#mainly the one where spock and kirk only meet when kirk gets the enterprise in tos lmao

[lenievi]

I've been thinking (lol) [this isn't a meta or whatever, it's just me having fun because Kirk and La'an are gonna live rent free in my head for a very long time]

I really like the idea that La'an's time travel adventure happened in "Pike sent the letters" timeline too, but the thought that La'an and Kirk met and connected in that timeline without any interference is actually quite compelling as well. Especially since Kirk never visited the Enterprise before the happenings in the finale. But their paths still crossed and they connected.

Why I'm thinking about it is this:

Those events were never supposed to happen and you were never meant to be aware of them. Neither was your companion. (from Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow)

What if the current timeline is the only timeline where La'an had to protect the past. It didn't happen originally in the timeline Pike created, because Pike changed the future.

And since I'm also of the opinion that the TOS timeline is slightly different from the timeline we're watching now, especially because of Khan and: "And all this was supposed to happen back in 1992, and I've been trapped here for 30 years trying to get my shot at him." it didn't happen in that timeline either. (Well, I also think that La'an didn't exist in the original TOS timeline, she can only exist now, hence La'an Noonien-Singh VS Khan Noonien Singh - i.e. no dash, but that's just my HC, and if it ends up not being true, it doesn't really matter to me, I just think it works neatly atm)

There was no reason for the time agent to also bring up Kirk. That version of him ceased to exist and therefore there was no version of him to still be aware of any events that happened. His life and memories were erased.

However, I assume because Kirk also used the time travelling device, he maintained some of the feelings (I've had that thought before, but ep 9 confirmed it~), and the time-travelling adventure might have some influence on his path that would not happen otherwise. La'an's call could have changed something for him. And that influence could be positive or negative, and it's honestly fun to think about.

obviously when it comes to the main timeline and "Pike sent the letters" timeline, the difference is also Una's presence and lack of her presence, which means that ofc Kirk wouldn't come to the Enterprise to shadow her, but he apparently never visited Sam in that timeline. Him feeling a connection towards La'an in the main timeline thanks to the time-travel, could also suggest that he subconsciously feels the need to visit Sam because in that other timeline, Sam was dead. And Jim died, so Sam could live. And the first time Kirk visited the Enterprise in the main timeline, was to visit and spend time with Sam.

[lordendsavior]

In the latest episode of HBO’s new NSFW teen drama Euphoria, there was sex scene between Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. Well, kinda. One of the characters in the show, Kat (played by Barbie Ferreira), is famous online for writing One Direction fan fiction, specifically about Larry Stylinson, the name given to the theory that Styles and Tomlinson were, in fact, lovers. The sex scene in the episode actually comprised of versions of the two former boyband members in an animated scene lifted from one of this character’s stories. It’s unfortunate that the animation left Styles looking a little like Lord Voldemort and Tomlinson like a sweaty teenage boy.��

But while that aspect of the show might not have been real, the conspiracy of Larry Stylinson very much is. Since One Direction were launched off the back of The X Factor in 2010, Tomlinson and Styles have been dogged by rumours that they are embroiled in a love affair. On Tumblr – a breeding ground for fan theories, fan art, fan videos and fan fiction – fans would collect GIFs, images and videos of the pair that “proved” that they were in a relationship. A lingering glance was decoded as a lustful stare, the brush of knees during an interview a sign of a secret intimacy. These in turn would mutate into smutty fan fiction about the pair, where these unspoken sexual wants could play out in full explicit glory.

In the tradition of Bennifer and Brangelina, their names, like their desires, were brought together for the portmaneu Larry Stylinson. Shipping them – the act of wanting two people to be together romantically – became a way of life for some fans. To this day, these fans, known as Larries, are unwavering in their belief, love and support of Larry Stylinson.

The same cannot be said for Louis Tomlinson. For nearly nine years, he has been dogged by rumours and speculation about his relationship with Styles. This latest outing of Larry in Euphoria is just another example of the theory’s pervasiveness. After the scene aired, some fans on Twitter messaged Tomlinson to see if he had been consulted about the scene. His reply was telling. “I can categorically say that I was not contacted nor did I approve it,” he wrote.

For years, Tomlinson has categorically denied that Larry is real. In 2012  he responded to a fan stating that “Larry is the biggest load of b——- I’ve ever heard”, and in a 2017 interview with The Sun, the Doncaster-born singer said that he found the rumours disrespectful of his relationships with women and shared how it had also affected his friendship with Styles. “It took away the vibe you get off anyone. It made everything, I think on both fences, a little bit more unapproachable,” he revealed. “I think it shows that it was never anything real, if I can use that word.”

The decision to include the animated Larry sex scene in Euphoria has provied divisive. On Twitter, One Direction fans have dubbed it “disrespectful”, “vile” and an “embarrassment”. Even self-professed Larries called out the scene and some fans went so far as to start a Change.org petition to have the scene removed from the episode. (At the time of writing it has over nearly 17,000 signatures.)

The fandom’s rejection of Larry, at first, seems hypocritical. How can the very people who have spent years perpetuating the narrative that Tomlinson and Styles are romantically linked show annoyance when that same narrative gets utilised in wider media? However, fandom, specifically fan fiction, is a contradictory and confusing beast. The thing is, Larry Stylinson is bigger than the two boyband members at its core. Their supposed romantic relationship really has nothing to do with them at all.

To give a brief history of fan fiction, the medium, while it always existed in some form, came to prominence in the 1970s in fanzines for the TV show Star Trek. Then known as slash fiction (the slash refers to the forward slash that divide the two characters, for example “Kirk/Spock”), these early writings reexamined scenes within Star Trek episodes where it appeared that there was coded queer behaviour, language or sexual tension. A chance meeting on the bridge of the USS Enterprise could result in steamy sex behind a computer console. A violent clash with a Klingon that left either Spock/Kirk injured, may end with a restorative tryst in a hospital wing.

As fan communities evolved from zines to online forums, so fan fiction became more widely accessible. Forums gave birth to sites like fanfiction.net and archiveofourown.org, where every intellectual property from Harry Potter to Bob the Builder was free game. And not every story written was sexual, either. Many fan fictions, while romantic in nature, kept their plots suitable for all ages. They also mainly took fictional characters and queered formerly heteronormative (or platonic) senarios.

Incorporating of real people – celebrities, public figures, popstars, actors, artists – into these stories propagated during this online boom of fan fanction. Portals like nifty.org had dedicated sections for celebrity fan fiction, while sites like Wattpad, a sort of social media site for writers to share their work, filled with stories about famous people. During One Direction’s imperial phase, Wattpad especially became a hive of 1D fan fiction.

And not all of it was slash fiction, either. Anna Todd’s popular YA novel After, which became a movie this year, had its beginnings as One Direction fan fiction on Wattpad. That story featured a heterosexual relationship. Her literary success follows in the footsteps of EL James, whose Twilight fan fiction was repackaged as 50 Shades of Grey.

Nevertheless, it’s fair to say that much fan fiction, smutty or not, specifically draws on queer narratives. The reasons for this are multi-faceted. Demographically, fan fiction is predominantly written by women. In the case of Spock and Kirk, it has been argued by academics that in queering their relationship, women were able to carve out safe sexual spaces in the world of fiction away from the dominant glare of patriarchal sexuality.

According to fandom academic Camille Bacon-Smith, the fact that the gender of the characters was the same allowed women to reconstruct men without the toxicity of masculinity. The American writer Joanna Russ added to this, suggesting that in this safe space, women were able to explore their fantasies outside the confines of heteropatriarchal normalcy.

In fact, Constance Penley, a professor of Film & Media Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, wrote in her book Nasa/Trek Popular Science and Sex in America that the gender of the characters was irrelevant. The act of having characters acknowledge their homosexual desires, she argued, was a metaphorical one, grounded in a desire to change “oppressive sexual roles”.

Still, exploring sexual desire with fictional characters doesn’t feel like an ethical problem. Neither, really, do private fantasies about real people. But fan fiction takes those private fantasies and makes them public. If authors like JK Rowling and Annie Proulx (Brokeback Mountain) take umbrage with fans writing their own stories using their made up characters, how do real people feel about having their lives dissected and fictionalised for entertainment?

The problem is the blurred line between celebrity and the human being. As celebrity’s lives playout on websites, television and physical media, their real life stories – often fabricated for headlines or sales – become a sport. There’s a twisted sense of ownership over these people. The public, as a throbbing and beating entity, made them famous. Their payment is their lives. The boundaries begin to disappear, and these human beings become characters in a soap opera. The internet, which its unending ocean of content, only helps to conjure more moments that fans can decode or adapt for their fics.

The implications of this are different for everyone. Stars like Benedict Cumberbatch and Andrew Scott, who played Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty respectively in the BBC’s cult favourite Sherlock, take the fictionalised versions of their lives in their stride. In an interview with MTV, Cumberbatch, while acknowledging that he found some of the racier stories weird, called it “flattering”. Daniel Radcliff and James McAvoy also seemed to be able to find the humour in it (although, again, acknowledging that they find it “really weird"). There’s also those who just outright ignore that this phenomenon exists.

Harry Styles, despite being one half of Larry Stylinson, has only ever alluded to it once. After the release of his debut solo album, fans speculated that the track Sweet Creature was about Tomlinson. In an interview with a radio station, Styles said: “I think people are always gonna speculate what songs are about, and I don’t think I’d ever want to tell anyone that they’re wrong for feeling what they feel about a song. Even when they’re not necessarily right. But I think if you really listen to the lyrics, I think you can work out if it’s really about that or not, and I would lean towards no.”

However, this level of ambivalence isn’t always easy. In a recent interview with British GQ, Taron Egerton expressed his discomfort with people writing fan fiction about him. “I don’t know why people think I’d want to see that,” he said. “I don’t love it at all.”

It seems that Louis Tomlinson exists firmly in this camp. And unlike these other celebrities, the ship he was involved in evolved into a full blown conspiracy theory. Fans accused management of keeping his and Styles’s relationship a secret. Paparazzi pictures, performances, interviews, press cuttings, tweets and Instagram posts were dissected for clues that the pair were linked. Tomlinson and Styles were bombarded on Twitter by fans, the first comment under every post on social media almost always being “Larry is real”. That level of scrutiny would have been difficult for anyone, but for a teenager progressing into young adulthood it was unbearable.

What’s debatable is whether any of these fans and their libraries of “proof” and “receipts” actually believe that Larry Stylinson is real or whether shipping them is just an extension of their fan fiction fantasies. For the millions of One Direction fans, the members of the group, while clearly real people, were also mythic, so far removed from their realities that they were almost imaginary.

Anyone who has ever truly obsessed over a band or musician can understand that this distance between true human interaction incubates a need to develop an alternative form of intimacy, be it through listening religiously to their music, attending concerts or cooking up fantasies.

And because of the inequalities in knowledge between celebrities and non-celebrities, where we know everything about them and they know nothing about us, these fantasies, and in turn our perceptions of them, become skewered. This mutation is the perfect breeding ground for fan fiction and conspiracy theories as we attempt to fill in the blanks in our intimate knowledge of celebrity lives.

In the case of One Direction, whose fans were mainly young girls and gay boys, this fantasy  became a way to explore their own sexual wants and desires. It’s what the showrunner of Euphoria, Sam Levinson, told The Los Angeles Times he was trying to convey by having the character of Kat write 1D fan fiction.

