#chara is such an interesting character

[shopkeeps]

maxing out stats

[duty-calls-for-booty]

PSA to all CoD writers

[inthecarpets]

Thinking once again about how beautifully and nuanced Ryoko Kui crafted Toshiro and Laios' relationship. And how in a way the many interpretations and types of reactions say a lot about the viewers' lives and perspectives.

How sometimes two people might want to be polite, might want to be kind, but due to their differences, misscommunication and their own personal flaws they will only end up hurting each other. And the longer their misscommunication lasts, the more it hurts. How sometimes if people spoke sooner it wouldn't get to be so bad.

And how reactions say how quite much everyone been in some kind of situation like that. We assume the best and the worst intentions in each other.

We have to deal with a person who can't stop bothering us. Deal with a person who seems a little shy but they are nice but actually no, they secretly hate us. Situation where someone pretends to be a friend or for some forsaken reason forces themselves to hang out with us. When it's hard to confront someone. When we are too much. When we are in the wrong without realising it. When it's hard to be confronted. Being in a situation you wish you were confronted at the start. How sometimes confrontation is near impossible. Taking a risk of confrontation in general. Not being able to find the right words. Not being able to utter them.

Sometimes we'd all rather to point fingers and call each other names instead of realise the flaws of the world that we live in. How sometimes there Sure are bad people and bad intentions but sometimes it's also just all a bad accident with good intentions on both sides, and lack of education.

Ryoko Kui crafted such a very nuanced and beautiful story. A story with details such show the readers and viewers' feelings and perspectives and shortcomings when interacting with other people. And yeah, i think that's beautiful. Bless.

[fraternum-momentum]

for a mosterfucking manga, this was actually pretty wholesome

[luckyarchivist]

Touchstarved Voice HCs

Ais - He smokes so I have to give him smoker's rasp b/c it's one of like two things that's sexy about smoking. He doesn't speak loudly —honestly he slurs words and mumble-speaks and cuts off words quite often — but his voice carries surprisingly well. Stays mostly in one pitch. Deeper, more resonant voice with a warm timbre: he talks and it feels like a cozy day in your brain.

Vere - I like to call his voice "mommy voice, for men". Honestly, rather than me explaining it, just listen to Doppio Dropscythe read his lines. The drawl of it and the semi-melodic intonation is everything I'd imagined for Vere!

Mhin - Most clear thing about their voice in my head is this underlying hiss to all of their words, like they're always whispering, even when their volume is normal. It leads to a raspy quality that's different from Ais's rumble. I think they probably have a higher-pitched tone of voice than any of the other LIs, but not by too much.

Leander - Announcer-y quality: you could pick his voice out of a crowd, easy. Plays with his speech: lots of variation in tone, speed, pitch and so on. Some (American) people have made him British, which I could never put onto a man I love (/j, I'm so sorry, British people) but I do think he has some qualities of the stereotypical posh British accent — mainly, the enunciation of every word. He doesn't cut corners when speaking, though not to the point of sounding unnatural.

Kuras - definitely the hardest of the main five for me to hear. I think he has a pretty deep voice, with a soothing cadence to his speech. Like Leander, his words are all enunciated and easy to understand. However, he's kinda the opposite of Ais — the demon says mean things with a warm tone of voice, and the angel says nice things with a cold, even tone. If you manage to surprise him, though, or perhaps get closer to him, you could trip up his normally smooth speaking and make him sound more "human".

BONUS: Of course, these two don't have any lines yet, but just based on looks...

Sen: Personally don't think her voice is super deep, but it is throaty, like she's speaking from the back of her mouth. I think she probably pauses a lot when she talks. IDK why, but she has the energy of someone who takes a while to get through a sentence, so she'd rather just show you without having to tell you.

Elyon: If anyone would have a British accent it would be this guy. He speaks with mostly a teasing-slash-condescending tone of voice, but whether it's intentionally or unintentionally is anyone's guess. I don't think Elyon's voice is as deep as Ais's or Kuras's, but it could still be considered conventionally sexy.

