emmasure-blog

[your-name-is-jim]

GET A ROOM

[universalcaffination]

I finished Triangle finally, after setting it aside for life events. Gotta say, not as bad as i was fearing a story about shoving a woman between kirk and spock (and the major plot point is that she loves them both) might be. In fact, I would go so far as to say I enjoyed it!

In fact, the book - through talking about the "love triangle" between kirk, sola, and spock, the story - (in?)advertantly talks very casually about spirk. it's like through introducing the possibility of heterosexuality by adding a woman, the author manages to gloss over the gay that is present in two of three people in a polyamorous relationship being men who love each other (to the point when spock calls kirk th'lya btw, this was published like 4 years after TMP)

It's like schrodinger's cat but for sexualities and skirting under censors

[mypoisonedvine]

eddie munson with 90. "is it just me, or does your celebrity crush look a lot like me?", with fem!reader

I didn't use the exact line of dialogue just the concept, I hope you don't mind! I love this request though!!

warnings: just fluff and a wee bit of angst along the way, friends to lovers, 'unrequited' love (the love is requited they are just stupid)

100 random prompts - send me a number and a character!

"Admit it-- you'd let him do anything he wanted to you," Robin laughed teasingly.

"Honestly? Yeah, probably," you agreed as you bit your lip.

"What if he's, like, a freak or something?" she wondered. "Like what if he's into something really fucked up?"

"It would still be hot, 'cause it's him," you decided.

"So if he came up to you right now, and said 'hey, you're cute, wanna come back to my place and take a bath with me in a tub of mayonnaise?' you would..." she prompted.

"I would ask if he knows where I can get bulk mayonnaise for a discount," you grinned.

"Ew! You hate mayonnaise!" she grimaced.

"Yes, but I love him," you explained.

Just then, Eddie hopped up to your table, straddling one of the attached benches with a smile. "Woah, who do we love?" he asked.

"Eddie, you can't just barge in to a private conversation," Robin corrected with a frown.

"Private? I can hear the girlish giggling from the theater room," he scoffed. "Besides, I wanna know the gossip. You've got it bad for somebody?"

He looked around the room as if he would figure out who it was by examining the students, but Robin shook her head. "It's not, like, a real guy. It's her celebrity crush."

"And future husband," you beamed.

"Would I know who it was if you said it?" Eddie wondered.

You thought about not telling him, but it didn't really matter, because Robin blurted it out. "Probably-- it's Kirk Hammett, from Metallica."

Eddie's eyes went wide for a second, before he grinned and leaned one arm against the table. "I guess I should take that as a compliment."

You laughed softly in confusion. "What?"

"You know-- 'cause I look like him!" he announced excitedly.

Robin tilted her head as he stared at Eddie. "Oh yeah!" she said. "You know, now that you say it--"

"No," you shook your head, "you're not like him."

"Yes I am!" he laughed, though it sounded more like a sound of bewilderment than amusement. "Come on, are you serious? People say it all the time!"

"Well, they probably just say it cause you play guitar."

"And the hair?!" he yelped, shaking his mane around for emphasis which made Robin snort.

"Lots of guys have long hair nowadays!" you rolled your eyes. "That doesn't mean anything. Robin's blonde, doesn't mean she looks like Goldie Hawn!"

"Wait, I don't?" Robin asked sarcastically, feigning offence.

"It's not just that-- you seriously don't see it?" Eddie pouted. "Look at me-- I mean, really look at me."

You did, narrowing your eyes slightly as you examined him; he held his arms out as if to show himself to you, which did give you a better view of his arms and ink, but you frowned and shook your head. "I just see Eddie," you shrugged.

He deflated a bit. "Right, well-- anyways, did we get Robin to share her celebrity crush?"

"That was the next order of business," you explained with a smirk, and you both put your attention on the girl across the table.

"Nope-- my lips are sealed," Robin assured.

"If we can guess her name, will you tell us?" Eddie asked.

"No, I'll never--" she started to insist, but the two of you were blurting out names already.

"Brooke Shields!" "Kim Basinger!" "Ooh, Annie Lennox!"

"Guys," Robin groaned, rolling her eyes, but she was starting to blush, too.

~

You and Eddie were sitting side by side on the ground, backs leaned up against the outer wall of the school; his knees were bent and his arms were draped over them, while you sat with your legs overlapping as you tied wildflowers from the lawn into a daisy chain.

"You're quiet," you noticed.

"So? There's not much to say," he replied.

"When has that ever stopped you from running your mouth?" you smirked, looking up at him, but he wasn't smiling back at you so yours sank. "You've been quiet for a while."

"Guess I'm not that peppy today," he decided, staring forward at his fingers as he mindlessly spun one of his rings around.

"Not today," you explained, "like, all week. Is everything okay?"

He shrugged a little as if to say, it doesn't matter.

"Seriously, just talk to me," you pleaded. "Whatever it is, I wanna help."

"You can't help, okay?" he snapped,

"I can't stop thinking about what you said," he admitted. "When you and Robin were talking about your celebrity crush--"

"Listen, Eddie, I'm sorry if I don't see a resemblance, but it's not that big of a deal--"

"No, no, not that," he sighed, "I meant... what you said after. That you just see Eddie."

You knit your eyebrows together, not sure what he was getting at. He finally looked back at you, and the sadness in his eyes made your breath catch.

"That's all you're ever gonna see, isn't it?"

You sighed a little, looking away for a moment. "Ed, not this again--"

"C'mon, babe, you know I'm crazy about you," he sighed, tilting his head until it leaned against the wall behind him. "And I know every excuse you've given me-- you're not ready for a relationship, you don't want to ruin what we have, you don't want to bring me into your messed up brain-- but if you're into this guy who looks like me but you don't want me then... then it must just be that I'm awful, right?"

"Eddie, no," you denied with a pout, but he scoffed and looked ahead again.

"It's okay, I get it," he sighed. "I wouldn't wanna date me either. You deserve all the fancy stuff, y'know? Getting driven to cool dates in a nice car, hanging out at his house and not, you know, a dirty old trailer--"

"I don't want all that stuff," you assured, moving in closer to him. "I want somebody sweet and fun and smart--"

"I knew it's 'cause I can't fuckin' graduate," he mumbled, but you put your hand on his arm to get his attention.

"Eddie, you're not listening to me," you scolded. "It's not you, it's me. And I know that's a cliche but it's true."

"How can it not be me?" he rolled his eyes. "I'm a freak, and a fuck-up, and a flunk-out, and you're basically perfect--"

"Oh my god, you're, like, my dream guy, okay?!" you spat out, louder than you meant to. He finally shut up, and looked at you like he could finally see it-- like he finally knew. "I always liked you," you continued, a little softer and shier than before, "but I knew if I... if we ever actually, you know, went for it, I'd just mess it all up. And you're the last person I'd ever want to hurt--"

He cut you off with a kiss: a sudden, sweet, hungry kiss that caught you off-guard for a second before you melted into it.

It wasn't that one kiss could make all your fears about a relationship go away... but it sure could make them seem a lot less important. And it definitely could help convince you that it was worth the risk.

When he pulled back, he held your face even as you tried to look away to hide it. "Sorry," he said, taking his hands away slowly, "I just had to do that."

"Oh, Ed," you hummed, "you're so cute I could die."

He got a little red in the face, which only made the cuteness more apparent. "Aw hell," he snorted, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "You think I'm cute 'cause I look like Kirk?"

"No," you smiled, "I like Kirk 'cause he looks like you."

[lovelytsunoda]

gonna have a good time tonight // lance stroll

part of the welcome to wherever you are verse

summary: it’s time for lance and y/n’s annual canada day party. as an australian, y/n never really got the hype, but any excuse to get her old men in a room with lances old men was bound to create chaos

pairing: lance stroll x hutchence! reader

authors note: just in case anybody missed it, I added to the masterlist with a masterpost of some links to learn more about the real life lore behind the series

y/n.hutchence just posted to her private story!

y/n.hutchence just posted!

lake muskoka, ontario, canada

tagged: lancestroll, yourbestie, aprilrosepengilly

liked by yourbestie, yourmom, kirkpengilly and 203 others

y.nhutchence boys will be like ‘I know a place’ and then whisk you away to their cabin the woods

see all comments

yourbestie yeah but he gets a pass because HAVE YOU SEEN THE CABIN? i love your sugar husband. tell him thank you for the awesome weekend!

