#the real romantic of tos is spock actually

[spirk-trek]

S1E3: Charlie X .˚ ✧· ⋆

[spirkbitch]

the fact that i’ve seen like multiple people say that Spock and Chapel having a previous relationship makes their TOS “relationship” deeper and, specifically, that her love confession in The Naked Time is more romantic with this context

if that’s what you think romance is i honestly don’t want to hear your opinions on any ships/relationships ever again

because if we broke up over 8 years ago and you’re still flirting with me to the point of borderline harassment i’m getting a restraining order, i don’t care how much you ‘loved’ me

[gaytricorder]

Do you really think shatnoy was real? /Gen I am intrigued actually. I don't tend to dabble with rpf but your post made me think

do i think shatnoy was real, hmm. not really, no. i think shatner and nimoy liked women very much. do i think they had a friendship that perhaps went a bit deeper due to their shared bond over making star trek and spending so many years in each other’s company? yes.

if you think about it, a lot of friendships are surface level or maybe hindered due to work, family or other responsibilities that get in the way of forging true platonic relationships. shatner and nimoy were thrust into an intense level of fame after tos began to gain traction and eventually becoming a cult classic sci-fi television show. their faces were everywhere. they weren’t bill and leonard anymore, they were spock and kirk. with that level of fame comes its own difficulties and on top of that, they were probably always presumed to be as close as they were on the show.

shatner is not kirk in real life. he’s obviously said and done some things that some people find reprehensible. nimoy has shown himself to be a genuinely kind and philanthropic person. i think because of their opposing personalities, it kind of clicked for them. yin and yang, so speak. nimoy blunted all of shatner’s serrated edges and shatner was endearing to him in a way we’ll never be able to bear witness to or quite understand. i’m not claiming to have known them in their personal lives, but through interviews, books, and movies, i think i have a better understanding of what worked for them.

do i think shatner and nimoy had some kind of secret, passionate romance unbeknownst to the world? no. but i do think they loved each other, deeply. i think trust and understanding are things that few people are able to share completely with another human being. genuine affection (not romantic nor familial) for another person despite their flaws and shortcomings is something so rarely experienced in someone’s lifetime.

so no, i don’t think shatnoy was real in the sense that you’re asking me about. i think shatnoy was real in a much more intimate way. they loved each other. they watched each other grow old. probably confided in each other about their fears and frustrations that came with being spock and kirk. celebrated victories and failures as actors and people.

probably griped to each other about how annoying some star trek fans (me) can be.

they were best friends.

it’s depressing they weren’t able to make up before nimoy’s death, but shatner has made his affection and respect for nimoy publicly known.

and even though the world knew them as kirk and spock, they knew each other as bill and leonard.

(and maybe they made out sometimes when the mood struck idk)

[anghraine]

astarreborn replied to this post:

When i first watched the episode i thought spock was weirded out because lenore is so much younger, and while kirk isn't above turning on the charm on younger women his own purposes (mirri), the women he's genuinely attracted to tend to be his equal intellectually (edith keller, carol marcus)+ unlike mccoy youth on its own doesn't really count for him (the man trap)

On the one hand, you're right about Kirk's preferences. Even only looking at TOS, when he actually gets to have a voluntary romance (past or present) rather than one forced by the circumstances, he's very frequently drawn to elegant scientists and science geeks. The woman he nearly married in his 20s was a lab technician, Janet Wallace is an endocrinologist, Janice Lester is a scientist, Edith Keeler is obsessed with space travel and the potential of atomic power, Rayna functionally has 17 degrees in arts and sciences (even in Kirk's brief, abortive flirtation with Helen Noel—a psychologist—he "talked about the stars" with her rather than pursuing the sexual relationship she wanted). Now and then, he's into highly competent professional women like Areel Shaw (a lawyer) or Janice Rand (whose role as a mature woman and not a super young, fresh-out-of-the-Academy one is repeatedly emphasized in "Charlie X", by Kirk and others). He very clearly has a specific type that Lenore doesn't fit.

(And even in the tactical circumstance of "Miri," it doesn't enter his head that her interest is sexual/romantic until Spock and McCoy tactfully let him know.)

On the other hand, Spock's alarm is very definitely not driven by a belief that Lenore is Kirk's real motive. McCoy is the one who can only really see Kirk's behavior through the filter of Kirk's pursuit of Lenore, and who doesn't want to see the cold calculation behind it right up to the final moments of the episode. It's McCoy who tries to convince Spock that Kirk's attraction to Lenore is all that's going on, and it's Spock who correctly insists that's not the real explanation and something deeply concerning is going on that's connected to Kirk's questions about Thomas Leighton + Lenore and the Karidian players + Kevin Riley. When Spock leaves and starts researching potential connections between the various things he's concerned about, he doesn't even run a search for Lenore but for her father's history in combination with Leighton, Kirk, and Riley that turns up the Tarsus IV backstory.

But yeah, the specific conversation I was referring to in my post is this:

SPOCK: Spare me your philosophical metaphors, doctor. The captain is acting strangely. I'm asking if you've noticed. MCCOY: Negative. [...] What are you so worried about, anyway? I find Jim generally knows what he's doing. SPOCK: It was illogical for him to bring those players aboard. MCCOY: Illogical? Did you get a look at that Juliet? That's a pretty exciting creature. Of course your personal chemistry would prevent you from seeing that. Did it ever occur to you that he simply might like the girl? SPOCK: It occurred. I dismissed it. MCCOY: You would. SPOCK: Did you know that he suddenly transferred Lieutenant Riley to engineering? MCCOY: Lots of things go on around here that I don't know, Mr. Spock. Now, he's the captain. He can transfer whoever he pleases. You can look that up in a hundred volumes of space regulations somewhere. All right? Come on, have a drink. SPOCK: No, thank you.

[fxoye2]

I’m fascinated by all the issues ppl have w snw Spock since I was rewatching TOS recently and it struck me how completely different pine Kirk is from tos Kirk. Like there have been articles written about kirk drift and what not — tos kirk is v measured and calm and smart, and sort of a romantic hero but not really. AOS Kirk was sort of originally written as the generic 00s action fuckboy that flirts a lot, is sort of an ass and breaks shit but I think pine’s performance kind of elevated him beyond that. Plus I think his kirk definitely evolves. but even though I’ve seen a few ppl be kind of meh/mad on aos Kirk (and there are issues I have w his character being written as kind of a jackass in the first movie but it gets better) I’ve seen a lot more ppl embrace him and his messiness as opposed to being like, he’s just a shitty version of tos kirk. why do u think that is?