[havockingboo]

Was listen to the EC AU YT playlist again specifically ‘It Was Futile-vivivivivi’ and ‘.flow OST-Neon World’ & ‘The Sewers’

[bumblingbabooshka]

I hate when Chakotay is watered down to be Janeway's yes man because their disagreements are actually very interesting. [A lot of rambling analysis of this debate in particular below]

Chakotay in Parallax is very interesting in that he has to navigate a lot of different dynamics. Balance a lot of plates while being watched keenly by everyone around him. Immediately preceding this scene we see him ask B'Elanna for her opinion on the bridge - both as a chance to show her knowledge in his bid to make her chief engineer (because she wouldn't get a chance to otherwise as Janeway has clearly indicated that at this point she views B'Elanna as a troublemaker who won't be considered for the position) and because he just thinks she's a better engineer than Carey and wants the best possible chance of them succeeding. Janeway sees this as unacceptable. Carey is the chief engineer and so he should be called and Chakotay NOT asking for his opinion is an insult to Carey, Janeway, and might make the crew doubt Chakotay (and by extension the Maquis') loyalty to the Starfleet crew.

At this point it seems that to Janeway integration ["They're not your people"] means the path of least resistance, specifically tailored towards the Starfleet crew. She wants Chakotay by her side to keep the Maquis crew calm but also seems unwilling to consider them for important positions aboard the ship. Though she says that the Maquis are not Chakotay's people, not his crew, she certainly doesn't seem to consider them hers [Compare this to later instances where she stresses 'our' crew, here she simply says they aren't Chakotay's: Whose crew are they? Are they crew at all?]. This less leaves the impression of "We need to be a cohesive team" and more "You're not in charge here." She essentially accuses Chakotay of playing favorites. In her mind Chakotay's actions are not conducive to integrating the crews which would (again, in her mind) mean the Maquis being docile and accepting, obedient and content - not making trouble for the Starfleet crew. Chakotay counters Janeway's accusation with one of his own: That he IS trying to integrate them into the crew but her not allowing the Maquis any opportunity to prove themselves or succeed, not showing any trust in any of them (except, implicitly at this point, him) is making things difficult. At this point the Maquis crew are ready to mutiny on his word at any time. He knows this for a fact. Aside from that looming threat (the threat being that tensions are high and if nothing changes and they remain high there might be a mutiny even without his word) - Chakotay knows these people and trusts them. Though Starfleet and Janeway think of the Maquis as a violent bunch of criminal terrorists, Chakotay and a good number of the Maquis joined because they believed in the cause they were fighting for. These are people Chakotay knows WILL fight fiercely for what they believe in and conversely, AGAINST what they perceive as injustice. Even if they're not in the majority - they're used to picking fights which seem impossible to win. At this point Janeway admits that she ISN'T making it easy for Chakotay to integrate the Maquis - specifically talking about practical concerns; how she doesn't feel she can let Maquis crew have roles of importance on the ship because they lack the ability to hold them. "They don't have the discipline, they don't have the training," - asserting that they just aren't prepared for any such roles and it doesn't have to do with them being Maquis specifically. Ostensibly, she's treating them as she might treat anyone unqualified for the job.

Chakotay maintains that some of them, like B'Elanna, have the ability to be trained - challenging her point by saying that IF they're trained there's no reason for any Maquis member NOT to be given a more prominent role on the ship. He isn't suggesting they just unqualified people important jobs. If the problem is that they aren't trained, let's train them. These people have the ability to succeed if you give them the tools they need and a fair chance, he insists. Janeway then switches gears and her argument becomes not "The Maquis are untrained so they can't be given those jobs" but "The Maquis crew are unworthy of those jobs when compared to Starfleet personnel" saying that it'll cause insult and upset among the Starfleet crew if any member of the Maquis were to be promoted above them. Again, her idea of integration is based more on Maquis subservience to the Starfleet crew than it is the two crews working together. (Not that I believe she looks at it that way, it's just where her 'path of least resistance' leads) - though she accuses Chakotay of being too focused on "his" crew, she is admitting here that she believes her real crew are the Starfleet officers aboard, not the Maquis. She also admits here that the system she wishes to maintain (and is asking Chakotay to enforce) is one where there will ostensibly never be any chance of a Maquis crew member being promoted because no Maquis crew member will ever be more qualified, more worthy, than a member of Starfleet. We can see how it'd be difficult for Chakotay to convince his crew to remain calm under these circumstances. There's also Tuvok's behavior toward him at the beginning of the episode where the Vulcan nearly goes over Chakotay's head and when he doesn't do so (as Chakotay reminds him that HE'S the superior officer, the First Officer in fact,) Tuvok acts as if him backing down (partially) and conceding (partially) to Chakotay's authority is a favor to Chakotay.