The fact that the members of that boyband were in a similar age bracket only intensified things. Intimacy and a coarse understanding of celebrity saw the lines between fantasy and reality blur, accelerated and magnified by social media. In a way, it stopped being about Styles or Tomlinson and became about the fans, the community they’d found, a safe space to explore their desires in which those desires were often mirrored and supported by others in their community.

Does all that make real person fan fiction okay? Speaking to i-D, sex psychologist Jess O’Reilly, put it like this: “How might is make someone feel? How would their parents, partner(s), kids or friends feel about reading it? How would they feel if their friends and family read your work? How would you feel if someone published a similar story about you, your child, your partner, your best friend, your sibling or someone else you love?”

For Tomlinson, who has repeatedly shared the impact the sexual speculation had on his relationship with Styles, maybe a line has been crossed. His discomfort with the theories and fan fiction, along with countless other public figures who take issue with it, should be respected.

And, really, in the pantheon of fandoms, Larry Stylinson was its own perfect storm of burgeoning internet cultures, the proliferation of social media and cute boys singing pop bangers. The need to share sexual desires in fan fiction and, by extension, romantic celebrity conspiracy theories, feels more complicated than mere right or wrong, but rather an expanse of grey, ethical ambiguity.

It also feels too late for it to stop, too. Perhaps, as the role and makeup of what constitutes celebrity evolves, accepting fan fiction in its myriad of forms, like with gossip and rumours, is par for the course. Clearly, it’s up to the individual to figure out if they’re okay with that.

[winterverses]

Walking Wounded - Chapter Seventy-Five

Content Warning: Discussion of violence.

The aircar zoomed toward Justice, bobbing and weaving through traffic in a way that reminded Kirk of games back at the Academy. Starships were so much slower, even shuttles-- sure, maybe it was just that they felt that way, but between the shields and the navigation systems there was almost never a situation where you needed the kind of reaction time that you had to have to pilot an aircar. The closest situation he’d come to needing those kinds of reflexes was when they’d first encountered the drones, and still, that had been nothing like the split second timing that this driver had. Come to think of it, it was the same driver from that first day back on Yorktown.

“Ugh. Remind me why I ever thought giving an interview was a good idea,” Anne said, scrolling through the article.

“What? They get something wrong?” Kirk asked, looking away from the window and trying to skim what he saw on the screen. “Slow down, you’re going too fast for me.”

She slowed enough that he could read as well. “Nothing wrong, just… ugh. I hate feeling like my life is being dissected all over the place. Look how many times it’s been read already.”

Kirk began to read at random, in the middle of a passage.

‘It’s easy to tell just how much their experiences have affected their relationship. Captain Kirk’s rakish grin and confident air fade a little the moment Ms. Hardesty begins to look troubled, turning fiercely protective, no matter how casually he plays it off. She, in turn, makes no secret of how much his presence comforts her, and her voice hardly wavers so long as his arm is around her, even when giving what details she can of her quite frankly horrific experiences.

That’s not to say that their relationship has been only beneficial for them; though they couldn’t comment on the exact circumstances, they’ve dealt with some serious injuries, the causes rooted in Ms. Hardesty’s devotion and Captain Kirk’s protective impulses. The worst of these injuries were ones they weren’t even free to talk about, citing their unreliability as witnesses where the other is concerned and their unwillingness to jeopardize their upcoming court case. Only the circumstances surrounding the event itself could be detailed, and there is no better or more succinct way to put it than in the Captain’s own words:

“Anne gets dragged away from the side of one of my senior officers, I rush to get the ship there in time and go haring off after her… and when we come out of that room, my guts are hanging out, and she’s almost lost an eye, her mind, and still doesn’t even remember who I am.”

One can hardly help but question the circumstances; would this have turned out the same had their feelings not been a factor?’

“It’s bullshit, gorgeous. Don’t bother yourself over it.” Kirk went to blank the screen.

“Don’t,” Anne said, batting at his hand in irritation.

Fine, okay. He settled back into his seat, looking out the window again, until the next time she muttered something under her breath. “If it’s going to bother you that much, just shut it off,” he said, a little irritated himself.

She registered that irritation, because she stilled, then leaned on him. “I’m sorry. I just can’t look away. And it’s not like not reading it will be any better.”

Immediately, he felt like an ass. Of course she wouldn’t be able to help wanting to read it. She’d never seen herself through the lens of someone else’s writing before. Her writing, sure, but she’d always been careful to stay out of the public eye. He hadn’t been able to put down the first article he’d ever been interviewed for back when he’d first taken command of the Enterprise, even though it had eviscerated him for not getting to Vulcan in time as much as lauded him for saving Earth. And she was right-- if she wasn’t getting upset by the article, she’d just be getting upset over something far closer, and with a lot better and more concrete reasons. “No, it’s my fault. It’s weird seeing yourself like that, I know. Go on ahead and read it, and if you find anything really awful about it, let me know.”

“The worst thing so far is the craftsmanship,” Anne grumbled. “Really, trying to maintain a neutral voice by using ‘one’ as a substitute for ‘I’ is shoddy. I see why she’s done it, but for heaven’s sake, there are better ways of skinning that particular cat. Learn to use your words to better effect.”

Okay, he couldn’t help a laugh at Anne’s sneering. He kept it quiet, though. “What’s more irritating, the subject matter, or the way it’s written?”

Anne turned to look at him incredulously. “The way it’s written, of course,” she said, then looked thoughtful. “Maybe I should give the girl some advice.”

“I can’t think of a better way to guarantee we get a much less flattering article next time,” Kirk said, throwing his arm over Anne’s shoulders. He was glad of that in a moment, when the aircar started to plummet, not that they felt it. It just meant they were at Justice, and Anne knew that. She inched up even closer to him and blanked the screen, her body tensing. “It’ll be all right,” he said, pressing a kiss on the top of her head. “You’re going to be fine.”

“I’d better be, or Claudia will have someone’s head for all that wasted work,” Anne said dryly.

“I’ll let her take point on that one. Mainly because I think she’d do a better job of beheading someone than I would. She’s probably had more practice,” he deadpanned.

He couldn’t tell whether Anne was just playing along or whether she actually thought that was plausible when she replied. Hell, come to think of it, it was pretty plausible. “I’ll have to ask her about her time in med school. That seems like the most likely setting for a beheading, and I’ve always wanted to know the specific physical sensations involved. For verisimilitude, of course.”

The aircar came to a stop before the Justice building, and Kirk said, “1600 in front of the lower deck entrances, right?”

“1500, sir,” the driver said.

Kirk gave the guy a half grin. “Just checking.” The driver lifted a hand in response.

The crowd outside was, if anything, bigger than the one before. He suspected that article hadn’t helped things any, not with those women still feeding information to the press. Anne had been right about what she’d said, though-- if they left by a route they hadn’t previously been seen to use, they probably wouldn’t have to deal with the crowd on their way out. And then they could just wait out the press until the last trial was over. “All right, gorgeous. Stick close to me and don’t let go,” Kirk said.

Anne’s face was even paler than usual, but her mouth was set in a determined line, and she nodded. Kirk opened the door and stepped out, reaching back for Anne’s hand and tucking it in the crook of his arm as she exited the car behind him. The door slid shut, but by that time they were already walking, dodging reporters, Kirk breaking a path and Anne following behind. About three quarters of the way to the door, he felt a sudden jerk on his arm and heard Anne yelp. He immediately saw red, whirling to find Anne grabbing for his arm, looking behind her. He caught her seeking hand instead, yanking her toward him in a way that could have made someone with worse balance stumble; even in stiletto heels, she was barely fazed by it, her shoulder lightly smacking against his side as she skidded to a halt. Kirk immediately wrapped his arm around her waist, picking up his pace. “Did you see who did that?” he asked over the rising tumult of sound around them.

“No, but he won’t be walking very easily,” Anne said, rubbing at her bare arm. Red marks from the guy’s fingers were slowly fading. “I wore these heels for a reason.”

Kirk pulled out his communicator just as he saw a few members of his senior staff directing officers in the Starbase uniform to come and meet them. Immediately, he holstered it, beckoning two of the officers to him as he and Anne were surrounded by the rest. “You, and you, search the crowd. Whoever did that will be limping. Find him, and hold him on my authority. Notify me immediately.” The officers acknowledged and hurried past. “If they don’t find him, I want the surveillance clip from that timestamp examined until a positive ID can be made,” Kirk said, directing his order to the ranking officer.

“Are you planning to press charges, sir? I mean, ma’am?”

Kirk looked down at Anne. She looked shaken and sick, but not so upset that she was about to call this thing off. He almost wished that she was. “Yes,” she said. She tried to grin, but it was just a shadow of its normal brilliance. “Provided that someone who specializes in law can be found somewhere around here.”

“Federation Justice has several dozen representatives on hand at any given moment, ma’am,” the Lieutenant said earnestly. Kirk and Anne just looked at each other and then kept walking. To his credit, when the Lieutenant received no reply he seemed to catch on, looking a bit embarrassed. “Sorry, ma’am,” he said as they reached Uhura, Spock, McCoy, and Hayes.

“It’s all right. I’m afraid my wit isn’t at its best when I’m nervous,” Anne said, flashing a more natural looking grin at the Lieutenant, who gave her a tentative smile back.

“I’ll make sure that footage gets reviewed, Captain, ma’am,” the Lieutenant said.

“While you’re at it, you can tell Commodore Paris that we want a dedicated escort any time those women know where you are,” Hayes said. “This is really ridiculous. It was ridiculous last time and it’s even more ridiculous now.”

“While Medical gets a certain amount of leeway, the rest of us have to follow the established chain of command, Lieutenant Commander Hayes,” Kirk said pointedly. “I’ll take it up with Commodore Paris while I wait.”

“You’d better--”

“I’ll hold him to it, Dr. Hayes,” Uhura said.

“Good,” Hayes said. Then they were past the doors, and the din seemed to press closer in. The crowd was more orderly, however, with officers clearing a path and keeping the press well back. Kirk kept his arm around Anne’s waist, though, deciding that he didn’t particularly care about looking unprofessional at the moment. As soon as they were in the elevator, however, Hayes practically shoved him aside, looking Anne over, checking the arm the man had grabbed. “What happened? Did he hurt you?”

“No, he just grabbed me,” Anne said, holding out her wrist so that Hayes could take her pulse. “It frightened me, that’s all.”

“I’ll have to run it by our judges, but I’ll try to get you a dose of anxiolytic before we start. Don’t you even open your mouth,” she said, cutting Anne off before she could say anything. “This cannot be called normal anxiety considering your recent experiences, and it could mean the difference between being able to go through with this and just suffering all the collateral damage while not actually being far enough under to get anything done.”

“If it means only going through with this once, I’m all for it,” Kirk said. “Any chance you can triple that dosage?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Hayes said. “Truth serums don’t exist, or at least, not in the sense of being unable to lie. The drugs we have depend on both lowering inhibition, and creating fear. It’s a balancing act, and if she has too much of the anxiolytic, it could inhibit the effects of one or both of the other drugs.”

No wonder Anne had avoided the topic so thoroughly in conversation with him. She had to have known he’d hate that. “Can’t we just get a brain scan done and--”

“No,” Anne broke in, her voice as thin and sharp as a blade. As Kirk opened his mouth to question, she interrupted him again. “I don’t want my brain on file, not even with Starfleet. It’s not an option.”

Between the set of her mouth and her serious eyes, Kirk knew better than to question further-- at least not right now, anyway. “What happens if they don’t think you’re telling the truth?”

