#christopher pike fan fiction

[marienomad]

Whumptober 2023 Day Six

The Commodore's Regret

The Commodore’s Burden

By Marie Nomad

Commodore José I. Mendez glared at Lt. Jr. Rosario. "What were you thinking, having Ensign Rozenko do inventory? He's not fully trained in dealing with dangerous items. I gave the assignment to you."

Lt. Jr. Rosario said, "But sir, he said that it was okay. Besides, what's the big deal?"

"You can't pass your own duties on to someone else, even if he says it's okay. You never know what could happen," José sighed as he looked at the bottle of whiskey in the display case. It was a twenty-year-old bottle of whiskey kept in a sealed display case. "I'm not lecturing you because it's wrong; I'm telling you this because you'll regret it. Do you know Captain Christopher Pike?"`

"Of course, sir. He sacrificed his life to save the cadets from the training vessel USS Republic. I heard he was sent to some distant planet to heal, or he was put in stasis. No one knows."

Commodore Mendez sighed. Starfleet Command had decided to protect Captain Pike and Talos IV; it was all kept secret. Some interesting rumors popped up, including one that Captain Pike was sent to the future for better treatment. "I can't say what happened to him, but the fact is he was badly hurt, and it was my fault. It should have been me on that ship."

Commodore José Mendez groaned as he looked at the latest assignment: another ship inspection of a J-Class Training vessel. They were all the same. He would go there, walk around, say 'good job,' point out flaws that wouldn't be fixed because they were just training vessels, and keep going. He was tired, and he had some vacation time coming up. He wanted to spend time with his family. He pondered the thought that he could just ask someone else to help.

He called up Fleet Captain Christopher Pike. He and Chris were friends, and Chris had offered to help when possible. Chris appeared on screen. "José! How's the wife and kids?" he greeted.

"Same as usual. The wife is pregnant with our fourth kid," José bragged, holding up four fingers.

"Wow."

"I know. I need to ask you a favor. Can you take my place for an inspection? It's for the USS Republic. It's just a J-Class—easy. Just go in, say 'good job,' and leave. If you do, there's a bottle of whiskey for you."

Chris stiffened as he took a deep breath. José had never seen Chris look so nervous. He looked more like José had just asked him to go to Quo'noS alone. "Yeah, sounds easy. Don't worry about the whiskey."

"I insist. It's the least I can do."

"Then just keep it for me," Chris smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. José felt a little uncomfortable but shoved the feelings aside. Chris probably just didn't like the idea of doing an inspection either. "By the way, if anything happens, don't feel guilty."

"Oh... okay. Thanks," José ended the call. Why did he suddenly feel guilty?

Commodore Mendez sighed as he put his hand on the display case. "And then I heard about the accident. It's funny; he acted like he knew what was going to happen. That's the funny thing about being in Starfleet—it just... causes things. He never blamed me. I asked him many times if he blamed me, and he always said no. Starfleet lost a good captain, and I damned a man to hell." Mendez remembered the recordings from Talos IV. Chris was trapped on a planet full of telepaths. He chose to go there, but he shouldn't be there. He was promised an illusion of health but at the cost of reality. "So, I never reject a request again. You see, the duties you've been given are yours to fulfill. You can ask for help, but you must take responsibility. That's what it means to be a leader."

"Yes, sir. I will do my duty, sir," Lt. Jr. Rosario said as he saluted and walked off.

Commodore Mendez stared at the whiskey. He wished he could change the past. The smallest decision had changed the lives of two men. Pike had been more than a fellow officer; he had been a friend. And Mendez had failed him.

He looked up to see he was still in the office. He had spent too much time regretting the past. All he had was the present and the future. He would guide the men and women under his command to be the best leaders they could be. Chris had forgiven him; he wished he could forgive himself.

"Duty calls, right Chris?" he whispered to the whiskey bottle. He walked out of the office, resolute in his desire to be the man Chris would have wanted him to be.

The End

[rabbitcruiser]

Vulcan, AB (No. 3)

Enterprise or USS Enterprise, often referred to as the Starship Enterprise, is the name of several fictional spacecraft, some of which are the main craft and setting for various television series and films in the Star Trek science fiction franchise. The most notable were Captain James T. Kirk's USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) from the original 1960s television series, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard's USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Source: Wikipedia

USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) is a starship in the Star Trek media franchise. It is the main setting of the original Star Trek television series (1966–69), and it is depicted in films, other television series, spin-off fiction, products, and fan-created media. Under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, the Enterprise carries its crew on a mission "to explore strange, new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before." Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022–present) depicts the Enterprise under the command of Kirk's predecessor, Captain Christopher Pike.

Matt Jefferies designed the Enterprise for television, and its core components – a saucer-shaped primary hull, two offset engine nacelles, and a cylindrical secondary hull – persisted across several television and film redesigns. The vessel influenced the design of subsequent franchise spacecraft, and the model filmed for the original Star Trek TV series has been on display for decades at the National Air and Space Museum.

Initially a vision of the potential for human spaceflight, the Enterprise became a popular culture icon. The Enterprise has repeatedly been identified as one of the best-designed and most influential science fiction spacecraft.

Source: Wikipedia

[kristenswig]

Best Picture

The Holdovers

Oppenheimer

Killers of the Flower Moon

Barbie

Poor Things

American Fiction

Maestro

Past Lives

Anatomy of a Fall

The Zone of Interest I think it might actually be this easy but just in case! - The Color Purple, Saltburn, Origin, Air, Napoleon

Director

Christopher Nolan - Oppenheimer

Martin Scorsese - Killers of the Flower Moon

Yorgos Lanthimos - Poor Things (most likely to get Denis Villeneuved, however)

Alexander Payne - The Holdovers

Jonathan Glazer - The Zone of Interest Alt for Payne - Greta Gerwig - Barbie (I never thought she was getting nominated but now that more people seem to agree I'm suspicious!) Alt for Glazer or Lanthimos - Justine Triet - Anatomy of a Fall JUST IN CASE - J.A. Bayona - Society of the Snow

Actress (optimism!)

Lily Gladstone - Killers of the Flower Moon

Emma Stone - Poor Things

Carey Mulligan - Maestro

Sandra Huller - Anatomy of a Fall

Greta Lee - Past Lives they'll reward her for producing the biggest hit of the year but take the performance for granted - Margot Robbie - Barbie I simply do not buy it! - Annette Bening - Nyad Well, - Fantasia Barrino - The Color Purple

Actor

Paul Giamatti - The Holdovers

Cillian Murphy - Oppenheimer

Bradley Cooper - Maestro

Jeffrey Wright - American Fiction (is he the secret snub?)

Leonardo DiCaprio - Killers of the Flower Moon (I was expecting him to get The Irishman-ed but I think Lily switching to lead will make them a pair) Will look the best on the red carpet - Colman Domingo - Rustin No<3 - Barry Keoghan - Saltburn On the off chance they're interested in nominating a single good performance in this category - Andrew Scott - All of Us Strangers

Supporting Actress

Da'Vine Joy Randolph - The Holdovers

Emily Blunt - Oppenheimer -----BAR OF CERTAINTY-----

Danielle Brooks - The Color Purple -----BAR OF SEMI-CERTAINTY------

Penelope Cruz - Ferrari (she's been nominated with less support?)

Rosamund Pike - Saltburn no legitimate awards body has nominated her without Annette Bening and I'm not predicting her either! - Jodie Foster - Nyad it's definitely not a rage stroke - Julianne Moore - May December do they care about the acting in this? - Sandra Huller - The Zone of Interest nice try! - America Ferrera - Barbie DJR is sucking up so many number 1 votes something wild is bound to happen - Rachel McAdams - Are You There God? It's Me Margaret

Supporting Actor

RDJ - Oppenheimer

Ryan Gosling - Barbie

Robert De Niro - Killers of the Flower Moon

Dominic Sessa - The Holdovers

Willem Dafoe - Poor Things When there's two from the same movie they go with the older one - Mark Ruffalo - Poor Things If they have to nominate someone under 50 in this category it certainly won't be for someone this pretty! - Charles Melton - May December cannot conjure the image of a single person putting this at number 1 on their ballot - Sterling K. Brown - American Fiction

Adapted Screenplay

American Fiction

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

Barbie

Killers of the Flower Moon This is for my people who just lost someone - The Zone of Interest, All of Us Strangers, Are You There God? It's Me Margaret

Original Screenplay

The Holdovers

Past Lives

Anatomy of a Fall

Maestro

Saltburn They can't do three good screenplays - May December Congrats on the WGA nominations - Air, Asteroid City

Cinematography

Poor Things

Oppenheimer

Killers of the Flower Moon

Maestro

The Zone of Interest honestly wasteful to have shot this on film - Saltburn am I an Ed Lachman FAN? - El Conde

Costume Design

Barbie

Poor Things

Killers of the Flower Moon

Napoleon

Oppenheimer (if EEAAO could do it) COIN TOSS - Maestro

Film Editing

[REDACTED]

Killers of the Flower Moon

Poor Things

The Holdovers

Anatomy of a Fall enough - Barbie Tar voters I know you're out there - The Zone of Interest get some help - Maestro cars - Ferrari

Makeup & Hairstyling

Maestro

Poor Things

Golda

Oppenheimer

Killers of the Flower Moon (the BAFTA nomination is throwing me) ???? - Society of the Snow Presumably has to get one of it's shortlists? - Napoleon

Production Design

Poor Things

Barbie

Oppenheimer

Killers of the Flower Moon

Napoleon wish I were brave enough to predict this - The Zone of Interest

Score

Oppenheimer

Killers of the Flower Moon

Poor Things

Indiana Jones

The Zone of Interest Alt - anything animated

[REDACTED]

the good Barbie song

the bad Barbie song

Diane Warren

Rustin

Killers of the Flower Moon alt - American Symphony, the other good Barbie song

Sound

[REDACTED]

Maestro

Killers of the Flower Moon

Ferrari

The Zone of Interest I feel like that's it but here's the rest of the list in descending order of likelihood - Barbie, Napoleon, The Killer, Mission Impossible, The Creator

Visual Effects

Poor Things

Marvel 32

The Creator

Godzilla

Society of the Snow I'm bombing this category as usual - Spiderman, Napoleon, Indiana Jones

Animated

Spiderman

The Boy and the Heron

Elemental

Nimona

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (really?) every year I try to predict one of these but I've decided to learn my lesson this time - Suzume they're running - Chicken Run

Documentary

20 Days in Mariupol

Beyond Utopia

Still: a Michael J. Fox Movie

The Eternal Memory

Bobi Wine: The People's President FRONTRUNNER SNUB - American Symphony possibly too experimental? - Four Daughters

International

The Zone of Interest

Society of the Snow

Fallen Leaves (BECAUSE there is nothing to get)

20 Days in Mariupol

Totem Justine's Revenge - The Taste of Things lmao - The Teachers' Lounge is Danish - The Promised Land is allegedly terrible so definitely a contender - Amerikatsi forgot to release it - Perfect Days what about the YAK - The Monk and the Gun It*lian - Io Capitano Remember taste? - Godland

[maxisthenewalex]

After reading some of the Ted Lasso fan discourse on Twitter about a sequel series that would involve AFC Richmond’s new women’s team, I have a strong desire for this one silly tripe.

Let Keeley F’n Jones be the bisexual goddess she is and have a “thing” with one of the prominent members of the women’s team. Add Jamie into the mix as in he might be trying to court the same player.