Tuvok in this conversation is downright insubordinate to Chakotay. Despite Chakotay being the first officer, he doesn't take what he says seriously, argues that his own opinion on what should be done should be followed rather than Chakotay's, lectures the first officer about his conduct, and then almost seems to threaten him with a report. In Starfleet's rigidly hierarchical rules, acting like this to a superior officer (ESPECIALLY the first officer) wouldn't be tolerated and Tuvok knows this perfectly well. He isn't a rebellious character and clearly in other episodes adheres to these Starfleet hierarchies and codes of conduct very strictly. He values them highly. But Chakotay, a Maquis, shouldn't be First Officer. Why should he be given respect for a title he didn't earn? [Affirming Janeway's argument about how Starfleet officers won't be eager to follow a Maquis senior officer] Even though Chakotay tells Tuvok off for it ["I don't have to explain myself to you"] he doesn't threaten to put Tuvok on report or explicitly mention his insubordination. It's unclear if this is Chakotay's personality or if he just doesn't feel he CAN do that. Tuvok is one of the three most senior officers aboard and very close to Janeway. Chakotay has to think of the optics of any situation at all times - we see seconds after this conversation that rumors have already started swirling around B'Elanna being relegated to quarters that've fanned the flames of mutiny. Though we know Tuvok has personal reasons for behaving the way he does toward Chakotay (which he later admits), I really don't think it'd be out of the ordinary for this to be how most Starfleet personnel would treat the Maquis if they weren't outright hostile: Like they're only pretend crewmen. To a lesser extent we even see this with Janeway: In the following staff meeting, she clearly doesn't consider B'Elanna a viable option when Chakotay brings her up and almost ignores the suggestion entirely.

It also, again, leaves Chakotay in an impossible position. If he doesn't protect and fight for the Maquis crew, they won't ever be considered a true part of the crew and dissatisfaction will likely spread among them. Dissatisfaction which the Starfleet crew will then use to further label the Maquis as insubordinate, uncontrollable, unfit. Not to mention that if he doesn't advocate for them, he might lose their trust. However, if he DOES try to help the Maquis crew advance the Starfleet crew will view this as 'favoritism' and will further distrust him, won't respect the people he puts forth as worthy. Janeway seems to be intent on not advocating for any of the Maquis crew and also seems unwilling to ask that the Starfleet crew grant leniency. She implies that the Maquis crew need to learn to get in line and keep quiet and it seems almost like [we must remember the optics] she has Chakotay as the only Maquis in a position of power to facilitate that. Chakotay recognizes and pushes against that, saying that he won't just be her token Maquis - there only so she can point to him and say "See? We don't discriminate against the Maquis here." effectively a tool used to shut down any arguments of unfair treatment and a tool to quell the Maquis if any talk of mutiny DOES arise. In this model, Janeway can just tell Chakotay to calm them down and they'll listen because they trust him. She also doesn't have to really listen to anything he says: A token First Officer has no authority; his words don't hold weight. [Chakotay isn't Maquis anymore, they aren't his crew anymore - ok. What is he then? What are they? Nothing, without respect.] This plan seems untenable, as much as Janeway frames it as sensible: "I can't make it easy, Commander. Surely you can understand that," and alternatives as impossible "How am I supposed to ask them to accept a Maquis as their superior officer just because circumstances have forced us together?" - in the long run, how would this be sustainable? In any power structure, you cannot expect a group of people you're unwilling to grant trust or agency to obediently follow you forever. This proposed form of 'integration' in which the Maquis are kept on the bottom rung and told intermittently to stay there quietly by the only one of them granted permission to stand at the top would never be sustainable - especially with a group like the Maquis who again, were founded on the belief that its members should fight against inequity and are already on the verge of mutiny.

I specifically find the statement "How am I supposed to ask them to accept a Maquis as their superior officer just because circumstances have forced us together?" to be interesting because personally I'd say that being forced together for the rest of almost everyone's natural life is a pretty good reason to ask people to adapt and Janeway does understand this but only applies it to the Maquis - the Maquis are the ones who have to adapt, not Starfleet. The only thing the Starfleet crew have to do is tolerate their presence on board.

