#kirk/la'an included in that

[lenievi]

kinda hate that the 3rd episode made me root for Lieutenant Kirk and La’an. That was not what I wanted...

[worfianism]

Listen whoever decided to pair up La'an and an alternate version of Jim Kirk in a romcom style classic time travel episode actually galaxy brained. Freaking great episode.

[merrysithmas]

i really am beginning to appreciate the trifecta of Jims we got in SNW so far & how it shows us different sides of what happens to a fundamentally helpful and good person in various timelines.

-the Jim who helps Pike and took down the Romulans (because he let his trauma from Tarsus turn him into someone who shoots first). Jim learns to not trust others, to resort to violence, and to let his protective side dominate over any ability to negotiate. Not our Jim ❌

-the Jim who helps La'an in Toronto (he became cold and hopeless because of the war and losing Sam, but overall was still compassionate). Jim struggles with his knowledge of a dark and dystopian world, where he suffered losses including his own brother, and so falls into pessimism. Not our Jim ❌

-the Jim who helps Uhura (a quieter and more sweet Jim, clearly in his 'stack of book on legs' era who isn't entirely sure how he wants to lead yet, and still has his own baggage to deal with such as from being left of Tarsus to fend for himself in a genocide while his father - also a First Officer - was off 'helping people who really needed it' - as if he didn't in that horrifying time). He encourages Uhura to never give in to death - to not let it take away your human compassion and memories of love no matter how terrible the situation may have been. This is our Jim ✅🥹

but the common thread is Jim is ALWAYS helping someone, regardless of what universe or timeline, he either willingly does so, comes around to do so, or out-thinks the situation to do so if someone won't allow him.

in fact the most poignant example of Jim refusing to help someone is when he denies Captain Spock's request for aid in Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.

which we know is in direct opposition to his true self and his destiny with Spock. Jim needs Spock to keep saying No to Death. So logically... he can only become his best self when accompanied by Spock's best self.

in fact, he needs all of these wonderful people to be THE Captain Kirk. Which is a principle he lives by. The crew are everything.

the universal constant must be Helpful Jim 🥹

[tprings-hair]

something I think is terribly unfair about snw is that there are so many reasons I hate it, including but not limited to the weird waxed-chest cheating spock (blade??), them "developing" chapel so she can give up her career for a man who doesn't care about her anyways, the choice of casting ethan peck in the first place, and their absolute refusal to engage with the genre of science fiction (or. you know. a basic understanding of how physics or sound waves or computers work) in a way that makes any sense. I hate it. I hate it!!

however.

I wasn't initially a fan of paul wesley as kirk, but the second I saw him do that crazy close imitation of william shatner's little smug grin and shrug, I was in. I love it when people are good at what they do, and it really comes across in his performance. (meanwhile they could replace ethan peck with a wooden board and write FAMOUS ACTOR'S GRANDSON on it and have the same effect. but that's not my point at the moment.)

and you know who else is acting like her life is on the line? christina chong. which is not to say I don't have issues with her character! so far I've only watched tos and the related movies so idk what the connection to khan is and it took me a bit to realise that they weren't actually going to get into that (I've decided that they probably explored it in another series and I haven't seen it yet, because if they just threw that surname in there for fun I will go insane), and I have no earthly idea why they decided to make such a compellingly strong, unbreakable kind of character terrified of the fucking gorn, of all villains. anyways. not my point.

my point is that I am a simple lesbian, and it is so unfair that in such a bad show la'an is so gorgeous and strong and smart and did I mention gorgeous. if only they could write her the way she deserved to be written. I love her as she is but she could be so so so interesting if they just gave her a decent plot! alas for some reason it is a sitcom that occasionally has battle sequences and computers and not an actual science fiction drama. but a girl can dream.

[anotheruserwithnoname]

Some good news and some bad news regarding Season 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The good news is that now that the strikes are over, production of Season 3 is set to begin next month! This is good because there have been rumours swirling around possible cancellation in the wake of Star Trek Discovery being ended after its 5th season. But SNW continues (Lower Decks has also been renewed for Season 5). The only caveat to that is Paramount Plus still cancelled Star Trek Prodigy even with its Season 2 complete, so nothing is a guarantee anymore. (And even then, it's been reported that Prodigy S2 will at least get some sort of Netflix release).

(Further good news is Season 2, with its amazing musical and Lower Decks crossover episodes, is set for Blu-ray release before Christmas.)

