#man's playing 3D chess while everyone else has no idea what the fuck is going on

[killerandhealerqueen]

Yes, go and have a look...so that your ass can get caught

Girl, why are you questioning him, he's San Ye

Ooo, he's getting irritated with you...

He's asking you to go so that he can throw your ass under the bus. Or weren't you listening to what I said earlier?

Ah...blackmail. Never fails (but also he's like asking her, "Don't you want to see Jiang Yuelou?" Since he...you know. Knows he's her son)

RIP Jiang Shengnan, you were just another pawn in Zhan Junbai's plan

[kinetic-elaboration]

July 9: K/S Origin Story Headcanons

At work today, I started thinking about how, while I’m fine with Kirk and Spock’s first meeting in ST09 and it works well enough for that AU, I emphatically don’t think any of that Academy stuff is also canonical for the TOS timeline. I seem to vaguely remember someone (involved with the film) saying it could work for both. I neither agree with that nor want it to be true.

I won’t go so far as to say it’s impossible, but the main reason I actually do think it’s implausible is that their relative school-ages are different in each ‘verse. That is, they are still the same number of calendar years apart, but in the TOS TL they each started the Academy at 18, whereas in the AOS TL, Spock starts at 18 and Kirk at about 22. So Spock is already several years out of the Academy when Kirk starts in AOS, whereas in TOS they might have overlapped in their education. Thus it seems illogical (sorry) to assume they met in the same way, even if you do think they met before serving on the Enterprise together as Captain and XO.

Do I think they likely knew each other in some other way? I mean... it’s plausible. Starfleet might not be that big, and Kirk canonically knows literally everyone. But considering that Spock spent almost his entire career on the Enterprise with Pike, and Kirk was on a variety of other vessels and planets, I feel like they probably didn’t know each other more than in passing.

And because ‘knew each other in passing’ just isn’t a fun origin story, I personally assume that they did not know each other at all before Kirk got the Enterprise. I use a lot of apocryphal sources, personal heacanons, and random assumptions to make up their back story as I see it, but nevertheless, I just have a lot of feelings about it and love it so much more than any boring enemies-to-(friends/lovers) narrative.

As I said, I thought the AOS backstory worked for AOS--but it does bug me in some ways--this assumption that two men who meet must first see each other as rivals, because men have the emotional depth of wild animals and can only view other men in terms of threats to their place in the invisible Man Hierarchy or whatever. This would be an unnecessarily mean reading if it were not for literally everything else in the reboots’ depiction of gender. In context, and keeping in mind that awful ‘two alpha males’ quote from, I think, ZQ, I think I’m being quite fair and accurate.

So, again, it’s fine for what it is but I do sometimes wish it was something else, and I certainly do NOT wish to import it in any way into the TOS-verse even with some details changed to fit the timeline.

The TOS origin story in my mind isn’t “rivals to lovers” it’s “I want to hate this guy but damn he’s awesome... to lovers.”

Or more specifically:

Spock has his place on the Enterprise. He’s served with Pike on this ship for over a decade, and he clearly developed an intense loyalty to Pike in that time. Pike was certainly his mentor;he was probably also a replacement father figure when Spock and Sarek weren’t speaking. Unlike Kirk, who was flitting around different ships/planet/assignments, the Enterprise was Spock’s replacement home--super important for someone who’s desperate for belonging.

Then Pike takes this sudden promotion, and leaves the Enterprise. I think this was pre-5YM, but nevertheless in the middle of a mission, and very unexpected. Starfleet obviously really wants Pike for this other post because he’s in a position to bargain: he’ll take the promotion and leave the Enterprise IF his protege gets to be First Officer under the new Captain.

At the same time, Kirk is the ambitious young officer who wants to be Captain. And he has this idea that he and his best friend/on-and-off boyfriend Gary Mitchell are going to get their own ship and be first and second in command, and basically run the thing. This plan seems to be working well; he’s promoted to Captain in his early 30s and he’s given the Enterprise, and there’s a spot for Gary there, too. Unfortunately, it’s not the First Officer spot. That’s been taken. That was figured out before Kirk even got the ship--a major personnel decision figured out as part of a deal he wasn’t involved in, that will nevertheless have a big impact on his life, and certainly fucks with his plans. So he gets Gary the navigator position instead, and they figure, good enough for now, and eventually this other guy will move on, and they’ll get to be the team they always thought they would be.

All of this perfectly sets up Kirk and Spock to meet and be rivals--not because men will recoil from potential threats in the form of other men, but because of the specifics of their circumstances. Spock is prepared to be wary of the man who took his mentor’s spot on the Enterprise, and Kirk is prepared to be wary of the man who took the First Officer spot he wanted to give his boyfriend friend.