Claudia answered him instead. “The normal process is that they’ll go through it a few times, at incrementally increasing dosages. I’ve been lobbying to try to get them to settle for one or two passes. It averages four, though. Never more than six. After six, you run the risk of self-harm even in restraints, unrecoverable mental damage, and cardiac events.”

Now he understood. She’d tortured the other women. It probably seemed only fair. Before Kirk could decide whether to call her on it, Spock broke in. “May I remind you, Captain, that I will be immediately available throughout and if Anne is too strongly affected, I will do whatever is in my power to mitigate her distress.”

Kirk almost spoke, then did a double-take. Spock had used her first name. He glanced over at Uhura, who just shrugged. “Thank you, Mr. Spock,” Kirk said. It was almost enough to take the edge off what Hayes had said.

“I’ll be fine, mon étoile,” Anne said softly, shaking off Hayes’ hand and stepping back up against his side. “Whatever they do, it can’t possibly be as bad as what has already been done, and I’ve recovered well enough from that.”

McCoy snorted, but didn’t speak. The turbolift doors slid open and they filed out, following Hayes, who seemed to know where she was going. As they did, Kirk looked down at Anne. “Your accent says you aren’t as calm about it as you’d like to be,” Kirk said, pulling her close. Damn, it was weird having her so tall. Well, relatively speaking. Her eyes were about level with his chin.

“And the polite thing would have been to ignore that,” Anne said, regarding him with a small frown. Regardless, she pressed into him, her body taut against his.

Kirk slid his arm back around her waist. With those shoes on, she was just a bit too tall for his arm to rest easily across her shoulders. “Maybe we should just give Sulu our apologies now,” Kirk said, studying her face.

“No. At the very least, we can go and say hello while we pick up dinner. Ben promised he was going to make me chòudòufu.” At his questioning look, Anne grinned. “Well, it was really more of a threat. Stinky tofu.”

Kirk sighed. “This is restaurant humor, isn’t it? Like telling Scotty you ejected a warp core while running maintenance on the cylinders or something.”

“Yes, mon étoile. I would never surprise you with something that… particular. No natto, no durian, no chòudòufu… Well, maybe natto. If you can eat gagh, texture certainly isn’t an issue.”

“Should you ever decide to make chòudòufu, I would be interested to try it,” Spock said, and Kirk couldn’t tell whether he was serious or not. “I find many human dishes to be lacking in flavor, perhaps due to my biology.”

“There’s nothing markedly different about your sense of taste,” Hayes said. “You’re better at handling capsaicin because of your higher pain tolerance.”

“He’s just a closet gourmand,” McCoy grumbled. “Tries to explain away his daredevil tastes by blaming it on being Vulcan.”

“I apologize, Spock,” Anne said, looking genuinely sorry. “It takes several months to make properly. Ben doesn’t have any either-- I would know, because I would have smelled it in their apartment by now. Even air scrubbers can’t get rid of that smell. I very much doubt you can get it on Yorktown at all, and it’s an absolute certainty that it isn’t on the synth logs.” She paused, thinking.

“Oh no you don’t,” Kirk said. “If it’s that bad, the last thing I want is for people to be able to synthesize it on extremely lengthy deep space missions. That would be like weaponizing the synthesizer.”

“It occurs to me that it could be to our advantage to be able to synthesize a potentially objectionable form of human food, Captain. Most specifically in diplomatic capacities.”

Kirk was tempted for a moment, but eventually shook his head. “In this case, I think the cost would outweigh the benefits, Mr. Spock.”

“Here we are,” Hayes said, stopping at one of the nondescript doors lining the hallway. “Now, Captain, you’ll be allowed to sit nearby, but not within arm’s reach. Leonard and I will be right there, so you don’t need to worry. If anything starts to look odd to me, I’ll call a halt.”

“Have you ever sat in on something like this before?” Kirk asked.

Hayes nodded. “And worked with people who have been through it. That’s where I developed the technique I used with Anne, among others.”

That, at least, was comforting. Hayes had been a stroke of luck in so many different ways. Kirk knew he should have at least tried to appear professional, but letting Anne go before he had to was just not going to happen. They walked into the lab, the others following behind.

Padded restraints. Barbaric. The examination table looked like a relic from another century. Vice-Admiral Landau glanced up from his padd as they stepped into the room, his lips thinning in a humorless smile. Councilor V’nula and Councilor Andrews looked on impassively as he spoke. “Good. I was notified that there was some trouble at the entry, but you seem sound enough.”

Claudia immediately sailed into her request for something to calm Anne, pulling up research and specific chemical interactions to justify the use of an anxiolytic. As Landau listened, a skeptical look on his face, one of the nurses approached Anne. “This way, please,” she said, smiling reassuringly. When Kirk started to follow, however, she held up her hand. “Just Ms. Hardesty, I’m afraid. No one is to have physical access to Ms. Hardesty apart from medical personnel from our initial scans onward, otherwise our results could be deemed invalid.”

She meant the possibility that he might slip Anne something, a contact drug of some sort, that might alter her ability to deal with the drugs. That didn’t make it any less insulting. Still, he didn’t intend to sit through this more than once, so he didn’t put up a fuss. Anne hesitated, then turned back to him and hesitated again, glancing at Vice-Admiral Landau.

He couldn’t help a little pang of affection. She wanted a bit of comfort, but she wouldn’t make him look unprofessional in front of someone who technically outranked him. It was good that he didn’t give a fuck what Landau thought. Kirk pulled her into an embrace, kissing her forehead and murmuring softly, “You’ll be okay, tiger. We’ll make sure of it.” Even if he wasn’t entirely sure, he wasn’t about to undermine her confidence by saying so.

She held onto him for a few moments, then pulled away, immediately walking toward that barbaric examination table.

A lot of nothing interesting happened in the beginning. Most of it was just scans and calculations. Hayes seemed to find something odd, but she shrugged it off after talking to Bones. Kirk contacted Commodore Paris and formally requested a security detail for Loche’s trial, and she agreed. She also complimented him on his handling of the media; apparently the article had been well-received.

So much talk about that stupid article. Kirk borrowed Spock’s padd and read it through while waiting for something to happen. That reporter had gotten everything right, and the writing wasn’t half as bad as Anne had claimed. He didn’t remember talking much about how they’d become involved, though-- Anne must have said something about it to Felden. Again, they’d gotten everything right. That didn’t improve his opinion of that reporter though.

He was wondering what to do next when he saw Anne arranging herself into those restraints, and Hayes shooting her up with multiple drugs. Seemed like the circus was about to get started. Kirk gave back the borrowed padd and kept his attention on Anne. She looked miserable, of course. Who wouldn’t be miserable? The restraints automatically adjusted to her limbs, trapping her. Hayes must have won the argument about the anxiolytic, because Anne didn’t immediately try to get out of them. There was a bit of shuffling and rearranging of where people were standing, and then Vice-Admiral Landau spoke quietly. “For the record, we need you to state that you’re here of your own free will and that you have not been coerced or compelled to be subjected to this procedure.”

Anne frowned, but complied. “I’ve agreed to this procedure of my own free will. I have not been coerced or compelled.”

“Thank you,” Landau said. He nodded to the doctor. Hayes and McCoy were both scowling so hard at that doctor that Kirk wondered why he didn’t burst into flames. Instead, he tinkered with a few of the displays before pressing another hypospray against Anne’s neck. Immediately, he loaded it up with something else and dosed her again.

It was evident when the drugs kicked in. Anne’s breathing quickened, her hands clamping into fists. Councilor V’nula began the questioning with simple things like Anne’s name, date of birth, and place of residence to get a base reading from her. Anne answered quickly, as if she wanted all this to be over with, and Kirk agreed completely.

Councillor Andrews stepped in with the harder questions. Despite her stern look, Kirk knew that she was a bit sympathetic at heart. She was the best choice for some of the things that were asked. Anne answered with as much detachment as she could muster, but by this point she was almost panting with fear.

“When you threatened Meredith, did you have any idea that you were pushing her toward suicide?”

“Yes. That was what I was told to do. He made me memorize how to push her buttons. He told me to make her feel worthless.”

“And why did you comply?”

“Because he had just cut me up and I was afraid he would do it again. More than once he told me he wanted to cut my back and legs or my face the same way.”

“So you played the role of enforcer with his other captives.”

“Yes.”

“Did you enjoy hurting them?”

“I don’t know. I hated them for being weak. I wanted to be away from them. I wanted to be one of them. It looked easier.”

“Did you ever attack them on your own initiative?”

“Only Brynna.”

“Did you enjoy killing her?”

“No. No. I never want to think about it again. I wish I could forget it.”

How could this not be enough? Anne was clearly unwilling. Even if she had mixed feelings about the other captives, she was consistently horrified by the things she’d had to do. Kirk had heard some of them; others he’d guessed at, and still others were a surprise. Uhura looked sick hearing some of the things Anne had done. Spock betrayed no emotion whatsoever; he’d been in her head for some of these memories. Bones was just watching Anne thoughtfully, and Hayes was unmoved by the things Anne said. Of course, Anne must have discussed some or most of them with her.

As Andrews finished up, the doctor began fiddling with his displays again, then shot Anne up again. This time, the results were far more visible. Anne was actively struggling against the restraints, her breathing shallow and quick, her movements jerky with all the adrenaline that had just been dumped into her system.

And they asked her the questions over again, digging for more details this time. Kirk could see why it was done that way, but still, these memories had been part of why Anne was so traumatized. This basically amounted to a form of torture.

“When you cut off Heather’s fingers, what were you feeling?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t remember doing it. I don’t want to remember it… she was screaming.”

“Why did you cut them off one by one?”

“Loche. He made me. He told me.”

“Why did you obey him?”

Anne broke down crying, and Kirk felt sick watching it. He’d almost stood up, but a warning glance from Bones reminded him of the consequences. He gripped the arms of his seat and waited.

“I had to. I couldn’t-- I-- He made me. He hurt me if I didn’t obey.”

“Did you ever try to disobey?”

“Yes. Five times.”

“Why did you stop?”

“I tried to escape. I failed. He punished me.”

“How did he punish you?”

Instead of answering, Anne started to retch. Kirk heard a crack, and realized he’d gripped the arm of his chair hard enough to break the plastic. The doctor rushed up and shot her up with something, and the retching stopped.

“How did he punish you?”

“He-- He-- I-- Lauren. She died, he killed her. He killed her with my hands. He made me hold the knife. He cut, he made me cut her face, she was still alive. He held my hand and made me. After that… After that I couldn’t. He wanted to make me sick like him.”

By that point, Andrews and Landau both looked unsettled. Uhura looked as if she was about to cry. Spock was Spock, of course, and Bones still looked more thoughtful than anything else. Hayes was scowling again.

Landau, Andrews, and V’nula huddled for a conference, and a disagreement appeared to happen. Kirk couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he could see that V’nula was insisting on something, and Andrews and Landau were against it. He had the feeling this was about whether they would do a third pass or not. In the meantime, Anne was silently crying, swallowing hard but making no sound.

The argument continued for a while, but eventually they came to a decision. “We have no need of further investigation,” Landau said. “It is clear that Ms. Hardesty was coerced and in danger of losing her life.”

The doctor began to adjust the displays again. Kirk tried to bite back his anger. There was no need for this. Even if this was what Anne had chosen, Starfleet didn’t have to go along with it. They could have looked at the evidence. They could have used a mind meld. They could have brought a Betazoid in to listen to Anne and find out whether she was telling the truth. He was walking toward Anne before he realized it, but no one stopped him. Before anyone could do anything, he’d hit the release on the restraints. Bones stepped forward, reaching for one of the hypos on a nearby table, but all Anne did without the restraints was sit up on the table, curling her legs under her, and look up at Kirk.

