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#and they see spock in obvious pain
per1w1nkl3 · 4 days
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spock's characterization in requiem for methuselah is actually quite interesting. he shows a very good understanding of human emotion, he understands the dudes plan before anyone else, he observes his jealousy (i wonder if it is at all connected to what he himself might (try not to) feel), rayna's love and in the infamous ending scene he understands his captains pain and goes to the extreme to ease it. by his own admittance he himself is 'close to feeling human emotion', that is when he sees the flint's amazing art collection- because oh yes btw he loves (or at least he's very knowledgeable about) music and figurative art. amd then oh god an then the fucking 'you'll never understand love. the broken rules, the glorious victories, the highs and lows of high-school football' bones speech but the thing is. he does. he really does. and he shows it in the most obvious blatant way
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holodeck-enthusiast · 20 days
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The Night After
...
*after the episode "All Our Yesterdays"*
...
That night, for obvious reasons, Bones found it hard to sleep. Only 3 earth hours left to the beginning of the alpha shift. Bones had already taken a dose of melatonin and it's not working. He refused to fight the thoughts, and was thinking about that another extreme stressful day three of them have had. He embraced the physical and mental pain, something he's actually very good at.
...
Comm chimed, breaking the monotonous humming of the ship's environmental sound.
"Doctor, please accept my apologies for contacting you at this hour. I assume that you were asleep...and this not an emergency...I just.."
Bones noticed the prominent hesitation in Spock's voice. He almost never hesitates. What's got into him again?
"What is it Spock? You feeling unwell?"
"May I come your cabin, Doctor? I need to say something to you and it shouldn't take long"
Bones smiles. "Literally anytime you wish, Spock, you poi.."
He stopped and closed his eyes.
"Yes, of course!".
...
Bones sat up on his bed and commanded the room computer to put on a light. His room is next to Spock's. It took around 45 seconds till Spock came in.
"What is it Spock"
Spock came closer to Bones's bed. Took a small pause before standing straight with his arms behind.
"Doctor, I came here to formally apologise to you for my behaviours in the cave yesterday."
.
Bones let out a sigh of relief. He was genuinely concerned of it's a healthy emergency; Spock's assurance usually means nothing when his own health is concerned.
"You were clearly affected Spock! You weren't yourself"- Bones smiled.
"You were severaly unwell" Spock continued "I used extreme physical force TWICE, especially when, in reality, you were helping me..."
Bones definitely hadn't needed this apology, but he realised Spock needed to let it out. He didn't interrupt.
"... Although my psyche went back in time, which apparently I had no control over, I should have known best to adapt to the situation. I am ashamed that I failed to do that, and I thank you for taking the responsibility."
"Thank you, Spock. But then you should also recall that it is probably because of you I am alive right now..."
Spock maintained eye contact in silence.
"...see, Spock...it is not news to both of us that these strange new worlds always do strange new things to our minds. That's the part of it. I was never eager to join this mission and now I'm in it for this long..my life is here!.."
Bones stopped for a moment and stood up from his bed. He walked to Spock and stood face to face.
"Plus I do think I deserved a slap back there!" He laughed. "I always call you names. Never realised it could've affected you that much. This human characteristic is very, you know, common among friends. I forget the fact that you do not realise how close and unhinged I feel around Jim and you."
"You always are unhinged around everybody, doctor" Spock let out a microscopic smile.
Bones laughed finally. "Go to your bed, you..." Again he closed his mouth. He'd need to practice for god's sake!
"..pointy-eared Vulcan?... probably I do not like it because that's actually incorrect."
Bones went back to his bed tiredly. "How come?"
"Firstly, to my great sorrow, I am only a half-vulcan; secondly and most importantly, my ears have prominent curvatures here, it's not technically a 'point'."
Bones yelled "Dammit Spock! Just go to you cabin and let me die in peace for...what...2 and a half hours!"
"Good night, doctor.' Spock let out another microscopic smile and left the cabin.
...
Both of them slept like babies afterwards.
.
.
.
.
.
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Excerpts from “Shatner: where no man...”
I recently read this book (Marshak & Culbreath, 1979) and wanted to share some excerpts (the book can be borrowed for free at archive.org, by the way). 
To be honest, there’s a LOT of filler and hero-worship in this book (to very annoying levels), and it’s not a biography in the common sense of the word. But it also includes personal interviews with Shatner, Roddenberry and Nimoy, which I found the most interesting parts (chapters 7 and 8 above all). So here’s some of the stuff, chosen because it relates with Star Trek or it’s just funny/curious. With special attention to the K/S parts. Because I’m making the selection and say so.
From an interview with Shatner and Nimoy (1977)
Nimoy comments on the scenes he thinks define Kirk and Spock’s relationship:
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Nimoy is asked about a particular blooper he’s never seen:
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Gotta love his last line. In relation to Devil in the Dark:
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Nimoy then explains that he wasn’t always conscious of his reactions in front of the camera, some of them may have come naturally to him while playing the scene (like the swallowing here described). On the other hand, Shatner said in other parts of the book that he himself was very aware of his expressions and why he used them. Interesting to know when analyzing certain scenes.
About the problems with Turnabout Intruder (Roddenberry also addresses these issues in another section):
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Elsewhere in the book (not part of the same interview), Shatner had also talked about this same episode:
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Really, Janice Lester never struck me as the classical femme fatale who seduces men for her advantage, but Kirk... would turn himself into one? Oh, well. I can see that.
From an interview with Roddenberry and Shatner (1977)
Gene comments on Kirk and Spock’s relationship:
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For this well-known passage, I’d just like to address some common criticism from those who grasp at straws to discredit what Gene said here. I’ve often seen this interview described as the authors “manoeuvring” Gene into talking about physical love between Kirk and Spock. As if Roddenberry had said that at gun-point, and thus wasn’t valid. Well, NO. The interviewers only bring the subject of Alexander and Hephaistion because Gene had previously talked about the Alexander/Kirk parallel. And they never speak of them as anything more than friends. The whole “physical love” thing was brought entirely by Roddenberry (as a little later after this interview, he’d do with the t’hyla-lover stuff in the TMP novel).  The authors DO have an obvious agenda in this book, not gonna lie. But their fantasy revolves around alpha-male Kirk getting into relationships with strong women, not around K/S (at least not in this book). Believe me; I’ve read the whole thing, and it’s pervasive. To the point of trying to push Kirk/Uhura or Spock/Leila as love stories, despite Nimoy being much in disagreement with the latter, and both being forced to it. Not to mention, the authors barely brush on the “physical love” thing, and move back to the Alexander/Kirk parallels.
In fact, the authors ask Gene again about Kirk and Spock’s friendship, and again, it’s him who makes the connection between their relationship and sexual relationships in general:
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Confront this with the passage in the TMP novel: 
But it still felt painful to be reminded so powerfully and unexpectedly of his friendship and affection for Spock—theirs had been the touching of two minds which the old poets of Spock’s home planet had proclaimed as superior even to the wild physical love which affected Vulcans every seventh year during pon farr.
But enough with the seriousness:
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I can’t believe they were discussing Kirk’s ass in front of its owner...  There are other raunchy things in this interview (it’s Roddenberry after all), but I won’t put them in here.
From an interview with Theodore Sturgeon
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So the legendary “In a pig’s eye!” line was DeForest Kelley’s improvisation? He’s the boss.
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anonymousewrites · 11 months
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Logos and Pathos (Book 2) Chapter Twenty-Eight
Spock x Empath! Reader
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Emotions Revealed
Summary: Spock and the Enterprise Crew work against time to save (Y/N) from the evil empaths
Mouse Note: Thank you all for all the support on this book! I hope you guys enjoyed this final chapter. You guys have really made my day and made me so happy seeing that even in such an old fandom that people are still out there loving Spock, and I'm so thankful for the opportunity to work on my writing with such a supportive audience. You guys are the best! I can't wait to see you either in the next installment of this series or on another series of mine.
            As illogical as it was, Spock could have sworn his heart stopped when (Y/N) collapsed to the ground unconscious. In an instant, he was fighting towards them, even as the Novisans forced pain through him. Every Vulcan and human instinct within him demanded he get to his t’hy’la’s side and protect them.
            “Keep him down!” ordered Caesarius.
