#and most recently it's been spock | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

vintagegeekculture · 16 days

Text

Because she was an intentionally mysterious woman initially only seen in a single episode, and before she got an on-air backstory in the recent streaming series, Star Trek supplementary material developed contradictory information on who - or what - Number One, the female first executive officer of the Enterprise, was. To my count, she has four different, completely incompatible backstories in the comics and novels, and this is absolutely unique in Star Trek, which usually keeps it consistent.

Peter David, in his New Frontier novels, identified Number One as a long lived immortal human mutant (like Flint from the original series) named “Morgan Primus” who was an early genius in cybernetics and artificial intelligence, which is why the Enterprise computer has her voice. One of the names Morgan Primus assumed to hide her immortality was Morgan Lefler, and one of her daughters was Robin Lefler, Wesley Crusher’s love interest from the Next Generation Series played by Ashley Judd. Robin Lefler did not inherit her mutant ability to heal all injuries.

Alternatively, the DC Star Trek Comics of the early 1980s said that Number One was from an obscure planet of peaceful, open, friendly telepaths who resemble humans exactly, and that she was present at first contact with Starfleet. They explained that her blunt, direct, undiplomatic manner is due to her being from a telepathic culture that values total honesty. This would make her the first telepath on the Enterprise, with Spock and Arex coming later. Her planet was created before the Next Generation, but her species being a peaceful, open, telepathic race resembling Mediterranean humans who are not well known or commonly encountered in the original series era….well, that certainly sounds an awful lot like Betazoids to me. If this backstory is true, she may have been the first Betazoid seen on screen, in much the same way fans generally believe Trelane was either Q or a member of the Q Continuum.

D.C. Fontana’s only Star Trek novel, “Vulcan’s Glory,” was one of the earliest attempts to give the character a backstory, and was the most consequential long term. The first novel set in the era of the first Star Trek pilot with Captain Pike and a young Spock, "Vulcan's Glory" identified Number One as being an Illyrian, a race of human-like beings who specialize in species wide breeding programs and genetic improvement. This genetic superiority is why she was cool, intellectual, aloof, and a bit arrogant. Her nickname “Number One” came from the fact she was the supreme product of the hyper-competitive Illyrian system, and won at everything from academics to athletics. According to DC Fontana, her actual Illyrian name is impossible to pronounce, so when dealing with humans, she assumed the human name “Una Chin-Riley.” Una of course, being “Number One” in Greek.

As DC Fontana is such an important figure in Star Trek history and only actually wrote one Star Trek novel in her life, many future materials used the backstory established in “Vulcan’s Glory,” like the David Stern Pike-era novels of the 2010s....but more importantly, the Discovery and Strange New Worlds series, which canonized the “Una Chin-Reilly” name by using it on screen (I remember gasping when Pike called her Una in a Discovery episode, meaning they were going with the Fontana backstory, a detail that may not have been significant to the casual viewer). Since DC Fontana wrote “Vulcan’s Glory” in the 80s, a lot more information was learned about the role of genetic engineering in the Federation, however, and interesting things were done in that series to bring her in line with everything we’ve learned since in Deep Space 9 and Enterprise about augmentation and the society wide prejudice against it. For example, they established that the fact Number One was Illyrian was not public knowledge, but that she pretended to be human her entire life.

The one person who didn’t see fit to give her a backstory or even a real name was John "Johnny Redbeard" Byrne in his comic series about the Cage era Enterprise, who thought the mystery of the character was the most interesting thing about her, and he was deliberately cagey about any details. To Johnny Redbeard, she was just “Number One.” There was a running joke that every time someone says her actual name, or when we see her personnel file, it was blurred out, or somebody’s thumb was over it, and so on. It was rather like the running joke where Mr. Burns never remembers Homer Simpson's name. Johnny Redbeard loves mystery men and women who don't talk about their past, since that was the characterization he famously gave to Wolverine in his X-Men comics.

The one detail of Number One's past that is clear is that Number One in Byrne's comics is competent, mysterious, and has mystique, certainly, but she is completely human, without any powers. Byrne always got exasperated that his X-Men co-creator Chris Claremont added fantastical and far out details to the background of X-Men characters (like how Nightcrawler's girlfriend Amanda turned out to be a sorceress) because he felt "some people should just be allowed to be normal." Byrne always said his original idea for Wolverine's "true" backstory was that he was a Vietnam veteran in intelligence who volunteered for bionic experiments that wiped his memory, and disliked the idea he was immortal, and vetoed the very, very early Dave Cockrum idea Wolverine was an actual mutated wolverine who achieved sentience and a human shape (which early X-Men comics hint at). Byrne was reportedly enraged that they gave Moira MacTaggart a mutant power, as he saw her as just being a scrappy Scottish housekeeper.

Johnny Redbeard didn’t give Number One a past (other than to show she was on the Enterprise's shakedown cruise with Robert April as a rookie officer), but he did give her a future, as he showed an older Number One as a starship commander in the Kirk era (aging gracefully with a white tuft like Tongolele), and later, a flag officer in the Motion Picture era.

To what extent are these backstories compatible? Well, with what we currently know about Number One, that she hid her true species and status to avoid prejudice, it could be that some of the other versions were tall tales she spread to obscure her true origins. The John Byrne idea she served as an Ensign with Robert April in the Enterprise's very first mission hasn't been confirmed, but hasn't been denied, either. The Peter David "Morgan Primus" backstory is completely incompatible, but perhaps there are some elements to it that are true, like the idea that the early part of her career involved working as a computer engineer in artificial intelligence, which is why the computer has her voice.

#star trek #tos #snw #number one

462 notes · View notes

thoughts-i-have-had-in-passing · 11 months

Text

The Spock Universes Theory of Star Trek

Recently I made a very quick, late-night reply to a post in which I mentioned my ‘Spock Universes’ theory which to my surprise ended up being somewhat popular with the people, and so I have decided to give it its own post.

The theory is simple. Every time Spock is played by someone different on screen you are watching a different universe’s timeline.

Why does this work? First off it is canon that there are different universes. For one, the Animated Series was disavowed by Gene Roddenberry as not canon, which by extension means it had to have taken place in another universe, but we also have the mirror universe which continues to exist even when we occasionally wish it didn’t. So Star Trek was doing a multiverse from almost the very beginning. So what is the easiest way to tell them apart?

Spock.

Spock is the key to the whole multiverse. Behold:

TOS: Nimoy Spock, Prime universe

TAS: Voiced by Nimoy but disavowed by Roddenberry, ‘Animated Prime’ universe in which everything that happened in Prime Universe also happened here, but everything that happened here did not automatically happen in Prime.

Star Trek Movies I through VI: Nimoy Spock, Prime universe

TNG: Nimoy Spock appeared in Unification Parts 1 and 2, therefore TNG is in Prime universe

Star Trek: Generations: No Spock. NOT PRIME UNIVERSE.

The evidence: In the TNG episode Relics the crew discover Scotty, played by James Doohan, trapped in a transporter buffer on an infinite loop. This is considered god-tier engineering by Geordie, who did not believe it was possible despite 70 years of advancements in the engineering space (more on that in the SNW section).

Scotty makes a comment that he thought Kirk got the original Enterprise out of mothballs to come looking for him, and was saddened to find out this was not the case. In Generations, Scotty is present when Kirk get pulled into the Nexus and everyone think he is dead. In Prime universe Scotty was not there or he would not have made this assumption, however there is one person who has to be there in order to determine if the universe is Prime: Nimoy Spock.

Who was originally supposed to be there according to the original script? Nimoy Spock.

Who forced a change to the universe by not showing up? Nimoy Spock.

In Prime universe Spock was there instead of Scotty, who had not delayed his retirement to see off the Enterprise B and instead was already on his way to the Norpin colony when Kirk was ‘killed’ the news reached the colony but not the ship, which because it never made it meant Scotty never knew Kirk was gone.

It is important to note that everything else happened the exact same way, except Lursa and B’Etor got hold of a much better ship solely because I said so.

DS9: In the episode Trials and Tribble-ations, the crew was thrown back in time to the days of the original Enterprise, in which Nimoy Spock appeared, even without the various TNG crossovers it’s still Prime universe

Voyager: No Spock, but pilot episode crossed over with DS9, and the character of Barkley crossed over from TNG on more than one occasion. In addition, in the episode Flashback there was an appearance by Captain Sulu, played by George Takei, who was last seen playing his character opposite Nimoy’s Spock. Most likely Prime universe

Enterprise: Predates the Spock schism and therefore theoretically belongs to all universes. It has been referenced in several of the newer series in various ways, however there is a continuity issue in regards to the Klingons, which may mean that the event which lead to Spock being played by someone other than Nimoy happen even further back in the timeline, with the majority of changes being negligible by the time of Enterprise other than the Klingon ridge thing, which Discovery and SNW do not follow

‘Kelvin’ movies: Two Spocks. Nimoy Spock is specifically stated to come from the future Prime universe and the events featuring Quinto Spock are now a new, branched timeline. Further proof for the theory.

