#it was supposed to be a Kirk appreciation post but ended up being one for Bones lmao

[hornyverymuch]

it's cool to see Jim being vulnerable like this, he always does his best to be the perfect capitan for them, almost forgetting that the weight of the responsibility for all the lives aboard the spaceship would get to everyone, even him

so it's nice to see him talking about his worries to Bones, he's actually kind of a backbone of this crew, he can be bitchy at times, but don't that fool you, he actually cares a lot about them and helps out Kirk or even Spock whenever they need it

and I love his answer (video cuz it'd be too many screenshots lmao):

[indeedcaptain]

Regulatory Relations, chapter 8: The Amateur

LET'S GO :) One note that I forgot to mention from chapter 7: the latin in the wedding announcement translates to "to the stars through love".

Also posted on AO3 here!

☆☆☆

The rest of the shift passed in a blur of preparing for starbase arrival in five days and ruminating on the wedding in twenty-four hours. Janice Rand, after sending Kirk three padd messages asking if he needed help with anything and receiving no response, walked onto the bridge two hours before the end of alpha and asked Kirk point-blank about seating arrangements in the observatory for the next day. When he looked helplessly at Spock and shrugged, and the science officer only turned back to his sensors, Janice restrained herself from what Kirk thought would have been a well-deserved eye roll and told him that she and the yeomen would take care of it.

In the gymnasium two hours later, Spock had paired up his Suus Mahna students to show them how to move around each other. Kirk stood on the sidelines with Giotto. 

“Congratulations, captain,” Giotto said, watching Spock circle the students and gently push their limbs into the right configurations. 

“Thanks, commander,” Kirk said. “I appreciate that.” 

“I always wondered, you know,” Giotto said. “There was something in the way you moved around each other when you sparred. It reminded me of myself and the missus, actually.” 

Kirk turned to him in surprise. “You’re married?” 

Giotto smiled, but only one corner of his mouth moved up. “I am, sir. Thirty-two years in a few months.” 

“My congratulations to you too, then,” Kirk said, but he frowned slightly as he took in Giotto’s profile. “I’m sorry if I’m misremembering, but I didn’t think that you were listed as married in your personnel file. You’ve been with the Enterprise for… nearly twenty years, right?” 

“That’s right, captain,” Giotto said. His voice was quiet, and he didn’t turn to meet Kirk’s eyes. 

“So she’s not in the Fleet?” 

“She is, captain.” Giotto’s face was turned to the demonstration in front of him, but his eyes were very far away. 

“Wow,” Kirk said after a moment. “That sounds… extraordinarily difficult.” 

“It is,” Giotto said softly. “I never wanted to ask about you and Mr. Spock, but when Scotty told me that April was trying to send him away, I was just…” He sighed. “I feared that you would go through what we did.” “And you and your wife aren’t stationed together because…?” 

Giotto’s eyes finally met his. “Because she was my commanding officer on my first ship, and she and I both feared that if we went public with our relationship it would ruin her career. She said it didn’t matter, that she didn’t care, but I knew that she was lying. I couldn’t let her do it. This was a long time ago, too--- long before the brass started recognizing that relationships in crews were a strength, not a weakness.” He crossed his arms over his chest, still watching the group in front of him. “We married in secret and have lived separately ever since.” 

Kirk turned fully to Giotto. “Sal, I’m so sorry.” He thought about the grief that he had felt at even the threat of losing his best friend to another posting. He couldn’t imagine enduring that, after being married, for thirty years. 

“It is what it is, captain,” Giotto said. He eyed Kirk. “I suppose this is as good a time as any to tell you that this is my last mission. I’m ready to go home.” 

“And your wife?”

“She’s resigning as well. We’re going to buy a house in Cairo, near her family.” 

Kirk hesitated, before reaching out and squeezing Giotto’s shoulder. “We’ll miss you. This crew owes you a lot. But I’m happy for you.” 

“Thank you, captain,” Giotto said. He smiled again, and this time it reached his eyes. He turned back to where Spock was explaining something to the students, transitioning slowly and elegantly through a series of movements. They watched the Vulcan for a moment longer before Giotto added, “If I may be so bold, captain… it makes this old man glad to know that you and the commander will have the time that Mariam and I didn’t.” 

Kirk’s throat constricted. “Thank you,” he said, and his voice came out rougher than he intended. Giotto nodded and turned back to watch Spock work. Kirk watched him too: watched the grace of his movement, the strong lines of his spine and arms and neck, the kindness and gentility in his instruction that so few got to see. Under the harsh lights of the gymnasium and with Giotto’s words circling in his head, he felt one of the bricks in the wall between his head and his heart crumble away. He had leapt at Pike’s suggestion not only because Spock was his best officer and his best friend, but because the idea of running out of time with Spock was ruinous to him. Kirk had wanted more away missions, more chess matches, more debates over breakfast, more of Spock’s incense seeping into his room at night. He wanted more of everything. 

Spock bowed to his students, and they bowed back, before he left the mat and walked to Kirk. 

“Captain,” Spock said, and Spock’s voice jolted Kirk out of his reverie. To his embarrassment, he realized that he had been staring dazedly at him for a socially inappropriate amount of time. Kirk blinked. “On what were you focused?” 

“Nothing,” Kirk said. “Just staring into space.” He smiled and clapped Spock on the back before picking up their personal items from where they’d been abandoned on the ground. “Chess tonight?” 

“Certainly,” Spock said, and Kirk waved to the security officers as they left. Giotto’s gaze followed them, and Kirk could have sworn that the hint of a smile remained on that craggy face as he watched them go.

☆☆☆

Spock made up for his loss to Kirk earlier in the week by trouncing him twice in a row. But when Kirk expected him to lean back triumphantly and cross one long leg over the other before folding his hands in his lap in the ultimate image of self-satisfaction, as was his custom, Spock only drew his eyebrows together and reset the chessboard for a third game. 

“Alright,” Kirk finally said, as Spock placed the pieces on their proper squares. His usually nimble fingers were jerky in their movement. “What’s wrong?” 

Spock placed the last tower on its square without meeting Kirk’s eyes. “Nothing, captain.” 

“Bullshit,” Kirk said immediately. “Spock, come on. What’s going on?” Spock picked up the castle again and rolled it between his fingers.

“It is… illogical.” 

“I don’t mind.”

“Every human wedding I have attended has taken place on this ship,” Spock said after a moment. “Each has seemed to have similar traditions.”

“Such as?” 

Spock paused for so long that Kirk was about to prompt him again before he said, tightly, emotionlessly, “Such as kissing.” 

Oh. Oh, god. He hadn’t even thought, beyond Janice’s questions this afternoon, about the mechanics of a wedding. He felt his face start burning. “Do Vulcans kiss at weddings?” Kirk ventured. 

“They do,” Spock allowed. “But it is not the same as humans.” 

“Would you rather do that?” 

“No, captain,” Spock said immediately, more sharply than Kirk expected. “No, thank you. But I am---” Spock cut himself off, an uncharacteristic sound. 

“Spock, we don’t have to do it. Kiss, I mean.” As he said it, though, a single cold drip of disappointment cut through his core. For a second, he saw Spock’s face up close in his mind, those warm eyes sliding shut, that stoic face relaxing minutely, lips parting--- 

Kirk blinked rapidly, clearing the sudden and unexpected image from his mind, ignoring the warmth in his stomach. “I meant it. We don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with.” 

“It is not the act itself I am apprehensive about,” Spock said. Was he blushing, or was it a trick of the dim lighting? He stood and paced to his shelves, clasping his hands behind his back. “Forgive me, captain.” There was an unnatural pause. “I cannot help but be aware of the vast discrepancy in experience between the two of us.” Spock’s voice was unnaturally tight, like saying the words out loud was an act of extreme exertion. His posture was so ramrod-straight that it looked painful. 

Spock’s odd behavior suddenly came into perfect focus. He was nervous. His proud, taciturn, aloof Vulcan was nervous about a kiss. Kirk was filled with an unsuppressable fondness as he watched Spock pretend to straighten one of his Vulcan artifacts on the shelf.

“Mr. Spock,” he said, filling his voice with feigned offense. “Are you calling me easy?” He stood as Spock whirled. 

“Jim, no,” Spock said immediately, but the horrified look in his eyes faded as he registered Kirk smiling at him, coming to stand next to him. In the back of his mind, Kirk recognized their positions as the ones they had held only a few days ago, when Kirk proposed to him and Spock had agreed. 

“You’ve kissed someone before, haven’t you?” Kirk had a memory of a pretty blonde woman laying on Spock’s chest, but now he couldn’t remember her face; only that the idea of her made him uneasy.

Spock tilted his head, but did not look at Kirk. “In a manner of speaking,” he said, and his nostrils flared as he inhaled. “Leila Kalomi. On Omicron Ceti III.” 

“The botanist? From the spore planet?” 

“Yes,” Spock said. Kirk angled himself to look up at Spock more closely: in the half-light of Spock’s quarters, the angles of his face were thrown into sharp relief. His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “When I was under the influence of the plant.” 

Yes, that’s what Kirk was remembering: the woman who had loved Spock, who had been the conduit for Spock’s uncharacteristic whimsy on the planet. He had felt so betrayed when he had been ignored for hours and gone to find Spock, certain that he was injured or worse, and instead found him tangled and laughing with someone in a field. He felt a flash of guilt as he recalled what he had said to Spock to break him out of the plant’s hold. 

But then he considered what Spock had said, with growing horror. He asked quietly, “Would you have kissed her without the spores?” 

Spock’s eyes flashed to him, then back to the shelf. “No, captain.” 

Kirk wiped his face with his hand, all the more guilty for what he had said to Spock, even if he hadn’t meant it. “Spock, I’m sorry,” he said. He turned fully to face him. “I’m so sorry.”

“Kaiidth,” Spock said, but he sounded almost mournful. He cleared his throat. “Regardless, I now find myself to have little applicable experience and a public forum in which to make that readily apparent.”

Kirk turned around, leaning against the vertical post of the shelf behind him. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Spock. Spock refused to meet his gaze. Kirk felt an almost physical click in his head as his conscious brain registered what his subconscious had been telling him for a while now: Spock was beautiful. As if for the first time, Kirk reconsidered the elegant lines of his eyebrows, the planes of his cheeks, the soft straight line of his lips. The warmth in his stomach burned again as he thought, shamefully, secretly, about what it would feel like to kiss him, about how it was a damn shame that Spock had not been kissed properly. 

His heart pounded as he realized that he wanted to be the one to do it. Desire burned in his blood in a way that he hadn’t felt in years. He felt the memory of Spock’s hand on his hip, the dreamt memory of his arms around his waist. 

Kirk asked, as steadily as he could manage, “Would it help you if tomorrow weren’t the first time?” One part of him screamed that he was being selfish. Another part of him was willing to do anything that would sap the tension from Spock’s unhappy posture. The last part of him, smaller, newer, deeper, wanted desperately to kiss Spock, to see his eyes close and feel Spock’s skin against his. Spock’s eyes snapped to him. Kirk kept his face neutral. 

“Captain, I have already taken too many liberties with you,” Spock said. “I cannot ask you to---”

“You didn’t ask for anything,” Kirk said, cutting him off. “I offered. You’re uncomfortable. I can help.” 

Spock hesitated, but he shifted on his feet, angling himself towards Kirk. He looked down between them, and Kirk could see the soft fringe of his dark eyelashes against the pale green of his cheeks. Kirk had already known, in an abstract kind of way, that Spock was handsome. He was tall and strong, lean and graceful. But how many people had ever seen him vulnerable like this? How many people had Spock ever admitted an emotion to?

“Captain, do not feel obligated to do this,” Spock said softly. 

“It’s just a kiss,” Kirk said, trying terribly to convince himself of the same. “Let me help.” 

Spock’s eyes met his. Kirk shifted forward slowly, giving Spock time to pull back if he wanted. But he did not: Kirk saw him inhale, saw him tilt his head to the side to the slightest degree. He felt Spock’s trust in him like a physical weight on his shoulders. As Kirk paused, inches from Spock’s face, their breath mingling in the warm room, the force of how badly he wanted it pressed all the air from his lungs. If he was only going to get two chances at this--- this kiss, and tomorrow’s--- he was going to make sure he did it right. 

Kirk stepped forward into Spock’s space, tilting his face up, bringing his hand to cup the back of Spock’s head. He put his other hand on Spock’s waist, pulling them into alignment. He felt Spock inhale one more time, saw his eyelids flutter closed just like he had imagined. Then Kirk closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to Spock’s. 

All the tumultuous racket and jangling anxiety in Kirk’s head fell silent at the brush of Spock’s lips against his, as his entire universe narrowed to Spock. For one infinite second, Spock stood frozen in his arms, unmoving. Kirk just held him close, waited for Spock to either push him away or encourage him on. Just as he was about to step back, taking Spock’s stillness as discomfort, Spock’s lips parted on a sigh and opened for him. Kirk opened his mouth to deepen the kiss and brushed his tongue against Spock’s lip.

His spine hit the pillar of the shelf behind him as Spock pushed them backwards. His arm wrapped around Kirk’s back, pulling him against his chest. Spock’s other hand came up to his face, his thumb sliding along his jaw, his long fingers threading through Kirk’s hair. Kirk let Spock tilt his head further, feeling Spock’s hand against the back of his head, the strength of his body against Kirk’s. He slid his hand further up to rest on Spock’s ribs, and he could feel the thrumming of the Vulcan heart beneath. After a moment of letting Kirk lead, Spock copied what he had done, hesitantly sliding his tongue into Kirk’s mouth. The wet heat of it lit him up, every point of contact sparking like static. He pulled Spock into him and Spock’s uncertainty melted away, and he pressed Kirk back against the shelf until he was arching against him. Kissing Spock felt as natural as breathing, lips and tongues moving in an instinctual rhythm that matched Kirk’s pounding heartbeat. 

How long had it been? Minutes? Hours? As their lips parted, Spock bowed his head, pressing their foreheads together. Kirk heard Spock’s shaky inhale as much as he felt it, through the expansion of his ribcage under his hands and his chest against his own. Kirk opened his eyes to find Spock watching him, his pupils huge in the dark room. Slowly, without breaking eye contact, Spock disentangled his arms from around Kirk and took a minute step backwards. Kirk released his hold on Spock and trapped his hands behind his back, bracing himself on the steady line of the shelf behind him. What now? What the hell could possibly come next? 

“Jim,” Spock said, but he left whatever he had wanted to say unsaid, and instead looked down. A flash of uncertainty crossed his face. Suddenly the room felt suffocatingly warm, the collar of Kirk’s shirt too tight around his skin. 

“Well, Mr. Spock,” Kirk said, forcing a levity he didn’t feel into his voice. He reached out, grabbed Spock’s shoulder, squeezed it, dropped it. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about in terms of needing practice.” 

“I---,” Spock said, and he clasped his hands behind his back, his porcelain mask sliding back down over his expression as he asserted control over himself once more. “Thank you, captain. I am… less apprehensive now.” 

“You’re welcome, Mr. Spock.” Kirk looked around the room, desperate to break the sudden tension, to free himself from the magnetic pull that was inexorably drawing his hands back to Spock’s waist, to the delicate skin at the back of his neck. “Shall we play another match, or call it for the night?” 

Spock seemed to recognize and appreciate Kirk’s efforts at normalcy, because after a beat he quirked an eyebrow and said, “Two losses are not enough for you this evening, captain?” 

“Best of five, then,” Kirk said, but he removed himself from the shelf and took three steps towards the door. Spock walked with him the rest of the five steps across his quarters and opened the door for him. 

“Good night, captain. And thank you.” Spock’s voice was sincere, and his eyes were warm even as his face remained impassive. God help him, but Kirk was flooded with the need to steal another kiss before he left. Anything to feel Spock sigh into his mouth again. Instead he smiled and said, “Anytime, Mr. Spock.” He stepped out into the corridor and the turbodoor slid shut behind him. The walk to his own door had never seemed so long. Somehow he punched his own code into his keypad with numb fingertips and managed to get himself into his room before he collapsed on his bed. 

As he flopped backwards to stare at the ceiling, Kirk heard Bones’s warning echoing in his ears: What happens when you get too close? Oh, but it was too late for that now. He was already too close. He was only human, and touch-starved after three years with nothing more intimate than back slaps and short hugs, and the man who understood him best in this universe had touched him with such gentle, easy affection and then kissed him breathless. 