-> y.n/hutchence sugar husband?

-> yourbestie sugar daddy just sounded wrong

lancestroll ❤️

(liked by y/n.hutchence)

garrygarybeers for all the shit you talked about kirk's tacky shirt collection when you were growing up, you married someone with a collection much much worse

-> y.n/hutchence garry no collection is as bad as kirks

chloestroll gotta live it up before the old men get here!

-> timfarriss the next person to call me old is getting drop kicked to new zealand

-> fernandoalonso agreed. i'll help

kirkpengilly the real question is who won at poker? i taught you both so well

-> aprilrosepengilly neither. we were practicing to beat you

-> y.n/hutchence with both of us together, we should be unstoppable

-> kirkpengilly why is everybody ganging up on me today?

lailahasanovic thanks for the invitation! i'm having such a great time with you guys

y.n/hutchence posted to her private story! (and texted tim)

(The text messages got away from me here, tap to read and enlarge 😭 )

y.n/hutchence posted to her story!

seen by chloestroll, yourbestie, yourmom and others

lancestroll why is it that y'all are making fun of our margaritaville performance but fernando and paul are getting no flack at all for ruining the human league?

y/n.hutchence because fernando and my stepdad can actually hold a tune? oh and the fact that paul was SOBER

y/n.hutchence do you want me to bring you a hangover cure smoothie?

lancestroll ...yes please

lancestroll just posted!

lake muskoka, ontario, canada

tagged: y.n/hutchence, mickschumacher, aprilrosepengilly, scottyjames, chloestroll, estebanocon, lailahasanovic

lancestroll great weekend, greater people

see all comments

y.n/hutchence cinnamon rolls on the campfire was the best idea i've ever had

-> lancestroll the strangest, but one of the best

garrygarybeers notice how the old folk haven't been tagged in the campfire picture?

-> lancestroll its because you made fun of my tacky shirt collection

user jfc how big is this lake house?

user don't be shy, leak the karaoke video

-> scottyjames there are half a dozen old men who would be very cross with me if i did that . . . so no

aprilrosepengilly i'm going to miss that view so much

-> y/n.hutchence agreed

mickschumacher killer weekend bro. same time next year?

-> lancestroll of course!!

user the way she holds him in the boat.. they're so in love nobody speak to me

-> fernandoalonso trust me theyre worse in person

-> user KING NANDO REPLIED

jonfarriss we’ll always have margaritaville

-> andrewfarriss that’s no joke mate, my head is still killing me

-> lancestroll ditto. I’m still washing the smell of tequila out of my clothes

kirkpengilly added to his story!

(next part)

[eco-lite]

I’m once again returning to do god’s work by bringing you delightful moments from Spock’s World by Diane Duane.

[Text ID: “Spock was bent over [the Science Station], making some adjustment. ‘Readout now,’ he said, straightening and looking over his shoulder at the large, shaggy-fringed rock that was sitting in the center seat. Some of those glittering fringes stroked the open circuitry of the communicator controls in the seat’s arm. ‘Point nine nine three,’ said a scratchy voice from the voder box mounted on the rock’s back. ‘A nice triple sine.’ ‘Nice?’ said Spock. Jim raised an eyebrow: you could have used Spock’s tone of voice to dry out a martini.” End ID]

There’s a Horta crewman on the Enterprise now and they’re great!

[Text ID: “Still working on her doctoral thesis, Jim thought. Uhura was busy working on improving universal translator theory, mostly by taking the old theory to pieces and putting it back together in shapes that were causing a terrible furor in academic circles on various planets. Jim vividly remembered one night quite a long time ago when he had asked Uhura exactly how she was going about this. She had told him, for almost an hour without stopping, and in delighted and exuberant detail, until his head was spinning with phoneme approximations and six-sigma evaluations and the syntactic fade and genderbend and recontextualization and linguistic structural design and the physics of the human dextrocerebral bridge. The session had left Jim shaking his head, thoroughly disabused of the idea (and ashamed of how long he had held it) that Uhura was simply a sort of highly trained switchboard operator.” End ID]

Uhura continues to be a total badass and is amazing at what she does.

[Text ID: Chatroom title in all caps: “COMMON ROOM OPINION, INFORMED AND NON- RANTING AND RAVING PERMITTED NAMES NOT NECESSARY” Regular text: “It was one of the places he came to find out what his crew was thinking. Messages did not have to be attributed to a name or terminal, but they could not be private. The office of the common room system operator rotated through the crew, offered to various members on the strength of their psych profiles in areas like calm reaction to stress and anger. The common room syops tended to be closemouthed and dependable, the kind of person that others refer to as ‘a rock.’ (Once it had actually been Naraht, to the amusement of just about everyone.) Here tempers could flare, awful jokes be told safely, suspicions be aired, rumors be shot down. The common room was sometimes a peaceful place, sometimes a powderkeg. Jim never ignored it.” End ID]

The Enterprise has a dumpster fire chat room that has just as much shitposting and vitriol as twitter.

[Text ID: “Jim bowed over her free hand. ‘It’s been too long,’ he said. ‘It’s good to be back,’ Amanda said. ‘And in the middle of a party as well.’ She looked a little wry. ‘A little entertainment will be pleasant before the deluge.’ Sarek’s eyes flicked to Kirk, a considering look. ‘My wife speaks figuratively,’ he said, ‘in the tradition of her people. Deluges are not common on Vulcan.’ ‘My husband speaks circumspectly,’ Amanda said, just as dryly, ‘in the tradition of his.’” End ID]

Amanda and Sarek are as charming as ever.

[Text ID: “Jim was mildly surprised to see that to his other rank tags and decorations, McCoy had added a small, understated IDIC. ‘If I didn’t know you better,’ he said, ‘I’d think you were going native. When did you get that?’ ‘Today in the gift shop, when you were looking at the snowball paperweights with Mount Seleya in them. Tackiest things I ever saw.’ ‘Yes,’ Spock said; ‘they were imported from Earth.’ ‘You be quiet. We can’t let these people leave the Federation, Jim. At least not until they teach us how to make tasteful souvenirs.’” End ID]

Just this.

[Text ID: “There was Sreil, the burly, brown-haired biologist from the Academy, and T’Madh, a little bright-eyed woman of great age and curiosity, a computer programmer; and her son Savesh, who when asked what he did, said, ‘I am a farmer,’ with a sort of secret satisfaction that hinted he thought his job better than any of the more technical ones that the people around him held. Jim had to smile; the thought of a Vulcan farmer was slightly funny, even though there naturally had to be some. But the image of a Vulcan in coveralls, chewing on a stalk of hay, kept coming up and having to be repressed.” End ID]

I love Savesh the Vulcan farmer!

[Text ID: “’Jim,’ he said, ‘the best translation of nehau would be an old word: “vibes.” The feeling-in-your-bones that something gives you. It’s highly subjective.’ ‘Right. Go on, Savesh.’ ‘Well, Captain, I have heard numerous Vulcans say that losing the Federation and the Earth people would be no particular loss, because they had bad nehau, and that could not fail to affect us sooner or later.. But I must tell you that I find your nehau not objectionable at all; pleasant, even.’ End ID]

Vulcan wanting to leave the Federation because the ~vibes~ are off.

[Text ID: “His grasp of dialect and idiom as amazing for anybody, off-planet or on. He once reduced the President of the United States—then a ceremonial post, but one much loved by the people who lived within the old borders—to tears of laughter at a state dinner, by delivering a learned dissertation on computer data storage technology in a flawless Texan accent. The lady was later heard to propose an amendment to the Constitution to allow off-worlders to hold high public office, so that she could have him for her running mate in the next election.” End ID]

I would give anything to hear Sarek do a perfect Texas accent.