Discovery: Peck Spock, new timeline. Other notable changes include the style and advancement of technology and the fact that the Klingons appear to have solved their forehead ridge-flattening troubles, plus added extra for good luck.*

SNW: Peck Spock, crossover with Discovery. Peck universe. This also means that major continuity changes like the Gorn being both known and evil monsters are due to the different universe. In addition, Dr. M’Benga hides his daughter in a transporter buffer to slow down her illness. As previously mentioned, this was god-tier engineering when Prime Scotty did it in 2294, however in this universe technology is more advanced as no one bats an eye at the doctor’s technical prowess when they find out what he did.

Prodigy: Nimoy Spock facsimile which uses Nimoy voice recordings, Prime universe

Picard: No Spock, pick your poison. Basically because there is no Spock this could be Prime or it could be the same universe as Generations. Clearly there are a lot of similarities between Prime and Generations universe, but as the ending shown in All Good Things is not the one we see in Picard, it’s possible, likely even, that we have crossed universes again. I blame Q.

Lower Decks: Somehow exists in a universe where all shows are simultaneously canon, including TAS, probably due to some weird phenomena

*Challenges to the theory and how it has adapted.

It was pointed out to me that Michael Burnham watches a recording of old Spock once she goes to the future, and that this recording was of Nimoy Spock, and so I have had to alter my theory slightly.

The Spock Checkpoint can only be done when Spock is a young man. This is because once Spock approaches old age, regardless of who has been playing him, he begin to morph into Nimoy Spock. As Mr. Nimoy himself claimed in his second autobiography: I am Spock.

Dude wasn’t kidding.

Personally I find that this theory helps me deal with the more extreme continuity issues that NuTrek has brought to the show. It's easy to pretend that Turnabout Intruder's claim that women can't be captains never actually happened, harder to believe that everyone met the Gorn except Kirk, and that somehow they demonsterfied in about five to ten years, or that a doctor could rig a transporter as well as a master engineer with technology forty years more advanced. Spock theory has calmed my mind and soothed my soul so I can better enjoy Trek. I hope if you felt the same way then it can do the same for you.

Thank you for reading my waffle.

#star trek #star trek deep space nine #star trek tng #star trek voyager #star trek enterprise #star trek movies #star trek discovery #star trek snw #star trek lower decks #star trek prodigy #star trek picard #star trek tos #star trek tas

534 notes · View notes

dduane · 6 months

Note

Hi! I just want to say that I recently got into reading the star trek pocket novels, and so far yours have been my favorite by far (Doctor's Orders especially made me actually laugh out loud more times than I can count)! Thank you so much for writing as much as you do and for sharing your gift with the world, because it has brought me endless amounts of joy! 😊

- Maeve

Thanks so much! I'm really glad you've liked them.

And I have to admit that writing every one of them was an absolute trip, no matter how often the process may have had its hiccups. It's just the damndest thing to be in the first generation of a fandom and then, decades later, to be invited to write in it at the professional end.

It never got old. And assuming I go down that road again at some point—which could possibly happen, as people currently working at the screen end of things seem to know where I am, and keep sneaking my written work into filmed canon—it never will. :)

ETA: to @druid-in-hiding: I don't have a list as such, but every now and then somebody drops me a note and says "Hey, did you know about this?"—and sends along the data. For example: pages from Spock's World were being passed to the cast of the 2009 Star Trek film, apparentl;y to fill in background and clarify some character issues. When I saw a (sadly cut-for-time) script page from that film with actual Vulcan terms that I'd coined for that book being used in dialogue, I was so astounded I had to sit down for a few minutes to recover. ...Bits of Rihannsu-language material, and Rihannsu cultural concepts, have also turned up in (I think it was) ST: Disco. And there are "nods" in my general direction that go right back to the late seasons of ST:TNG. (For these I tend to blame Ron Moore, who's an old friend and occasional houseguest of @petermorwood's and mine.)

The most recent example of this kind of thing, though, and maybe the showiest, happened earlier this year in ST: Picard, where an (alien-crewed) starship I came up with for My Enemy, My Ally turned up at that last big s3 battle. This one:

...What can I say? It's nice to be thought of. At such times, all you can do is go to bed smiling. I sure did. :)

#Star Trek #Star Trek novels #when the #non-canonical #becomes #canonical #Star Trek: The Next Generation #Star Trek: Discovery #Star Trek: Picard

212 notes · View notes

hopecomesbacktolife · 2 months

Text

recently read the time magazine special edition “Star Trek: inside the most influential science fiction series ever” a good portion of it is stuff a lot of fans probably already know, but there was some info in there that was still new to me, and lots of gorgeous photos that were amazing to see in print, too, so still definitely an enjoyable read! (apart from a couple instances of weirdly superiority, bro-esque writing, but that only occurred in one of the articles, thankfully)

one thing I really enjoyed about the visual aspect of the magazine though was some of the costuming visuals! For example, these crisp shots show not only the tailoring and seams but literally the construction and stitching on the TMP era uniforms 😍😍 (check out the stitching on the sleeve ranks in particular!!!)

next up, some extremely cool science things I didn’t know about and love that they exist:

this shot is excellent both for De fans (me) and also for seamstresses and costumers (also me!) because of that excellent, and rare, shot of the back of a TOS women’s uniform with seams and construction visible… positively a seamstress dream!! such a good garment structuring reference 👏🏻

also, an up close on one of Quark’s outfits that shows definitively that this outerwear jacket is, in fact, rainbowy tweed!!, a fashion statement I vote we bring back:

(it reminds me of this couch and blanket from my childhood, it was extremely 1970s and I loved it)

this little Kirk & Spock character comparison panel appeared next to an excerpt of Shatner’s writing, and to me it would fit in perfectly with those “who’s dating who” activity panels etc in magazines like seventeen, which, excellent execution, that’s such a good vibe to have considering The Premise 👏🏻

speaking of— I wish they’d mentioned slash fic, The Premise, early fanfic mail chains etc waaay more than they did (and for that matter, highlight way more just how important and vital the women Trekkies were!) but hey, at least they mentioned Spirk shippers, along with other parts of the magazine mentioning queer and nonbinary+trans rep in trek. could’ve/should’ve been more, but—

anyways! It’s still a fun magazine to read through and has lots of fun images even if you’re already familiar with the stories. (did you know there used to be an Enterprise shaped landline phone you could buy? I didn’t, and now I very much want one lol) it also highly benefits from having article writers of multiple genders, so there’s that, too. 🖖🏻

#star trek #time magazine #cool things!#book quotes #sorta #special time edition #honorary tag of #spirk #as well #for the gossip column vibes of that one part that I absolutely love hehe #deck that one out in glitter and sequin hearts and it would make an excellent bookmark for reading killing time 1st edition with hehe ♡#art #<< tag for cosplay reference

107 notes · View notes

dragonageconfessions · 4 months

Text

CONFESSION:

I’ve been playing Dragon Age Inquisition for my mum recently. I thought she’d get a bit bored with all the running around you have to do, but she absolutely loved it. She loved the party banter, and the Inquisitor’s companions. Well, most of them. She wasn’t keen on Vivienne. She also took an instant dislike to Solas. I told her the fandoms nickname for him and she burst out laughing. She calls him Spock. Every time I spoke to him at Skyhold she was like “shut up Spock”. As soon as Morrigan joined the Inquisition she was like “don’t trust her, she’s up to something.” I honestly loved playing it for her

#Dragon Age Confessions #Dragon Age Inquisition #solas dragon age #Spock #bioware

129 notes · View notes

fanhackers · 6 months

Text

Honoring Our Foresmutters: Joanna Russ

Inspired to post today by the recent New York Times article on Joanna Russ, “Joanna Russ Showed Us the Future: Female, Queer but Far From Perfect,” which promotes an exciting new collection of her work by the Library of America. Joanna Russ was a fan and a fanfiction writer well as, arguably, the literal founder of the field of fan studies. While Russ has been referenced or namechecked many times in the Fanhackers blog over the years (here and here, for example), I don’t think we’ve ever specifically shouted out her field-founding 1985 essay “Pornography By Women For Women, With Love.” (Is there an important fan studies essay before this one? Perhaps Ien Ang’s 1985 work on Dallas fans? Janice Radway’s 1984 Reading the Romance? Lamb and Veith? Lichtenberg, Marshak, and Winstons’s 1975 landmark Star Trek Lives? Maybe that one. But Russ is pretty much the first to document and defend modern slash fandom as we know it (which is one of the reasons the NYT article links to the Archive of Our Own.)

Russ says a lot of things in this essay about Star Trek slash, what it is and how it works, and how slash serves as a sexual fantasy for women. (She also says some pretty fascinating things about not just female rape fantasy, but also about male rape fantasy: there’s a lot of sympathy here for men’s sexual fantasy and empathy for the way men are thwarted under patriarchy as well.) But I think my favorite thing in the essay is the way Russ is willing to own her feels:

I hope I haven't offended anyone by calling K/S "sexual fantasy." If it weren't, I wouldn't pay any attention to it. I love the stuff, I love the way it turns me on, and I love its attempt to establish a very radical androgyny in its characters. So many feminist creations of Amazons and Goddess-worshippers and so on simply don't work-most are very thin–but K/S works, if you know and like Star Trek, and (as I mentioned) it is the only sexual fantasy by women for women that's produced without the control or interposition of censorship by commercial booksellers or the interposition of political intent by writers or editors. It's also a labor of love for the women involved, since it is (and must be, because of the possibility of lawsuit) non-profit. I find it raw, blatantly female, and very valuable and exciting.