            Honoria turned her powers on Spock as well, and he gritted his teeth as he was forced to his knees by the twists of pain coursing through him. Spock fought against the Novisans, but with their powers enhanced through (Y/N)’s, he too was reduced to pain. He and the landing party struggled valiantly, but they were subdued.
            “Take them to the jail. Ursula, Paschalis, keep watch!” ordered Honoria.
            Spock, Kirk, Bones, Uhura, and Chekov were dragged to the prisons and locked into a cell. Finally, they were released from their pain as the aristocrat empaths left to keep watch.
            “Captain, what are we going to do?” cried Uhura. “We can’t let (Y/N) marry that madwoman!”
            “It wouldn’t hold up in court, would it?” questioned Chekov.
            “It doesn’t matter if it would or wouldn’t,” said Bones grimly. “They are able to manipulate people with (L/N)’s abilities, somehow, and with that, they’ll be able to get whatever they want. The marriage is just to create legal trouble if we try to help (L/N).”
            “We have to stop it, then,” said Chekov forcefully.
            “Yes, we do, but we have no phasers and can’t fight them,” said Kirk, pacing. “Bones, Spock, how can we stop them from using (L/N)’s favor? How are they even using it in the first place?”
            “I suspect it has to do with the potentiate stones they wear,” said Spock, his voice clipped and sharp. His mind was running through every scenario, every possibility, every opportunity to help (Y/N). “It likely links the wearers’ psychic abilities together into a ‘locus’ they can all draw on.”
            “So if we get that ring off (L/N)’s hand, the Novisans won’t be able to use their empathy?” asked Kirk.
            “I don’t believe so,” said Spock, crossing his arms. “But getting to them does present an issue.”
            Kirk’s eyes softened at the obvious worry and distress on Spock’s face. It was subtle, but Kirk was his friend and knew his habits well. Not to mention, he knew how Spock felt for (Y/N), so guessing what was going through his mind at that moment was easy.
            “Spock, we’re going to save them,” said Kirk.
            “Captain…You can’t know that for sure,” said Spock, his voice hoarse as logic dictated a possibility he didn’t want to admit.
            “Yes, I can,” said Kirk, gripping Spock’s shoulders. “Spock, (L/N) is strong. They’re fighting right now. They’re pushing themself to their limits to get back to you. And I know you. You won’t rest until they’re safe. You won’t stop until they’re saved. Between your determination and their strength, there is no way you won’t make it. I know it. So, all we need to do, is get to them. They aren’t giving up, and neither are we.”
            “No, Captain. We are not,” said Spock.
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            (Y/N) felt like they were floating. Their mind was a cloud, and they were just drifting along, completely at the mercy of the Novisans directing them. (Y/N) grasped at any bit of power they could find, but each time their consciousness breached the fog of blank emotions the Novisans were forcing into them, the gentry pushed them back.
            The ring on their finger glowed sickeningly violet, like poison seeping into the very air around them. The purple contrasted starkly with their golden eyes, further demonstrating how out-of-place it was on them. The entire world was dictating the wrongness of the situation.
            (Y/N) hated that they couldn’t do anything but watch themself be decorated in jewelry like a doll. Dafni and a new woman, Kleio, had to do their hair and prepare them for the wedding. (Y/N)’s heart broke for both women. They were forced to work by the empaths, manipulated just like (Y/N). If they could help the non-empaths, they would, but they were in the same position.
            “Oh, you look lovely,” cooed Honoria.
            (Y/N) wanted to cringe away from Honoria as her hand skimmed their face, examining them. It made them sick, and they wanted to lash out and scream that they weren’t a puppet, they were a person just like everyone else they used and tossed to the side. But (Y/N) couldn’t. Honoria’s power pressed down on them like an immovable weight.
            “Kleio, Dafni, put them into their wedding dress,” ordered Honoria.
            Of course, she’s just going to sit there and make sure I can’t break free, thought (Y/N) ruefully as Kleio and Dafni guided them to a closet.
            They pulled it open, and (Y/N)’s stomach dropped as they saw the dress. It was beautiful, yes, but all it was to (Y/N) was a sign of the gilded cage they were being forced into. Every moment the Novisans’ control seemed to deepen in them. It was getting harder and harder to think freely as the fog of emotionlessness rolled over them.
            Spock…please…save me.
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            “Doctor, it is no use. The bars will not bend, no matter how much you try to force them,” said Spock, pacing back and forth.
            Bones huffed and stepped back. “Well just because you are just ‘thinking’ and not ‘acting’ doesn’t mean I won’t.”
            “I can assure you, Dr. McCoy, if there was a way to act, I would,” said Spock, clipped and annoyed.
            The more logical and cold Spock became, the more worried he was. It seemed counterintuitive as a Vulcan, but that was the truth. And Spock was becoming dangerously logical as his concern over (Y/N)’s safety mounted.
            “Let’s not start fighting.” Kirk sighed. “It won’t solve anything.” But even he was growing restless, and he wasn’t a patient man to begin with.
            “But Captain, time is running out!” said Uhura. “We need to help (Y/N)!”
            “The marriage could occur at any moment. Russian weddings take some time to prepare, but even this is starting to cut it close,” said Chekov.
            “He’s right,” said a new voice.
            The landing party whirled to find Elias standing before them. He had a platter of food in his hands, but he put it down as he approached.
            “The servants are all talking about it. It’s going to start soon,” said Elias.
            “You have to help us leave,” insisted Kirk instantly. “I know you’re afraid of the empaths, but (L/N) is kind, and she’s our friend.”
            “The royal family will only grow stronger if you don’t help us,” said Spock, stepping forward. “It is in your planet’s best to help us.”
            “We know,” said a second voice. Prince Regulus walked into the room. The landing party tensed.
            “You! What the hell do you think you’re on locking us up and hurting (L/N)?!” cried Bones.
            “It’s alright,” said Elias. “He’s not an enemy.”
            Spock, Kirk, Chekov, and Bones blinked in confusion. Uhura, in her ever-present wisdom, stepped up. “Ah. I see.” She smiled.
            “See? What’s there to see? Old Princey here is manipulating Elias!” said Bones.
            Uhura sighed and put her hands on her hips. “Isn’t it obvious? They’re dating.”
            Kirk’s head snapped to look at Elias and Regulus. “They’re…What?”
            “We are,” said Elias, taking Regulus’s hand. “And that’s why we’re going to help you.”
            “We’ve always hidden our relationship,” said Regulus. “The dichotomy of Novis, between empaths and non-empaths…it keeps us apart. I knew what my family would do to Elias if they found out. I thought…”
            “We thought,” interrupted Elias, squeezing his boyfriend’s hand. He looked at Regulus. “Don’t put it all on you. We both agreed to this relationship, and we both decided to keep it a secret. For your safety as well as mine.” Regulus’s eyes softened as his love continued. “We didn’t think anything could ever change. We thought Novisan culture was the only one that could exist, that empaths and non-empaths had to live separately.”
            “But seeing you all together,” said Regulus, “…it showed us things could be different. It showed us that empaths and non-empaths can live in harmony. The way my parents and their parents and every generation of Novis royals have ruled is wrong. There is another way. And I want to bring peace to Novis.”
            “And that starts with saving your friend,” said Elias.
            Regulus pulled a key from his pocket. “I managed to knock out Paschalis and Victorius. But the biggest threat is my family. They’re drawing on (L/N)’s power. They’ll be strong.” He unlocked the cell door, and the Starfleet Officers walked out.
            “How are they using (Y/N)’s abilities?” questioned Spock.
            Regulus gestured to his earrings. “Potentiate.” He sighed. “The truth is, although the aristocrats here on Novis are extremely proud of their empathic abilities, none of us are really that strong.” He nodded to Uhura. “It’s like you described: we can only really understand the strong emotions of people close to us. The potentiate we harvest from the Vitality Locus acts as a link between our abilities. It’s like a pool of power we can all draw on.”
            “They added (Y/N)’s to it when Theresia forced the ring onto their hand,” realized Spock, crossing his arms.
            Regulus nodded. “Yes. Without their power, my parents will be easier to handle. Still dangerous, but not like they are now.”
            “So we just need to get the ring off of (L/N), like we thought,” said Kirk.