The bad news - though this is likely educated speculation on Screen Rant's part - is the possibility that the 10-episode 3rd season my be split, with only 5 episodes airing in 2024 and having to wait till 2025 to see the rest. Aside from that wrecking viewer momentum, those 5 weeks will come and go very quickly. If this news is correct, though, they could be telegraphing some sort of 5-episode story arc, which should be good but I actually prefer SNW's episodic format as it better supports the type of experimentation we got with not only this past year's musical and part-animated episodes, but the episodic format is what made TOS what it was. No official word on any cast changes, though I will be surprised if S3 doesn't reintroduce Dr. McCoy in some fashion.

I haven't written much about SNW but it's my favourite of the live action modern Treks. I stopped watching Discovery and Picard but SNW has kept me. I've had songs from the musical earworming for the last week or so after I rewatched it. And I greatly appreciated the time-travel episode "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" for finally canonizing an explanation as to why the prequel series haven't always lined up with what we know as canon from TOS, TNG, etc. which as far as I'm concerned frees the writers to deviate and retroactively serves to rectify canon issues dating all the way back to some episodes of DS9, never mind Enterprise, Discovery and SNW itself. I will explain for those who don't know but I will put a spoiler break here for those who might be waiting for the Blu-ray or haven't had a chance to stream season 2 yet. If the break doesn't appear below, stop reading now if you don't want the spoiler.

s

p

o

i

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e

r

The episode reveals that due to the many time travel events over the years (including ones we haven't seen on screen by enemies of the Federation; the episode relates one involving Mary Queen of Scots (in-joke for the actress) what we have been seeing in SNW etc. is an alternate timeline. Maybe not as extreme as the Kelvin timeline of the films, but events such as the Eugenics Wars - indeed, the birth of Khan himself - were delayed by decades. This major change to the timeline - and then you fill in the blanks by factoring in even minor changes such as the guy who accidentally killed himself with McCoy's phaser in City on the Edge of Forever, Sisko replacing Gabriel Bell in the Bell Riots, the Voyager crew going back to 1996, Archer and T'Pol heading off agents of the temporal cold war in the early 2000s, etc. - and you can see how it's possible that things progressed differently resulting in SNW and Discovery being more technologically advanced than TOS-era ships should be as established in TNG, DS9 and Enterprise that used the original tech and designs. Also character differences, like Pike's crew being aware of T'Pring and Khan when Kirk's crew in TOS did now despite Spock having worked with La'an Noonien-Singh and Kirk being aware of La'an's feelings for him. Or the lack of reference to Kirk's brother, who dies in a famous TOS episode, having been former Enterprise crew. And it literally stems from two lines of dialogue. It's exhibit A of how quickly and simply a show like Doctor Who can fix things.

[prue84]

(Part of the Crews AUs series)  |  USS Enterprise crew, SNW

The USS Enterprise senior crew and additional officers by 2259.68.

“Where no one has gone before” Ship’s Name: U.S.S. Enterprise Ship’s Registry: NCC-1701 Command History: Captain Robert April (2245-2250) Captain Christopher Pike (2250-PRESENT) Ship’s Class: Constitution Class Ship’s Type: Heavy Cruiser Ship’s Overview: The first Federation starship to bear the name Enterprise, it serves as the Federation flagship. Ship’s Service History, abridged: _ Constructed at the San Francisco Fleet Yards in San Francisco, California the Federation vessel registered NCC-1701 was christened Enterprise in a long line of ships of the same name. The Enterprise was launched on April 11, 2245, under the command of Captain April, who had overseen construction of the ship's components as well as its initial trial runs. << access complete service history >> Status: Active (2259) Timeline Name: Strange New Worlds Timeline Details: --- Annotations: --- Encounter date: --- Encounter location: --- Encounter cause: --- Crew complement: 428 (430) Crew manifest: _

Commanding officer: Captain Christopher Pike

First officer, Chief Navigator and Tactical officer: Commander Una Chin-Riley

Chief of security: Lieutenant La'an Noonien-Singh

Chief science officer: Lieutenant Spock

Senior helmsman: Lieutenant Erica Ortegas

Chief medical officer: Commander Joseph M'Benga

Chief engineer: Lieutenant Hemmer

Nurse: Christine Chapel

Navigator and Tactical officer: Lieutenant Jenna Mitchell

Science officer: Lieutenant George Samuel Kirk

Transporter chief: Chief petty officer Kyle

Training rotation: Cadet Nyota Uhura

———————————————————————————————

This is the crew from the Season 1, pre-All Those Who Wander so to include Hemmer, who we didn't deserve to see die so early.

I left out all the named crew members that were seen only in an episode.

The tv show uses the old Stardate method. But according to Memory Alpha, 1x01 takes place in either 2259.42 or 2259.55 (there's a note about the episode occurring in the same day the events of Into Darkness happen in the AOS timeline.

Number of crew complement from a ship overview/scan seen in Discovery.

———————————————————————————————

Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip) Not satisfied. Everything looks better with the AOS colors (gray background). Also, there aren't much pics of the sets to play with. Some had to be taken from the tv show, which means dark sets.

