#he’s half vulcan half klingon

[vulcanmulti]

My Star Trek oc :)

[bumblingbabooshka]

Two people on a small bipartisan science station gently fall in love.

[foone]

you know what'd be a fun idea for a trek fanshow? Star Trek: Mission Logs. You just put a couple people in starfleet uniforms, and have them read off summaries of episodes in an increasingly incredulous tone. Like Drunk History: Star Trek Edition.

"so the captain says that while on the way to the inauguration ceremony, they diverted course to Vulcan as their first officer needed SO MUCH to fuck that he was a week from death, but then when they got there, he got stood up, and then fought the captain TO DEATH but he was ok?"

"so it turns out when they disappeared during the battle with the borg, they went back in time and found out that the first use of warp drive had been undone, so they had to personally help Cochrane rebuild his ship, and they were there for first contact!?"

I say "drunk history" because I imagine the people at the starfleet HQ have to drink heavily to handle the kind of reports they keep getting in from starfleet captains.

"So after a miserable first contact, the commander, doctor, first officer, and science officer disappeared, and their security officer found that the boardgame the barkeep was playing had pieces that represented them? and they were somehow mystically imprisoned inside the game!"

"so the captain says that they detected a ship trapped inside a black hole (!?) and when they tried to rescue the ship, they got damaged and then discovered they were that ship, trapped inside without realizing. Fortunately they found the crack in the event horizon and escaped." (the lieutenant then passes out after finishing the entire bottle of Bolian vodka)

"So while they were on a vital mission to locate the aliens who had blown up florida and were planning to destroy the entire planet, they found a... Cowboy Planet!?" Everyone yells "COWBOY PLANET!" and takes a shot.

"So while testing a weapons upgrade, a crewmember's case of flu was accidentally turned into an infectious de-evolutionary mutagen, causing the crewmember to turn into a spider, and the rest of the crew to undergo similar changes." "stop, stop, STOP! you made that one up, admit it!" "no, really! Their counselor turned into a frog." "ok, now I'm just not going to believe anything you say."

"so a former captain of the ship was visiting when they tried to rescue a ship flying directly into a supernova, but got 'pulled in'!? and ended up in a REVERSE TIME UNIVERSE? naturally, everyone quickly de-aged to children, and the elderly former captain had to take command" "Spelk, you're not even trying this time, that's not even remotely plausible"

"So it turns out that the terrorist who took over the paradise planet was the first officer's (half-)brother, and he uses his magic hypnosis to cause the crew to mutiny and join his mission to travel to the middle of the galaxy... and find god!?" "Did... did they find god?" "oh yeah! turns out he was evil. Don't worry, the first officer blew him up using a klingon warbird." "he blew up god?" "yeah!"

"So this is a little different, it's not a mission log... it's a repair log." "That doesn't sound like it'd be very weird..." "Oh, just you wait. So, they had to get refueled because all their dilithium had been stolen." "Stolen?" "Yes. By a man from AN ANTIMATTER DIMENSION" "So a man in an antimatter dimension discovered there were two dimensions, and his matter counterpart went insane and obsessed with killing the anti-matter version of him, but meeting outside the dimensional corridor would destroy both universes" "both... universes? So if the captain didn't stop these guys, everyone in our entire universe and some other one would be gone?" "YEP!" "did he stop them? well, I guess he did, since we're still here" "oh yeah. trapped 'em in the dimensional corridor forever." "so they're just out there in some weird in-between-the-universes place, just fighting, for all time? and that's the only reason we haven't blown up?" "YEP!" "and this all came out in the logs... because they put in for repairs?" "yeah. to replace the stolen dilithium" "are you sure the captain wasn't really into dabo or kotra and wagered the dilithium crystals on a "sure thing" that didn't pan out?"

"So this one is a report of some people (with pictures!) who don't exist." "They don't exist?" "Nope! never did. They weren't born." "So, we have pictures of them, because?" "Well, the ship crashed, and the stranded crew had kids... then they uncrashed." "uncrashed?" "yeah! so it turns out when they approached the planet, they got thrown a couple centuries back in time, and met their descendants. then when they tried to leave, the ship would crash, restarting the loop. but it didn't." "it didn't?" "yeah, one of the crew was secretly in love with another officer, but she wasn't going to survive the crash, so despite the crew attempting to recreate the crash to continue the existence of their past-future-descendants, he sabotaged the ship into not crashing" "wait, into not crashing? he did sabotage to make everything... work perfectly?" "yeah! they were trying to crash, remember? So they inadvertently didn't crash, undoing the existence of all of their descendants, so they never existed. But here's their pictures!"

"ooh, I found a really weird one! It's not a mission report, medical file, or even another repair log" "So what is it? Another weird artifact?" "no no no, I sent those off to the SCP division. This is a SPY REPORT! About a dead Romulan!" "So this report is on a spy saying that the Romulans had gotten access to some secret information about the then-upcoming Intrepid-class starships. Very minimal info, but this was found in a Romulan database when the ship was just undergoing initial design stages" "Here's the weird part: The database file with the information on the Intrepid was timestamped 2351, but Starfleet didn't even start initial design work on the Intrepid until 2364!" "So they used time travel? to get... basic information on one single starship class?" "Kinda? See, there's a P.S. on the spy file, added later when it was declassified. The leaked info in the Romulan database was discovered in 2371, but the file was updated in 2378, with an explanation." "and?" "Remember when the U.S.S. Voyager was lost?" "oh yeah, they turned out to have just been stuck on the other side of the galaxy, right?" "Yeah! And while they were there, they found a microscopic wormhole, and successfully used it to communicate back with the Romulans... but discovered it was a TIME WORMHOLE" "oh, so they were talking to the Romulans back in 2351?" "Yep! They figured that out and then decided not to transport through the wormhole, as they would have gotten home 20 years before they left, but they sent some messages back to be delivered later. They didn't come through" "why not?" "well... turns out the romulan guy (Telek R'Mor) died before Voyager ever launched, so he never got a chance to deliver the messages. but he DID inform the Tal Shiar about some design elements of the Intrepid class, years before it was launched" "that must have confused them" "yes... the report is basically just two spy agencies completely confused about what to do about the intelligence they had, and confused about why they had it"

"ok ok ok, enough artifacts, mission logs, spy reports, medical reports, repair logs, how about a really weird one: A SENSOR REPORT!" "why is that one weird?" "well, look at the timestamp. Both of them." "so one timestamp is 2372, and the other is... negative 16 billion?" "yep! This one is a scan of the big bang. And slightly before it." "... before?" "Yeah! They did a scan, and then THE BIG BANG HAPPENED, and then fortunately they got out of there before the universe fully existed, as that would exceed the ship's safety tolerances" "so... why were they at the big bang?" "well... you know the farpoint encounter, and that godly being the USS Enterprise ran into?" "oh god (uh, no pun intended)... but yeah, vaguely" "WELL it turns out there was another one of those godly beings who was suicidal and imprisoned in a comet, and-" "wait wait wait. there was a god trapped in a comet?" "yes. apparently they're infinitely powerful but weak to comets. ANYWAY. he was suicidal and trying to hide" "hide? WHAT DOES A GOD HAVE TO HIDE FROM?" "well he was hiding from the other god! the one at farpoint! that one was the one who imprisoned him. because he was suicidal." "so the god was in the comet, and the other god put him there, and someone let him out? and then he hid?" "yes! and where does a god hide?" "at the big bang?" "slightly before, but yes! and he took the ship along with him, so that's how they were able to scan the big bang. because of getting involved in a weird game of hide-and-seek between a suicidal god and a jailer-god" "so what happened? how did they get out of the whole god-war thing?" "well... usual stuff. they put the god on trial to see if he could be allowed to die, but compromised on making him human and a crew member" "so they had a former god on their crew?" "briefly. then he died." "he died? after settling for human?" "yeah, it turned out the jailer-god changed his mind and decided to rebel against god-society and started by giving the former-god some deadly poison to let him finally die, like he wanted" "well, at least that seems to have ended... well?"

"oh no, there's a follow up! see, it seems the dead god thing lead to a god-civil-war and it seems that caused a bunch of supernovae in 2373." "wait... supernovae? plural? like, outshined-the-entire-galaxy SUPERNOVAE? that must have killed billions, or trillions!" "yep! it was a massive disaster and caused a real crisis in astronomy because we had no idea why it was happening, but it suddenly stopped, thankfully. But yes, it was started because the crew accidentally freed a suicidal god from a comet." "oh god..." "literally!"