Oh wow, you’ve hit on something so interesting, and I think this really highlights the difference in how fans react to Kirk versus Spock when they get reimagined. AOS Kirk and SNW Spock both deviate a lot from their TOS counterparts, but it’s true—people seem way more willing to accept AOS Kirk and even embrace his messiness, while SNW Spock gets way more heat. And I think there are a few reasons for that.

First, you’re absolutely right—there’s this thing called “Kirk drift,” which is the way Kirk’s character has been kind of misremembered and simplified over the years. TOS Kirk was actually really thoughtful, measured, and intellectual, but people tend to remember him as this brash, reckless womanizer who breaks the rules and flirts his way out of trouble. The real Kirk in TOS was actually a lot more nuanced than that, but the pop culture image of Kirk doesn’t really match up with the original character. So when AOS Kirk came onto the scene, he was written more like that “action hero” stereotype at first, but because of the whole cultural idea of who Kirk is, a lot of people just accepted it as part of the character.

And I think Chris Pine’s performance played a huge part in why AOS Kirk is more embraced. You’re right—he could have easily been a generic 2000s action “fuckboy,” but Pine brought this vulnerability and depth to Kirk that made him more than just a cocky rule-breaker. He played Kirk with this sense of loss, of trying to live up to this impossible legacy, and I think people resonated with that. It made his messiness feel earned and relatable, because you could see the cracks in his facade. Pine’s Kirk wasn’t just an ass for the sake of it—he was a young man with trauma, struggling to find his place, and that added layers to a character that could have been flat.

Plus, AOS Kirk does evolve, like you said. By the end of the first movie and definitely by Star Trek Beyond, we see Kirk growing into a more responsible, thoughtful leader. He’s still impulsive, but there’s a clear arc where he matures, starts valuing his crew, and takes his role as captain seriously. That evolution is important because it shows that AOS Kirk isn’t static—he’s allowed to grow and become more like the Kirk we know from TOS, even if he starts off rougher around the edges.

Now, why does AOS Kirk get more leeway than SNW Spock? A big part of it, I think, comes down to expectations. Like we talked about with Spock, Leonard Nimoy’s portrayal of Spock is iconic, not just in Trek but in all of pop culture. He created a character that people deeply connect to, especially because of how alien and different Spock is from the usual human characters. Spock’s calm, his logic, his struggle with emotion—it’s all part of what makes him unique, and fans are protective of that. So when SNW Spock is presented as more emotional, more human, and not quite as restrained as we’re used to, it feels like a betrayal of what made Spock special.

On the other hand, Kirk’s pop culture image has always been a bit more forgiving of chaos. People are more willing to accept Kirk being brash, flirty, and impulsive because that’s how he’s been remembered, even if that’s not totally accurate to TOS. So when AOS Kirk comes in and is more chaotic and messy, it doesn’t feel as jarring. It’s almost like the chaotic, action-hero version of Kirk fits into the pop culture idea of who Kirk is supposed to be, even if it’s not entirely true to his original character.

There’s also the fact that AOS Kirk is introduced with his relationship to Spock front and center. Even though they’re combative at first, we know that Kirk and Spock’s relationship is going to be one of the defining aspects of the story. There’s this comfort in knowing that, no matter how messy AOS Kirk is, his connection to Spock will eventually ground him. SNW Spock, on the other hand, hasn’t had that same grounding relationship with Kirk yet, so we’re seeing him struggle without the dynamic that many fans see as central to his character. Without Kirk as his anchor, SNW Spock feels more adrift, which makes his emotional volatility stand out more. We haven’t seen the Spock-Kirk bond yet in SNW, so there’s a feeling that something’s missing.

In short, AOS Kirk gets more room to be messy because the pop culture version of Kirk has always been a bit more messy, impulsive, and chaotic, so his flaws don’t feel as out of place. Plus, Pine’s performance brought depth to that messiness, and we saw Kirk evolve into a better leader. SNW Spock, on the other hand, has to live up to the iconic, restrained version of Spock that fans cherish, and any deviation from that feels bigger and more unsettling. The lack of his bond with Kirk in SNW also makes Spock’s struggles feel more exposed and less balanced, so people are more likely to push back against his portrayal.

[jennelikejennay]

I watched two TOS episodes recently, Metamorphosis and Wolf in the Fold. Both were interesting, neither was awful, but I can see the reason people who have seen this kind of episode calling the show misogynistic.

I disagree, because our heroes never for a second hate women, but both episodes are extremely gender essentialist, and the women lack agency almost entirely.

First: Metamorphosis.

This is the one where they find Zefram Cochrane and he's being kept forever by a cloud creature called the Companion.

In a shocking twist, we find out that the Companion is a girl. This changes everything apparently:

KIRK: Feminine. No doubt about it.

SPOCK: Yes. The matter of gender could change the entire situation.

KIRK: I'm way ahead of you.

SPOCK: Then it is not a zookeeper.

KIRK: No. A lover.

How can a cloud be a girl? Well, gender (and heterosexuality) is a constant of the universe it seems.

COCHRANE: Captain, why did you build that translator with a feminine voice?

KIRK: We didn't.

COCHRANE: But I heard—

KIRK: The idea of male and female are universal constants, Cochrane. There's no doubt about it. The Companion is female.

The assumption that every species has those two genders and is always heterosexual is bad enough. But beyond that, unspoken, is the idea that falling in love is what women do, that if a woman is on screen it is safe to assume that it's because of a romantic situation. Why couldn't the woman still be a zookeeper? Or maybe have maternal emotions? Or want to be friends?

The complete absorption of a female character is glossed over. She's not dead, anyway, and some other lady can do her old job. Byyyye!

So. The idea was interesting but the execution left much to be desired.

Next was Wolf in the Fold. I skipped it last time I was watching because it didn't sound very good. And I was right! It's not.

First off, the male gaze is.... noticeable.

It's not as bad as it could've been. This lady appears to be doing this for fun, and she's happy to leave with Scotty. It's just that the society is very free and sensual. Okay.

The other weird thing is that Bones and Kirk say that they're setting this up for Scotty, to cure his irrational hatred of women, because it happened to be a woman who caused him to be injured recently. So really, it's medicinal. At first it sounds like they're joking, but then the log says the same?

Either way, I don't really care for the scene. It feels like the woman exists to be pretty and presumably to sleep with Scotty, and then, of course, to be killed.

The plot here is that something is killing a lot of women, and Scotty is suspected, but [spoiler] turns out it's another cloud creature. It feeds on fear, and therefore preys on women because they have "more fear." A lot of unsolved murders of women throughout history turn out to be because of this thing.