If this doesn’t happen for real, I’m going to resort to fan fiction. I still want to do the Trent Crimm goes to a comic con dressed as Christopher Pike fic.

[startrekexplained]

Was Spock the first Vulcan in Starfleet (fanon discussion)?

Fanon is a term that describes something that fans of a particular fictional canon believe is apart of the canon, but actually has never been stated clearly to be the case, and in fact can be contradicted or replaced at any time. Star Trek has no shortage of fanon ideas and theories, and one of the biggest ones concerns fan favorite Spock and his relationship to Starfleet. Specifically the idea that he was the first Vulcan to ever join Starfleet. The fanon idea of Spock being the first Vulcan in Starfleet goes back a long way, in fact this article details a short history of extra-canonical material that took this idea for granted. There's just one problem with this idea: it was never stated in any series or film. However, there is one canonical source that does claim Spock was the first Vulcan in Starfleet, StarTrek.com itself. It states:

"Spock was the first Vulcan to enlist in the Federation Starfleet, serving aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike as a lieutenant, and later for James T. Kirk."

So I guess that's it, the official website states this so there's no further argument to be had. It's canon, not fanon, right? Well…not so fast.

First, as mentioned above, this was never mentioned or even hinted at in TOS in any way. In fact, quite the opposite, in the episode "The Immunity Syndrome" we learn there's a Starfleet ship, the Intrepid that is entirely crewed by Vulcans. So did the 400 or so Vulcan crewmembers all join after Spock? Even the captain? I guess technically it's possible but it doesn't really make any sense if he's the first Vulcan in Starfleet. I mean how old is Spock supposed to be? It seems to come out of the idea that existed (but again, never actually stated) when TOS was all there was in official Trek canon that the Federation and Starfleet were relatively new organizations by that time period, so Spock being the first kinda made sense if you took these ideas to heart. But again, we're told there's entire Starfleet ships crewed by hundreds of Vulcans so anyway you square it, it doesn't make sense. Both these fanon ideas would have been made canon in the aborted "Star Trek: The First Adventure" film that was (thankfully) replaced with Star Trek VI, but other than that, it exists purely as fanon. The idea would be further discredited and completely debunked for good with the prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise (set 100 years before TOS), which features T'Pol, a Vulcan, being commissioned as a Starfleet officer by its third season, the first actual Vulcan in Starfleet. However, some try to get around this by stating since it's the pre-Federation Starfleet we see in Enterprise, it doesn't count because Spock could have still been the first in the Federation Starfleet. StarTrek.com after all specifically states "first in the Federation Starfleet" but that's really just splitting hairs. Even if one tries to dismiss Enterprise in a vain attempt to prove this theory, it just doesn't make logical sense (no pun intended). Decades before Enterprise was even conceived, the Federation was already established to have been formed 100 years before TOS (way back in the 70s Animated series, a fact cemented in canon in TNG), so we're supposed to believe that Vulcans were members of the Federation for 100 years yet never entered into Starfleet until Spock? I just don't buy that.

Further erasing this fanon idea from any canonical legitimacy is Star Trek: Discovery, which shows Vulcan admirals in Starfleet years before TOS. So the idea is just not supported by any canonical evidence, and honestly it's just a bad idea IMO. It makes the universe of Star Trek seem so much smaller, so I don't like this idea in general. It puts too much importance on Spock as a character, and unintentionally makes Starfleet out to be a mostly human organization (though due to budget restraints, I guess all the series kinda imply that anyway, but a different discussion for a different day). It's an interesting fact that fans constantly tried to make Spock "THE FIRST" at something to give him more importance, rather than appreciate that he was just one accomplished character in a vast multiverse.

[carrietrekkie]

The Enterprise Ball.

Hey together!

So today it gets a bit cheesy and romantic and it leads to something that Cathrin needs to do before she could start her new life. I hope you enjoy it and leave me a little FB, if you don´t mind.

@bold-brave-courageous @allthetrek @reeselivesforeverinmyheart

The lobby of the Starfleet headquarters was polished to a high gloss, countless round tables lined up around the dance floor, set in white and dark blue. It was the perfect blue. It didn´t hurry up, didn´t bite with the black of the gala uniforms and still looked happy. Chris smiled, for that Number One had a sense, that he had to let her. Above all, he was grateful to her for relieving him of these tasks so readily. He stood at the bar, a glass in his hand, his eyes wandering around the room, hanging on to one of the dancing couples.

Cathrin was laughing at something that Spock must have said, or she laughed about him, both could be possible, then she looked down, shoved her shoe up to Spock's, and pushed it a little aside. He followed her gaze, then nodded and he turned her a bit. The Vulcan seemed to try his best to follow her instructions. He had to keep this picture in mind. There was something Spock couldn´t do. Smiling, he took a sip.

"Captain Pike." He looked up and faced one of his new crewmembers. Lieutenant Parmena, if he remembered correctly, one of Louvier's new engineers. "May I introduce you to my parents?" "Of course." As he was expected, he shook hands with the older, proudly-groping couple, exchanged a few words with them before disappearing with their daughter, and Parmena continued to introduce more crewmembers.

"All right." Chris looked to the side. Boyd leaned against the bar and waved to the bartender. "A martini, please." He grinned at him. "I think you danced with every female officer who asked you for a dance today, just as the protocol demands." He accepted the martini glass. "By the way, I noticed that some of my nurses and paramedics put a very fast soles on the floor." "I noticed that too." Chris also ordered another drink.

 "Why didn´t you ask Cathrin if she's dancing with you?" Boyd pointed to the front. "She is a wonderful dancer. Seriously! I wonder how she got Spock to do it. "He stole a glance at his captain. "It would be just a dance Chris, why you are so nervous?" "It would be the last dance." "Mmmh." The doctor shrugged with one shoulder. "And it doesn´t make me nervous." "Oh no." He looked at the captain's hands. "Looks different."

He squinted at Boyd. Yes, he was right, he was nervous, damned nervous, the last time he had had such a fooling around was before his promotion to captain. His eyes moved back in her direction. She had her hair pinned up, a flower stuck behind her right ear and the dress she was wearing made her eyes shine even more. It was violet, getting darker at the hem, glittering slightly. It was strapless, nestled perfectly around her curves before the skirt became puffy and seemed to float her. She looked stunning, just like last night, but for him, she always did.

A throat clearing forced him to get away from the sight. "A few seconds longer and it's noticeable." "You two never told me, what I have done to deserve you both?" On his other side was now his first officer, and she wore a ball gown that had already attracted a lot of attention. "Destiny." Boyd toasted her. "Karma." Una replied.

"I'm inclined to believe you both." Chris shook his head, laughing. He was lucky he had them. That he had just made a fatal mistake, he noticed a few seconds too late.

"Good to hear." Una turned to him. "Come on, if you stand around here longer and do nothing, I'll grab you by your collar and drag you over there personally. I've been looking at this for about two weeks now, and as lovely, charming, and sweet as it has been, it's starting to annoy me." He stared at her stunned, Boyd on the other side made no effort to hide his amusement. "There's a wonderful, funny, gorgeous." "I wonder when you running out of adjectives?" Boyd now get a look of evil and decided to shut up for now. "Lovely woman, who seems to have no problem with all your quirks and neuroses." "I have no quirks and neuroses!" Pike grimaced. "Of course not." "No, not at all?" She grinned briefly, then put her finger on his chest and began to poke at him with each word. "You'll go over there now, ask here to dance and you'll damn well turn your head off and listen to your heart!"

Chris and Phil stared at the usually so level-headed Una. She took a deep breath, gave a smile and took a sip of her champagne. "Commander." Boyd put down his martini glass. "I would be thrilled and delighted if you would do me the honor of dancing with me." "Doctor, it would be an extraordinary pleasure."

Boyd grabbed her hand and they sauntered away. Chris looked behind them and again his eyes were fixed on Cathrin. Ambassador Sarek was talking to her. He realized that she was a little intimidated, but barely noticeable, he could only tell because she had started playing with her bracelet. Then Sarek left and she started to look around. A smile played around her lips as she spotted Phil and Una, then she turned and left the ballroom way outside. Unfortunately, he had not been paying attention and again Una had caught him, she pointed behind Cathrin, before she turned back to Boyd continuing their chat.

 Chris turned around and could barely see Cathrin disappearing through the glass door and heading for the harbor wall. Was he really so stupid that he was still standing around here? If he couldn´t be sure of her, of whom then? She knew what was going to happen to him, he reminded it as if it had been yesterday when she lay beside him in his bed, looking at him before he finally fell asleep.

That's how he had found her when he woke up. She had curled up next to him, covered herself with his jacket, and eventually lost the fight with fatigue. She had held his hand, keeping in silent because he couldn´t say anything, holding him tight when he felt that what he had seen would instantly drive him insane, but somehow she had managed to keep him upright, he was here now, as he had always been, but at the same time something was missing.

This morning came back to his mind and he could not help but smile. It had felt so damn good. His hands on her skin, her soft lips wandering over his body as she whispered his name. He started walking, also left the hall and followed her outside. She leaned against the harbor wall, her gaze going out into the bay, then up into the sky. He wished for a camera at that moment, but he was sure he would never forget that image anyway. He took a deep breath, now or never.

****

I heard the music behind me, the clinking of the glasses, mixed with the conversations and laughter of the company of the ball. I leaned a little against the harbor wall and looked out to the sea. The light breeze blew over my skin and although it was not really cold, it let me shiver briefly. The stars were twinkling with the lights of the city, there should be more fireworks, the weather couldn´t be better, but probably no coincidence. "Did you found something that you like?" I glanced over my shoulder and saw Chris standing diagonally behind me. That he catched my eye very well today I didn´t say, instead I smiled at him and looked back to the sky.

"I cannot remember that the sky was so clear in my time." "That was probably not so." Now he stood next to me and looked at me. "What are you doing out here? You miss the whole party. "He pointed back to the hall. "Looks nice from out here too." I turned around, leaned against the wall, then smiled at him, he back. "Are you telling me something?" "It depends on what." Pike winced. "Where does the pronounced vein of the Federation for Kitsch come from?" "Some call it romantic." He finished his glass and set it next to him. "Try to see it that way." "Mmmh."

I did him the favor and looked into the hall. Couples danced with each other, a happy smile on their faces, others also walked around, they laughed. "I think I know what you mean." "When space travel was still in its infancy, this was often the crew's last opportunity to see their loved ones." I turned my attention to him as he continued. "Then they had to leave each other, often for many years, many had recently married, seen their children for the first time or were confronted with the loss of family members. This was supposed to be something they could think back to when the odds were bad, that if one left hope or everything seemed futile, one would survive the next mission. " He looked at me. "It became a tradition for the ships that went to deep space exploration." "Yeah okay." I leaned against him for a while. "If you say it like this, it's romantic." "You see. All a matter of perspective." I felt him put an arm around my waist and pull me close, and I put my hand on his chest. "But it will be a bit cheesy now." "I thought we were agreed for romantic?" He let go of me, got in front of me and then handed me his hand. I looked at his hand first, then up at his eyes. "The last dance belongs to the captain." My eyes wandered towards the hall and I realized what he just said. In the background, I heard a song start that I knew too well. "I can even choose the music for that." I smirked and had to close my eyes for a moment.

"Cathrin, would you do me the honor of dancing with me?" He smiled slightly as I looked back at him. I only hesitated for a second, then raised my hand and put it in his. He looked relieved in an incredibly sweet way, then pulled me to him, turned and guided me slightly with him. My heart started beating hard and the craziest thing about it was that I didn´t even know exactly why. I let him lead me into the hall, through the people who looked at us, but I didn´t care.