At this point Janeway again claims that if Chakotay can show her a 'qualified' Maquis candidate she'll consider them. I believe this is true but we already know that Janeway's standards for qualification will likely not fit the vast majority of the Maquis and Chakotay ignores the claim in favor of putting forth B'Elanna again, firmly. Janeway predictably dismisses her as unqualified and Chakotay disagrees, arguing that he knows her. He's worked with her. He KNOWS that B'Elanna can excel at the job even if she doesn't meet Starfleet/Janeway's qualifications. He doesn't value those qualifications over what he's observed about her - just as he didn't value Carey's title over what he knew about the gap between his and B'Elanna's abilities. Then, Chakotay switches gears. He admits that Janeway's right - he does view the Maquis as his crew but that's because Janeway (almost self admittingly) doesn't and if he doesn't, who will they have? [What kind of captain, kind of man, would he be?] "You're going to have to give them more authority if you want their loyalty." "Theirs or yours, Commander?" Janeway frames Chakotay's words pointing out the flaws in this plan which I outlined earlier, as almost a threat (if she doesn't have Chakotay's loyalty it'll most definitely mean mutiny). Chakotay asserts that it wasn't a threat, he's only trying to help by telling her how the Maquis crew will react to what she's telling him. "I'm sorry you can't see that" - not an apology for what he said but that she isn't willing to budge, not willing to listen to him and acknowledge that she might be as biased towards her crew as he is towards his. Chakotay is trying his best to acclimate his crew but if Janeway isn't willing to do the same, to talk to her people as he's talking to his, then this will not end well and that isn't a threat. It's just the reality of the situation. He then asks permission to leave, showing he is willing to observe Starfleet protocol (just as when he asked permission to speak freely), and Janeway lets him go, exhaling at the intensity of their debate when alone in her ready room.

[papaiyatree]

today i repeat that you can enjoy a bad villainous or a morally vague antihero character without "defending them" and just liking them because they're interesting

[sorrelpaws]

proper refs for my new r&m ocs :-) more info BELOW

morty v-37 - basically gets used as a human shield and then promptly left for dead by his previous rick(which is why hes got the scar and prosthetics), y-4441 finds him and fixes him up + erases his memories of the whole nearly dying thing. he’s pretty chillaxed and a bit more cynical than an average morty, more “rickish” i guess idk. tends to be skeptical, likes poking holes in rick’s arguments/inventions etc etc but like in a teasing way

rick y-4441 - very peppy, upbeat and emotional. he kind of reeaalllyyy dislikes the cfc and stays away from it as much as possible, especially after finding and unofficially adopting v-37. he’s not as tech savvy as most rick’s, his abilities are more akin to s1 rick’s skill level? as in, he lives off of scraps of materials and creative solutions, less god-like and more “old man in garage who happens to know physics and chemistry”. loves to ramble about basically anything and happily indulges in morty’s hypotheticals/questions whatever. EXCEPT! for why morty doesnt have his fingers he shuts that topic down immediately just does not want to deal with that can of worms at allll

[adelinamoteru]

purely fanon jason vent below so feel free to ignore

every other fic in the jason todd tag whether its romantic or platonic or whatever just has to include something about the no kill rule or him giving up killing like is it not enough ! have we not hashed out this argument enough already ! can I not read some jason content without having to be randomly bombarded by the morality police and how “oh jasons not killed anyone for x amount of months thats great! we knew u could do it jay”

and I wish I was just joking like I really do but I have scoured the tag almost from top to bottom and it always, without a doubt, has to come up at some point. its his fucking defining character trait apparently. mind u he’s not even the only dc character that kills but yall just won’t let it go! I do not need jason giving up his stance on killing to be written out for me to be able enjoy content about him

and whether its included so that his relationships with other characters can be viewed as ‘realistic’ is just so. what does it matter. its already fan-fiction who the hell cares about justifying the universe that you’re choosing to write him in

[buttercupbees]

Flowey posting cause hfjfnekandjsoka pondering

I like how much flowey cares about toriel. Even if it's not much it's still a lot compared to other people.

Usually with most characters he treats them like video game characters just as much as we do but even though it's small, toriel is the one character (other than chara) he treats differently even if it's minor. He gives her a glass of water when she falls asleep drunk twice, once I think even before pacifist? She's also the one he calls you out on killing. Once directly, which you could argue is just because the game wants you to know that your choices will always matter and that it remembers your saves since she's the first boss, but he taunts you about it again through the echo flower in waterfall which is pretty far from the beginning of the game. Makes me kinda feel like he's mad at you for it even if he can't get himself to care for her like he used to. Idk I just find it interesting that he won't hesitate to kill asgore in any route but will remind you twice about killing toriel which is a lot considering he's not in the middle of the game at all really. He also says in the genocide monologue that if there's one last person who can make him feel anything it would be toriel, more so than asgore could. Even if it doesn't work, he still tries really hard to. Means asriel must've had a really really strong connection to his mom and I think that's sweet idk. Like the one person alive who can make the emotionless murder flower care about them is his mom aw