He tried to picture anyone else’s face: Gary’s, or Carol’s, even Edith Keeler’s, anything to displace the image of Spock’s open, vulnerable face right before he let Kirk kiss him. But he couldn’t keep anyone else’s image in his head. They all turned back into Spock. Spock, who had held him so closely and pushed him back against the bookshelf, who had admitted his fears to Kirk and then allowed him to help. 

Kirk pressed his hands to his forehead as he recontextualized his feelings from the past few days: how he had felt when Spock caught his head from hitting the ground, when Spock recommended his thesis to his scientists, when Spock wrapped his arm around his waist and let him lean against his chest. He felt warm. He felt giddy. He felt protected, cared for, understood.

“No,” he said out loud. “It’s not like that for us. We’re just friends.” Kirk closed his eyes. Even to himself, it didn’t sound as convincing as it had in Bones’s office. His silent room mocked him. He wiped his hands down his face, dragging his cheeks down, feeling the words bubble up inside him. He could still feel Spock’s hands in his hair, on his face, tilting his head back, his tongue sliding into Kirk’s mouth. 

“I want him,” he whispered, and it burned, and it was true. He opened his eyes. “Oh, shit.”  

[thefaestolemyname]

To the 3 people who might see this post: Gonna go down a rabbit hole and I invite you to join me.

It's currently late and I do not claim to be coherent.

Just watched the Startrek episode with Omicron Ceti III, the one where a plant's spores turns everyone into hippies with complete satisfaction and zero ambition.

Once rid of the plant's effects, all pioneers on the planet opt to leave.

Capt. Kirk's philosophical conclusion at the end was that humans are meant to struggle and in some way are not happy with complete happiness.

As a Philosophical major with clinical depression, I've thought a lot about happiness, meaning, purpose, in general what a human should do with their existence once they exist.

And I can't stop thinking about this episode.

It reminds me of Brave New World, with the premise that humans need Meaning rather than Happiness/pleasure. It touched on the idea that in the good/bad dichotomy both can only exist without the other, but to me what really stood out was Meaning > Pleasure despite Meaning including suffering.

(Which is why I reject the teachings of Buddhism despite my immense respect for it. Nirvana, (As I understand it at least, I am no expert on it) a state of being without desire and suffering, seems to me fitting only as a punishment to the human soul)

Unlike the citizens of Huxley's World State, however, the pioneers on Omicron Ceti III did things like have emotionally intimate relationships, create art, have a lifestyle connected with nature and actively wonder at its beauty, appreciate simple pleasures, and engage in spontaneous/carefree play.

There is certainly a wholesomeness of a kind present in the Star Trek episode not present in Brave New World, but I hesitate to call it meaning.

So BNW condemned meaningless pleasure, and Ceti 3 condemned ambitionless contentment.

McCoy still had the gusto in him to create a mint julep, but he lacked the ambition to create more, better, or new drinks.

Was Ceti 3 really that bad? Is regular life, the chance of achievement with the garuntee of suffering and the risk of a worthless life truly preferrable to contentment without ambition?

Is that an accurate question, is it possible for a life to be without worth or meaning?

I suppose not.

But it's possible for one to have only negative meaning, be a sad story rather than a happy one.

Here, I think, is my conclusion.

Ceti 3 - contentment without ambition - is inferior to contentment with ambition, as the episode purposes, But!

It is preferable to ambition without contentment, which I take to be lives of many real people today; and it is far preferable to a life with neither ambition nor contentment, which is what I live most of my life in and what I think a large percentage of the world's population also live in.

As for the degrees and categories of meaning which each of the above produces, an exact calculation of that is unnecessary because the tier list would remain unchanged.

So to sum it up even more: Ceti 3 is inoptimal, but it's better than the life of most people today, the lives of each is a risk manifest. And whether one would choose A: good but not the best (Ceti 3) or B: could be best or could be worst (real life) could only be a personal decision and it is beyond me to choose which is better for everyone.

Oh gosh I have to get up early tomorrow, I'm up way too late, Goodnight!

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

Title: Blindsight

Author: Peter Watts

Rating: unrated

I finished the short story Blindsight at 5:33 AM today. It wasn't a particularly strong story, or even a good story, but I really liked it, so I'm posting a review.

The story is about a couple of people on a long, quiet trip. The narrator is an amnesiac. His friend's name is Dril. He meets Dril's other friend, Cpt. Kirk, and the two of them have a talk. This begins to take a strange turn when a mysterious entity called The Narrator shows up and starts talking about its past life in the form of a diary. Then a woman named Tl'ch-El shows up and it gets even weirder.

The strangeness here is all over the place, but not in any obvious or consistent way. There's a sequence where the entities are communicating via their mouths and the narrator notes that they are appealing to him by describing the various ways he can make the narrator do things. (One of the entities is Dril, but the reader is also informed that Dril is somehow more appealing to the narrator.) There are moments where the narrator (the Narrator) can only speak in riddles that the other two characters, apparently having a conversation that's just them, are able to interpret as being literal. There are odd bits of conversation that seem obviously intended to evoke the narrator's amnesia – for example, we hear him saying "I feel it," followed by his friend saying "You mean your'memory' of me?" And Dril and Cpt. Kirk both say the same sorts of things as Cpt. Kirk does, which is strange because we know they are talking to each other.

There are also a series of characters named The Narrator that show up at various times and have very different conversations with the others, but for some reason the other three also seem to have conversations with them. In the last sequence of events the Narrator says to itself that "I know it's been a while since I've tried to get to know people, but that's what I like to do best – I like to be one of the people who know other people." The narrator and the two characters it's talking to both respond to this with a mix of confusion and admiration that seems like it is meant to convey the sort of appreciation you'd have for an unusual performance by a well-regarded comedian.

After a brief, confusing sequence in which the narrator is in love with the Narrator, the story ends with a scene where the three characters are playing chess.

I found all of this confusing, but in a fun and entertaining way. The three protagonists are played very flatly by Peter Watts, who seems like someone who would be good at playing flat and straightforward characters, but the narrator, The Narrator, and Tl'ch-El also play very flatly. (This is, I suppose, part of the joke.) They seem like real-life people who are being presented in fictional situations meant to evoke the narrator's amnesia, although they themselves are also in a way presented in a fictional context. And then there is The Narrator, trying to play chess with three of his (or her) selves, who may not realize that they are the characters that he is reading about in his diary and who may not realize that he is The Narrator that he (or she) is reading about in his diary and so on. (This whole set of complications is played for the best possible effect: it's just fun.)

The story is a very entertaining little trip for the reader, but I can't think of any particular reason to recommend it. (On the other hand, if you do like Peter Watts and his "metafiction" style of science fiction, it's something you might want to give a try.)

It's 1 AM and I'm going to bed. Here's a good poem:

And you may say, oh, so many of them are broken / and the sun doesn't shine on my shoulder / but my mother was good and my mother was bad,

and there wasn't a moment that wasn't my brother or my brother's son.

And the sun may not shine and the moon may not rise,

and I may not be your brother.

And so the sun doesn't shine, and the moon may not rise,

and I may not be your brother.

So what makes you think you're worthy of my trust?

I may not be your brother, you may not be my brother, you may not be my brother's son,

but this is a place of hope and promise.

And so the sun doesn't shine, and the moon may not rise, and I may not be your brother,

and I will take care of you.

(Attention conservation notice: there is no way for the text of this post to link to the story or to the poem. I'm not sure how long the post above will be before you are warned off.)

[fireinmywoods]

the heart of the matter (is Leonard McCoy)

Followers...friends. I come to you today, hat in hand, to ask for your support in a certain fandom matter, a trifling concern of little real consequence which nevertheless has been driving me absolutely cross-eyed bonkers for some years now.

Simply put: can we please all agree that Bones is the heart of the Enterprise???

In AOS, I mean. I’m not aware of any debate over this when it comes to TOS, where the roles of the triumvirate have always been explicit, though there are a few different ways to identify them:

Spock = logos = superego = head

Bones = pathos = id = heart

Kirk = ethos = ego = soul

So clear! So clean! So universally accepted by Trek fandom at large!

Oh, but things get murkier in AOS, and there are plenty of posts floating around which suggest that it’s Kirk, not McCoy, who serves as the heart in the Kelvin timeline. Even the writers of the first two AOS films have outright stated that their interpretation of the triumvirate had the original roles switched, with Kirk as the highly emotional one and McCoy as the arbiter between Kirk’s passion and Spock’s logic. It’s true that this technically counts as a Word of God pronouncement by the actual creators of 2/3 of the series thus far, which some would argue renders it canon. However, it’s equally true that those same creators also felt that Kirk was a fuckboi and that Benedict Cumberbatch wonderfully embodied their vision for Khan Noonien Singh, so honestly, who gives a hot hollerin’ fuck what those dingdongs think. This seems as justified a time as any to invoke Death of the Author, and in fact, it’s my firm belief that despite the writers’ intentions, Star Trek and Into Darkness both support the original triumvirate breakdown.

Under the cut you’ll find a long-winded and self-indulgent ~*~character analysis~*~ of the Kelvin-timeline incarnations of Jim Kirk and Leonard “Bones” McCoy, reviewing why Leonard is still unmistakably the heart, unpacking what the hell Jim’s deal is, and finally taking a look at some key examples from canon, because ya girl believes in showing her work.

Let’s get down to business.

[A quick warning, as this is starting to spread beyond my own followers: if you don’t like McKirk as a romantic pairing, you ain’t gonna like part IV, so I’d bow out before then or just take your leave now.]

i. Leonard

Independent of Jim’s characterization, it should be blindingly obvious that Leonard is the heart. He’s by far the most nakedly emotional of our seven core crew members, a trait we see writ large and small throughout the films. He’s reactive; he’s passionate; he’s humane. He cares, first and foremost.

Not about Starfleet, of course. Leonard doesn’t give a damn about playing the game or advancing his career, or even really about the Enterprise’s mission - he has no desire to explore strange new worlds, he’ll pass on seeking out new life and new civilizations, and he spends half his time trying to convince everyone else that boldly going where no man has gone before is a great way to die horribly. Fuck exploration, fuck space, and fuck the Federation while we’re at it. Leonard is perhaps the most improbable of the Enterprise’s senior officers for the simple reason that he seems to resent everything about the job.

Well. Almost everything.

See, what Leonard cares about is people. He cares about their lives, about their stories, about their hopes and dreams, about their suffering. That’s why he entered and has stayed in an extremely taxing caring profession, and it’s why he’s still on the Enterprise despite his incessant bitching about everything they do. He wouldn’t trust anyone else to take care of the crew he’s become so attached to, and he finds fulfillment in helping the people they encounter out there in the nightmare of space.

In every timeline, Leonard McCoy defines himself by what he can do for others: the pain he can ameliorate, the wounds he can heal, the diseases he can cure, the small amounts of good he can bring to a galaxy filled with so much absolute horseshit. Unlike most of his colleagues, he’s not motivated by curiosity or an adventurer’s spirit or a burning desire to make sense of the universe. (Fuck the universe, too, as a matter of fact.) Instead, he’s driven by the incredible depths of his compassion and empathy and concern for the people he serves alongside and those they meet along the way.

Sure sounds like the heart to me.

ii. Jim

I actually totally get why some people characterize Kelvin-timeline Jim as the heart. He’s quite literally a different man than the original timeline’s Kirk, and he definitely has more of the pathos qualities to him. Early on, he’s a total spitfire, fierce and hot-blooded, quick to anger and other sharp-edged emotions we’re not used to associating with James T. Kirk. Even as he grows into himself and leaves some of those traits behind, he remains spontaneous, passionate, protective, and self-sacrificing - easy enough to mistake for the heart if you squint.

But let’s not confuse having a heart for being the heart. Sure, Jim is more openly emotional and reactive than his TOS counterpart, but there’s still a marked difference between the way he and Leonard express and act on their emotions.

AOS Jim definitely has a lot of feelings - big ones - but at the end of the day, he’s not driven by his heart. He’s driven by his gut.

Whenever there’s trouble, Jim makes a beeline right for the center of it. He’s impulsive as hell, rarely pausing to think past his first instinct, because he just wants to be doing something, no matter the odds, no matter what it costs him. He explicitly calls himself out on this in ST:ID when arguing with Spock: “I have no idea what I’m supposed to do. I only know what I can do.” He doesn’t have the patience or the constitution to sit and debate all the options, either internally or with his crew. If there’s a path forward from where he is, even a bad one, Jim’s gonna take it.

[Sidebar: One could make the case that the roots of Jim’s instinct to act reach back to his childhood traumas - canonically ignored abuse and neglect on the one hand, and the Tarsus IV famine and massacre on the other - but that’s a whole post on its own and we ain’t got all day here.]

Jim can’t not act, and while that gets him into a lot of trouble, it also saves lives. Sulu probably appreciated that Jim’s gut drove him to leap off Nero’s drilling platform without a moment’s hesitation after a man he’d only just met. He may have been a real shithead about it, but Jim’s impassioned insistence on going after the Narada and not wasting time on the possibility of a better option was key to saving Pike and Earth itself. And I don’t know why Spock was so surprised that Jim intervened to save him on Nibiru, considering that the reason they were there in the first place was because Jim couldn’t sit back and watch the Nibirans die when there was something his crew could do to help them, even if it meant risking a violation of the Prime Directive.

Jim is a good man with a big heart, and he cares about people, absolutely. But he cares most of all about Doing The Right Thing - which in the heat of the moment often translates to Doing Something, Anything, Hold My Beer.

iii. heart vs. gut (i.e., time for some receipts)

I think one of the main reasons Leonard and Jim’s characterizations get confused is because they both tend to act on instinct, only lightly informed by higher reasoning. However, I’d argue that their motivations and the nature of those actions are super distinct, and those distinctions remain relatively consistent throughout all three films. (And y’all know I really mean this shit if I’m out here calling ST:ID consistent.)

Jim is a big picture guy, figuratively and often literally heaving himself full-body into the mix of whatever problem the crew has encountered for lack of any better alternative. That energy propels the plots of all three films: the chaotic path he carves through the events of Star Trek and ST:ID, and the slightly calmer but still undeniably bananas course he charts for himself and his crew in the second half of Beyond.

As the heart, Leonard operates on a more micro level. His concern invariably lies with the individual people caught up in those grand events Captain Chaos is busy dragging them all through. While Jim’s zooming around flipping plot switches, Leonard can always be counted on to bring it back to the personal.

We frequently see this juxtaposed right there on film. Think of that slow pan through medbay in the first movie after the Narada’s ambush and the destruction of Vulcan: while Jim is stewing over what to do about the Big Bad, Leonard has stepped into the CMO role without fuss or fanfare to care for the wounded crew and traumatized survivors.

Or jump ahead to Beyond: during Krall’s attack on the Enterprise, there’s a gorgeous cinematic shot of Jim sprinting down the corridor with two crew members to take on the invaders - and then we cut to Leonard moving slowly through those same ghastly red-lit corridors, searching for casualties in need of help, visibly affected by what his scanner is telling him about the downed crewman he tries to save.

Actually, Beyond as a whole does terrific justice to each of their roles. (Perhaps because it was not written by dingdongs.) The first act finds Jim flailing around for a sense of purpose and forward momentum - an understandable consequence of a gut-driven character having stalled out for too long - and he ultimately gets his mojo back by spending the rest of the film careening through one insane seat-of-his-pants ploy after another. Meanwhile, in the quieter moments between all the mayhem, Leonard serves as the empathetic sounding board for both Jim and Spock as they struggle with deep emotionally charged secrets and Big Life Questions, helping them untangle their feelings and reminding them of the emotional attachments which are ultimately key to their respective decisions to stay on the Enterprise.

More examples, you say? Don’t mind if I do!

Star Trek

GUT: Jim hurtles around the Narada, improvising almost every step of the way and paying the price for his and Spock’s scheme in bodily harm, and ultimately succeeds in rescuing Pike. HEART: Leonard calls out for Jim as he runs into the transporter room, overwhelmed with relief that he’s made it back, and takes Chris Pike’s weight literally and figuratively onto his own shoulders to begin healing him while Jim runs back off to the center of the action.

Star Trek: Into Darkness

GUT: Jim argues with Leonard, Spock, and Scotty in quick succession as he’s preparing to drag them all off to Qo’noS, immune to their attempts to reason with him because, unraveled as he is by grief and pain, he can only focus on his visceral drive to Do Something. HEART: Unlike the others, Leonard is upset not about the larger moral questions of whether it’s right to go after John Harrison or bring torpedoes aboard the ship, but about the fact that Jim himself is hurt and hurting and won’t accept help.