 Chris stopped, turned to me and as he pulled me to him, he put his hand behind my back. I placed mine on his shoulder and was guided by him when he started to move me to the beat of the music.

"How many times have you done this?" As he turned me back a little, I pressed closer to him, feeling like I couldn´t be close enough to him at that moment. "A few times." He smiled a little, then looked down a bit and directly into my eyes. "But I've never been as nervous as I am today."

He gently moved his thumb over the free skin on my back, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment. I felt it tingle all over my body and I was sure he could feel under his fingers how goose bumps spread on me. When I looked back at him, somehow he had come closer to me and it was still too far away anyway. Again I had this desire to kiss him, to hold him and never let go, just now it was almost overwhelming, but somewhere in me, there was still a little thought that maybe that was just attributable to the moment.

But in his eyes I found something that silenced this little voice and wiped it aside once and for all. And I realized that he was probably just scratching the courage that I lacked. I saw his mouth twitch briefly, then he leaned toward me. He didn´t get any further, because the song ended and the whole hall started to clap. The couples who joined us broke away from each other and turned around so they could watch fireworks outside. "I don´t want to let you go." I leaned against him, too. "Not now." I felt his forehead against mine. It was already cracking outside and I knew that the protocol actually required Chris to join his crew. "You don´t have to." He smiled at me, then released his grip from my back and pulled me out of the square by the hand he was holding. The sky was already shining in the most incredible colors, all eyes were turned upwards, only Number One looked at us briefly, as we stepped outside.

I cursed the little kid in me who couldn´t help but look up with wide eyes. Chris was behind me. Just when I wanted to protest that he let go of my hand, he put his arm around me and pulled me tight. Grateful for the warmth, I snuggled up to him and put my hands on his. His head was leaning against the back of mine and I could feel his breath brushing my neck. "So you're into fireworks?" I smiled as I heard his voice right at my ear. "You not?"

******

The transporter beam disappeared and we were back on the Enterprise. I took a few steps, then sat down and took off my shoes. Chris gave me a grinning look, then he reached out a hand and helped me get up. "Oh yes, that's better." I raised my shoes. "Two hundred years, but you didn´t manage that?" "Not my department." He winked at me, then offered his arm like he did before, and again it tingled all over my body as I put my hand around his arm and he led me out of the transporter room.

"That was a really nice evening." I smiled at him. "Same with me." Chris closed his fingers around my hand. "Why did you just disappear today?" "For my defense, I didn´t want to wake you." I laughed a little. "You looked so satisfied, so peaceful." "Maybe because I thought you were lying next to me." I had to smile. "Or I remember what we did before we fell asleep." "You fell asleep." "I'm pretty sure I saw you close your eyes." He pulled me closer. "You are avoiding me." With a sigh, I rolled my eyes. "I had a few things left to do.” "Are you telling me which ones?" I smiled slightly and stopped when we reached our destination. "Maybe later."

He let go of me and I turned so that I could look at him. "Thanks for the dance." "I couldn´t let you down." I opened the door to my quarters. "What would have happened if I had said no?" Behind my back, I crossed my hands. Somehow I had to stop myself from embracing him, pulling him with me. "You wouldn´t have." Chris stepped closer and stopped right in front of me. I didn´t force myself to look him in the eye, however hard it was for me. "What makes you so sure?"

He raised his hand, put a finger under my chin and lifted it gently. Now, I couldn´t help but look him in the eye, and that almost threw my intentions overboard. "I just know." He smiled that stunning smile and I hoped I did as well. "Cathrin." I stopped him from tapping his lips with my fingertips, then put my hand to his cheek and stood on tiptoe, kissing his lips softly. I could see him closing his eyes, but I didn´t give him a chance to return the kiss. "Good night." With a heavy heart I let go of him, turned around and disappeared into my quarters. As soon as the door closed behind me, I leaned against it and lowered my head. "Oh damn."

Had I still had doubts that I had fallen in love with him over both ears, this moment would have just wiped them aside. My heart was beating so hard that I felt it was going to jump out of my chest and everything about me, wanted to turn around, jump into his arms and hope he would never let me go, but I was up for today I would have to do something else and I would have to do that otherwise I wouldn´t be able to continue. So I broke away from the door and went to change my clothes.

*****

Chris closed his eyes and felt her lips on his only seconds later, but before he could react, she had wished him a good night and was gone. He stared at the spot where she had just stood, her scent still in the air and he could see her right in front of him, with her stunning smile and sparkling eyes. Had he been so wrong?

He would have betrayed that she felt the same as he did, damned he was so sure that he had wanted to kiss her in front of everyone and only his decency had prevented him from doing so. He tilted his head slightly before shaking it. What didn´t fit into the picture here? Frustrated and a little angry, he didn´t know exactly if he turned around and headed for his quarters.

Every one of her looks, every little touch of her, had made a tingling sensation through his body and made him feel what he had not had for a long time, he was almost certain that it had never caught him so badly. He missed her when she was not with him, he felt good when she was near him, and he didn´t want to think about what would happen if she left the Enterprise. He hadn´t wanted to admit it when Number One nuzzled him for asking her to come with him to the Enterprise for falling in love with her. No more than he had believed Boyd when he had also hit the same mark.

The look she'd thrown at him as they danced, he'd gone through him, had hit him right in his heart, and every bit of doubt he had, had dissolved in the air. "You never not be my girl." "I'm never not be your girl."

They'd both probably just been singing along because they'd been so nervous, but yes, she was, to put it so modestly, his girl. So what exactly had just happened that he was standing here now, instead of holding her in his arms and continuing where they left off a few hours ago? He was about to raise his hand to open his quarters when the thought came to him that made him smile. He turned on his heel and walked back to her quarters. Pike listened briefly, she walked quickly back and forth behind the door.. He would not bother her, he would wait until she came out and she would, as sure as he was with his feelings for her.

Chris unzipped his jacket and opened the zipper, then unbuttoned his shirt at the collar. If he was right, he would have to change anyway. He didn´t even have to wait five minutes when the door opened again and she stepped out. "Cathrin." She started a little when he spoke to her, but smiled as she turned to face him.

"Hey." She stroked a strand of hair behind her ear. She wore it now open and instead of the fantastic evening dress, a dark jeans, a bright top and over it a colorful coat. "What are you doing here?" "Until just now I was wondering what I did, that you just let me stand like that." He smiled broadly at her. "I think I have my answer." He raised his eyebrows and she rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry." She smiled at him. "I was determined to do this for today." She pinched her lips, seemingly wrestling with her as much as he did. "That was before, though."

"You shouldn´t do it alone." He pushed away from the wall he was leaning against. "Will you give me five minutes, then I'll accompany you." "Chris, you really don´t have to do that." She glanced at the ceiling, then at him again. "But I want it." Then he handed her his hand and without hesitation, she grabbed it and let him pull her along.

Masterlist

[blackleatherjacketz]

Blackleatherjacketz’ Anniversary Writing Challenge

Hey there friends! I’ve been writing fan fiction for two years now, and in order to celebrate I’m going to host my first writing challenge!

1. You can write for any fandom I’m involved in (The Walking Dead, The Punisher, Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, Hannibal, Brooklyn 99, The Good Place or even Star Trek!), although you probably know who my favorites are by now.

2. You can write for any character(s) in the fandom including canon ships, rare pairs, reader inserts, original characters, or even crossovers if you want!

3. You can write any genre (fluff, angst, smut, etc.), just no rape or non/con!

4. You must include trigger warnings and/or citrus scales at the beginning of the fic along with a word count.

5. If your fic is over 500 words, please include a “Keep Reading” line.

6. No incest or pedophilia, please.

7. Send me an Ask with the Character/Fandom/Prompt you’d like to write for.

8. Follow me and tag @blackleatherjacketz in your fic so I can reblog it and include it in a final master post!

9. Use the tag #blackleatherjacketzwritingchallenge

10. Deadline is April 15, same day as your taxes :)

11. Reblog this and share with your friends. I’d love to meet new writers.

12. Have fun, and feel free to message me at any time!

-------------------------------------

Situational Prompts:

An Unexpected Union

Today at the Amusement Park

A Romantic Scene in an Unromantic Place @annablack1102

A Much Needed Vacation

Having the Boss Over for Dinner @genevievedarcygranger

A Strange Proposition From a Stranger @rasa1945

Picking Up a Hitchhiker @chuckyegg7

Amnesia @onlydarylnormanfic

The Main Character Wakes Up Missing One of the Five Senses

A Spy on the Job

A Famous Fictional Character in the Wrong Story

Enemies to Lovers

Time Travel @sloth-lady-s

A Deal With the Devil

Caught in the Rain

Blast From The Past

Stranded on a Desert Island

Snowed In

Dialogue Prompts:

“You did what?”

“This isn’t fair!”

“You make me feel... things.”

“Can we just get this over with?” @sweetcannolicarisi

“That looks nice on you.” @negansdirtygirl22

“That was your choice, not mine.” @sexykitty96

“What are we going to do?”

“Scoot over.”

“You’re mine.” @rasa1945

“I want to hear you say it.” @acutecupidity

“I tried.”

“It’s over.”

���This isn’t what I expected.”  Me

“But you promised!” @jewelswrites-ish

Tags: @annablack1102 @ne-gans @negansdirtygirl22 @negans-network @acutecupidity @frankcastiglione @twdsunshine @jewelswrites-ish @skittle479 @rasa1945 @thedeadwalks @sherrybaby14 @flames-bring-a-ton-of-ash @ptite-shit @crzcorgi @collette04 @mblaqgi @letsby @genevievedarcygranger @inappropriatecabbage @evansrogerskitten @daisysouthmoore @hatterized @i-am-negan-trash @sloth-lady-s @castleadixon @onlydarylnormanfic @bernthalus-christ @jaaryl @notyourfriendok @chuckyegg7 @eugenessix @negan-the-cat @love-buckybarnes @ohcaptains @chamberofsloths @alaskanlicenseplate @daryldixon83 @loldinson

[allthetrek]

Captain Pike/Enterprise Imagine: Recreation

-On their 5-year mission of exploration, the Enterprise crew need social and creative outlets

-Social committee is formed with head “morale officer”; they plan events and help keep peoples’ spirits up especially in difficult times

-There is a monthly combined party for every crewmember whose birthday falls within that month

-Not everyone is of a race that celebrates birthdays, but all are welcome at parties and gatherings and there is an acceptance and respect among crewmembers

-There are several recreation rooms (“crew lounges”) where the crew can socialize, play games, replicate snacks, etc. when off-duty

-Weekly movie nights arranged by social committee; take place in the crew lounges or larger gatherings in one of the cargo bays

-Arranged around crew schedules so that everyone gets a chance to participate at some point

-Captain Pike tries to attend gatherings and movie nights regularly; it’s important to him to get to know his crew, and he knows that his crew’s morale can be affected by his relationship with them

-When he attends, he chats with the crew and remembers things about them to make them feel genuinely appreciated and important

-He is very much loved by his crew and it’s always more fun when the Captain is there

-The other high-ranking officers are encouraged to participate in events also, and as time goes on the crew becomes very tight-knit and like a family

-Spock is a lot of fun at gatherings and will listen and observe, and then chime in with an unexpected and incredibly astute or witty comment

-In relaxed social situations, Pike and Spock are like old friends hanging out together; there is an incredible respect and friendship between them that puts the crew at ease