She ends the essay preparing to go back to the story she is writing!

And now, if you will excuse me, I must go back to my ancient Vulcan castle with the carved bedposts where I have left my two characters, Guess Who and Guess Which, in a very dramatic and painful situation. In fact, I left Spock preparing to beat Kirk, whom he has bought as a slave in an alternate universe in which violent Vulcan (Spock's planet) never reformed. Of course the point of the whole scene is that Spock can't bear to do any such thing because he is madly in love with Kirk. So he smites his forehead with his hand (or some similar gesture) and rushes out to agonize. Meanwhile Kirk (who's of course in love with Spock) agonizes too, but in the opposite direction, so to speak. They will do this for a long as I can contrive, and then they will make great music together, also as long as I can stretch the scene out. Yum. And so on.

That “Yum,” in print, in 1985, is everything!

–Francesca Coppa, Fanhackers volunteer

#author: francescacoppa #Joanna Russ #foresmutters #fan studies #fanhackers #quotes

141 notes · View notes

comdrspock · 1 year

Text

True Blue

It wasn’t unheard of for Amanda to receive a message from her son Spock, though he was most often stationed far away in a different quadrant of the galaxy. He did his best to stay in touch in spite of his often unpredictable schedule, and she appreciated his efforts a great deal. Sometimes, however, she selfishly wished he would do a poorer job. It was one thing to be aware of how dangerous his Starfleet career could be and quite another to hear a detailed account of his most recent brush with death. That Spock always recounted these adventures as drily and matter-of-factly as possible was, if anything, worse for Amanda’s nerves than learning the gory details.

This call was out of the ordinary in part because it had nothing to do with any of Spock’s most recent missions. He inquired about her experiences as a human woman on Vulcan and even, to her great surprise, about her courtship with his father. The two of them usually danced around the subject of Sarek, with whom Spock had barely been on speaking terms since he left Vulcan to attend Starfleet Academy years ago. Though he posed them with his usual impersonal, academic curiosity, the questions themselves raised Amanda’s suspicions.

She knew, of course, about the fractured engagement between Spock and T’Pring. Arranging a marriage for her son at such a tender age had always made her uncomfortable, but as in so many things in her marriage, she hadn’t protested Sarek’s insistence on following his tradition. As the human wife of a very stubborn Vulcan man, she had to pick her battles. She and Sarek had been away on a diplomatic mission and therefore unable to return home for what should have been Spock’s wedding, which was probably for the best. Her husband had been furious at what he perceived to be an insult to his house and his son. Only time and distance had cooled his head.

At the time, she’d been hurt for Spock, too—who could ask for a better husband than her son? But her romantic heart had whispered that now he was free.

She hadn’t thought much about the matter since then. When she did hear from Spock about his work, he mentioned his close colleagues only in passing, so that she knew the captain’s name, but no one else’s. He had certainly never talked about any women. Yet now...now, she wondered. Why these questions, and why now?

“Spock,” she asked, wishing she could reach across the unfathomable distance that separated them and touch his dear face, “is there a reason you’re asking me all this?”

Though she had no telepathic abilities and though he’d carefully trained in all those Vulcan mental disciplines, Amanda knew him better than almost anyone in the galaxy. She’d given birth to this boy, raised him, and knew his tells. As she watched him glance away from the screen and watched the corner of his mouth twitch, she had to keep herself from laughing out loud.

He looked back at the screen and, after a moment’s silence, he said, “You will certainly be the first to know if there is, Mother.”

When the call ended, Amanda was on cloud nine. Her head was full of thoughts of weddings and grandchildren and a thousand questions about the woman who had brought that softness into Spock’s face. Amanda loved her already, whoever she was, whatever she looked like, whichever position she held aboard the Enterprise.

* * *

Spock felt better after talking to his mother. He was more sure of himself and of his plans and more confident about asking Christine to bind herself to a him despite his alien ways. After all, if his mother could live with Sarek on Vulcan with few qualms, surely it was logical to think that Christine could find contentment with him on a starship or even a colony somewhere. Though their future after this mission was still hazy, he doubted that either of them would leave Starfleet, and he had no intention of returning to Vulcan permanently with or without a human wife.

He now had to consider a proposal and balancing Christine’s human expectations with his own more reserved nature. They had discussed the ways in which Vulcan marriage went beyond the human notion of matrimony only briefly. His mother had reassured him that she found her own mental bond with Sarek, while it had taken some “getting used to,” wonderful. He only hoped that Christine, medical professional that she was, would not be intimidated by the idea.

But this morning there were other matters at hand. The Enterprise had picked up a message from a nearby Class M planet that had, it seemed, very recently developed the technology necessary to contact potential life beyond their planet. Their society was reminiscent of that on Earth several centuries earlier, and the captain assembled a small landing party that included Spock, Uhura, and one of the ship’s anthropologists to beam down.

“Their energy clearly comes from a non-renewable and toxic source such as coal, captain,” Spock remarked with distaste as soon as they materialized on the surface. The acrid smell of smog that hung in the air made his tricorder readings completely unnecessary to back up that particular observation.

@multirptrash

#this silly title comes from my equally silly spockstine playlist lol #*tb #i was thinking a small landing party goes down (maybe uhura can be there?) and when they meet korby she's the one who's like D:#'chris you need to come down here...' bc spock will certainly be emotionally shutting down oop.#but you can take it wherever you want from here! it doesn't have to be exactly like that #dee 💙

348 notes · View notes

onwhatcaptain · 9 months

Text

Spirk Meta: Connecting Star Trek SNW & TOS

I'm going to try to connect TOS and SNW's character arcs for Kirk and Spock's relationship with one another. This is part analysis and part prediction of where the writers are headed in shaping SNW into the TOS narrative.

With the most recent SNW episode, I think it's really fascinating that Spock is coping with the consequences of his attraction to Chapel and infidelity to T'Pring, while Kirk reacts to his attraction to La'an by showing a strong sense of loyalty to Carol.

I've been discussing with friends and they believe the two situations aren't comparable. However, I believe they're not only comparable, the writers completely intended them to be compared.

Spock has always served as a foil to Kirk. If you've seen TOS, you know this is true. Spock is logical, Kirk is unpredictable, and so forth. I don't really need to go into details about this, it's been explained to death. For me, it says a lot that in SNW E9, Spock is uncertain of who he is as a person and Kirk is uncertain of who he's meant to become as a commander.

Kirk has his mind on command, hence his discussion with Una, where he concludes that he needs to connect with people. That's the point of that song. Meanwhile, Spock's takeaway from his song is that he needs to specifically stop connecting with others on a personal level because it was a mistake to do so. It's a very internal-facing narrative, as it should be. But as we know, it doesn't work out that easy. For either of them. Ultimately, Spock does connect to people and finds himself emotionally compromised, and Kirk has trouble getting close to others. But Kirk is looking outward for answers, to other people, while Spock looks inward. To me, this extends to how they cope with difficult relationships, problems, and each other.

Kirk, like Spock, is attracted to someone he's not in a relationship with in this season. He clearly feels something with La'an but explicitly chooses not to pursue it seriously because he's in a relationship (some of the time) with Carol Marcus, who is having his child. Spock, on the other hand, says he wants to feel at this time. He doesn't want to let his relationship get in the way of experiencing something new with Christine Chapel, even at the detriment of his core beliefs. The really interesting thing about this is that these two characters arrive at the same conclusion even by making different choices. They both end up incredibly lonely, a major thematic arc for both men throughout TOS.

How they react at these crucial moments in SNW is a representation of their priorities in relationships, in life, and how they even become with one another. Kirk is married to the idea of command, costing him his relationships to other people. Spock is so deeply internally focused that he only has a few real friends by the time TOS rolls around, and can't accept that he cares about them, always couching it in terms of duty and obligation.

Spock essentially thinks, I need to not get close to people because I'll be hurt by those people. Kirk thinks, I need to get close to people where it matters, for command, but not so close that I'll hurt them. This ends up with both of them being painfully reticent to connect with anyone, to the point where in The Final Frontier, Kirk thinks he has no family.

MCCOY: It's a mystery what draws us together. All that time in space getting on each other's nerves and what do we do when shore leave comes along? We spend it together. Other people have families.

KIRK: Other people, Bones. Not us.

He eventually changes his mind by the end of the film, but you can see that this theme of loneliness goes all the way from SNW to nearly the end of their lives. Kirk's conclusion at the end of the film is that McCoy and Spock are his family.

But we see this idea of loneliness repeat so often that Kirk has a several ex girlfriends in TOS show up, all on good terms with him except one who we won't talk about here. Spock, on the other hand, has mostly closed himself off to relationships of all kinds by TOS, even shaming himself for whatever it is he actually feels for Jim, who is his best friend at that point. And they both fight this loneliness aggressively in TOS and the films. Spock insists he feels shame for his friendship with Kirk, Kirk feels like his ship owns him and he can't have anyone in his life. This excerpt from The Naked Time, which I abridged significantly since there was a lot of interspersed discussion about physics, is revealing:

SPOCK: My mother. I could never tell her I loved her. An Earth woman, living on a planet where love, emotion, is bad taste. I respected my father, our customs. I was ashamed of my Earth blood. Jim, when I feel friendship for you, I'm ashamed. Understand, Jim. I've spent a whole lifetime learning to hide my feelings. KIRK: I've got it, the disease. Love. You're better off without it, and I'm better off without mine. This vessel, I give, she takes. She won't permit me my life. I've got to live hers. I have a beautiful yeoman. Have you noticed her, Mister Spock? You're allowed to notice her. The Captain's not permitted. Now I know why it's called she. Flesh woman to touch, to hold. A beach to walk on. A few days, no braid on my shoulder.