Credits: Text about the Enterprise lifted from Memory Alpha's page of the U.S.S. Enterprise (memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/USS_Enterprise_(NCC-1701)).

———————————————————————————————

Crossposted Livejournal: prue84.livejournal.com/97498.html Dreamwidth: prue84.dreamwidth.org/89028.html Deviantart: deviantart.com/prue84/art/Star-trek-edits-SNW-crew-958261129

[raddocwrites]

Do you even lift, Bro Una

Una carries this crew. Literally

La'an

“Lt, stop wiggling,” una commanded. Again.

La’an just let out an aggrieved breath and frowned. She crossed her arms. “I am perfectly capable of walking COMMANDER.” La’an emphasized the last word.

Una currently carried the Lt in her arms, walking the three miles back to their shuttle. She let out a sigh. Her friend only addressed her by her rank when she was peeved. “I know that, la’an,” una tried in a mollifying tone. “But what happened the last time I put you down?”

La’ans frown deepened into a scowl but she didn’t answer.

Una provided the answer instead. “You tried to attack Lt kirk. Physically. And had to be restrained by Lt spock and myself.” Instead of chagrin, una was amused to see something like smug satisfaction on la’ans face.

“Yes. Because this is all HIS fault,” la’an pointed out emphatically. “If he would just listen to the rules of security, we wouldn’t be in this mess!”

Una nodded understandingly. “And instead of letting his tricorder do the investigating, he-“

“He touched the weird alien plant. I told him not to. But did he listen? No!” La’an still had her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed resentfully.

Una hid a smile. Lt kirk had touched a huge alien shrub that had aggressively spat pollen in a 30ft radius, which happened to include himself. And la’an.

Una and spock had witnessed this from across the clearing they were scanning. By the time they had gotten to the doused officers, both were swaying and stumbling. Lt kirk was humming to himself and repeatedly asked everyone to feel his mustache. His glorious mustache. He kept stroking it like it was the most splendid feather in the most beautiful peacocks marvelous plumage.  

La’an had staggered over to spock and una. She pointed over to the Lt now spinning in a slow circle with one hand reaching up to pet the soft, puffy clouds in the sky at the same time as he stroked his mustache. She opened her mouth, blinked several times and pointed again insistently.

Una halted in front of her friend, shocked, as spock began scanning the two officers. She could see la’ans pupils were dilated dangerously and she was so unsteady on her feet she appeared severely drunk. Except una knew that the security officer never drank to excess. Had never even been drunk before.

Una held her friends shoulder with concern. “La’an. What happened? Are you alright?”

La’an had growled and dove for Lt kirk. It took several minutes and both una and spock to pry her off him. Una finally had to pick the security chief up into her arms before la’an would stop trying to tear the cheesy mustache from kirks stupid face. (La’ans words, not unas. Though that mustache was…something).

Spock calmly shared his tricorder readings as he tried to keep kirk from eating a particularly interesting looking plant. The pollen that both la’an and Lt kirk had been exposed to, had several interesting chemical properties that, short version, made them…incapacitated.

Unas eyes had widened as she looked between kirk and la’an, both as high as the enterprise in orbit.

Which was how la’an wound up in unas arms. The only time una had agreed to put la’an down, she had immediately tried to charge after kirk again so una swept her back up and carried her ever since. She had spock shepherd Lt kirk ahead of them so la’an wouldn’t be tempted to violence.

Not that la’an looked uncomfortable with the arrangement. She muttered and complained, of course. Grumpy words which weren’t backed up by her nonverbal communication. Because physically, she practically sprawled in unas arms. She looked utterly content, all her muscles at ease, her body relaxed. Every so often she even rubbed her face against unas chest, liking the way the commanders rough uniform felt against her cheek.  

Una looked down at her friend. Her normally dark eyes were nearly black and her face was flushed. Sweat beaded la’ans forehead and wet her hairline. She shifted again and captured the end of unas elaborate braid which terminated in a pony tail. She trailed her fingers through it with a look of wonder. “Your hair is so soft,” she whispered.

Una chuckled. “Thanks,” she said lightly. “Glad you like it.”

La’an shifted slightly, tilting her head back so she looked directly up into unas eyes. “I like everything about you,” she said solemnly. She stared, searching unas face as if looking for something hidden there. Her gaze was piercing. Unrelenting. It speared into unas chest and made something in her stomach flip unsettlingly. Something she didn’t want to think about. She was probably just hungry.

La’an blinked then went back to trailing her fingers through the end of unas hair. “Is my hair that soft?” she asked suddenly. She leaned precariously and grabbed her own pony tail bringing it close to her face. She looked at her dark hair as if searching for any potential defects. She trailed the strands over her fingertips and frowned.