-Captain Pike will occasionally request a film for movie night, usually an old Earth Western or a comedy that he thinks people would enjoy

* * *

-It’s your first time serving aboard the Enterprise and the longest mission you’ve been assigned to

-You’ve gotten to know the crew over the past several months, and your work as one of the [Bridge/Engineering/Science/Medical] senior staff is well-known and respected on the ship

-You’ve worked closely with Captain Pike on a few away missions now, and you’ve been getting to know each other better both personally and professionally

-There is an undeniable chemistry between the two of you and recently you’ve begun to wonder if he’s feeling the same way you are

-Early into the 5-year mission of exploration, one of the Enterprise crew starts a bi-weekly ship podcast, hosting various crewmembers and discussing the latest missions, past experiences, and their fields of expertise

-The podcast is named “Mission Statements” and it becomes a huge hit with the crew; lots of them hope they’ll be asked to be a guest on it one day

-Captain Pike agrees to be a guest on an episode; he’s not one to talk about himself a lot but he’s happy to be a part of promoting crew morale and wants to seem accessible and approachable to those around him

-He asks for a rundown of topics beforehand just to prepare and make sure he isn’t put on the spot; he is in a command position and has to be careful what he says and does at times – it’s a fine line to walk between being a leader and building relationships with the crew

-You are asked to be on the podcast; you’re a bit nervous but your crewmate is patient and encouraging and soon you are dazzling the listeners with stories of your past escapades, intriguing anecdotes, and thought-provoking insights into the future of space exploration and technology

-Captain Pike is usually on duty when the podcast is released, so he listens to it as he relaxes in his quarters after a long shift

-You told him you’re the guest on this episode and he’s been looking forward to listening to you all day

-He changes out of his uniform and into some loungewear and sits on the sofa in his quarters, resting his feet on the chrome coffee table in front of him

-He brings up the podcast on his datapad and sets it down beside him, listening as the host introduces the show and you as the featured guest

-Pike leans back into the sofa, folding his arms at his chest, his brow creasing with concentration as he listens to your words trail from the device; he’s hanging on your every word

-He loves getting to know more about you, and maybe one of these days he’ll work up the courage to see if you feel the same way about him

* * *

[icanonlyimagine]

While You Were Sleeping

Captain Pike x Reader

Words: 770

Imagine: You are medical officer tasked with keeping the crew of the Enterprise in good health. Even her captain. ‘You’ identified as Y/N.

A/N: My first ever Star Trek fan fiction and fist ever imagine. I decided to stop being so critical of myself and just post the damn thing. If there are errors in how I’ve depicted things, I have to admit I’m a newbie in all things Star Trek. I do love it though. Feedback would be appreciated!

More To Come. 

The mission had been taking it's toll on the entire crew. For weeks, new information poured in at an overwhelming rate and everyone was consumed with cataloging and filtering essential information to be sent immediately to Starfleet Command. The Enterprise had been assigned to establish a connection with a newly identified civilization while treading carefully as to not inadvertently influence the people. Every crew member was actively engaged in deciphering the information in hopes of determining if there was any threat to the Federation. You were currently checking in on the crew to ensure everyone was taking care of themselves. After seven cases of exhaustion in sick bay, it had been the opinion of the Chief Medical Officer that you would have to routinely check in with the crew. The information being reviewed was vital but the well being of the crew was paramount. When your superior had approached the captain, he had agreed and asked that any incidents of failure to comply with orders be reported to him immediately. The nurses under your command seemed hesitant to check in on some of the senior officers including the captain. While you had not had any outright refusals, it seemed prudent to check in on them yourself. Some of the senior officers tended to push back if they felt their work trumped orders coming out of sick bay. They were less likely to do that with you. Thus far you had not had much push back and were finishing your round with the captain. Approaching the captain's quarters, you expected to find Captain Pike buried in reports but when you did not receive a response to your call as you entered his rooms, you paused in concern. Perhaps the captain had yet to leave the bridge. Before you had an opportunity to turn to leave, you notice the tip of a boot propped up on top of a small corner table. Moving closer you see that Captain Pike is seated with a glass loosely in his hand and head tipped back against the wall. A PADD discarded in the seat next to him meant that he had likely been working as he'd fallen asleep. You approached him with a small smile starting to spread. A captain gives orders about everyone taking care of themselves and he fails to do so himself. You bend over to secure the glass that was dangerously close to spilling on the floor. Captain Pike didn't seem to register and you swore you heard him snoring ever so slightly. You almost hated to wake him but knew that his sleep would be much more restful if he were in a more comfortable state. After setting aside the glass and discarded PADD, you reached out to brush your fingers against his cheek. He began to stir and his eyes opened to lock on yours. "Y/N?" "How long has it been since you slept?" Before he could provide a time or a plethora of excuses you held up a hand. He sighed in response. "Properly slept, Captain Pike." "Two days." Captain Pike began to pull himself up and grimaced in response to what you assumed was a sore neck from where he'd been sleeping. This was confirmed when his hand reached to apply pressure. "Captain, I believe I have identified someone not in compliance with the Chief Medical Officer's recommendations." The captain chuckled and dropped his hand. Eyes raising to meet yours again with that smirk set in place. "I promise to see that they are dealt with." You winked at him before an arm snaked around your waist. Laughing as your husband pulled you into his lap and you wrapped your arms around his shoulders, you pressed a kiss into his temple. He loosed a deep sigh and held you against him. "This assignment is nearing it's end." "It is not over yet, Chris." His hands sliding down your back. "And you have to set the example if anyone is going to follow your orders." "The lecture is noted, wife." Your husbands skilled mouth connected with your jaw and began to make his way down to your neck. A sigh escapes you as you feel the tension in your own body release. A smile against your neck brings one of your own. "Perhaps I should get some sleep since you mentioned it." "Oh, you'll get sleep." Lifting his chin with your finger. Leaning in you hesitated just before your mouths touched. "I'll make sure of it." Granted another smirk from your non compliant captain and infuriating husband, he closed the gap between you. Sleep would come in time.

[queenoficeandfire]

Captain Pike - My Present, My Future

A/N - It's finally here and finally been done. My first ever one-shot about my Star Trek husband - Captain Christopher Pike.

This one-shot is tooth-rottingly fluffy and is dedicated to @allthetrek who shares my love for our Starfleet Captain.

I got the idea for this whilst watching the scenes between him and Vina in "If Memory Serves" (2x08)

Also, as ever please leave feedback if you enjoy this. I have other ideas for Pike one shots including a three-part one.

Captain Pike One Shots - My present and my future

I smiled to myself as I finished my shift on board the USS Discovery for the day. Whilst it had been a fairly average day, today also happened to the anniversary of when my boyfriend Captain Christopher Pike became a couple. He was a good man and a good captain, and whilst I had to address him as Sir or Captain when we were working, behind the closed doors of our quarters, he was simply Chris.

With my work done for the day, I took the elevator down to the deck where our shared quarters were. Arriving there I keyed in the code and the doors slid open.

Upon entering our quarters, I noticed that the lighting was soft and low, but still bright enough to see and they seemed to be empty until a pair of hands placed themselves over my eyes.

I jumped at first but then smiled to myself realizing whose they were before removing them, turning around and coming face to face with Chris.

He was smiling back at me and looked as handsome as ever in his captain’s uniform.

“I’m sorry if I scared you. But I kind of wanted to surprise you, after all it is our anniversary” he said

“It’s ok, I’m just glad we can have some solitude and privacy to celebrate together,” I told him

“Me too. Anyway, now that you’re here, I think we should get on with celebrating” He suggested

“I quite agree”

With that said, he then bought out of a tray of our favourite foods, along with glasses of wine, and together we enjoyed those whilst making pleasant conversation. Mostly what we’d been up to, but also about our relationships and our hopes and dreams for the future.

This was then followed by Chris putting on some music, standing and offering out his hand

“May I have this dance?”

Ever the gentleman. Ever the romantic. That was my Christopher Pike alright.

I stood and accepted his hand

“You may”

The two of us then began to sway to the music, gazing at one another as we did so.

We didn’t really make any conversation as the music played. Because we didn’t need to. It was just us. Enjoying the moment whilst it lasted. But then the music came to an end and I watched wide-eyed and speechless, as Chris got down on one knee.

“Emma, the past 12 months or so have been some of the best ones of my entire life. Because I’ve had you in my life. A lot of things in life can change, but one thing that will never change is my feelings for you. I love you and will always will. You are my present and my future. So I ask you now..will you marry me?”

Tears of overwhelming joy pricked my eyes as he opened a small box, inside was a ring that had been designed to look like the Starfleet logo. Starfleet being a large part of why we’d met of course.

Chris’s blue eyes looked up at me, longing for an answer.

Fortunately for him, I already knew that answer

“Yes. Yes, I will with all my heart.” I nodded. Tears now flowing down my cheeks

Skipping the ring on my finger, Chris seemed filled with a mix of relief and the joy I felt at this moment.

Then, without another word between us our lips met. Sealing the deal with a sweet and passion filled kiss.

We eventually pulled away and rested our heads against one another. Smiles plastered on our faces.

[marienomad]

First Vegetables (fan fiction)

For Flufftober: Prompt Picking

All characters belong to Paramount. 

First Vegetables

By Marie Nomad

Captain Christopher Pike had spent most of his life in space, yet he loved the wilderness and the outdoors. After his accident, he didn't think he would be able to interact with the outdoors like this again. He was so glad he was wrong. The fruit and vegetable garden he had started with Vina was beginning to bear fruit. Vina and the Talosians had grown pioneer plants that helped prepare the soil. There were gardens filled mostly with cacti, ferns, and other hardy plants. Chris decided to start planting actual food crops. He had to laugh at the irony: while he couldn't eat real food, he could oversee feeding Vina and the other Talosians.

He knelt to check the zenthra roots. Although they were Talosian in nature, they resembled the beets from Earth. However, they were purple and glowed faintly in the dark. The Talosians had genetically created different plants over the years but had never bothered to name them. Chris wasn't surprised. The Talosians shared information seamlessly and had a sort of collective consciousness that he didn't fully understand. So, he had taken it upon himself to name all the plants to tell them apart.

He put his hands around the leaves of the zenthra roots, and they curled at his touch. The leaves glowed and reacted in his hands, showing they were doing well. He yanked the purple root out and grinned at the sight. It was the first harvest of a surface-based garden, proof that the garden was starting to produce food. His heart pounded as he studied the root in his hand—a tangible product of his labor, grown on a surface that was still mostly desolate. Chris might never reach the stars again, but at least he had a home on Talos IV.