GUT: Jim makes a snap decision to sacrifice himself by hurling his body against the warp core to realign it and save his crew. HEART: Shellshocked by the emotional grenade of his best friend’s death, Leonard suddenly realizes, through the haze of his own numbness and upswelling grief, that he might still be able to do something for this lonely radiation-ravaged body he’s been brought and the life it represents.

Star Trek Beyond

GUT: At the tail end of an improvised plan to out-maneuver Kalara, Jim quite literally shoots first and asks questions later, igniting a fuel tank and setting off an explosive series of events which he and Chekov just barely escape. HEART: The next time we see Leonard, Spock is opening up to him about Ambassador Spock’s death and his own plan to leave Starfleet for New Vulcan - and while he’s empathetic toward Spock (I can’t imagine what that must feel like), Leonard’s thoughts go immediately to the emotional impact of Spock’s plan on the other people he’s closest with. (I can see how that would upset [Nyota]. / I can tell you, [Jim]’s not gonna like that.)

GUT: Jim frantically strains to reach the final switch in the life support hub, believing that he’s going to die either way since the vent has already opened, but spurred on by the knowledge that his ability to move that switch is the only thing standing between Yorktown and annihilation. HEART: Knowing exactly what’s at stake, with the fate of the station and millions of lives hanging in the balance, Leonard’s greatest concern is that Jim won’t make it out in time.

iv. never bet against the heart

Let’s wrap this up with a deep dive on one of the absolute best examples of Leonard as the heart: his decision to sneak Jim onto the Enterprise in the first movie.

As relentlessly as I drag him for the, you know, poisoning and kidnapping aspects of that whole deal, there’s no denying that it is a god-tier heart move. Is it logical? Absolutely not. Is it really the right thing to do for either himself or Jim, as far as he knows at the time? Nope. It’s 100% the wrong choice for his own job security, reputation, and relationships with his fellow crew, and it’s almost guaranteed to get Jim into even worse trouble. Leonard is a smart dude who must understand that this course of action will likely end up coming back on them both in a real bad way. For someone who argues loudly and often in defense of self-preservation, this is a shockingly bad idea.

But none of that matters, because Jim shakes his hand and tells him to be safe with that horrible empty-eyed smile, and it gets him right in the heart, one-two-three.

One: sympathy, worry, and affection for Jim - his best friend, his wild and troublesome stray, his only family.

Two: guilt over adding onto Jim’s pain, and the instinctive urge to fix whatever‘s hurting him.

Three: fear of heading out into the unknown by himself, the agonizing uncertainty of not knowing what’s coming, craving for the security and reassurance Jim’s presence would give him.

“Dammit,” Leonard says, as his heart wins out over his brain. He knows this is a garbage plan, and he doesn’t care. His heart chooses Jim. That’s all that matters.

So he goes back for Jim, and to his own surprise it turns out that this Very Bad Idea was actually a Very Good Idea because Jim’s impulsive instincts end up saving Earth, and Leonard’s not in the habit of fixing what ain’t broke so he figures he may as well keep on chasing Jim’s crazy ass around the galaxy for a while, through jungles and off cliffs and into the goddamn afterlife when need be, until finally one day Jim’s gut drives him right into Leonard’s arms and he suddenly realizes that this is what his heart was choosing all those years ago: Jim’s wide terrified eyes, Jim’s voice breaking over his name, Jim’s hand pressing hard against his chest, reaching out for what’s his.

But that’s another story.

[greenroseunderglass]

After Omega : Fanfic - Star Trek TOS (Gen)

@sicktember

Prompt #4 Headache

by: greenroseunderglass (1st post to tumblr, I know I'm messing up every way possible.)

Notes: The TOS episode "Omega Glory" is literally one long recipe for a headache for Kirk. Spock was caught in the nimbus of a phaser set to kill in this episode.

Numbly, Jim tried to orient himself among the crush and chaos that was the excited Yangs. Spock. He was trying to keep an eye on Spock, who had admitted to being weak, which probably meant he was barely keeping his feet under him through some feat of Vulcan endurance. Jim’s vision was swimming a bit in the torch-flashing darkness, and he was so damn tired, but he eventually homed in on the red-shirted security guards, and found McCoy, very unhappy, at Spock’s side.

The doctor was not supporting Spock, but he clearly wanted to be. Spock stood at-ease, clearly rebuffing any such attempt. So McCoy was scanning the crowd, and when his eyes hit Jim he lunged forward and grabbed his arm, dragging him forward to stand the appropriate distance from Spock for a beam up. The sudden jerk brought the taste of bile up behind Jim’s teeth. Bones was glaring hard enough that it made Jim a little more dizzy to try to meet his eyes, so he stopped trying to and looked at Spock. Whose at-ease was wavering in its own wind.

“I suppose we can beam up now?” McCoy demanded.

Unperturbed, Spock spoke into his communicator in a steady but very quiet voice, “Three to beam up, Mr. Scott.”

Jim was moving the second the transporter let go, and caught Spock, who went at the knees the moment the transporter beam released him. Kirk had him before his body could hit the ground -- he’d known the usually-inconsequential disorientation of the transporter was going to get Spock, he’d just been able to tell. McCoy was swearing, and his scanner was humming.

So Jim had him under the elbows, crushed against his side, and he only had a moment to dislike how limp Spock had gone before the awful realization hit him that his own balance and coordination was not sufficient to maintain the two of them until the waiting medical team swimming into focus in the too-bright lights of the room could climb on the platform.

Kirk clenched his teeth and swallowed. He had been up for two straight days and nights, but he was not going to drop Spock, and he was not going to throw up in the middle of the transporter room. He was trying to get the nausea forced back enough to tell the corpsmen to hurry up and get Spock when McCoy took Spock’s other side and more than half his weight, and gestured his subordinates forward.

They relieved Jim of the Vulcan’s weight, which he needed, and of the contact, which left a gnawing worry behind it, and put Spock on the anti-grav stretcher they had waiting. One of them handed McCoy a small med-kit which he instantly opened. He read off the hypos, and administered them directly to his patient.

Clearly McCoy had called ahead. Why had Spock waited that long for him to beam up?

It was a little worrying that Spock had let himself be handled by strange corpsmen -- these were new crew, on board less than a month -- and put on the stretcher without complaint, silent and pale and submitting to McCoy’s attentions with none of their usual argument. Jim blew out a slow breath and closed his eyes, then breathed in a deep one as he raised his head and eventually reopened them. Reset. He trusted Bones, and Bones had said authoritatively that Spock would live. There was a lot left to do with—

“Doctor,” Spock had rallied enough to come up on his elbows and look at Kirk, his gaze assessing. He interrupted the doctor in a quiet but very firm voice. Definitely coherent. “You are aware that the Captain has had several trauma-induced periods of unconsciousness during this mission, but you are unaware of the most severe. To my certain knowledge, he has been unconscious due to two severe traumatic blows for a cumulative nine hours and eighteen minutes since our beam down.”

Spock wasn’t announcing it to the room, just to McCoy, but it was bad enough because Bones stopped dead and raised his head. “Captain, you are required in Sickbay in twenty minutes.”

A biting reply wanted to come out – he was too tired to be bossed about by his CMO exercising his prerogatives – but Jim made himself stop. The truth was, his head was a pulsing raw pain he’d been able to manage only by lifting above it – literally dissociating from his own body a bit to cope. He had blood coming out of one ear, his vision was getting worse, and as his adrenaline dropped he was starting to get his own crosswind himself. He was stubborn, and he had a thousand things to do, but he wasn’t stupid.

“Yes, Doctor.”

McCoy, following the stretcher out, stopped to double-blink at him, then looked him over again. “Do you need transport?”

“No, Doctor.” The guards and Scotty and the transporter chief were all listening to them, now, so Jim walked to the door. Oh, yeah. He was getting his own wind and McCoy noticed, of course, caught Jim’s arm to balance the wavering, and started to demand Kirk come with him right then.

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes, on one condition,” Jim said quietly as he followed McCoy out into the hall. “I know you have some kind of anti-emetic in there, you always do when you’re treating Spock for anything serious. Give me.”

“Yeah?” McCoy asked, trying to catch his eyes, no doubt to evaluate his pupils, but Kirk wasn’t having it. Not quite yet. The doctor's voice was on the gentle side, though, which was immediately soothing, and he opened his med-kit. ”Migraine?”

Jim wished he could say yes, but it wasn’t a good day for blatant lies. “No. Spock’s right. I got my bell rung twice, hard-“

“As opposed to the half-dozen times it was lightly rung?” the doctor asked sharply. “I’m not blind, you know-“

Speaking slowly, Jim continued, “But I’ll be all right for a few more minutes, and then you can do whatever you want.”

“You’re just afraid you’ll get sick all over the Bridge? I’d bet on the turbolift, that upward and lateral motion at once—“

Kirk felt sweat on his upper lip, and he swallowed, hard. McCoy looked a bit abashed and gave him the shot in the arm, and within a few seconds Jim’s stomach had returned to the normal position. He coughed a little and swallowed, then tried out a smile. “You’d be amazed how much that helps. I –“

“Will be in Sickbay in twenty minutes, Captain,” McCoy growled, snapped his med-kit closed and took off after his patient. Instinct urged Kirk to go after them, but duty sent him in the other direction.

>

It was like water dripping away. Onto him. Away from him. A little more impairment. A little less adrenaline. Jim Kirk put one foot in front of the other, and he smiled when he needed to, and he was able to think well enough to handle what had to be handled and know when something had to be put off for a more coherent day. The lights got brighter, though. Drip. And blurrier. Drip. And god it hurt to focus his eyes. Drip. He prepared a bare bones report for the Admiralty, because that couldn’t wait, and every sound got louder. Drip, drip. The world got foggier, and his energy to navigate through it was lessened.

He finally turned, then waited as the Bridge kept turning for a moment before settling down before his eyes. “Mr. Sulu. You have the conn,” he said, and headed for the turbolift. His crosswind was getting more stormfront than gentle breeze – he knew he was swaying on his feet, didn’t that count for something? “If I’m needed you can reach me in Sickbay. Mr. Spock is also in Sickbay. Unless he is needed to keep the galaxy or the ship from blowing up, please forget you can reach him there.”

“Aye, Captain,” came from several people, but then quietly, from Uhura alone, “Could one of us escort you to Sickbay, sir?”

Kirk forced himself to stop swaying, forced a smile to his lips. “No, but thank you, Lieutenant.”

The drop of the turbolift had him laying back against the wall, and his hands over his eyes were trying to push the pain back away. Water dripping everywhere, he was in a rainstorm and it was washing away the world and his energy and his ability to control himself. His head had reached the white-out level, the pain hitting places his consciousness wasn't willing to go with it. One last thing, though.

He walked into Sickbay to see Dr. M’Benga arguing with Dr. McCoy, gentle to his irritation. “You’ve been up for two days, Leonard. Either go to your quarters or go sleep in your office, but you are not fit for regular duty right now.” They’d both worked under worse conditions for crisis duty.

“Just give me a few more minutes, Geoff. I’m not being stubborn. I want a shower and my bed, but—there he is!” He turned from his fellow doctor to glare at Kirk.

“Twenty minutes does not mean forty-five, Captain, sir.”

Kirk made one of his ‘yeah, yeah, whatever’ dismissive gestures and closed his eyes in a brief headshake. “How is Spock?”

McCoy frowned at him as he moved toward him with a scanner in one hand and a tricorder in the other. “In a healing trance. He’ll be fine in a few days, Jim. We were able to treat the radiation poisoning and the rest he can handle himself.”

Jim’s head went down with a huff of a sigh, but he batted at McCoy’s arm when the doctor raised it with the scanner, and McCoy started to growl at him, but Jim made his little dismissive-gesture-closed-eyes-headshake thing he did again. He spoke very evenly. “No. Bones. I think I could use that… transport now.”

He didn’t go at the knees, he just dropped, and it was all McCoy and a lunging M’Benga could do to keep his limp body from bouncing off the floor.

He got a bed beside Spock's for three days. McCoy's blood pressure was not very appreciative of their stay.

End

[calacuspr]

Calacus Weekly Hit & Miss – Simone Biles & Rassie Erasmus

Every Monday we look at the best and worst communicators in the sports world from the previous week.

HIT – SIMONE BILES

Simone Biles has been the superstar of gymnastics - if not female sport - since she burst into global consciousness by winning four gold medals at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

With 19 world championship gold medals as well to her name at the tender age of 24, expectations were high at Tokyo 2020.

Not content with leading the world in gymnastics, Biles showed remarkable strength from one so young by putting her mental health ahead of the attention and anticipation of her performances at this year’s Olympic Games.

After pulling out of the women's gymnastics team final. Biles explained: “I have to focus on my mental health. I just think mental health is more prevalent in sports right now.

"We have to protect our minds and our bodies and not just go out and do what the world wants us to do.

"I don't trust myself as much anymore. Maybe it's getting older. There were a couple of days when everybody tweets you and you feel the weight of the world.

"We're not just athletes. We're people at the end of the day and sometimes you just have to step back.”

The Olympic Games may be one of the biggest stages in world sport, but Biles showed remarkable poise to withdraw given her unofficial role as the symbol of Team USA.

It is further proof, if proof were needed, that sports stars now feel empowered to stand up, not only for social justice but also for themselves, as we saw with Naomi Osaka withdrawing from the French Open in much the same way earlier this year.

Michael Phelps, himself an Olympic phenomenon, defended Biles after previously revealing his own struggles with depression. He said: “This is an opportunity for all of us to really learn more about mental health, to all help each other out.

"For me, I want people to be able to have somebody that can support them, who’s non-judgmental and who’s willing to hold space. There’s a lot that we can do to help one another and we have to start. We can’t brush it under the rug anymore.”

Biles, remember, has spoken out about the sexual abuse she and many others faced at the hands of the former U.S.A. Gymnastics doctor Lawrence G. Nassar and the devastating effect it has had on her life.

She has also spoken out about racism, which she has encountered in life and in gymnastics competition; She said: “It happens every day, and I feel like every Black athlete or colored athlete can say that they've experienced it through their career.”

Biles has had to watch as her brother Tevin Biles-Thomas was accused and then recently acquitted of 15 charges including murder related to an incident three years ago.

The gymnast later withdrew from the final individual all-round competition, with USA Gymnastics stating: “We wholeheartedly support Simone’s decision and applaud her bravery in prioritizing her well-being. Her courage shows, yet again, why she is a role model for so many.”

There have been accusations that she let down her team by walking away, that she displayed an appetite for ‘losing, quitting and failure’ rather than seeing the bigger picture of fighting through adversity.

American conservative activist Charlie Kirk was also quick to criticise, saying: "We are raising a generation of weak people like Simone Biles. If she's got all these mental health problems: don't show up."

“She's probably the greatest gymnast of all time. She's also very selfish, she's immature and she's a shame to the country."

Those opinions were echoed by other right-wing activists and yet US newspapers such as USA Today called Biles’ decision “important” and a “powerful message.”

The New York Times lauded the 24-year-old for putting her “mental health first and the expectations of others, at best, second” and after Biles spoke about the mental exhaustion endemic to being the best, the Washington Post asked, “What are we doing, breaking our athletes?”

Mental health organisations such as The Rethink Mental Illness charity praised Biles and said: “Everyone needs to prioritise their mental health, even the best athletes in the world.

“Simone Biles’s decision to withdraw from an Olympics final will not have been taken lightly, and it’s great to see the support she received from her teammates.”

Mind also congratulated Biles on her bravery and posted on Twitter: “Working in elite sports like gymnastics comes with unimaginably high levels of pressure, perfectionism, scrutiny, and comparison. Simone Biles is incredibly brave for speaking out, and highlighting the importance of looking after your mental heath.

“Simone is a role model for women and girls everywhere. She deserves our applause, respect, appreciation – and above all our support right now.”

MISS – RASSIE ERASMUS

Rugby union prides itself on respect and one of the most fundamental aspects of game is based on how referees are treated.

It’s common law within the sport that players and coaches accept refereeing judgments without abusive disagreement but in recent times, the game has been caught up in controversy due to reactions over refereeing decisions.

During the 2021 British and Irish Lions and South Africa test series, South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus has taken the disrespect of officials to a whole new level, as he openly criticised the officiating of the first test match between the two sides.