She looked up sharply and held up her hair for unas inspection and when una didn’t immediately reach out to feel it, la’an squirmed and shifted and maneuvered so she was facing una with her legs wrapped around unas waist.

Unas eyes widened as la’an clambered up, but she easily shifted her grip to keep the Lt in place. When she didn’t instantly reach out to touch her friends hair, la’an held her pony tail and brushed the ends of it against unas cheek.

“Its very soft, la’an,” una tried to reassure her friend.

La’an looked at her uncertainly. Her eyes were wide and her face was surprisingly open. “Is it?” she looked at her dark hair then back to una. Apparently she wasn’t convinced, because she delicately trailed her hair over unas lips.

Una smiled and blew out a breath, trying not to let it tickle too much. “Yes la’an,” she assured her again.

La’an gave una one of the smiles she reserved just for her and let her hair drop. Her gaze never wavered from unas. Then she tilted her head, as if just realizing something. She leaned forward until her face nearly touched unas. She whispered, “Your eyes. Are electric.”

Una stopped walking since she couldn’t see anything but la’an. la’an and her dark eyes made even darker by giant pupils and striking eyeshadow.

La’an searched unas eyes, coming even closer until her forehead rested against her friends. She brought her hands up to unas face and gently ran her thumbs over unas cheek. “So soft,” she whispered.

Una swallowed roughly. She could feel her friends warm breath on her face. She tried to look away or break this connection, but la’ans eyes had her captured. She marveled, as she always did at the number of freckles dusting la’ans face. Her friends cheeks were even more flushed than earlier and she felt hot against una.

La’ans thumb went from unas cheek to delicately run across unas lips. La’ans own lips parted like she wanted to say something but no sound came out.

Una blinked and finally cleared her throat. She forced herself to focus. “La’an,” she said firmly. “I cant see.”

La’an smirked and pulled her hand back from unas face. “Of course, you can. You can see me,” she informed her friend.

Una rolled her eyes, glad that la’an had pulled back enough for her to think. “The path, la’an. So we can make it to the shuttle before dark.”

La’an just gave her that compelling side eye for several heartbeats then she smiled. She booped una on the tip of her nose and practically threw herself back into her formerly reclined position, confident that una would never let her fall.

Una blinked but didn’t let the shock of the nose boop slow her reaction. As soon as she felt la’an shift she was moving. She easily caught her friend. Would always catch her.

La’an sighed and began to play with unas hair again. Una couldn’t help but smile. It was so nice to see her friend completely relaxed for once. She always knew how constrained la’an was in her daily life. But seeing her so carefree made unas heart ache for her friend.

“We are almost there,” una informed her passenger.

La’an just sighed and rolled her eyes. She mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like ‘Stupid kirk’ and ‘someone…shave…mustache’.

Una turned her snort into a cough. “We can discuss disciplinary actions for his breach of protocol later.” She could see a harried looking spock trying to guide the Lt onto the shuttle. It appeared about as successful as herding cats.

Una smiled down at la’an, who grinned in her arms as she played with unas hair. Una knew, she had definitely gotten the better end of the deal.

She had spock strap Lt kirk into his seat before she entered with la’an. She deposited the security officer directly in the seat, not letting her have the chance to jump kirk again. La’an didn’t resist, but una saw that calculating look on her friends face.

Una sat at the pilots console with la’an in the seat next to her. Spock and Lt kirk were in the seats behind them. Hopefully, out of sight, out of mind would work on the still incapacitated security officer.

It did. But only because after she had input the fight path, she distracted la’an by educating her on the ages old game of…thumb wars.

La’ans competitive side showed itself as she complained about how unfair this game was since unas fingers were so much bigger than hers. It was a tactical disadvantage. But una quipped that as security chief, shouldn’t la’an be able to devise an effective strategy to counteract her disadvantage?

Needless to say, they were both sufficiently occupied until they could doc the shuttle and beam to sickbay.

[cicaklah]

H, K And M for the ask game!

H: how would you describe your style

being told a story by a girl at a sleepover for 20k words.

Alternatively...knockoff pratchett if he was a filthy millennial woman

K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?

its consent to be wrecked, where what if Poe was used as a honeypot by Leia because he'd do anything for her, and then she asks him to sacrifice the opportunity of his great love? anyway I needed to go to therapy after that.

second place goes to the dead dove fic I am writing where Starfleet sends La'an to assassinate Khan post Space Seed, and they mutually manipulate each other. I genuinely think I will need to publish it under a pseudonym.

M: Got any premises on the back burner that you’d care to share?