            “Hate to say it, but how are we supposed to get near them while the royal asses still have (L/N)’s abilities at their disposal?” asked Bones.
            “We could distract them,” said Chekov.
            “You’d be running right into danger,” warned Elias.
            “For (Y/N), I’d do it,” said Uhura determinedly.
            “It’s possible that making them spread out their use of (L/N)’s power would weaken each of their individual abilities,” said Regulus. “Like stretching it too thin.”
            “Alright, then. We’ll do it,” said Kirk. He looked at Spock. “We’re going to save them, Spock. We’ll distract the Novisans; you get to them.”
            Normally, Spock would argue this plan was reckless and put them in too much danger. But when it came to (Y/N), all the usual rules went out the window. He just wanted his t’hy’la safe and back with him.
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            (Y/N) couldn’t quite figure out what was happening. Everything was fuzzy, faraway. Why were they in this room? Who was the woman standing across from them? What was happening?
            They furrowed their brow—or, they tried to (or were they just imagining it all?)—as their head ached. (Y/N) couldn’t focus on the words floating through their head.
            Something soft enveloped their mind. It lulled the ache, letting them rest in a cloud of numb uncaring. It whispered to them to let go, stop struggling, just go along with everything.
            The remnants of (Y/N)’s mind tried to break the surface, but with every moment it was getting tougher. Their emotions were drowning.
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            “What the—How the hell did you escape?!” cried Ursula, her eyes widening as the landing party and Regulus approached. She raised a hand and furrowed her brow, clearly prepared to use the power she had to cause them pain.
            Regulus was quicker. His earrings glowed, and he countered Ursula’s power. Narcissa attacked next, but Kirk threw her over his shoulder as Regulus blocked her psychic force. The two aristocrats were strong, but with the royal family monopolizing (Y/N)’s power, they were handled.
            Bones threw the throne room doors open. Inside, the curtain was pulled to reveal the Vitality Locus, a large purple stone glowing with the amassed psychic power within. Spock’s hands curled into fists knowing (Y/N)’s empathy was trapped in it as well.
            His eyes traced past the aristocrats gathered for the sham of a wedding to where (Y/N) stood on a dais before the Vitality Locus. His breath caught. They were beautiful. A golden gown floated around them, offsetting their golden eyes. They were a pure beam of light, the warm ray of sun he chased.
            Their radiance was contrasted by the violet glow of the ring on their finger and the blank look on their face. The ring was a shackle; the emotionless expression sickeningly wrong on (Y/N). Spock felt a swell of emotion rise within him. He wouldn’t leave (Y/N) like this.
            “Regulus! What do you think you’re doing?!” cried Caesarius, outraged at the interruption of the ceremony.
            “What someone should have done years ago!” declared Regulus. “This is wrong, Father! Let the officer go, and we can figure out how to live peacefully!”
            “This is our ticket to power,” hissed Honoria. “You will not mess it up!” She snapped her fingers. “Courtiers…handle these fools! Theresia, finish the ceremony!”
            Chaos broke out. The royal family was proud enough to not let (Y/N)’s power leave their hands, which made their council weaker. The Starfleet Officers, motivated as Regulus supplied them with what little protection he could against the cruel empaths, pushed forward, fighting to help (Y/N). Unfortunately, the combined abilities of the Novisan gentry forced pain through them. Even Regulus was forced to his knees.
            But Spock…Spock pulled his Vulcan strength and shielded his mind against their attacks. He could feel the pain trying to force its way in, but he was determined to get to (Y/N). His friends were counting on him, but more importantly, (Y/N) was.
            “(Y/N)!” He surged forward and grabbed (Y/N) from Theresia. His brow furrowed as they didn’t react.
            “Too late. I wouldn’t be surprised if all their emotions are gone at this point,” jeered Theresia. Her necklaced glowed, and pure pain jerked through Spock.
            Spock’s hand curled into a fist, balling in (Y/N)’s gown as he gazed at them. Pushing himself through the agony, he reached for their face. Closing his eyes, Spock tried to sense their consciousness with a Mind Meld. His heart twisted and anger rolled over him when he felt…nothing. There was barely anything left, just twinges of emotions trapped within (Y/N)’s mind.
            “(Y/N)…You must fight this,” said Spock. Nothing. No change, no response, nothing, nothing, nothing. They needed something strong to bring them back.
            “Just let go! We win!” cried Theresia, her necklace blindingly bright. “You stupid Vulcan! You can’t help an empath!”
            Spock gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. He wouldn’t let them win. He wouldn’t let them take (Y/N) away. “Yes. I can.” In one fluid motion, a final burst of strength against the psychic attack, Spock reached down, pulled the ring from (Y/N)’s finger…
            …and kissed them.
            Spock poured every emotion he felt for (Y/N) into it. His hand intertwined with theirs, Vulcan and human kiss equally passionate. Spock made them feel all the love he had for them, for the warmth they had brought to him, for the light they were in his life.
            I love you, T’hy’la.
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            I love you, T’hy’la.
            A flood of warmth coursed through their mind. The cold emptiness of the fog was helpless against the pure light of love filling them. (Y/N) felt alive with the beautiful truth of the emotion filling them.
            Their eyes opened to the world again. They could feel the sunlight on their skin, the softness of their clothes, the chaotic emotions around them. But so much more, (Y/N) could feel Spock. They could feel his hand in theirs, his lips, his love.
            (Y/N) gripped his hand tightly, reached up with their other hand, and pulled them deeper into the kiss.
            I love you, I love you, I love you.
            (Y/N) pushed the love they felt for Spock into every moment. They could nearly cry with how strong everything was, how deeply their heart beat for him.
            Spock and (Y/N) drew apart from each other, breathing deeply.
            “Spock…You came…” They nearly sobbed for joy.
            “I would not leave you,” said Spock. He spoke plainly as he always did, but the truth of his words were still significant.
            (Y/N)’s brow furrowed. With Spock’s hand cradling their cheek, their minds were connected, and they could feel the Novisan empaths pressing pain down on him. (Y/N)’s hand curled into a fist. They stepped away from Spock and faced Theresia, who stared at them uncertainly, unsure of what they were planning.
            (Y/N) knelt, picking up the fallen ring Spock had freed them from. Standing tall and straight, they glared at Theresia. “You tried to control me.”
            The aristocrats and royal empaths froze as their voice rang out. Kirk, Bones, Uhura, and Chekov quickly grabbed their phasers back from Ceasarius, who had confiscated them when they were thrown in jail.
            “I—We—We needed the power,” said Theresia.
            “You want power?” (Y/N)’s head cocked, and their eyes blazed with golden light. “Here.”
            (Y/N) held up the ring in front of them. Narrowing their eyes, they focused on the shard of potentiate. It shone with purple light before being taken over by gold. The aristocrats gasped as they felt (Y/N)’s pure psychic power run through them. The potentiate jewel shattered, unable to contain (Y/N)’s full strength. The Novisans flinched at the display.
            But (Y/N) wasn’t done.
            The Vitality Locus shone gold behind them as their power built up again. The Novisan empaths grabbed their jewelry as they felt psychic energy build up.
            “You steal your powers! You abuse your abilities! You lord empathy over others!” declared (Y/N). “This is a gift, and you’ve squandered it! You don’t deserve the power given to you!”
            The Vitality Locus exploded into golden light. Each shard broke apart in the jewelry of the gentry. Each fragment left was dull, holding no more power to tie their abilities together. The Novisans were left with just what they were born with—weak empathy.
            “Learn to use what you’ve been given,” said (Y/N), looking down at them. They were words of guidance, but a warning rested below the surface. (Y/N) had shown their power, and the Novisan gentry were afraid.
            Their expression softened, and they gestured to Regulus and Elias, who was opening the door alongside other servants to see the outcome of the fight. “Look. There are ways for you to live in harmony.” Regulus and Elias held hands, gripping them tightly in comfort as all eyes turned to them. “We’re all people,” said (Y/N). “Empath or not, we all deserve respect. Let go of your prejudices, your fear of being seen as weak. They—” (Y/N) pointed at the men “—are stronger for their love.”