They're both completely focused on their inability to love people. Spock is focused on talking about how he can't because of his identity, and Kirk is talking about how he can't because of his job. We even see Spock turn down an appeal from Chapel, as Chapel turns him down here. These two episodes have major parallels.

Just like in Subspace Rhapsody, Spock is thinking of himself, his faults, his issues, and Kirk is thinking about how he never stays in one place long enough to love someone. I think this sense of inability to experience deep love is actually setting up their friendship arc. Obviously, they eventually do love each other (in some way or the other). But it begins at what is clearly friendship, and notably, Kirk is eventually able to look past his marriage to command for Spock, and Spock is able to look past his reticence to relationships for Kirk (see Amok Time).

What's of interest to me is that we don't know how Spock and Kirk become close in the first place, but we will. It's clear they're very close friends by TOS, but in SNW currently, we haven't got an inkling of how that forms. My take on it is that it forms because of their respective struggles to connect with people. They're both struggling in precisely the same way: neither of them thinks they can or should get too close to people. For one another, they act as the only person they're able to completely let their guard down with. And that's possibly how they get close; that's the basis on which their relationship forms. They trust each other. Because they think they're not allowed to have or experience love, they end up more or less using one another as a stand-in for that need. In doing so, it brings us full circle. Kirk and Carol have a conversation about their relationship briefly in The Wrath of Khan.

KIRK: I did what you wanted. I stayed away. Why didn't you tell him? CAROL: How can you ask me that? Were we together? Were we going to be? You had your world and I had mine. And I wanted him in mine, not chasing through the universe with his father. Actually, he's a lot like you. In many ways. Please tell me what you're feeling. KIRK: There's a man out there I haven't seen in fifteen years who's trying to kill me. You show me a son that'd be happy to help him. My son. My life that could have been, and wasn't. And what am I feeling? Old. Worn out.

Kirk is terrified of aging. In this film, his past has come knocking, the same past SNW is exploring now. He's terrified of growing old and he's terrified he made the wrong decision when he was younger. I'd argue that that's because it's led to him feeling deeply alone, to the point where McCoy says they're treating his birthday like a funeral. Kirk not only feels like he belongs out in space because it's where he's meant to be, but because he doesn't feel so deeply alone, so much like a fish out of water, when he's out there adventuring. So he second guesses himself here: what have my choices cost me? Should I have not gone on to become who I am?

And the answer to that for him is no. This all ties together when Spock dies to save the ship at the end of this film. It's only in a few places in TOS and then finally here where Spock is able to talk openly about friendship and love:

SPOCK: I have been and always shall be your friend. Live long and prosper.

Kirk is devastated but while grieving, he can't help but feel young. And even then, feeling young isn't enough, because he can't stand not being in control, which we see in the next several films. He essentially can't handle life without command or without Spock.

SNW is attempting to bring us full circle on The Wrath of Khan and its cast. I guess what I'm trying to say here is that the character arcs we will eventually be given by the writers of SNW between Kirk and Spock is completely bookended by their feelings of loneliness, self doubt, and connection with others beginning from this episode through the TOS films. It's extremely interesting that they choose to do this on the SNW end by showing us where Kirk and Spock are both failing in their respective relationships with others and how they grow into that with one another, only to experience violent ups and downs throughout the films as they finally try to come to terms with who they really are as people, and who they really are as friends.

I'm interested to see how that will begin from season 3 onwards.

147 notes · View notes

wren-of-the-woods · 3 months

Text

On Doomsdays and Devotion

After the Enterprise’s most recent brush with death, Jim notices that Spock is sticking closer to him than usual. The conversation that ensues is unexpectedly impactful. This is 2.5k of pre-Spirk feels, rated G. On AO3 here!

Jim was fairly certain that Spock had been following him.

It did not happen all the time. It did not disrupt either of their duties. In fact, it had taken him a few days to convince himself that he was not imagining it, especially since he was still distracted by dealing with the fallout of their most recent incident with a planet-killing weapon. Still, once he started paying attention, the fact remained: when Spock would normally have been off on his own doing science experiments or reports or whatever else Spock did when he was away from Jim, he was, instead, quietly by Jim’s side.

Spock sat next to Jim at meals. He accompanied him in the gym. He sat in the same room as Jim when they were doing reports. Even when they were not together, Spock often found reasons to pass Jim in the corridor, speak to him briefly, or grab something from whatever room Jim was in on his way from task to task.

Jim did not mind this. In fact, he probably should have been slightly worried about just how little Spock’s frequent presence bothered him, but he could not quite bring himself to analyze that part of his feelings too deeply. Suffice to say that he was not irritated by the shift in his first officer’s behavior. He was, however, slightly concerned.

At one point, he attempted to bring it up with the Vulcan in question.

“Mister Spock,” he said, smiling, “Is there something you would like to discuss with me?”

Spock blinked at him. If it were anyone else, Jim would almost have said he looks sheepish.

“No, captain.”

Jim bit back a sigh. He did not expect Spock to simply tell him whatever was going on, not after so many days of silence, but it still would have been nice.

“Very well,” said Jim, and the conversation was forgotten. Jim almost began to ignore the unusual occurrence entirely.

Then, one night, well over a standard week after the incident with their most recent planet-killer, Jim suddenly found that he could no longer hold himself together.

He was off duty, which was fortunate, but that was just about the only thing that felt fortunate about the situation. The events of their most recent adventure — the death of his friend, the possibility and reality of such destruction, how close he had come to his own death — had finally caught up to him, and all he could do was hightail it to his quarters and hope he made it before his crew has to witness their captain having a minor meltdown. He ended up hiding in his room for a good portion of the evening, a few hours which he would rather not talk about, before eventually deciding he had pulled himself together enough to justify going out in search of some food.

After everything, it really should not have been a surprise that Spock was there when he emerged.

His first officer was attempting to look nonchalant, but given that there was very little reason for his presence in this corridor at this time and it was highly unlikely that he simply happened to be here at the moment Jim left his room, Jim thought he was doing a rather poor job of it. He looked distinctly unsurprised by Jim’s presence.

“Mister Spock,” he said, trying to act casual and not as though he had spent the last few hours working through a series of extremely strong emotions. “Is something wrong?”

Spock looked at Jim consideringly for a moment. Jim resisted the urge to fidget under his gaze.

“The ship is in standard working order, captain,” Spock said.

“That isn’t a no.”

“Correct. You are experiencing emotional distress.”

Jim winced a little. “That obvious, huh?”

“To an average member of the crew, likely not. I, however, can make out eleven separate physiological and psychological signs that—”

Jim raised a hand to cut him off. “Very well, Mister Spock, I understand. You’re right.” He quirked a small smile. “Even the great Captain Kirk can’t see his friend die without experiencing any unpleasantness, I’m afraid.”

“You also came close to death, captain.”

Jim blinked. “Yes, that too, I suppose.”

Spock’s lips thinned almost imperceptibly, but he said nothing. For a moment, they stood there in rather awkward silence.

“Well,” said Jim eventually, “I was going to get some food. Would you like to accompany me?”

“I would find that acceptable, captain.”

Spock fell easily into step beside him as they made their way towards the mess hall. They were silent as Jim got some food and sat down with his plate. Spock sat across from him, though he had not taken any food from the replicators. The room was empty due to the late hour and the lights were dimmed. In the silence, Spock’s presence seemed to have more significance than really made sense.

Jim ate in silence for several long moments. Spock considered him from across the table. Eventually, to Jim’s surprise, it was Spock who broke the silence.

“Would you like to speak about the subject of your distress?” asked Spock.

Jim paused. His instinct was to refuse, to focus on the mission instead of his distraction and only talk about it later, perhaps in his logs or on shore leave with Bones and copious amounts of alcohol. He usually did his best to keep Spock from having to deal with any more of his human emotions than is necessary. But Spock was asking, now, and though the Vulcan would deny it if he ever dared to make the claim, Jim could tell that he was worried. He could not bring himself to refuse his friend’s offer.

“It… troubles me, when I can’t save someone.”

Spock’s brows furrowed. “You were not on the ship at the time of Decker’s departure. It was not your responsibility to save him, nor was it possible for you to do so.”

Jim managed a small, sad smile. “I know. That doesn’t mean it’s easy to remember.”

Spock inclined his head in acknowledgement, and they returned to the silence in which the meal had begun. Jim finished his food, pushed his plate aside, and looked at Spock consideringly. Spock returned his gaze, even and unflinching.

“There’s something on your mind, Mr Spock. Care to share?”

Spock considered him for a moment. When he spoke, it was with deliberation.

“It concerns me, captain, that you give such little importance to your own near demise.”

Jim blinked.

“I had no desire to die,” he said.

“And yet you came perilously close to doing so.”

“It was the best way to save the ship.”