[Text ID: “—but when Amanda became annoyed over what she perceived as his smugness about being right, her eyes would flash and she would become splendidly insulting, usually in bizarre Anglish idiom that Sarek found as refreshing as it was annoying. She caused him to laugh out loud for the first time in many years when she told him, after a disagreement over the translation of the word for war, that he should only grow headfirst in the ground like a turnip. Later that month, when he was right about something again and made the mistake of not immediately down-playing it, she issued him with a formal malediction, wishing that the curse of Mary Malone and her nine blind orphan children might pursue him so far over the hills and the seas that God Almighty couldn’t find him with a radio telescope. Sarek laughed so hard at that that he entirely lost his breath, and Amanda panicked and started to give him cardiopulmonary resuscitation, which was useless, because his heart was somewhere other than the spot on which she was pounding. It took him nearly an hour to recover: he kept laughing. He had never been cursed like that before, not even by union leaders, and it was very refreshing.” End ID]

This dynamic is perfect, no notes.

[Text ID: “The next night they sat in the Rec Deck again, in the middle of a large impromptu party that was going on around them by way of celebration. The sense of relief in the ship was palpable. A group of about a hundred crewfolk, mostly human, had surrounded Spock earlier in the evening and sung ‘For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow,’ accompanied by twenty crewmen on kazoos. Sarek had been given champagne.” End ID]

I really hope the TOS Enterprise has crew performances like on Next Gen. This kazoo band needs to be heard! Also, I can perfectly picture Spock’s annoyed-but-tolerant expression as he resigns himself to the kazoo serenade.

Thank you @dianeduane for making me laugh!

[littlesparklight]

What do you think is Helens most important moment in the Iliad, characterisation wise?

Hmm!

I think it'd be her scene with Aphrodite, if it's possible to pick out a single one at all. It's got a little bit of everything, with the additional bonus of this being in front of someone Helen has no reason not to be honest/mask off with.

She pays for that, yes, but that's part of my reason to pick this scene; Helen still lashes out. This is Helen in the (end of the?) ninth year of the war, and this is Helen still full of fight (she is with Paris, too, which is a similar honesty to the one in Aphrodite's scene).

We've got; "and stirred Helen's heart in her breast;" I'm borrowing Murray's translation (on Perseus.tuft) instead of Butler's or Caroline Alexander's, because both of those insert "anger" in Helen's reaction. I am fully convinced by Kirk's argument in his commentary on the Iliad that it's not about anger; the phrase is formular, as he says, and everywhere else where it appears in full it merely incites the individual to action.

So, Helen and her [unspecified] reaction to Aphrodite's description of Paris, which is meant to be, as Helen herself says, to be "seductive". Allegory has this scene be Helen fighting against her own desires, with the desires winning. I don't like leaning into allegory so much as to remove the gods, but given Helen's initial reaction quoted up there, I feel what we have is a display of Helen's conflicted desire. She doesn't like Paris much any more, but he is still attractive to her and she wants him. (And in the end, desire wins, even if she's ashamed of that.)

"since now Menelaos has vanquished godlike Alexandros and desires that I, loathsome as I am, be taken home." (Alexander's translation) Everywhere else we see Helen self-blame or express a negative opinion of herself, it's in front of people where, even if she absolutely is earnest and honest about that self-blame, it gives her some sort of social capital; pity, sympathy, and ultimately Priam and Hektor's [continued] protection/friendship. With Aphrodite, however, there's no such advantage. Aphrodite has no reason to care - in fact, Helen debasing herself like this in front of her could probably even be counter-productive.

So, since I in general do view her self-blame and related emotions as genuine, this, to me, is the absolute proof of that. It's also a connection to her active language about how she left Sparta elsewhere (she uses "I went/walked/left/sailed"). She did something, acted, and she [now/since a while back/etc] considers that a fault of hers and something she did wrong. Another thread on Helen's past (and continued) desire for Paris.

(Also, peep the "godlike Alexandros" there - Menelaos uses this once of Paris as well when he talks about him. It's generic "godlike"; in Book 24 she uses theoeides, which focuses more on his looks specifically.)

"As for me, I will not go there - it would be shameful - to share the bed of that man. The Trojan women will all blame me afterwards;" (Alexander again) I've read an article (pretty sure it was Nancy Worman's Body As Argument), that suggests that this is a matter of "it would be shameful NOW", because this conversation is happening after Paris and Menelaos' duel, in which Menelaos (technically) won, and thus Helen (technically) now "belongs" to Menelaos again, and thus it would be shameful for her to once again go into the bed of someone not her husband. I like that interpretation, and have adopted it, but the point of this quote is the fact that Helen cares about how she's viewed.

She is so very (self-) conscious of how society, and in particular the women around her, view her. She goes to the wall, but veiled and with two attendant slave women; she here, now that Paris lost the duel, acknowledges that in this instance it would be shameful to frivolously go back - others will judge her. (Whether they actually would for this specific instance or not matters less.)

But again, for this quote and in general for this scene (as well as later, when her and Paris' scene ends; the epics can easily tell us about someone's willingness or lack of thereof, but there is no actual comment about that); Worman points out that at no point does Helen actually say she doesn't want Paris/doesn't want to go back.

It is "I will not [go back/sleep with him (now)]", which of course say something about her feelings, but which in particular? We have many options. Helen's desire/want is woven throughout this and can be separated from, maybe even contrasted against, what she feels she ought to do.

And then, in the end, Helen is cowed into going back, because Aphrodite gets angry. But is that anger because of Helen's refusal to go, or Helen's bold "you go and take care of him as a mortal woman might, until he makes you his wife or his slave"? This is such a massively insulting thing to say to a goddess, and the showcase of Helen's temper and spine is honestly breathtaking.

Helen is no meek thing. Not even in front of a goddess.

(Even if it's perfectly possible Helen is well aware of Aphrodite's favour/fondness of her, and therefore knows she can risk to lash out in this way and "merely" get threatened, not actually punished.) Helen claims as much agency and self-control/power as she can, even against herself and an actual goddess.

[cantsayidont]

Despite its protestations of progressive values, STAR TREK media has always explicitly presented (and, with only fleeting exceptions, consistently celebrated) the Federation as an expansionist imperial power, engaged in a large-scale project of colonialism.

The usual apologia/rationalization for this, both from the franchise itself and from its fans, is that the Federation is also a post-scarcity socialist utopia. However, that is expressly not the case in TOS, despite the attempts of the later series to insist otherwise.

Indeed, the plots of some of the most famous and acclaimed episodes of TOS are specifically about resource extraction and ensuring the Federation's access to crucial resources, including lithium (in "Mudd's Women"), pergium (in "The Devil in the Dark"), and dilithium (in "Mirror, Mirror," et al). We are told repeatedly that the Enterprise has a mandate to use force to secure these resources if gentler methods fail. Moreover, while the Federation has a strategic interest in these resources, it's clear at various points in TOS that their extraction and exploitation are, to a significant extent if not exclusively, overseen by private interests for profit. For instance, in "Mudd's Women," Harry Mudd remarks:

Well, girls, lithium miners. Don't you understand? Lonely, isolated, overworked, rich lithium miners! Girls, do you still want husbands, hmm? Evie, you won't be satisfied with a mere ship's captain. I'll get you a man who can buy you a whole planet. Maggie, you're going to be a countess. Ruth, I'll make you a duchess. And I, I'll be running this starship. Captain James Kirk, the next orders you're taking will be given by Harcourt Fenton Mudd!