            “We are,” said Regulus, looking right into his parents’ eyes. “I’ve never felt more self-assured or certain in myself than by Elias’s side. We can live in peace.” He looked around. “I want Novis to be a planet of harmony and joy. We can only have that if we learn to exist together.”
            “But we’ve taken the first step,” said Elias. He gestured to the shattered Vitality Locus. “Yes, you won’t have the power you once had. But that’s for the best. It’s time for Novis V to change.”
            “And we will change for the better,” said Regulus. He turned to Kirk. “Captain, I trust you’ll report that more Ambassadors and guides will be needed for Novis V? I want to start the transition to peaceful relationships to begin as soon as possible.”
            Kirk smiled. “Of course.” He bowed playfully. “Your highness.”
            (Y/N) relaxed. Regulus was taking charge. The Federation would send people to help with the transition. Everything was going to be alright.
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            “Are you sure you want to change out of that?” said Uhura as they walked back to their quarters for some well-deserved rest.
            (Y/N) looked down at their golden gown. They chuckled. “Well, I don’t really think it’s regulation.” They paused before their door and glanced back at Spock, their gaze shy after what had happened between them. “What do you think?”
            Uhura, realizing they needed a moment (she needed them to get together, finally), continued on. (Y/N) and Spock were left together.
            “I…You remind me of old human paintings,” said Spock. (Y/N) cocked their head in confusion. “You are what my logic cannot explain. You are…art.”
            (Y/N) breath caught in their throat. They had been called attractive many times and in many ways. Spock’s version was the best. “Spock…” they breathed, unsure of their words. “I…I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”
            “You do not have to thank me for honesty,” said Spock.
            “Then at least let me thank you for saving me,” said (Y/N). They shifted uneasily. “The Novisans…They were drowning me in emotionlessness.” They shivered. “I hated it.” Their gaze met his. “And you brought me back.”
            “You would have fought your way out,” said Spock. “You demonstrated your power is quite formidable.”
            (Y/N) laughed nervously. “I guess I did go a little crazy there.”
            “Well, I cannot say it was particularly logical,” said Spock. There was something impish in his tone that told (Y/N) he was teasing them.
            A full grin broke out on their face. “No, it wasn’t. It was pretty emotional, wasn’t it?”
            “It seems emotions were necessary today,” said Spock.
            “They certainly were,” said (Y/N). Taking a risk, they brought up what had happened. “Without them, you wouldn’t have saved me.”
            “No, I wouldn’t have,” agreed Spock.
            (Y/N) took a deep breath and burst out, “Spock, were those really your feelings for me?”
            Spock’s gaze softened. “Yes. I apologize if they are unwanted, but I needed to bring your mind back. I was willing to try anything.”
            (Y/N) burst out laughing. “You idiot!”
            “ ‘Idiot?’ ” questioned Spock.
            “Yes, idiot. I’m in love with you, Spock,” said (Y/N). “I have been for a very long time.”
            Spock’s heart could have stopped as emotions overwhelmed him. He cleared his throat, trying to remain composed. “Well, then, I suppose the next thing to do is to go on a date—”
            “Spock,” interrupted (Y/N).
            “Yes?”
            “Shut up and kiss me,” said (Y/N) with the most adoring look in their eyes.
            A small smile appeared on Spock’s face. For once, he didn’t think and just acted, pulling (Y/N) closed and kissed them. (Y/N) pressed two of their fingers against Spock’s. Pulling back slightly, (Y/N) leaned their forehead against Spock.
            “I love you, Spock,” said (Y/N) with a wide smile and adoring eyes.
            “I love you, too, T’hy’la,” said Spock.
            “ ‘T’hy’la?’ ” asked (Y/N).
            “Beloved,” translated Spock.
            “I like it,” said (Y/N), curling their fingers around Spock’s.
            “Good. I don’t plan on changing in,” said Spock.
            “I wouldn’t have you change anything,” said (Y/N), leaning in to kiss him again.
            And Spock returned it lovingly.
            Logos and pathos were opposites; the heart and mind were parallels, but (Y/N) and Spock were two parts of a whole.
Taglist:
@a-ofzest
@grippleback-galaxy
@genderfluid-anime-goth
@groovy-lady
@im-making-an-effort
@unending-screaming
@h-l-vlovesvintage
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girlsgoneplague · 3 months
Text
Cramps
Spock x reader
Warnings: period talk (not graphic) cursing, depression
Promt: pain/comfort, you have the day off however your period has kept you in bed all day so your boyfriend Spock comes to check on you
Part 1 of 2 or 3, I plan on in the second part it gets worse
Waking up that morning you knew something was wrong whenever you rolled over, the cool wetness of your ass made it obvious your pad just couldn't take it last night. After groaning into your pillow for a solid minute you decide to get up and get cleaned up. When you get in the bathroom its obvious the pad never stood a chance, so you take off all your clothes and put them in the laundry hamper
So much for having a relaxing off day...
Before taking a shower you also removed all of your bedding, as well the pillow case since it won't match your other bedsheets. The pale blue of your former bedsheets start to irritate you and instead of putting them in the hamper you decide to throw the fitted sheet away. A ringing on your PADD goes off so you make your way to your bedside table and pick it up to see Spock is calling.
"Hey babe, I was just about to hop into the shower" you keep the screen aimed at your face in case he's with someone else.
"Hello, I trust you slept well?"
You sigh, "not really, I ruined my light blue bedsheets and I didn't even fall asleep until pretty late last night"
He tilts his head slightly, "I see, well the duration of my shift will end in a few hours, I will come to check on you."
You smile as you nod, "I'd love that, bring me something to eat too will you?"
"I shall, please continue your morning, I will see you soon"
"See you soon Spock" you end the call and make your way to the shower. Your cramps are starting to act up and a nice hot shower will ~hopefully~ help it.
After 30 minutes you've given up on the prospect of easing your pain. They haven't gotten worse but since its been so long its started to irritate you.
I swear they've just been getting worse these past few months....maybe I need to see McCoy.
After thinking it over you decide its not serious enough for that, if it gets worse then you'll have a good enough excuse to waste an entire day in sick bay. The worst part about it so far was the damper it put on your mood. Its only been about an hour since you've woken up but crawling back into bed is the only appealing thing to you right now. You look at the clock and see it's only 11:03.
You haven't changed your bedsheets yet but decide to lay on it bare anyway, the only thing touching your skin is the robe you were gifted last Christmas. It's dark blue and goes all the way down to your shins so it acts like your blanket for now.
After a few minutes you decide to try and watch something before you get too caught up in your own head. After picking an old cartoon movie you've never seen called Treasure Planet, you decide during the opening scenes you'll actually eat something.
I'm sure spock won't be back for another couple hours I think he mentioned around 4pm the last time we talked-
Suddenly your PADD starts to light up again, wondering if it was the man himself you leaned over to find it was actually Uhura.
"Hey whats up?" You ask somewhat confused
"You forgot about lunch didnt you?" She said with a small smirk
"Ohhhhhh shit im so sorry! I forgot this was the only day this week we both had free, my period came yesterday and its been kicking my ass"
She raises her eyebrows, "Oh my, that sounds like you've been busy dealing with the worst time of the month I understand. Its kind of weird that you're having issues though, you don't usually have cramps that bad right?"
"Right!! I have no idea why they're so bad this time around, I haven't even gotten around to changing my bedsheets-of which I RUINED last night" you shake your head and move the screen to show you laying down on your bare bed
"Yikes, well to be honest I actually called because I'm already in the mess hall but Sulu wants to join me for lunch, would you be offended if I visited you tomorrow after my shift?"
"Not at all, im not really in the mood to socialize....or get dressed haha. I only really want to see Spock so we can cuddle"
She rolls her eyes, "yeah yeah I'm sure your hot boyfriend will help melt the pain away. But if you need anything at all before he shows up then call me"
"Sure thing, you have fun with Sulu and tell him I said hi" I waved bye as she said she would and then hung up.
I put the device back down and roll over on my back, the cramps are getting bad enough I decide to take some Tylenol and grab my medicine bag to fill up with hot water.
I'm so glad I bought this damn thing, take that you stupid uterus
After gettin settled on the bed you realize you didnt actually grab something to eat, but maybe that's a good thing because your stomach also starts to act up.