I have so much One Man to write, but I've got very stuck on my current story, but that doesn't mean I'm not constantly thinking about blorbo. Other ideas from a scroll of my google keep include: kirk/laan command couple bring Spock in as their third in command and also the third in their relationship. The other thing in my brain other than that, the dead dove fic, and then righting the wrongs of snw fandom and writing some m'benga fic.

[starfleetimagines]

Month of Fics

Sooo I know I have been continuously apologizing for lack of fics then saying I'll write more and then being MIA and then repeat for the last... idk, two years or so? Without going into a lot of detail, the last two years have been a lot for me with various health things and personal drama/stress. But for right now, and for the summer, I think things will be relatively calm. Calm enough that I will have more time and energy to write.

So, for the rest of May I'm going to try writing about a fic a day to finally catch up on ones that have been in my inbox for a while.

If you want to see what I’ll be posting for the month of May, it's under the cut!

Dating Una Chin-Riley Would Include…

Lazy Day (Christine Chapel/Spock)

Trip Tucker Dating A Shy SO

Bloodhound (Harry Kim/Reader) [Song fic based on Bloodhound by 5 Seconds of Summer]

Telling Malcolm Reed You Love Him

Unacceptable Loss (La'an Noonien-Singh/Fem!Reader) [After La'an rescues the reader on an away mission, feelings are admitted]

Tom Paris Comforting His Wife After A Hard Day

Flatline (Jim Kirk/La'ann Noonien Singh) [Song fic based on Flatline by 5 Seconds of Summer]

Dance With Me (T'Pol/Reader) [Song Fic based on Dance With Me by Diplo, Thomas Rhett, and Young Thug]

Reunited (Chakotay/Reader) [Chakotay and the reader met at the academy but haven't seen each other since he left to join the Maquis... until they both wind up on Voyager]

Worrying About Trip Tucker's Mental Health

Emergency Contact (SNW Spock/Fem!Reader) [After the reader is injured on an away mission, the truth about her and Spock's relationship comes out]

Blender (Erica Ortegas/Reader) [Song fic based on Blender by 5 Seconds of Summer]

Love You A Little Bit (Tom Paris/Reader) [Song fic based on Love You A Little Bit by Tanner Adell]

Cuddling With Trip Tucker

Dinner (Jonathan Archer/Reader) [Archer asks the reader on a date]

Flirting With Trip Tucker

Comfort (T'Pol/Reader)

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

MADELINE. this is not included in the list you just dropped but i am Demanding Information about the 911 Star Trek AU 🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪

MENACE

So @extasiswings got me watching Strange New Worlds, which sent me running back to my darling ST:TOS. The Kirk and Spock we meet in SNW are younger than in TOS - they barely know each other and are both under the guidance of Christopher Pike. The relationship between Pike and Una, his second-in-command, reminded me of Athena and Bobby, and once I had that thought in my head I couldn't stop.

I don't know what the exact plot will be, it's just vibes right now, but given that the relationships Spock and Kirk are both currently in on SNW fit the Abby/Buck and Shannon/Eddie dynamics really well with minimal tweaking (I think we can all agree that La'an cares more about Kirk than Abby did about Buck, no offense to Abby), I have a bit of a starting point. And I think I can use a lot of the episodic plots from SNW and merge them with 911 plots really well.

I just. Guys. SNW. I love it so much. Please go watch it. I'd die for all of them. I might not have the full plot sketched out yet but I'm so excited to marry two of my loves together for this AU.

(And yes. Buck is Kirk and Eddie is Spock. I just. *looks at Kirk* *looks at Buck* They're the same picture.)

[hummiscellanea]

My Unpopular Opinion(s)

putting my life into my hands and talking about my opinion on the Shipping Discourse in star trek. (specifically SNW) man i wish that means "which ship is the coolest" and not what it actually is about

I don't ship Kirk and Spock. (K/S, spirk, whatever you want to call it)

Hey, I love TOS more than the next guy! And yes I know and respect the ship's history. It was groundbreaking. It invented slash. I completely understand why people ship it, and why it's so important to so many people. I get the appeal; I'm definitely not saying that it's wrong to ship it. But I am a bit annoyed with the lack of other readings on here.

Like guys, Kirk has relationships with women. That doesn't preclude being attracted to men, mind you! But let's not forget that. Here's some examples: Edith Keeler, Miramanee, Carol Marcus. He had a child with two of those! (This isn't an argument against the K/S ship. It's just that I see people say that it's wrong for SNW Kirk to be attracted to women, which bothers me.) Also I happen to like La'an and Kirk in SNW; it's a rare romantic relationship that I found myself invested in. (La'an my beloved <3) I don't think it should be a long-term endgame thing, I just think it's cute.