In "The Devil in the Dark," Kirk ultimately takes a regulatory position — he will not permit the pergium miners to kill the Horta or continue to destroy her eggs — but at no point does he suggest that stopping the pergium production that threatens the Horta is a viable or even acceptable alternative. The accord he proposes is contingent on the Horta's agreement that she and her children will support the mining efforts on her planet, since Kirk emphasizes that "a dozen planets" are depending on the miners to supply needed pergium. (What would have happened to her if she hadn't agreed is not stated, but the episode strongly suggests that she would have been severely punished for noncompliance with Kirk's mediated solution: forcibly relocated to some kind of Horta reservation away from the main mining operations, perhaps.) When the Horta does agree to this proposal, Kirk assures Vanderberg, "you people are going to be embarrassingly rich," which once again suggests that while the miners may have contractual agreements to delivery pergium to Federation worlds, they are still a private, for-profit business, not a Federation department or nationalized entity.

Profit is also Ron Tracey's motivation for breaking the Prime Directive in "The Omega Glory": He believes that he's discovered a "fountain of youth" that he can own, monopolize, and exploit, and that the value of that resource will be enough to buy his way out of legal trouble for his regulatory violations.

We mostly don't see the Enterprise crew handle money except on away missions in other cultures or times, but there are a number of indications that the Federation in this era has not abandoned money: For instance, Harry Mudd's list of past offenses includes purchasing a space vessel "with counterfeit currency," while in "The Apple," Kirk rhetorically asks if Spock knows how much Starfleet has invested in him, which Spock begins to answer, "One hundred twenty-two thousand two hundred …" before Kirk cuts him off. More tellingly, in "I, Mudd," we have the following exchange:

KIRK: All right, Harry, explain. How did you get here? We left you in custody after that affair on the Rigel mining planet. MUDD: Yes, well, I organized a technical information service bringing modern industrial techniques to backward planets, making available certain valuable patents to struggling young civilizations throughout the galaxy. KIRK: Did you pay royalties to the owners of those patents? MUDD: Well, actually, Kirk, as a defender of the free enterprise system, I found myself in a rather ambiguous conflict as a matter of principle. SPOCK: He did not pay royalties. MUDD: Knowledge, sir, should be free to all. KIRK: Who caught you? MUDD: That, sir, is an outrageous assumption. KIRK: Yes. Who caught you? MUDD: I sold the Denebians all the rights to a Vulcan fuel synthesizer. KIRK: And the Denebians contacted the Vulcans.

Whether Deneb is a member of the Federation at this time is unclear, but Vulcan certainly is, and so we may assume that Vulcan and presumably the Federation itself are also part of "the free enterprise system."

The first indication that the Federation does not use money is in STAR TREK IV, and it's not obvious there if Kirk's remark that "They're still using money" is talking about money more broadly or just physical currency, which the Federation may have phased out even if it still uses credit or electronic transfers of monetary value. (Certainly, McCoy's attempt in STAR TREK III to charter a starship indicates that he had some means of paying for passage, since the captain of the ship specifically demands more money upon learning of the intended destination.)

If we accept at face value the assertion of TNG and DS9 that the Federation has genuinely abandoned the use of money, rather than simply going cashless, the most reasonable Watsonian explanation is that this has been a relatively recent development during the 70–80 years between the TOS cast movies and TNG, most likely related to the development of replication technology (which the Federation did not yet have in Kirk's time).

Of course, from a Doylist standpoint, we could chalk up some of this incidental dialogue to the franchise's evolving construction of its own setting, in the same manner as anomalous references to Vulcans as "Vulcanians." Roddenberry and his apologists might also insist that he always meant to depict a socialist utopia, but was prevented by the nattering nabobs of negativity (i.e., the network's BS&P); I'm very skeptical of such claims, but the writers were acutely aware that depicting what Earth is like in Kirk's time would be opening a can of worms, which is why we didn't actually see 23rd century Earth (even briefly) until the movies.

However, the focus on resource extraction and its ramifications is such a load-bearing story element in TOS that the revisionist assertion that the Federation was already a post-scarcity socialist utopia in Kirk's time (as both DISCOVERY and STRANGE NEW WORLDS have attempted to claim) would require really substantial retcons of the original show, perhaps to the extent of insisting that some of those events never took place at all, or happened radically differently than what's in the TOS episodes most STAR TREK fans have seen. For me, anyway, that crosses a line from willing suspension of disbelief to "don't trust your lying eyes," and suggests a frustrating and somewhat disturbing determination to insist that TOS is something much purer and nobler than it is rather than grapple with its actual conceptual flaws and ideological shortcomings.

[dootznbootz]

Don't get me wrong, I hate the telegony with every FIBER of my being. HOWEVER!! I feel like there's so much yummy angst potential with Odypen.

Like?? Imagine Penelope holding Odysseus' dead body. And it reminds her so much of when he'd fall asleep in her arms, in their bed holding an infant Telemachus. Because little baby Telemachus wouldn't stop crying so he had to be held in his papa's arms :3

But he's still crying to this day,, crying in the background, sobbing, hugging his mother from behind as she's holding her dead husband. Her husband that she waited 20 YEARS for. Her husband that's literally been threw hell and BACK, yet who never gave up because he wanted to see HER and their SON!!

He could've stayed with Calypso, he could've stayed with Kirke, he could've. But he DIDN'T. And I know damn well the moment he came back, and she saw him, she SAW on his face he's been threw shit. And imagine that, imagine the pain of someone you love more than the Sun experiencing that. Imagine that, and they did all of that, to see you.

People undermine that Penelope loves Odysseus just as much as Odysseus loves Penelope. It's been 20 years. She had every right to assume he's gone or get remarried. But she didn't. She had faith the entire time.

And she waited so long, and he went threw so much, just for him to get killed by some borderline (Not fully) rapeling. That's so heart-wrenching.

And for Telemachus, who never even KNEW his father. To suddenly see him again, to see how happy his mother is, how happy he is. Just for some bastard he has to call his half-brother to kill him. Telemachus knew so little of his father, only the stories Penelope told him. And now, sadly, it'll stay that way.

Telemachus and Penelope would fucking despise Telegonus. They've been waiting so long for this man, and this man has waited and had to go threw so much. All three of them did not go threw all that just for Telegonus to kill him. I don't care if it was an 'accident'. It doesn't matter if the killer didn't want to do it, it matter's that the victim's family lost someone they FUCKING LOVED.

Penelope would NEVER marry Telegonus, and Telemachus would never marry Kirke.

But Odysseus death gives us some JUICY angst. I hate it. But good god it scratches that angst-loving part of my brain SO GOOD. 😼

Feel free not to answer since this is a rather long ask/ramble :'D And ye, take care Mad! <3

Oh, also, just so it's not ALL just angst, a few Penelope and Baby Telemachus headcanons/shenanigans? They mean the world to both Odysseus AND me 🥹

So, this is a really fun ask...But I don't think you're going to get the answer you'd like from me :')

As many folks know, I am a big lover of fluff and very soft stuff. I have angst but even then I would consider it more hurt/comfort in a way as I do plan for the "comfort" to be what's most important :) I also just think of "angst" as just the "something that makes sense storywise".

The Tele-GONE-y to me, is just blatent whump. Not really my cup of tea.

Also the Tele-GONE-y has the whole bullshit about Odysseus doing fuck all in random war, getting married and having children with a random af woman, before coming back to get killed. So that's just...ew. All of it is ew.

And I don't even like the idea of Telegonus existing in any form. At most, Telegonus would only exist in my mind as Polites' son. (not based on Epic at all. This Polites is my own special guy. He's my lil weird goober of my own design reeeeee) My dear friend thehelplessmortals is the only person who I feel explores it in a way that makes sense to me and seems canon.

As you put it into words:

"And she waited so long, and he went through so much, just for him to get killed by some borderline (Not fully) rapeling. That's so heart-wrenching."