In an hour-long video, Erasmus let out his fury towards Australian referee Nick Berry in which he analysed 26 clips from the game of incidents which he believed were blatant mistakes.

In the video, he said: "It's comical the respect the [officials] showed towards the South African players compared to the Lions players.

"Let the Springboks and the Lions have an equal chance on the field when it comes to laws, respect, the way players are treated, what is said in the coaches' pre-match meeting with the referees, how they give feedback post-match and how things are said in the media.

"When Siya [Kolisi] spoke to the referee and when Alun Wyn [Jones] spoke to the referee, I just felt the reactions on how they treated both those players, there was a vast difference between who he was taking serious and who he wasn't taking serious."

Erasmus ends the video by saying that he recorded the video “in my personal capacity, and not as part of the Springboks”, even offering to quit his position for the remainder of the series.

But when you’re the head coach of the world champions in any sport, let alone rugby union, recording a video criticising a referee is entirely inappropriate.

Despite his claims that neither Nick Berry nor World Rugby provided feedback on the officiating during the first test, Erasmus raised his complaints in a totally unprofessional manner.

In response to the video, Rugby Australia defended Nick Berry and deemed the comments from Erasmus as "unacceptable", while World Rugby reacted by saying they would be taking up the matter with the South African Rugby Union.

Erasmus has never been afraid to speak out, but his comments towards referees has cast a shadow over the already disrupted Lions Tour in South Africa.

In the week running up to the first test, Erasmus refused to disassociate himself from a burner Twitter account named “Jaco Johan”, which carries video clips of controversial refereeing incidents for the previous games of the tour.

“When something makes sense to me I like to retweet it,” Erasmus said. “If you do analyse the things that he is supposed to see, then you are actually spot on with the integrity of the game.”

It’s also not the first time that the Springbok head coach has been caught up in controversy regarding the officiating in rugby.

Back in 2019, the then New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen accused Erasmus of trying to pressure referees into preferential treatment towards his team, after the South Africa boss suggested that the All Blacks had for years received soft officiating during matches.

Debate surrounding refereeing decisions has been a constant theme of the Lions series, with the tourists also raising concerns regarding the appointment of a South African television match official in the first game.

With South Africa going on to claim victory in the second Test, Erasmus could claim that his mind games paid off, especially considering several decisions went the Springboks' way.

Regardless, raising concerns about refereeing in rugby should be done in a respectful manner and in that regard, Erasmus missed the mark completely during the 2021 Lions tour.

[kinetic-elaboration]

September 4: 1x13 The Conscience of the King

Past midnight and I’m tired but!! The Conscience of the King!

This was a wild ep. A lot to untangle about it.

Dramatic Shakespeare! Jim’s very invested in the performance.

I legit thought that the guy next to him was McCoy the first time I watched this. I hadn’t seen much ST at the time and that’s my excuse but also in my defense he has a similar facial structure and it’s dark.

“What do I do about my log???” New hydration game: drink whenever someone mentions their logs.

So Tarsus had only 8,000 people--that’s not very many. They must have been very isolated and new. And Kodos killed 4,000.

The Karidian players are part of the “Galactic Cultural Exchange Project.”

One of my problems with believing this Kirk/Lenore romance outside the usual honeypot aspects is that she is a little young for him perhaps??? I say as if I didn’t know couples with a bigger age gap but--she’s only 19 so it’s different.

So Kodos faked his death, fairly immediately had a daughter, and then changed his identity. Her age being exactly 19 is probably just about keeping math simple but I would like to read more into it than that.

Major plot hole that there’s a PICTURE of Kodos in the database. Like???? Then everyone knows what he looks like? The idea that only 9 people have the secret knowledge to bring him to justice and yet also everyone with an internet connection can see his photo is just nonsense.

Kirk, being charming at a party. I feel like his flirt game isn’t so strong at first (here, have this glass I’ve already sipped from?) but it gets stronger as their conversation goes on. He doesn’t have the greatest lines but his attitude is so charming and attractive it legit does not matter what he’s saying.

I used to feel, at least, that Lenore was one of his real, legit love interests, probably because of the ending and because it was one of the first eps I saw so I took it as more face value, but on a rewatch... not really sure. At any rate this initial flirting is all about the Strategy.

I find it somewhat disturbing that Lenore played her father’s wife.

The Astral Queen??

Lenore is really bad at judging Kirk, like from beginning to end. If this were airing now and I were in the fandom, I’d be getting into internet fights with people about how her analyses of him are biased and shouldn’t be taken at face value because they clearly have no connection to how he actually is. “Where’s the brash young man from the party?” Was there ever a brash young man? Is he in any way different on their walk versus inside??

A dead body, what a mood killer.

I like the aesthetic of this planet, though.

Wow, wtf, Kirk, your friend’s widow is crying and you give her a five-second hug and then literally push her off screen? Gotta hurry it up ma’am!

So he just has to say ‘over and out’ and the communicator cuts the transmission and he can call someone else. Very high-tech.

Spock is displeased. A little suspicious. A little jealous.

How did you know she was coming on the ship? “I’m the Captain.”

Spock should appreciate how sneaky Kirk is being with all his schemes. It’s not Menagerie level but still.

Riley! I wish he were in more eps. He’s one of my favorite minor characters. I realize he’s only in this one because they accidentally cast the same actor twice but still--he had potential. I see he’s been taken out of Navigation. And given a backstory in Engineering, and then moved to Communications. But he keeps the gold shirt. Busy fellow.

“Star Service.”

So he transferred Riley to protect him because he figured... no one knows where Engineering is?

I love this Spock and McCoy scene. McCoy being so laid back and Spock being like “I am suspicious of this suspicious situation.”

Vulcan was never conquered though??

“Your personal chemistry wouldn’t allow you to see that” sounds an awful lot like a veiled “you’re gay” reference.

Someone finally comments on the romantic lighting that follows Kirk around.

Wow, how did all this “surging and throbbing” talk get past the censors? Tone it down, Lenore.

Kirk claims he eventually really liked her, but this is like the last positive scene they have and he’s still CLEARLY fishing for information.

Love that cut from Lenore and Kirk making out to Spock alone on the bridge at night, brooding. (No one needs to steer the ship at night I guess?)

Poor Riley, stuck by himself in Engineering during the late shift. “You’ve been a bad boy.” I love when the crew gets to just hang out and be friends. Also interesting that Uhura has borrowed Spock’s harp.

Spock: “Riley can’t die because KIRK.”

This is a great triumvirate scene. I love how they play off each other, and how they simultaneously care about each other and about their jobs and doing the right thing.

I do find it weird that McCoy is so anti this whole investigating Kodos thing. Like, this isn’t some crazy vengeful path that Jim’s on or whatever he’s implying. Jim’s actually being pretty careful and slow in his actions? And there is someone actively killing people, like--the threat is imminent? It’s just a weird side to represent. I get the balance they’re trying to portray with the three sides but McCoy just doesn’t have a good argument and Jim doesn’t really need to be pulled back--if anything, he needs to be pushed, as Spock is pushing him.

“Logic isn’t enough. I’ve got to feel my way.”

 Double red alert sounds like double secret probation.

Spock shushing the Captain.

Throw the phaser out the window.

Lol after all this hullabaloo about being extra sure and all this scheming to get people on his ship--Kirk just comes out and asks Karidian if he’s Kodos. Well that’s one way about it!

Kodos, like his daughter, fundamentally misunderstands Jim. I know he seems very ‘starship captain with his technological tests’ or whatever but--to call him not human?? He is the MOST human!!

Kirk does understand life or death decisions but he would never have made the decision Kodos made.

I’m with Spock, this is not ambiguous. This man is clearly Kodos. I’m glad there was a character actively saying that the alleged tension in this “who is he really?” plot line is not actually real.

This guy is such a manipulative drama queen oml.

I feel like the morality of this situation is not as gray as some characters are trying to make it. Like, no, Lenore, no one’s crying a river for Kodos lol.

The Kodoses again are either not good at reading Kirk or are deliberately trying to gaslight him into incorrect beliefs about himself because he has literally been nothing but human and merciful this entire time!!! An inhuman person would be like “logically he has to be Kodos” and an unmerciful person would be like “and he needs to die” and just like killed him 10 minutes into the ep.

This is the downside of audio logs--private things don’t stay very private.

Riley’s on the loose! Very IC of him.

I love that the ship has a theater, btw.

Riley must have been very young on Tarsus. No more than maybe 6, 7 years old. Knowing what I know about people’s inability to actually remember things or identify people with any accuracy at all, I don’t actually believe he recognizes Kodos’s voice. But what were we saying about how Kirk is unmerciful and in human?

Riley sure backs down fast when Kirk says so.

This Lenore and Kodos scene is probably the best in the whole ep. Really laying bare their fucked up relationship and how absolutely, tragically, irredeemably mad she is. The drama! I love a true wild woman.

The irony! The Shakespearean over-the-top-ness of it all!

You know at least one person in the audience thinks this is just a really weird play.

Leave it to McCoy to ask all the wrong questions lol. He wants to know if Jim liked the girl--who the fuck cares? He knew her for one day. Maybe he was briefly legit interested in her for a few minutes there, but she’s certifiable AND she tried to kill him, so that’s that on that.

The real important thing we should be talking about here is how Jim feels about the death of a man who killed 4,000 people and traumatized him for life.

And Spock stays away entirely, instead of walking over the chair as he usually does. Giving Kirk space to sort out his feelings, perhaps?

So yeah there’s a lot to unpack in this ep.

I think I once ran across a tumblr post that said this ep implied Kirk was slated to be on the to kill list but honestly it’s pretty clearly the opposite--Kodos killed exactly who he wanted to kill, so if Kirk’s alive, Kirk was supposed to live. (I guess they thought the implication came from Kirk being one of the people to see him? But we have no idea what the circumstances of that were, or why the people to see him included a couple of teenagers and a small child.) Also I think I heard once that there was a deleted line about Kirk saying he was one of the people considered worth saving.

This ep is really wild because introducing Tarsus into Jim’s background really changes a lot and introduces a lot into his character and yet it’s basically just done for plot purposes, to make sure the main character stays at the center of the story. But truly it must have transformed him to witness that at ~15.

Overall we hear very little from Kirk directly here. We know he wants to be sure Karidian is Kodos, and he goes to a lot of trouble to be sure, even though it’s quite obvious there’s no mystery to these massive coincidences. We know from his actions--bringing the players aboard, using Lenore, transferring Riley--that he’s deeply affected by this. And sometimes people (who don’t know him well) talk about him, mostly incorrectly (though in a way where I wonder if the writer was trying to get us to think this stuff is true of him? for the dramatic effect?) But for all that, he doesn’t talk about his feelings much at all.

Another take on this ep that I also saw on tumblr and liked a lot was that Kirk is so optimistic and hopeful in part because of Tarsus, because he saw that Kodos rushed to kill people when he really didn't need to, when he didn't think the supply ship would come in time--but then it came early. So the lesson to take from that is, to always be hopeful, to always believe in the last minute save, to always prioritize people's lives and safety first because anything could happen.

I feel like we're supposed to feel bad for Kodos in some way because he left all the mass murdering behind ages ago BUT it doesn't work so well because we're also supposed to believe, imo, that he was the killer, not Lenore. Like, Spock wants Kirk to act as if this man is Kodos and be proactive, but he's not doing it because he's a vengeful person--he's doing it because Kodos, he thinks, is threatening Kirk. Spock never goes beyond that to advocate, for example, a vengeance killing versus giving him to the authorities versus idk just yelling at him or something. So this idea that interfering with Kodos in any way is just being mean is sort of bizarre--there's an active threat here.

Plus sorry but committing genocide 20 years ago isn’t something we just sweep under the rug. He was the mastermind of something truly horrendous and he got away with it! I’m not going to feel bad for him!

And on top of that the idea that he was just killing people to save other people is one thing--at least morally gray I GUESS lol. But he was targeting people for his own eugenics purposes!! He even says this is part of "the Revolution." The famine was an excuse. He wanted to kill them.

Like I realize most of the people getting on Kirk's back for literally everything are the Kodoses, who are nuts and evil, but I feel like he took a lot of shit for doing nothing wrong.

My mom was wondering how Lenore knew her father was Kodos. I’m not entirely sure but I will say I love her and how just unrepetentedly mad she is. I prefer Lenore to most TOS women because I often feel like the show doesn't......really know how to write women. With Lenore there was no attempt to make her anything but off her rocker nuts. And the twist that she was the killer was effective.

She has that very classic insanity, which is the person who has only one thought and it consumes them. Only one purpose. I think she must have been raised separate from literally everyone but her father--he's been a traveling actor her whole life, so she never socialized, she never went to school, she had no other family. He's very private so she never had, like, a social circle. So he's her WHOLE WORLD. And then maybe she got suspicious as to why that was, and discovered his past. And then she felt that this past threatened him, and anything that threatened him threatened EVERYTHING. So she became...this person we see here.

And, as my mom also pointed out, the ‘body burned beyond recognition’ story is so suspect. With all their future tech? There was no way to id it? Also, what was the official explanation as to how that happened? We know 4,000 people were killed; we know a supply/rescue ship came early, and we know Kodos died and his body wasn’t identified. But what’s the rest of the sequence of events? Was there a riot or revolt and he was killed? Did he kill himself? It’s unlikely he burned to death on accident. The point is that he did not fake his death by himself.

One downfall of this ep is that it is very complicated for only 50 minutes. So much stuff is cut short or cut out--a lot of the backstory, most of Kirk’s feelings, but even stuff like Riley backing down so fast, or Tom’s widow getting literally pushed off screen while she’s grieving. The idea that Lenore and Kirk were supposed to have a real romance somehow? And, the eugenics angle is obviously a huge part of the story but it’s barely touched upon.

According to the trivia on amazon, the original script explained Kirk's presence on Tarsus as being related to Starfleet--he was just out of the Academy and stationed there. That would make him older than other episodes assume him to be--about 42, versus 34-36. But I like it better having him be a teen bc then we don't expect him to know all the stuff that went down later, the aftermath etc. My mom suggested he might have been doing the high school version of a study abroad year, since he’s so smart. This would also explain why his family doesn’t seem to have been on Tarsus, even though if we take his age from other episodes, he was not an adult.

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I don’t think AOS Kirk was on Tarsus, if in fact Tarsus happened at all in the alternate universe. I just see no evidence in his character that would make me think he’d had that experience.

Next up is Balance of Terror, yet another favorite episode. I mean Mark Lenard?? Romulans?? Can’t go wrong with that.

[jiminthestreets-bonesinthesheets]

The Masterlist of Masterlists

Just a collection of all my works :D

Supernatural:

Destiel:

All For A Buck        -  Dean and Cas must work together to raise the newest addition to the Winchester family, and it might just end up brining them together in the end.

A Magic Kingdom Love       - “An AU where Dean and Cas are both working for Disney and have been cast as the very first gay princes. And at first they hate each other but it’s hard to pretend you’re in love all day for sweet, shy kids, and then not make out under the bridge of the magic kingdom castle.”

Mountain High        -  Suddenly taken from his own home and flown god knows where in the dark, Dean Winchester finds himself thrown into something he could never have imagined in his wildest dreams.

Pas De Deux        -  Dean is a closeted ballet dancer, and Cas is playing the Nutcracker Prince in the Kansas State Ballet. When the ballet loses their Clara and Cas confronts Dean about taking the part along side him, will he be able to put aside his fears and let everyone know who he really is? All to help the man of his dreams?

Screw It, I Love You        -  This is based of this post I saw the other day, find it HERE. It’s about Cas being newly human and Dean leaving him reminder notes all over the bunker.

Slash Fiction (part 1 of series)        -  Following the boys as they continue their journey, saving people, hunting things, the family business. This trip finds them in Kalamazoo, Michigan, at the famous Henderson Castle. With the help of on old friend and the return of a beloved character, the boys find themselves facing something they have never faced before, and have to find a way to stop it once and for all, with a little improvisation.

So Much for Movie Night        -  The boys finally get a night off from hunting, and Sam's planned solo movie night unfortunately does not go at all how he had hoped it would.

Sounds of Someday (part 1 of series)        -   Sam was dead, Cas was lost forever, and Dean’s entire world had been turned upside down in less than an instant. He was alone, again, a typical Winchester ending, but god damn if that was how he was going to leave it. He was going to get Sam back, he was going to get Cas back, and he was going to fix everything that had fallen apart, and now he was going to do it all with twin babies and the king of hell back on his side. Season sixteen… here we go.