"don't worry, though... that's not the weird bit" "HOW IS THAT NOT THE WEIRD BIT?" "OK I PROMISE I'M NOT MAKING THIS UP... but after the first supernovae of the 2373 Calamity, it turns out the captain (of the ship that killed the god) discovered another god... in her bed" "her... bed?" "Yeah! it turns out the other god wanted to have a child. with her." "... that's weird but what does this have to do with the supernovae?" "he wanted to end the war, and figured the best way to do it was to get her pregnant with a god-baby"

"NOPE! That's it! I'm out. that's not real. you're making it up. We don't live in a universe where one captain caused death across the universe by sparking a god-war and then only ending it by having a baby with a god. I'm out. I have a Warp Dynamics test to study for anyway."

"wait! wait! I didn't even tell you about the time she turned into a lizard and had babies with her pilot" "NO! I DON'T CARE HOW MANY WEIRD THINGS YOU MAKE UP, THERE ARE NO LIZARD BABIES"

"no, I swear, it really happened! Look, they went infinitely fast and occupied every point in the universe!" "THAT'S NOT HOW SPEED WORKS" "it is! and it turns out going everywhere at once infinitely fast turns you into a lizard!" "*sigh* Are there any reports on unhearing that?"

I imagine they sometimes decide to go HARD MODE on the report readings, where they have to put aside all the ones with "Voyager" on them. They're just too easy.

"So I've got two reports here, and I want you to pick between them. One is the second weirdest transporter visitor log, and the other is a report on why a science officer is 30 years old... except his head, which is 495 years old!" "I'm going to cut you off there, because I know your tricks: those are both the same incident." "Yep! You got me. Am I really that predictable?" "You are. Also, second weirdest transporter visitor log? You phrased that very specifically..." "I wanted to rule out all the transporter accidents and strange misuses of the transporter, and focus solely on WHO was transported. This was the second weirdest person." "I'm not going to take the obvious bait and ask who it was... but I will ask: who is the weirdest?" "Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln. President of the United States, a predecessor to the unified Earth government... he died in 1865." "WHY WAS HE TRANSPORTED? Who was time traveling back to the 1860s? and if they were in the 1860s, why were they beaming up Presidents?" "HARDMODE: No time travel! He was transported out of open space in 2269, because he had been recreated by the local mineral beings on their lava-planet" "why... why did the lava aliens recreate a 19th century Earth president?" "To study GOOD AND EVIL!" "Like you do, I guess?" "Yeah... anyway, the recreated Lincoln got killed by a spear, thrown by either Genghis Khan or Kahless the Unforgettable" "THE FOUNDER OF THE KLINGON EMPIRE?" "Yeah! he got recreated too. And teamed up with Genghis." "No. no no no no no you made this up" "It's real! Check it out, there's a message here to the diplomatic department, asking for the proper protocol to accept a 19th century US president abort a quasi-military vessel. And there's a video clip! Hit play on that..."

"Man, video quality was terrible back in 2269" "Yeah, they were using analog tapes back then. Don't ask why. Retrotechnology studies are so complicated even without timetravel messing everything up. So yeah, apparently the answer is 'dress uniforms, security guys, whistle'" "oh yeah. You can't welcome a 19th century Earth president on board without a whistle. Where's your sense of ceremony!?"

"So I really have to go, my Intermediate Klingoneese class starts in like 5 minutes, but just tell me one thing: Who was the 2nd weirdest transporter visitor on the logs?" "Oh! Samuel Clemens." "Who?" "Mark Twain! Earth author, wrote Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn?" "What? How?" "Yeah, a crew found a time portal that went back to 1893, while trying to figure out why the head of one of their crewmembers was in a cave on earth, and accidentally sent him forward to 2368, and beamed him aboard." "Did they wipe his memory afterwards or something?" "NOPE!" "So the 19th century Earth author Mark Twain, who I'm now remembering wrote a novel about time travel, didn't he?" "yep!" "So he wrote about time travel and HAD PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH IT?" "Yeah! thanks to snake aliens, eating humans in the past"

"Yeah I'm gonna go ask my teacher how they say 'You deserve to die for your lies' on Qo'noS" "I think it's... Hegh nep qotlh SoH? maybe 'urmang instead of nep?" "I'M OUT, petaQ!"

(a transcript of a twitter thread I made from back in July 2020)

[princesscolumbia]

Star Trek Captains, A Review and Categorization

Star Trek is a show about a Neo-military organization that has rank structures, ships, and fights wars, so naturally there's plenty of captains to talk about, but for this post I'll be highlighting specifically the main cast captains, in something resembling chronological order. (But, I mean, this is Star Trek, so even that's kinda up in the air)

Captain Archer

That Guy who had to hand crank the warp engine up-hill both ways in the blinding ion storm. We don't need no stinkin' Prime Directive! Remember The Alamo Pearl Harbor 9/11 Florida! But...uh, maybe don't be dicks about it, not everyone who looks like the ones responsible for that thing we're never going to forget actually wants us dead. Got transformed into an alien, got possessed by another alien, slept with a couple more. Never got pregnant, though (that was his chief engineer)

Scorecard

Ships commanded: 1

Wars started: 0

Wars ended: 3

Times on screen naked: 1

Nazi facilities destroyed: 1

Category: Grampa

Captain Pike

Midlife crisis? What midlife crisis? Everything's fiiiiine. Now eat something, it'll make you feel better. I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed. Number One, don't tell me I can't adopt more kids, I don't care that they're from the future they're mine now. Besides, we've already got a whole ship-full, what's two more?

Scorecard

Ships commanded: 2

Violations of the Temporal Prime Directive: -3 (yes, it's an irrational number, we're talking time travel, people!)

Musical Numbers Participated While On Duty: 3

Hair: Really Great

Category: Dad (or DILF if you swing that way)

Captain Georgiou

You will be captain when you can snatch the stone from my hand.

Scorecard

Ships commanded: 1

Protege's who required a redemption arc: 1

Awesomeness: Transcendent

Category: Gone too soon, also, MILF who can kick your ass

(Edit: Courtesy of @cheer-me-up-scotty for pointing out an oversite on my part)

Captain Burnham

Cosplays as a Vulcan 'cause she's jealous of her adoptive brother. Accurately called an audience-stand-in-self-insert-mary-sue (shut up, Star Trek fandom invented the Mary Sue, it was a term coined by women fans, so shut up!), but by season 2 she actually gets interesting.

Scorecard

Mommy Issues: Has a subscription

Moms: 4

PTSD inducing life events: Like, all of them

Ships commanded: 3

Mutinies led failed: 1

Category: That One Cousin who married surprisingly well and made something of herself in spite of all expectations

Captain Kirk

Golden retriever energy, would be the Useless Bisexual Himbo if he didn't have so much game. Probably smarter than he lets on. Polyamory King and certified Alien Fucker. Boyfriend is a half-space-elf, main sometimes-girlfriend will go on to create the deadliest super-weapon ever built by humans by accident.

Scorecard

Number of Klingon Bounties on his head: [CLASSIFIED]

Number of women he's slept with: [CLASSIFIED]

Nazi regimes toppled: 1

Number of times he should have had a test that determines if you can stick your dick in it that got named after an upstart from that other science fiction show instead: 1

Ships Commanded: 3

Ships He's Stolen: 3

Category: Slut(affectionate)

Captain Kirk (the other one)

Golden Retriever that got left behind when his family moved away and had to lead a ragtag team of a crotchety older dog and a wet cat on a journey...

No, wait, hold on...

Right! That's the one!

Scorecard

Times he should have been kicked out of Starfleet: At least 4

Ships commanded: 3

Ground transport destroyed: 2 (that we know of)

Number of middle fingers given to Admiralty: 2

Category: Bad Boy

Captain Picard

You know that guy who you see going to the library all the time and always seems to have his nose in a book and always seems to be telling people off for breaking the rules and doing dangerous shit? You'd never know it but he used to be That Guy in college who got, like, ALL the girls and is going to be the Hot Grampa that you don't know how he has that much game, but he got it.