The End

[jillianallen14]

Spirk fanfic rec

Some amazing Spirk fanfic to bless your dash because I’m falling in love with this shit all over again (this is like the 10th time this has happened lol):

Entering Orbit:  Jim escapes to Iowa to avoid the media frenzy following the Narada incident, but a late-night miscommunication results in Spock turning up on his front porch; rated m; 30,957 words

Papers in the Roadside:  Non-Starfleet AU. Jim owns a small bar in Chicago, keeps on picking up strays and taking care of everyone no matter how hard it makes his own life. Spock is a journalist writing feature articles for the Chicago Tribune; he depicts the world with uncanny skill, but hides more than one personal drama and is possibly under surveillance from the Vulcan royal family. They meet by accident just before their lives start to spin out of control; rated e; 49,637 words

Take Refuge in What You Know:  AU - Kirk has moved into a apartment/house and wants to get to know his neighbors. He meets his neighbor Spock, a loner who suffers from extreme agoraphobia. Kirk thinks he's beautiful enigma; rated e; 120,334 words

Listen, this is not only my favorite Star Trek fic of all time, it’s also one of my favorite fanfics in general. It’s right up there with Text Talk and The Shoebox Project from the HP fandom, which if you’ve read, you know are incredible and frankly life-changing. And this fanfic changed my life. The description the author gives doesn’t do the beauty of this fic justice. I suffer from agoraphobia and Spock’s depiction as an agoraphobic man was probably the most well-researched, sympathetic, empathetic, caring, realistic portrayal of what it’s like to be agoraphobic that I’ve ever witnessed in fiction. It made me cry like a child because I had never felt so seen and understood. This writer is incredible, and this fic is incredible. I can’t recommend it enough. It’s an AU, which I’m usually pretty wary about, but it barely even feels like an AU. It just feels like Jim and Spock. The author’s understanding of both of their characters’ is perfect, like just a spot-on portrayal of who they are. This fic genuinely helped me accept who I am and helped me understand that I am capable of & deserving of love. If you don’t read any other Star Trek fics (and you def should read more Star Trek fics because they’re amazing), then let this one be the one you read. I dare you not to read it three times in a row like I did.

Observations:  First Officer Spock comments on life aboard the Enterprise and his service under Captain James T. Kirk; rated m; 500,000+ words.

So the author of this fic actually did a thing where they made this fic into two books (similar to what The Shoebox Project authors did many years ago in the HP fandom). They don’t get any money from people buying the books; the cost is just to go towards producing the books. This fic is the equivalent of two LARGE novels. We’re talking 600 pages & up. It’s a huge fic. Now, that being said, I read it in one day. ONE DAY. It’s that good. This is another one of my all-time favorite fics, though not quite as dear to my heart as the one I listed above. It’s focused on AOS, and tbh, I forget that what happens in this book isn’t actually canon. Like it’s so well-told, it just feels like it’s now part of the timeless story of Kirk & Spock. The “professional” Star Trek writers would never be brave enough to do what this author does with Kirk and Spock, though. This fic will make you angry, will make you laugh, will make you cry. It has such a good grasp on every single character. It also shows the love between the crew of the Enterprise, which is always a treat, and it’s beautifully done in this fic. It has a sorta-enemies-to-lovers arc between Spirk and an enemies-to-close-friends arc between Spock and McCoy that is beautifully done and fleshed out. This fic is definitely a journey to go through, and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s extremely slow burn, and you will want to slap both Kirk and Spock (and McCoy) upside the head at certain points lol. 

Of Coffee Beans and Green Tea Leaves:  The progression of a relationship, through Coffee Beans and Green Tea Leaves. Basically, it’s an AU where Kirk works at a coffee shop to pay his way through school, and Spock visits often. rated t; 16,429 words

Love, love, love, this fic. It’s cute, it’s in character. They have kind of a rocky start together, so it’s got a little bit of that Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy i-hated-you-but-now-i-love-you-marry-me vibes to it. I’m a sucker for that, if you haven’t figured that out by now lol. It’s really good, and a really enjoyable read. And it’s not too long, if you’re in the mood for something on the shorter end of things.

 Please Don’t Touch the Vulcans:  The "yes" is out of Jim's mouth before he can think about it. Jim is chipper about having time off for the holidays. He asks everyone if they want to spend time together but sadly, everyone ditches Jim over the holidays because they have plans. McCoy visits his daughter, Nyota visits her family, and everyone splits. Not knowing Spock has feelings for him, Jim doesn't even bother asking if he wants to spend time together figuring he has something to do. Something cute, romantic with the boys spending time with one another and confessions; rated m; 17,690 words

Super cute and has lots of Sarek, which idk about y’all, but I’m always a fan of. Sarek and Jim kind of get to know each other a bit, and it’s cute. Sarek knows about they’re in love before Spock & Kirk know lol. If I remember correctly, there’s also some appearances from everyone’s favorite: Old!Spock! You also get a little bit of jealous and protective Young!Spock. So you’re in for a real treat with this one. 

The Ren shat’var Trilogy:  A split-second decision changes Jim's life forever, as he enters into a bond with Spock in the face of certain torture. Enemies to the Federation emerge from unlikely places, and the command team must contend with unexpected threats, as well as challenges within their own intense relationship. In this three-part series, the Enterprise races across the galaxy to confront the unknown, and Jim and Spock discover the true significance of their unprecedented connection; rated e; 184,411 words

Textual Attraction:  Valentine’s Day does not bring up pleasant memories for Cadet Kirk. But the serendipitous switch-up of his cell phone with a particular Vulcan professor’s will make his day far more interesting –and romantic. Perhaps some new memories can be made! 15,900 words

SO GOOD. Just SO good

Spaceman:  Academy AU. Five times Spock realizes he's attracted to a barista at the academy spaceport, and one time he decides to do something about it. rated t; 3728 words

Short, sweet, funny. You’ll love it.

Subtext: Texting your Vulcan first officer in the middle of the night is never a good idea. Especially when you have an obsessive crush on said Vulcan.The holidays are approaching and Jim is left entirely Spockless aboard the Enterprise when his First takes shore leave on New Vulcan. After some midnight pining, Jim sends a text he instantly regrets. That is, until Spock responds and willingly continues their textual communications to an inevitable conclusion; rated t; 13,032 words

Cute, sweet, funny. It’s a texting fic. I think you’ve probably figured out I love those. This one makes me laugh so fucking hard. Like actually laugh-out-loud-omg-did-i-just-snort kind of funny. Spock is great in this one

All Spock Wants For Christmas:  While Jim is away on a delegation mission, he panics about what to give Spock for Christmas. With help from Bones and Uhura, and in between some spam texting with Spock, Jim realizes he already has the perfect gift. And all it needs is wrapping paper and a bow; rated t; 11,966 words

And here we have another cute, sweet, funny texting fic. Sue me lol

The Morning After:  Jim convinces Spock to take shore leave with him on Risa, hoping the time together will help re-solidify their bond of friendship after some recent tension. Meanwhile, Spock convinces himself he's on Risa for one reason and one reason only, to prevent his wayward captain from getting into trouble. After a passionately illogical night of Romulan Ale and chocolate infused liquor, everything changes when Jim wakes with something other than a hangover filling his head. Something he's sure neither he nor Spock can handle. Because if Jim knows anything for sure, it's that his messed up thoughts belong nowhere near Spock's clean, ordered mind; rated m; 50,381 words

HAHA. This fic fucking cracks me up. You’ve got drunk boys pining over each other & not realizing it. You’ve got accidental marriage. You’ve got bed sharing. It’s great, it’s cute, it’s funny. 

Take This Sinking Boat (And Point It Home):  In which Spock pines, Jim isn’t stupid (except he kind of is), and Christopher Pike has had enough of this bullshit; 6698 words

Pike is great in this one, and it’s super, super funny.

Extracurricular Activities:   Spock returns to the Academy from a tour of duty to find an intriguing cadet captures his attention; rated e; 15,433 words

Veritas: Basically, Kirk and Spock are on trial because the Federation thinks they are emotionally compromised by each other, which is putting the lives of their crew in danger. They have to convince a court they’re not actually in love with each other. They think the claims are bullshit. They think it will be easy to prove that they aren’t in love or emotionally compromised, damn it. It isn’t; rated m; 186,80 words

This one is so, so good. A real gem off of Fanfic.net. I remember it was actually one of the first Spirk fanfics I ever read, and it blew me away. The progression of their relationship is really well-done and interesting. It has star-crossed lovers vibes and has some really emotionally intense moments in it, especially for Spock. 

A Habitual Affection:  Living in 1930s New York with the Vulcan you're secretly in love with is no simple thing. But Jim never liked anything simple. And then, the big snowstorm hit...; rated t; 7998 words

A beautiful TOS fic about one of the gayest episodes of Star Trek. Love this one. 

Atlas:  Between what was and what will be stands James Tiberius Kirk, in all his fractured patchwork glory. Because saving the Federation was only the beginning; rated t; 135,529 words

A beaut. Really great characterization, and the progression of Jim and Spock’s relationship is really well-done.

[ghostflowerdreams]

Books Similar To Dead Space

If you enjoyed the survival horror game franchise Dead Space, you might enjoy some of these book recommendations. Most of the books are considered space horror, a subgenres of science fiction. Nearly all of them is set in deep space on a spaceship, research station, moon, and so on with an unknown entity--be it a deadly extraterrestrial, alien virus and whatnot that the protagonist must face. If not, the humans might’ve unknowingly, maybe even purposely disturbed something that they shouldn’t have.

I’ve also included a few books that have a similar isolation and creepy atmosphere to them that ‘space horror’ has. There’s even a few that don’t have a lot of focus on the horror element, but leans heavily towards sci-fi or another genre like thriller or mystery. And some of them take place somewhere on Earth instead of space. Either way, you’re sure to be spooked at some point when reading them.

Note: If you’re a fan of the Alien franchise--even the video game Alien: Isolation (2014), the video game Prey (2017), the films Event Horizon (1997), Infini (2015), Pandorum (2009), The Void (2016), Harbinger Down (2015), The Last Days on Mars (2013) and whatnot. You may also like most of these books too.

Dead Space: Martyr by B. K. Evenson -- Is the prequel novel to the Dead Space franchise and it revolves around geophysicist Michael Altman as he investigates a mysterious signal and uncovers a mysterious alien artifact.

The Season of Passage by Christopher Pike -- Dr. Lauren Wagner was a celebrity. She was involved with the most exciting adventure mankind had ever undertaken: a manned expedition to Mars. The whole world admired and respected her. But Lauren knew fear. Inside―voices entreating her to love them. Outside―the mystery of the missing group that had gone before her. The dead group. But were they simply dead? Or something else?

Alien: The Official Movie Novelization by Alan Dean Foster -- A crew of spaceship Nostromo is suddenly woken up from a cryogenic sleep because of mysterious signals coming from an unknown planet and received by a ship computer. The astronauts land on the planet surface and go to investigate an alien spaceship where one of them is attacked by an alien which fasten itself on his face. When the crew returns to their ship and abandon the planet, nobody forefeels that the real horror will begin very soon...

Aliens: The Official Movie Novelization by Alan Dean Foster -- In the sequel to the 1979 film Alien, Ellen Ripley is forced to return to planet LV-426, where her crew encountered the hostile Alien creature. There they discovered hundreds of eggs, and just one slaughtered everyone but Ripley. This time she's accompanied by a unit of Colonial Marines, but even their firepower may not be enough for them to survive and learn the fate of the colony known as Hadley's Hope.

Blindsight (Firefall, #1) by Peter Watts -- Two months have past since a myriad of alien objects clenched about the Earth, screaming as they burned. The heavens have been silent since―until a derelict space probe hears whispers from a distant comet. Something talks out there: but not to us. Who should we send to meet the alien, when the alien doesn't want to meet?

Send a linguist with multiple-personality disorder and a biologist so spliced with machinery that he can't feel his own flesh. Send a pacifist warrior and a vampire recalled from the grave by the voodoo of paleogenetics. Send a man with half his mind gone since childhood. Send them to the edge of the solar system, praying you can trust such freaks and monsters with the fate of a world. You fear they may be more alien than the thing they've been sent to find―but you'd give anything for that to be true, if you knew what was waiting for them...