That We Do         -  Dean and Cas meet at a civil war reenactment when Dean is forced to go for his father's birthday. Despite Dean's original sour attitude about the idea, he finds something there that was definitely worth going for.

The Ever Handsome and Always Charming Dean Winchester        -   A perfectly simple Dean and Cas wedding!

The Nual’ Family Onion        -  Dean had lived in Lawrence, Kansas his entire life. Born and raised. In his twenty-six years in the beautiful city, he lived a wonderful life surrounded by the amazing people who lived there, many of them becoming family over the years. After high school, he started working for his uncle Bobby at his mechanics shop and fell into a comfortable routine. He still lived at home with his parents, John and Mary Winchester, and for the foreseeable future, Dean had no intentions of changing that. Until he saw him.

The Thing About Blind Dates        - Dean Winchester was perfectly happy with his life. He lived alone, though most days his house was filled with the accompaniment of his little brother and his brother’s new boyfriend, and that suited Dean just fine.But even now, as Dean sat back against the couch, watching the newest season of Animal Kingdom, cold beer in hand while Sam and Gabe cuddled next to him, he couldn’t really say he was anything but satisfied. That is… until Sam and Gabe decided he wasn’t.

Wish You Were Here        -  Sam’s got a date, Cas is fixing Heaven, and Dean Winchester is sitting miserably in his motel room, alone. So he decides to see if Cas wants to have a little fun over the phone.

****************

Lost

Jawyer:

Lost in a Dream        -   Jack Shephard was never one to believe in psychics, or fortune telling, or visions of the future. But when he starts dreaming of flight 815 crash landing on an unknown island, and all the events that follow, he cant help but start to wonder if maybe he should start believing. Especially when his flight home turns into just the nightmare he had worried it would. Though, this time around, a few things are very different, or rather a few people.

****************

Star Trek:

Mckirk:

Clans        -  Jim goes on his usual hunt and everything's going fine, or so he thinks. Until things take an unexpected turn and he finds himself the house guest of a group of people he thought to be extinct. Now, Jim has to decide what his next move will be, doing what he knows is right by his family, or only thinking of himself and possibly putting his entire family in danger.

Lost in Translation        -  “Attention citizens. This is the crew of the Enterprise asking for your aid. On Stardate 2264.78 a shuttle manned by our captain and fourteen cadets was ambushed by an unknown source and chased out of sight of our ship and into open space. Those cadets as well as our captain, James Tiberius Kirk, are still missing. We are asking anyone with any information on their whereabouts, or regarding the attack, to please contact the Enterprise immediately. Our family would appreciate any assistance you can give.”

Spirk:

Maiden Voyage (part 1 of series)        -  "Jim's past was just that, his past, or so he thought. He had made it through to graduation and only had six months of placement standing between him and his captains chair, but he never thought he would see her again. He thought he was past this, past her, now what was he supposed to do? Could they really just go back to the way things were, will placement with her even be bearable, will the crew be able to stand together and face their newest foe and live to tell the tale? Jim could only hope, because right now that's about all he’s got."

****************

Avengers:

Stucky:

Second Chances        - This is sort of an endgame fix, with a dash of Stucky. The story takes place after Thanos has been defeated, the war won, and the world returned back to its natural order. Standing on the battlefield, relieved and thankful that it was all finally over and they could rest. But in their moment of peace, Steve and Bucky suddenly find themselves in a very tricky situation, one they definitely have not been trained to handle.

The Way We Were Suppose To Be        -  Two years after defeating Thanos, Steve finds himself faced with a harsh reality. Because of his decision to stay in the past with Peggy and finally give himself the life he thought he had always wanted, Nick Fury returns to face him with a daunting truth. With the world’s timeline in disarray, it’s up to Steve to return to the past and restore the world to its natural order. Unfortunately it means that the all American hero has to sacrifice his heart and soul to save the world once again. And although Steve thinks that his one chance at a happy life had passed, who knows what the new future holds, perhaps… everything he had been searching for was right there all along.

Steve Rogers X OFC

Storm (part 1 of series)        - The avengers have just defeated Ultron, a much needed victory for the weary team, but another storm is coming their way. A new member joins the team and has some very unexpected effects on everyone, especially the Captain himself, Steve Rogers.Secrets are revealed, scars revisited, and new wounds formed as they battle one of their toughest and most personal battles yet. All they can do is hope this wont be their breaking point…

****************

Final Fantasy:

Noctis x OFC:

At Lucis End (part 1 of series)        - A treaty. A light at the end of the tunnel that King Regis had been staring down for years. A proposal. A wedding that stands to save the lands. A betrayal. That could tear it all down. And a love. So strong yet so torn.The war between Lucis and Niflheim could come to an end, but much will have to be sacrificed along the way. And in the end, would it even be enough? Would the loss of life, love, and family be enough to save the people of Lucis? Or will it all come crumbling down in the end?

****************

CSI:

Greg x Nick:

Love Undercover        -  In part one of this series, Nick and Greg get sent on a special undercover mission by Grissom and Brass, an undercover mission as a couple at an all exclusive couples resort. Their mission is to find their targets and keep them safe while maintaining the illusion that they are a happily married couple, but they may end up finding more then they bargained for while at Lovers Lane Resort.

****************

Criminal Minds:

Spencer Reid x Aaron Hotchner:

I Loved Him... Once        -   A series following the team as they solve crimes and take down the bad guys.    In Part one of this series, we follow the team as they take down a serial killer that has taken a piece of one of their own. And through it all, Spencer and Hotch come to a few conclusions and realizations of their own.

[anotheruserwithnoname]

(Belated) thoughts on Picard S1

Due to a mixture of (pre-lockdown) travel and other things, I didn’t get a chance to finish watching the second half of Star Trek Picard Season 1 till this weekend. I have some thoughts, but I’ll put a break here first as I’ll be doing spoilers.

In brief, though: for the most part I liked it and I don’t get a lot of the hate being thrown its way.

Looking at online reviews of Star Trek Picard, both by professionals and amateur YouTubers, you’d think it was the biggest abomination since Enterprise. I mean, I’ve seen hate thrown its way that even exceeds that directed toward Star Trek: Discovery.

I’m not going to turn this into a commentary on Discovery. I’ll just say that I agree with 99% of the criticisms about it and I have no plans on watching Season 3, nor do I intend to watch any of the Short Treks moving forward after being turned off permanently by the awful The Trouble with Edward.

Picard, however, renewed my faith that it’s still possible for good Trek to be made for TV.

Picard is being criticized for a number of things, like violating canon. Yet I didn’t see it. First, the show is the first Trek series set in “the future” of the Trek franchise since Nemesis back in 2002. So anything it establishes about Starfleet, Picard himself, and the fates of characters like Riker and Troi - there is no canon to violate because we’re moving forward. There is nothing in Picard that is of the same magnitude of, say, what recently happened with Doctor Who. We didn’t have them rewrite established history by suddenly finding out Jean-Luc was a Romulan spy, or that he wasn’t really the captain of the Enterprise, or anything to cause decades of storytelling to collapse into irrelevance or be contradicted. Nearly everything I saw was consistent with what I knew and remembered from TNG. They didn’t even try to retcon the appearance of the 1701-D like Discovery did to the original Enterprise.

That’s not to say everything that was done to the characters post-Nemesis was great. I didn’t care or how Seven of Nine was treated, and they did a few things with her that I think were in the “because we can, not because we should” category. So criticism is warranted there. I also felt a few characters were underserved - including Narissa, who is (or was, RIP) arguably the show’s best character next to Picard. She was a classic Trek villain - yet towards the end we started to wonder if she actually WAS a villain, or basically the Romulan equivalent of Jack Bauer from 24. She commits acts of outright savagery to pursue her ends, definitely - but the same can be said of other “ends justify the means” heroes and anti-heroes. I would have liked to have seen her developed more. (Mind you, the way she is killed off by Seven does leave an opening for a return - that was a long way down, with plenty of time to pull some macguffin out of her hat.)

Probably the main thing that I liked about this show is I cared about the characters. I can even remember their names - something Discovery failed to impress upon me. Rios and his crew of holograms were great and in Season 2 I hope they do another meeting sequence where they all interact with each other. Yes, I know Orphan Black did it first and probably did it better - but it ain’t Star Trek.

One of the biggest criticisms others levy on Picard is that Picard was a supporting character in his own show. First, that’s nonsense. Second, Picard is supposed to be a dying man throughout and in his 90s to boot. This is why I think the idea of bringing Shatner back as Kirk isn’t going to work because he won’t be running around with phasers blasting either! Stewart is not the same man he was when he made Nemesis - and they don’t make the mistake of trying to pretend otherwise. Even at the end where they basically make him a nuBSG-style Cylon to keep him alive, they didn’t turn around and make him 50 years old again. If Trek wasn’t a TV show, sure they probably would have, but the reality is the actor turns 80 this summer, and who knows when Season 2 will be filmed.

The big condemnation is about how Starfleet went dark post-Nemesis. People seem to think that Starfleet is always about goodness and light. They forget about the high command plotting the assassination of the Federation president in Star Trek VI. They forget about the black ops division Section 31 established in DS9 - or some of the things Sisko does during the Dominion War. Apparently, one of Picard’s showrunners says the original plan was to make it clear the “darkening” was part of the aftermath of the Dominion War, but this was cut. Yet they don’t need any excuse - the show clearly establishes that Romulans infiltrated the highest levels of Starfleet Command (if you think that can’t happen, go watch the final few episodes of TNG Season 1 when it happens) and were responsible for the Mars attack that set everything in motion.

And the show clearly establishes that there are till bastions of “goodness and light” in Starfleet - starting with Picard himself. And the season ends with the synthetic lifeform ban removed, signifying that Starfleet is returning to its old standards. It works. There were also people concerned that Picard was going to somehow tie-in with Discovery (due apparently to some of the cast members of both shows posing for photos together). Other than a few small references to things established on Discovery, Picard doesn’t go there.

Is Picard perfect? Hell no. Although I appreciated the “slow burn” style of storytelling, which has been adopted by a lot of other shows, it is a tough fit for Star Trek. But I didn’t mind because it was interesting. But I can see others’ points when they say the first few episodes drag a bit.

The show also suffers from the usual “continuity lockout” facing any newcomer to Trek. In this case, you need to know a fair amount about Seven of Nine’s story arc from Voyager, the Hugh story arc from the later seasons of TNG, the movie Star Trek: Nemesis, and have a working knowledge of the Picard-Data relationship from TNG. It also doesn’t hurt to know that Bruce Maddox appeared in one of the key “Data is a person” episodes of TNG as well. Unfortunately, knowing TNG may also result in one of the few major continuity issues of Picard, and that’s the fact Data already had a daughter, Lal, in “The Offspring”. The fact she’s never referenced is puzzling.

Other issue I had: I am not a fan of the use of F-bombs in Star Trek. While I concede they were better handled than the juvenile “because we can” attitude of Discovery, it added nothing other than to justify the TV-MA rating (without the F-bombs the show - eye-gouging included - would have fit under TV-14), which some has interpreted as an intentional attempt at alienating younger viewers (Torchwood ran into the same criticism). I already touched on the mishandling of Seven of Nine (which added in some unnecessary storytelling cliches, especially at the end), and I thought Narek could have been better handled - he vanishes without explanation in the finale and no one seems to care.

They also missed a few bets. I would have loved for the mysterious tech-alien species to have had some connection to Vger from Star Trek the Motion Picture (it makes more sense than Vger being found by the Borg, which is a longstanding theory). And while it was just a destination in the show, and never seen, rather than invoking the name of Deep Space 12, would it have killed them to say Deep Space 9? There was already a visual reference to Quark in one of the episodes, but mentioning DS9 by name, along with Seven’s presence, would have allowed Picard to have connected the three “future” Trek spinoffs.

But I enjoyed Picard, and if they still make DVDs after all the madness currently in the world, I look forward to buying the complete series when it comes out, and I hope they make a second season (it’s been renewed, but these days there is no guarantee when or if renewed shows will resume production and too long a delay risks 80+-year-old Patrick Stewart not being up to it). All in all, quite pleased, yet still puzzled at why so many people hate it. But then I know there are people who cannot understand why I cannot abide by certain shows, so I guess it evens up.

[scioscribe]

have you got any Star Trek fic recommendations? I love what you’ve written and I’m super into the fandom atm

Oh, boy, do I.  I’ll try to keep this reasonably compact, but there’s a ton of excellent fic.  My to-read folder for this fandom currently has 262 items, and I’m also way behind on leaving comments on the stories I’ve loved because I’ve been glomming them so enthusiastically.  Hopefully this will shame me into appreciating the authors as they deserve.

My definition of “reasonably compact” apparently means “twenty-two separate recs,” so have a cut, everyone.

Kirk/Spock

Communication: One of my all-time favorites.  It’s a beautiful, incredibly romantic epistolary romance where Kirk and Spock wind up captaining separate ships during a war with the Tholians.  They write each other letters where they slowly feel out a resolution to their mutual pining, and the characterization is exquisite.

To Sing the Sun in Flight: I will happily read a million “Amok Time” AUs, but this might be my favorite.  It’s simple, hot, beautifully written, and perfectly characterized.

Our Bodies Safe to Shore: Excellent, plotty, and emotionally complex fic where Spock’s body is taken over by a hostile alien intelligence, one that can read his thoughts and imitate him, and he’s locked helplessly inside.  And the alien has noticed his feelings for Jim.

Joyboy: Post-Tarsus IV story where Kirk and Spock meet as teenagers, when Spock is with his father on a diplomatic mission where the Tarsus survivors are brought for temporary shelter.  Great characterization, maybe especially of Kirk, who gets to be both the woobie (he’s being shunned by a lot of people for doing sex work on Tarsus to stay alive) and the controlled, honorable budding leader.  Little bit of underage, but not particularly explicit.

Fulfilling the Needs of the One (Or the Both): Sweet Old Married Spirk story that blends slice-of-life with a nuanced emotional plot where Spock suddenly fears that he hasn’t been giving Jim the emotional support and romance Jim needs.  (Jim begs to differ.)

Sunlight: Kirk, Spock, and McCoy start filling out one of those “getting to know you” questionnaires together for a crew newsletter, and of course Spock and Kirk have ridiculously detailed opinions about things as simple as the other one’s hair color and eye color and what kind of animal they would be.  Also some cute McCoy characterization and appreciation for shortish Jim, which I always appreciate.

Freely Given: The last by this author, I promise!  This is the best “McCoy subtly plays matchmaker” fic I’ve read, where his prods and a trip to a planet where on-the-mouth kisses are a common form of greeting make Spock start thinking about what he wants from his relationship with Kirk.  Delightful, sharp Bones, a Kirk who wants to make sure his authority as captain isn’t coming into play here, and a beautifully analytical Spock who is slowly realizing the depths of his pining.

Great Expectations: My favorite bit of xeno!  Kirk and Spock are about to have their first time together, but Spock shies away from getting completely naked, and when he finally does, Kirk has an unfortunate reflexive reaction to his unfamiliar genitals.  Before sweetly and humorously consoling Spock about it and boldly and sexily going where no man has gone before.  This is hot and romantic and perfectly characterized, and I just want to give Spock a hug.

Centennial: More Old Married Spirk!  Kirk is turning one hundred, and he’s feeling his age a little.  But Spock has the perfect gift for him.  Absolutely heartwarming, and written with grace and restraint.

A Private Obsession: Outsider-POV narrated by a man from a rigid, sexually conservative planet.  He owns a factory where Kirk and Spock (clearly stranded and/or forced undercover for purposes the narrator doesn’t know) wind up working.  He becomes sexually and romantically obsessed with Kirk and painfully jealous of Spock–and the ease with which the two men love each other–and, of course, leveraging Spock’s failing health to get Kirk into his bed doesn’t, and can’t, solve his problems.

Famous Last Words: Super adorable fic where there’s a shipboard poll of everyone’s favorite quotes of famous people’s last words, and all of Kirk’s have, um, a certain subtext about seconds-in-command, love, and sex.  Contains flirting and foreplay and love confessions via quotes.  Which is fitting, because Kirk and Spock are enormous nerds.

The Game: Funny, insightful story with Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Scotty playing a game–come up with something another person at the table would never, ever say–that then takes a sharp turn into devastating pining.  This ends as UST, but I can’t believe they don’t get together.  I mean, come on.