It feels like it glosses over all the actual reasons women are so often targeted for crime, with gender essentialism again.

So, on the "women are real characters with agency" scale, these two episodes fail. Women are the problem, which the male characters solve.

That said, I don't think either one does much to support the accusation that Kirk is a misogynist. In both cases, it's the situation that's the problem, the world itself. Could he call it out better? Sure. But he does help the Companion get her man, and he does catch the woman-killing creature, so that's nice.

Then he heads off to a café where "the women are so—"

We never get to hear what the women at the café are like, except that it's clearly something sexy, given Spock's lack of interest. I don't think it's wrong to like to look at pretty women—I also like to look at pretty women—but it still feels pretty scuzzy the way it's depicted. As if the women were a product available at the café rather than people they might meet there.

So. I can sure see why these episodes weren't on the lists of "best of TOS" that guided me on my first watch through.

[electronickingdomfox]

"Bloodthirst" review

It's Resident Evil, but the zombies are vampires!!

Novel from 1987, by J. M. Dillard. Kind of a retread of her previous novel ("Demons"), but substituting demonic possesion with vampires. Of course, there's nothing supernatural going on, but a scientific explanation behind everything. I found it less scary than the previous entry, though it's in the same spirit of horror story, this time with a political background as well.

The initial setting is intriguing, even though it's fairly obvious what's going on and who are the villains, from the earliest chapters. The ending is also exciting, and reminded me of an actual TOS episode. The problem is the rest of the novel, and by that I mean like 90%. I had the impression of reading chapter after chapter of barely anything but filler. Kirk does little more than talking through the terminal with this or that. McCoy does little more than telling Kirk "they're close to find a vaccine" and fretting over Chapel's sickness. Spock does... nothing, really. The fact that the story was extended artificially to a breaking point is obvious by the fact it takes the crew SEVERAL DAYS to find an intruder in the ship (an intruder who wears a red cape, is sick and insane, and screams in pain every time light touches him). This with a crew of more than 400 persons, and with the full security team activated at all times (what the hell!?).

To add more padding to it, there are lengthy scenes focused on a group of redshirts. Now I don't have a problem with original characters having their spotlight if they're interesting and play some role. But these guys just reflect about their High School dramas, and they don't have a distinct role compared to any other redshirt: that is, being attacked and suffer a lot. The other characters are a mixed bag. The most interesting is probably Adams, the "vampire", and the passages that follow his sinister deeds are the only ones that keep the plot moving, in that stale middle section. Kirk is serviceable. In particular his friendship with Admiral Quince felt like the real thing. And he gets to do some of his cunning negotiations at the end. McCoy on the other hand... Look, this author makes him funny on occassion, but in my opinion, she has a REALLY odd idea of the character. From the "dirty old man" trait, to his clumsiness and cowardice. The guy who would offer himself for torture in "The Empath" is here scared shitless at the prospect of it (well, he's scared of dark corridors too, so...). Fortunately, there's no Mary Sue on sight this time. Unfortunately, there's still the obligatory romance "out-of-left-field" for McCoy, that this author seems so fond of. This time in the shape of... Christine Chapel??? We're suppossed to believe that she's not just the closest person to McCoy (closer even than Kirk!), but that all this time, they've been repressing romantic feelings for each other. And that Chapel isn't really attracted to Spock, but only chose him because he'd never return her feelings... Yeah, weeell, how about... NO.

Other random weird bits: Nobody knows what a vampire is in the 23rd century (only Chekov has heard about this legend, that had survived for hundreds of years so far). And a crippled Enterprise can only manage to go at warp 9! (c'mon Scotty, I'm sure you can do better than this shitty, fast-as-fuck warp 9 speed...). Spoilers under the cut:

The Enterprise receives a distress signal from a scientific station at planet Tanis, but upon beaming down, they just find a deserted lab, two dead scientists missing most of their blood, and a single survivor: Dr. Jeffrey Adams. Adams looks gaunt and is obviously suffering some kind of disease that makes light painful for him. He's brought to sickbay, and needs continous blood transfusions to survive. But when Kirk interrogates him, suspecting the scientists were doing illegal research on biowarfare, Adams says they were just working on agricultural projects and that the other two commited suicide. Nonetheless, the evidence at the station points to Adams as the murderer, and it seems he had drunk the blood of the victims too. The fact that Admiral Rodrigo Mendez, head of weapons research, is awfully interested in destroying any trace of the virus, and quickly bringing Adams to trial, makes it all the more suspicious. However, the landing party is unable to recover any sample of a virus at the station, and records had been destroyed, so the Enterprise starts travelling to the nearest starbase.

After being informed of this, Adams accuses Mendez of being the mastermind behind the virus development, and begs Kirk to not surrender him to Mendez, since the admiral wants to kill him. Kirk is unwilling to believe at first that Mendez, or any other top brass at Starfleet, would be involved in such deadly project. Besides, upon learning that one of the dead researchers was Mendez's son, he dismisses the admiral's behavior as natural resentment. Nonetheless, Kirk contacts his friend, Admiral Quince Waverleigh, at Starfleet HQ, to see if he can unearth some dirty laundry among the top brass.

Meanwhile, Adams attempts an escape from his isolation chamber at sickbay, and injures Chapel, drinking some blood from her head wound. Adams doesn't go far under the light. But Chapel has contracted the disease, which is contagious upon contact, and slowly slips into a coma. In the end, McCoy realizes that Chapel has died, and disconnects life support. And there's a lot of drama about this, but since the reader can probably guess where this is leading to, and what the solution will be, the scene doesn't have all that much impact. Apart from this, Spock has recovered some info from the fragmentary records at the station, that tell about a Vulcan researcher who had also died at an earlier point. This suggests that there was, in fact, two versions of the virus: a first one that was deadly to Vulcans (and thus, Romulans too), and the current mutation (probably accidental) which is deadly to humans. This deepens Spock's suspicions about Mendez, since he had lost his wife in a Romulan attack.

Once in the starbase, Adams is brought to a detention cell, which he promptly escapes again, this time more successfully. First, he attacks a guard and steals her red cape, to better protect himself from the light, as well as a device that blocks tricorder readings. After this, Adams kidnaps Lisa (a redshirt on shore leave), and forces her to ask for a beam up directly to her quarters in the Enterprise, where he also attacks her and drinks her blood. And then comes a loooong period where everyone is searching frantically for Adams throughout the ship. And yeah, he can block tricorders, but it's not like he's invisible or anything... He goes as far as entering sickbay and stealing transfusion equipment to draw more blood! (his next victim being Stanger, another redshirt).