The Burning Dark (Spider War #1) by Adam Christopher -- Back in the day, Captain Abraham Idaho Cleveland had led the Fleet into battle against an implacable machine intelligence capable of devouring entire worlds. But after saving a planet, and getting a bum robot knee in the process, he finds himself relegated to one of the most remote backwaters in Fleetspace to oversee the decommissioning of a semi-deserted space station well past its use-by date.

But all is not well aboard the U-Star Coast City. The station's reclusive Commandant is nowhere to be seen, leaving Cleveland to deal with a hostile crew on his own. Persistent malfunctions plague the station's systems while interference from a toxic purple star makes even ordinary communications problematic. Alien shadows and whispers seem to haunt the lonely corridors and airlocks, fraying the nerves of everyone aboard.

Isolated and friendless, Cleveland reaches out to the universe via an old-fashioned space radio, only to tune in to a strange, enigmatic signal: a woman's voice that seems to echo across a thousand light-years of space. But is the transmission just a random bit of static from the past―or a warning of an undying menace beyond mortal comprehension?

Pitch Black by Frank Lauria -- Is a novel adaptation based on the screenplay by Jim & Ken Wheat and David Twohy of the film Pitch Black (2000).

A rogue comet spears an earth-bound commercial spacecraft, forcing it to plummet to the surface of an unknown planet. With the captain dead, a brave pilot performs a perilous crash landing. Other than three suns-which create perpetual light-and a slight oxygen deficiency, a search party discovers that the planet isn't much different from Earth...until they stumble across a ghostly settlement littered with the human remains of geologists who mysteriously perished exactly sixty years ago. And the most horrific discovery of all: below the surface of the soil, where darkness reigns, live hungry predators with a deadly appetite.

Once every sixty years a solar eclipse darkens the skies and allows the blood-hungry creatures to escape from their underground tomb. With only hours before total blackout, everyone must unite in a race to raise the geologists' abandoned ship before becoming a long-awaited meal...

Dead Moon by Peter Clines-- In the year 2243, the Moon belongs to the dead. The largest graveyard in the solar system, it was the perfect solution to the overcrowding and environmental problems that had plagued mankind for centuries. And the perfect place for Cali Washington to run away from her past.

But when a mysterious meteor crashes into one of the Moon's cemeteries, Cali and her fellow Caretakers find themselves surrounded by a terrifying enemy force that outnumbers them more than a thousand to one. An enemy not hindered by the lack of air or warmth or sustenance.

An enemy that is already dead. Now Cali and her compatriots must fight to survive. Because if they don't, everyone on the Moon may be joining the dead. And maybe everyone on Earth, too...

The Dark Ship by Phillip P. Peterson -- Captain Jeff Austin and his crew are stranded in the interstellar void after their bomber is destroyed. Their last hope is a giant alien spacecraft floating abandoned in space. But not long after gaining access, the crew’s worst fears are confirmed: they are not alone on board, and soon their lives are under threat from sinister aliens. There seems to be only one way out: Jeff sets off with the last survivors to the distant center of the ship to uncover the dark secrets of its extraterrestrial inhabitants. But nothing can prepare them for the horror that awaits them deep inside The Black Ship.

Event Horizon by Steven McDonald -- Seven years ago an experimental space vessel disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Now the ship has been found orbiting Neptune. When a salvage team is sent to investigate, they encounter the ultimate horror that lurks behind the Event Horizon.

The Black Corridor by Michael Moorcock -- The spaceship Hope Dempsey held thirteen men and women, refugees fleeing an Earth doomed by atomic destruction. While 12 slept in suspended animation, the thirteenth, Ryan, ran the ship alone. For three years he had been responsible for the lives of the only humans left in the universe. Ryan's job was to see that they reached a distant sun where unmanned probes had detected two earth-like planets.

Salvation Day by Kali Wallace -- They thought the ship would be their salvation. Zahra knew every detail of the plan. House of Wisdom, a massive exploration vessel, had been abandoned by the government of Earth a decade earlier, when a deadly virus broke out and killed everyone on board in a matter of hours. But now it could belong to her people if they were bold enough to take it. All they needed to do was kidnap Jaswinder Bhattacharya—the sole survivor of the tragedy, and the last person whose genetic signature would allow entry to the spaceship.

But what Zahra and her crew could not know was what waited for them on the ship—a terrifying secret buried by the government. A threat to all of humanity that lay sleeping alongside the orbiting dead. And then they woke it up.

The Mona Lisa by Tessa Kum and Jeff VanderMeer -- Is the seventh and longest short story in Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe. It follows the crew of the UNSC Red Horse as they are sent to investigate the fate of the Mona Lisa, which has mysteriously come to rest near the destroyed Installation 04. After boarding the ship, a team of Marines stumbles upon a parasitic nightmare, and begin a desperate struggle for survival against the infested Humans and Elites.

The Terminus Project by G.L. Jones -- Deep in the void, on the outer rim of the galaxy, a United Core Worlds mining station clings to the surface of a blasted planet. The station is home to a crew of 15, who at the best of times would be at each other’s throats. This is not the best of times. The UCW drop ship that delivers precious supplies has crashed.

The crash destroyed the communications link. The station can’t communicate with the supply ship that orbits above. Something survived the crash, something stalks the crew. There is a traitor among them. The crew must find a way to survive. The thing that hunts them grows stronger with each passing hour...

Ship of Fools by Richard Paul Russo -- (also known as Unto Leviathan). After centuries of wandering through the galaxy in search of other life, the crew of the starship Argonos, the home to generations of humans, is lured by an unidentified transmission to a nearby planet, where they come face to face with a brutal tragedy and a haunting alien mystery.

Parasite by Darcy Coates -- A guard discovers an unusual lifeform on her remote moon outpost. She disregards protocol to investigate it, with catastrophic consequences.

Contagion (Contagion, #1) by Erin Bowman -- After receiving a distress call from a drill team on a distant planet, a skeleton crew is sent into deep space to perform a standard search-and-rescue mission.

When they arrive, they find the planet littered with the remains of the project—including its members’ dead bodies. As they try to piece together what could have possibly decimated an entire project, they discover that some things are best left buried—and some monsters are only too ready to awaken...

Salvaged by Madeleine Roux-- Rosalyn Devar is on the run from her famous family, the bioengineering job she's come to hate, and her messed-up life. She's run all the way to outer space, where she's taken a position as a "space janitor," cleaning up ill-fated research expeditions. But no matter how far she goes, Rosalyn can't escape herself. After too many mistakes on the job, she's given one last chance: take care of salvaging the Brigantine, a research vessel that has gone dark, with all crew aboard thought dead.

But the Brigantine's crew are very much alive--if not entirely human. Now Rosalyn is trapped on board, alone with a crew infected by a mysterious parasitic alien. The captain, Edison Aries, seems to still maintain some control over himself and the crew, but he won't be able to keep fighting much longer. Rosalyn and Edison must find a way to stop the parasite's onslaught...or it may take over the entire human race.

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling -- When Gyre Price lied her way into this expedition, she thought she’d be mapping mineral deposits, and that her biggest problems would be cave collapses and gear malfunctions. She also thought that the fat paycheck—enough to get her off-planet and on the trail of her mother—meant she’d get a skilled surface team, monitoring her suit and environment, keeping her safe. Keeping her sane.

Pitch Dark by Courtney Alameda -- Lost to time, Tuck Morgan and his crew have slept in stasis aboard the USS John Muir for centuries. Their ship harbors a chunk of Earth, which unbeknownst to them, is the last hope for the failing human race.

Laura Cruz is a ship raider searching the galaxy for the history that was scattered to the stars. Once her family locates the John Muir and its precious cargo, they are certain human civilization is saved.

When Tuck's and Laura’s worlds collide―literally―the two teens must outwit their enemies, evade brutal monsters that kill with sound, and work together to save the John Muir...and the whole human race.

The Deep by Nick Cutter -- A strange plague called the ’Gets is decimating humanity on a global scale. It causes people to forget—small things at first, like where they left their keys…then the not-so-small things like how to drive, or the letters of the alphabet. Then their bodies forget how to function involuntarily…and there is no cure.

However, far below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, deep in the Mariana Trench, an heretofore unknown substance hailed as “ambrosia”’—a universal healer, from initial reports—has been discovered. It may just be the key to eradicating the ’Gets. In order to study this phenomenon, a special research lab, the Trieste, has been built eight miles under the sea’s surface. But when the station goes incommunicado, a brave few descend through the lightless fathoms in hopes of unraveling the mysteries lurking at those crushing depths…and perhaps to encounter an evil blacker than anything one could possibly imagine.

Black Sun Rising (The Coldfire Trilogy, #1) by C.S. Friedman -- Over a millennium ago, Erna, a seismically active yet beautiful world was settled by colonists from far-distant Earth. But the seemingly habitable planet was fraught with perils no one could have foretold. The colonists found themselves caught in a desperate battle for survival against the fae, a terrifying natural force with the power to prey upon the human mind itself, drawing forth a person's worst nightmare images or most treasured dreams and indiscriminately giving them life.

Twelve centuries after fate first stranded the colonists on Erna, mankind has achieved an uneasy stalemate, and human sorcerers manipulate the fae for their own profit, little realizing that demonic forces which feed upon such efforts are rapidly gaining in strength.

Now, as the hordes of the dark fae multiply, four people—Priest, Adept, Apprentice, and Sorcerer—are about to be drawn inexorably together for a mission which will force them to confront an evil beyond their imagining, in a conflict which will put not only their own lives but the very fate of humankind in jeopardy.

Sphere by Michael Crichton -- In the middle of the South Pacific, a thousand feet below the surface of the water, a huge vessel is discovered resting on the ocean floor. It is a spaceship of phenomenal dimensions, apparently undamaged by its fall from the sky. And, most startling, it appears to be at least three hundred years old. But even more fantastic—and frightening—is what waits inside…

Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear-- A starship hurtles through the emptiness of space. Its destination-unknown. Its purpose-a mystery.

Now, one man wakes up. Ripped from a dream of a new home-a new planet and the woman he was meant to love in his arms-he finds himself wet, naked, and freezing to death. The dark halls are full of monsters but trusting other survivors he meets might be the greater danger.

All he has are questions -- Who is he? Where are they going? What happened to the dream of a new life? What happened to Hull 03? All will be answered, if he can survive the ship.

The Last Astronaut by David Wellington -- Sally Jansen was NASA's leading astronaut, until a mission to Mars ended in disaster. Haunted by her failure, she lives in quiet anonymity, convinced her days in space are over. She's wrong.

A large alien object has entered the solar system on a straight course toward Earth. It has made no attempt to communicate. Out of time and out of options, NASA turns to Jansen.

But as the object reveals its secrets, Jansen and her crew find themselves in a desperate struggle for survival -- against the cold vacuum of space, and something far, far worse...

The Hematophages by Stephen Kozeniewski -- Doctoral student Paige Ambroziak is a “station bunny” – she’s never set foot off the deep space outpost where she grew up. But when she’s offered a small fortune to join a clandestine salvage mission, she jumps at the chance to leave the cutthroat world of academia behind.

Paige is convinced she’s been enlisted to find the legendary Manifest Destiny, a long-lost colonization vessel from an era before the corporations ruled Earth and its colonies. Whatever she’s looking for, though, rests in the blood-like seas of a planet-sized organism called a fleshworld. Dangers abound for Paige and her shipmates. Flying outside charted space means competing corporations can shoot them on sight rather than respect their salvage rights. The area is also crawling with pirates like the ghoulish skin-wrappers, known for murdering anyone they can’t extort.