Warm Thoughts: Lovely, aching post-”Amok Time” story where Kirk wants to talk about what happened on Vulcan, Spock really doesn’t, and everything is brought to a head by an absolute hurt/comfort gift of a situation where Kirk comes back from a planet with an inability to get warm.  Spock can ostensibly use mind melds to help him a little–but things keep slipping through that he’d rather not deal with.  Excellent hurt/comfort and pining.

…And a Bottle of Rum: Adorable, hilarious, sexy established relationship fic where Kirk tries to use the “Shore Leave” planet for a bit of fun pirate role-play and Spock tries to be a good sport about it.  Hilarity ensues: “Help, help,” Spock called dutifully, and was set down again with a thump as Jim collapsed in a paroxysm of laughter.

Not So Last Words: Heartbreaking post-Wrath of Khan soulmate AU.  Your soulmate’s last words are supposed to be written on your wrist, but Kirk can’t understand how Spock could have died without saying what’s on his.  There is beautifully layered tearjerker stuff here.

Round is a Shape: There are a bunch of “older Kirk is self-conscious about his weight, Spock loves him just the way he is,” and I will read them all, because I am a chubby sap.  But this is my favorite.  Utterly adorable.

And the Truth Shall Set You Free: Smug telepathic aliens force Kirk to publicly declare his feelings to a shocked, unresponsive Spock who has been avoiding him lately.  The aliens feel like they could come straight out of an episode–there’s lots of debating about morality!  I love debating about morality!–and the romance is lovely and the crew is 1000% in Kirk and Spock’s corner.  And it’s delightful.

Cut Point: Spock gets an exceptionally flattering haircut, one that would probably make me moan, “I want to touch his hair,” even more than I already do.  Suddenly, everyone on the ship can’t stop talking about how good he looks, while Kirk loses his mind due to what he thinks is unrequited love.

Gen

Way, Hey, An’ Up She Rises: Nuanced and exquisitely written first meeting story about Kirk coming onto the Enterprise and Spock evaluating him.  Really well-characterized and great at the tentative feeling of the two of them feeling each other out.  And has “pretty shitty but not actually an indiscriminate villain” Gary Mitchell, which is a take I’m especially fond of.

Second Decent Destiny: Very shippy and technically pre-slash, but reads comfortably enough as gen.  “Amok Time” AU where T’Pau doesn’t alibi them to Starfleet and Kirk winds up with an honorable discharge for diverting the ship.  Spock joins him in extremely early retirement and the two of them try to figure out where they’re going from here.  Lovely, and a very good idea for a second-chance life.

Fortune’s Favoured Child: The formatting on this is kind of terrible, but it’s extremely well-worth it if you love Kirk hurt/comfort as much as I do.  In the aftermath of the deaths of Edith Keeler and his brother, Kirk is foundering a little, and seems to snap under the impact of yet another crisis–and in the process, reveals layers of suppressed pain that even his friends didn’t know about.

Lost and Found: Again, superb Kirk hurt/comfort–well-plotted, tense, angsty, and perfectly executed.  Kirk has been kidnapped and brutally tortured by Romulans, and as the story opens, he’s been brought back to the Federation in disgrace, having made a televised confession to all manner of crimes and (presumably) spilled Federation secrets to stay alive.  His crew is supposed to keep him in the brig and bring him to justice, but of course their loyalty is such that their immediate response is basically, “Fuck no.”  (I am bowled over by the sweetness of a particular gesture here.)  And Kirk gets to be both extremely damaged and extremely resourceful and inventive.

Other Ships

Matchmaker of Mars: I initially left this off by mistake because I was going through my bookmarks, and I always just get to this one through my gift page!  It’s Uhura/T’Pring 1930s Science Fiction Writer AU, which should be enough to make you want to read it--it has lovely characterization, note-perfect pastiche, and the two of them struggling to deal with John W. Campbell.

Oh, okay, so this was the short version.  It could have been longer, I promise.  This was relative restraint!

[loving-jack-kelly]

Two (2) people encouraged this so now I’m gonna talk about it so here’s some Star Trek newsies:

Jack

Farmboy from Earth

Smart but absolutely one hundred percent refuses to use it academically

Like...Fs in school but he built a mini airplane in his barn once and thinks faster on his feet than anyone else

Gets persuaded to join Starfleet because his dad was in it

At the academy, he makes friends with Race who’s training to be a doctor

Davey

Is a Vulcan whose mom is human

Davey went the Spock route, throwing himself into his studies and doing his best to be as completely Vulcan as he could be so he’d be accepted

Les, on the other hand, never did. Les is an emotional, exuberant little kid who loves laughing, couldn’t care less about what logic has to say, and is the Bane of Existence for his poor teachers who thought they’d be getting a model student like Davey

But when Davey gets accepted into the Vulcan Science Academy he gets some passive aggressive comments about both his mom and his little brother and he’s like fuck that I’ll take my skills elsewhere if you won’t accept my and my family here

so he also joins Starfleet

Jack still refuses to use his intelligence in the way he’s expected to but even as he’s being a total jackass his teachers can see he’s smart

Davey gets asked to design a test specifically to test the ability to think under pressure that captains need using the power of Vulcan Logictm and Jack takes it earlier than most people just to prove he can

and fails

so he takes it again

fails again and realizes it’s designed to be unbeatable so he breaks the test, technically passes it, and is treated to a very upset Davey who knows he cheated because that test is supposed to be unbeatable but can’t actually prove that it wasn’t sheer dumb luck

because the Academy knows the test isn’t supposed to be beaten, it doesn’t mean Jack is a captain, but it does reaffirm that he’s a lot smarter than he acts like he is

I don’t want to follow the plot of the 2009 movie anymore because it’s too depressing so here’s a bunch of stuff that happens after they all somehow end up in space together:

Beam me up Spotty becomes a shipwide catchphrase and Spot despises it.

“I do a very serious job! Stop making a joke of it! How many times have I saved your lives!”

Jack is very tactile. Davey is not. At first the two mix like oil and water, but with enough shaking that makes a very tasty salad dressing and they eventually get along and then Davey high fives Jack and it’s like...a huge deal

Race is awful. Just the worst. Will and has walked into a room with a sock on the door because he saw a sock on the door and therefore decided that was the time to deliver medication that just couldn’t wait until morning

Crutchie is the small, young cyborg who gets a little chuckle from everyone who meets him at first and then he smiles at them while taking out their ship without having to get up out of his seat because he’s good at his job and hates being underestimated

Jack and Race attach a knife to their cleaning robot and name it Stabby. The first time Davey sees it is the strongest display of emotion anyone on the ship has seen from him

Jack sends captionless comics out once a week and it’s a competition to see who can write the funniest caption. The winner is posted on the bridge. 

Davey won the comic contest once but never admitted it was him. Everyone knew but he never said it. It was a picture of him and the caption he wrote was “according to my calculations this is stupid and offensive” but he really did think it was funny.

Davey very slowly comes out of his shell, partly because Jack is very very determined to get him to come out of his shell

The first time he laughs out loud like not just smiles, laughs, there’s an “and the entire room clapped” moment

Jack meet’s Davey’s parents and Davey’s mom pegs instantly that Jack is in love with Davey but when she tries to mention it to Davey Davey has no idea because how is he supposed to know how to read emotions when he grew up on Vulcan?

Davey’s mom bluntly tells Jack that if he doesn’t explicitly state everything he feels Davey will never figure it out

Also Jack meets Les and finds an insane amount of humor in seeing a little boy who looks just as Vulcan as Davey doing somersaults around Davey while cheering excitedly while Davey keeps a completely straight face

That visit is also the first time Jack truly appreciates how powerful Vulcan insults can be, because they’re so impersonal sounding on a ship full of non-Vulcans but not so much on Vulcan when those are the only insults used

Jack finally tells Davey that he’s in love with him with another comic with a cutesy caption and Davey blushes all the way to the tips of his ears

Other Vulcans are Horrified when the visit the ship because they see a ship mostly full of chaotic humans and then they see a Vulcan and they’re like...ahhh, somebody sane by our standards.

And then Davey goes and kisses Jack’s cheek and laughs out loud when Stabby finally gets Spot’s ankles and generally behaves in a very illogical and emotional way and it’s just too much for them

Mostly I just like the idea of Jack as Kirk and Davey as Spock djgsdlhlas thank you and goodnight

[jimkirksgirl]

Rayborne-9

My sweet little sister wrote this for me and since she doesn’t have a Tumblr, I encouraged her to post this somewhere. She asked me if I would post this to my Tumblr so here it is! 

{WARNING, LANGUAGE}

“Captain on Bridge!”

As far as bad days go for James T. Kirk, this one was pretty damn awful. However, it didn’t start out that way. It hadn’t been ten minutes ago that the illustrious starship captain had been sitting in the Mess Hall, enjoying a nice, hot cup of coffee, his feet propped up on the seat beside him and Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary” left open in his lap.

James was right in the thick of the novel, his eyes darting from left to right as he scanned each page intently. The recommendation to read this book came from none other than his favorite doctor and closest friend, Bones. At first, Kirk was reluctant to read it, but Leonard was able to persuade him by explaining how the book was “thrilling” and “right up your fucked up little alleyway, Jim.” Though it took him a good three or four weeks to finally get around to picking up the thing, as soon as he had, Kirk quickly fell into the horrifyingly morose King tale. He had been right at the part where the toddler, Gage Creed, was about to get creamed by a semi that the ship went on red alert.

“RED ALERT. READ ALERT. REPORT TO STATIONS IMMEDIATELY. APPROACHING KLINGON VESSEL. RED ALERT.”

Jim had closed his eyes, taken a deep breath, and shut his book.

Here we go again.

In minutes, he was on the lift, the small pod carrying him up, up, and away. The imagery of an oncoming delivery truck hurtling into the endless vacuum of space, taking with it his hot coffee and peace of mind, could be used to accurately describe how he felt as the doors slid open on the bridge.

Just another day on the Starship Enterprise.

“Alright, what do we got here,” he mumbled, hopping into the captain’s chair.

“Sir, there is an approaching Klingon war vwessel,” Chekov called, his fingers working feverishly at the control panel.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Kirk replied, leaning forward in his seat and looking up. A Klingon Bird of Prey was sitting dead center of the screen, its wings nearly spanning beyond view of the bridge as it stared them down like the intimidating predator it was.

“They’re scanning the ship, sir,” Sulu added, turning in his chain to face him.

“Awesome. Any attempt at communication,” he asked, not taking his eyes off the beast.

“No, Captain, there have been no incoming transmissions from the Klingons,” Uhura answered, quick as always.

James leaned back in his chain, resting his hands on the arm rests.

Great. Another Klingon ship. Third one this week, by his count. They were probably there to make a worthy attempt at kicking their shit in, like the other two had, and would probably end up as space dust, like the other two had. He sighed tiredly and closed his eyes again, pinching the bridge of his nose as a migraine began to settle in.

Finally, he said: “Uhura, make contact with those wrinkly motherfuckers and see what they want, will ya?”

Uhura confirmed the order, then went about making contact with the ship. James kept his eyes squeezed tight as the bridge moved around him, a somewhat subdued sense of panic and intrigue making the room feel more like flight school than a battle to the death. Really, a third ship? If they really wanted them dead, why not send the whole damned fleet instead? Had they not learned their lesson the first two times when they had reduced their warships to chunks of sparking space trash? Dumbasses.

Uhura turned in her chair. “Sir, I’ve made contact,” she said, almost sounding a little bored.

“Put it on screen,” Kirk sighed, reluctantly opening his eyes. After a minute or two, the snarling mug of a Klingon captain appeared on screen.

“Captain Kirk,” he sneered, his grotesque fangs hanging over his bottom lip, ���a pleasure.”

“Yeah, yeah, cut the pleasantries. What do you want,” Kirk asked, his tone that of a tired old man.

The Klingon snarled, “How dare you? I’ve come to crush you and your pitiful crew like the insolent little-”

“Dude, shut up,” James interrupted, rubbing his temple, “I know you’re scanning my ship! All three of you bastards have scanned my ship! What the hell are you looking for?”

Kirk was really growing impatient now. His ears were turning bright red, a little vein popping in his neck. It was this kinda shit, the fucking around and evil monologuing that really set Jim off. ‘Either shut up and fire your goddamn death-ray or tell me what the hell you’re after,’ is what he wanted to scream on days like this.

The Klingon smirked disgustingly. “Why should I tell you when I can just take it for myself?”

Kirk sighed for what felt like the 100th time that day. “Because, you can’t. And you know you can’t. We’ve taken out two of your buddies already, what makes you think you can beat us? Honestly, this is getting old…”

It was at that moment precisely the lift door slid open and onto the bridge stepped Mr. Spock.

“Captain, I know what they’re searching for,” he said, crossing the bridge in a few long strides.

Kirk smiled tiredly, looking more in Spock’s general direction than directly at him. “Oh, yeah? Lay it on me.”

Spock extended his outstretched hand, a round stone sitting in his palm. It was small, maybe an inch or so wide, with a color not unlike murky swamp water. Jim tilted his head and looked up at Spock, giving him a puzzled expression.

The small rock he was holding was… Well, it was trash. One of the red shirts had picked it out of the dirt on an abandoned planet they were scouting about a week ago, wanting to take it back to the ship for analysis. Kirk and long since forgotten about the thing, having only glanced at it when the young man asked if he could keep it. What was so significant about a rock? It looked like any other chunk of dirt Kirk had seen.    

Jim looked back at the screen. “Is this what you’re after,” he asked, his inflection mirroring his confusion.

“That is Klingon property, thieves! We demand that you return it at once,” the alien spat.

Kirk turned back to Spock, his brow furrowed. “Well, what’s so important about the rock?”

Spock closed his hand, “I believe it is an old Klingon relic, captain. It used to be the centerpiece of a crown worn by only rulers of the highest nobility. During one of Klingon’s many wars, however, the crown was lost, presumidly stolen or destroyed. It took me quite some time to recognize it, as it has sustained considerable damage since it was last described. The stone itself is cut from a very rare mineral only found on Klingon, valued at roughly 1,000,000,000 Talon.”

Kirk processed this information for a moment, his eyes on Spock’s closed hand.

“Alright, sir, if you want the rock so bad, you can have it. It has no value to me or my crew and, honestly, it’s not worth anyone dying over, human or otherwise. So, if you’ll kindly send a shuttle pod our way, we’d be more than happy to meet you halfway.” he said, sitting back in his chair and crossing his legs. Honestly, all this goddamn fighting over a fucking rock. Where do these wrinkly motherfuckers get off?

The Klingon made a nasty expression that Kirk guessed was supposed to be a smile, then said, “Captain, your compliance is greatly appreciated.” Then, the screen flickered back to space, the imposing warship front and center. Kirk rose stiffly from his chair.

“Captain, may I ask what it is you are planning,” Spock asked, following Jim to the lift.

“Planning?’ I’m not planning anything. What about what I just said made it sound like I was planning anything?” Kirk stepped onto the lift and pressed the button that would take them down to the loading bay.

Spock entered in after him, raising an eyebrow as the door slid closed.

“Pardon me if I am being too presumptuous in my familiarity with your behaviour, but it is quite unlike you to simply comply with a Klingon’s demand. You must have some underlying plan that involves you boarding a Klingon shuttle and gaining access to their ship?”

Kirk rubbed his eyes, “No, Mr. Spock, there is no ‘underlying plan.’ I’m giving them the stupid rock.”

Spock stepped forward and pressed the emergency stop button.

“But captain,” Spock pressed, “there may be serious repercussions for simply handing it over. The history of the stone is quite obscure, it may have an alternate purpose aside from being jewelry. The Klingons could know something we don’t, captain, and that should not be a risk you are willing to take.”

James sighed, his eyes facing forward. “Mr. Spock, with all due respect, you sound paranoid. It’ a fucking stone. We didn’t pick up any odd readings from it, it’s not glowing

or pulsating; it’s just a rock.”

Had Kirk been in a more amicable mood, he may have entertained Spock’s idea a little. After all, it wasn’t an impossible theory, all things considered, and Spock was definitely one of the smartest people he knew. But today, Jim was simply not in the mood to pick a fight with those wrinkly motherfuckers OR discuss it with Spock.

“Captain, you’ll have to forgive me again for my assumptions, but you seem to be acting out of character. If I may be so bold, are you still upset with me about our time spent on Rayborne-9?”

Of course he had to bring up Rayborne-9.