It be your own body, your own treacherous body
At least the movie still has an hour left before you paused it, so you hit resume and make a wall of pillows on your bed to protect your back from the hard headboard.
After about 30 minutes you decide to send Spock a message asking how long he will be on duty. After a few minutes he responds
Unfortunately I have to stay slightly longer than planned, so far we belive the problem will be taken care of by 5 at the latest. My apologies
You frown but don't want to make a big deal about it, especially since its not his fault so you respond quickly
Thats fine! Just don't forget to bring me some dinner, I want pizza, you know how I like it. I hope the ship isn't giving you too many issues i know we had a rough day yesterday
Rough is an understatement, however it comes with the job and you both understand most things are out of your control when it comes to repairs and maintenance.
Indeed. I shall update you at 4 about my arrival.
You smile at the screen and think about how happy you'll be when he gets here
In the meantime I can ask Uhura for some chicken noodle soup. Thank you:)
You look up and realize you didn't pause the movie but luckily there's not been anything super crazy that happened. Its actually grabbed your attention quite well. However you do pause it to message Uhura because you're not sure if you can call her.
You free? I've got a craving for some chicken noodles or maybe even some chicken and dumplings, either way something warm with chicken
As you wait for a reply you get up to change the water in your medicine bag again, after you get up however you realize you have to use the bathroom.....immediately.
When you get in there you cuss loudly
How the fuck did my pad manage to slip off, I swear today is not my day
After you finish up, you change your underwear again and rub your sore breasts.
This is possibly the worst off day I've ever had, including when we were all turned into those rocks or cubes or whatever they were*
Looking at the clock you quickly realize its only a little after 12. And since Uhura hasn't responded its starting to look a lot like you'll be alone for quite some time.
The movie ended after some time, it was really good but you frequently clenched your whole body due to the waves of cramps. And thankfully Uhura had let you know she would bring you food around 1. So you searched around for another movie to keep your mind off of things and settled on Asteroid City. After a few minutes you hear a knock so you get pause it to open the door.
After it slides open you smile at the sight of your friend with some much needed soup, "so whatd you bring me?"
She hands you the tray and follows you into the room, "just some chicken and dumplings, I remember last time you had noodles so I thought I'd take the liberty of switching things up for you"
"I love it when you make our relationship spicy" you chuckle and sit down on your bed gesturing her to join you.
She looks at your screen, "oh you'll like this one, but after this you should watch that horror movie that came out in the same year"
In between spoonfuls you ask her to send you the title in case you forget.
You and her chat for some time until she gets up to stretch, "well I think I'll leave you to it, I have the holo deck reserved for 3 and I'd hate to be late. See you later"
"Sure thing, see you!" You wave to her as she leaves and start your movie again.
2 hours later you decided this Wes Anderson was definitely worth checking out. Then you look at your PADD to see the title Uhura sent you and also notice Spock has sent you a message as well
Excellent news, I shall be done in less than an hour. Is there anything else you need me to bring?
Yes please! I need new bedsheets I can't find any clean ones. I like yours so maybe you could bring those?
Clicking on Talk To Me, you lean back again and wait for him to respond.
Roughly 20 minutes later you hear a knock on your door, so you pause the movie and practically run to see if its Spock
Once the door slides open you grin at the sight of him with a pair of sheets underneath a tray with an entire pizza.
"I missed you so much, here let me take the tray"
He lets you grab the tray while he starts to unfold the sheets, "I have missed you as well T'hy'la, I trust you were not disappointed with my tardiness"
You set the food down at the small table you usually eat dinner at, that is when you're not suffering, and turn to face him. "Its not your fault T'hy'la, besides im sure you can make it up to me"
The ghost of a smile is on his face as he walks over to you to hold your hand and lean his forhead against yours, "I will try"
You give him a kiss and tell him to start eating so you can finish your movie.
As you eat your pizza, and he eats his soup you discuss his day as well as how awful you've been feeling, "I mean I seriously have no idea why its been so bad this time around" you notice a frown on his face and raise an eyebrow
"If you are truly having issues why did you not see McCoy?" Concern all over his face makes you feel like you've said the wrong thing.
"Its just that I didn't think it mattered that much" you look away from him and at the floor, "I just didn't want to spend the day in sick bay or worse taking some disgusting medicine that makes me lose my appetite"
He considers this for a moment and reaches across the table to hold his two fingers out to you for a Vulcan kiss. "While I do not understand the human response of hating the doctors i understand you would have gone if you felt that the pain was too much, but please mention it the next time you have a check up"
You smile softly and nod your head, "deal, so long as you spend the night with me?"
His eyes light up and the corners of his mouth slightly turn upwards, "I believe those terms are acceptable"
You both finish up your meal and he excuses himself to grab a change of clothes while you head to the bathroom to change your pad yet again.
One of these days maybe he'll just keep a change of clothes here
You ponder to yourself about the future for a moment until you start to have an awful pain shoot through your abdomen.
You leave the bathroom and immediately lay down to curl yourself into a ball, its not clear how long you stay in that position but when Spock returns he knocks and let's himself in after you tell him its fine. He immediately walks over to your bed at the sight of you, "is the pain becoming too much?"
You nod slightly and roll over to face him, "is it alright if we just lay here together for awhile"
"Of course, just allow me to change into my robes"
You feebly nod and go to turn the movie back on, you might as well finish it before bed considering its not even 6 yet. After he gets changed he looks at the screen, then at you, and raises an eyebrow.
"A recommendation from Uhura" you respond to his wordless question
"I see, well you'll forgive me if I do not watch it with you"
"All I need is you, I know you don't like this sort of thing but I'm glad you indulge my human tendancies"
"There are many qualities of yours i admire, and as you are well aware I do not require silence in order to think about how to improve my work efficiency"
You shake your head slightly as he climbs into bed, "well as long as you're holding me i couldn't care less what you're thinking about i just enjoy your company"
A light green blush comes across his features, "I too enjoy being with you" he grabs your face and kisses you for a few moments until you break the kiss to groan about your lower abdomen. He places his hand on your forehead and looks in your eyes to silently ask permission to ease your pain. You nod and his presence fills your brain, the pain starts to leave your mind as you finally relax for the first time that day.
"I don't know what I would do without you" you tell him as he lowers his hand and once again wraps his arms around you.
"I am sure you would-"
"That was rhetorical, and I don't think I could love anyone like how I love you" the light green blush returns to his face and he puts his forehead to yours again.
"I love you as well" he tells the computer to turn the lights off and you fall asleep despite the horror movie still on in the background. He watches you for a few moments to be sure you've fallen asleep and then turns off the movie and allows himself to drift off alongside you.
End of part one
Authors Notes, in the original series theres an episode where only 5 of the essential crew weren't turned into these blocks so if you're curious this is what I was referencing in the paragraph that talks about being turned into rocks lol
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calliethetrekkie · 6 months
Text
Triumvirate Prompts: Day 9
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#9. Favorite TOS Moment
I was going to save this for a later prompt, but I can probably think up something else for it. So we are going with an obvious one, but a good/feelsy one nonetheless. It's from The Empath. You all probably know what moment I'm talking about.
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Our boys and the title empath are in a baaaad spot. Kirk just got tortured and because we clearly have to kick the poor guy while he's down, he's presented with his worst nightmare: deciding which of his two best friends he gets to send for an even worst torture session. If he sends McCoy, he'll die. If he sends Spock, he'll be driven to insanity. Spock and McCoy bicker over sacrificing themselves cause they're as bad as Jim before Kirk cuts them off as it's his decision. It's clear that Kirk is in pain and distressed. So McCoy, being the doctor that he is, hypos him to spare him of any further agony. A notiont hat Spock actually agrees with.
That leaves Spock in charge, however. Which means that by default, he gets to choose himself to go with the Vians. McCoy goes quiet and steps away as Spock tries to finish his work on the Vians device to give Kirk and McCoy the chance to escape. But he made one very, very critical miscalculation: McCoy is a stubborn ass who is NOT going to let anyone else suffer if he can help it. So Spock gets hypo-ed and McCoy allows the Vians to take him, knowing full well that he's likely never going to see his friends again alive.