“Perhaps, sir, but you must take into account the way your death would have affected the ship and its crew. Productivity would have decreased at a significant rate and the emotional fallout would have affected many of the crew for at least several years.”

Jim frowned. “A grieving crew is better than a dead crew. I wouldn’t be much of a captain if I couldn’t value my ship above myself.”

“You may be correct, captain. However, I would still strongly advise you to utilize more caution in the future.”

Jim’s brows furrowed. “Where is this coming from, Spock? This isn’t the first time I’ve almost died.”

Spock hesitated. Jim noticed, for the first time, a shadow of vulnerability hidden bleeding through the edges of Spock’s mask of Vulcan control. He felt his expression soften.

“Spock,” he said gently, “Why have you been following me?”

Spock looked down at his hands where they were calmly clasped together, resting on the table. “It is illogical, captain.”

“You? Illogical? Somehow I doubt that.”

“Even the best of us have our flaws.”

Despite the strange tension in the air between them, Jim could not help but chuckle at that.

“Very true.” Then, when a moment of silence went by without Spock responding, he prompted, “Well?”

Still looking at his hands, Spock paused for a moment before speaking. “I admit that I would have found it most disagreeable if you had lost your life in that mission.”

“I wouldn’t have exactly been pleased with it either.”

Spock continued as though Jim had not spoken. “Were you to perish, the ship would feel your absence most keenly.”

Jim considered him for a long moment before, throwing caution to the winds, he spoke. “And you? Would you feel it?”

For the first time in several moments, Spock finally looked up and met Jim’s eyes. “I admit that I would, captain.”

Jim swallowed. If Spock were human, Jim would have reached across the table to take his hand, but as it was, he contented himself with holding his earnest gaze.

“I’m sorry I concerned you.”

“Thank you,” said Spock. “Though I admit that I appreciate it more if you refrained from doing so again in the future.”

“You know I can’t promise that, Spock.”

Spock’s brow furrowed slightly. “I am aware, captain. However, that does not mean I am pleased by this fact.”

Jim smiled a little, gentle and a bit sad. “I thought Vulcans were not capable of displeasure.”

Spock looked Jim in the eye, tilting his head slightly. “When it comes to you, I find a great many capable of a great many things.”

Jim opened his mouth. He closed it again.

“I see,” he said, rather lamely.

Spock frowned. “Captain, I do not think you realize the importance of this matter.”

“It’s my life. I’d say I have a pretty good sense of how important it is.”

“And yet you are acting as though you do not realize how significant it is to those around you.”

“A captain’s life is lived in service of his ship and his crew”

“The importance of your existence is not found solely in your captaincy, Jim.”

Jim gave Spock a long, considering look. “Are you trying to tell me something, Spock?”

“It is also found, among other things, in your status as a friend.”

Jim was silent, digesting this. Spock looked at him for a long moment, then, unprompted but with uncharacteristically visible hesitance, spoke again.

“I have been maintaining a proximity to you that is closer than average for the last eight point three days because, unreasonable and improper as it may be, I have found your presence an illogically reassuring reminder that you did not, in fact, perish during our last mission.”

“Oh,” said Jim softly.

This time, he was unable to keep himself from reaching out to place a hand on Spock’s sleeve, just above the wrist. Spock looked down at the place where their skin didn’t quite touch, seeming to consider it, but did not protest the contact. Jim took this as permission to leave his hand where it is.

“I’m sorry to have caused you pain,” he said. It was a testament to the weight of the conversation that Spock only frowned slightly at this, not bothering to protest the implications of emotion in Jim’s statement. “I’m safe now. I promise I had no intention of letting the universe get rid of me this easily.”

Jim paused for a moment, thinking, then forged ahead with all the boldness of the man who had recently faced death without flinching.

“You know I had to do it, though,” he said.

Spock’s frown deepened slightly. “The machine’s destruction was logically necessary for the sake of the galaxy. However, the specific method chosen was perhaps not—”

Jim held up a hand to stop him. “I’m aware of your thoughts on my methods. I’m talking about my motivation.”

Spock’s frown grew less displeased and more considering. “In that case, please elaborate.”

Jim couldn’t help a small, fond smile at Spock’s words. “I knew it had to be destroyed for the sake of the galaxy, but that wasn’t really what I was thinking about when I did it.” His smile faded into seriousness as he spoke. He maintained eye contact with Spock. “I was thinking about my crew. About how my friends— my family would be destroyed if I did not act.” He gently squeezed Spock’s forearm where his hand still rested on his sleeve. “I was thinking about you.”

Spock was silent. Jim studied his face, trying to parse the emotions he could almost feel hiding behind Spock’s Vulcan control. There was surprise, he thought, and perhaps confusion, but also something deeper, perhaps more vulnerable or more tender. He could not make it out.

Jim found that he could not let this conversation stagnate in silence, not without knowing for certain that Spock understood him.

“So,” he said, “I hope you realize that this feeling goes both ways.”

Spock’s brows furrowed just slightly. “Clarify.”

“I… value your presence. Very highly. I, um,” Jim paused, took a deep breath, then forged on quickly. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.” He swallowed. “Please don’t make me find out.”

Spock paused. He considered Jim for a long moment. For some reason, Jim grew increasingly nervous under his scrutiny.

“I am gratified to know that you understand the sentiment,” Spock said eventually. “I will endeavor to act in the interest of self-preservation.”

Jim relaxed a little, letting a smile slip onto his face. “That’s all I can ask for. Thank you.”

“And you will endeavor to do the same?”

Jim lifted his hand from Spock’s arm and held it out to shake. “It’s a deal.”

Too late, he remembered the vast differences between the cultural norms of humans and Vulcans when it came to touch and fingers in particular. He made to withdraw his hand, slightly sheepish.

Before he could move and without breaking eye contact, Spock reached forward and took his hand.

Jim felt a spark of warmth, almost a tingling sensation, travel up his arm and down his spine at the touch. Spock’s hand was dry and very warm. His gaze was serious, earnest in a way Jim rarely saw from him. Jim found that he could not look away.

“A deal,” Spock repeated, his voice soft and low. Jim found himself fighting back a shiver.

Before Jim could pull himself together and return to his senses long enough to speak, Spock released his hand and stood. Jim looked up at him, blinking dumbly, as Spock nodded at him.

“This conversation has been most profitable, captain. Thank you for your time.”

“It— uh, it was my pleasure.” Jim winced internally, abruptly glad the room was empty but for the two of them. He doubted his suave reputation would survive intact otherwise.

Jim could have sworn he saw Spock smirk at him as he turned to go. He found himself smiling softly in return as he watched Spock leave.

When Jim returned to his quarters, he found that he felt much better than he had when he left them last. The emotional toll of the mission was not completely lifted, of course, but the reminder that he had his first officer at his side made it feel easier to bear. The thought of Spock’s concern for his well-being made him made him feel oddly warm.

And, if it was the memory of Spock’s hand on his — of the warmth of his touch, the thinly veiled feeling in his eyes, the emotions that sparked in Jim’s own chest at the contact, and the promise of, maybe, someday, something more — that eventually lulled him to sleep with a smile on his face, that was no one’s business but his own.

#star trek tos #spirk #kirk x spock #james t kirk #spock #star trek #wren writes #*waves shyly* hello star trek fandom!#this took FOREVER because writing has been really slow lately but i finally came up with a title i'm happy with so here you go :D #there should be more fic for both witcher and star trek on its way soon! <3 #also first fic of 2024 let's go!!!!#man it's been ages since i posted a new fic that wasn't a collaboration

47 notes · View notes

spirk-trek · 3 months

Note

I would love to hear your thoughts on kirk's backstory and what happened on tarsus iv, I feel like I've read so many conflicting takes on here and none of them actually match up with the episode (conscience of the king)

Hi anon! The way you worded this makes me think you were just looking for information and not a fic request. Forgive me if I was wrong!! 😅

I think the reason there are so many conflicting ideas is because of how vague it is in canon itself (which is cool, leaves a lot of room for interpretation). Because of this, when I recently wrote a thing about Tarsus IV I also struggled with "research" for it. Here's what I came up with:

!!! Disclaimer! I am not declaring any of this the One True Canon™! This is just my interpretation/speculation based on existing lore !!!

To me, it makes most sense for Jim to be sent to Tarsus IV with his mother, and for her to be a civilian scientist/researcher of some kind. I find it very hard to believe the massacre could have taken place if Starfleet were present, which would include George Kirk, Jim's father. George is said to have been absent often due to his work (SNW), so it wouldn’t be strange for him to be separated from his family (this is also just normal in Star Trek in general, i.e. Sulu [AOS] and like… everyone with children in TNG).

A more recent Trek book called Drastic Measures seems to back this exact idea up (depends who you ask which novels are canon, and this book was written for Discovery so take it with a grain of salt).

Sam would, in the TOS timeline, be 10 years older than Jim (~23). That would make it unlikely he'd be tailing after his mother to remote colonies. It's much more likely he was concerned with his own career/family/life.

So, in summary of those points, I think it was just Jim and Winona. Jim is between 12 and 14 years old, and his mother was a civilian researcher (the novel I mentioned earlier made her a xenobiologist, probably for plot reasons).

Something I do see exaggerated sometimes is the method of killing in the massacre. An antimatter chamber appears to be what was used, similar to A Taste of Armageddon, so it would not have been mass carnage or a big dramatic fight in the end. Just... zap.