“Do you hate me for what I did?” she asked, her eyes brimming with tears. “I know it’s the drugs but I’m so scared--”

He cut her off by pulling her into his arms. “No way. I get it. Let’s just get you the counteractives and then we’ll get out of here.”

Her whole body was trembling. Kirk snapped at the doctor, and he gave her a few shots with the hypo, after which she started to calm down. Spock and Uhura approached, and Anne smiled weakly at them.

“Would you like this memory or any other excised?” Spock asked.

Anne shook her head. “Thank you for making the offer. I’ll get over them the old-fashioned way.” She looked over at Claudia. “Provided you’re still available,” she said uncertainly.

“Of course I am,” Claudia said, her voice low and even. “Remember, Anne, we all knew your situation. Knowing the details isn’t comfortable for a friend, but it’s not like any of this was a surprise.”

Uhura stepped up, laying a hand on Anne’s shoulder. “We took them all down. Don’t forget that.”

Anne’s eyelids were starting to droop. “I know,” she said softly. “But some things you just can’t make up for.”

“It’s all right,” Kirk said. She looked exhausted, and no wonder. He glanced over at Vice-Admiral Landau, wondering if they were released to go. It wasn’t quite 1500 hours yet, but he wanted to get out of here. He wanted to get Anne out of here. Deciding he didn’t give a fuck, he asked, “Do you think you can make it to the car or do I need to carry you?”

That earned him a little smile. “I can walk. Probably.” Kirk moved out of the way and she slid off the table, a little wobbly in those spike heels but all right.

Bones shook his head. “I hope this decision was worth it for you,” he said, his voice curiously free of the disdain Kirk would have expected with a comment like that.

Anne rubbed the tears from her cheeks. “I do too.”

“I want to see you tomorrow,” Bones said. “There was an anomalous reading I want to check out.”

“I don’t know if… could you come to our place?” Anne asked, her voice tentative.

Bones smirked. “Better than having you wreck my equipment again.”

Not that he wanted to be impatient, but Kirk wanted to leave. It was over, she looked like she would recover, and they were expected at Sulu’s apartment before they could go home. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

Vice-Admiral Landau must have overheard him, because he approached Kirk and Anne. “I would very much have preferred that this went to trial, but I’m glad it’s over with and you’ve been found definitively, objectively innocent, ” he said. “I hope never to have to see you in a professional capacity again after Loche’s trial.”

Before Anne could answer, Kirk found himself speaking up. “This was unnecessary, sir. You could have received the same results by using a mind meld or calling in a Betazoid to read her responses.”

The Vice-Admiral shook his head, his eyes regretful. “If we used a sentient for this, it would be less objective. At best it would be filtered through someone else’s biases; at worst, subject to potentially relevant concerns about corruption or conspiracy. It needed to be absolutely unassailable to protect all parties’ rights. I’m afraid there was no better way in this case.”

Frowning, Kirk was about to make a sharp retort, but Anne spoke before he did. “I just want to go home, Jim,” she said softly, her eyes inexpressibly tired.

It was her exhaustion that stopped him. “You’re right. It’s not worth it now.” Kirk sighed and wrapped an arm around Anne’s waist. “Let’s go.” Kirk nodded to Landau. “Sir.” Without waiting for a response, Kirk headed off to the elevator with Anne at his side, making for the lower decks.

[haveyouseenmymind]

Boop!

The origin of this fic is to be set in a conversation I had with @medicatemedrmccoy a few months ago, so I’m blaming her for this and I’d also like to dedicate it to her. Sorry sweetheart that it took me so long. ;) 

This may be tagged as Kirk x Reader, but the interactions are mostly between the Reader and Bones, so you mainly have to deal with friendly bickering and them being annoyed.

Fandom: Star Trek AOS

Pairing: Jim Kirk x Reader

Rating: Gen

Warning: the usual cursing

Words: 2335

Jim kinda gets drugged up on some alien food and now Bones and the Reader have to deal with him, which ends in trying to find him on the Enterprise.

“Unbelievable. Of course that stupid infant would get himself drugged up on some alien food, though I told him to scan everything before stuffing his mouth. And now I have to deal with this inebriated pain in the ass. Dammit, I’m a doctor not a babysitter.”

With your arms crossed in front of your chest, you were impatiently tapping your foot and throwing annoyed glances at the ranting doctor who held the whirring tricorder over your madly giggling boyfriend. Said nuisance apparently didn’t want to hold still as he was occupied with trying to grab Leonard’s nose, but so far he was failing gloriously.

The away mission had gone a bit differently than intended. Though the aliens Jim was negotiating with were really nice and this was one of the rather rare peaceful missions, it didn’t go as smoothly as everyone was hoping for.

Proof for that was the Captain, currently not in his right mind, draped all over the biobed while his best friend was checking his vitals and more than once slapping those hands away that were trying to get close to his face.

Like the doctor had said, Jim hadn’t dealt well with one of the alien dishes served, so that after the big banquet they had hosted in honor of their new growing friendship with the Federation, he had to be dragged away by you and Cupcake, who really tried to hold his laughter back, before the Captain had the chance to offend their hosts with his kinda drunk rambling.

Thankfully the aliens were really understandable when Spock excused his Captain and explained them that he did not feel well and had to retreat.

After that you and Cupcake took the loopy man straight to Medbay to the CMO.

Where said doctor wouldn’t stop complaining and acting like the worst drama queen ever. As if Jim being a wasted little shit was his problem alone.

Which was the reason you were really pissed at both men and still tapping your foot.

“Well if you could just shut up for one second? That would be really nice. If I may remember you, this is my boyfriend you’re talking about, so stop acting like you’re the only one suffering, when you know that I’m the one who has to deal with him like that all night and tomorrow in the morning.”

Leonard threw an evil glance back at you and kept on grouching.

“Yeah but so far I can’t see him sticking his dirty fingers into your face.”

“Boop!”

Jim had reached his goal and tapped his friend rather ungently on the nose.

“God dammit Jim, would you just stop that bullshit!”

The doctor, even more annoyed now, tried his best to wrangle the drunk Captain back down on the bed.

But of course Jim, still giggling like the loveable idiot he was, had other ideas than his friend.

Once again he reached for his face, but this time he groped the doctor’s nose instead of just booping it. He looked mighty satisfied when he got it between his thumb and pointer.

“Oooh, Bonsey look! Got your nose!”

Suddenly, the room was completely silent, and Leonard had gone still. Shit, that was no good sign.

While Jim was holding onto the brunet’s nose for his dear life, refusing to let go, the doctor turned his head towards you, trying to stare you down with his most threatening glare.

“Get that out of my Medbay, now!”

You tried your best not to laugh, as that would surely make the situation even worse, but it was really hard not to lose your shit, with the brunet trying to give you orders with a really nasal voice. It was just too hilarious.

“Aww, come on Leonard. Wouldn’t it be best if he slept this off here, where he’s just one second away from a hypospray?”

Finally, he got Jim’s hands away from his face, as he grabbed both wrists and held them down on the bed.

Jim tried his best to free himself out of the firm grip, but no squirming and whining made the agitated doctor let go of his hands.

“No way I’m going to let that menace stay here. I made sure that he’s not going to die and now he’s your problem.”

You sighed, cause this was clearly not how you had expected this to turn out.

“Traitor.”

Meanwhile, Jim had stopped moving. His breath had evened out and his eyes were closed, so Leonard felt safe enough to let go of him, though you thought it was odd for your boyfriend to fall asleep that fast, but who knew, maybe he was just that out of it.

Leonard led you away from the biobed where Jim was resting upon, to turn the conversation away from him and make sure you wouldn’t wake him up.

“I don’t think a hypo will help any further. He’s just drunk, so let him sleep it out in his own bed.”

You stared disbelievingly at him, not quite sure if you had heard right.

“Holy shit, I’ll be damned. I never thought I’d witness the day where Leonard McCoy would voluntarily refrain from hypoing Jim Kirk’s ass. I think I have to mark that day in my calendar. Are you sure that you’re not the one who’s drunk and out of his mind?”

Leonard just scowled at you, apparently he was done dealing with you or his best friend for the rest of this day.

“Dammit, just leave and take that pain in the ass with you. I have enough other shit to take care of. “

Well, it would be better to leave of right here and now. So you turned back to the bed.

Which was empty.

Jim was gone and his comm being left back was the only sign that he had been there at all.

Great, exactly what you needed. The Captain getting lost on his own ship.

The doctor wasn’t happy with Jim vanishing either.

“What the hell? Where the fuck did that menace make off now?! God dammit, can’t I just have one calm day with peace and silence?”

Instead of answering him you just groaned. How the fuck were you supposed to find him? He could have gotten to who knows where, and since he wasn’t in his right mind at the moment, he was unpredictable, too.

The brunet turned around, heading for his office, but not before giving you one last smug glance.

“Well, that’s not my problem any longer. Have fun finding that idiot.”

But before he could take one more step, you grabbed his arm, so that he nearly stumbled.

“Oh no, forget it, Leonard! This is all your fault! If you just had him strapped down onto that biobed, we all would have to worry about one less thing! So you’re coming with me!”

“How is this my fault now? If you just had watched out for what your idiotic boyfriend was up to, none of this would have happened at all!”

Damn, this bickering had to stop, or you couldn’t be held responsible for anything else that would happen. So you took one deep breath, trying to calm down.

“Ok, let’s agree that we disagree and don’t waste our energy with arguing. I’d prefer if we’d concentrate on finding that moron.”

The brunet just snorted, which didn’t help at all.

“This is the first valid thing you’ve said this day so far.”

“Oh shut up, Len.”

+++

In hopes of finding your missing boyfriend faster, you and Leonard had split up. While you headed for yours and Jim’s quarters, Leonard grumbingly went for his own, swearing to maim his friend if he’d find him there and his hidden stash of the good bourbon suddenly gone.

But your quarters were empty, and there was no sign that any of its inhabitants had been there recently.

Searching the mess hall and the observation decks had also been for naught, except that now you knew that Jim was a master at playing hide and seek.

You nearly wanted to give up and call it a day, when you’re comm suddenly beeped:

Did you find him? L.H.M

No luck so far. You? Y.N.

No. What places did we miss? L.H.M.

Uhm… The bridge? Y.N.

Fucking hell… Ok, let's meet there. L.H.M.

+++

About ten minutes later you stepped out of the turbo lift and onto the bridge, where Sulu, currently sitting in the Captain’s chair, looked up from his PADD, frowning as he spotted you.

“Lieutenant Y/L/N? Doctor McCoy? Is everything alright? Did something happen to the Captain?”

The rest of the crew manning the bridge stared at you expectantly, Chekov’s eyes wide and so worried that you needed to play it cool and reassure them, before all hell would break loose.

“Oh no, everything’s fine. Just peachy. I just have a rhetorical question. If you had to search for the Captain, where would you look for him, apart from his quarters, the observation decks and the mess hall?”

“And medbay, the training rooms and the labs.”, Leonard added.

“Yeah. Those, too. But you know, just rhetorically.”

Sulu looked at you sceptically.

“Are you saying that you lost the Captain? Aboard the ship?”

“No! We’re just having a slight disagreement about his current whereabouts!”