Scorecard

Ships lost in the line of duty: 2

Number of times he married and then estranged his best friend's wife who named their son after her dead first husband: 1

Number of toxic omnipotent and omniscient boyfriends who are obsessed with him and spends their spare time playing with ponies: 1

Category: Inexplicable Sexyman

Captain Badass Sisko

The Cool Dad with baggage. He's got game, but he's got priorities as well, and DON'T mess with his son or you won't even exist anymore to regret it. BLM before it was cool. Led a civil rights riot two centuries before he was born. Space Jesus who can make the best jambalaya you've ever had. Fought and won a war, punched a god, then became one.

Scorecard

Civilizations saved: 4

Native Cultures Treated With the Respect They Deserve: Many

Times He Bent the Rules so his CMO could get some nookie from a Cardasian spy plain, simple tailor: The counter broke

Successful black-ops assassinations completed: 1

Category: BAMF

Captain Janeway

THE single most decorated captain in Starfleet history. Successfully dropped the hammer on dozens of petty tyrants, oppressive regimes, roaming mass murderers, and the Borg. What Prime Directive? Your Mom. Also, probably slept with your mom, that's how much she is the Domme-est of Dommes. She told the Borg to use the safe word...and they DID!

Scorecard

Borg Daughters: 1

Times she told the Borg to step off: 3 (or 4...or 5? Honestly, with the time travel shenanigans it's hard to know for sure)

Nazis she's personally shot: 1

Category: Mistress, but it's "Ma'am" to you

Captain Freeman

She's angry AND disappointed! She's just as good as all the other captains in the fleet, and the good ones know it, but all the rest? They see "cali class" and assume all they're good for is the jobs nobody else wants. But jokes on them, because thanks to that attitude her crew are the flippin' Jacks and Jills of all trades and are more capable of fixing AND fucking AND "fucking" shit up than damn near anyone else!

Scorecard

Times the ship has nearly been destroyed but she and her crew got through it: ...uh...how many episodes are there? And then there's the times that get casual mentions that we never get the details on!

Daughters who should probably be captains now if they were at least a LITTLE more respectful and didn't actively try to piss off Admirals: 1

Times the Cerritos has had to be rebuilt to the point it might as well be called "The Ship of Cerritos Problem": At least 4

Category: Your mom...get back here, I'M NOT DONE TALKING TO YOU!

Captain R'El

Cinnamon Roll, just let m'boy into Starfleet! He just wants a home and a family! I'd like to see full-grown captains who can keep up with half of what this Best Boy is capable of!

Scorecard

Number of species his genetic code is made up of: All of 'em. Even the GODDAMN Q!

Number of Janeways he impressed the socks off of: 2

Quality of his Janeway impression: Bad

Number of Ferengi he out-Ferengi'd: 1

Nazis punched: Give him time...

Category: Teenage Boy Who's NOT GOING THROUGH A PHASE, MOM!

Should I do Captains Shaw and Seven? How about Alternate Timeline Tripp or Future Chakotay? (Going too far down that rabbit hole will eventually lead to Imperial Kirk and Captain Spock from the movies.) Let me know in the comments.

Next Post in this series

[bajuuuu]

Rewatching some favourite TOS episodes of mine. And this thing at the end of The return of the archons (s1,e22) stuck out to me. This whole episode is about how a computer can’t run a society even if programmed by a human. Because it’s missing something… innate… human. A “soul” Jim calls it.

The episode ends with Jim talking the computer into self destructing (as usual) stating that it has no creativity, that it’s killing the humans it’s designed to protect. This isn’t the only time Jim makes a computer realise that it is and never will be a human and is therefore lesser than the human which created it.

But after that. After they return to the ship Jim and Spock have the classic end of the episode conversation. “I prefer the concrete, the graspable, provable.” Spock says after Jim brings up the soul argument. “You’d make a splendid computer, mister Spock” Jim replies with a smile. He means it well. Spock raises an eyebrow at the remark and thanks his captain for the compliment. ”That is very kind of you captain.”

Kind. In the episode where a computer is talked into subordination, told that it is lesser than humans. It is kind of Jim to call Spock a computer. I can’t be the only one seeing this irony.

Do you think that any time Spock gets compared to a machine, he thinks back to this moment? Do you think that any time he is asked to do some computations instead of asking the computer (because said machine is unavailable) he compares himself to the machine he is substituting?

Spock gets called many quite ugly things throughout the series, some of them are reprimanded (the episode where an ensign is made to leave the bridge after not trusting Spock with a decision because he’s a Vulcan). Some go unnoticed or are ignored due to the episode plot being more important (The Galileo 5 where he has to constantly prove himself to be capable of doing his damn job even though he’s the superior officer). And then some are played off for a laugh, a joke and harmless little quarrel (any time Bones and Spock are on screen tbh).

There’s also The day of the dove. An episode where Scotty (influenced by an alien but still) tells Spock to “keep his Vulcan hands off of him. Just keep away. […] you green blooded half-breed”. Spock (also influenced by an alien) goes to punch Scotty in the face (which… fair) but the way Jim stops Spock (only Spock not Scotty who started the whole thing) from doing so is by yelling “you’re half human”. Which does the trick by the way. Later on he goes directly to Spock, lays his hands on his shoulders and asks him and no one else “Have we committed race hatred against the Klingons?” He asks Spock because at least unconsciously he knows that Spock is the one who would notice. Who would know.

I just wonder, how many times can you be called a pointy eared bastard, a devil, a computer, an alien before you start to believe it. Before you start changing yourself to be more human. To fit in. Because Spock does change throughout the seasons, he becomes more open, allows himself to be both human and Vulcan at the same time. And of course he does, he is surrounded by people! Of course it will rub off. Especially if these humans continuously tell you that you will never feel love (a very human emotion in Bonse’s opinion) because it isn’t written in your inheritance (The paradise syndrome).

He changes, I just wonder if it is for the better. Or if.. perhaps. The first thing he does after the 5 years on the Enterprise is go back to his home world and tries to purge himself of all emotion. To kill off this human thing in him that his friends tried to cherish.

Does this have a point? No? Not really? Just… thoughts.

[trillscienceofficer]

from Cinefantastique Volume 28 #4-5, November 1996

KLINGON ENGINEER: Roxann Biggs-Dawson as B'Elanna Torres gives heart to the hard-working Maquis engineer.

By Anna L. Kaplan

A bedroom scene between B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Biggs-Dawson) and Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) appeared in the second season VOYAGER episode, "Persistence of Vision." This scene provoked a very loud and negative response from fans. A surprised Biggs-Dawson laughed and said, "So many people gave me so much flak about that, as if I had written it. It was amazing, the letters, and the comments. Mostly the women really spoke out strongly against it, and felt that it was a weak cop-out. I totally disagreed with that."

In the episode, an alien was able to subdue the crew and put them into trance-like states by mind control, whereby each individual believed himself to be with someone extremely psychologically important. Tuvok, for example, joined his wife on Vulcan, while Tom Paris saw his father. B'Elanna, hard at work in engineering and determined to save the ship, found herself talking to Chakotay, apparently, who convinced her to stop work and join him. While she knew it was not really Chakotay, and said so, B'Elanna succumbed to the temptation.

Noted Biggs-Dawson, "I felt that the strength of that alien, the way he could get to us as humans, was that he understands the deep need, whether you're a Vulcan, or a half-Klingon or whatever, that we all have to love and to be loved. The things that would put us into those trances were those very deep needs. I think for B'Elanna, it wasn't a reflection of a direct attraction to Chakotay. He represents so much to her, a father figure, a mentor, her teacher, her coworker, and he is an attractive man. I think it was a desire to give in to a side that she does not give into easily, and that was what caused her particular trance. I don't think that necessarily means that he is always on her mind. It probably took her by surprise as much as it did the audience. It was more of a reflection of her need to please, to fulfill, all of these things are very real, very human.