But the greatest threat to Paige’s mission is the nauseating alien parasites which infest the fleshworld. These lamprey-like monstrosities are used to swimming freely in an ocean of blood, and will happily spill a new one from the veins of the outsiders who have tainted their home. In just a few short, bone-chilling hours Paige learns that there are no limits to the depravity and violence of the grotesque nightmares known as…THE HEMATOPHAGES.

Nightflyers by George R. R. Martin -- Tells the stories of a starship crew who begin mysteriously dying one by one, electronic zombies, recreational warfare, a primitive alien culture, and an experiment in deep space.

Dream Houses by Genevieve Valentine -- It takes a certain type to crew a ship that drops you seven years at a time into the Deep. Kite-class cargo ships like Menkalinan get burned-out veterans, techs who’ve been warned off-planet, medics who weren’t much good on the ground.

The Gliese-D run isn’t quite the end of the line, but it’s getting there. No cachet, no rewards, no future; their trading posts get Kites full of cargo that the crew never ask questions about, because if it’s headed for Gliese-D, it’s probably something nobody wanted.

A year into the Deep, Amadis Reyes wakes up. Menkalinan is sounding the alarm; something’s wrong. The rest of the crew are dead. That’s not even what’s wrong.

The Thing by Alan Dean Foster -- This book is a novelization of the 1982 screenplay for John Carpenter's movie, The Thing. Which is also based on the novella 'Who Goes There'? by John. W. Campbell. The story involves an American research station tucked away in the solitary landscape of the Antarctic. The isolated crew is disturbed at their base camp by a helicopter shooting at a sled dog. When they take in the dog, it brutally attacks both human beings and canines in the camp and they discover that the beast can assume the shape of its victims.

The Last Man From Earth by Arvind Jagessar -- Troubled space pilot Jake Tiber awakens one day to find every other human being in the outer space community dead or missing. His search for answers will lead him to strange sights and terrifying monsters that will make him question his very sanity. But he must press on, for he has to find out whether he is a prisoner of his own mind or... the last man from Earth.

[twentiethcenturymoviesandtv]

Star Trek: Facets of Filmmaking

As it turns out, before Star Trek was fully realized in the form we know today, the show was originally not going to be about Kirk and the Enterprise at all.  In fact, it was going to be about a ship called the S.S. Yorktown, captained by a man named Robert April, on a mission to explore the Milky Way galaxy.  The original concept, still named Star Trek and set in the 23rd century, was loosely based on the Horatio Hornblower novels, and took inspiration from The Voyage of the Space Beagle, the Marathon series and the 1956 film Forbidden Planet.

By the year 1964, when this idea began to take shape, Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek was an experienced writer for western television shows, and was well accustomed to (at the time) television’s favorite and most popular genre.  By 1964, however, Roddenberry was tired of the shootouts, and wanted to do something different, something with a little more depth to it.

Still, Roddenberry knew what the executives, and the public, was used to.  As a result, the first draft of this new Star Trek idea was generalized as a sort of ‘Wagon Train to the Stars’, a formulaic type of show where every episode was a standalone adventure in the continuous exploration of the final frontier: space.

As Roddenberry wrote the draft, a few things changed.  Gone was Robert April, replaced by Captain Christopher Pike, who would be portrayed by Jefferey Hunter, and the rest of the crew.  The name of the ship changed too, to the more familiar Enterprise.  As these changes came about, so too did the true nature of Roddenberry’s dream show: both an adventure story, and a thought-provoking morality tale.

Armed with his script, Roddenberry brought Star Trek to Desilu Productions, (a rather large television production company headed and half-formed by Lucille Ball herself) and met with director of production Herbert F. Solow.  Solow saw promise in the concept, and signed a three-year development contract with Roddenberry.

Star Trek moved into the next stage of development.  Further drafts were drawn up and the idea that would later become the episode The Cage was revised, until it was shown to CBS as part of the ‘First Look’ deal with Desilu productions.  CBS wasn’t impressed with the show, declining to purchase it.  They had another ‘space show’ in development that seemed too similar, a show that would become Lost in Space.

However, another company became interested: NBC.  In May of 1964, Grant Tinker, the head of the West Coast programming department, commissioned the pilot that would become The Cage (which would later be reworked into the episode The Menagerie).  After it was completed, NBC turned it down, claiming that it was ‘too cerebral’, but although this was a mild defeat, Star Trek wasn’t beaten.  NBC still showed interest in the concept, and made the highly unusual decision to commission a second pilot: the episode that would become Where No Man Has Gone Before.

With this came quite a few changes.

Christopher Pike was scrapped as a character, as was the vast majority of other cast members.  Only the character of Spock, as portrayed by Leonard Nimoy, was kept, and of the other cast members, only Majel Barrett stayed, demoted from playing the second-in-command (scrapped due to the unthinkable notion of a woman Commander) to the ship’s nurse, Christine Chapel.  With this new pilot came an onslaught of new, more familiar names and faces: William Shatner as Captain Kirk, Chief Engineer Lieutenant Commander Scott played by James Doohan, and Lieutenant Sulu, (originally a physicist in the first episode, but a helmsman afterwards) played by George Takei.

This pilot passed with flying colors, and with that, NBC added Star Trek to their fall lineup for 1966.

Still, there were changes to be made.  In this first pilot, the ship’s doctor was Mark Piper, played by Paul Fix.  Dr. Leonard McCoy, played by DeForest Kelley, would join the cast when principal filming for the first season began.  Also joining the cast was Nichelle Nichols, playing Lieutenant Uhura, and Grace Lee Whitney as Yeoman Rand.  (Whitney would depart halfway through the first season, after being on the receiving end of sexual assault from one of the executives of the show, but would later appear in the film series beginning in the 1970s.)

Besides Where No Man Has Gone Before, NBC ordered 15 episodes to start off the show.  The first episode of Star Trek, The Man Trap, aired at 8:30 PM on Thursday, September 8th of 1966 as part of NBC’s ‘sneak preview’ time slot, received with mixed feelings.  While some papers and reviewers genuinely liked the new show, (such as The Philadelphia Inquirer and the San Francisco Chronicle) others, such as The Boston Globe and The New York Times didn’t.  Variety described the show as ‘an incredible and dreary mess of confusion and complexities’, and predicted that it would fail.

Fighting for position against reruns of previous shows, despite the critics’ warnings, Star Trek won a time slot, and began with decent ratings.  However, it didn’t last long.  By the end of the first season, Star Trek was sitting at 52nd out of 94 programs.

Star Trek was sinking, fast.

But even then, it wasn’t without its supporters.

The editor of Galaxy Science Fiction, Frederik Pohl, offered up his amazement that Star Trek’s consistency remained good, with no drop in quality after its Tricon winning early episodes.  He expressed his fear that the show would be cancelled due to its low ratings, and pleaded with audiences to help save Star Trek, writing letters to prevent its cancellation.

At this time, the only thing that was keeping the show on the air in the first place was the demographics it was reaching.  NBC had become interested in the demographics of the shows it was producing in the early 1960s, and by 1967, was using that as part of the decision making as to which shows got dropped.  

And something about Star Trek’s demographics interested NBC very much: it had managed to attract ‘quality’ audiences: high income, high educated people (primarily males).

As a result, NBC ordered ten more episodes for the first season, and ordered a second in March of 1967.  The network then changed Star Trek’s timeslot, moving it to 8:30 on Friday nights, a timeslot that seemed doomed for failure among the audience that Star Trek had gathered.

The next season, things didn’t seem to be getting any better.  It was at this point that the show added on Walter Koenig as Ensign Chekov (as George Takei was working on The Green Berets and was not as available for shooting), although some might have wondered why they would have bothered.  The show’s ratings were still dropping.  William Shatner, expecting the show to be cancelled, began to prepare for other projects.  

Again, the demographics saved the day.

Roddenberry’s initial concept of adventure alongside morality tales intrigued the audiences Star Trek had attracted.  The show had values, values that had to be applied to every situation.  The show was sincere, and serious in its exploration of issues like racism, war and peace, human rights, technology, class warfare, and imperialism, far different in tone and content than the other chief sci-fi show at the time: Lost in Space.  As a result, the show generated a more interested fanbase, perhaps the first true ‘fanbase’ of any franchise in history.  In the end, it was they who saved Star Trek.

By the end of the first season, NBC had received well over 29,000 fan letters.  During the second season, Roddenberry began a campaign to persuade fans to write in to NBC, to support the show and save the program.  Between December of 1967 and March of 1968, NCB had received nearly 116,000 letters from people who did not want to see Star Trek cancelled.  Science fiction conventions, magazines, and newspaper columnists encouraged readers to save what was called ‘the best science-fiction show on the air’.

The fans didn’t stop with letters.  Over 200 students of the California Institute of Technology marched to NBC���s studio in Burbank to protest the cancellation of Star Trek in January of 1968, carrying signs that said things like ‘Vulcan Power’.  They weren’t alone; other groups of students of MIT and Berkeley did the same thing in New York City and San Francisco.

Interestingly, the letters that NBC received were not of the typical ‘fan mail’ quality.

“Much of the mail came from doctors, scientists, teachers, and other professional people, and was for the most part literate–and written on good stationery. And if there is anything a network wants almost as much as a high Nielsen ratings, it is the prestige of a show that appeals to the upper middle class and high-brow audiences.” (Lowry, Cynthia (January 17, 1968). “One Network Goes ‘Unconventional’”. Nashua Telegraph. Associated Press. p. 13)

“The show, according to the 6,000 letters it draws a week (more than any other in television), is watched by scientists, museum curators, psychiatrists, doctors, university professors, and other highbrows. The Smithsonian Institution asked for a print of the show for its archives, the only show so honored.” (Scott, Vernon (February 7, 1968). “Letters Can Save 'Star Trek’”. The Press-Courier. Oxnard, California. United Press International. p. 17.)

After the episode The Omega Glory, on March 1st, 1968, the announcement came:

“And now an announcement of interest to all viewers of Star Trek. We are pleased to tell you that Star Trek will continue to be seen on NBC Television. We know you will be looking forward to seeing the weekly adventure in space on Star Trek.” (“Letters For 'Star Trek’ Hit 114,667”. The Modesto Bee. April 14, 1968. p. 26.)

If this was intended to stop the letter writing campaign, it was a dismal failure.  A comparable number of letters came in to NBC following this announcement, full of thanks for renewing the show for the third season.

In March of 1968, NBC moved Star Trek to another time slot: 10:00 PM on Fridays, an even worse shot than before.  To make matters worse, it was only being seen by 181 out of 210 of NBC’s affiliates.  Roddenberry fought the network to move it to a better time, but he was denied.  Exhausted, Roddenberry quit working on production of Star Trek, remaining executive producer in name only.  The running of the show went to Fred Freiberger, who was with the show as it stood on its last, shaky, legs.

And it was on its last legs.

Star Trek season three was a dying breath, the death-rattle of a show that was being intentionally destroyed by its own network.

To quote Nichelle Nichols:

“While NBC paid lip service to expanding Star Trek’s audience, it [now] slashed our production budget until it was actually 10% lower than it had been in our first season … This is why in the third season you saw fewer outdoor location shots, for example. Top writers, top guest stars, top anything you needed was harder to come by. Thus, Star Trek’s demise became a self-fulfilling prophecy. And I can assure you, that is exactly as it was meant to be.”

It showed.