And then instead of hating or even disliking each other, having to be cool and professional with each other, they instantly hit it off. They just like each other. Spock finds Kirk charming. Kirk sees that Spock is brilliant but also surprisingly funny. They play 3D chess and Kirk always wins! They enjoy each other’s company.

Kirk breaks it off with Gary for good--citing the whole being-his-superior-officer thing, and their friendship becomes awkward, because not only did Kirk ‘replace’ him as XO, he seems to be replacing him as a best friend/most important person, too.

I think Where No Man... takes place pre-5YM and not long after the chain of events that led to Kirk (and Gary) joining the Enterprise crew. I think all of this is very fresh--hence the awkwardness in the elevator scene, and catty Spock lines like “Is that the Gary Mitchel that you used to know (biblically)?” Notably, there is NO animosity between Kirk and Spock in Where No Man. Kirk and Gary are awkward. Spock and Gary fairly obviously hate each other. Kirk and Spock are introduced joking over chess. 

Their problem was never being rivals, competitors, or enemies. It was liking each other too much from the start.

[bipabrena]

Your new Eruri piece just made me think about how none of this tomfoolery with Marley would have happened if Erwin has lived. Erwin would have had one of those child leashes on Eren and everything would’ve been under control. The man was a master planner and he was three steps ahead of everyone. Zeke and Yelena would never have been able to pull the wool over Commander Handsome’s gorgeous blue eyes. I’m convinced that Isayama nerfed Erwin to make the Marley arc happen tbh

The very first thing I want to say is this: this arc with Erwin would’ve been insane. Erwin and Zeke would basically be playing chess against each other, while everyone else was still gathering the pieces. No, not even that; they would be playing 3D chess while everyone else was still learning the rules. That’s how intelligent they are. Their battle of wits would’ve been INCREDIBLE.

Now, as for the rest:

I absolutely agree with you. Things would’ve been radically different under Erwin–no question about that. However, I think he’d understand the real danger Marley posed and why what Eren did was understandable. He’d simply go about it a different way.

Marley and several nations were going to declare total war on Paradis regardless–what Eren did simply put them a step ahead of them. The truth is that, while smart, Hange is a different kind of smart from Erwin. She’s too passive and submissive as a Commander, and lacks the charisma and insane leadership Erwin had. She’s brilliant and innovative, but in my opinion, when it comes to tactics and long-term strategies, she fails. That’s where Erwin shone. But like Levi said once, Erwin’s instincts would never be off the mark, so it’s likely she’ll shape up soon and we’ll see he was right to appoint her (though it’s not like he had an ample list of people to choose from, lol)

Armin is too gentle and understanding of his enemies (and ironically not with his best friend), and while I understand his approach of negotiating, he refuses to understand the world sees them as filthy devils who deserve to die. He knows the world sees them as scary, but things aren’t so simple that they can just talk to everyone and hope they see they’re not scary after centuries of indoctrination that Eldians are evil. They can’t just talk. Eren had the right idea when he said that, yes, they should negotiate, but during that time-frame, they needed a weapon to make sure no one would mess with them WHILE they gathered enough tools to seek diplomacy.

It’s true that Hange was already thinking of going to Marley to speak, but did they seriously believe Marley was just going to allow that to happen?

I also want to mention that Eren has seen a world no one else has. For some reason, everyone refuses to understand this. They have given up on him so easily. They don’t stop to think about how the memories he’s seen have made him see a world so different that he understands they do not have time. Erwin would have understood this. He would’ve seen this, because just like Eren is now, Erwin always saw the bigger picture, no matter how grim it was or how much could be lost from it. That’s what I think.

Anyway, Erwin would’ve seen both sides and he definitely would’ve come up with something no one else could. Do forgive my shameless self-promotion, but I’m actually writing a fic where Erwin was (fucking RIGHTFULLY) given the serum, and it’s about the events from chapter 84 onwards. At first, it explores Levi’s growing obsession with Erwin, yes, as well as everyone’s mental states, but it’ll eventually catch up to the arc and I’ll explore everything that’s happened, but with Erwin. Kiyomi coming to Paradis (SHE WOULD’VE BEEN CHARMED BY ERWIN AND NO ONE CAN CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE), negotiating with Hizuru, listening to Zeke and coming up with alternatives.

He’d also be struggling with guilt from all the people he sent to die just so he could see the basement, buuuuuuuuuut he wouldn’t lose his way or objectiveness. Not at all. He’s still human and I’m showing that and how he feels, but he’s still the stoic Commander. You can read it here, if you want.

I just love Erwin so, so, so much. I wish he were alive, more than anything. I wish Zeke could have met him, I just wish they all could see what a force to be reckoned with he was.

And you, or anyone else, cannot deny he’d look fucking hot in the new uniform. And he’d be a damn badass as the Colossal Titan.