"At [STAR TREK] conventions, a lot of people [were] feeling that the writers just felt that the only thing B'Elanna was about, was being in love with Chakotay. That wasn't what the message was at all. I didn't read it that way when I read the script. It did say something about all of the characters who succumbed to those needs of wanting to love and to be loved, those things that we shove away, and push away, and don't want to deal with." It is readily apparent that Biggs-Dawson thinks a lot about B'Elanna Torres and what makes her the person she is. She noted about the second season, "I think it's been interesting. I've had some interesting costars, one was a computer, and one was a mechanical man. I'm waiting for them to give me a real person to play off of." She laughed. "I keep joking. I had an episode last season where I played opposite myself, then opposite a machine, then opposite a machine with my voice. So it's obviously a theme. Hopefully [this] year I get to talk to a real person. The second season episodes the actress is referring to were "Prototype" and "Dreadnought." She noted more seriously, "When I saw both 'Prototype' and 'Dreadnought' they scared me a bit, because it was going to be difficult to pull off. I think the end result was that we found some interest- ing themes I didn't know were there in the beginning." In "Prototype" Torres repairs a robot whose creators are gone. The robot then wants her to make new robots. Biggs-Dawson observed, "So much of 'Prototype' was the only way B'Elanna could deal with her own mothering instincts and creation [instincts]. At this point in her development, probably the only way that she can confront her feelings and herself, is through the creation and adoption of a mechanical being, of a robot, and to be as excited about that as some people [are] about children or other kinds of creation."

In "Dreadnought" Voyager encounters a Cardassian missile whose computer Torres had reprogrammed when she was a Maquis, using her own voice for the computer. She has to stop it from destroying a highly populated planet. Said Torres [sic, the author meant Dawson], "'Dreadnought' was an interesting challenge because it was very much dealing with who B'Elanna used to be, confronting her former self. She was forced to see how much she had changed, and who she was at the time. She was forced to battle that in a very, very tangible way. That I found to be the most interesting: think I had most of my revelations when I went in to do the computer voice. As I was recording that side of the episode, later on, there was a real sense of growing to understand who I was before, who B'Elanna was who was actually programming all that stuff into the computer."

Biggs-Dawson likes B'Elanna Torres. She said about B'Elanna, "She makes mistakes. I love that the writers allow her to be flawed and fallible. I think that's what makes her so interesting. So often on television you have these characters that are playing all good or all evil, and they battle it. Here you've got this character that is a little bit of both, which I think we all are. Her decisions and her struggles, what makes them so human, in a way, [is that] there is often not a definite right and a wrong. There's a lot of gray area in there, and I think that's where B'Elanna lives." Biggs-Dawson has some ideas about how to explore her character, but hasn't yet approached the show's producers or writers to discuss them. "We can say whatever we want, whether anything's ever done about it, that's another story," she said, laughing. "They're very open to listening to us. I actually haven't felt the need to discuss the future of my character with them at all, because I feel like so far they've been very much in line. It's only been in the last few weeks that I've had some desires or thoughts that I might want to approach them about. But it's really been the first time in this two year process that I might want to go to them and say, 'Why don't we look at this side of her character. We want to explore this.' I think in the beginning, they hand you a character. They know so much more about this character than you do. Now it's been two years and she's starting to meld vith me. I think they understand that. As we play these characters, we start to almost take them, and they become ours, and our insights mean that much more."

The versatile and talented Biggs-Dawson, who played Diana in A Chorus Line on Broadway, has film credits which include DARKMAN II and GUILTY BY SUSPICION, and has appeared on such television shows as MATLOCK, THE UNTOUCHABLES, and POINTMAN. As B'Elanna Torres in VOYAGER, she hopes to inspire and teach, something that has always been possible on a STAR TREK series. She speculated about the future on VOYAGER, "It's important, as relationships develop, and I hope they will, that being a strong woman doesn't mean that you can't have a partner, or you can't show romantic feelings toward the opposite sex. I think that the rules have to be redefined. To think that in order to be strong you have to be alone the rest of your life is kind of frightening, and I hope that STAR TREK will be at the forefront of showing a new kind of woman, who will redefine the love relationships between male and female. I'd like to see that."

But facing the hiatus before third season, she is ready for some time off, which she said she will use, "Mostly to relax. I've go a few conventions, and a couple little vacations planned. But I think mostly to relax, it goes by so quickly."

[t0ast-ghost]

Here’s my thoughts on Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

There’s swear words, star trek, and spoilers oh my!

Start it up:

- “The planet of galactic peace.” Somehow. I don’t believe that.

- This guy on his horse looks like death

- “Let us explore it together.” Come take my hand. Let us take ibuprofen together.

- It’s hard to dislike Sybok when he smiles like that so they have to add in a somewhat evil laugh

- Epic music is a go (Music by Jerry Goldsmith)

- “‘You’ll be able to relax’ you call this relaxing? I’m a nervous wreck. If I’m not careful I’ll end up talking to myself.” Kirk convinced him to come here and now he has to watch his idiot husband climb a rock

- Kirk knows Spock and McCoy are there to catch him when he falls but goddamnit if they aren’t both really tired of his shit

- No but seriously what is with science fiction and thinking ‘yeah there’s a race of cat people’ looking at you too doctor who

- Caithlin Dar is awesome already.. I don’t trust Talbot (edit: haha too bad they’re characters don’t really do anything anyway)

- Scotty narrating is my favourite actually

- UHURA IS AWESOME

- are Uhura and Scotty dating?

- “Admit it. We’re lost!” “All right, we’re lost. But we’re making good time.” Didn’t know I needed Sulu and Chekov to go hiking together but I do

- “Yes uh- yes, we’ve been caught in a blizzard.” *Chekov starts blowing into the microphone* god I love them. He just went with it!

- Bones ringing the triangle out of spite and love

- The husbands sitting down and eating beans. Why would they make star trek about literally anything else

- Coming back strong with the extra wh sound (it was in the last movie when McCoy said whales)

- The trivia panel is telling me that one of the goofs is Kirk calling Tennessee whiskey bourbon and it looks like something Spock would write

- McCoy laughing and talking about Spock’s Vulcan metabolism and Spock indulging by saying he’s also half human and McCoy responding with “well it certainly doesn’t show” to which he knows Spock’ll take as a compliment. Yes I do need old married mcspirk.

- “You know, you two could drive a man to drink.” Then Kirk with all the innocence and nonchalance in the world says, “me? What did I do?” “What did you do? You really piss me off, Jim.”

- McCoy is lecturing Kirk cause he can’t take anymore of his almost dying bullshit

- “I knew I wouldn’t die because the two of you were with me.” “I do not understand.” “I’ve always known I’ll die alone.” I’m about to cry because this is true. He dies in a distant future without either of them. Thinking about it they all somewhat die alone. Maybe Spock was there for McCoy but we never see his death. And Spock dies in an alternate past :(((

- “It’s a mystery to me what draws us together…Other people have families.” “Other people, Bones, not us.” They are each other’s family.

- SPOCK ROASTING A MARSHMALLOW (not sure why they call it a ‘marsh melon’)

- This is the silliest thing they could have possibly put in a movie (this is like a comfort fic but a movie and I am so here for it)

- “God, I liked him better before he died.” McCoy is getting nasty and Kirk is now like ‘well time to sleep’

- “Life is not a dream.” “Go to sleep, Spock.”

- Why is the head Klingons outfit so cunty. Why’re the Klingons so silly?

- They caught Spock in his jammies

- “Well gentlemen, it seems shore leave has been cancelled.” They can’t go on ONE DATE

- Why’re they huddled together on the ship like that?

- “‘All I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by.’” “Melville.” “John Masefield.” “Are you sure about that?” “I am well versed in the classics, Doctor.” “Then how come you don’t know Row, Row, Row Your Boat?” Spock makes the most frowny and tired face imaginable. I think McCoy was justified in biting back there cause imagine you wake up, get in a shuttle, and then get corrected. All I’m saying is Spock was being a bit of a know it all (wouldn’t have him any other way)

- “*laughs* I don’t think I’ve ever seen him happier.” McCoy is so jolly in this one

- The yeoman with Kirk’s jacket is played by Shatner’s daughter

- HE ACTUALLY HAS A SHIRT THAT SAYS ‘go climb a rock.’ omg

- That fucking outfit oh my goodness

- “What’s the matter, Jim?” “I miss my old chair.” And then it switches to Spock who’s going :[

- Love how the Klingons all know who Kirk is. Like he’s THAT important

- Aww Kirk can’t write his diary :((

- Their silhouettes are so cute (34:06) (also they look like how aliens coming out of a spaceship look, I just think that’s neat)

- McCoy has to turn on the lights like, ‘stop sulking in the damn dark.’

- “Imagine that, a passionate Vulcan.” What McCoy? You want Spock to be more passionate?

- “This is Captain Pavel Chekov speaking.” He’s so silly for that. But also it’s probably best he doesn’t say ‘acting captain’ as that would arouse suspicion cause as everyone knows the captain is always the first to go on dangerous away missions

- What’s going on? Why is Uhura dancing ? What.