For his part, Admiral Quince starts noticing strange things going around him, ever since he started investigating: sudden personnel transfers, tampering with his terminal, etc. He sends Kirk a quick anonymous message, to warn him that things are looking ugly. Yet Kirk is unable to reach him afterwards, and later is notified of Quince's sudden death in an "accident". This is the last straw that convinces Kirk of Mendez's guilt, alongside a small clique of corrupt admirals. So he decides to lure him to Tanis and catch him red-handed there, with a bluff: he tells him that Adams has been captured and has spilled the beans about the R-virus (the incriminating Romulan strain), and that they have found the evidence at Tanis.

At sickbay, Ensign Stanger wakes up from the dead after having been infected. And even though he shows some early signs of "vampirism", his good side wins in the end, and he's able to protect his friend Lisa and capture Adams (at long last!). McCoy has also developed an effective vaccine, that he administers to the whole crew and Chapel, who's also waking up from the dead (but strangely enough, much slower than Stanger?). The modus operandi of the virus is thus revealed: at first, it sends the host into apparent death (actually, hybernation) while it consumes the bloodstream's heme; once the host is depleted of heme, he wakes up and starts craving blood and infecting others. (But I don't know, as a bioweapon, it doesn't seem so effective to me...).

In the final chapters, Spock and McCoy beam down to Tanis and confront Mendez, who demands the samples of the R-virus (which they actually don't have). But just then, a transporter beam captures them and they appear in a Romulan ship. As it turns out, Adams had contacted the Romulans, promising them the samples of both virus in exchange for his freedom. Kirk forces Adams to cooperate by refusing to give him the cure, until he tells them where's the R-virus, so Adams confesses: the original R-virus had been hidden all this time inside a locket that he wore around his neck. The Romulan commander threatens Kirk, saying that he'll kill Spock and McCoy if he doesn't surrender Adams. Yet Kirk tries to negotiate with him and buy time, now that he has the only sample in his hands, though the Romulan doesn't agree to destroy the sample. However, Spock, McCoy and Mendez had managed to escape from their cells in the meantime. And after a run through the enemy ship stunning Romulans (with McCoy closing his eyes every time he has to shoot, the poor devil), they manage to lower the shields and beam themselves to the Enterprise, which promptly warps away. In the transporter room, Mendez makes a last, desperate attempt to escape with Adams and the sample. But Spock tricks him into confessing everything, and then Kirk informs him that he's been monitored, and now Starfleet knows everything about his involvement in the illegal research. In the epilogue, Kirk reflects about his lost friend Quince. And there's a moving scene where he receives a posthumous gift, with a last message from his friend, telling him to not feel guilt about his death.

Spirk Meter: 0/10*. Kirk and Spock barely exchange a couple of lines throughout the novel.

There isn't a lot either in other departments. Spock and McCoy don't seem to like each other much, though McCoy asks Spock for company while disconnecting Chapel from life support. Though it's hard to read that as Spock/McCoy, when it's evident that McCoy's full concern is for Chapel in this book. Maybe, maaaaybe, one could read some McKirk in the final scene, when McCoy drinks with Kirk in his quarters and comforts him about Quince's death. But at this point, that's like begging for crumbs.

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

tagged: @bonez-artistry

[sofiadragon]

The best realistic relationship on TV?

Listen, folks, we've got a real one here. It's messy. It's complicated. They are in love, but love is hard when you can't be in the same physical space. Her job gets in the way. His job gets in the way. According to canon, she's going to leave him for another dude and the original plan (that she doesn't end up using in TOS) is for muscle man to kill him in honorable combat. Spock has nightmares about this. Strange New Worlds has the tea.

I am very, very close to buying the streaming service from Paramount just so I can binge this show for this relationship. I've seen all the clips I can find and watched some at a relative's home. There is realistic adult communication about sexual and emotional needs - Spock almost does a spit-take when T'Pring brings up the books she's read about the type of sex she assumes he wants to have and it's just so real.

She's assuming things and he's too shy at first to just lay out what he wants because he's trying so hard to be Vulcan [fill in your metaphor for what "Vulcan" is standing in for here: neurotypical, non-kinky, stereotypical gender roles, whatever it is that a man might wish he was in the bedroom that he isn't - and then the fiance is actually interested and reading a shelf full of the wrong books to try and accommodate.] Then, he talks to a friend for advice and it's great! It doesn't pave over their culture, but the human friend boosts up that Vulcan honesty is one of the best things about having a Vulcan as a friend.

Most of their issues come from the long-distance nature of their relationship, not that it was arranged or anything that would imply the human way is better. They are very pleased that they were paired up, they just both have jobs that send them all over the place - often on short notice. Sometimes when they are mostly naked and about to have some quality time together.

This relationship and its problems are so real and it is so refreshing to see a messy romance that is treated this way in media. They are trying so hard and sometimes it works, but other times it doesn't. It shows the work you have to put into the relationship.

There is ND representation if you want to read Spock that way (he isn't neurotypical by Human or Vulcan standards, and as of Discovery canonically has dyslexia/dysphasia) and people have been reading him that way for 50 years. A relationship handled this well on TV with an ND person is something to take note of. This is good representation for any kind of realistic romantic relationship with normal problems in media, but that just kicks it up another notch because the metaphors are easy to see or not as it applies to the viewer.

There is such good open communication in this relationship, and even though we know it is doomed the work they are putting in is great to see. This didn't fail because they were bonded at age seven and then just hated each other.

These writers deserve some praise for doing this job so well.

[lenievi]

❌ and 📄 pretty please!

❌What WIP do you find the most challenging? Why?

This isn't a wip per se (it just lives rent-free in my head), but I've always wanted to write a spones fic where Spock would be somewhere on the ace spectrum and McCoy would be somewhere on the aroace spectrum, and both of them would put all of these expectations on the other one - McCoy thinking that Spock can't actually love, while Spock thinking that romantic love and sex are the most important things to McCoy - and they'd misunderstand each other. But they would eventually carve a relationship that would be specific to them both, without trying to conform.

I just kind of really dislike how the fandom acts in regard to ace!Spock (and how aphobic a lot of Spock's stans are), so it isn't really something I'm comfortable with tackling because I always see all the comments I encountered when I entered the fandom in my mind.

📄What’s a WIP you never finished that you would like to go back and revisit?

