#and there's nothing inherently harmful about vulcan beliefs he just had to come to an understanding of them that made sense to him

[fluentisonus]

while we're talking about it though that's something really fundamental to spock's character I think in a way I don't always see discussed, that by joining starfleet he's making the explicit and intentional choice that he'd rather be seen as a perfect example of an alien amongst humans than as an imperfect vulcan amongst vulcans. I see this framed a lot as him being more accepted in starfleet than he was on vulcan, and I really don't think that's the case at all: he's still very attached to vulcan, and we see all the prejudice he has to face and how little he's understood in starfleet. but what it comes down to is that he'd rather exist in a place where no one understands him and so he has nothing to prove -- even if that means being very alone -- than in a place where he's surrounded by the familiar & meaningful but everyone can see the ways he can't quite fit. if that makes sense

#obviously in the end he's not alone bc he has them all but that was never a guarantee or even something he could have hoped when he joined #thoughts #star trek #tos #I don't like how the vulcans are treated in a lot of discussions around spock imo. there's a weird angle everyone seems to have that he's #better off with humanity & with humans that I think is simply not true #like I'm not trying to deny that he had it rough there or say that they were always kind to him but this impression of them all as rigid & #xenophobic is a bit. eh #part of the reason he feels like he can't be on vulcan is because he was raised w vulcan culture & traditions -- which he stil follows! bc #they mean a lot to him -- and he feels like he can only do that all properly away from vulcan #which obvs isn't really a great solution either #but I think a lot of people misunderstand the whole learning that emotion is okay sometimes from tmp as retroactively justifying that #humans were right about emotionals & vulcans were wrong. which is like the opposite of the point. the point is that he can have both #& they don't have to mutually exclude one another and he can be a good vulcan while also being comfortable with being half human #he wouldn't be happy being human either. #and there's nothing inherently harmful about vulcan beliefs he just had to come to an understanding of them that made sense to him #& that worked for him rather than forcing himself into a misunderstanding of them that didn't suit him #anyways.