And it's just TOO heartwrenching for me :') I can't do it. It's honestly such a horrifying scenario that I got nauseous the first time I heard about it. (that's not even getting into the gross out of character marriage circle and Odysseus fucking around away from his family)

For me, I cannot see Circe (my Circe definitely) as a mother regardless. She wasn't made for motherhood. Also Odysseus and her only have sex once in my writing in exchange for his men to be turned back into humans. (as it's only stated explicitly once in the Odyssey)

The Odyssey also says that Odysseus' line only has one son each. That's Telemachus. (OdyPen can have a daughter though! >:3 Girldad Odysseus is very tasty for me)

If you're just into the angst of Odysseus' death, I got a bit of that though :'D

Penelope being 75% Naiads will live a long life. And Odysseus, being her husband, gets the advantages of having a magic Water wifey and that affects him in how he will live a long life as well (Calypso also gave him ambrosia/nectar to keep him alive. as he was nearly dead when he washed up.)

BUT. He is mostly mortal. He lives way beyond what is normal for Mortals but still.

His hair now fully gray. His breathing raspy and slow. He's slow to move...

Penelope lives a bit afterward. Sleeping and taking comfort in their nest that cradles her as she sleeps. She feels him everywhere. She grieves him endlessly.

Their nest starts to wilt. Only when she goes too does it come alive again.

And for some random Penelope and Telemachus headcanons :P

Nereids have lined bioluminescence, while NAIADS have spots. Like the black spots on the beloved rainbow trout 🥹 (they don't have the black spots. they just have spots that glow in their own control lol)

Telemachus gets "spots" from both his mama (naiad scales/glowbit) and his papa (freckles) 🥹

It's what they use to communicate underwater. And it's nice because even if you're not full naiad and don't have as many scales, you can still communicate as it's about the flickers :3 (Odysseus can understand these to a degree)

Very rarely do they "just randomly glow" as you know, don't wanna give away your thoughts. But it's cute because Odysseus will occasionally have a lightshow when one of them is dreaming.

I know a lot of people have Penelope see Odysseus in Telemachus constantly, and while she does to a degree, she is actually one of the few people who really emphasizes that he's his own person. You don't have to be good at whittling, you make such beautiful pottery. You like green, not orange. You don't have to pick that color when it's not your favorite and because other people simply get excited about you being like your dad sometimes. That type of stuff.

You take care too, Dear Anon! :D

[t0ast-ghost]

S3 EP14 (Whom Gods Destroy) in what way?- nevermind probably the killing way. Okay. Well-

Just go:

- “A medicine with which the federation hopes to eliminate mental illness for all time.” WHAT. That is certainly a way to start an episode

- Cory is either going to die or is not actually a doctor. Well according to Marta I’m right about the latter

- they fucking knocked Spock out! (His named autocorrected to spoon lol)

- oh wait so the ‘cure for mental illness’ thing was REAL?

- goddamn why’s he stand like that

- Scott and McCoy are so confused

- Stigmatizing mental illness by showing that all characters who have it are violent. I get this is set in a prison but this is the only time they show any explicitly mentally ill characters and it’s to show that until there is a ‘fix’ they should be locked away for the safety of the public, which is not a good message to put onto tv. That is my problem with this episode, it’s spreading of stigmas and stereotypes.

- McCoy immediately saying that something’s wrong, ‘that’s not my boyfriend’

- Garth’s fashion sense is… awful

- getting distracted by Kirk’s ass

- oh my god that’s the first time anyone’s really threatened to harm Spock (edit: that’s a lie. That’s just a lie)

- Making the group of inmates all noticeably alien to make them seem like separate or fictional beings

- This argument? Live Spock reaction:

- “What is your reaction, Mr. Spock?” “Well, I find it [the dancing], uh, mildly interesting and somewhat nostalgic, if I understand the use of that word.” “Nostalgic?” “Yes, it is somewhat reminiscent of the dances that Vulcan children do in nursery school. Of course, the children are not so… well-coordinated.” Spock danced as a kid

- Kirk does not want her. Also he’s gay and one of his husbands is right there.

- “A dream that made Mr Spock and me brothers.” I think this is the first time Kirk and Spock refer to each other as anything other than friends… fascinating

- “Blind! Truly blind. Captain Kirk is your commanding officer, and you are his subordinate. And that is all.” Yeah but they’re husbands. Also this feeds into more of the ‘Kirk is designed to be a lonely character’ thing. He can’t even have a connection to his first officer :(

- damn they didn’t even let him infodump

- “No, thank you, I prefer to join Mr. Spock.” Yeah you would

- THEY HAVE AN ELECTRIC CHAIR ?!?

- I think the governor character is a stand in for McCoy, but they decided, ‘I guess we’ve tortured him enough’

- He’s sleepy

- And they’re kissing (edit: not sure who this is referring to)

- It’s always about getting to a control room and taking down a force field and never about kissing your boyfriend

- Spock coming to Kirk’s rescue? He finally got his knight in shining armour moment

- That’s not Kirk dammnit. He would never let Spock stay- oh wait it was Spock who was the imposter. Okay but where’s Spock

- Kirk’s little curl <3

- Kirk gets fucking shot. Second time he’s been knocked out this episode

- “You could serve as human sacrifice, for example.” “No, I wouldn’t enjoy that at all.” I love when they write Kirk as polite but obviously he’s got that Spock/McCoy sass rubbed off on him

- Kirk must be so disoriented. He got shot with a phaser and wakes up being held in a very uncomfortable position. Then he’s getting dragged places and beat up again.

- WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS EPISODE. No. No. What the fuck. They just made her choke on gas and then blew her up. This is horrifying. I swear some of these episodes are on the level on horror movies

- It’s funny how Scott and McCoy are getting along (and running the ship together)

- oh okay Spock’s just been chilling

- DOUBLE NERVE PINCH

- OKAY Spock ACTUALLY gets to save his husband in distress this time by being the knight in shining armour

- Once again Spock does not solely abide by pure unemotional logic, he does not fuck around, but he does find out. He’ll get you.

- THEY DID NOT PULL A ‘which is the real Kirk’ ON SPOCK

- which ones got the bigger ass- who said that (edit: I do not remember writing that but it’s genuinely the best thing I’ve written)

- HE DECIDES TO WAIT. HOT GIRL SHIT

- Spock isn’t turned on at all during this fight

- HOT GIRL SHIT IS SHOOTING THE INTRUDER PRETENDING TO BE YOUR BOYFRIEND WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT

- The thing that turns on and off the force field is literally a switch that says on and off and is labelled ‘force field power’

- yay they win or smt

- ‘Why’d it take you so long to know it was me?’ ‘Well in simple words, captain. I didn’t want to shoot my fucking boyfriend.’

They cured mental illness… We’re done for tonight.

Masterpost

Teleplay by Lee Erwin

Story by Lee Erwin & Jerry Sohl

[trekmupf]

Space Mail Order Wifes 👰💃💊

Pro:

Bones being more interested in his medical readings than the literal drug-woman

Spock not being affected by the women, King 🏳️‍🌈

Eve at least has things to do, a character with morals and dreams and makes her own desicisons in the end (sort of)

Kirk (sort of) letting Mudd go in the end is very Kirk of him

Spock like "well that was an annoying emotional affair"

First time Kirk having a „romance“ plot with a woman that wrongly morphed him into a womanizer in modern pop culture, even though he's not (in this case it's non con due to drugs)

Propably one of the best episodes in terms of lighting

The colour design – this episode was the flagship for Star Trek being on colour tv and it shows

Set Design, Costume Design, Make up on Point

Con:

Early filmed, therefore more inconsistencies (Clothes, roles)

Harry Mudd as a character is really annoying and he's disgusting

The demur woman trope. The whole everything about them (need husbands, marrying, needing Mudd and literally clinging to him, being ~so sexy~, etc)

the miners also just a man trope and it annoys me, too

the whole "morning after" scene in the miners house is just the worst

ah yes the dream of all women: to be married to violent men in the middle of nowhere that they can cook for

the "sexy" music that played every time they were onscreen being ogled

also I know this is the 60s, but what would happen if a gay man or straight woman would encounter the women? Would the drug work? If not just … don't put people attracted to the women in the same room?