It isn't a priority but one day I would like to finish my "5 times spones get fake married and one time it is for real". It's actually a rare AOS spones fic, and I just like the accidental marriage trope. (although I might write a mckirk one before that lol because tos!mckirk deserve all the tropes)

[grandwretch]

Kirk/Spock has less real basis than Spock/Uhura. Girl, read a book, not fanfiction.

not if you're talking about TOS? like sorry but if you're talking about the original series, then Spock and Uhura have literally two moments in Season One, and then nothing else. neither of which include Spock being interested in Uhura, btw. and then Uhura like... moves on? She gives up? She's implicated in the movies to be with Scotty instead?

Like, if you want to say that Spock has a canon female love interest, then Chapel is a much more compelling answer, because yanno... they have more than two scenes where Chapel seems interested.

Also, Uhura/Kirk is like WAY more a compelling ship for Uhura, considering like. They were the first ever interracial kiss on television. (Even though, you know, in context it wasn't super romantic.)

Meanwhile, Kirk and Spock are t'hy'la, they're assumed to be a couple in novelizations, the entire show is about their relationships, and they're literally based on Alexander and Hephastion, who are real people who were actually fucking and in love in real life.

Also. I've literally never said it was bad to ship Spock/Uhura. What I said was that it's stupid to pretend that Spock/Kirk is inherently racist in its existence, when Spock/Uhura was no more canon during TOS's run than Spock/Kirk. How would you like it if I claimed that shipping Spock/Uhura was homophobic, with absolutely no real basis?

AOS doesn't factor into this because 1) 60s housewives had no idea it was coming, and 2) when AOS came out, people had already been shipping K/S for fourty years and literally invented modern fandom.

[hummiscellanea]

My Unpopular Opinion(s)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[firespirited]

Well, it's been a day. One of the ways my body lets me know i've overdone it (asides from pain and bp drops) is gastrointestinal distress which is actually quite smart at getting actually listened to as I'm forced to stay close to the toilet and not do anything physically strenuous that might provoke smth.

But hey Lily has perked up so much after her haircut over two days, she's back to her old mischief and recycling bin thievery. Worth it.

Readmore for ramblings

Up to episode 39 of Thundercats (plus the anointment trials of Lion-O) and I can't seem to find a skippable/key episodes list. Lots of discussion about production order and orders to avoid discrepancies but none that have, lets say, a sort of quality meter. I'm not sure how many times I can watch "old enemy finds new weapon"/"new enemy turns up out of nowhere" to attack the Thundercats. I'm interested in alliances, third earth lore, character episodes. There are only so many times you can watch Mumm-ra's extended magical girl transformation before it gets grating. This was absolutely not made for binge watching more than two at a time.

I'm thinking I might have to make one myself, there are recaps already but no table of new lore/character exploration vs basic filler (but may have a fun villain). I'm thinking of taking notes and if I can tolerate watching more Thundercats, sticking it on a neocities page.

I once printed a star trek TOS episode list and marked which ones had Kirk use seduction as a way to save his crew, in which ones he actually had romantic feelings and the ones without (at least if we deliberately pretend he's straight) . I regret not sticking that somewhere online before throwing it away. Kirk has few real romances and mostly uses his masculine wiles to save his crew. His romantic relationships are with smart independent women, his grand gestures are either for Spock, the ship herself or other core crew.

Today I did something I'd wanted to do for a while which is update the my crew 'mugshot' folder as there were dolls that have gone to new homes and a bunch I hadn't added yet. I snapped some quick photos but have about 7 more to do tomorrow.

The google spreadsheet is up to date but spread across 'my dolls: work in progress' -organized by work needed- and my crew' -organized by doll line-.

I also noticed i'd lost a bunch of ooak photos from the online galleries *and* the offline copy (the thumbnails were there but not the full size) and found them in the 2018 file backups. Not sure how that happens but grateful for file history.

Gunky bundle was cancelled by the seller. Oh well. Maybe that's for the best. It did have aqua fairytopia seapixie(?) - there are still a few I hope to get someday: jewellia with the blue translucent limbs, pale blue seapixie, ceo pink purple and blue fantasy skintone fairies with nice face alignment. Skipper face Kareena (blue) from starlight adventures. But I don't mind if the hunt takes another ten years.

Totally not in the mood to dig out the big box of 'barbie bundle' from under the bed and find a more photogenic approach.

The main problem is that usually I can sell at a big discount because I made money back on the bundle it came in so I zero the price cell. This new lot has quite a few dolls bought solo for my personal projects or were part of bundles with customs that haven't sold yet. It adds up.

My very real fear is that if I get out the box, I won't be able to resist keeping Pretty Girls, DCSHG, and a Snow white. OTL

It might have to wait until the SADS lifts to be more level headed and at peace with this hiatus for slow lower back rebuilding. I can't contemplate rerooting or other sewing/intense manual work for more than an hour at a time until the end of summer at this rate. It is what it is.

The little reorganisations and adding photos is sparking joy, not always in the moment but sometimes later, I'll see them and go oooh I have such treasures!

If you've slogged through this and read this far you deserve a treasure too, hope something that makes you feel happy when you see it or wear it comes your way this week. 💚💚💚

[rostekhorn]

I don't know where it stands when compared to Campbell's Hero's Journey idea specifically, but I've always loved Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (and the preceding episode of TOS, Space Seed) for going against a hell of a lot of established conventions when it comes to heroism and lone men saving the world.

Khan's entire backstory is that of a guy who thinks the hero's journey is real, and he's the hero, except life stubbornly refuses to conform to his narrative. He's literally the product of an attempt to make superheroes real, and he's internalized the idea that because he's stronger and smarter than everybody else, it's his destiny to rule over them for their own good. ... And real life keeps getting in the way. First, the stupid little muggles back in the 1990s refused to obey him and overthrew his empire. Then, he was unfrozen in the 23rd century, thought he had a second chance, only the stupid little muggles took that away from him again. Then, his attempt to build a new world from scratch on Ceti Alpha V also failed because of a freak natural phenomenon that none of his superior strength and intellect could handle. And then of course, the movie. His hero's journey keeps getting thwarted by, well, the fact that the world isn't actually a superhero movie, and he isn't actually its main character, and the more it happens, the angrier he gets.