Kirk wheeled on his first officer, “Spock, I already told you, what happened on Rayborne-9 is in the past! It was a mistake, ok? I was drunk, you just got dumped, and I didn’t have a fucking clew what was going on. I thought we agreed to leave what happened on that shitty, little, party planet there with the techno dance music and three headed strippers.”

Kirk had gotten right up in Spock’s face as he spoke, his cheeks flushed red with anger and embarrassment and his voice loud and authoritative. Spock was calm, maintaining eye contact and keeping his lips pressed tight together. Once Kirk was finished, he spoke in a soft yet controlled tone:

“Jim, I am aware of the terms we agreed upon when leaving Rayborne-9. That’s why I’m bringing it up. You’ve been getting progressively more irritated and distressed everyday since that night. Perhaps it is you who cannot let go of the past?”

Jim was speechless. He searched in Spock’s cold eyes, searching for the correct answer to that question, but he couldn’t see it. Was he the one not letting go of that night? Sure, he had been super drunk when it happened, but Kirk knew all too well that a couple of drinks does not make you… Well, it doesn't change who you are. Kirk closed his mouth, his face softening as his eyes fell from Spock’s to his chest.

After a few moments of silence, James finally spoke again, his voice whisper soft and weak.

“Spock, I don’t know what to think about you. What happened on Rayborne-9… I didn’t know-I didn’t think… Shit, Spock, I didn’t mean to-”

His words were cut off by Spock leaning forward and gently pressing his lips to his.

Just like he had done on Rayborne-9.

Kirk wasn’t able to pull away. He wasn’t able to think, either. Everything, all the anger and frustration with the Klingons and his own internal feelings, melted away at Spock’s touch. He let his eyes flutter shut as he leaned into the kiss, his heart racing in his chest.

After what could’ve been hours to Kirk, Spock broke contact.

“James, for once, I understand how you feel. This, romantic attraction to another man, is quite unfamiliar to me. There is nothing logical about one man loving another, as they cannot reproduce biologically, but perhaps such an attraction serves a different purpose. What I’m saying, Jim, is that I don’t think we should fight this. Because just as it is illogical to be with you, it is illogical to not be with you, especially since it causes you such internal discourse.”

Kirk blinked, his lips hanging slack. “Spock, what are you saying? You wanna be my boyfriend? Are you serious?”

Spock nodded, his face calm yet soft. “Yes, James, if that’s what you’d like to call it. I don’t see any use in a title, but if you prefer it.”

Jim didn’t know what to say. Was this really happening? Was Spock, the calculating and cynical alien who almost never let himself emote, really asking to be his partner? Kirk suddenly felt dizzy, the lift spinning around him as he stood so close to Spock he could feel his breath hit his cheek. He could only stare dumbly into Spock’s gaze, that cold calmness from before gone. In its place was warmth and care, something almost loving.

“I gotta get down to the shuttle bay,” Kirk whispered, unable to look away.

“I know, captain,” he reached over and disengaged the emergency stop, “we’ll be there shortly.”

“Spock?”

“Yes?”

It was James who kissed Spock this time. “I don’t know how to do this, like, at all. I’m a terrible boyfriend.”

Spock grunted, almost chuckling, “I know, captain. If it is at all comforting, I, too, am quite deficient in that area.” The door to the lift slid open and Jim stepped back, patting Spock’s shoulder.

“Well, then I guess we’ll just have to figure it out together,” he said, stepping backwards off the lift. Kirk flashed Spock his trademark smirk as he turned and disappeared into the swarm of ship hands.

Spock stared after him, the most slight of grins tugging at the corners of his still burning lips.

END

[juniper-and-lamplight]

Recent Reads - May 19, 2018

Multifandom--Dirk Gently, Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, a bit of Star Trek--and a mix of old and new, as usual. I've already recced some of these fics individually, but life's too short not to be effusive about the things you love, so I'm including them here too <3  Recs under the cut...

The Answer to a Question - @a-candle-for-sherlock​ - 22k, T, Holmes/Watson

"These are the stories behind the story we know: what really happened to Watson's marriage, and what made him follow Holmes to Reichenbach; what secrets were hidden in the mountains, and what a dead man wrote to the man he left behind." This fic made me Feel Feelings and also made me (almost) late for work.

To Join These Men in Holy Matrimony - A_Candle_For_Sherlock - 10k, T, Holmes/Watson

"Sherlock Holmes is a contradiction, an enigma, a force; at once the most generous spirit and the most self-contained man I have ever known. I've known more of him, I think, than anyone on earth. Yet for years I'd learned nothing about his boyhood, nor his fears, nor his future hopes, nor his father’s name. I never felt it as a lack until I knew he loved me." A moving story about family, forgiveness, self-acceptance, and historical queer marriages.

The Narrator - candle_beck - 8k, M, Holmes/Watson

"Watson is a degenerate gambler, a reluctant romantic, and the least reliable narrator in the history of the written word." A brief, gritty glimpse of my favorite Victorian disasters.

where the falling angels meet the rising apes - @cosmicoceanfic​ - 26k, T, AU (crossover, Dirk Gently & Discworld)

"A story of Death and the boy who could see him, through the years." In my sadness over finally finishing the Tiffany Aching books, I allowed myself to indulge in Discworld/Dirk Gently fics, and this one was an especially satisfying blend of the two universes. Highlights include Dirk & Bart's friendship, and Farah having a stare-off with Death.

you could bring my healing - cosmicocean - 38k, T, Dirk/Todd, AU (fantasy)

"Where the whole thing takes place in a fantasy world that is not unlike but not quite mostly for legal reasons Ankh-Morpork, Dirk is generally an existential dragon, Todd is a washed up electrical lute player, everyone is kind of awkward and useless except maybe for Amanda, and there is a boatload of fantasy references, plus one (1) Star Wars one." Sheer escapist delight.

Start at the Beginning - @dont-offend-the-bees - 61k, T, Dirk/Todd (AU, fake relationship)

”Y’know, make it up. Pretend to be in a relationship with someone. Can’t be that hard to fake, right?” it was still a stupid idea, but Todd was actually pretty invested in it now. He leaned forward, folding his arms. “C’mon, think about it- you got any other desperate homeless friends?” Takes a wacky ensemble piece and transforms it into a different sort of wacky ensemble piece. Sparing use of fake dating tropes makes this fic all the more enjoyable.

Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder: A Lovely Sentiment, But Rarely Applies To Anniversary Gifts - DontOffendTheBees - 7k, M, Dirk/Todd

"In which Dirk and Todd celebrate three years together- but forgot they were supposed to be doing that." Featuring: Todd Brotzman's "funhouse of self-loathing," Dirk & Todd's mutual uselessness, Amanda & Farah's mutual exasperation, winks to Douglas Adams canon, and a clever meta twist.

How We Go Together - ekb112 - 3k, E, Kirk/Spock

"'Have you ever been in love, Spock?' A series of moments in Jim and Spock's relationship." I like a semi-annual spot of K/S. It's a classic ship for a reason, and this fic scratched the itch just right.

Easy As Breathing - electricteatime | @kieren-fucking-walker - 1k, G, Dirk/Todd

"Their days start together. Warm and close, but all elbows and knees, tangled in covers and noses buried into hair. It takes time to swim up through the pull of sleep to break the surface, but when they come to they wake up to each other." A lovely soft distillation of a relationship.

Dress You Up in My Love - electricteatime - 3k, T, Dirk/Todd

“'So, what? Your solution is a pair of skin tight leopard print pants? How is that better than anything I’ve worn?'

Dirk just grins wildly at him, it’s the most like himself he’s looked in days. 'Put them on.'” A fluffy missing scene fic with a wonderful sense of interiority. (How is electricteatime is so good at characterization?!?)

A Flame Undamped - Frayach, read by wench_fics - 5k, 40min, M, Harry/Draco

"A happy ending. Because I can finally imagine one." Hurt/comfort doesn't even BEGIN to cover this sequel to The Price We Pay for Wings. No one does pain and poignancy--and sometimes, healing--like Frayach.

Saturn in Retrograde - gooseflesh - WIP series, M, Dirk/Todd

"As with most things in Dirk Gently's life, things are fine until they're not. A mystery and minor inconvenience for Todd Brotzman takes a terrifying turn when Dirk insists on investigating, and it'll take more than a hunch for them to hold onto to all that they've built." I'm not typically an angst gremlin, but I can't stop reading this WIP, even as the characters' situation worsens exponentially.

Death by Kittenshark - howldax - 1k, G, Dirk/Todd

"'You know,' Dirk says sternly, 'if you murder me, there will be nobody around to feed you.'" Cats (even cats who are also sharks) are gonna cat. Charming and fluffy.

i was born in a summer storm (i live there still) - janeseyre - 10k, G, Farah & Todd & Dirk

"Farah confronts the vestiges of her past as she, Dirk, and Todd travel east to visit her mother. It turns out Farah isn’t as over her father’s death as she thought she was." A deeper look into Farah’s families, both biological and chosen; full of lovely little smile moments and Farah getting the closure she deserves.

The Burning Heart - @may-shepard​ - 119k, M, John/Sherlock, AU (post s3 fix-it)

"Although he’s certain he’ll never get over Sherlock, John plans to move on, and build a new life with Mark, unaware that Sherlock is not quite as dead as he appears, and that Mark is hiding secrets of his own." As is my habit with zeitgeist-y fics, I didn't get around to this one until well after the rest of the fandom, but I'm glad I did. Here's to an assassin plot that's actually plausible and compelling!

The Easiest Way - nntkiwff - WIP, T, Dirk/Todd, Farah/Todd (“basically OT3”)

"'Is that everything?'

'Yes, essentially,' Dirk says, as Todd is saying, 'I don't have magic powers.'"  A slow burn WIP, set immediately after the return from Wendimoor, featuring multiple perspectives (including Ken!), in-depth characterization, and some excellent lines, like this one about Farah: “She says all of this as though she is ashamed of being cursed, instead of proud that she blew up an evil warlock.”

Blood Magic and Rebirth (or, The One Where They Are All Feminist Academics) - @notcaycepollard​ - 1k, G, gen (Harry Potter)

"Moon cups, Luna thinks. Moon cups and blood magic. And she remembers the old itch under her skin, and a music box fluttering into a flock of birds, and wonders just how powerful it could be." This is 1000% headcanon for me now.

A Little Bit Scandalous - @oneprotagonistshort - 1k, E, Dirk/Todd

"Dirk Gently was self-aware enough to admit that he had… a thing. A quirk. One of those idiosyncratic little peculiarities that made up a tiny part of his personality. A kink. He just liked that extra edge; the need to be quiet or someone might hear, the blood pounding in his ears while he stayed hyper-alert for footsteps, the way Todd kissed him so urgently that he lost his breath." I especially appreciated the characterization behind the kink in this one.

Relative Distance - Quesarasara | @itsnotgonnareaditselfpeople, read by @lockedinjohnlock-podfics - 45k, 5hrs, E, John/Sherlock

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." One of the author's tags on this fic is "What if everyone just acted like a damn adult for a change?", which really clarifies how the fic differs from the later seasons of the show.

it's an institute you can't disparage - @shortcrust - 19k, T, Dirk/Todd

"Todd wakes up beside Dirk Gently four years to the day after having met him realises - abruptly and with categoric certainty - that he wants to do so every day for the rest of his life. What the fuck, he thinks."  Hilarious, insightful, and absolutely nails a) the ridiculousness and pathos of Todd Brotzman mired in needless self-doubt, and b) my favorite Ship Dynamic: compatible disasters.

there's cell reception on this widow's walk - strix_alba - 2k, T, Farah/Tina

"In which Tina sort-of-kind-of asks Farah to stay with her in Bergsberg, and Farah kind-of-sort-of wants to say yes." Awkward flirting, Farina styles! Tina mentally describes Dirk & Todd & Farah as a “bunch of hot, uptight weirdos,” which is p e r f e c t.

Just Like That - @sussexbound (SamanthaLenore) - 8k, E, John/Sherlock

"For the first time in what feels like years he WANTS." The perfect combination of unf and feeeels.

Further fic recs | Fic Bookmarks

[artemis-pendragon]

Kissing Solves Everything (an AOS one shot fic)

This little fic is based on a prompt from a prompt sheet I posted earlier this weekend. I wrote it for the lovely and beautiful @blue-cat-lady ! I really hope you like it! <3 It was SO MUCH FUN to write! I will never, ever, ever get tired of writing about the Space Boyfriends and their crazy space escapades. :,D

         “Listen, if you kiss me right now, they’ll probably attack us.” Jim kept his voice low. Beside him, Spock stood perfectly still, one hand on Jim’s wrist. Through their bond, Jim felt his t’hy’la’s surprise woven through the lingering threads of mingled desire and contentment.

         All around them, silent, silver-skinned humanoids armed with what appeared to be super-heated plasma projectile weapons crouched, twenty fingers on twenty triggers. They’d appeared out of nowhere, emerging from the rocky landscape like spiders sensing a disturbance in their web. Thankfully, Jim thought, they’d arrived before he and Spock had gotten any further along in what had been a particularly steamy mental make-out session. Jim still had his shirt on, which was both fortunate and unusual given the circumstances. The aliens had arrived just before things got physical.  

         Jim wondered if Spock could read his disappointment through the bond.

         “Jim,” said Spock, speaking in a soft, non-threatening tone. There was no telling what could set these aliens off; better safe than sorry. “I believe they are V’rachis, a rare and reclusive sub-species of silicon-based lifeforms known to inhabit five of the seven habitable planets in the Kepler-5 system.”

         Jim glanced at Spock. He swallowed, struggling against the growing urge to reach for his phaser. Escalating the situation would get them nowhere. Nowhere, or dead. “Where’d they come from?” he asked, bemused.

         Spock’s grip on Jim’s wrist tightened almost imperceptibly. “I do not know, Jim. It is possible that, given the abundance of silicon present on this planet’s surface, the V’rachis are able to camouflage themselves by blending or merging visually or physically with their surroundings.”

         Jim nodded. He straightened up a little, lifting his head. He faced the silent, watchful aliens. “My name is Captain James Tiberius Kirk.” He kept his voice neutral, steady. “We’re with the United Federation of Planets; we’re here on shore leave. We mean you no harm.” There was a one-in-a-billion chance that even one among these creatures understood him. But with any luck, if they were an advanced enough species (and it seemed that they were; they had plasma weapons, after all) they may have invented translation devices similar to those used by Starfleet.

         The alien closest to Spock and Jim stood up. He kept his weapon trained on them, but the shift in his posture from tense and rigid to soft and relaxed was a definite improvement. Hopefully, he’d understood what Jim had said. Or had at least been able to read the essential message of non-hostility in his tone.

         Jim felt a spike of anxiety flash through the bond. He glanced at Spock; Spock’s face was, as usual, entirely unreadable. Or it would be for anyone else; Jim, however, noticed the slight shift in the set of Spock’s mouth, and the growing apprehension in his eyes.

         Spock. He sent his thoughts through the bond, concentrating on the point where Spock’s fingers were wrapped around his wrist. What’s up?

         Spock raised an eyebrow. Jim had the distinct feeling he was contemplating Jim’s use of colloquial speech and deciding whether to comment on it. The Varachos seem to be using a limited form of telepathic communication. Spock’s voice was inside Jim’s head, filling his mindscape with beautiful, cool, swirling colors. Jim hardly registered what Spock was saying—he was too busy reveling in the unique and thrilling sensation of their consciousnesses touching. But then the reality of what he’d just heard sunk in, and he frowned.

         Wait, they can read minds? You think you can communicate with them, then?

         Spock’s hand moved down Jim’s wrist. Their fingers twined, electric sparks racing down the glowing, invisible string of their bond. In his mind’s eyes, Jim watched the bright yellows and reds of his own chaotic consciousness mixing with the luminescent, breathtaking blues and greens of Spock’s logical one. I believe they have already breached your mental barriers, Jim. That is why their commander has decided against attacking us. He is, as Terrans might say, ‘reading your mind.’

         Ah, Jim thought. Well, that explained Spock’s concern. It wasn’t that they were about to be assaulted by an unfriendly gang of aliens with plasma guns. It was that these silicon creatures had decided to intrude into Jim’s mind, a place that, as far as both Spock and Jim were concerned, was private property. Ever since they’d established the bond in the first place, nearly six months before, Spock had been attempting (mostly in vain) to teach Jim how to protect his mindscape from possible intruders. After all, Vulcans weren’t the only tele-empathetic race in the galaxy. And they were by far the politest, or so Spock had informed Jim.