- What. Was. That. Scene. Why.

- “Spock.” “Yes, captain?” “Be one with the horse.” “Yes, captain.” Oookay

- “Hold your horse, captain.” Good one.

- Spock just. He just nerve pinched that horse.

- Spock does not know how to deal with seeing his estranged brother again (yeah I was spoiled) so, “you are under arrest for seventeen violations of the neutral zone treaty.” Is what he went with

- Sybok complimented and then winked at Kirk HE IS TAKEN

- “We’re going to forego the tractor beam and fly her in manually.” “Manually?” “How often have you done this?” “Actually it’s my first attempt.” Personally wouldn’t trust anyone else to attempt that other than Sulu. He is THAT bitch (/pos)

- EXPLOSION!!!!! CRASHHHH

- whooo space stuff! Sorry the photon torpedo just missing as the enterprise went into warp was cool

- Spock’s got a gun!

- McCoy comes out of the ship and is so confused and looks to Spock and Kirk

- Ohhh no. Sybok is gonna do his thingy magic thing to Sulu and Uhura with Scotty watching ‘em from above

- “What you have done is betray every man on this ship.” “Worse. I have betrayed you. I do not expect you to forgive me.” “Forgive you? I ought to knock you on your goddamn ass.” “If you think it would help.” “You want me to hold him, Jim?” “You stay out of this. Why, Spock? Why?” Lots to think about in this dialogue. But I think McCoy offering to hold Spock is him going ‘Jim you’re overreacting can’t you see he’s already remorseful?’ I could be misreading but if you understand it as the idea of McCoy holding him down is so redundant because Spock is strong enough to get out of his grasp easily but probably wouldn’t resist in this moment then it’s just like aughhhhhh

- Also Kirk asking Spock to shoot someone is bad enough. But the fact that it was his brother…

- Kirk is in disbelief. He didn’t know his own husband has a brother (half brother technically. Same Spock same.)

- “Stop it, Jim! Spock could no more kill his own brother than he could kill you. If you want to punish him for what he’s done, why don’t you throw him in the brig? Besides, we’ve got bigger problems to deal with.” Bones not only defending Spock, but also getting them back on track

- Apparently both Gene Roddenberry and William Shatner didn’t like that Sybok was Spock’s brother. Roddenberry didn’t think that Sarek would have a child with another woman (I kinda agree but also Pon Farr would’ve made him become engaged to a Vulcan before he met Amanda, so it’s not completely unthinkable). And Shatner didn’t like it cause it was too much like ‘a soap opera plot line’ but they went with it so that Spock’s actions made sense with the way he acted towards Sybok. I personally like that Spock has siblings he never told anyone about. It’s funny.

- lmao this time Kirk gets to stand on top of Spock to reach something (See patterns of force)

- Spock talking about himself in the third person because he doesn’t want to admit that he couldn’t get out of the brig

- “The bond between these three is strong, difficult to penetrate. This will be quite a challenge.” IT’S CAUSE THEY’RE MARRIED

- It’s funny that- canonically - Sybok can sense a really strong bond between them

- Kirk and McCoy’s ass I mean- oh look it’s Spock. With rocket boots!

- Spock holding onto Kirk and McCoy for their dear lives

- “I believe I overshot the mark by one level.” “Nobody’s perfect.” McCoy keeps saying this to Spock and I think it’s healing. Also flirting.

- They’re lit really nicely

- McCoy is NOT having this “Sounds like brainwashing to me.” You’re so right, back OFF Sybok

- (drawable moment 1:08:17)

- “Your pain is the deepest of all. I can feel it. Can’t you?” OH WAIT WE GET TO SEE MCCOYS PAIN WHAT

- I have no words for this scene. Holy Shit.

- Forced therapy

- Oh they all get to see each others pain cause they’re connected

- Spock gets to see his own birth… why. What.

- young Sarek 😧😳😳😳

- “So human.” YOU FUCKED THE HUMAN SAREK. God he’s such a bitch.

- SPOCK FOR THE WIN!! He’s not leaving

- MCCOYS STAYING WITH HIS HUSBANDS!!! YEAH LETS GOOO! (Personally I don’t think McCoy would go with Sybok at all, but I wasn’t sure what the writers were gonna do and I was scared they would make him leave)

- I know we’ve moved on from this but maybe Sarek saying that Spock was human was like saying ‘he’s got your eyes’ like comparing Spock to Amanda in appreciation. We’ll never know but it’s still a bitchass thing to say.

- Kirk has a plaque with ‘To boldly go where no man has gone before’ what a nerd

- They’re really hot in their uniforms

- hi god

- Kirk wants to ID god. Fair enough.

- There’s McCoy in the corner. Losing his religion

- “I doubt a God who inflicts pain for his own pleasure.” YEAH McCoy’s not standing for this shit

- Oh so Sybok wasn’t the enemy. Yeah that’s a good ending for his character. Saying bye to sock and asking for forgiveness

- “Beam up Spock and Dr. McCoy now.” “Now, just a damn minute-” Kirk said that so fast so that his husbands couldn’t argue with him

- “I am a foolish old man.” “Damn you, sir. You will try.” Spock ain’t fucking around. Also he picked up a couple of words from McCoy

- “I thought I was going to die.” “Not possible, you were never alone.” Throw me out an airlock I need some air

- SORRY the immediate moment after that was SO MUCH WORSE “Please, captain. Not in front of the Klingons.” THEY WERE ABOUT TO MAKE OUT SLOPPY

- “Cosmic thoughts, gentlemen?” “We were speculating. Is god really out there?” They were having a nice quiet conversation and it’s a shame they didn’t show it :(

- KIRK TALKING ABOUT SAM??? Oh no he was implying it was Spock

- this ending- I’m not okay.

Unfortunately I really enjoyed this one. William Shatner made a movie that was so shippy and was oblivious to it the entire time.

I know it took a really long time for me to post this one because I wanted to watch undiscovered country first, I haven’t watched it yet but I felt I needed to finally edit and post this one. I hope you enjoyed my silly little thoughts.

Star trekking across the universe. Get that stuck in your head.

Masterpost

[electronickingdomfox]

"My Enemy, My Ally" review

Romulans stole Spock's brain! (or at least, some Vulcan brains)

Novel from 1984, by Diane Duane, and the first of the five-book series Rihannsu.

The plot itself is okay: the Romulans have a new devious scheme (capturing Vulcans to extract the telepathic abilities from their brains), and the Enterprise must stop their plans. Only this time, Kirk will have to collaborate with a bunch of good, renegade Romulans to succeed. It's not terribly original, nor it's the first time that Kirk has allied himself with Romulans in these novels, but as a plot it's entertaining. However, the narrative drags a lot, specially in the first half of the novel, and it takes a reaaally long time to set things into motion. In part, this is due to a "tell, rather than show" approach. For example, there's a lengthy conversation about how the Enterprise and its Romulan allies are going to stage a fake battle between both ships, in full detail. And then a lengthy description of the ships doing just that. One of these two segments isn't needed. There's also a lot of fluff, specially in scenes at the Recreation deck, and plenty of new character introductions, that don't lead anywhere nor have any real importance. A lot of the new character roles could have been filled by the usual crew, anyway. Now, I don't think that a novel should just be barebones plot, but I didn't find these "extra" scenes particularly entertaining nor enlightening. So in my opinion, this novel would have improved greatly if it was cut short. Though the later sections suffer less of this, and are more focused.

The story is notable for introducing a lot of new material about Romulan culture, and specially language (which seems to me even more unpronounceable than Klingon). In fact, most of the time Romulans are referred to as "Rihannsu", which is the name of the race in their own language. I don't know to what extent Duane developed the grammar and vocabulary, but it seems to have a certain structure to it. There's also much emphasis on the power of names over things and people, and some glimpses into the Romulan worship of Elements. A lot of this has probably never been incorporated into the series, but Romulans having several names (of which only the first is revealed to strangers) seems to have its origins here.