The pilot’s expression changed, and this time he was clearly mocking you.

“Which means you have no idea where he is. Have you tried asking the computer to locate him?”

You saw Leonard’s left eye twitch, and had the suspicion that he was preparing himself to launch into one of his angry rants, for which you absolutely had no time now, so you clasped your hand, right as he opened his mouth, over it and answered instead.

“That’s not an option, otherwise we would have tried.”

Thankfully, Chekov interrupted the stagnating discussion, at least he was the only decent human being left and trying to help you by making useful suggestions.   

“Have you been down at engineering? Sometimes he’s helping Scotty fix things when he needs a distraction.”

Engineering, of course. You nearly slapped yourself, when you realized what idiots you had been.

“Thank you Pavel, we’re gonna look there for him next. Come on, grumpy pants!”

You grabbed Leonard on the collar of his shirt before he had a chance to complain, dragging him behind you as you were making your way to Scotty’s office.

+++ 

Down in engineering everything seemed to be pretty calm, which was a small miracle. Normally there was always one or more of the engineers meddling with who knows what parts of the ship, most times added with a cheerily rambling Scot.

“Scotty?”

Several minutes passed before you heard an answer, and just as you wanted to call for him again, he whooshed out of his office.

“Shhh! You’re going to wake up the Captain!”

“So Jim is here? Thank god!”

You followed him back into his office, Leonard who hadn’t said anything yet, close on your heels. But when you finally saw Jim, you did a double take.

“What the hell?”

Jim was sitting at the desk, his head resting on his arms crossed right under it and next to him a box that apparently was filled with metal junk, and you realized that he still was holding onto some of it with his right hand.

Leonard looked at the mischievously grinning engineer, clearly surprised but also amused about the scene in front of him.

“How the hell did you do that? Seriously, you need to tell me your secret.”

And Scotty? He just laughed, grabbed his PADD to show the brunet something.

“I just gave him the box and he tired himself out over fiddling with some of my spare parts. Lets see, I got it all on my PADD, no way I could let you guys miss this out.”

Curious, you stepped right to his other side, looking at the PADD in his hands just in time to see Jim’s joyful expression, as Scotty presented him the scrap metal.

“Hey Jimmy, here is a box of shiny trinkets, knock yourself out.”

Jim, looking like he just got an early Christmas present, started squealing excitedly.

“Oooh, so shinyy!”

You watched as he was fiddling around with the metal, his eyelids slowly dropping when he got too tired after a while. Finally his head dropped down on his arms, and a few seconds later, he was out like a light.

It even got better when he started drooling on his shirt sleeves.

This was honest too good so adorable, you just couldn’t stay mad at Jim any longer, when he looked so young and innocent while snoring slightly in his sleep.

“Ok, come on guys we need to get him into a bed. Len, how about some help here?”

But the doctor was still captivated by the PADD, and as Scotty started the video anew, he was grinning madly.

“Scotty, if you get me that video, I’ll give you one free pass the next time something stupid happens down here. This is too good to be not used for blackmailing.”

“Deal!”

Were those idiots even for real? You send one last evil glare into their direction, before you decided to wake up Jim and get him back to your quarters.

“Hey Jim, wakey wakey.”

The blond groaned, but opened his eyes obediently.

“Noo, five more minutes…”

You couldn’t hold back a giggle, which made Jim realize who was waking him up.

“Y/N? I’m cold… Wanna cuddle... ”

“Come on Jimmy, lets get you to bed, there’s enough space for lots of cuddles.”

While Leonard and Scotty were still leaning over the the Scotsman's PADD you were annoyed, since instead of helping you out, they decided to ignore you completely.

Well, they would regret that later.

And with that you draped your boyfriend’s arm over your neck and tried supporting his still wobbly legs while dragging him off to your quarters.

tags:  @thevalesofanduin @medicatemedrmccoy @toosouthernforspace @reading-in-moonlight @feelmyroarrrr @0dannyphantom0 @eyeofdionysus @bsotstory @neon-green-bra @loststarlight

If anybody else wants to be added to or removed from my tag list, or has special wishes for being tagged, just let me know. :)

[mineofilms]

Star Trek (2009)

0) Forward: When I decided to write a blog on the Star Trek Kelvin Timeline I went digging in my back up hard drive to see if I had any notes on the subject back when the first and second movies came out, 2009-2013. What lies beneath is a review/blog/Myspace post I had about the 2009 reboot film.

After reading through it and correcting some poor grammar on my end, what else is new; I found the subject matter still pretty insightful. It makes me want to come back to this subject of where the Star Trek Kelvin Timeline could have been great, over just being…. Alright… I decided to keep the original layout format. This was way before I started writing as something more serious… Enjoy more Star Trek…

David-Angelo Mineo 4/20/2022

1) Introduction: To all the readers, web-bloggers, movie fans, haters, webzone fans & Star Trek fans.  As I sat in a half full movie theater on May 7th 2009, in Port Charlotte, FL to see the newest edition of the Star Trek franchise, tag-lined, “Not your Father’s Star Trek.” I wasn’t disappointed at all.  It had everything I thought it would have.

Now many people are on forums, asking loads questions related to; plot-holes, the characters, technology, alternate timelines, Star Trek canon.  You name it, it is somewhere, pending on your choice of forums you all like to vent/query on.

So I am here to “attempt” to clear up some of these questions.  Am I qualified to do so? Well, that is opinion… I have been a Star Trek fan my whole life. I grew up on the TOS films. I still remember sitting in a drive-in in Erie, PA, in PJs watching a double feature of “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” & “The Last Starfighter.” I obtained an AS Degree in Motion Picture development in 2004 where I specialized in Video Editing & Script Writing.

The fact that I have done very little in the field of Motion Pictures is irrelevant. What is relevant is that I understand; Plots, Character Development & Pacing. My grades showed that to be true. I also study Quantum Mechanics as a hobby, granted I don’t understand most of the complex mathematics in Quantum Mechanics but I get enough of it to understand concepts. I at least am open minded to “possibilities.” So as a fan and as someone who might have some insight on these movie points, I have elected to share as much as “I believe” is what was intended by some of the confusing but yet, clever script, called “Star Trek (2009).”

2) Characters: Some on the webzones have been saying how they do not like the character development of the key players in this film. We all forget that these characters are not yet established as the characters we grew up on. At this point in the story and due to the events of the first 10 minutes of the film, everything is being sped up. All the key players are affected by the destruction of the USS Kelvin. We don’t see every little character detail, but it is there.

We only see this with Kirk… Kirk’s life has already been changed by this event. By the time they are all grown up and meeting up on the USS Enterprise this single event has changed the way they all react to their environment. Towards the end of the film you notice, mainly in Kirk & McCoy, that the mannerisms we are so accustomed to see start to appear. Kirk has the swagger and the talking mannerisms as he sits in his chair as Captain of the USS Enterprise in the last scene of the film. We see McCoy at his side with his glum, “why me” look on his face. These are all signs that things are working themselves out within the parameters of the characters we are used to seeing.

3) Technology: This one sort of got to me in the theater as I watched the film. I know my Trek lore pretty good and with all the web tools out there, getting exact dates of when events happened and ships being built, where and why. The event when Nero came out of the black hole and attacked the USS Kelvin changes everything from character development to technologically advancing, even within the confines of Star Trek.

This is the single starting point of the story and where things change. I will say this over and over. Due to Nero’s actions the Federation is now stepping things up from; ship production, weapons enhancing, recruiting & advanced ship production. The Federation, worried about this attack is going forward with experimental new ship designs. The Constitution Class Starship is rushed into production and is the first of these new class of starships.

The USS Constitution is the first of her class, but in this “alternate timeline” we are unsure if the ship is even constructed. The only constitution class we see is the USS Enterprise. She is the newest, fastest, most advanced ship in the fleet. By the time, Kirk is captain in the TOS era, the USS Enterprise is already at least 10-15 years old. Here, it is brand new, on her maiden voyage. This ship is bigger too. In length, the original USS Enterprise from the TOS era was 288.6 meters. This Kelvin Timeline USS Enterprise is 725.35 meters in length. To give even better perspective the TNG USS Enterprise D is 642.5 meters in length.

The Federation is building nearly superior ships of the 24th century in the 23rd century. The federation also has cracked the Transwarp Threshold as well. That could be its own separate subject but just know even in Star Trek, Transwarp = Ludacris Speed…

This is another sign that this has become an “alternative timeline.” Nero’s ship is a hybrid mining/drilling vessel of a merger between Romulan/Borg Technology from the 24th Century.  Their shielding/weapons/propulsion/damage control is much more advanced than anything the Federation has seen to this date in this alternate TOS era.

The USS Kelvin, USS Enterprise, a small Federation task fleet of about 8 to 10 ships & 47 Klingon Ships, were no match for Nero’s “Beast,” the Narada… We do see the ship take damage but due to Borg Technology I wouldn’t be surprised if the ship repaired itself for the most part with little Romulan intervention.

With all that had happened with the destruction of the USS Kelvin.  The Federation Technology we do see in the film makes complete sense. It only doesn’t make sense if you believe the timeline they are in, is the one we are used to seeing, which we now call the prime timeline.

This is where Star Trek (2009) falls short. They released a series of comics that fill in the backstory as to who Nero is, what the Narada is, how Picard and the USS Enterprise E have their say in all this. What the red matter is and why it’s created. Where Spock (Prime) fits in. Why a single supernova is hazardous to a quarter of the galaxy. Pretty much everything one would need to understand the first few minutes of the film and when it time jumps to grown up Kirk/Spock. Most people, grown-ups, are not going to do all that work just to prep for a movie that is supposed to be about new beginnings and “not our father’s Star Trek.”

With that said this movie might have lost people it could have had. There is a whole subplot of how Nero and crew get captured by the Klingons and how they escape 20 years later only to bump into V’ger along the way to capture Prime Spock. Yeah, its all kinds of jacked up that way. However, it still gets a lot right. If you are really into Star Trek technologies this alternate timeline could really pump out a geek show for nerds. This is the first of at least four possible films, so we’ll see…

4) Plot: The plot isn’t easy to understand if you are not a supernerd but it is understandable.  It all comes down to this new substance they call “Red Matter” apparently when outside it’s electromagnetic shield, this stuff implodes an creates a temporary singularity (black hole) that is powerful enough to swallow a planet whole or consume all the explosive energy of a supernova traveling at transwarp. That is why this supernova is so dangerous because it is traveling at transwarp speeds.

Star Trek has been legendary for creating new “things” that has extremely destructive power or change the fabric of space/time how we are used to seeing it. It’s all fiction but that is the beauty of it. With the creativity you can make things up as you see fit, and leave the imagination to fill in the gaps.  

Basically, that is what this whole thing is all about, what you are reading here is just my creativity filling the plot-gaps I saw in the film. They do this in just about every Trek movie from the first one, Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979).

Things Star Trek Made Up During Movies to Drive the Story aka the “MacGuffin.” The MacGuffin is simply an object, device, or event, anything that is necessary to drive the plot and the motivation of the characters, along their journey:

Star Trek: The Motion Picture:

• V’ger – an almost planet sized living space craft.

• V’ger/Ilea/Decker new lifeform – a physical merger of V’ger, Ilea & Commander Decker

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan:

• The Genesis Device – a device that can create a living/breathing planet from a dead space body.

• David Marcus – Kirks estranged son

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock:

• Kattra – The lifeforce of a Vulcan embedded in another living being, essentially 2 souls in one body.