But that's just Khan. Then there's Kirk. Who has more than a little of the same ego and hero complex that Khan does, and in this movie, it's all for the worst. His arrogance and belief that he's above the rules gets a whole bunch of his crew killed, ultimately including his best friend, who has to sacrifice himself to finish cleaning up his mess. The entire situation could have been avoided if Kirk had simply followed routine Starfleet procedure (kept the shields raised when encountering Reliant). The only thing that allows him to escape and stage a comeback is more routine Starfleet procedures (Reliant's command codes, and the "for God's sake use codes when you're on an open channel" rule). And when he finally comes back for round 2, the reason he wins is simply that deep space combat is something he's been doing all his life and Khan has never done before. The whole movie celebrates bureaucracy, training, and experience, over innate special individual ability.

If you go back to Space Seed, there's also the whole story about the ship's historian who falls in love with Khan but then betrays him once she realizes what he's about. I don't love all the gender politics that are wrapped up in that storyline, but I recognize the point they were trying to make. She's someone who's completely bought the romanticized vision of past figures like Khan, and has to learn, through exposure to the real thing, that people like that in real life aren't Campbellian heroes, they're brutal thugs. (It also softens the gender politics a little bit that Kirk, McCoy, and the rest of the humans have also swallowed a lot of the romantic kool-aid - not as much as her, but enough to seriously disturb Spock, the only one in this episode who sees clearly right from the start - which kind of foreshadows Kirk's flaws when they next encounter Khan in the movie).

In any case, color me unsurprised that when we got that thoughtful pushback against a bunch of our traditional heroic tropes, it came from Star Trek.

alright, I’m annoyed with the class that I’m taking. it’s about writing novels, and I thought it would have cool stuff about balancing your narrative and developing themes etc, but instead she spent the first class talking about how every book fits into the Hero’s Journey (the monomyth template). and I was somewhat of a contrarian, and said “can you give us examples of books that don’t fit into this template?” and she said “no. because all books fit.”

but I dunno man, I just finished reading this Korean book where the plot is just the character having a string of hookups and reflecting on them without changing in any way. I don’t know if it’s possible to contort that into the Hero’s Journey.

[frogayyyy]

i think the thing i love about tos and spirk is that spock’s feelings for jim are a recurring actual subplot (the naked time, bread and circuses, basically all of the films, etc.)

yes you can argue about whether the feelings are platonic or romantic, but it’s not just subtext. spock canonically and explicitly has strong feelings for his captain and it’s a struggle he faces throughout the entire series and especially in the movies. i would go as far as saying it’s his whole character arc (along with just feeling emotions in general)

you don’t have to look for any subtext (although there is A Lot) because it’s quite a significant, real part of the show

[newtrekcriticisms]

This is going to be a bit long, and I apologise for that.

I’m seeing lots of people saying they’re tired of people calling SNW Spock “straight”. Consequentially, I am tired of people acting like there is no valid criticism to be made about SNW Spock’s bizarre hypersexualised relationships with women. But let’s focus on the former complaint for a moment.

Mostly, I’m seeing the position that those who are unhappy with how Spock’s relationships with women are being depicted are being biphobic; the implication being that Spock has demonstrated attraction to both women and men, and that him liking women should not erase his attraction to men, and that Spock should be allowed to love whomever he loves. And that would be a very valid and important criticism, something which I myself would stand by. Except for the fact that nowhere in all of Star Trek has Spock actually been depicted as being attracted to men.

I realise that what I just said could be equally provoking to both sides of this ongoing debate, so let me make some things very clear. I need all of us to admit that we understand that Spock, in any iteration, was never actually gay. He has never actually been, at any point, canonically attracted to men. I know we believe that he is. I know Spock’s sexuality—not his orientation, but his relationship to romance and sex as whole—has been depicted rather vaguely since TOS, and I know we as LGBT people therefore feel, some of us very strongly, that he is even coded as gay. We’ve seen all the iconic moments: we all saw the Search for Spock and the one with the whales. And we should all understand that interpreting Spock’s relationship with Kirk through a romantic lens is a thoroughly valid reading of their relationship. But we also need to understand that mlm Spock is only true in our heads, in our stories and art. Yes, people have been exploring the relationship between Kirk and Spock in a romantic way since the 1960s, as was the dawn of fandom culture. No, that does not make it anymore real. To the writers of Star Trek, from the 60s to now, the iconic character of Spock is, has been, and always will be understood to be heterosexual. I need everyone to take a step back, be objective, and really recognise that. We can argue day and night about intentions and subtext and implications but when it comes down to it Spock is not actually an LGBT character. He just isn’t. Anyone who says otherwise is living in Cloud Cuckoo Land.

Understanding that, we can understand, then, that Spock has only ever been canonically depicted as being attracted to women. In TOS, these moments were sparse, light, one-off romance plots and usually came down to either Spock’s utter indifference or his duty to the Enterprise coming before personal relationships. In SNW, it is a whole new breed of animal. But my point is, there exists no logical grounds upon which to claim that Spock is canonically bisexual. He has only exhibited canonical attraction to women, and his attraction to men only exists in the popular conception of one specific group of Star Trek fans. The size and passion and hopes of this group is irrelevant. Spock is not canonically mlm. Spock is not canonically bisexual. A belief, no matter how strongly held, is not reality.

Therefore, objecting to valid criticisms of SNW Spock’s repeated ooc sexual and physical encounters with T’Pring and Chapel on the basis of biphobia is invalid. There is no actual bisexuality being erased here. I need people to understand that.

To be clear, I do think some people objecting to SNW Spock’s relationships with women are not doing so in good faith. I do believe that some of these people are objecting because they are misogynistic, or think Spock needs to be seen as a “gold star” gay, and are ultimately only objecting because they feel their “ship” is threatened by T’Pring or Chapel merely existing and playing out the scripts that were written for them. I have even seen this fearmongering extend to Uhura in some particularly vile instances of misogynoir. To these people, the “sanctity” of their gay ship is their only concern. I would like to state that I do not align myself with these people, and rather condemn them for their blatant fetishisation and intolerance. Those displaying this sort of behaviour are not allowed to use this post as a shield.

But I digress. My point is that someone taking issue with SNW Spock’s bizarre ooc hypersexual relationships with women on account of them being bizarre, ooc, and hypersexual is not biphobia. Calling SNW Spock “straight” is not biphobia, either. As we have established, Spock is not canonically bisexual. SNW Spock is, very much, being depicted as straight. And in a overwhelming, almost disturbing way.

Now if somewhere down the line Strange New Worlds decided to make Spock canonically attracted to men, i.e. bisexual, I need it to be understood that I would absolutely lose my mind. I cannot think of anything the show could do that would make me happier than that. And I have seen some poor souls who are excited for Kirk to appear in season 2, because they believe something resembling Spirk is going to happen. But in our second reality check for this essay, we need to understand that the chances of that happening—that is, the chances of Spock being depicted as LGBT in any way—is, put gently, extremely, extremely unlikely. Put harshly, it is never going to happen, ever.