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I've talked about this moment before. How McCoy chose to do this with absolutely zero hesitation. I guess it's not surprising since this is the same guy who, when Khan held him by the throat with a scalpel in hand, didn't so much as flinch. But still... this is a man who knows full well that by doing this, he is going to die. It ain't gonna be a quick death, he's seen what condition Kirk was in, and it's going to be far, FAR worst. It's going to be a slow, painful, lonely death...
And he does not care.
All that mattered is that Kirk and Spock, the two people who mean the world to him, are safe. He even takes the time before leaving to tell Gem that his friends will take care of her because that's the kind of guy he is. He's about to die, and he'd rather reassure a young girl that she'll be okay. Even when finally taken and chained up, he just tells the Vians to get on with it already. Again, not so much as a flinch. His friends are safe. Gem is safe. That is all that matters. It shows a scary lack of self-preservation, but Dear God it shows why McCoy is such an amazing character.
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it's not even going into Kirk and Spock throwing out their chance at escape to get to McCoy. How they see their dear doctor dying, helpless to do anything. Kirk is in deep denial, and watching Bones in pain is killing him. Seriously, when Spock tells him he's dying, I swear Kirk looked like he wanted to cry. Spock is more controlled, but barely. Seriously, when McCoy uses what may very well have been his last words to compliment his bedside manner? And Spock's face at those words? Your heart will break.
Obviously I was going to use this for the favorite McCoy moment, but as I tried to think of other moments for this one, it was clear to me that it had to go here. The Empath in general is an amazing episode showing the Triumvirate's love and care for each other. How far they're each willing to go to protect the other two and others relying on them, such as Gem. McCoy of course gets the biggest moment with his sacrifice, and Kirk and Spock's reactions are pure pain. But it shows just how much McCoy means to them and how much they mean to McCoy. Had it been either Jim or Spock in McCoy's place, it would have similar results. It's one of those scenes that makes you see how strong their bond is, and I love it~!
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marlinswritingarchive · 11 months
Text
A Million Things To Want
The first attack comes without warning.
The away team are still on the surface, finishing up their investigations of the local flora. Tricorders whirr. Voices chatter.
One moment, they're commenting on the natural beauty of the planet, and, the next, they're bombarded by an avalanche of petals, branches, and pollen.
As the most battered member of the away team, Ensign Grenson is beamed up to sickbay as a matter of urgency. The rest of them remain standing in a mustard-yellow field, surrounded by the colorful, gaudy plants. They're still now, but the crew cower away from them warily. Flowers of every color cover the surface of Hspersa Prime, making it appear reddish-brown from orbit. From space, the planet had looked peaceful- but, up close, the illusion is broken.
There's a tear in Jim's shirt, and a gash in the skin beneath. He has two obvious cuts on his face: one above his eye, and one on his forehead, along with the beginnings of a bruise. Still, now that they're out of the field of sentient thistle, Jim assumes that the worst is over.
A botanist stands beside Spock. The two of them contrast their surroundings in their vibrant blue shirts.
“Sorry,” she says, as she plucks thorns from the thin material. “I led us straight into an ambush.”
“Don't worry about it,” Sulu says. “This isn't the first time we've been attacked by the local wildlife.” His left cheek is bright red, where he's been slapped by a flailing branch. "I'm surprised you're still in one piece, Captain.”
Jim chuckles, and coughs lightly. “I wondered that myself.” He coughs again. There's a slight tickle in his throat, and he massages it self-consciously. “Still- I can't be allergic to everything.”
Sulu laughs, but he's interrupted by Jim's coughing. In a matter of seconds, Jim is doubled over, clutching his side, then his stomach. There's a hand on his shoulder, the beep of a communicator, and a low pain in his chest, steadily building.
“Sulu to Enterprise-”
The whine of the transporters gets higher.
“- emergency beam up-!”
The world shimmers, and his ears ring with the sounds of it.
The next few seconds are ones of chaos, of blurred, familiar faces and colors. The cry of panicked voices- voices he recognizes: Nurse Chapel, then Bones.
“- There's something in his throat!”
The next thing he knows, he's in medbay, where everything is cool, and soft, and dark. The colors here are altogether more neutral: off-whites and pale, pastel blues, which soothe the throbbing in his head. The lights are kept dim, and he gets the feeling he's been in here for a while, though it seems like hardly a second has passed. Chapel is standing there covered in blood, and Bones is wearing matching scrubs.
There's a slight weight on Jim's forehead, and he looks up into a pair of brown eyes, dark with concern. The weight is comfortable yet overwhelming, the after-effects of a mind meld he doesn't remember. Then, Spock removes his hand, and Jim lets out a long, shaky breath.
“What…?” He tries to say, but it's nothing more than a squeak. He can't even be sure that he's spoken aloud, save for the fact that everyone is looking at him with the same, mute confusion. Chapel excuses herself with a polite grimace, tugging at the scrubs as she goes, and Bones leaves too, with a muttered promise to return.
Moments later, the doors open again, and Sulu runs in, with a flurry of 'is-he-alright-is-he-awake-yet?' and 'can-I-see-him-now?'
Something stirs within Jim's chest. He coughs, once, and Spock steps in front of him, as if to shield him from view.
Jim waves him back with a forced smile. “I'm alright. Come in.”
Truth be told, he's hardly alright- his mouth aches terribly and he can still taste the blood- but he feels undeniably bolstered now that the two of them are here. With a glance at his vitals, Sulu approaches him cautiously, and Jim tries not to speak much. His throat is still raw and aches terribly. Instead, he just pats Sulu on the arm and tries for a reassuring smile.
From the corner, Spock picks up a thin, reddish plant, which looks strikingly familiar. It had been sitting on a table at his bedside, and he's not sure why he hadn't noticed it until now- perhaps because he hadn't wanted to. Its leaves aren't particularly spiky, but they're sharp enough to cut someone in the right conditions. The plant appears to have been potted hastily, and fresh soil obscures the roots, but Jim can visualize them perfectly, despite never having seen them.
"Do you recognise this plant, Mr Sulu?" Spock asks.
Sulu blinks. "I, uh- yeah,” he swallows. "They're native to the planet; I took a sample of one. It's sitting in the lab right now, awaiting categorisation.”
Jim runs his tongue along the roof of his mouth. There are nicks and cuts in every groove. He tastes blood.
“What's your opinion on it?”
“I thought it was beautiful.” His eyes are locked on Jim.
“Your professional opinion, as a biologist.”
“Oh, right.” His mouth twitches. “Well, I haven't had the chance to analyse it yet, but I'd say it's unusual. The tricorder couldn't identify any known methods of passing on genetic information. However it reproduces, it's not through pollination.”
Spock nods. “That is consistent with data points from other wildlife on the planet.”
Jim's chest spasms, and he breathes uneasily. Please, not again.
“This plant…” Sulu reaches out to touch the silky petals with a frown. “I thought mine was the only sample on this ship. What was its origin?"
Spock sets it back on the table, and crosses his arms behind his back. "It came out of the captain."
Suddenly, Jim starts coughing violently, like he's hacking up a third lung. It happens exactly as it did before; but it's different this time, because he's conscious for it: for every contraction of his chest, and the way each leaf pokes his tongue and jabs at the roof of his mouth.
Sulu says something, but Jim can't hear it over the sound of his own choked sobs.
"- leave us, please, helmsman."
Sulu stays where he is.
"Leave." Spock's voice is a low growl.
For the second time today, Jim passes out.
*
A second plant sits next to the first: golden and beautiful, with red-tinted leaves. This plant came out much stronger than its predecessor, with better-defined pigmentation. The stems shine brightly in the light, so much so that Jim almost can't tear his eyes away.
Almost.
Jim’s room has been placed under a strict quarantine, and the only people allowed to visit him are medical officers and anyone who was down on the planet at the time he was infected.
Bones stands at the corner of the room, accompanied by the loud whir of a tricorder.
"The plant's growth-rate accelerated the moment Lieutenant Sulu entered the room," Spock informs him. His hand is still pressed to the stem of the plant. "For a moment, I could sense a connection with it."
"What are you saying?" Jim wheezes, through the tightness in his chest.
Bones turns and peers at him. "The disease appears to have a telepathic component."
Jim lies still. "Telepathic, as in…"
Spock's face is carefully neutral. "For reasons we can't yet explain- the plant is connected to Sulu, and has taken root in you."