         The weird thing, Jim found himself thinking, was that he had had no idea these strange aliens were getting inside his head at all. He hadn’t felt it happen. He hadn’t noticed anything was off and wouldn’t have if Spock hadn’t been there to tell him so.

         Which begged the question: how many times had Jim encountered a species that, on the surface, seemed friendly and/or reserved, but had in reality been reading his thoughts, emotions, and intentions all along?

         Spock shifted beside Jim; he felt another surge of mistrust and apprehension spike through their bond. Jim, Spock said, still speaking inside Jim’s mind, you must strengthen your barriers and clear your mind. Now that they know who we are, it is possible that the V’rachis will attempt to view personal and confidential information stored in your conscious and subconscious memory.

         Well, Jim thought. That’s not good.

         It is not. I am now attempting to extend my own protection through the bond, Spock continued. As he spoke, flashes of vivid color rose up around Jim’s thoughts, shielding them in a bubble of ocean blue. I am not sure how long it will hold. I have never tried this with anyone else before.

         Is that right? Well, I’m honored to be your first! Jim colored his thoughts with the mental equivalent of a smirk. Then he sobered, remembering the critical and delicate nature of their situation. How long do we have?

         Before Spock could answer, the commander of the V’rachis lowered his weapon. He tilted his head, looking from Jim to Spock with narrowed eyes. His eyes were smooth and pupil-less, polished ovals of obsidian set in his rock-like silver skin. He showed his teeth, letting out a sound somewhere between a snarl and a sigh. Jim had the sinking feeling that this strange alien didn’t appreciate being kicked unceremonious out of the captain’s mind.

         Spock, how long? Jim repeated his question, trying not to let his growing apprehension seep into his thoughts.

         Given the strength of the V’rachis’ mental capabilities, even my defenses will not hold for long. Spock’s thoughts were colored with a faint, fluctuating white glow: a mark of intense concentration. Sparks of red and yellow twined with blue and silver-green. Their minds, already connected by the threads of the bond, twined tightly around each other like two strings in a thicker, stronger rope. Jim, you will have to build up your own defenses, or the V’rachis will access your memories before I can stop them.

         Spock, I can’t even tell when someone’s inside my head. How am I supposed to kick them out? Jim fought the urge to close his eyes. It was easier, he’d found, to concentrate on what was going on in his mind if he didn’t have any external visual stimuli to distract him. But given the situation (and the lurking possibility that breaking eye contact for a long period of time might be seen by this species as offensive) that just wasn’t an option.

         The V’rachis commander took a step toward them across the alien planet’s rocky terrain. He tilted his head, eyes shimmering as he sized them up. He stared at Jim for a long moment, then turned his unreadable eyes on Spock. Something close to a smile formed on his silver lips. He motioned to his nineteen companions with a quick sweep of his hand; they lowered their guns but remained crouched and ready.

         And that’s when Jim realized: by shifting his defenses and concentration onto Jim, Spock was likely leaving his own mind vulnerable to attack. Spock! He colored his thoughts with red: urgency. You have to protect yourself. The V’rachis commander, he’ll attack you while your defenses are down!

         Spock didn’t reply. Frustrated, Jim pulled his hand out of Spock’s. He turned to face his first officer, face set in a stubbornly determined expression. “Spock,” he said, this time out loud, “I can’t let you—”

         Before Jim could finish his declaration, Spock had stepped forward and taken both of his hands, their fingers intertwining. Instinctively, Jim pressed his body against Spock’s. And then they were kissing, both in the Vulcan and Terran sense of the word. For a long, white-hot moment, Jim’s mind went completely, entirely blank. He closed his eyes and let his emotions surge like tidal waves, crashing against the rugged shoreline of his consciousness.

         When the kiss ended, Jim was unsteady, drunk and high on the feelings racing through his blood like a forest on fire. Spock kept the contact between their hands. “Whoa.” Jim blinked a couple times, recalibrating his brain. “That was—”

         “Effective,” Spock finished for him, and yeah, that was definitely not was Jim was going to say.

         “I was gonna say ‘hot’.” Jim grinned at his t’hy’la.

         “The V’rachis,” Spock said, returning his attention to the barren, rocky landscape, “are disgusted by physical displays of affection between beings of different species. In their culture, it is considered extremely unlucky to have contact with anyone who has engaged in such an inter-planetary relationship.”

         Jim looked around. To his utter surprise, they were alone again. The V’rachis had disappeared as quickly as they’d appeared, fading back into the silicon hills. Confused and delighted, he turned to face Spock. “How the hell did you know that would work?” he asked, sending an accompanying jolt of I’m impressed! through the bond.

         Spock smiled faintly. Just enough that Jim could see. “Telepathic connections work both ways, Jim. While the V’rachis were distracted by their inability to access your mind, I slipped past their mental defenses and accessed their leader’s.”

         “God, I love you,” Jim said. “I really, really love you.” He grinned when Spock sent a sharp, vibrant jolt of joy through the bond in response.

         “And I you, Ashayam. Now may I suggest we find a more suitable place to continue our previous engagement?”

         Jim ran his thumb over the pulse point in Spock’s wrist, reveling in the steady, warm beat of his bondmate’s heart under his hand. He smirked at Spock’s proposal. “Hell yeah,” he agreed. “As long as it’s nowhere near Bones’ sick bay. He told me this morning that if he catches us making out in there while I’m supposed to be recovering one more goddamn time, Jim, I swear to God…”

         “I am quite aware of Dr. McCoy’s fondness for questioning your life choices, Jim.” There was a smile in Spock’s tone. “And for ‘empty’ threats. Which is why I have selected a much less hostile environment than his sick bay for us to enjoy the remainder of our shore leave together. There is an oasis two-point-three miles from here that is renowned for its tranquility and clandestine nature. I have heard crew members discuss it on several occasions.”

         Jim’s smirk grew. “Sounds great, Spock. Lead the way.”

         Together, they set out across the shiny silver surface of the alien planet, their hands touching and their minds entwined.

[afteriwake]

The Prince Next Door (3 - 4/7 - A “The Hidden Royal Prince” Story)

So I know I should probably be posting three chapters of this tonight, but there are so few left I figured I’d do two and then drop down to one a day until it’s all up. Tomorrow will be the last of the old chapters and then the two new ones will go up. Hope you all enjoy (especially you, @greenskyoverme)!

The Prince Next Door - There’s something about the Vulcan who lives in apartment 2B, something Jim doesn’t find out until the Vulcan is attacked: he’s Prince S’chn T’gai, trying to hide from the planetary troubles on his home planet. But the man, who tells him to call him Spock, ends up becoming more important to him and in his world than he ever realized.

Read Chapter 1 | Read Chapter 3 | Read Chapter 4 | Series Page | Help Me Survive? | Commission Me?

Chapter 3 

Bones’s bar was a hole in the wall type place, the type that never had any advertising but was always full of people. It reminded him of that old Earth bar in the sitcom, the one that Ted Danson was in. It had its normal crowd of regulars, a few people who wandered in by accident, and then people who heard about the place from word of mouth. That was really the only way most people heard about the place; since there were no flashy signs advertising it outside and there were no neon-lit signs in the windows for the different brands of beers or liquor his place served, most people didn't even realize it was a bar. Add to it the fact the bouncers sat inside the door so you actually had to step inside to have your identification checked and for all someone knew it was a place that smelled like great food at almost all hours of the day.

It was just the way Bones liked it: low-key, low trouble, low hassle.

So Jim knew he was going to get an earful for bringing the half-human/half-Vulcan prince who was on the run from assassins to the bar to be kept safe and hidden and then bring his human mom along too for good measure. But there really wasn’t any other option; the complex wasn’t a safe place for Spock now and since he knew the truth he felt obligated to help. And Bones was the only person he knew who could do anything. He was going to catch hell, but Bones was a doctor once upon a time so if there was anyone who would feel just as strongly about keeping people safe and...well, alive, it would be Bones.

They’d gathered up what they needed most, which for Spock had been surprisingly little, and gotten a cab to the bar. Kirk had the feeling leaving his bike at the complex meant he probably wouldn’t see it again, but he supposed it was a sacrifice he was willing to make. He could get another one later, rebuild one, something like that. It wasn’t as though it was his dad’s bike; that was still in Iowa under the custody of his uncle. He’d rather have that but...hell, he’d left everything behind to make it on his own. He was just going to have to deal with never having that, never having real links to his past.

It seemed to take longer getting to the bar in a cab than it did on his bike, and when they got there Kirk motioned for Spock to go towards the alley entrance instead of the main entrance. They made their way there with Kirk looking every once in a while to make sure no cars had followed the cab or no people had taken an interest in the two of them that they shouldn’t. He had to do it while remaining inconspicuous, but apparently, they hadn’t been followed, so he allowed himself to relax just a little.

“Are we not permitted to use the main entrance?” Spock asked curiously.

“Around this time of day, Bones is making some hellish combination of southern food for his breakfast in his apartment. The people in the bar are the regulars who want to get shitfaced before noon. Bones won’t be tending bar to them. Nyota will be there because the regulars want the pretty face first thing in the morning.” Kirk nodded his head towards a set of stairs. “We go up the stairs, that’s where the living space is. There are four bedrooms, but Bones usually rents out three of them. Not that he needs to. He makes a pretty decent amount of money with the bar, even if it’s just a hole in the wall. The regulars pay a ton of money for peace and quiet and no hassle.”

“And you help provide that service?” Spock asked as they made their way to the stairs on the side of the building.

Kirk nodded. “I’ve had my share of arguments to break up, but I usually get out of most of them without blood being shed. At least inside the bar. Outside...that’s a different matter.” He got to the base of the stairs and then climbed them two at a time, almost bounding up them. When he got to the top he knocked on the door hard. “Bones! Need some rooms from you!”

It took a few minutes but by the time Spock joined him the door had swung open and a man in a blue button-down shirt with dark hair and a glare on his face was staring at them both. “Jesus, Jim, I’m going to burn my grits.”

“Look, I’ve got a situation,” Jim said.

Bones rolled his eyes. “Find out the last girl you slept with had a boyfriend?” he asked.

“Think interplanetary,” Jim said, pointing to Spock. “Meet my next door neighbor, the hidden prince of Vulcan.”

Bones looked from Jim to Spock and then sighed. “Shit.”

“Exactly. He was attacked because his guards turned on him, so he needs to hide somewhere else, and--”

“Hold it,” Bones said, holding up a hand. “You got yourself involved in an interplanetary dispute? Good God, Jim, can’t you get into normal trouble like a normal person?”

“You know me, Bones,” Jim said with a smirk. “Go big or go home.”

“Go home is right,” Bones muttered. “I should boot you both on a transport back to Iowa.” Then he shook his head and moved out of the way. “I am going to regret this, but come on in.”

“Thanks, Bones,” Jim said, clapping his friend on the shoulder. “Oh, and one more favor?”

“What, hide the King, too?” he asked in a sarcastic tone.

“Close. Queen,” Jim said.

“Of course,” Bones said. He looked up at the ceiling and shook his head. “Jim, if this all goes to Hell, I am personally taking it out of your hide. Got it?”

“Got it,” Jim said. He turned to Spock. “Let’s go grab rooms and then let’s figure out if your mom is okay and how to get her here.”

Spock nodded. “Very well.” He turned to Bones and nodded his head towards him. “You have my deepest thanks.” Bones grunted and shut the door behind them, heading back to the kitchen. Spock then turned to Jim, looking confused. “Have I offended him?”

“He’s just an old grump. I mean, not that old, but just...extra grumpy,” Jim said. “You get used to it.” He nodded towards the rooms. “Come on. We have plans to make.”

Chapter 4 

Bones left them to their own devices in figuring out which room was going to who. Jim thought Spock would take the largest of the three open rooms but he suggested that be his mother’s room when she joined them. He couldn’t really argue with that. He did insist Spock take the second largest room. Not that there was much difference, but it was next to the room his mother would take and he felt Spock would appreciate that.

Once their things were stowed away they went to the kitchen to join Bones. There were two plates laid out with food for them. One had all the fixings of a normal Bones breakfast, the other had grits and a bowl of strawberries next to it. Jim gave Bones a strange look and Bones shrugged. “Most Vulcans are vegetarians. Grits are made with hominy and water with a little butter, usually. I don’t have all that much vegetarian fare on hand but he can have the last of the strawberries.”

“Thank you,” Spock said. He took a spoonful of the grits and chewed it for a moment before swallowing. “This is most satisfactory.”

“It tastes better with cheese but I didn’t know how strict a vegetarian you might be,” Bones said.

“I am not as strict as most Vulcans, as I am half-human,” Spock said. “I will eat meat substitutes and dairy products.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Bones said with a nod. “I know Knucklehead here goes through a gallon of milk every couple of days. So share, Jim.”

Jim rolled his eyes and began digging into his food. “Hey, I pay you back.”

“With low-fat crap instead of whole milk,” Bones grumbled. “Health consciousness should not extend to milk.”

“You used to be a doctor,” Jim said. “Shouldn’t you be pushing that?”

“Hey, fat people aren’t necessarily unhealthy,” Bones said. “And skinny people aren’t necessarily healthy. Why do you think I was a popular doctor? I didn’t buy into that skinny fad shit from hundreds of years ago.”

Spock looked at Bones. “Is that how you knew of my dietary preferences?”

Boned nodded towards the outside of his window. “With the Starfleet Academy so close, it helped to learn as much as I could about alien species. I would help out at the Academy clinic sometimes when they didn’t have enough doctors in their program. You get people who want to travel the stars and all, but getting doctors away from cushy assignments to keep those idiots safe while they’re in space? Easier said than done. No doctor in their right mind wants to be subjected to a million space diseases when they can have a nice place on Earth.”

“But you’re damn good at it,” Jim said.

“Damn good,” Bones said, nodding slowly. “I just got tired of the pro-human contingent. When the hospital I was working at wanted me to stop working at the clinic and stop treating aliens, I gave up. What’s the point of exploring the damn universe if you think humans should be the only ones treated on Earth? It’s stupid. Those crazies are going to cause serious problems one day.” He paused. “I could have gone into the Academy as a student, maybe even taught there for all I know, but I just decided hell with it, it’s time to get out.”

“I did not realize there was a contingent of this community that was anti-alien,” Spock said.

“You’re human passing. You’d probably be fine if you weren’t a freaking hidden prince. I mean, cover up your ears, who can really tell?” Bones said. “Which reminds me. What are you two planning to do? Hide out here for a while with the Queen? Then go back to Vulcan and...what, exactly?”

Spock shook his head. “Rightfully my father should lead the people of Vulcan, as he is next in line for succession. I think he wants to abolish the aristocracy and replace it with a democratic system, but I am not privy to his plans.”

“Typical father,” Bones said in a huff. “You’re the prince, whether your people like it or not. At least you should know whatever the hell he’s planning.”

“When is the last time you spoke to him?” Jim asked, interrupting Bones' tirade.

“When I arrived in San Francisco,” Spock said. “Our conversations were brief, however, and mostly concerned my mother.”

“Does your dad not like you or something?” Jim asked.

“Jesus, Jim,” Bones said, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. “Don’t ask questions like that.”

“Well, it’s a pertinent question,” Jim said.

“He is not fond of me as I have had...ideas...he does not agree with,” Spock said slowly. “While he loves a human woman, he does not seem to know how to love a half-human son.” He went back to his food. “Though if his plan is to change the political ruling nature of Vulcan to a democracy, that is not something I oppose. I have no interest in politics.”

“What are you interested in?” Bones asked.

“Science,” Spock replied. “It has been a passion for many years, to use human terminology.”

“Is that why you’re here in San Francisco?” Jim asked before having more of his food. “To be near Starfleet Academy?”

“My father would never let me enter,” Spock said. “Though he has different opinions on Vulcan society than most, he would not be so lenient to let me do anything other than entering university-level classes on Vulcan. Therefore, my education will be postponed until the matter is settled.”

Jim opened his mouth to reply but Bones glared and he shut it. He wondered what would happen if the matter was never settled and the planet was stuck in an ongoing civil war because it seemed like bullshit that Spock couldn’t go to a university somewhere, and Starfleet was the best option. That’s what he was trying for, at any rate. His ultimate goal was to get up into space and explore. Maybe even captain his own ship someday. It wasn’t fair that Spock couldn’t have his dreams too.

Maybe he’d figure out a way they could both be happy and keep his identity secret...