Btw I know about papyrus too but that's mostly post pacifist

[stainedglassthreads]

I just. Love how delighted Toriel is that Kris has a friend, and doesn't really care who said friend is. In Chapter 1, the second Kris says that they're hanging out with a friend, Toriel's tune changes immediately and she says Kris can continue hanging out with said friend as long as they please. In Chapter 2, when she meets Susie, she doesn't get judgmental in any way, and all their interactions are just really cute. Baking together, punning together, letting her stay over...

Like, with how Toriel is characterized in Deltarune compared to Undertale, I feel like a lot of people make her...meaner, I guess. They take how she acts around Asgore, and use that to inform how she'd act in other situations. But she doesn't think Susie is a bad influence on Kris at all, she's really happy to welcome Susie into the house and meet her! It's adorable! So I don't think she's quite as strict and judgmental as some assume, or if she is, her desire for Kris to be happy overrides her 'knows what's best for you' tendencies. She's clearly not fully aware of Kris' situation, but is aware enough to be concerned, and to let some things (like waking them up, letting them wander Hometown after school, or devouring an entire pie) slide if it means they're safe and happy.

...On the flip side. It's also kinda sad. Kris isn't really hated by anyone in Hometown, but between being the only human, the situation their parents are in, Asriel(who they're closest with) moving away, the emptiness of their room and how they sometimes lock themself in the bathroom for lengths of time, the way Berdly, MK, and Snowdrake talk about them at various points...it's not so hard to understand why Toriel's so happy and relieved that there's someone outside herself and Asriel Kris has a positive relationship with. They used to be friends with Noelle, and they seem on pretty good terms with Catti, but I don't think they're quite friends right now. So it's also somewhat sad. Susie is probably Kris' first friend in a very long time. But maybe Noelle and Berdly can also become genuine friends, too.

[kimquatz]

it's so hard to explain my favorite brand of character are ppl who are literally just guys. they aren't the hero, a part of the grand scheme of the narrative, or even have a kooky personality. they just exist to be an NPC. LOL

[mihai-florescu]

"Go to hell” is basic. “I hope your least favorite character shares a birthday with you” is smart. It’s possible. It’s terrifying

[dnangelic]

like it's just the way that outside of the BATB/POTO 'love what's ugly and ostracized' narrative itself cocteau was gay and everybody hated his gall about it, howard ashman was gay and had to conceal it and died of aids after finishing his work for disney's batb.... rather than have dark be homophobic and spitting in the face of his inspirational roots (the sole canon detail i can't stand) it's much much much more interesting for me to both read and write not someone who's meant to be a pervert (in humor) and an agape lover (in serious contextualization) only to turn and say 'no homo' to the crowd every single time but rather, instead of all that, someone who, simultaneously taking daisuke into account, is both extremely firm yet simultaneously insecure in the struggle to establish their identity not only in regards to themselves but also around others.

that applies to a lot, but i've been considering it especially in regards to dark's gender and daisuke's attractions. dark in my portrayal (while overall 500% nonbinary) is closer to someone bi-gender rather than agender; the feminine aspect to him isn't just theatrics, it's actively also part of his entirety to him, (compared to daisuke's passivity; the ten thousand canonical princess allusions,) and even if nobody ever recognizes it in a cognizant way, it is always, always there, the same way that erik blurs and obscures gender in leroux's novel (my second enormous inspiration, sugisaki's outright admitted primary) and sakurai occasionally discusses his relationship as both a performer and a person as well (my third enormous inspiration and sugisaki's secondary,) (see 1, 2.) simply put, the tragedy of (my!) dark does not ever derive from his being able to choose and sit comfortably and confidently with this sort of identity (in fact, it's one of the few things he can stubbornly, viciously decide for himself [alongside daisuke] as essentially a non-human, autonomous 'angel',) it's instead the way that his personality is so strong and 'anti-feminine' in the eyes of convention that said aspect of himself often gets disregarded for strictly masculine (and regardless, further self-contradictory and therefore isolating,) expectations.