It's one of those episodes where I find interpreting the message really difficult, simply because I wasn't around during the time it was made. Yes, today the „just believe in yourself and you're pretty“ message is hamfisted at best, especially with the rest of the episode, but maybe it was sort of revolutianary in the way it was done during the 60's on major tv, knowing that heavy make up and complicated hairstyles just took off

This is just me wanting more Bones pictures - smiling for once!

Counter: Kirk fake womanizer (non con due to drugs)

Quote: "Oh, the sound of male ego. You travel half way across the galaxy and it's still the same song" -Eve

Moment: The Trios banter at the end Summary: Hard to watch from todays point of view due to heavy sexism the episode doesn't have much to offer in terms of our characters, new information or interesting sci-fi elements or narrative

Previous Episode - Next Episode - All TOS Reviews

[scotianostra]

October 4th 1570 marked the hanging of the East Lothian preacher Rev John Kello for murdering his wife.

Kello was a man of humble origins but considerable theological learning, of high moral values, described as a fine preacher. Kello had married Margaret Thomson, a woman of the people, which, considering the vents that followed, basically means that she was a commoner, anyway, they had three children named Bartilmo, Barbara and Bessie.

They all settled down at the manse and lived reasonably happily for a while, but the Rev Mr Kello felt ashamed of his wife and grew to hate her, hoping to better himself by marrying the daughter of the laird.

He tried to make money by speculating in property, initially with some success, but his affairs grew complicated, which added to his frustrations.

On Sunday, September 24, 1570, the Rev Mr Kello went into his wife’s chamber at the manse, as she was kneeling in prayer.

He then strangled her to death with a towel, before suspending the body from a hook in the ceiling to make it seem she had hanged herself, before cunningly leaving the key on the inside when he locked the front door of the manse, and went out by the back.

At the kirk, he delivered a more than usually eloquent sermon, before inviting some neighbours back to the manse to cheer up his wife, who had long seemed depressed and unwell, he said.

He feigned surprise at finding the front door locked from the inside.

He made use of another entrance, leaving the neighbours outside, as he said he would go and fetch his ailing wife.

Next, the Rev Mr Kello appeared at the window, calling out: “My wife, my wife, my beloved wife is gone!”

This account shows us that the Rev Mr Kello was a cool customer, able to persuade the neighbours that his wife had done away with herself.

He might well have been able to remarry and live at Spott manse in comfort and security, happily ever after.

But his colleague the Rev Andrew Simpson, the first minister of Dunbar after the Reformation, had heard suspicions that all was not natural about the death of Margaret Kello.

He confronted her husband, who broke down and confessed to murdering her.

The Rev Mr Kello was taken to prison in Edinburgh, stood trial and was found guilty of murder, and at the Tolbooth on this day 1570 he gave his last sermon - this one from the scaffold;

Measoure not the treuth of Godis word altogether be the lyvis of sic as are apointed pastouris ower you, for thei beir the self same fleshe of corruptioune that ye doe, and the moir godlie the charge is whairunto thai are called, the readier the Enemie to draw thame bak from Godis obedience..

A rare ‘Confessioun of Maister Iohn Kello, Minister of Spot’ as seen among the pics, probably ‘ghosted’ by some enterprising cleric, was printed by Robert Lekprewik in Edinburgh shortly after the execution, blaming Satan for corrupting the Spott parson’s mind.

They sorry story is one of Twelve Scots Trials by William Roughead, also featured in the collection is the more famous story of Major Weir, “ Wizard” of The West Bow

https://archive.org/details/twelvescotstrial00roug/mode/2up

[comdrspock]

Cold Morning Light

Being married was nice enough, but overall Spock found it rather unremarkable. He appreciated having Christine there at the end of the day considerably more than he had anticipated. Nothing else had changed, however, other than sharing living quarters and sleeping in a slightly larger bed than before. They both still worked long hours, sometimes going two or even three entire shifts without seeing each other. When their days end at roughly the same time, one or both of them were often too exhausted to do much other than sleep. Spock was keenly aware that his lack of interest on such days occasionally left Christine feeling frustrated or insecure, and he would have to reassure her that yes, he still found her beautiful and desirable, but that on this particular night, he would rather play her a song on his lyre or play a game of chess or simply meditate (he did this quite frequently) than take her to bed except to sleep. Not every week could be like pon farr, or even the few days after their wedding.

His first officer being married also did not make Captain Kirk was any less likely to select him to be part of almost every single landing party. It wasn't that the captain wanted Christine to worry; he simply felt that Spock was one of the most valuable and trustworthy members of the crew and therefore a, well, logical choice to accompany him into the unknown. During the first six months of their marriage, Spock spent a combined total of an entire week away from the ship on various away missions with the captain.

“I thought you said there were no lifeforms detected on this planet,” Kirk said, frowning, as Lieutenant Uhura repeated the distress signal from the class-M planet they currently orbited.

“That is correct, captain. None of our sensors are picking up any signs of life,” Spock said.

“So how can...no, never mind.” The captain bit back what might have been a sigh of frustration or at least resignation. “We’re going to have to go down there and find out. Spock, you’re with me.” He smacked a button on the console attached to his chair. “Kirk to McCoy.”

“McCoy here.”

“Meet us in the transporter room, Bones. There’s an urgent distress call coming from the planet’s surface. We might need you. Make sure you bring a phaser. Come on, Spock.”

In Sickbay, Dr. McCoy did sigh. He glanced over his shoulder at Christine. He’d always found away missions a little stressful, but the pressure was on more than ever now that Spock was not only the first officer and Jim’s best friend but also her husband. As usual, however, the captain wasn’t giving him a choice. He reached for a tricorder and then pulled a phaser out of his desk drawer.

[android-and-ale]

WIP Wednesday

I'm slowly working my way through a very E rated sequel to Not In Front of the Klingons. Our favorite middle aged retirees are once more called into action by the long suffering Admiral Nogura. To his ever growing annoyance, Spock and Kirk are, in fact, the best possible people for this job.

---

“Admiral, are you suggesting we attempt to seduce this young man into returning to Starfleet custody?” asked Jim.

“Jesus Joseph and Mary.” Nogura pinched the bridge of his nose. “Have I not been clear enough? Yes! That’s exactly what I’m fucking saying, you absolute shitheel.”

“I do not believe we fall within his most desired demographic,” said Spock.

Nogura glared at Spock through his splayed fingers. “You’re fucking kidding me.”

“I am not engaged in any act of coitus at the moment,” said Spock.

“He hasn’t seen it,” Jim smirked. He knew exactly what Nogura was hinting at, and had been saving it for his next long weekend away with his husband.

“I hate you both,” said Nogura. “I can’t believe you’re making me watch this bullshit again.”

He angrily punched his PADD. The screen swirled, slowly coalescing into two hands rushing at one another in a hot, sloppy ozh’esta.

"Exclusively on Only Hands!"

The twined fingers pulled apart, dragging an animated curtain with them.

Suk’Lok appeared, microphone in hand, wearing his signature skintight green leather pants and a beaded mesh vest. His mouth looked swollen and bruised, with lipstick smeared across his cheek in a way that suggested his lips had been wrapped around something huge. Light glinted off the twelve heavy piercings tracing a line up his pointed left ear. His nostrils flared, and he chewed his bottom lip, staring at the microphone like he was ready to deep throat it. 

“I want Spock’s Cock!” sang Suk’Lok. 

It’s not just talk! 

I wanna suck him dry

I wanna make him cry

Until he sees Shrimp Colors!

I want Spock’s Cock

-- Hottest of the S’chn T’gai’s!

I want Spock’s Cock

-- Thank the gods he is into guys!

I wanna rub my wet Lok against his half human Cock 

Until we’re both so dehydrated we die! 

“If anyone can bring him in,” Nogura poured another shot of gin into his mug of lukewarm coffee, “It’s you assholes.”

“Based on that holo, I don’t think he’s after Spock’s asshole,” said Jim.

“There’s another verse,” said Nogura. “In fact there are five more. Not counting the club dance remix.”