Anyway. Spock. Spock, Spock, Spock. It seems that everyone (or at least every TOS girlie) has very charged, very personal feelings about Spock. Including me. (the blorbo of all time <3 <3 <3) He's a rare ace icon (with an asterisk of course). And that's canon (see TMP novelization, the famous Roddenberry Footnote). I also see him as an aro icon, though that one is definitely up for debate. My aro headcanon is the main reason I don't ship K/S, and it's not an uncommon take! I'll leave it at that for my Spock Opinions for now.

Kirk and Spock's dynamic is so so important to me. They are so (imagine a page full of heart emojis)!! It can be hard to put it into words. They're soulmates, besties for the ages. A bond that transcends space and time. Then your first best destiny is to be by my side! Let me help!! The Motion Picture, which is literally about the power of love!!! How could I ever be normal about them? And if you say that a romantic relationship is the only explanation for their closeness then I will vaporize you with my laser eyes.

Some of the SNW K/S discourse is just odd to me. Why do you want them to be together anyway (besides as a nod to the pairing's historical importance both in and out of Star Trek)? It's famously a slow burn! It takes many years and movies to develop it, which is part of what makes it so great in my opinion. Why would you want to undermine that to do a love-at-first-sight type story? That would only cheapen the characters. Do we really want a The Motion Picture type plot, but years earlier and not as good? (TMP my beloved <3)

As for the Spapel and T'pring discourse? yeeeeeeeah, still not touching that. I do have opinions, though.

One thing the K/S shippers are saying a lot about SNW is that not acknowledging K/S is queerbaiting, or at least being painfully straight. I'm not sure I'm qualified to decide if it is or not. I guess I can see that criticism, especially when compared to Discovery. Eh, but it could also be worse?

Man I hate shipping discourse. And shipping culture. To quote Sonic:

...besides, we all know who's the real love of James T. Kirk's life. She's a tall lady named Enterprise.

[lenievi]

Carol breaking up with Kirk and telling him to stay away from their child - part is Kirk, part is his job

Janet breaking up with Kirk and marrying someone else - part is him, part is his job

La'an telling Kirk she moved on - the connection is still there, she doesn't think she will ever stop having feelings for James Kirk, but she now knows that there are other people she can be her real self with, who see her, and she'd rather not pursue anything of a romantic nature with him - our jobs wouldn't permit it (she might serve as his first officer on the Farragut though, for more angst and lost chances; but she won't transfer with him back to the Enterprise. Una told her that even though she regretted never pursuing her feelings for Pike, she wouldn't change it because she could always be there for Pike, always be by his side, doing a job she loved)

(but also obviously them getting/wanting to get together and La'an dying is always a choice as well - from Kirk's POV this makes sense, from La'an's I don't want this...)

and Kirk just closing his heart off and dedicating himself to his job completely, stopping to want to form a relationship, which he thought he could have before, but apparently not

Love. You're better off without it, and I'm better off without mine. This vessel, I give, she takes. She won't permit me my life. I've got to live hers.

And he envies his brother because he could do that. He could have a family and a job he loved.

And then he encounters Khan Noonien-Singh (I'm using a dash because SNW!Khan should have a dash). He knows his legacy is genocide, torture, but also La'an - a woman he will always hold dear to his heart. The logical path would be to let the Starfleet know about Khan and let them deal with him, but instead, he gave him a chance to live. He found him a planet and didn't inform Starfleet that Khan Noonien-Singh was back. Because of La'an.

And then Khan is back. And his return reunites him with Carol and his son. And while he hadn't thought of her for years, the memories of La'an hit him with strength again. He rejected her for a life he thought he could have with Carol and their son. And his son is now a young man who doesn't know him, who hates him, and would like to see him dead. Because Carol asked him to stay away.

"If there are self-made purgatories, then we all have to live in them"

And Khan wants to kill him. Kirk wanted to give him a second chance but because he hadn't informed anyone, no one checked on the planet where Khan was sent to and never learned that the surface became almost inhabitable.

Khan wants to kill him and doesn't care how many other people die with Kirk. And Spock sacrifices himself so the Enterprise can be saved. And his death allows him and David to connect.

And maybe now Kirk could get to know his son. Maybe after all those years, he could finally get something he wanted. Spock's death hurt but it gave Kirk a new chance.

But then David is killed and Kirk never truly recovers from his son's death.

(at least he realizes he has a family with McCoy and Spock, but it can't fill the void of his son and a romantic partner)

"...I was like you once ...so completely blinded by duty and obligations that I couldn't see anything past this uniform. And in the end, what did it get me? An empty house..."

---

yeah, anyway, just putting La'an into my typical Kirk journey

[betterbemeta]

I liked the new Star Trek Strange New Worlds episode where La'an goes back in time to stop an attempt to abort the Federation via assassinating Khan but <spoilers>

the Romulan assassin was posing as an aliens-are-real crank and all I could think of when the infiltrator revealed herself was that I wished she'd been followed by an actual human aliens-are-real crank.