dark himself alone does not care if others do not understand him; this is meant to be one of his far more admirable and impressive traits. he's staunchly independent: he knows who he is, what he's supposed to be, and he knows that if he actively presented himself more femininely (crossdressing to 'pass' essentially,) then people's behaviors WOULD be very likely to change around him, but he doesn't even do that because it goes against his overwhelming sense of pride. he never contorts, he never twists himself, what matters to him is that he and he alone understands himself and knows what he is, what he isn't. but he is, without proper support or acceptance, still alone. even bearing a strong character, the stifling loneliness and inherent, underlying self-sense of broken/wrongness of the 'other,' (god's luciferean problem child, the black sheep, the black-leather wearing punk,) is still inflicted on him. dark exists solely for himself, he exists solely for daisuke, which is simultaneously wherein the inversion and insecurities lie: if dark is canonically the live metaphor for all the aspects of daisuke's self that he attempts to and yet cannot possibly, conceivably repress, from his loves to his faults to his shames and his criminal sins as a thief, then the likes of daisuke's own personal confusions in regards to himself and his attempts at intimacy/socialization with others is the other, hidden side of dark's absolute self-confidence; it's every fear of perpetual isolation, misunderstanding, and abandonment for things outside of daisuke's own control.

queerness in relation to the self (transgender allegory) queerness in relation to others (non-hetero-romanticism) mental illness (depression, anxiety,) etc, etc, dark's thematic basis may at its most general simply be "a secret that feels wrong and that you feel you can't really tell anyone or else you'll get in trouble/won't be as liked as much" but it feels much better to give due respect to each of these primary roots.

[bumblingbabooshka]

I know I'm like decades late to the party and SNW is out and all but I think the events of "The Menagerie" would be even more interesting if Pike and Spock DIDN'T have a particularly close interpersonal relationship because I remember watching that episode and being a bit curious about why Spock would risk SO much for this man who, in-episode, I don't recall ever having any special bond portrayed with Spock. Spock, in that episode, is more the eager ensign than anyone of special importance and the episode doesn't set any scene aside to show that Pike has especially warm feelings towards him.

Of course, Spock served with Pike for eleven years and their relationship could have grown in that time and I expect the audience is supposed to assume that. (Or make the assumption that any crewman would do the same for their captain but Spock being Vulcan and not shown as particularly close to Pike DOES make you wonder! Especially since this is something Spock elected to do on his own and obviously planned in extreme detail and was willing to DIE over) In-universe, the events of the Menagerie are shown to justify why Spock wants Pike to go to that banned planet specifically - not to justify why He feels He has to do this for Pike but I just find it curious that there isn't even one scene where Pike and young Spock speak in depth to one another. Instead, Pike has that sort of scene with the Doctor. There's only moment I can recall that approaches that and it itself is interesting to me! There's a trilling, musical noise in the air and both Pike and Spock follow it to discover that some plant is emitting the noise. Pike stills one bunch of leaves and Spock stills the other, granting silence. Spock then turns to Pike with a smile and Pike looks back at him for a moment, face blank, before turning away. I like that TOS' Pike has a colder edge to him than Kirk and I can't help but think of his relationship to Spock from Spock's perspective where he's just abandoned his family and was effectively disowned and here, with Pike on Pike's Enterprise, is perhaps the first time he's ever felt like he might belong somewhere and be an asset to someone. Those feelings (whether or not Spock acknowledges them) might be strong enough that it doesn't quite matter how Pike feels about Spock as long as it isn't negative. In fact, maybe the experience of being praised and liked to any extent by a cold, commanding man ties into issues Spock canonically has with Sarek. Here is a man cold and distant enough to feel familiar but with that Human warmth and willingness to show emotion and give praise which Vulcan as a whole and more specifically his father has not been willing to grant Spock. I also can't help thinking of this from the perspective of Spock as a gay man either. Pike's clear longing for domestic bliss, a home with a wife and his beloved horse, can be juxtaposed with Kirk fairly easily to me: Kirk is shown throughout the series to be lonely and to fall in love with women but there's never really the possibility of him leaving the captaincy to be with them. He belongs to the Enterprise, with Spock. Pike's happy ending is being with a woman and Spock sees him there. Meanwhile, I think we all know that Kirk's happy ending does not entail this. It entails being on the Enterprise, a captain, and being with Spock as an extension of that. (Spock, revealed in this episode to have been part of the existing Enterprise staff, is almost an extension of the beloved starship) Perhaps the reason there's no explanation for why Spock is willing to go so far for Pike, to risk his life for a man we don't see as being particularly close to the Vulcan, is the same reason for the inexplicable curing of Spock's fever after 'killing' Kirk, is what I'm saying