As for characters, the most developed one is Ael, the Romulan commander that strikes an alliance with Kirk. At times she comes dangerously close to Mary Sue territory (for example, beating McCoy at a game she had just learned, despite the doctor being skilled enough to beat none other than Spock). But otherwise, she's fine for her role in the story. In many ways, she's both a mirror and a foil for Kirk, suffering also under the weight of command, and the difficult decisions between duty and her crew's wellbeing. Though not exactly a tragic character, there's also a lot of sadness and burdens in her past. On the other hand, Kirk rubbed me the wrong way. Or rather, his relationship with his crew. I found it way too lax and informal, and sometimes it seems he's more like a cool dad for them, rather than a Captain. Kirk in the series had his goofy moments, of course, and Shatner imbued him with much comedic potential. But nonetheless, there was always some gravitas about him, and a respectful distance with his subordinates. Even with someone as close as Spock, he was usually pretty formal. The only one who broke this pattern was McCoy, and that was precisely why their relationship was special. So yeah, I just don't see Kirk trading jokes with Sulu while under enemy fire, or receiving sassy remarks from Uhura, sorry. Also, as happened in The Wounded Sky, there's again a wide array of fancy aliens populating the Enterprise. I didn't mind them that much in the previous novel, since the story is so unusual, that it could have existed outside the Star Trek universe without damage being done. This time around... I've decided that I'm not a fan of this idea. Apart from being too distracting, Starfleet strikes me as a mostly human institution, at least at the time of TOS (after all, HQ is in San Francisco), and Spock often struggled being accepted among the crew. He was THE alien, and this led to isolation and even ocassional prejudices against him. Now, this wouldn't make much sense if the crew were regularly sipping coffee next to a gelatinous blob of tentacles... As for Spock and McCoy, they're mostly okay, though they tend to get overshadowed by the extended cast, and obviously, Ael.

I must be in the minority here, since most people seem to love this novel, but in general, I didn't like it much. Perhaps it's a consequence of having just read John Ford's masterful The Final Reflection, and his fascinating take on Klingons. Perhaps I simply don't care all that much about Romulans...

Some spoilers under the cut:

The first chapters switch perspectives between Ael and Kirk. While Ael reflects on her falling out with the Romulan Senate, because of her opposition to a certain revolutionary research, Kirk is ordered to patrol the Neutral Zone, as part of a task force. Ael has been "exiled" as commander of a shitty starship named Cuirass, crewed by shitty subordinates. But she keeps contact with her old, loyal ship Bloodwing, now commanded by Tafv, her own son. When news of the Federation ships arriving reach her, she sets her plan into motion. After sabotaging the Cuirass' systems, she escapes in a scout ship to Bloodwing. And the latter ship destroys Cuirass, whose crew she considers traitors to the Empire for their collaboration in the Senate's schemes.

After this, Bloodwing rendezvous with Enterprise near the Neutral Zone, and Ael asks permission to come aboard alone, promising some very important info. Then she explains to Kirk what's going on: The Romulan government has started developing a new weapon at the station in Levaeri V. They capture Vulcans and extract their brain tissue, in order to implant the genetic material into Romulans, and thus give them all their telepathic abilities, even enhanced. After leaving Vulcan centuries ago, the Romulans' divergent development made them unable to mind-meld, or do any of that cool Vulcan stuff. But now, with the new research, powerful individuals could read minds, control thoughts and subject any opposition. Ael believes this will ruin the Empire and its old code of honor. And in turn, will cause conflicts with both the Federation and the Klingons. Thus, she asks Kirk to "lend" her the Enterprise, to help destroy the research station. Her plan is faking a capture of the Enterprise by Bloodwing, then towing the starship into Romulan space and destroy the facility along the way. Spock confirms through a mind-meld that Ael's telling the truth.

Kirk is sympathetic with her cause, but refuses to go along with the plan, on the grounds that he can't intervene in Romulan internal affairs. Things change, however, when the Vulcan ship that was patrolling near the Enterprise is spirited away under their noses. Ael explains that its disappearance matches the modus operandi of Romulans. The Vulcans are being taken to the research station (and now I understand why Spock chose to serve in a human starship; Vulcan ships seem to have the worst luck, between being eaten by amoebas and now this...). Kirk can't ignore the matter anymore, now that the Vulcans are in danger, so he decides to go with Ael.

After faking a battle between Bloodwing and Enterprise, they proceed to Levaeri V. Ael's crew take positions in the Enterprise bridge, while Kirk and the rest of the officers play a bit of theater, faking their capture in the brig, to fool the escorts sent by the Empire. Once approaching the station, Bloodwing and the Enterprise suddenly turn against the escorts and destroy them.

In the last part, Kirk sends a large strike force into the station, to free the Vulcan captives and destroy all research with their brains. But meanwhile, the Enterprise is assaulted by a treacherous faction among Ael's people. Scotty, Chekov and Sulu must fight to recover the ship, while down in the station the battle continues.

Spirk Meter: 1/10*. There's a bit about Spock being particularly interested in the proceedings of Kirk's mind, while playing chess. But I can't think of anything else, and even this is really minimal.

There's also some Mcspirk. McCoy likes to study Kirk and Spock while they play chess, to delve deeper into their personalities and psyches. And when Kirk complains that, if Spock and McCoy keep babysitting him, he'll end up taking their hands, McCoy says that's okay with him. But warns him about Spock, and the kind of rumors that could run through the ship. Also, Ael observes that the three of them seem to share a single mind. Though that's downplayed by the comparison with the similar link between Ael and her son.

*A 10 in this scale is the most obvious spirk moments in TOS. Think of the back massage, "You make me believe in miracles", or "Amok Time" for example.

[theshadowrealmitself]

Okay well now I can’t go back to sleep. So I’m just gonna focus on pleasant thoughts so hopefully I can still get a couple more hours

• I’ve seen it mentioned before that Klingons don’t really have a “death planet” and it’s more of an urban place, and I think it’d be a fun detail if like, Klingons adjusted to being on Earth quicker than Vulcans do

• Probably not, but do you think if Danny dyed his hair, it would have any affect on his ghost form? This would be a sucky way to find out he’s aging at a slower rate due to being a half ghost btw, when it takes forever to grow the dye out of his hair

• So they’re probably going to get everything fixed quickly in the next movie and it’s not gonna be much more than like 24 hours for all the characters, but if fixing Pavitr’s universe did take longer, do you think he’d hang out at Hobie’s place? Like Hobie’s place is the hotspot for hanging out at?

• I’ve mentioned this before but I still think it’d be a fun thing if Humans introduced hugging to different alien species and if they all enjoyed hugging

• I think it would be hilarious if it turned out that Vulcans actually aren’t affected by Humans’ scents, and it was actually just some government regulated soap that the officers were all using that caused that scent, and the second they hang around civilians they’re just like “what?”

• My new hc is that Valerie is still secretly an Ember fan even after finding out she’s a ghost

• Vulcans being secretly captivated by how emotions change a Human’s face

[flippyspoon]

Keeping Stride

NOTE: SNW Spirk ficlet featuring my favorite subject: why Jim is horny for Spock to be his XO someday.

Spock was not looking for conversation with anyone or for anything at all really, other than to complete his routine cardio in the deck five gym. 

Spock was on the treadmill, and running at a comfortable sprint in perfect form, his mind mostly occupied by the question of an usual atmospheric density on an otherwise M-class planet, when Lieutenant Jim Kirk showed up and hopped on the treadmill next to Spock.

Spock nodded in greeting to Kirk and could not decide if it would be productive for Kirk to start talking to him or not. But it was irrational to decide whether he wished for it. Because it was Jim Kirk. As far as Spock could see so far, Jim Kirk was very likely to start talking to you if the social occasion allowed for it at all.

Jim cranked up his treadmill and started running at a sprint nearly equal to Spock’s, though Spock was not running near his top speed. But he noticed it.

Still, he also noticed that Jim indeed did start talking, and did not seem to have very much trouble running and holding a conversation at the same time.

“Say, Spock. Can I ask you something? And please tell me if I should shut up.”  Jim glanced over at him, eyes bright.

“You may,” Spock said in between breaths. “And I will.”

That made Kirk chuckle. “Do Vulcans fantasize?”

Spock raised a wary eyebrow and Jim laughed again, ducking his head. “Sorry! No, I don’t mean… Nothing untoward. I mean, about the future? Things you want in life? Dreams? That kind of thing?”

Spock looked straight again and considered the question as he kept this stride. “I would not frame it as fantasy. We have goals which we work toward. We rarely visualize our goals as daydreams. Instead, we focus on actively pursuing them.”

“Heh.” Kirk nodded, arms swinging. “That’s kind of what I figured. I suppose, I wondered if it was any different for you. Being half human?”