This other person only could have had the opportunity and 'knowledge' to act because La'an and alternate-Kirk being there caused the infiltrator to blow her cover... to the online contacts she had been manipulating since the '90s.

I know it's a TV show so they have to leave aha-style clues for the audience so the Romulan infiltrator can't have done a perfect job covering her tracks but one thing that stood out to me in the episode was the way it implied she had been phishing for counter-agents for a significant amount of time; her operation was originally supposed to have taken place in the '90s and she hadn't succeeded yet. One important hint revealed 'early' was that she said some pictures in her 'visual aid' folder were from people who 'still had dial-up' when the world depicted was much closer to our own 'modern' day.

When La'an and alternate-Kirk displayed accurate knowledge of 'futuristic technology' including the bomb that was used to blow up the bridge in Toronto she must have gone bonkers finally getting a phishing hit, not knowing who they were or when they came from until she 'recognized' Captain Kirk-- the timeline's conditions had already been set to change back, because in the alternate future the successful assassination created, Kirk was not a famous explorer. The same way that in alternate-Kirk's timeline, he couldn't have recognized La'an's 'infamous' surname. And the assassin didn't have any special technology to protect her from 'changes' like what La'an was holding on to.

it would have been 100% inappropriate and wouldn't work with the drama of the end of the episode at all so they probably shouldn't really have had an unexpected I-Believer pop out of the background with a gun. but i just think it would have been funny for earth's 'immune system' to have taken the shot.

[milehighmegs]

On the Subject of Grief: How Star Trek Can Help Us Get Through This

Alright folks, I'm temporarily switching from my beloved Good Omens to my OG fandom: the one, the only, the grandaddy of beloved franchises, Star Trek.

In light of the devastating news, I've needed comfort. Sadly, with GO ending as it did with the Final 15, and with the conclusion still at least a year away, my angel/demon love story just makes me cry even harder. But I've always been able to find solace in Star Trek.

Star Trek has always been, at least to me, a glimpse of what we are capable of being: compassionate, not just accepting of the differences in others but delighting in them and celebrating them, united in the goal of bringing hope & peace to all corners of existence. Infinite variety in infinite combinations. What a beautiful thing.

I acknowledge that this is pretty utopian, but we must also remember that even in the idealistic world of Star Trek, there remains conflict, pain, & loss. Seeing beloved characters throughout the various shows & films dealing with these difficult scenarios is what continues to inspire me when things seem lost. We deal with grief in our own, widely varied ways, but we have each other to lean on, and we have the one thing they cannot take from us: hope.

Strange, then, you might say, that I've chosen to write about the heartbreakers rather than the uplifting moments (of which there are plenty). And you'd be right. But if I'm being honest here, I'm not looking to chase the gloom away. I need to sit in it, feel through it, and maybe, eventually, I'll be ready to smile again. But today is not that day.

So, in typical pessimistic-but-desperately-trying-to-find-something-good-in-this fashion, I've complied a list of the most heartbreaking episodes of Star Trek, from each of the 8 main franchises + 1. I've stuck to the live-action shows, mainly because I haven't seen enough of the animated ones (Animated Series, Lower Decks, & Prodigy) to include them. But I have included Short Treks, mostly because they're canon but also because I've seen them. I've listed the episodes in chronological order, not in what's most to least painful or vice versa. Feel free to add your own, and let me know which episodes or moments have brought you a bit of light in your darkest times.

Oh, and I think this goes without saying, but ***spoilers ahead***

#1) "Demons," Enterprise: When Trip & T'Pol's baby daughter Elizabeth died... no words, only sorrow.

#2) "Project Daedalus," Discovery: I don't remember ever before becoming so attached to a side-character in the space of a single episode; not to the level that I became attached to Commander Ariam, at least. The depiction of her life before her augmentation, the tragedy that necessitated in it, and the way her salvation was corrupted by Control was both touching and maddening. Her sacrifice at the end, and the tender, final moment of her life, was devastating. My grief carried over into the next episode, with the opening scene of her memorial and Saru's tender lullaby sending me crashing into waves of mourning a loss I never saw coming.

#3) "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow," SNW: Watching the development of the relationship between La'an and Kirk, knowing full well that it couldn't last, was painful enough. Wacthing her mourn his loss and being completely unable to share her grief with anyone because Temporal Prime Directive, was a punch straight to the gut. She mourned alone. So did I.

