accept. S

Stranger: You should be. I'm a /total/ catch. ;) -JTK

You: I am well-aware that you are. S