• Genesis Planet – The Genesis Device created a planet that is unstable and decides to blow up when everyone is on it.

• Klingon Bird of Prey – New ship we have never seen that can become invisible and is a staple for the Klingon’s battle fleet for the next 150 years in universe.

• Transwarp Drive – Apparently you can go faster and farther in less time, it was a failure.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home:

• The Probe – An unknown probe that has the ability to vaporize oceans and deem all star ships in firing range weapons powerless.

• Time Travel – “Sure, you slingshot around the sun, pick up enough speed you're in time warp. If you don't, you're fried.”

• Whales – A pair of Humpback whales from Earth in 1986 can talk to the probe and send it on its merry way.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier:

• Sybok – Spock’s half-brother, hey who knew?

• Sha Kha Rhee – The Vulcan word for GOD, so GOD is trapped on a planet that lies in the center of the Galaxy. You know I thought there was a super massive black hole there, not a strange looking glowing blue planet, where nothing grows and GOD just chills there, with “deleted scenes, Rock Men;” Right...

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country:

• Federation/Klingon Peace talks – in the TOS era, well I guess that is a cool idea, it tied into the TNG show pretty good, and it was a nice send off the original cast.

• Bird of Prey (prototype) – A Bird of Prey that can fire torpedoes while cloaked, they never even did that in the TNG, almost 100 years in the future.

Star Trek VII: Generations:

• Nexus – An unknown energy ribbon that bends space/time so much that when in the ribbon space/time/place/even being, do not matter, call it a dream like reality that can become anything you want.

• Kirk in the 24 Century – Yeah Spock/McCoy/Scotty are all here, so why not Kirk, oh wait, let’s not tell any of them what happened after the fact.

• Generations – Generations sucked for the most part, it would have only worked if they had the future TOS players come for an epic funeral at the end of Generations or make Star Trek VIII based on William’s Shatner’s book, “Star Trek: The Return”

5) Alternate Timelines: Star Trek fans are upset thinking that what has happened in the new “Star Trek (2009)” film is what is now going on, this is not the case. The TOS/TNG 24th Century is moving along on its merry way. Vulcan is still there, Pike commands two 5-year missions before Kirk assumes command. Spock still dies at the end of the “Wrath of Kahn.”

This is an “Alternative timeline.” It is separate from what we all know, this is why there are so many changes in characterization/technology/timelines. Spock & Nero did not time travel to the past on their own accord. The time travel device that was used was an artificial black hole made by “The Red Matter.” Therefore all the properties that are associated with what we know as black holes/singularities/time travel within the confines of Star Trek lore are different.

I have a theory about timelines, especially within science fiction stories. Nero went in first, he ended up on the day of Kirk’s birthday, attacks the USS Kelvin, which is way way out gunned. Kirk’s father sacrifices himself to save what is left of the crew. The USS Kelvin probably wouldn’t even have been in the area unless they were dispatched by Starfleet to monitor the spatial-anomaly.

This “Red Matter” material punched a hole so hard into space/time that it opened up a rift to another dimension that was very close to the one they were in, this happens in Star Trek all the time, just this time we didn’t get to see it, so everyone is roaring about it.

It’s explained in the prequel comic series but not enough in the film.  This event, changes everything. This is the single starting point of the story and where things change.” From the point that Nero’s ship comes through the singularity, space/time tries to correct the problem time and time again, like it is its own character. It is like an unseen force in this movie. Over and over again we seen things that are familiar but yet, different.

The USS Enterprise being built in Iowa, not in SF. Pike recruits Kirk to join Starfleet. In the TOS Menagerie: Part 1 Kirk says he has never physically met Captain Pike, but yet, in the movie Pike recruits Kirk to join Starfleet. Even Scotty being on the Ice World could be explained by Nero’s coming and destroying of the USS Kelvin.

Spock is stuck in this alternate timeline as well. All the “Red Matter” that was accumulated was destroyed during Nero’s last minutes. Nero could still be alive though, we never actually see him die, it is assumed he dies, but a man as hell bent on revenge and using Borg Technology can do a great many things. I wouldn’t be surprised if somehow he could be brought back in a future installment or an installment that fixes all the changes.

Space/Time attempts to correct the singularity in several ways.  Bringing the USS Enterprise, Pike, Kirk, Spock, Spock (Prime), McCoy, & Uhura together in the same place at the same time.  Regardless if the writers are the ones pulling the strings, they are. It is just another “thing” I can use to say, “look, when it is all over with, things are almost as they should be.”

Kirk is Captain, all the senior USS Enterprise staff is there. Captain Pike is in a wheel chair. It just happens way sooner than it was supposed to and in a different way. The only way it could have ended was with Nero’s ship being destroyed.

Space/Time started putting the pieces together as soon as the ship appears. One could argue that the USS Kelvin’s appearance where Nero appears is all part of the motion to correct the singularity. Kind of like how in “Final Destination” Death keeps trying to kill the people that were supposed to die in the plane crash.

This is a common theme in Star Trek (2009) and in most sci/fi time travel pieces. However, what about the V’ger/Nero connection? What about V’ger? Star Trek (2009) really opens a Pandora’s box of new possibilities considering where/how/what V’ger does in this timeline and does V’ger know of the prime timeline? All these things could be explored, but will they choose to explore these idea in older plots/characters or do stray even farther from Star Trek and more into Fast & Furious territory of senseless, unrealistic action followed by poor characterization?

 Star Trek (2009) by David-Angelo Mineo 5/8/2009 2,764 Words

[areiton]

I read a lot of fic this year. Like an obscene amount of fic. But here are the top 17, in no particular order. (Also because I read too much, a list of honorable mentions at the bottom!)

1. Strive Seek Find Yield | Spirk

Spock is heir to the Federation throne, Jim is Prince of America because his fucking brother abdicated, and the Klingons are on the verge of blowing shit up--a love story.

2. Blue Fields | Spirk

In his thirteenth year James Kirk ends up on Tarsus IV with his aunt and uncle. During the famine he takes refuge with a six year-old named Kevin Riley and a young half-Vulcan.

3. Like Moses & Batman & James Dean  | Destiel

dean used to turn tricks. over a decade later, he met cas.

4. The Real Meaning of Idioms | Johnlock

After two weeks away, John finally texts Sherlock. He doesn't expect Sherlock to respond. He doesn't expect Sherlock to keep texting him. And he really doesn't expect things to spiral out of control so rapidly.

5. A Turn of the Earth | Destiel

Dean’s your typical half-orphaned, monster-killing 22-year-old until a trenchcoated stranger crashes into his back windshield one September night, claiming he’s an angel that knows him from the future and that he’s on the run.

Frigging fantastic.

(Or, in which Castiel gets stuck in Dean’s timeline preseries and Dean kind of hates it—until he doesn’t.)

6.   Magpie | Spirk

Spock met Jim when he was 7 and Jim was 6. It has since been generally agreed that this was a mistake (or: the one where they grow up together and things are simultaneously better and worse for it).

7. Switch | McKirk

The life and times of Leonard H. McCoy MD/PhD …

If Leonard McCoy's life could get any fucking weirder, it would be … Jesus, he didn't even want to think what that could possibly mean, because it's already been too fucking weird to make any kind of rational sense.

A Starfleet Academy story, set in the ST:XI universe.

8.  For Gladness of You  | Spirk

In which shit goes down in no particular order: Jim almost starts a war, Spock gets tortured, Jim gets kidnapped, Jim gets tortured, Spock gets not-quite-kidnapped, Jim takes the Enterprise joyriding, and mysterious Vulcans with their even more mysterious leader hop a ride for a few weeks. But that’s not what the story’s about. It’s about this: Jim was always going to fall in love with Spock – boldly, recklessly. He just didn’t expect to stay that way. A story about getting over all that.

9. children of a bad revolution | sterek

Far away and long ago, the only companion Derek has, the only friend and enemy he's known since he was young, is the chain.

Then Stiles happens.

Then the crows.

Then the end of the world.

10.  with bloody feet across hallowed ground | Sterek

There were no last words. No more pleas, no more screaming. Just the sound of Stiles squeezing the trigger, the explosion of a second shot rocketing out of the revolver, and the hunters bursting through the open doorway just in time to see the bullet slam squarely into the center of Derek’s chest.

11. (sacred) in the ordinary | Sterek

The Pack, after college, graduate school and the starting of careers, comes back to Beacon Hills. Nothing's gotten less complicated after all this time.

Based on a kink meme prompt that grew legs and got serious.

Note: This is a whole lot of pack!fic with a very slow build Derek/Stiles

12. give me back my bones | Sterek

Derek meets Stiles on a Wednesday. He comes in for his usual cup of coffee and somehow walks out with hot chocolate, cinnamon on the top, and no idea what just happened there.

13. sell your body to the night | Sterek

"No," he repeated impatiently. "I'm not a cop. I'm someone who wants to exchange my money for your sexual services. I was told you were in that line of work."

"I, uh, yeah, sorry," Stiles said. He glanced around again and then up--the full moon was almost directly overhead. Just one of those nights, maybe. "Yeah, I am. I do that."

14. the payoff pitch | Sterek

Derek is on the cusp of his second season with the LA Dodgers, and as the reigning runner-up Rookie of the Year, the pressure’s on him to become the team’s star pitcher and lead them to the playoffs for the first time in five years. He’s trying to deal with the burden of expectations and really has zero desire to spend any extra time or energy on anything that isn’t baseball.

But then he meets Stiles.

15.  between dogs and wolves | Sterek

"This is…not four million in cash,” remarks Stilinski.

“Isaac. Did you fail to get my money back and decided to pick up a stripper on the road to bribe me? Because let me make this perfectly clear: this would totally work. Well done.”

Or

The mafia!AU where the Hales owe four million to the Stilinskis, Laura rents Derek (but not as a stripper), Stiles gets a new favorite, Derek gets a new boss, a new puppy and a new family.

Sometimes they break people, but mainly, they just snark at each other.

16. those are the days that bind us | Sterek

His father wasn’t stupid. He was an officer of the law, trained to look for patterns. He confronted Stiles about werewolves and they shouted and Stiles tried to explain but his father was so, so, so mad, more mad than Stiles had ever seen him, ever in all his life and then his father looked at him and said,

“It’s like you’re not my son anymore.”

And Stiles broke.

17. fixer upper | Sterek

After the events of 5a, Stiles is estranged from Scott--and by association, the pack. Derek is off finding himself, or, at least, Germany and some other places. There's a lot of texting and post cards and then Derek comes back to find Stiles missing. Worse, nobody seems to remember Stiles existing.

Honorable Mentions

Sterek

the world forgetting, by the world forgot*

we knew the hands of the devil*

the lighthouse keeper*

painted wooden letters*

come with me and walk the longest mile*

the lure of the moon*

A Crooked Way to Fly*

The Blood Blooms Clean in You, Ruby*

Here Comes Trouble*

The Waves that Rolled You Under*

Affettuoso*

Wolf in the House*

Hide of a Life of War*

Spark, Smolder, Catch*

Hold the Door* - Supernatural crossover

Forgive Yourself for Not Being Ready*

love always wakes the dragon*

don't fuss over me*

Star Trek RPF

flightless bird, american mouth*

A Passage that Sings*

Star Trek

When I Grow Up I'll be A Monster*

(This entire series is fucking AMAZING)

Turning Point*

Supernatural

The Cold Fusion Job*

Beyond the Weight of Submission*

[just-a-cato]

Spirk Timeline v. Spones Timline

So, I’m a multi-shipper. I ship every pair I like (even if they overlap), I vacillate between different ships, I poly-ship, etc. And, there’s nothing that necessarily makes Kirk/Spock (Spirk) intrinsically better than McCoy/Spock (Spones) or vice versa. I feel each ship is valid and appeals to people for different reasons. Though, there is one particular area where people might agree Spones is better than Spirk – at least from Spock’s perspective.