And there is a reason why it is never going to happen, ever. The reason is homophobia. I’ve stated a few times before that Spock, even more so than Kirk, is the Star Trek franchise’s golden boy. He is the iconic character to end all iconic characters. There is absolutely no way in hell that the powers that be at Star Trek will ever allow Spock to be depicted as LGBT in any way, shape, or form. They would upset and alienate cishet viewers, which is important to them, and they could possibly lose money, which is even more important to them. In short, the powers that be at Star Trek will never allow Spock to be depicted as LGBT because they are homophobic. They don’t believe in gay Spock. They have no reason to. They don’t subscribe to the interpretation and it therefore doesn’t matter to them. I would venture to say that some if not most of them would react to the idea of gay Spock with confusion at best and disgust at worst. It’s important to recognise that outside of the Spirk circle, nobody knows, or let alone cares, about Spirk.

And, to be clear, “Spock” was only dragged back onto the silver screen in the first place to be paraded in front of the camera so that everyone would say, “Omg Spock!!!!” and thus attract masses of fans who otherwise might not have cared or bothered to watch some mediocre sci-fi show, but now will because, as I said, “Omg Spock!!!!” They chose him as a safe option to draw in viewers. They are not going to let him be gay.

And by god, if anything supports this claim, it is the very specific and intentional way in which Spock’s relationships with women are being depicted. I’ll reiterate that attraction to and sex with women does not in any way preclude Spock from also being attracted to men, but as we’ve established, they are not going to let him be attracted to men canonically. And as I’ve stated in previous posts, there are no good, inclusive intentions here with the way Spock’s relationship with T’Pring is being portrayed. SNW Spock’s heterosexuality—and yes, it is heterosexuality—is intimately portrayed, aggressively asserted, and dominates the character’s entire arc. Not one single character in the show deals with the topic or action of sex more than Spock. Not only that, but the writers went out of their way to deliberately and knowingly transgress established TOS canon specifically to bring T’Pring into the picture. Specifically so that they could depict her and Spock having sex and kissing and being in a very overt, central, and very sexual relationship. SNW Spock’s relationship with T’Pring is, in a word, purposeful. The writers are communicating something to us through the constant fucking. They are reminding us what Spock is. Spock is straight.

Again, these writers do not value or care about LGBT readings of Star Trek. They don’t care what Spock means to the LGBT community. They’re not even altogether concerned with keeping Spock in character for these recurring sexual and romantic escapades. To them, it doesn’t matter how out of character it is for Spock of all fucking people to be smashing puss every other night. The writers are demonstrably doing everything in their power to assert that Spock is a heterosexual. Not secretly bi, not secretly gay. Not questioning, not closeted. They are not leaving room for any interpretation here, and they are doing so deliberately. The whole thing reeks of desperation in a really weird way.

Of course, I have no evidence that can conclusively say that yes, the reason they’re making Spock have so much straight sex on screen is to dissuade people from seeing him as gay. This is just an opinion piece, not a peer-reviewed investigation, and I am just an armchair critic. But speaking from my armchair, I simply cannot come up with any other explanation for why, out of the blue and wildly out of character, Spock is being depicted in this way. I don’t know why Spock’s storylines would revolve around sex in the extremely obtrusive way that it does. I don’t know why this is what they decided to do with this legacy character, who previously had next to nothing to do with sex with the sole exception of Amok Time, which was a once every 7 years thing. As I’ve indicated, this is Spock we’re talking about. The iconic character to end all iconic characters. Star Trek’s golden boy. And this is what they decide to do with him? Of all the things they could have possibly done? It’s borderline inexplicable. What is presented in the paragraphs above is only my best attempt at an explanation. It’s one that I think makes sense, but only the writers of Strange New Worlds truly know what their intentions are with Spock.

In summary, Spock’s hypersexualised relationships with women on Strange New Worlds is a valid cause for criticism. It is not biphobic to be confused, disappointed, or upset about Spock’s depiction on SNW, as Spock is not and was never canonically mlm, and the writers very clearly would like us to remember that. Of course, I say fuck them. I’ll continue to enjoy Nimoy’s Spock as preserved in TOS, and I’ll continue interpreting him as gay because it’s what I personally believe. You too can continue to have whatever headcanons or theories you have about Spock’s sexuality, even on SNW, and what his future on that show might entail. You can even continue rooting for SNW Spirk in season 2 if you want (although I would ask you if you really think Ethan Peck and Paul Wesley can really give you anything half as heartfelt and touching as Spock and Jim’s interactions in the TOS movies, and if it’s really worth caring about, but that’s just me).

Ultimately Spock’s portrayal in SNW is divisive, and people are probably never going to agree whether his sexually charged plotlines are right or wrong, in character or out of character. But I hope we can at least understand after all these paragraphs that slinging accusations of biphobia against those attempting to address this issue is uncalled for. The issue lies not in the possibility that Spock could be bisexual rather than gay, but in the fact that the writers would clearly have us understand he is neither. That’s what I’m upset about.

[swimmingwolf59]

✨2022 Writing Year In Review✨

I was tagged by @lenievi​! Thanks for the tag, I love doing stuff like this! 🥰

1. Number of stories posted to AO3: 17

2. Word count posted for the year: 122,912 (pretty sure this is close to my yearly average which is just like ?????? how tf do I write that much 😭)

3. Fandoms I wrote for: star trek (tos, aos), khr, and pokemon technically

4. Pairings: spones, sarek&spock, mccoy&amanda, 1859, 8018, and platonic 5933

5. Story with the most:

- Kudos: Reciprocal Averaging (373) (thanks so much y’all!! 😭😭🙏)

- Bookmarks: Reciprocal Averaging again lol (110)

- Comments: And, who could’ve guessed! Reciprocal Averaging (24)

6. Work I’m most proud of (and why):

Out of the light, my mirrorverse spones fic. I’m really proud of the worldbuilding I did for that fic, especially in terms of adapting tos episodes into their mirrorverse versions. I’m also pretty proud of the emotional journey spones have, I feel like it actually progressed well and I feel like I’m usually terrible at that kind of thing lol. Also figuring out how to fit in the rest of the crew, what their mirrorverse selves are like (including bones, who was SO FUN TO FIGURE OUT!!) was a great time!!