SPOCK: "He was certainly among the most ruthless, to decide arbitrarily who would survive and who would not [...] and then to implement his decision without mercy. Children watching their parents die. Whole families, destroyed. Over four thousand people. They died quickly, without pain, but they died.”

However, these are also quotes from the episode, so I can see why people might think the massacre itself was more violent:

- JIM: “Four thousand people were needlessly butchered.” - LEIGHTON: “I remember him. That voice. The bloody thing he did.” - JIM: “Are you sure you didn't act this role out in front of a captive audience whom you blasted out of existence without mercy?” - KARIDIAN/KODOS: “Murder, flight, suicide, madness. I never wanted the blood on my hands ever to stain you.”

There was a revolution of some kind, probably brought about by people easily radicalized out of hunger and desperation.

- KARIDIAN/KODOS: [reading] "The revolution is successful…” - SPOCK: “There were over eight thousand colonists and virtually no food. And that was when Governor Kodos seized full power and declared emergency martial law.”

If Kodos already had his ideas about eugenics, which it sounds like he did, he would have seized this as an opportunity. This would make him an even more solid comparison to Hitler, which they were definitely going for to at least some extent (this was written two decades after WWII which many involved in the making of star trek were deeply affected by if not veterans themselves).

Because of the above quotes, I also think there’s merit to the idea of there being multiple formal executions where Kodos gave his infamous “speech” each time rather than just once (this would be another reason Jim would remember it enough to write it down), rather than one massive execution of 4,000 people. However, this quote could be interpreted to mean the opposite:

SPOCK: “Kodos began to separate the colonists. Some would live, be rationed whatever food was left; The remainder would be immediately put to death.”

Arguably, the even more traumatic suffering would be the period of starvation and upheaval leading up to the massacre. To me, a 3-6 month period of slowly worsening starvation as the food supply shrank and shrank to nothing would make the most sense.

One aspect I don't quite get is that Kodos's body was supposed to have been "burned beyond recognition.” Since we know from Conscience of the King his death was staged, then this fake death can’t have been pulled off in the midst of Starfleet intervention upon arrival (they would have taken him into custody to stand trial rather than kill him on sight anyway). Burning yourself to death is a highly unusual form of suicide, so I’m not sure if that’s supposed to allude to him being fake killed in the carnage following the execution when the people didn't react the way he wanted or expected? My only theory is that there was unrest and rioting for the period of time between the massacre and Starfleet arriving with relief, and he used that to fake his death once he knew he would be put on trial.

Anyway, this is super long so I'll cut myself off there. Hope that answered your question, sorry for being crazy! If anyone has anything to add, please do!

#star trek #tw #cw #theory #analysis #captain kirk #tarsus iv #lore #tarsus iv massacre #discussion #reference #fanfic #canon #fanon

49 notes · View notes

communistkenobi · 5 months

Note

ive never seen any star trek stuff before i started watching tos recently, and ive been liking it a lot but the level to which i like it is definitely not proportional to how good i think it is. like its good but its also kinda shit in a lot of ways, they had kirk say the gender binary is a universal constant, most of kirks Blonde Love Interests Of The Week show zero agency in the romance or sometimes the plot in general, they constantly defy the "dont fuck with alien cultures" rule bc Other Cultures Are Weird And Need Us To Fix Them, and also its just kinda dumb sometimes! i like it mostly because A) the character dynamics are really fun and B) i love seeing the 60s bleed through the script and getting to psychoanalyze the writer based on the thematic storytelling ("this is about the cold war. this is also about the cold war. this is- yup you guessed it the cold war, theyre feeling anxious about nukes again this week. this ones about the writer hating religion. this ones about integration. surprise twist this ones an implicit criticism of solitary confinement. this ones about the cold war again but this time its a really weird but ballsy take"), but its still very much a show from the 60s written by incredibly flawed people so of course its going to be flawed? its been interesting to watch it as a shadow on the cave wall of american politics from that era and ive been having fun but idk why anyone would try and say its not politically fucked in a lot of ways. like its fine you can like this old show and also admit that the writers were not actually all that enlightened about colonialism

I really really like the show! and honestly I genuinely like that it’s openly a piece of American Cold War propaganda, I think it’s very interesting and entertaining as a living historical artefact. I’m less interested in critiquing any one part of it because I feel like the misogyny and orientalism and ableism and etc are not flaws grafted onto an otherwise uncompromised whole, they are an integral part of what tos is and what its place is in the broader popular culture. Like I do not think you can subtract any of those qualities and keep tos enact at the end it, because those gendered and racial and abled assumptions are baked into it, as they are in a lot of sci-fi. And I find the reactionary and bigoted elements just as compelling as the good parts, not because they don’t offend my political sensibilities but because I want to appreciate “the whole text” for what it is and what it does. For me they aren’t things to be ignored or blocked out, they are part of how I enjoy the show and how I understand it as a piece of art.

obviously nobody is required to engage with it in the same way, and if those things are deal-breakers (or even if you want to ignore them) then that is completely fine, I’m not your dad etc, but I think part of why I’ve been getting so much pushback from people about bringing these things up is because they are primarily invested in it as a character drama with the word “socialist utopia” pasted on top of it, and so they are engaging with tos is an idealised expression of their political values. Which isn’t novel, that is like the default mode of engagement with art online (and I am not exempting myself from this), but if you bring up the racism or colonialism or misogyny most people invoke “but it’s socialist!” as a blanket defense, as if that’s at all responsive to any of those descriptions of the show.

anyway I ALSO really like the show as character drama, legitimately Kirk and Spock are really fun characters and I’m very invested in them individually, but my main enjoyment of Star Trek is that it’s American mid-century space-race propaganda, and a lot of it is deeply reactionary as a direct consequence

#asks

44 notes · View notes

triplesilverstar · 4 months

Text

Rating: G

Pairing: Vash X F!Reader

CW: Mentions of pregnancy, Aliases, holiday fluff, breaking and entering ok on Christmas, growing up too fast

Word count: Roughly 4.8K

A/N: Well. Once more like Spock I am a liar, this is way more than a drabble… however, I don’t care. So enjoy Vash taking Rei to see some snow for the first time with the help of Uncle Livio!

It had started out innocently enough when you and Vash first heard about it, a biodome being built a two-hour Tomas ride from your little home sort of in the middle of nowhere. A few vague inquiries as to what it was going to be, the number of staff involved, and most importantly, were the Earth forces going to be around and managing the site.

The answer to that inquiry was to be the deciding factor on whether you and Vash were going to stick around or up and move to another spot in the middle of nowhere. After all, it wasn’t like the two of you had any firm roots yet with your little Tomas ranch that you were starting.

When you and Vash did get the answer both of you had sat down at the little table in your kitchen with a list of pros and cons. After a week of discussions you had decided to stay as the benefits did outweigh the negatives and a new town was starting to pop up in the middle which would cut down on the planning required for regular supplies the two of you would need. The biggest deciding factor had been the discovery you had been expecting and Vash stated he wanted to have a home for them and not to still be on the run and was willing to take on the added risks that came with that.

Two years later, the artic biodome was up and running. Another public relations attempt by the Earth forces to win over the local populace and Rei, well Rei at one and a half was looking more like an eight-year-old. If you and Vash thought things were going to get easier as your cheeky little boy grew you have been quite wrong.

“Mom?” It still ate at your heart that he had made the shift from Mama to Mom in the last few weeks since the skating incident.

“Yes, Baby?” You called from inside the washing machine, struggling to reach the socks wedged in the back. Why did you have such a massive drum in this thing? Right because you needed to get everything in it and normally it wasn’t a problem.

“Someone is coming up the door.” The sodden fabric was forgotten as you pushed yourself out and whipped around.

“Where’s your Papa?” Striding towards the hallway and down to the living room to look at the window, in the distance a visible short cloud of dust.

“In the barn.” Rei is right next to you looking out at the cloud as it slowly grows closer, reaching out your arm to pull him into your side and ruffling his soft blond locks.

His own little arms reach up to wrap as best as they can around your middle. “Alright then, you and I will stay here for a few minutes to see where that cloud goes ok?” At least he still wants to cuddle with you, at the strange point in his life where he still wants to snuggle with you and Vash when he gets the chance sets seems torn with wanting something like a baby would according to him.

Vash had told him he was allowed to want snuggles with his parents no matter how old he was.

Your fingers kept carding through his hair, his most recent request for a haircut like his Papa’s had warmed your heart and every day Rei was starting to look more and more like Vash. As the two of you watched the cloud headed towards the barn and you let out a proverbial sigh of relief. Not a real one since Rei didn’t need to catch on just how worried you had been, and if they were heading for the barn they were familiar enough with your little family to know that was the best stop. “Looks like nothing to worry about Rei.” It then hit you. “Rei. Why were you in the living room anyway? Shouldn’t you have been in the kitchen doing your schoolwork?”

A sudden spasm from the body under your arm and you knew you had caught the boy. “ugh, I was taking a break, Mom.” Unwrapping his arms from around your middle and rubbing the back of his head in a familiar gesture had you rolling your eyes at the little blond.

Hands on his shoulders you started leading him back towards the kitchen with a roll of your eyes. “Nice try you little scamp. Now back to it, and once I get this laundry out we can have a real break and I’ll get us a snack.”