That is to say, looking at the numbers and timeline Spock would get to spend more years of his life with McCoy than he would ever get to spend with Kirk. I’m mainly going to be following the TOS timeline here but there’s some noted AOS added for flavor. Also, when I use the word “together” I mean that those I’m talking about are/can be in close contact with each other – not as an implication of a romantic relationship (though you can take it as that if you wish).

Based on TOS, we know that Kirk and Spock meet at the beginning of the five-year mission in 2265. At that point, Spock is 35 years old (born in 2230) and Kirk is 32 years old (born in 2233). We can assume they are together for the five years of that mission. The mission ends in 2270 and Spock goes off to expunge all emotion through Kolinahr but eventually returns to the Enterprise in the mid-2270s (in calculations I’ll be using the year 2274 because that makes it slightly less sad). After that, they are both together up until when Spock dies in The Wrath of Khan (2285). However, Spock’s death is negligible in the greater time frame given he was restored within a month or two of his death. Henceforth, Spock and Kirk are together until 2293 when Kirk gets trapped in the Nexus only to come out of it in 2371 and die soon after. Spock, of course, lives to 162 years old, dying in the prime reality year 2392 (AOS year 2263).

Lot’s of numbers, I know, but here’s the tally:

Five-year mission = 5 years

Post-five year mission ≃19 years

Total time ≃24 years

That’s just about 14.8% of Spock’s total life.

(The light green marks the points in time where they were together)

If we calculate the time a Kirk, not just TOS Kirk, was in his life we would combine the 24 years of TOS Kirk with the 5 years (alt timeline 2258-2263) there would be a grand total of 29 years. Which, is the equivalent of only about 17.9% of Spock’s life.

So, no matter how I slice it, it’s as if Kirk had the fleeting life of a fly in comparison to Spock.

Which, brings us to the subject of McCoy’s life. Similar to the Spirk timeline above, McCoy and Spock meet in 2265 (when McCoy was 38, born 2227), are together until 2270, and then only came back together again in the mid-2270s (again, for calculation purposes 2274). After the movies we don’t see Spock and McCoy in the same room again but, canonically, McCoy lives long enough to be spotted in the TNG pilot “Encounter at Farpoint” which takes place in the year 2364. Therefore, the last we see of McCoy is him as a somewhat aged looking 137 years old. Even though he is very lively and still has enough piss and vinegar in him to make a sly comment about how Data sounds like a Vulcan, for a minute let’s say he did die soon after that in the year 2365.

So, here’s the tally:

Five-year mission = 5 years

Post-five year mission ≃ 91 years

Total time ≃ 96 years

(Those inclined to do so may also add about a month or two here given that Spock’s Katra was inside of McCoy while he was dead in 2285)

That’s about 59.2% of Spock’s total life.

If I was to compound the lives of TOS McCoy and AOS McCoy it would equal 101 years, which is approximately 62.3% of Spock’s lifetime.

Final Statistics:

Lifetime of Spirk ≃ 24 years (14.8% of Spock’s life)

Lifetime of Spones ≃ 96 years (59.2% of Spock’s life)

TL;DR

Kirk’s short life makes Spirk feelsy and tragic but McCoy’s very long life makes Spones good old married AU material.

Though, of course, canon is easily ignored or made better in fic so everyone is free to portray these couples as they please.

[littlebitoffanfic]

Late Coffee

Fandom: Star Trek Characters: Kirk, Bones, Spock Relationship: Kirk/reader Request: Hello! I love your work and would like to request a one-shot where the reader has always been a bit of a loner on the enterprise, she is a forensic pathologist (directing dead bodies to find why they died) and one day while working she meets Spock and Kirk for the first time and they are spooked, while bones is all yup that's her, and Kirk sort of is trying to ask her out through the whole story at the end she sort of agrees You sat in your small office, sorting out some paperwork when you heard a knock at your door. It was rather late at night so you hadn’t expected anyone to be looking for you. Of everyone on the enterprise, you were probably one of the least busy people at this time. You were a forensic pathologist, which mainly consisted of examining bodies to try and piece together the cause of death. While it was sometimes a gruelling and frustrating process, especially when a case is complex, it was rewarding. You were able to give family’s some sort of closure. It was also very challenging. You had studied for years to work in this field, but that didn’t mean you were able to crack a case just by looking at a body. No amount of training in the world could do that. There are thousands of ways someone could die, some leave marks on the skin, some on the internal organs and some are as small as a pin prick. You had to have a keen eye to pick out these small discrepancies on the bodies. Due to the nature of your work, you often found yourself on your own. For one, the dead sometimes offered a better atmosphere and company than the living and two, people associated you with dead bodies. And that didn’t exactly scream ‘best friend’. You didn’t mind though. And you weren’t always on your own. For one, you had made friends with the head of the medical bays, Bones. You couldn’t help but chuckle to yourself every time you thought of how ironic his name was. It would be like you being called Death. He was rather like yourself, only a little more moodier. You worked really closely with him, especially if he has a patient that didn’t make it, you had to verify the cause of death for paperwork reasons. You would also go to him if you were a little stuck on cases. “Hello?” You called out, looking up at your door. The handle turned and Bones stepped in. “Hi, [y/n]. you know how there was a mission to the surface today?” He asked, walking closer to your desk. “yes.” You answered, knowing where this was going. It was a small planet which didn’t have much in the form of life. Which mostly likely meant they had brought back something dead. “They found a body. Can you come take a look.” He nodded his head to the door. You nodded, and got to your feet. Your office wasn’t far from the medical bay, so you followed him there. But as you entered the room, you noticed 2 men standing in the centre of the room. Normally when this happened, Bones wouldn’t allow anyone in the room apart from you due to the distressing nature some can feel at seeing a dead body. Instantly, you recognised them. The shorter one with bright blue eyes and dirty blond hair was Kirk, the captain of the ship. The Vulcan who stood to his right was Spock. You had not met either of them properly before but knew them from over hearing things. And Bones. “Good evening.” You greeted, nodding your head slightly. You could see the outline of a body beneath sheets behind them. “Bones, I thought you said you were getting the forensic person.” Kirk asked, unable to take his eyes of you as he addressed Bones. “And I did. This is miss [y/n] [l/n]. Shes the forensic pathologist for the ship, and has been for the last 3 years.” Bones said, sternly. You couldn’t help but smirk as you raised an eyebrow at the two before moving past them to the body. You glanced back and saw Kirk nodding to you with a confused and bewildered face while Bones smirked and nodded. “Where was it found?” You asked as you pulled back the sheet. You saw that it was human, which made your job a little easier. You grabbed some gloved from the side and pulled them on your hands before getting to work. “near a small river.” Kirk answered as the 3 men came to stand at the other side of the bed. “Male, age about 35, Caucasian.” You mumbled to yourself, making little notes for your paperwork. “So, you deal with all the dead bodies?” Kirk spoke, making you look up. “Yes, that is what a forensic pathologist does. I would have thought the captain should know such things.” You mumbled, the last part more to yourself as you leaned over the body. You heard Bones sniggering to himself as you gently opened the mans eyes. “brown eyes, very bloodshot. Eye lids inflamed.” You continued to mumble to yourself. “So how come we haven’t seen you before?” The captain continued to question you as if you weren’t pouring over a dead body. “Possibly due to the fact I prefer to deal with the dead.” You mused, not looking up. once again, Bones snigger and you knew he was enjoying this. He had always said if you met Kirk, he had to be there. “We theorized the cause of death might be due to the quality of the water.” Spoke offered, trying to bring the focus back to the body. “Was there anything else around the body to suggest that to you?” You asked, looking up. “Like what?” He seemed confused by your question. “Well, the body has a way of getting things out of its system by regurgitating it. If you are suggesting the water was perhaps poisonous, then before he died, his body would have tried to reject the water.” You explained, opening his mouth and looking for inflammation. “yes, there was vomit by the body.” Spoke answered. “That’s something, but doesn’t prove your theory, im afraid.” You said, straightening up. “How?” Kirk asked, followed by a quizzical look from Spoke. “Well, someone can suffer from an inability to keep down simple things like water and food in a variety of deathly situations. From a quick look at the body, I don’t think this was a murder or attack by any creature.” You turned and said to Bones. “So what do you think it is, love?” Kirk asked, walking around the table to you. You had to resist the urge to roll your eyes at him. “Probably something natural. I think there are 2 options. The first being that the water did not offer the correct nutrients or the water was poisoned, as you suggested. Or he dies of water intoxication.” You shrugged, pulling off the gloved. “I’ll have a better look in the morning.” Bones nodded, turned and walked to the cupboards to pull out some documents. Spock went over to speak with the medic. Leaving you and Kirk. “So, whats water intoxication?” he asked, seeming genuinely interested. You were taken back by his interest, considering most people would want to get as far away from the body as possible. “Its when the body consumes too much water.” Your answer was simple and straightforward. But he didn’t seem to think so. “I didn’t think there was such a thing.” He frowned, tilting his head. You did have to admit, he was rather cute. “It normally happens when someone is suffering from severe dehydration. They find a body of water and just keep drinking. That’s what probably happened to him.” You nodded to the body. “he probably thought he was helping himself, but he was actually killing himself.” “How come I haven’t seen you before.” Kirk suddenly asked again, making you frown. “Ive already told you. Im not a people person.” You said, smirking a little. “Plus, I spend my day around death.” “So do i.” Kirk chuckled and nodded to Bones and Spock. You couldn’t help but laugh. It had been a while since someone had made you probably laugh like this. You clasped a hand over your mouth and turned away from Bones, who looked up at your sudden laugher. “What do you say we go grab a drink and speak more about this water thing.” Kirk suddenly asked, gesturing to the body. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” You shook your head, unable to believe his audacity. And charm. “Why not?” He asked. “It is really something im very interested in.” You didn’t say anything but instead shook your head with a smile before walking past him to grab some documents. Bones and Spock were now walking out the door. Kirk followed you to the station. “How about coffee in your office?” He asked as you reached up and pulled down a folder. “Really, in my office that has photos of dead bodies cut open, operating tools and descriptive documents?” Your voice was dripping with sarcasm as you turned to him. “If it means I get to see you again, I’ll help with the dead bodies.” Kirk winked at you. You couldn’t help but smile as you shook your head. He was persistent, you would give him that. But he was also a distraction. So you couldn’t really have him in your office. Plus he had a ship to run. “Dinner tomorrow?” He asked, after you failed to answer him. You mused for a moment. “Breakfast.” You answered, wanting to see how much he would be willing to sacrifice just to see you again. “At 5AM.” “I’ll be there. And we can speak more about dead bodies.” Kirk suddenly smirked, taking you back. You hadn’t expected him to actually accept the offer. You expected him to say that was too early but he was willing to get up at that time. And considering it was close to 11.30pm now, it would only give him a few hours of sleep after a long day. he started to walk away, a new bounce in his step. You almost growled to yourself for actually wanted to see him again. “I don’t really eat breakfast. What about late coffee? At 11?” You called after him, biting your cheek as he turned to look at you again. You could see his eyes light up slightly. “How do you take your coffee?” he asked, turning back to face you. You told him, and he nodded before turning and walking out the door. A part of you was on cloud 9 at the thought of seeing him again. You hadn’t felt this excited about a meeting in well over 4 years. And you knew you had made the right decision when you received a knock at your office door the next day at 10.45am as you were getting ready to leave. When you opened it, you came face to face with the same brilliant blue-eyed captain holding two cups of coffee. He handed you one of them as you stepped aside and allowed him into your office. “To late coffee.” He announced, holding his cup up in a toast. You couldn’t help but giggle as you carefully knocked yourself against his. “To late coffee.”