His breath rattles, and he shakes his head. "That's impossible. That doesn't…" he touches his forehead. "That doesn't make any sense.”
"I know," Bones says, gruffly. "But other members of the away team have the same symptoms. Since we returned yesterday, Ensign Grenson has been coughing up daisies."
"Daisies," Jim repeats, with a kind of astonished numbness. "But that's… That's from home. Why is a telepathic virus from an alien planet causing us to-?" he stops, and spits a mouthful of red petals into his hand.
"Take it easy," Bones says. "You create new plants every time your adrenaline spikes."
Jim closes his fist, crushing the petals. "So, it creates a panic response?"
"I don't know," Bones admits. "But it seems to feed on heightened emotion, which could explain why it has yet to affect our Vulcan friend here."
Spock raises an eyebrow, and Jim gives a small smile, then unfurls his hand again. The soft petals are marred by flecks of his own blood, and he feels a distinct sense of unease. They seem small, harmless; hardly enough to hospitalise someone- and yet, here he is.
"The flower species which emerges may be calibrated to the genome of each host," Bones muses, though he doesn't sound convinced. “Or, it depends on the parasite.”
"Is it a virus, or a parasite?" Jim says, weakly.
"Both," Bones says, uncertainly. “It's difficult to define it, because…”
"What?"
"Because you don't have a parasite," he grumbles. “At least, not one I can find.”
Jim blinks at him. "Then why am I…?” His hand shakes a little, and his throat feels unnaturally tight. “What happens if you run your tests and Sulu doesn't have a parasite?”
"Then I'll need a new theory.”
Jim wheezes a little. "The only other members of the away team- aside from us- were Jarren, Rueld, Sulu and Begum." He says, tightly. "Did one of us make Grenson sick?"
"No," Spock says, from across the room. "That part is less clear. It is likely that the... daisies… are being dictated by some other crewmember- most likely one who was infected on-board, before the ship-wide quarantine was introduced."
"It should make it easier to find the perpetrator… Though, just to rule it out- you don't happen to like daisies, do you?" Bones peers at him, and Jim chuckles.
"No. If I was going to choose a yellow plant, I'd go for something else. A zinnia, perhaps."
"Alright. Good." He makes a note of it. "Now if anyone sprouts geraniums, we'll know who to blame."
“Bones…” his head is spinning, but he searches for the right words. “What's all this about?”
“Your psi-readings are still slightly elevated," Bones says. "Grenson's, too. I'm still waiting on that reading from Sulu."
"But why isn't Spock affected? Or you? You've been taking care of us all day, and you haven't started coughing up plants yet."
He shrugs. "I don't know what to tell you, Jim. Maybe it hasn't spread to me. Maybe I'm asymptomatic. At any rate, this disease- if you can call it that- doesn't show up on our tricorders beyond a slight elevation in psi-levels. We're shooting in the dark here.”
Jim smiles. "In other words, it's literally all in our heads. I bet you love that."
Bones glares at him, and gestures to the plants. "Those came out of your lungs, Jim." His hand falls. "I wish I could explain it.” He mumbles something under his breath, something about 'aesthetic preference', and Jim breathes uneasily.
He can think of one, probable reason why he's connected to Sulu, but it's nothing grounded in logic. From across the room, he can feel Spock's eyes burning into him, and he averts his gaze.
*
The next time Sulu visits, Jim is asleep. Spock watches him enter, then glances at Jim's biobed. He waits for the coughing to begin anew, but there's nothing but the gentle rise and fall of his chest.
"Curious," he observes. He doesn't say anything else.
Sulu gives him a look he can't decipher. "Is it okay for me to be here?"
Spock looks at him. "You are offended.”
"No, no…" his mouth twitches. "I get it. I'd do the same." He checks the readout on the biomonitor, but there's no change. He relaxes slightly. Spock comes to stand beside him as they survey the readings in silence.
“Doctor McCoy came to see me,” Sulu says at last. “He took some readings, said there was some ‘residual psi-energy.’”
Spock keeps his face carefully neutral as Sulu fidgets.
“He thinks it has something to do with me, doesn’t he?”
"You were the only crewmember who recognised the plants." Spock says, simply. “You stated an affinity for their aesthetic qualities."
"But there's something more than that, isn't there?"
"Yes," he admits. "Ensign Grenson is afflicted with the same disease, but he has been producing a much different plant.”
“So…”
Spock tilts his head. “It is possible that there is a parasite within you which used your aesthetic preferences as a blueprint, and activated a sympathetic response in the captain. But, as no parasite appears on our tricorders-"
"You're reconsidering your theory?"
Spock nods, sharply.
"I heard about Grenson's friend," Sulu admits. "Rumors travel fast on this ship. I’m trying to work out why the aesthetic preference of one person would transfer to another like that. I mean, it gives an advantage to competing plants, so maybe it’s an accident, but-”
Jim stirs slightly, and Sulu falters. “I shouldn't be here,” he says, quietly.
The doors swish closed behind him.
Jim opens his eyes the moment he leaves, and Spock peers at him curiously.
“I was listening,” Jim admits, quietly. “Why didn't you tell him?”
“It was only a theory.”
“Your theories are rarely wrong.”
Spock raises an eyebrow. “Then perhaps you should inform him yourself.”
“I can't.” He looks away.
Spock places his hands behind his back, and waits.
Jim watches the ceiling. “There are a million things in this universe you can have, and a million things you can't. It's no fun facing that, but that's the way things are.” They're the well-rehearsed ramblings of a man who's had a while to convince himself that they're true.
“I assume you refer to the guidebook on inter-crew relations?” Spock says.
Jim gives the smallest nod.
“Relations between senior crew members are not forbidden. Particularly not in circumstances where they would save the life of an officer involved.”
Jim pictures the hot sands of Vulcan, of Spock bearing down on him with a Lirpa. Spock's hands around his throat as he crushes him, his body pinning him with his weight. Spock grabbing his shoulders in sickbay, so relieved to see him alive, with a level of delight he hasn’t seen before or since.
“... This isn't like that,” Jim says, quietly. “I have a duty to this crew. I can't balance… Love… And duty.”
Spock doesn't meet his eye. “It stands to reason that if you don't tell him, your only alternative will be to avoid him for the remainder of our five-year mission.”
*
"Hey." Sulu stands in the doorway, but doesn't come any closer.
"Hey," Jim acknowledges. "Y’know, if this disease is telepathic, then keeping your distance won't help."
Sulu frowns, and lifts the newest plant from the bedside table as he walks over. He holds it out like a shield between them as he examines it. "It's a prime specimen," he says, dryly. "You should be proud."
Jim smiles. He reaches for it tentatively, and touches the petals. “What are you calling it?”
“I wasn’t in the lab at the time, but they’re going with ‘Hspersia’, after the planet. The first specimen has been thoroughly dissected, but it's genetically identical to the first,” he says, apologetically. “There were no genetic traces from you at all. You wouldn't know it had come out of a human.”
"Hmm. Well, if I cough up any more, at least I know who to give them to," Jim says, with a lopsided smile.
Sulu swallows. "Jim…"
"It's not your fault."
Sulu purses his lips. “We don't know that for sure. The tricorder results-”
“- It's not your fault,” Jim repeats, and Sulu smiles bashfully.
They fall into a comfortable silence, as Sulu feels his way around the leaves thoroughly, as if they might be hiding any more secrets.
“I'd better get this down to the lab.” Sulu says at last. He shoulders the plant, and turns back to him one last time. “We're going to keep searching until we get to the bottom of this.”
“Do you still think it's beautiful?” Jim says, and Sulu breaks into a smile.
"To tell you the truth," he admits, "This whole thing has put me off Hspersias.”
As the door closes behind him, Jim feels something stir in his chest again, and breathes heavily.
There's a twinge of pain.
*
"So," Bones says, carefully. "There goes my theory.”
Jim cries silently, and Spock withdraws his hand from his forehead. The mind-meld he had administered had done very little to stem the growth of the plant.
"It's okay, Jim." Bones rests a hand on his shoulder and pats him gently. "Just let it all out."