“It’s catchy,” said Jim.

Nogura took a long drink of what was slowly turning into coffee flavored gin. “The only thing this kid is catching is the Andorian Shake.”

[hummingbird-of-light]

June of Doom 2024 Day 11 (@juneofdoom)

A/N: Today we'll start with Arc 2: The AU-Arc! Chapters 11 - 20 will all be alternate universes. Enjoy~

11. “We’re out of time.”                          

| Bleeding Out | Collapse | Flatline |

~

James T. Kirk was eight years old when he saw a spaceship crash into the planet Earth. It was a dark night when he was admiring the stars and dreaming of what life as an astronaut might be like. Exploring space and foreign worlds. Maybe even meet some amazing aliens! It was the big goal he had set himself when he grew up. To become an astronaut like his father.

His eyes almost popped out of their sockets when he saw a star fall from the sky and land directly in a field belonging to his family's farm.

At first the little boy hardly realized what he had witnessed, but eventually he got moving and hurried down the stairs and out of the house in his pajamas and slippers.

The field was not too far away from the house and little James reached it quickly, making his way through the tall ears of corn.

When he reached his destination, completely out of breath, he could hardly believe what he saw. Directly in front of him was a metal capsule, about the same size as him. It seemed technically far superior to anything the boy knew.

When the capsule opened with a hiss and something appeared inside, James' eyes widened a little more. That was just ... unbelievable! Beaming from ear to ear, he stepped closer and examined what he saw.

A boy! About his age. He actually looked just like a human, but the ears were pointed and the skin looked slightly different.

A lot of people would have run away, but James wasn't afraid of the creature. It was a child! Just like him! A child from outer space! An alien!

The human boy could hardly believe his luck. He was the first person in the world to see an alien! What an incredible discovery!

And when the alien child opened his dark brown eyes and their gazes met, James knew that they would be connected forever.

~

It turned out that the alien boy was called Spock and came from a distant planet called Vulcan. He had been sent to Earth to investigate humans and their technological progress after the human space base had been found. Vulcan was in radio contact with a certain George Kirk. James' father! He had made such a great discovery!

When James told his mother about what had happened in the field and asked if Spock could stay with them, she said yes. And with Spock as a roommate, she just seemed so much happier to Jim than before. He knew that his mother had been very sad since his father had gone into space because they didn't know when he would come back. But knowing that her husband had made such a big discovery, even she could no longer be sad.

Only James' big brother Sam still seemed as sullen and sad as before. He ignored Spock, wanted nothing to do with the alien and eventually moved in with their grandparents.

James never understood it, but he wasn't alone. He had Spock.

~

James – Spock called him 'Jim' because he found it difficult to pronounce his normal name – and Spock quickly became best friends.

They spent every day and every night together. Whenever Jim had a problem, he talked to Spock, who helped him with his cool and logical way of thinking.

Apart from Jim's mother, no one knew about Spock. To protect the Vulcan, they had decided to hide him away at home. Only sometimes was he allowed into town, a cap on his head to hide his pointed ears. It worked. No one paid too much attention to him.

When James turned 18, he and Spock moved into their own apartment. Jim's Uncle Frank, who had returned to Iowa after spending several years in Europe doing who knew what, took over the farm, said that he would look after his sister and kicked the young man out.

It didn't matter. After all, Jim and Spock could visit Winona at any time. But first James had to concentrate on his studies. He would become an astronaut like his father. He had sworn to himself that he would.

And he did.

~

It was to be his first mission. He had been chosen to fly to the space station and conduct research there.

Jim was filled with pride as he put on his spacesuit and looked in the mirror with a grin on his face. At last he was going into space! At last he would see his father again!

He turned and looked at Spock. The Vulcan, who had been with him for most of his life, was looking at him, serious as ever. He glanced at the clock.

"We're out of time, Jim. I need to go."

Jim just smiled. Spock had already told him that he couldn't go in the rocket, but that he would be picked up by his own people.

"I know, Spock. I can hardly wait to finally fly to the stars and see my father. Then we can finally strengthen and cultivate our contact and friendship with the Vulcans together."

Spock also smiled. A rare sight. But somehow ... his smile seemed sad. He shook his head.

"I don't think we'll see each other again, Jim. The humans ... will destroy me."

All at once, Jim's smile turned to shock and his face dropped. He opened his mouth, shaking his head in disbelief.

"W-what? But ... the people down here don't know anything about you! Besides, you're not a threat! Why would they do anything to you?"

Spock sighed heavily. He slowly approached Jim, placed a hand on his cheek and stroked it.

"Because they found the right medicine to help you, Jim."

Jim just stared at the Vulcan. Tears filled his eyes and for the first time in many years he felt a terrible feeling. Fear.

"What–"

"Jim," Spock closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again and looking firmly at the human. "I am not real. None of this is real. You are not going into space. You are not an astronaut either. You are in a mental institution. When you turned 18, your uncle sent you and your mother there."

No ... Jim's breathing quickened and he gasped for air. That wasn't true!

"W-why?"

"When you were a child, you created me. A mind construct to deal with what you couldn't handle on your own."

Jim shook his head again. He just didn't understand any of this! What was Spock talking about?

"Jim ... your father isn't in space. The rocket never reached its destination. Your father ... is dead."

Slowly the tears began to flow and Jim felt paralyzed.

Everything he had experienced with Spock in the last few years. Everything he had dreamed of and worked towards ... had not been real?

It had simply been his imagination.

Slowly, the young man fell to his knees. His heart seemed to burst into a thousand pieces. Too many thoughts were running through his head. Thoughts of Spock. Thoughts of his father. Thoughts of everything they had been through.

And when he heard Spock say his goodbye, hugging him one last time, Jim simply collapsed. It was too much for him to take.

If reality was a place without Spock, then he wished to never wake up again.

[spocks-husband]

it's rotten work.

Words: 1,438

Genre/Tropes: Fluff, a bit of hurt/lots of comfort, humor

Summary: Spock is afraid of thunderstorms. (Also, what the hell are The Amish??)

Notes: Ah, yes, another self-indulgent Spirk fluff fic that no one will like, imported from my AO3 <3 you guys love me so much /s

Spock couldn't help the unnerved sensation that crept its way down his spine as they left the diplomatic hall of the strange new world he and his husband had found themselves upon. Something in the curious, static humidity that hung in the air made his skin crawl-- it was something he, unfortunately, knew well, something he'd gone out of his way to avoid since his first childhood interaction with it all those years ago. Yet, here he was, and though he tried to consider the present circumstances from perhaps a scientific or analytical perspective, he could not. It was a feeling he could not control that had begun to sweep through his body, one he had encountered many a time, yet never one he could hold in such a tight grasp as he could the other facets of his natural emotions. No, this was not something that could be cleared away with logic and reasoning-- perhaps even deliberately so. It was a purely human feeling; the sensation of irrational fear.

In Spock's mind, fear was an irritating-- albeit somewhat evolutionarily necessary-- sensation that, for the most part, was irrelevant. He had been in thousands of life-threatening situations over the years-- he was a galactic hero, for Surak's sake-- but in each one of them, he prided himself on remaining calm and rational enough to handle the situation with clarity and precision. In all honesty, though, knowing that only made him feel more-- What was it, embarrassed? Guilty? Ashamed?-- at the current terror he knew would soon grip him. 

"Something the matter, Adun?" Jim asked casually upon their return to their temporary residence on Tonitribus VI.