[startrekreviews]

TOS Novel: Strangers from the Sky

TOS: Strangers from the Sky by Margaret Wander Bonanno Book Jacket’s Summary:      “James Kirk didn't normally pay much attention to this thing – a best-selling book, and a controversial one at that. But Strangers From the Sky had piqued his interest – and everyone else's, it seemed. For the book disputed a fact well known to every Federation schoolboy: That Earth's first encounter with alien life had occurred when the UNSS Icarus came upon the humanoid people of Alpha Centauriin 2048.      Strangers claimed that history was wrong... that humanity's First Contact with another sapient species had taken place years earlier. And that when the two races met, something happened. Something so climactic, so dangerous, that it had been wiped from the records and kept secret by both worlds for almost two centuries.     But when Kirk read the book, it triggered strange dreams... nightmares that threatened first his health, then his sanity. It was only when he discovered that Spock also shared those dreams that the Admiral began to wonder: Could there be more to this book than he or anyone guessed...?” Yeaka’s Notes:     Set before First Contact and Star Trek: Enterprise told us more of the first Vulcan landing, Strangers from the Sky retells an unofficial first contact. It’s split into two ‘books’, one of which vacillates between a ‘novelized’ tale of the past, the second of which is mid-movies Bones trying to convince Kirk to read this novel, while Spock’s off on the Enterprise. Scotty, Uhura, and even Cleante (Dwellers in the Crucible) show up briefly, but this is mainly a Kirk, Spock, and sometimes Bones story. The individual bonds between the triumvirate are each strong and enjoyable, well worth the wait between other parts. Original characters make up the other sections, and most of them (the Vulcans, the rescuers, and the fleet crew, just not a set of Irish and cyborg terrorists) manage to be just as compelling as the main crew. Despite the ‘novel’ parts being entirely original, they’re equally as engaging as the modern sections.     (Spoiler) The second half of the book, unlocked via a Kirk/Spock mind meld, tells of a mission set before TOS: Where No Man Has Gone Before, with Kirk, Spock, Elizabeth Dehner, Gary Mitchell, and Lee Kelso. After being split up through space and time, each get their own scenes, so this is automatically a must have for anyone who wanted more of that pilot crew. Gary is a bit misogynistic, but the rest are helpful, and the pre-friendship Kirk/Spock dynamics are an interesting trip. Spock even finds a relative of his and has to do the old always-wearing-a-hat thing. Kirk and Elizabeth have a staged relationship, but they’re never actually closer than Kirk is to Bones and Spock in the current timeline chapters.     Through all of these complicated, ultimately convergent plots and the uncharacteristically long page count, almost every part of Strangers from the Sky is wholly worth reading. It’s a great find for Vulcan fans, involving new Vulcan characters (a strict commander/mother and her 19-year-old navigator/son) that have never seen humans before and are rescued by Japanese and Ukrainian agriculturists; the relationship between all four is interesting and rewarding. It’s a perfect addition to the TOS episodes, providing back-story for otherwise one-off characters. And, even though they’re separated for most of it, it’s great for McSpirk, Spirk, McKirk, and Spones feels. Basically, this is just excellent all over. 10/10; would read again. Noteworthy moments: (below cut)

Ch1/p23 Bones tries to get admiral Kirk to read “Strangers from the Sky” while Spock’s off training cadets on the Enterprise, Kirk recalls Bones making him read “The Final Reflection”, they debate philosophy

Ch2/p52 Kirk orders a paper book made up, to the bookstore owner’s incredulity and displeasure; Nogura’s read it, even Kirk’s students are pushing him to read it; Kirk runs into Uhura and Cleante (Dwellers in the Crucible) in a coffee shop, Cleante’s there with T’Shael, who’s at an appointment with M’Benga

p56 When Kirk’s home computer gives him trouble, he wonders if Spock’s tampered with it for a joke; he checks on the Enterprise and orders a salad per Bones’ pestering

Ch3/p76 On the Enterprise, a cadet tries to convince Spock not to take a third shift in a row, Spock concedes and goes to meditate

p81 Spock notes that Scotty never addresses him by name on the intercom, “For both of them there was only one true captain of Enterprise.”

p83 Spock touches Kirk’s mind across space, checking if Kirk’s alright and knowing Kirk will reach for him mentally if he’s needed

Ch4/p98 Kirk tells Bones about his dreams while they run cadets through the Kobayashi Maru

p106 Kirk knows cadets call him “Captain Quirk” behind his back

p115 Kirk goes to Easter Island, which has become a museum, and experiences a Maori ritual with the curator

Ch5/p136 Meeting aliens, humans think of Carl Sagan’s petunia quote (“I think the chance of a man mating with a petunia is much greater than the chance of him being able to mate, much less produce offspring, with an inhabitant of another planet”)

p142 Bones meets Scotty and Spock returning on the Enterprise with bad news of Kirk, Kirk’s always there to meet the Enterprise unless something’s very wrong

p146 When Spock visits him in psychiatric care, Kirk resists hugging him because others are watching; Spock asks if he can meld them, Kirk laughs and asks since when does Spock need permission with him, the psychiatrist bursts in fury over their mind meld

p151 Kirk and Spock are released to Bones’ custody, confined to Kirk’s apartment together, for 48hrs

p161 Kirk and Spock arguing over the report right after Gary Mitchell’s death; Spock contemplates the first time he melded with Kirk and that he’d “hold on—for weal or for woe, as McCoy would say—for as long as they both should live.”

Book 2 Ch1/p169 Kirk plays chess with Gary, Gary suggests setting Elizabeth up with Spock because they’re both “cold”; Kirk contemplates why Spock makes him uncomfortable 

p174 Spock’s puzzled by an Earth idiom on the bridge and Kirk scolds him for it, Kirk accuses Spock of making up an anomaly as a prank, later apologizes

Ch3/p192 Kirk’s landing party (minus Spock) winds up in an Egyptian prison

p220 Kirk’s overwhelmed by a memory of him and Spock, but Spock brings him back, Kirk calling out for Spock and Bones concerned whilst watching over them (they’re confined to Kirk’s apartment, under Bones’ custody, because of bad psych evaluations)

Ch5/p225 Spock visits his great-great-great-grandfather in past Boston

p244 Spock puts an ad in the personals for Kirk, “Kirk, James T.: Awaiting your command”

p310 Kirk struggles in dealing with Vulcans

p324 Kirk recalls finding Spock alone at night in the gym exercising, Kirk asked Spock to teach him the exercise and Spock refused

Ch11/p393 Spock picks up a sleeping Bones to carry him to bed, “Effortlessly he lifted the limp figure from the chair, intent upon carrying the doctor into the bedroom where he could snore to his heart’s content. McCoy responded to the change in position by wrapping his arms around Spock’s neck, snuggling into his shoulder, and mumbling something that caused him to smile in his sleep.”; ““I’m cold!” Kirk said suddenly, surprised at himself. He set about laying a fire in the barren hearth. Spock remained at his side, to warm his soul.”

[daretomarvel]

 Tag:11 questions

RULES

Always post the rules

Answer the questions given by the person who tagged you

Write 11 questions of your own

Tag 11 people (or however many you want)

Thank you to @writsgrimmyblog for tagging me, I love these sort of things!

What’s your favourite quote from a book or poem? Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. This is not at all what the poem was about, but I’m chronically ill, and when I was first sick and getting diagnosed it felt a bit like I was watching a train wreck. Like everything was falling apart and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. Dylan Thomas’ poem meant a lot to me then, especially the last two lines, and to be honest it still does. Honourable mentions: From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king. -The Riddle of Strider, J.R.R. Tolkien Hope that the road is a long one. -From the Greek poem Ithaca (available on the Cavafy archive)

What song makes you want to dance like nobody’s watching? Tie between Only Girl (In the World) and What Makes You Beautiful

What’s your favourite ship to read? Kirk/Spock, followed very closely by gryles. Also a sucker for Stiles/Derek fic even though I never watched Teen Wolf. The fic is amazing though.

If you could own one item of clothing belonging to any celebrity what would you pick and why? No hesitation, definitely the blazer of that custom Gucci suit Harry wore on the first night of his Late Late residency, mainly just because I thought it was completely stunning but also because I want to be the kind of person people make custom suits for. (Just in a more lawyer-ly and less pop culture way.)

Gif with a hard or soft ‘g’? Soft ‘g’, but omg, the age old question. I’ve never known for sure and always operated under the “if you say it confidently enough they’ll think they’re wrong and won’t correct you” mentality.

What’s your favourite fanfic ‘getting together’ trope? 1000% fake boyfriends. Just because it is so incredibly ridiculous and I can think of literally no RL situation where that would ever be the solution, but it’s so good.

What’s your guiltiest pleasure? Probably ice cream? I’m not allowed to eat it (see above about the chronic illness, it makes me feel incredibly gross) but I love it so much and sometimes cheat and then hate myself in a perpetual cycle of bad decisions :P

Most relatable 1D (or solo 1D) lyric? Hmmmm, probably:  And you will find me In places that we've never been For reasons we don't understand Walking in the wind Because I’m a bit of a wanderer, and I’ve never really understood it because I have an amazing family and I love spending time with them, but I want to see everything, experience the whole world.  (Also because that song is a masterpiece, come @ me)

If you could give one piece of advice to a celebrity, what would it be? “Keep doing what you’re doing” to Arianna Grande, because it’s been a long time since I had so much respect for the strength of someone I’m used to seeing on magazine covers.

If you were famous for a day, what question would you most dread being asked during an interview? This was actually hard for me, because I love talking and I love people listening to me, and I think I’d actually really enjoy the interview part of fame. Probably “celebrity crush” though, just because I think that would be massively awkward if you ever got to meet the person lol.

Tell me your favourite joke. This isn’t really a joke, and possibly is really weird humour, but it made my laugh for about 5 minutes straight:

My questions are:

Who do you think has had the most impact on your life so far?

Favourite book, and why.

Where is your favourite place to go, and what’s the feeling it gives you?

If you had to eat only one food for the rest of your life, what would you pick?

You could have literally any job on earth, and you’d be qualified for it. What would it be?

What’s the nicest gift you’ve ever received, and what made it so lovely?

Best and worst flavour of ice cream.

If you had to choose between going to Hogwarts, being the Doctor’s next companion, or joining the crew of the Enterprise, where are you headed?

You have the chance to take a free university degree (tuition, books, cost of living, etc). Would you take it? And if so, what would you study?

Best concert you’ve ever been to?

If you had to learn another language, which one would you pick, and why?

I literally have no idea who to tag, because I’m sure a lot of people have done this already and also I know like....4 people on this website, so??? But @blamegryles, @clipsandstuff, @androgynoustyles, @ohharryhoney, @vvhiteroses, and @sth2live4​, if you’d like to have a go, please do! (No worries if not!) And to literally anyone else who follows me and would like to do this, have at it, I’ve tagged you in spirit :D