Snack done and back to going over his schoolwork from Home since it was going to be the easiest way to educate the boy and not have anyone question his growth spurt. You both paused as the front door opened and you could hear the sound of a heavier set of boots following behind the familiar sound of Vash’s sure steps. The dark-haired plant led the way into the kitchen with a much broader white-haired man behind him.

“Uncle Livio!” Rei was out of his chair in a flash and rushing the gunslinger turned, well you weren’t fully sure what to call the man that helped run the orphanage he and Wolfwood had grown up in.

“Hey, little guy!” Wide palms wrapping under your son’s armpits and hefting him up into his arms. “Look at you, you’re getting pretty big I guess I shouldn’t be calling you a little guy anymore.” Standing yourself as Vash approached, bending down for a quick kiss and to whisper in your ear as Rei started talking a ile a minute to Livio.

“Seems we might have another chance for our little sprout to experience something.” Sliding his hand down your side to gently grip your hip.

“Oh? I’m guessing you mean Rei and not the newest one.” Smirking as you lean your body against his and watch Livio give Rei another toss in the air.

“Very funny, Mayfly.” Licking his lip before giving you a tender swat “I do think you might need to miss out on this little adventure if it happens. We’ll be going somewhere a little on the chilly side.” Raising your eyebrow at him and wondering why he would word his comment in such a way.

“I have so many questions now.” You whisper as Rei is placed on his feet once more, only to feel Vash press his lips to the top of your head this time.

“Ew.” His nose scrunched up as Rei made a face at both of his parents. “I don’t need to see kissy parents.”

Both you and Vash shared a look before scooping your son up and started peppering his face with kisses making the boy squeal at how both of you were gross.

After supper and once Rei was in bed the three adults found themselves at the table, a mug in front of each of them with the dishes done and the lights turned down low. “Alright boys tell me what this grand plan is?” Sitting closer to Vash so the fingers of his flesh hand can dance across your stomach if he wants to be that handsy while you’re expecting your second child you aren’t going to tell him otherwise when Rei isn’t around.

“Well.” Livio started leaning against the table his face growing serious. “A few days ago the orphanage got an invitation to go see the artic Biodome, and the Earth forces sent a bus and escort and everything.” Three of his large fingers started to tap and you recognized the signs he was nervous. “First. It was amazing! I thought the ice rink thing was neat but this? This blew it all away! So while I was there with the kids I started looking around and I thought ‘Rei would love this’ and started paying attention to security since I know you and Vash won’t risk someone making the jump about who you are and putting Rei in danger.”

At Livio’s admission, you find yourself paying more and more attention, because you know Livio cares for your little boy just as much as you and Vash do. Reaching your hand down to intertwine your fingers with your spouse as Livio keeps talking walking you through his plan on how to get both Vash and Rei inside the dome to have a little adventure. “I was planning originally for the three of you, but I guess your condition may preclude you from going.”

“Come on now, I’m not that bad with the cold. I could handle a few hours inside of the Biodome all dressed up.” Pouting a little at the fact that the men seem to think you wouldn’t be able to handle the chill.

“Mayfly.” Vash is gentle as his prosthetic tilts your head towards his, the mirth shining in his eyes making you smile. “You tried to crawl into the oven with it on when you were pregnant with Rei because you weren’t warm enough.” Your smile hadn’t dropped that quickly in a long time as you scowled at the reminder.

“It’s not my fault your babies make me want to cook myself.” Grumbling as Livio takes the lead in the conversation once more and gets it back on track on what needs to be done. After all, you aren’t going to deny your son the chance to see actual snow and trees, and with what Livio has learned you only have a week or so to pull it off before a new schedule is put in place. One the ex-Gung-Ho-Guns member would have zero reason to go back and snoop around for that wouldn’t somehow lead back to your little family.

The night of, Vash found himself thundering across the sand dunes, a sleeping boy in front of him on the Tomas and saddlebags full of warm clothes to change into before entering the biodome. His eyes were sharp as he kept his gaze forward looking for an outcropping Livio had described to meet him at that was only a ten-minute ride via a Tomas. Or at least according to him.

Sure enough in the distance he could make it out “There’s where we’re headed Pookie.” Whispered to his Tomas who trilled in response, the smallest shift of her reins changing directions and slowing to a canter as the pair approached.

“Glad you could make it.” Almost as if blending from the darkness Livio seemed to appear, dressed in what looked like an Earth forces uniform, reaching out and petting the bird. “Rei, wake up little guy.” His other palm landed on the boy’s knee and he gave it a soft shake.

A grumble from the small blond who shifted in his father's hold to bury his face in his chest. Laughing Vash leaned down to whisper against his growing locks. “Rei, if you don’t wake up we can’t see snow. You wanna see snow with your Papa don’t you?”

That did the trick in rousing the boy, a little yawn before rubbing at his eyes. “We’re there Papa?” His voice mumbled with sleep and those bright blue orbs slowly blinked as he tried to wake up. Which to Vash was hilarious since before they had left the house Rei had been almost bouncing in his excitement.

“Yea buddy, Uncle Livio is gonna take us the rest of the way.” At that Livo was reaching to help the boy down and Vash gave the silent command for his mount to lower down to the ground before he too dismounted and went for their saddle bags. Grabbing what they’d need for when they got to the biodome. “Ok, Pookie.” Petting his Tomas who looked at him as if following his every word. “You stay here like a good girl, and you’ll get lots of extra treats in the morning.” A low warble and the bird settled down into the sand hidden by the outcropping, Vash knew his Tomas would stay, the promise of treats or not.

“Do you have what you need Vash?” A nod to the white-haired man and both Vash and Rei were crawling into the sidecar attached to his motorcycle. The question had come up the night of everything being planned and the truth was, the Earth forces used a similar model for roaming patrols around the site. This way there would be less chance of them being caught.

“Yea. All in this bag here.” Patting the object beside his son in front of him.

“Alright.” Nodding before Livio fixed his attention on the small blond boy. “Now Rei, hold on to your Papa real tight and do exactly as he says. Can you promise me you’ll do that?”

“I promise.” A sleepy agreement as Rei still worked on waking up, but as soon as the engine flared to life Vash could feel the difference as the boy perked up. Sitting a little straighter and starting to look around, only to squeal as they jolted forward into the night his grip on Vash’s arm grew. A chuckle deep in his chest that was lost to the roar of the engine, he knew Rei loved the speed and the way the wind whipped through his hair.

In almost no time at all the trio were stopped by a hidden exit, Livio leading the way and Vash carrying both the bag with their clothes and Rei. Slipping inside Vash and Rei both paused, blinking at the sudden difference in light. A chamber separating them from the Biodome itself, this entrance was used more for emergency exit requirements and to check the area instead of having to walk all through the space.

“Alright Rei, let's get you wrapped up.” Vash and Rei both quickly added layers and switched their footwear to better insulate their feet as per the directions from Livio. Vash felt the amount of clothes he was pulling on was a little, well, overboard. He had spent almost a century and a half on the desert planet and in the freezing nights he had been chilled down to the marrow in his bone more than once. Yet this felt like overkill, him and Rei both looking more like marshmallows instead of people.

Feeling himself starting to grow warm, however, he turned to Livio, gloves still off, and checking his watch. “Alright Livio, tell me how long we have.”

Checking his own watch and humming “Two hours, so let's sync up our clocks for an hour and forty-five. I’ll be here to get you then.” Timings set Vash went down on his knees in front of Rei, checking the zipper and fastening on the boy's jacket and pants to ensure everything was done.

“Ready?”

“Ready Papa!” An enthusiast thumbs up from Rei, made cuter in his father's eyes by the fact only his thumbs were desirable from the material of his mittens. A final nod to Livio and the pair stepped inside the dome through the metal doors.

And Vash felt his heart freeze inside of his chest.

Not from fear, not from despair, not from anything but the simple wonder that gripped him as he looked at the landscape before him. A vision of white and green as far as his eyes could see, the light of the moons illuminating the area they were in more than the spotlights recessed into the walls around them.

It took his breath away.

Scant seconds later Vash looked down to see Rei looking out at the scenery with just as much awe shining in bright blue eyes, mouth parted as he stared out into the snowy expanse. “It’s pretty Papa.” The words and that whimsical tone that left his mouth with them made Vash’s heart swell in his chest, even if all they did was look at this landscape it had been worth the risk.

“It sure is buddy.” Father and son stood there in the snow for a few moments before Rei piqued up, not quite breaking the stillness.

“So. What do we do Papa?”

Throwing his head back and letting out a roar of laughter, Vash grabbed Rei and hefted him upwards planting a kiss on his cheek. “You’re Mama had a few suggestions, so I think we’ll try those first.” Stepping more out into the space, Vash sent the boy in his arms a wink before falling onto his back causing Rei to giggle like mad as his father served as a cushion for him. “She said we can make angels in the snow.” Spreading his legs and arms Vash moved them as if doing jumping jacks, Rei still laughing from where he was wedged against his father's side.

The duo stood and Rei tilted his head at the imprint left in the snow. “It doesn’t really look like an angel Papa.” The boy then fell himself and did the same thing his father had and he started laughing even more. “It’s soft Papa!” His voice rose and fell with his laughter as the soft fluff moved around him and all Vash could do was smile, dropping down just a little way away from Rei and repeating the action.