While I hesitate to call season three of Star Trek a mess, it is difficult to deny that the show was definitely struggling.  Episodes dropped in quality, characters became more exaggerated and less ‘true’. Star Trek stopped filming in January of 1969, and after a total run of 79 episodes, the show  was cancelled.

As a newspaper columnist advised:

“You Star Trek fans have fought the “good fight,” but the show has been cancelled and there’s nothing to be done now.”

Rather incongruous with the image of the pop-culture giant we know it as today, wouldn’t you think?

So what happened?

As it turns out, Star Trek had enough episodes (thanks to the third season) to enter syndication.  Desilu Productions, which at that point had become Paramount, licensed the syndication rights in order to turn a profit, and reruns of Star Trek began airing in late 1969.

In syndication, Star Trek became a cult classic, finding a larger audience on reruns than it had during its original run.  The show, which was airing in the afternoons and early evenings, was attracting a young demographic, and, ironically, Star Trek became known as ‘the show that wouldn’t die’.  By 1970, Star Trek was boosting Paramount’s ratings, and becoming extremely popular.  In January of 1972, over 3,000 fans attended the first Star Trek convention in New York City, kicking off a previously unheard-of trend of organized fan gatherings where they could buy merchandise, meet cast and crew, and screen episodes of the show.  These people, coming to be known as ‘trekkies’, took pride in their knowledge and extreme love for this series, which was becoming renowned for being a smart, heartfelt science fiction show that had been cancelled too early.

17 years after Star Trek was cancelled and started reruns, Star Trek became the most popular syndicated show of all time.  By 1987, Paramount was bringing in $1 million per episode, and by 1994, reruns were still airing in over 90% of the United States of America.

The rest is history.

It has been over fifty years since Gene Roddenberry’s vision of a wagon train to the stars first took flight, and it was a hard battle fought to get as far as it did.  Never before had a show garnered the support and devoted love from a fanbase, never had it inspired such huge leaps and bounds in television and fandom alike.  Never had a television show meant so much to so many, and continued to do so well past its end.

For a show that struggled through a third season, it seems incredible that Star Trek still holds the weight that it does today.  The show that wouldn’t die gained new life beyond the grave, still capturing people’s attention decades after it was cancelled, growing to become one of the best known and best loved television shows ever made.

Against all odds, Star Trek lives on, remaining one of the greatest television shows of all time, for very good reason.

Join me for one last article as next time we take one last look at Star Trek in our Final Thoughts.  If you have any thoughts, questions, suggestions, recommendations, or just want to say hi, don’t forget to leave an ask!  Thank you all so much for reading, and I hope to see you in the next article.  

[silvermoon424]

If you’re a reader, what kickstarted your love of books?

For me, it was the Goosebumps series by R. L. Stine. One day when I was about 10, at school we were given silent reading time. There was a Goosebumps book on the classroom bookshelf (I still remember what it was: Be Careful What You Wish For) and I thought it looked interesting so I started reading it. I ended up getting super invested, more than I had for any other book I’d read (I wasn’t much of a reader up to this point) and finished it. From then on I was hooked.

Thankfully my older brother (who has always been a big reader) actually had almost all of the Goosebumps books so I started reading them all. They were like crack to me, I would bring them to school and read them at recess and in all my spare time. As I got older, I started reading Stine’s books for teenagers (the Fear Street series) before moving onto Christopher Pike, another horror YA author (although looking back on it those books were pretty inappropriate for a 13-year-old lol). No wonder I ended up becoming such a big horror fan. 

Nowadays I still have a big soft spot for horror literature (although I usually prefer my horror in manga/film format), but I mostly read realistic fiction, autobiographies/memoirs, and some types of speculative fiction. I’m forever grateful to Goosebumps for igniting a love of reading in me at such a young age, I feel like books really were a lifeline for me throughout my childhood and adolescence. 

I’m curious what other people’s stories are. What book (or books) made you into a bookworm?

[tlbodine]

An Irritated Review of an Aggressively Bad Book

As a child of the 90s, I cut my teeth on R.L. Stine’s books. Goosebumps in elementary school, graduating up to Fear Street -- with its guts and gore! -- by my tweens. But the time came when I had voraciously consumed all of the R.L. Stine at the library, and I hungered for more books in the same vein. 

Which led me to Christopher Pike. 

Christopher Pike was another of the “Point Horror” series writers popular through the 80s, and they were an obvious thing to recommend to a budding young horror fan (especially as his books tended to be popular with young girls, thanks to the romantic subplots they often featured). But I just never really enjoyed them. I read a handful, shrugged it off, and eventually moved on to reading Stephen King and other adult authors instead. 

Which brings us to this motherfucker. 

@comicreliefmorlock​ sent me a small stack of vintage YA horror titles, because reading ridiculous cheesy teen thrillers sounded like good nostalgic fun. 

But this book isn’t the fun kind of cheesy. It’s the kind of cheesy that drives me to start blogging in irritation at 12:57 am. Because this book isn’t just bad, it is aggressively bad, and it says a lot about 1984 and the state of horror fiction and YA fiction and publishing in general that this fucking book launched Christopher Pike’s career. 

So let’s talk about this sumbitch below the cut.

The story is about a group of teens who meet up for a ski weekend. The girls were all very close when they were younger, but drifted apart after an accident that left one friend badly burned and her little sister dead. The burned-friend is the one whose family owns this very fancy house and so graciously invited everyone to come hang out. 

Our characters don’t really get much in the way of actual characterization, but here’s the cast: 

Nell, who has some facial scarring and whose family is apparently loaded

Nicole, the dead little sister

Lara, the main character (ostensibly)

Dana, who likes to eat and crack jokes (funny fat friend solidarity fist bump)

Rachael, the gorgeous blonde beauty rival of Lara

Mindy, who chews gum

Celeste, a shy girl with back problems who they’ve befriended somewhat recently 

They arrive and hand over their keys to a park ranger to valet-park their car while marveling at how they don’t really know if he was a real park ranger, because I always give my keys to strangers when visiting an isolated location. Celeste asks some innocent questions about why the group hasn’t hung out recently, and the group neglects to mention the dead sister, but the reader figures it out. 

Don’t worry, we’ll hear all about that in a moment. But first there’s a small, stupid mystery about a disappearing snowman, that melted really fast like it was burned and Lara will continue to fixate on this for the rest of the book. 

They spend a little time getting settled in before hitting the slopes. Celeste and Nell hang behind despite being the two people at this gathering who presumably don’t know each other, but they hit it off great right away so good for them. 

At the ski lodge, they run into a pair of boys that Rachael and Mindy know -- Percy and Cal. Lara falls into an instant and irritating infatuation with Percy for some reason, deepening that rivalry with Rachael. Cal creeps on Dana, trying to grope her when they get a minute alone, but Mindy of course gets jealous of Dana for horning on on her man because of course she does. 

Note: The book was written by a man in 1985. 

Anyway, at the ski slopes, Dana disappears, and everyone kind of assumes she’s just trying to avoid Cal even when they find one of her skis sitting in the middle of a very mysterious patch of snow that seems to have some ash and ice in it (just like the snowman! gasp!) but it’s probably fine! 

Somewhere in here we get an entire chapter told in italics to provide helpful background information about how Nicole died -- which involved a bunch of 6th graders at a sleepover getting drunk from stolen brandy in the liquor cabinet, deciding to hold a seance, knocking over a candle, catching Nicole on fire, and then Lara trying to put her out with the brandy (because it’s wet!) and that of course creates a Nicole-Flambe situation. Nicole is whisked away to the hospital and dies there and Lara is wracked with guilt and so forth and so on. 

And scene. Back to the present, where Dana is still missing, they can’t find the ranger who has their car keys, there’s a storm bearing down on them, but of course the most important thing is whether Percy likes Lara better than he likes Rachael. They invite the boys to come over that night. 

Dana’s not back at the house, so Lara calls the lodge to ask for them to have her call if she shows up, but otherwise big shrugs about the friend’s disappearance and presumably being lost in the middle of a storm. Celeste is scandalized that they were going to eat cold cuts at a party and sets to dressing and roasting two whole chickens and a bunch of side dishes, which is of course an extremely normal thing for a teenager to do at a party. 

The boys show up, and Lara feels kind of bad about not really caring where Dana is, except not guilty enough to do anything about it. Dana, you’re too good for these people, get better friends. 

Anyway, they eat and do some drinking then play charades, which Celeste and Nell are eerily good at (hmmmm) and then Cal creeps on Celeste which starts a whole argument culminating in Percy punching him in the face, Cal stumbling backward, and Mindy’s arm catching fire because Nell had bitchily thrown alcohol at her earlier. They throw out the boys and start doing some first aid on Mindy, including dosing her on some codeine that they conveniently have lying around. 

Percy’s gotta go, so Lara walks him out in the woods, refusing anybody else’s offer to come with her so she doesn’t get lost because she wants to make a move on him. There’s some painful flirting, some kissing, some talks about pyrokinesis and the mysterious Dana disappearance (and the snowman! that damned snowman!) and also Percy has a flare gun in his pocket for some reason. 

Gag. Ugh. But ok, fine, Percy gives her the flare gun, presumably because he’s letting her walk back through the woods alone in a blizzard. She scoops up some of the ice from Dana’s disappearance-spot to bring home for evidence and then goes to bed. When she awakens, the ice has melted and she can see bones! and ash! Ahhhh! 

This causes her to panic, so she runs out of the house at 3am into the woods and then, idk, freezes or something. Cal is there for some reason? She conveniently blacks out and awakens to find herself tied up in Nell’s basement. But hey look, Dana’s here! And so is Rachael! 

We helpfully learn that Dana’s been tied up in a closet this whole time. Also, SURPRISE! Celeste isn’t actually Celeste, she’s Nicole! (in case this wasn’t already painfully obvious from all of the foreshadowing). She didn’t die after all! She just assumed an entirely new identity! She was just pretending not to know who Nell is! 

Never mind that Celeste has parents who we have literally talked to in this book (they briefly call to check on her and Lara speaks to them instead). Apparently Nicole’s family....gave her up for adoption? but she’s still really close to her sister? Or else Lara somehow doesn’t realize that Celeste’s parents are Nell’s parents? Literally no part of this is explained in a way that makes any sense at all. 

But anyway, turns out this whole weekend was just an excuse to get everybody together so that Nell and Nicole/Celeste could get revenge by dousing them in kerosene and burning them alive. Like you do. 

There’s a lot of waffling and trying to win over Nicole with the power of friendship, and then she changes her mind about the plan but Nell doesn’t, which leads to some dramatic scuffling and ultimately Lara shoots Nell with Chekhov’s flare gun, but it’s totally OK because her expression is “the most peaceful” Lara has ever seen so that’s cool, and then they manage to rescue Mindy before the house blows up.

From there, we’ve just got some loose ends to tie up. We’re rescued by the suspicious ranger from earlier who it turns out actually is a ranger, so that’s cool. How did he find them? Why, that strapping young man Cal tipped him off that they might be in trouble! 

You heard it here first, folks. Cal, the guy whose characterization up to this point has been “gropes girls without consent” and “tells funny war stories about napalm” is actually the real hero here! What a find stand-up young gentleman that serial offender is. 

Also, again, Dana, you are too good for these people, find new friends. 

Anyway, the girls end up in the hospital, where they promise a vow of secrecy but also Lara and Nicole are totally going to be best friends now, no harsh feelings. Also Lara is totally going to hook up with Percy, because that was definitely the most important thing to come from this weekend and she’s definitely not in any way going to be traumatized about any of this. 

The end. 

distant gagging sounds