“I cannot say my human side has not been apparent,” Spock said, squinting at the twinge in his side and just as quickly compartmentalizing it so the pain was simply gone. “Especially as of late. I have been exploring my emotions more often to…mixed results. But, I admit, I still do not see any productive use in fantasy.”

“Oh, see…” Jim laughed again. Spock had noticed that Jim laughed a lot. Spock did not dislike this trait. “Fantasy can be a very active part of achievement for me! Visualizing my wants is motivating. Now, some humans do all the fantasy part without the work. That’s no good at all.”

“What is it you visualize?” Spock asked, before he could think twice about asking.

Kirk grinned, and tapped the treadmill controls, cranking up his speed another notch. “Captaining this ship, mostly.”

One of the emotions Spock had been toying with recently came skipping out to play and Spock smiled at Kirk whose grin widened at Spock’s reaction. “As you are now the youngest XO in the fleet,” Spock said, picking up his pace a bit to stay well ahead of Kirk, “I would not put it past you.”

“You had command of the ole girl for a minute there,” Kirk said, nodding at him. 

“Briefly.”

“And you stole the ship?”

Spock couldn’t quite read the tone while looking ahead as he sprinted a little harder. But when he looked over at Kirk, the grin had turned a little sly.

“It was necessary,” Spock said simply.

“Stole the Enterprise to aid a former crewmate who was not even Starfleet at the time, against orders to fly to a Klingon mining colony,” Kirk went on, “threatening a treaty-”

“Lieutenant, are you asking because you disagree with my choices while in command?” Spock asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Not necessarily,” Kirk said. “But, it is a surprising choice for a Vulcan, isn’t it? We tend to think of you as rule followers, I think.”

“To follow the rule of law,” Spock said, turning up his speed one more notch, and exerting further effort even as he continued the conversation (though it was more difficult, and he found himself breathing much harder), “is not always the logical choice.”

“Would other Vulcans say the same?”

Unlikely, Spock thought.

“I imagine, it depends on the Vulcan.”

“Interesting.” Kirk laughed yet again and something about his expression made Spock run faster, close to his capacity. Then, to his astonishment, he saw Kirk meeting his stride, drops of sweat sliding from his temple to his throat.

The conversation ended, at least temporarily, as they were running much too hard and fast to speak. This continued for several minutes. There was only the sound of their breath and the pounding of their feet on the tread. Spock glanced over and saw Kirk staring straight ahead, his brow furrowed, his mouth turned down in a grimace. But he managed to keep pace with Spock.

The safety check lights on Kirk’s treadmill turned red and beeped.

“You are going to collapse,” Spock informed him.

Kirk clenched his teeth. “No, I won’t. Hey, Spock- ugghh-”

Spock expelled a half infuriated puff of breath, and reached over to slam the emergency stop button on Kirk’s tread. Kirk stumbled for a moment before sliding off, cackling with glee, bending over to hold his knees as Spock came to a stop and hopped off to join him.

“Are you alright, Lieutenant?” Spock said. He crossed to the synthesizer against the wall to retrieve a cup of water which he brought to Kirk.

“Yeah.” Kirk straightened up, stretching, and gratefully took the water. “I was just having fun. Wanted to see how long I could keep up with you.”

“Longer than I would have expected,” Spock allowed. “But I did not relish the thought of carrying you to sickbay.”

Kirk nodded and walked to the wall by the synthesizer, sliding down to sit on the floor. Because Spock was enjoying his company, he sat down next to him as they caught their breath.

“You know,” Kirk said, “when I do fantasize about being captain of the Enterprise, I often imagine who would be my first officer. You’d make a great one, I think.”

“You desire a first officer who has admitted he may steal your ship?” Spock said. Though he had to admit to himself, he said it to watch Kirk laugh again.

Kirk met his expectation and threw his head back, slapping his knee. “Actually? Maybe. Any worthwhile captain should have an XO who challenges them, right? And I love a challenge.”

“Clearly.”

“I’m sure you’d never steal my Enterprise though?” Kirk smiled wide, eyes twinkling.

Spock stared for a moment before he thought to respond.

“I will make no such promise, Lieutenant,” Spock said.

Then Kirk slapped his knee when he laughed and Spock thought: He is quite fascinating.

“Hey Spock, what’re you doing right now? Want to play some chess?” Kirk got to his feet, stretching, his shirt riding up and exposing a tight stomach.

Spirk blinked, momentarily distracted, and said, “I would like that, Lieutenant.”

[lovelyladylavie]

Uhhhhh time to Boldly Go?

ROTTMNT Star Trek AU

Years ago, Captain Splinter found 4 young survivors of the extinct Hamatoan race, frozen in a forgotten lab. He raised them on board his ship, adopting them as his sons. Eventually, they all make it into starfleet academy and graduate! (By the skin of their teeth!!)

-During a Klingon attack when they were preteens, Donnie lost his sight as a result of an explosion and has to wear goggles, which connect to his brain, Geordi-style, in order to see.

-Mikey is an Augment, having been incredibly weak when he was found. Splintz found him a blackmarket doctor willing to give him the Augment procedures, which healed his issues and gave him super strength and enhanced senses. He has to keep it a secret, or he'll be drummed out of Starfleet.

In the now, Leo is Captain of a junker of a ship and has Donnie soup it up. He got his command only because Admiral Splinter won a bet from another admiral and they had to let him have a ship, but gave him a bogus one. Doesn't stop them, as Donnie kicks ass at tricking it out with all kinds of ridiculous weaponry and features.

CREW:

Leo- Captain

Donnie- Chief Engineer

Raph- Chief of Security

Mikey- Helmsman

April- Chief Medical Officer

Cassandra- Weapons Station

Casey Junior- Engineering Assistant

Usagi- Chief Science Officer

Sunita- Medical Assistant

Leatherhead- Lieutenant Science Officer

Splinter- Admiral (who keeps their butts out of the fryer)

Draxum- Diplomat, but also the Augment Scientist who gave Mikey his procedures.

Random stuff:

- Cassandra swears up and down she's 1/4 Klingon, 1/4 Vulcan, and 1/2 human, but DNA tests have come back inconclusive. (She's one of the missing Founder children and has no idea she's a shapeshifter. She blacks out during a fight sometimes and shifts, but remembers nothing)

--April is half-Trill on her Father's side, but isn't allowed to have a symbiont due to her parentage and Trills being buttholes about that. She wants one, but they keep making up excuses not to give her one.

--Due to a wild time/space anomaly, they met Casey Jr, and unfortunately have no way to send him back to his time bc the anomaly disentangled, so they decided to keep him and he works with Donnie in the Warp Core.

--Donnie has a crush on April, and at one point, he defends her from a Klingon attack. The crush becomes mutual at that point, and they become good friends in order to hang out more. There's a Jefferies Tube that connects the Warp Core to the Med Bay and they sneak up there to have little picnic lunches and gossip.

--April is the one to give Donnie the necessary tune-ups for his goggles.

--Raph takes their Hamatoan culture very seriously and studies all he can find about their lost civilization.

--They meet Q at one point, and they drive HIM nuts!

--Draxum bums rides off them all the time and Splinter uses Leo's ship as his own personal chauffer service

--Splinter is an alien and was never human.

--Huginn and Muninn are Draxum’s assistants and always go to talk shit with the dolphins in Cetacean Ops

--Leatherhead wants off this ship and onto a nice, normal Vulcan Science Vessel. 🖖 This reckless crew is gonna raise his blood pressure.

--Piebald is their bartender and gives advice, but it should NOT be followed. She's trying to stir the pot.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Care.

[Ehergha is visibly upset about something. He takes a deep breath. As he exhales, someone speaks offscreen.] S'veyk: Would you like to be alone? Ehergha: [Still upset] Stay. [S'veyk hands him a cup of tea] Ehergha: You're too kind to me. S'veyk: You told me there's no such thing - with regards to love. [Ehergha takes her hand and presses it to his lips. He stares at her, his gaze intense. S'veyk looks at their hands.] Ehergha: Do you love me? S'veyk: Is it important you hear...? Ehergha: [Resolute, needing] Yes. S'veyk: [Easily, privately] I love you, Ehergha. Truly. [She draws him closer, wrapping her arms around him, and sings as he begins to cry] Ehergha's Poem: The fury of my hatred! You who calls my mourning barbaric. My brother's name doesn't fit on your tongue. It is not worthy of it. It cannot hold the weight of such a name. You, the one who held my wrist - who tried to keep my blade from my brother's throat. Who are you? What is your name? Identify yourself. I will see if I can stand to speak it. Let your dead rot. Let them disappear. What do I care? I sent my brother to sto-vo-kor. I sent him with my blade. The only thing that marred it was your blood. Early & Exclusive access to my art: X

[symphonic-scream]

Okay. New au.