“It is, it moves like sand but it feels lighter.” Eventually, Rei stopped laughing and Vash sat up to see Rei shaking from the effort of holding the sound in. “Alright, buddy let me help you up.” Legs spread wide Vash scooped Rei up once more and both looked at the imprint.

“Papa, that looks more like the cookie cutter Mom says in an Angel.”

The smaller one of Rei did look far more like the shape and Vash just shook his head chuckling while agreeing with the boy. “It does.” Letting out a hum Vash brought his face closer to Rei’s and booped his nose with his own. “Now. According to your Mama, we can make snowballs and have a fight.”

“What’s a snowball?” Tilting his head once more Rei looked at her father rather quizzical.

“Well.” Putting his son back on his feet Vash knelt down and swept some of the snow into his hand. “She said you have to pack it together like this and try to make a ball.” He showed Rei what he was doing and Rei tried to do the same, but with a much smaller ball being made by his hands.

“What do you do once it’s made?” His natural curiosity took over as Rei let out one of his own hums that the larger he got the more Vash realized it was one of his mannerisms that his miniature was picking up.

“A few things. It can be used to make a snowman if I remember what she said, but it’s mostly used for snowball fights.”

“How’s that done?”

“You throw them at peop-” His words stopped as Vash suddenly found his mouth filled with snow from the ball Rei had formed being thrown squarely in his face and a giggling Rei was trying to make another quickly.

A bark of laughter and Vash was tossing his first snowball at his son before chaos ensued between them. Rei made the balls as quickly as his little hands could and threw them half-formed at his father. Vash for his part was taking his time making the balls, pretending to have terrible aim as he threw them at the boy with perhaps one in every five hitting their mark on the center of his chest. A lot less than the almost constant hits to his own body as both laughed and weaved between trees and a few rocks placed about the area.

Throwing a final one Rei flopped down into the snow once more, his tiredness starting to catch up to him from the activity in the middle of the night. Dragging his feet Vash made a show of walking closer before kneeling down in front of the panting boy. “One snowball left. Wanna try and make a snowman?”

A shake of his head no as Rei held out his hand for the ball. Vash gave it to him fully expecting to have the ball thrown at him, only for Rei to instead press it against his father's face a short giggle following it. Laughing himself Vash wiped the wet frozen pieces from his skin, taking note of Rei’s slowly reddening turning cheeks. Pulling his glove off to check the pink-tinged skin. “Hmmm, you might be chilly faster than I thought.” Checking his watch Vash felt the shock in his system, he and Rei had already been inside the dome for almost an hour and fifteen minutes.

“Is it time to go Papa?”

“Almost Rei. Anything else you wanna do?” Rei shook his head because pausing and sitting up, letting out a long breath and his eyes wide.

“Papa. Look at the cloud! It’s a lot bigger than when we were at the ice rink! And you’re making them too!” The excitement was palpable as Rei watched the little clouds rise before disappearing. “Why does it do that Papa?”

“I’m not fully sure Rei.” Vash fibbed, he wasn’t going to go into a long explanation as to what caused the vapor clouds, not when Rei was enjoying the simple wonder in them so much. “Maybe it’s just something a little magical.” Except Rei didn’t seem to be listening to him anymore. Or watching the vapor clouds they were exhaling.

No Rei was looking skyward, and Vash tilted his own eyes upwards and once more his body froze in wonder. It had started to snow inside of the biodome. Lifting Rei up Vash noticed the dampness clinging to the outside of his jacket as the realization hit him as to why they needed so many layers, yet with the amount of time left Vash pushed those thoughts aside. Carefully lifting the boy so his legs were dangled over his shoulders and perched atop him in a piggyback ride so he could look more at the sky.

It was a rather memorable sight. The gently falling snow, highlighted against the night sky and cast in the light of the moons made it seem almost as if some of the stars were falling down around the pair.

Vash could feel Rei shift atop his shoulders, his smaller chest hitting the top of his head and the sound of muffled wet slapping reached his ears. “What are you up to, Rei?”

“Trying to catch the white stuff, Papa.”

“They’re called snowflakes.” Chuckling as Vash adjusted his grip on the boy's legs, swaying on his feet as they both kept looking skyward and Vash started taking them back towards the entrance they had come in through.

“I want a closer look, but when I catch them they melt.” A clear pout discernible in his voice had Vash chuckling again.

“They are just frozen drops of water.”

“Isn't that ice Papa?”

“Sort of. I guess ice is a bunch of water frozen, where a snowflake is a tiny drop of it.” his voice was wistful as Vash trucked along, the sound of sluffing snow from his footsteps with the occasional wet thump of Rei's mittens.

“Wait, Papa.” Feeling Rei trying to wiggle in his hold to grab one of his arms, the one that led to his prosthetic. “They aren't melting!”

Sure enough, as Vash glanced at his gloved metal hand the snowflakes landing there were staying frozen, his hand of metal and wires with sensors not producing enough heat to melt them. “You're right Rei, they aren't.” Turning his hand so it was palm towards the sky Vash held it up closer to eye level so both he and Rei could see them.

“Why are they different?” A soft warm smile grew on his face at the curious nature of his little boy. It made his heart warm as the duo looked at the vastly different geometrical shapes in his hand.

It also had Vash remember a time long ago when he and Nai had been learning from Rem and the subject of freezing temperatures had come up. He could remember her voice as she spoke and her motherly soft smile as she tapped her cheek. “You’re grandma-”

“Your mom?”

A larger grin on his face at the interruption. “Yes, my Mama, told me it’s because when snowflakes form because they’re in the sky and just little drops of water, they grow bigger and make tiny crystals. She also said every single one is different, so they all have different patterns that they show.” A very limited version of what had been had about crystallization and the six-fold symmetry of snowflakes he had with Rem and Nai but for now Vash wanted the magic of the night to remain the center of Rei’s attention but it had given the older plant an idea on what his next science lesson with his boy would be.

“I wish we could bring some back to show Mom.” The little catch in his voice and Vash could tell his little boy had grown a little solemn.

“I know buddy, but it might not have been a good idea for her to come with us.” You and Vash had decided to wait to tell Rei that he was going to be a big brother soon, you more than your husband as you had told him you wanted to make sure nothing was going to happen to your newest sprout before telling him. “Speaking off your Mama, any reason you’ve switched from calling her Mama to Mom?” It had been eating at Vash the last few days, he knew it hurt your heart in some way but the fact Rei still called him Papa had a gnawing sensation in his belly.

“I.” A pause as Rei let his little hands reach down to grip his father's jaw. “I know big kids don’t call their mother’s Mama anymore. I heard it on the radio on some show, and I don’t want mom to worry about a stranger thinking I’m younger than I look.” As soon as the words sunk in they broke Vash’s heart, Rei was just a little boy and he was already carrying far more weight on his small shoulders than he should have been.

“Rei. My little Sunshine, you can call your mother whatever you want it doesn’t matter how hold you are. Those radio shows are meant for entertainment, you don’t need to worry about what they say during them if you aren’t doing them.” Licking his lips as his throat started to close up from the sorrow racing through him, Rei wasn’t supposed to carry their burdens. “As to strangers buddies, I know you’re thinking about how many steps your mom and I take when it comes to you. Those are to keep you safe buddy, so you can grow up happy and surrounded by love. You know if you worry about those things you can talk to your Mama and me about that right?” A rather somber conversation to have with his son but on some level Vash knew one day they would have to have such a discussion.

“I will now Papa. I just know you and Mama are always so busy and you worry so much.” Stopping a few feet from the exit Vash looked back up towards the sky, taking both of his hands and wrapping them around Rei’s smaller ones.

“You never need to be worried about adding to what we have going on Rei, we love you to bits. You’re our little miracle, and you have no idea how much I love you, my little Rei of Sunshine.” Squeezing his hands Vash smiled well aware his little sprout might not be able to see it. “Now, we still have a few minutes, wanna have another snowball fight?”

Hours later you find yourself sitting on your porch wrapped in a throw from your and Vash’s shared bedroom, and once you see a hint of a dust cloud on the horizon you rise heading towards the barn. It isn’t too long of a wait until Vash is trotting in with a very sleepy Rei in his lap rubbing his eyes.

“Welcome home, did you have a good time with your Papa tonight?” Hands held up to take Rei from his father and embrace him in your arms so both of you are swaddled in the warm blanket.

“Yes Mama, it was so fun.” A long tired yawn as Rei rubs at his eyes once more. “I wanted to bring you some snowflakes but Papa said they’d melt.” Your heart soars at being called Mama once more and that your little blond wanted to try and bring you back a snowflake or two.

“That was sweet of you baby, but your Papa was right.” Another yawn and you press a quick kiss into the golden locks that Rei barely protests, a clear sign he’s exhausted. “Let’s get you to bed, and you can tell me all about it in the morning.” Blowing a kiss to your husband before turning to head back into your little house, some hot coco can wait for another night when your boys aren’t exhausted.

#vash the stampede #vash the stampede x reader #trigun #trigun fluff #trigun stampede #tristamp #vash x reader #trigun maximum #trimax #post trimax #post Stampede #trigun dads #dad!vash #livio the double fang #livio trigun #holiday #holiday fluff #winter #twink writes

39 notes · View notes