7. Work I’m least proud of (and why):

Uhhh I’m not sure actually? I feel like the ones I’m “not proud of” are because I remember how much it sucked to edit them lol, and I feel like editing always makes me hate my work. So I try not to actually think that way about anything I’ve published 😅

8. Share or describe a favorite review you received:

A lot of people leave sweet reviews, and I’m really thankful for all of them!! It makes me so happy to hear that people are enjoying my stories 🥺 A few of my favorites were by fellow transmasc people telling me how much they appreciated my fluffy trans!spock fic, but those felt too personal to share here so I thought I’d share this one instead:

I adore how this opens with Jim's POV, and with so many little asides and details that make my heart sing. From Jim's teasing, to 'arguing', to McCoy being too mad to even notice Jim entering the room, to the PDA discussion to... well, you get the idea. It makes the fic feel so deep and layered and an incredible addition to the BW series. And then the whole litany of failed first dates, lol. I don't think I could pick a favorite no matter how many times I reread this. But I love Spock being so determined to make this happen for Leonard's sake (even to inadvertently sabotaging one of the dates), and Leonard's ever-underlying insecurities rearing their ugly heads. Love how they work through it all, and the wonderfully romantic "final first date" at the end - even Kirk's determination that they will have a great one, and that's an order, dammit! Heart-warming and made me laugh out loud several times. I adore the relationship you've crafted between Spock and Leonard and always look forward to the next story in the series. Thank you for continuing to share these delightful interludes with us!

This person leaves a lot of kind reviews, but this one especially was SO nice to receive because I rewrote next time for sure SO MANY TIMES to figure out the failed date attempts and make the story feel fleshed out and real, so it was really nice to hear my efforts paid off~

9. A time when writing was really, really hard:

Honestly the last few weeks of 2022 were really tough, especially in terms of writing for 12dos and my 100th fic on ao3 celebration. Tbh I think I put too much on myself LOL right around holidays when I was really busy and had a few covid scares so I was just super stressed out and hating everything I was writing. But I’m getting back into some wips this year and things have calmed down so I’m feeling a lot better about things!

10. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

Tbh I was NOT expecting to get back into writing khr again LMAO and somehow I wrote like 4 fics this year??? XDD I think Customization especially was surprising because I had the vague idea for it and then sat down and wrote it in like an hour lol, it was a lot of fun tho!

11. A favorite excerpt of your writing:

I wanted to share something from out of the light but all of my favorite scenes are a little too steamy to just post on here I feel LOL so have this excerpt from Held Together:

“Do you even know where you are going, Leonard?” Spock asks, somewhat amused. It would entertain him to no end to watch McCoy try, and probably fail, to navigate the mountains Spock knows so well, but it would be more amusing if it wasn’t nearing midnight.

“Sure.” McCoy stops and points up at the night sky. “That’s Sehlat Kan-bu, over there is the Scholar.”

Spock stops just behind him. “…You are aware of our ancient constellations?”

“Constellations have always been an interest of mine,” McCoy says with a shy smile. “I’ve always thought that what people see in the night sky says a lot about their culture. Once I finished learning all of Earth’s, I started to learn those of alien cultures, too. It’s surprisingly common throughout the galaxy, though of course on Vulcan most constellations were devised before the time of Surak. I’d have a hard time imagining T’Pau pointing up at the sky and claiming that a certain star cluster looks like a sehlat.”

A small smile tugs at Spock’s lips. “Certainly not in public, anyway.”

McCoy laughs and turns to keep hiking. “It shouldn’t be much further.”

Spock’s curiosity is piqued now as he follows McCoy across the rocks. He has to admit he hadn’t been expecting much, particularly once he realized that McCoy was taking him into the mountains. Spock has quite literally seen everything on these mountains many times, so he had wondered what McCoy could possibly show him that he hadn’t seen before.

But now that McCoy seems to actually possess an intimate knowledge of the area, Spock is much more curious to find out what it is.

They walk for 10.6 more minutes before McCoy comes to a stop, staring up at the sky. He is standing in the middle of a clearing that Spock had once named Sehlat’s Bed, due to the unusual amount of times he had stumbled upon a wild sleeping sehlat in the area. Fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be one here now, but Spock stays on alert as he comes to a stop beside McCoy.

“A-ha! There it is.” McCoy points upwards. “That’s K’diwa.”

“Roughly translates to lovers,” Spock comments, staring up at it. “I too enjoyed learning the constellations when I was younger, and this is one of the only ones that I thought actually looked like its name. You can see the line of stars where the two beings become entwined, one being—”

He turns, only to find McCoy now holding out two of his fingers. Before Spock can even raise an eyebrow, he murmurs in Vulcan, “Spock, will you be parted from me and never parted? Never and always touching and touched?”

Spock’s breath catches. He had not expected this, and it probably shows on his face. Even though he should have known it was coming, it turns out that McCoy managed to surprise him after all.

12. How did you grow as a writer this year:

God these kinds of questions are so hard lol because I feel like I have no perception of how to judge my writing????I feel like I’ve improved in crafting stories with like actual plots in them lol, which I think was always a weakness of mine. I’ve also tried writing a lot of different kinds of stories this year, so that was cool!

13. How do you hope to grow next year:

I wanna get better at writing shorter things, since I think it takes a lot of skill to fit a fully fledged story into just a few thousand words. I also wanna continue improving at plot building and descriptions lol

14. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

well tbqh the answer seems to be sarek LOL. 1859 and spones ofc are also always my muses 😄

15. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year:

hmm other than my obsession with nature and wildlife LOL I don’t think so

16. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

Something I’ve been doing this year is editing fics on my phone (and by that I mean reading them on gdocs on my phone and doing the actual editing on my computer document), but the main thing that’s important about this I think is that it tricks my brain into thinking I’m reading something “new” because it LOOKS different. Like I think part of the reason editing is so hard for me is because I know what it’s SUPPOSED to say, so that’s how I read it even if there are typos/grammatical errors/better ways to phrase/etc. So I think it’s really helpful during editing to read your story on a different document, or with a different font, cause at least for me I’m a lot more likely to catch mistakes that way!

17. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year:

I am SO excited to work on the next fic in my pokemon spones series because I’m introducing sarek and amanda LOL. I also got newfound direction for my sarek & mccoy 5+1 meetings fic so I’m looking forward to working on that more! (I told you my muse was Sarek lololol). Otherwise I’m looking forward to working on new spones and 1859 stories, finishing this spock/scotty fic I have, and working on my original story idea as well! OH also my QPR fics that I’ve been working on and am excited to share hopefully this year!!

18. Tag some writers whose answers you’d like to read.

Idk who to tag, so if you want to do this, consider yourself tagged!