#4) "The City on the Edge of Forever," TOS: We never want to believe that good people have to suffer for the greater good to come about; BELIEVE ME, after last night, I certainly am not supportive of that stance. Which is why this episode is so tragic: Kirk, knowing that Edith had to die in order for his future to exist, the future in which the Federation was real, was tragic enough. Knowing that he had to stop his friend, McCoy, from saving her, and in the process forcing him to violate the most sacred oath of his life, just rammed it home even harder.

#5) "The Offspring," TNG: beautiful, sweet, wonderful Data. He's always been my favorite. He may not be capable of emotion (at least, not at that point in time), but I know I felt the loss of Lal more than enough to make up for it. I still cry, knowing what's coming, every time I watch it.

#6) "The Visitor," DS9: Losing a parent is always hard. Imagine having to deal with the loss of that parent, over & over again, at random moments throughout your life, never knowing when it'll be the last time. Imagine being a parent, missing out on your child's entire life, only getting glimpses of it at random moments, and only to watch them die at an old age when virtually no time has passed for you. I'm glad that I've yet to experience either of this kind of loss, but the inevitability of it doesn't lessen the pain one bit. I sobbed for days over this one.

#7) "Tuvix," Voyager: The titular character's empassioned plea for his life was a knife in my heart. Whichever side you stand on with this still-debated episode within the Trek community, if you didn't cry, you have no soul.

#8) "Surrender," Picard: when Data started giving his things to Lore (the Holmes pipe, his image of Tasha), I was already crying with nostalgia. These were all the things that made Data who he is, all the things that represented what made him my favorite character. But when he gave up Spot... I was, at the time, facing eviction, having to make the difficult choice to move out and into a friend's home, which meant having to give up my beloved cat. In that moment, watching Data give sweet Spot to such a monster... I couldn't do it. I paused the show, literally crawled over to my sweet boy sleeping in his spot on my bed, and promised I would get it together and make sure he & I stayed together. I made it another year + 3 months, but ultimately had to move and give my cat up, but to my best friend instead of a shelter. I get regular updates and pics; my Bubbas boy is happy & healthy and dearly loved. I'm crying now remembering how much that moment changed things for me, and while I miss my boy, I know he's safe. It's extremely bittersweet.

#9) "Calypso," Short Treks: The sadness of this minisode is compunded by the knowledge that Zora was be out there all alone for a millenia, and that she was encountered totally by accident by someone who- at first- seems completely immune to her tenderness. But then, as he opens up to her, and they share a beautiful, touching dance, you begin to hope. And then he leaves. Nothing lasts forever, indeed.

Watching beloved characters go through painful times can be harrowing, but it can also be cathartic & healing in its own way. Today, I'm mourning, but I am not broken. One day, this wound will heal, and maybe our country will, too.

[star-trek-pop-quiz]

Star Trek POP-QUIZ #51

( 08 / 10 / 2024 )

Question 1. Which animated series features a duo named after Star Trek villains? a. Futurama b. The Simpsons c. Family Guy d. Bluey

Bonus Question: What are their names?

Question 2. TRUE OR FALSE Phlox has over 100 children. ( In his extended family: his wives' husbands and hence forth )

Question 3. Which captain's first meeting with their chief of security included being publicly embarrassed? a. James T Kirk b. Michael Burnham c. Katherine Janeway d. Gwyn

Bonus Question: Who is their chief of security?

Question 4. Which character's application to Starfleet was sponsored by Una Chin-Riley? a. Spock b. La'an Noonien-Singh c. James T Kirk d. Christine Chapel

Question 5. Fill-in Question! Which two positions would Lieutenant M'Ress fulfill in the absence of the senior officers?

Score: __/ 5 + 3 bonus ( Answers under cut )

Question 1. b. The Simpsons

+ Kang and Kodos.

Question 2. FALSE. He is only stated to have 31.

Question 3. c. Katherine Janeway

+ Tuvok.

Question 4. b. La'an Noonien-Singh

Question 5. Communications Officer and Science Officer.

+ Caitian.

[welcome-to-latveria]

See episode 3 was my favorite so far too!! But then the more I think about it it feels kinda repetitive? Like I feel like it has basically all the same story beats as the S1 finale (still loved it + La'an tho). And e5 is just a reskinned version of s1e5. And there's been other little things like that where idk if it was like season 6 it wouldn't bug me but literally the very next season it's hard not to notice it feels like they're recycling.

Actually yeah I think you're right that is the problem. Ep3 is definitely the best of the season so far but it's bizzare they chose Kirk for that when they could have had an OC or any other star trek character and it would have hit the same. Like at this point we've met 2 AU versions of Kirk for longer than his in universe self.

And the same for ep5 you're right it's literally just a rehashed version s1ep5 which shows me that they didn't think this Spock/T'Pring thing through properly. Like there's no point including it if they have no real story to tell with them which it seems they don't.