It was a strange planet they'd found themselves on; while its people, known as the Vetus, were well aware of warp travel and certainly had the potential to be just as industrially advanced as Terra had become by the 23rd Century, they made an active choice to live simply and without technological advancement. Some sort of philosophical or religious decision from what Spock had gathered, and while it was rather illogical he supposed he respected it. Jim had frequently compared them to a similar Earth movement known as The Amish, but Spock was regretfully unfamiliar with this group; he made a mental note to research them later (perhaps one of the 21st-century holoprograms produced by the antediluvian television company TLC on the subject could be of use?). As a consequence of these beliefs, though, along with the federation's desperation to make a good impression on this society for fear they would deny new Dilithium trade agreements, The Starship Enterprise had to leave promptly after dropping off the diplomatic team, thus leaving Spock and James at the mercy of Vetus hospitality; thankfully, however, they'd found their arrangements-- a comfortable, cottage-like building with the traditional furs gracefully removed from the floors and walls per Jim's request (he hadn't wanted his husband to be any more uncomfortable, after all) quite satisfactory. 

"I am alright, Jim," Spock said slowly, putting down his satchel and removing his cloak as he entered the building. Kirk hummed softly in response.

"If you say so..." the human responded, dropping the subject with a hesitant tone as he walked over to the large, curtained window, looking out over the fields and mountains of Tonitribus VI. The sky was an overcast, dim shade of its usual vibrant purple, and the wind blew through the plants fiercely. "Looks kind of like Earth, come to think of it," he mused, his hands behind his back as he examined the weather in a way that Spock had observed many older American men do-- most notably his father-in-law, but that was beside the point. Something Jim's nephew had called the 'Midwestern Dad Pose', which Spock was beginning to believe was perhaps not an official term. "Looks like a storm might be coming in... if that's how their weather works, anyways," Jim chuckled at his own joke. 

"Indeed," Spock responded quietly as he prepared a kettle of tea on the stove, his back turned to Jim in an attempt to hide any slips of fear that may escape into his outward expression. "I suspect there will be... a thunderstorm." 

"Really?" Jim asked excitedly, perking up with a grin that sort of reminded Spock of the way Terran dogs looked when they became interested in something. "That sounds great! God, I haven't seen a thunderstorm since we were last in Iowa..." he paused for a moment. "Wait, were you with me for that trip?" He approached Spock from behind, watching him prepare their tea with mild interest. 

"... I was on the trip, yes," Spock said slowly. "But... I had returned to the ship that night." Jim raised a brow.

"Why's that?" He asked tenderly. It was odd, really-- even after decades of being together, platonically or otherwise, Spock still found himself expecting Kirk to judge him. He never did, though. There was only one person Spock had ever felt he never had to change for. Only one person who he couldn't disappoint if he tried. Only one person-- gentle and sweet and nostalgic in his aura the way an old photograph is when you find it at an antique store, the yearning to know its history and the bitter sting of knowing that perhaps you will never understand it to its fullest extent, charming and kind with his goofy smile and his bright eyes. He felt like coming home. James.

"... I have not encountered a thunderstorm since a childhood visit of mine to Earth I had gone on with my mother," Spock began carefully, watching the tea kettle with sudden interest. "Since this initial experience, I have found I possess a... distaste for thunderstorms. I... do not like them." Spock couldn't help feeling a bit desperate to avoid admitting the exact emotion he knew was within himself. Thankfully, as always, Jim caught on. 

"Ah... you're afraid of thunder?"

"... Affirmative," Sock said stiffly, avoiding his husband's eyes as he poured the tea. Jim hummed in response. 

"Well, that's alright," James responded simply, tucking a stray hair behind Spock's ear to satisfy his eternal need to be touching his Vulcan partner's cold skin. Spock gave him a slightly puzzled look. 

"You... do not view this as a weakness?" Spock asked slowly. "It is clear you find interest in the storms, I do not want to discourage you from pursuing--"

"It's not a weakness," Jim responded calmly, adding a few spoonfuls of sugar to this tea, stirring it in slowly as he spoke. For once, Spock did not tease him for adding a sweetener. "It's natural."

"It is... human," Spock added slowly, the words themselves seeming unsure as to what their intention was.

"It is," Jim responded with a soft smile. "Come on, let's watch a holoprogram. It'll be nice-- I'll take care of you tonight," Jim kissed Spock softly on the cheek. 

"I... do not need to be cared for," Spock frowned slightly. "I am not a child."

"True," Jim nodded. "But I'd like to take care of you if you'll let me."

There was a pause. 

"I... I shall indulge your human need to comfort those you care for," Spock said, subtly embarrassed. Jim chuckled, gently bemused that even now, Spock's pride would not permit him to simply ask for his husband of several years to soothe his fear. It was something they needed to work on, Jim knew, but that could wait. They had all the time in the universe together. 

Despite Spock's frequently tensed form and the occasional need for Jim to rub a tender hand across his back to calm his racing heart, their evening was rather pleasant. For the first time, perhaps in all his life, Spock felt almost... glad... to allow himself such vulnerability. He and James held hands all through that night, and when they awoke the next morning, still on the couch, with slightly aching backs and two half-drunken mugs of now-cold Earl Grey on the coffee table, there was no regret between them, no embarrassment. In a way, they spoke their own language when they were together, and such words did not exist to them. Nothing existed to them outside of each other. Nothing needed to. 

There was only one question still lingering between them as they awoke the next morning, and as they ate their breakfast in comfortable silence, Spock really couldn't resist his curiosity.

"Jim?"

"Yes, Mr. Spock?" 

He would never admit it, but Spock did adore when Jim used his professional title when they were alone together; there was a peculiarly satisfying irony in it.

"... What are-- The Amish?" 

[onekisstotakewithme]

Tell People About Your WIPs

make a list of all your WIPs with a brief description of each and then people can ask you questions about them and then tag other people.

tagged by the creator of this game, @mihrsuri, and will in turn say 'anyone who wants to, feel free' but specifically of the westie besties Lil didn't tag, I'm yelling at @claudiajcregg 💜 I've been agonizing over having nothing to publish for ages now 😭

Currently Active:

Close to the Heart, aka MASH noir AU where Hawkeye is still a doctor, and Peg comes to him wanting him to kill her husband.

the west wing post-canon wedding: CJ and Danny try and make it work after CJ decides to stay in the WH, can't make it work, break up... all of which is backstory to the two of them reuniting at Charlie and Zoey's wedding a few months later... and going from there

the "BJ accidentally follows Hawkeye to a gay meet up, learns some things" WIP that I have been agonizing over.

the valentine's day tww discord prompt fulfillment (I know I'm not in the discord but humour me, i did the christmas exchange) that starts during "Manchester".

Things that Should be Active (but Aren't)

the prompt fulfillment for the Josh/Donna Rom-Com exchange in which I Romcomify "Inauguration: Over There" (I have words written for it, but not many. that was a busy week lol.)

President!CJ - you know the drill. I keep calling it president!CJ but the actual name should be "CJ runs for President and Ally rambles her ass off trying to make it happen". Anyone looking for a full time volunteer job as my research assistant to make this story happy, apply within.

The Requiem First Time Smut - it's six thousand words long and contains only one orgasm so far. aka the wednesday night where CJ shows up and they 'don't reallly talk' (except nobody is naked yet because they can't stop fucking talking!)

Random WIPs that can't even be considered in the same realm as active, yes i'm as annoyed about it as everyone else.

tww plane crash au - on the way back from a summit in Japan, AF1 crashes on a small island in the South Pacific. This project is my baby but alas. Featuring bioluminescence, sex cabanas and copious amounts of Repentance.

sperm donor AU - canon divergent in s5 of tww, after slow news day et al, where CJ starts seriously thinking about her life post-administration... and having a kid. Coincidentally, Danny comes back into her life around the same time.

mash triad ski au - BJ and Peg go on vacation over Christmas of 1998, and meet another skiier when they all get trapped on a chair lift together 😉

triad wedding - I include this on every list (sigh) just because a whole draft exists, it just needs to be burned to the ground, chopped up with a machete and started from scratch and I burned out hard wriitng draft one. Anyway, final part of the first "arc" of Home verse. BJ, Peg and Hawkeye get 'married'.

Ambassador Spock - genuinely don't think I've touched this since 2021 but. Kirk is still captain of the Enterprise, charged with bringing the Vulcan ambassadors (Sarek and his son Spock) to a summit, "Journey to Babel" style only with more Spirk.