Persona 5 star trek ish au

So. Yeah. I'm a mega star trek nerd. I watched Next Generation when I was 7 with my parents and I've watched most of the series since so. This was bound to happen

OKAY

The gang are rogues running around in an older Starfleet ship, looking for answers that command won't give them. The ship they have, nicknamed the Blue Velvet, was declared destroyed, along with her crew. Yet, Morgana wakes up in the bridge, and goes off to gather others who want answers from Starfleet

So they're running around, following old logs from the Velvet's running days, trying to figure out what really happened by interacting with the alien communities.

Each member has their own answers they want. Futaba and Makoto's parents were mentioned as crew in the logs, but they were unaware. Starfleet told them each something different. Ann and Ryuji are looking for proof of corruption after a scandal involving their friend was buried. Yusuke? He wants to find out what his mom was searching for. Haru? Her dad is funding Command and has been caught shuttling intergalactic slaves to work in his factories

Anyways. Here are their races! Some are from the series. Some are, custom. I'm not slick

Joker - idk man he's got lil horns and big wings

Morgana - some kind of cat alien

Ryuji - human

Ann - human

Yusuke - Vulcan

Makoto - She's half human, half some kind of alien. No one knows for sure what her other half is, and she wants to find out. She's got a long, thin tail, bright red eyes, two little horns sprouting from her forehead, and her ears are like a cat's

Futaba - rescued from the Borg

Haru - half Betazoid (learned combat from Klingon officers when she was originally joining Starfleet)

Goro - android

Sumire - Romulan

Their confidants are all secretly helping them. Iwai secretly sends them shipments of goods, Starfleet info, and locations of safe zones for them to hide in. Takemi gets the medical supplies and helps out when they encounter strange illness and shit

Anyways. Yeah.

[jennelikejennay]

Do Vulcans get drunk?

There are a few theories about it.

In TOS Spock says that alcohol does not affect Vulcans. Can't help but notice he doesn't say it doesn't work on him—as a half human, it's possible it half works on him.

So here are the directions people take with it:

1. Vulcans don't get drunk. They either have a super liver or it doesn't cross the blood brain barrier or it doesn't affect their brain the same way. Given alcohol is a natural metabolite, it's likely they just evolved a resistance to it.

2. Vulcans can get drunk but it takes a LOT. Hence how in SNW Spock can drink Klingons under the table, but he is wobbly afterwards. If that's not because he's half human, we can imagine Vulcans might have extremely strong drinks they consume on select occasions.

3. Vulcans get drunk on other substances: chocolate, sugar, etc. I can see it with chocolate especially: theobromine is toxic to most animals and has interesting effects on humans, it sure seems like it could be a drug. (Related: caffeine is another one of the many toxins humans have evolved the ability to consume recreationally. I think it's funny to imagine all other aliens are disturbed that we drink poison to wake up in the morning.)

4. Personally it seems very likely to me that Vulcans would not choose to become intoxicated at all. Considering the horror they have of losing their logic for any reason, I just don't think they would. And if they did, given Vulcan emotions, would it really make them more fun and relaxed? Or would they sob about their feelings and punch people?

5. But I think it would be make sense if they had a recreational drug they consume to dampen down their emotions. Had a rough day? Here's this herb which depresses your higher functions enough that you can feel nothing without having to work so hard for it. So relaxing. But if they did have such a thing, you know they'd abuse it constantly.

[abigail-nicole]

DS9 Watch Notes

“Star Trek Deep Space 9: What if the Nazis ran a shopping mall but now they're gone and you have to be in charge of the mall” - my spouse

Season One

I grew up watching Star Trek my entire life. Even like Discovery and Enterprise which no one but my mom liked I’m pretty sure

but somehow my parents, white christian conservatives, didn’t watch DS9……hmmmm

anyway I finally in 2024 started DS9, and we start with an intense hot mess in opposition to every other well-ordered utopian Star Trek

DS9’s instant cast of marginalized characters, a chaotically destroyed space station, Sisko hating Picard??? strong writing choices

“When governments fall, people like me are lined up and shot” -Quark

“Never trust ale from a god-fearing people” - Quark

So DS9 came out in 93-99 … vs 87-94 for TNG, then 95-01 for Voyager. And TNG got all the star trek money because DS9 sure didn’t. Man these special effects are bad

Cool that Sisko and Dax, neither of whom are Bajoran, get to go on a Bajoran spiritual journey. Not weird colonial appropriation vibes at all

Tumblr really wants me to ship garak & bashir and quark & odo…. fine

Julian so excited Garak came and talked to him he went and told all his friends, who all think he’s annoying with no coping skills

I knew Julian was autistic bc tumblr but I wasn’t prepared for how much he’s exactly as annoying as a second year medical student

ACAB includes Odo

You could absolutely do something interesting with the ferengi, because a culture that puts an explicit price on everything and doesn’t believe in the implicit value of things is a great way to do social critique of what a culture implicitly and explicitly values. Too bad Star Trek never does this

For how much there’s Gender in this show, don’t think S1 of DS9 passes the Bechdel test

The best part of DS9 is when the holodeck fantasies come to life and Bashir’s sexy submissive version of Jadzia Dax meets real Dax and she smirks and goes “I understand, I was a young man once”

Odo defines himself in relationship to Quark. what is a cop without his criminal. he wakes up & thinks “what is Quark doing right now.” girl love yourself

I’m really enjoying the cardassians. Aliens on Star Trek tend to be one note. Vulcans love logic, Klingons love honor and battle…. Cardassians are just humans. Plus the cardassians get to be played by good actors and have complex character arcs

The way half the characters say “bazhoran” and “bay-zhor” and half (incl Kira, but not all Bajorans) say Bajor and Bajoran

Jake & Nog friendship is the future liberals (me) want

[professional-termite]

what alien species would the Musuem crew be in the NATM Star Trek AU? (If any)

i actually have some very strong opinions on this so buckle up. also i changed some of their jobs because i realized certain roles might actually fit them better (ive been rotating this au in my head for a while now)

Larry: obviously human, nicky is too. hes the Relatable Protag in natm and he will be in trek too. just your average first officer tbh

McPhee: also human. aggressively british captain who thinks his crew is insane.

Akh: i think hed be half vulcan half human, but unlike spock hes just a really chill dude who was raised only by his human parent. hes just a kid, probably a nurse

Kah: half romulan half vulcan captain, hes totally just out to get his younger half brother. takes great pride in his romulan heritage and constantly makes a big deal out of how his half brother is half human

Al: full romulan. id say hes probably kahs second in command

Ivan: also full romulan, likely a high ranking officer

Napoleon: also full romulan, id say security/weapons or the romulan equivalent of that role

Custer: human ensign, probably an engineer. he acts super confident all the time but really he is the embodiment of anxiety

Attilla: half klingon half human head of security. he likes ripping off peoples legs and by golly he has the clearance to do it in certain situations

Jed: definitely full human. probably one of the 2 guys steering the ship now that i think about it. he and oct are seated next to each other and always argue because of it

Octy: id say hes a vulcan. super serious and likes to act like hes above petty human bickering, but usually gets into dumb fights with jed anyways

Dexter: some kind of q-like entity who just floats around and causes chaos

Amelia: human space wanderer who just kinda shows up sometimes, almost like vash but minus the lawbreaking

Joan/Lance: i fully subscribe to the hc that lancelot and joan of arc are the same person pre and post transition. anyways shes a quarter vulcan and a security officer and super cocky about how it makes her smarter and more reasonable than everyone else (it absolutely does not)

Sacagawea: our beloved head surgeon!! id say shes half bajoran half human, and super proud of both halves of her heritage. also shes in a love triangle between joan/lance and teddy (they will end up in a throuple)

Teddy: chief engineer..the guy....totally just a regular human, but hes got a big heart and hes second officer. also hes just generally The Dad of the ship and everyone feels safe to go to him for advice

Rexy: cat. meow

also for the time frame of this crew id say they were serving sometime after tng, like maybe 5 or so years after