Up until a few minutes ago, Jim had been curled on his side with a budding rosebush lodged in his throat. It took some quick-thinking from Nurse Chapel and a laser scalpel to remove it entirely, and Jim keeps finding petals between his teeth. He can only be grateful that he's no longer finding thorns. The inside of his mouth has been healed with the help of a dermal regenerator, but he can still taste blood.
Bones shakes his head. “I’ve seen plenty of things on this ship that I can't explain, but this one takes the cake.”
He waits for some reaction, but Jim just breathes through his nose and watches the ceiling.
Bones exhales, and turns to the corner. Medical staff have been coming in and out all day, but Spock has hardly moved at all, still sitting on the same chair at the head of the bed. Normally, he'd discourage it, but, today…
He folds his arms. “Now, Spock. This telepathic Mumbo-Jumbo is beyond me, but, as our resident Vulcan, I expect you to protect him. I don't want to be called up here every five minutes because he's coughing up some other plant that's tearing him apart from the inside out."
Spock's mouth is a thin line. “Protecting the captain is always my utmost priority, doctor; but I cannot protect him from psychic attacks where there are none."
There's a pause.
“... I get the hint,” Bones says. He casts a glance back at the tangled mess of flowers and thorns, which glisten with a fresh sheen of blood. “I'm close to creating an antidote with Grenson- though, to tell you the truth, he's been much better ever since he got a visit from that little girlfriend of his. I can't explain it. Maybe it's psychological.”
Spock glances at Jim, who stares at the wall, glassy-eyed and despondent.
Bones pats him on the shoulder as he heads out of medbay, and shoots Spock a meaningful look.
The new plant is set in the middle of the room: in pride of place as if it hadn't just nearly killed the captain. It's quite beautiful in its own way, and Spock moves to admire it for the first time. The leaves are a pure, vibrant red, unlike the rusted-maroon of the Hspersias. With a frown, he wipes away the flecks of blood which coat the leaves. The color is almost perfectly matched, as if painted by the haemoglobin itself.
"Fascinating," he says, at last. "This is a common-variety rosebush, perfectly acclimated to the environment of The Enterprise's arboretum."
Jim turns his head slowly. "Any new theories?" His voice is tinged with exhaustion.
"New observations. Every cell sample from Hspersia has had a nucleus," Spock says. "But there is no genetic information stored inside it. The only genetic information encoded is mitochondrial DNA, accompanied by an excess of psilosynine- the same chemical found in other telepathic species such as Betazoids.”
Jim huffs out a breath. "So, a plant infects someone, then uses a telepathic link to force a host body to grow new plants for it? What is it, mutual parasitism?"
Spock nods approvingly.
“Then- why was Grenson growing daisies?”
"Speculation," Spock begins. "The originator plant may require a mental snapshot in order to reconstruct an accurate replica of itself in the host. Without it, it will default to whatever image the telepathic carrier is projecting- which is why it appears to be flora from Earth."
“‘Appears to’?” Jim frowns.
Spock nods. “The genetic makeup of the daisies was identical to that of the Hspersias you produced. I am certain the rose bush will yield the same results.”
“Identical?”
“It had no nucleonic DNA, but there was a chromosomal excess of psilosynine.”
A rose by any other name, Jim thinks. “So, it's a daisy in appearance alone.”
“Correct. The Hspersias use mirror neurons to determine their exterior appearance.”
“A species of plant which doesn’t reproduce asexually?” Jim muses. “I’m sure the Federation Biologists will be very interested to study this.”
“Indeed. Though the nature of Hspersia makes it difficult to study. Scientists will have to be vetted before they are allowed close contact with it.”
“Vetted?”
Spock raises an eyebrow. “The Birds and The Bees, Captain. It is no coincidence that the template for Grenson's flowers were provided by his romantic partner.”
Jim’s heart beats faster, and he folds his hands together in his lap.
“If a strong emotional connection is enough to induce the growth-cycle, the reverse may also be true. An emotional experience may cause it to lie dormant.”
“An emotional experience, such as…?”
“That is my evaluation of the facts, Captain. What you decide to do with them is up to you.”
“That won’t be difficult,” Jim says, miserably. “He'll probably work it out as soon as he sees the rosebush."
Spock's eyes narrow almost imperceptibly, and Jim laughs.
“Pity, Mr Spock?" He teases, but there's no conviction behind it. “Surely such sentiment is unbecoming, for a Vulcan.” He gives a short, hacking cough.
"Perhaps, Captain." Spock purses his lips. "But you have my sympathy, as your first officer.”
He breathes heavily, and leans back on the pillows. He watches from the corner of his eye as Spock lifts the plant, and carries it from the room.
*
Christine Chapel blocks the doorway to Jim’s quarters- and, when Christine Chapel wants something, she gets what she wants.
“He can't see you right now,” she says, apologetic, but firm. “Spock said he needs his sleep.” She gives him a strange look, and extends the potted plant to him. “But, he said you should have this.”
Sulu stares at it, and takes it with shaking hands. "Chris…"
The pot is so small he can balance it in the palm of one hand. The soil, he recognises from the arboretum- dirt transported from Earth, fertilized with recycled biological composite. This, in itself, is not unusual- but this plant has so many thorns. With mounting horror, his eyes drift upwards, to the plant itself. He gasps. Not only is this a fledgling rosebush- it’s an almost exact replica of the rosebush he'd planted a week ago, nestled between the trees in the upper-left section, where the benches are. He’d germinated it in the lab and planted it there with one very specific purpose- he knows that Jim goes to that spot in the arboretum to read, and had been hoping to surprise him with it.
Well, he’s certainly surprised him.
Stupid. Stupid.
His shoulders, and the rosebush, shake. Christine steps forwards, concern in her eyes. “Mr Sulu-”
She’s no longer blocking the door.
He bolts forwards as fast as his legs will carry him.
“Hey!” Christine shouts, as he barrels towards the doors. He’s fortunate that they’ve been left unlocked, otherwise he would just smash right into them. They part automatically, and he stumbles into the room.
“Jim!” he shouts, voice booming in the sudden stillness. He skids to a halt beside the bed, as Jim blinks awake.
“I told you he was sleeping!” Christine whispers furiously, and grasps Sulu by the arm.
“It’s fine,” Jim says, but his bio-monitor readings say otherwise. “It’s-” he glances at the rosebush in Sulu’s hands, and places a hand to his chest.
“... Jim?”
His breathing becomes laboured, and Sulu swears under his breath.
“Oh, not again!” Christine reaches for a laser scalpel, but Sulu jumps between them, discarding the rose bush on the table.
“Wait! Wait, it’s okay.” He kneels on the edge of the mattress, and grabs Jim’s shoulders then presses their foreheads together. “I’m thinking about forget-me-nots now,” he says, lowly. He closes his eyes and focuses on the mental image of small clusters of blue flowers. “They’re much smaller, and they don’t have thorns...”
Jim gives a hacking laugh, and something lands in Sulu’s lap. When he opens his eyes, they’re both covered in blue petals, strewn around like confetti. Jim’s eyes are watering, and his breathing is laboured, but he’s smiling.
“That was reckless,” Jim wheezes. He has tears in his eyes, but he smiles in spite of it.
“I thought it was pretty smart, actually,” Sulu jokes, as he rubs his back.
Jim spits out a couple more petals and laughs weakly.
Christine gives a relieved sigh. “I’ll be outside, in case either of you start coughing up rose-bushes again.” She gives Sulu an ‘I’m watching you’ gesture as she leaves, and he sits up a little straighter. The door hisses shut behind her.
Jim’s breathing gradually becomes more steady, and Sulu cups Jim’s cheek with a hand as he waits for his bio-readings to return to normal.
“How did you know how to do that?” Jim says, at last.
“Well, Doctor McCoy had just told me I had elevated psi-readings, so I thought it was worth a try.”
Jim exhales. “You worked it out just from that?”
“Not quite,” he admits. “It wasn’t until I saw it that I realised-” he grips Jim’s arm excitedly as he points to it. “-It’s a perfect copy of the rosebush I planted in the arboretum a month ago.”
“But genetically identical to a Hspersia,” Jim points out, and Sulu represses a grin. The structure of the plants is utterly fascinating. If Jim hadn’t been in danger, he might never have been able to pull himself away from the lab.
For a brief, fleeting moment, he imagines what it must feel like to swallow a rosebush. His heart clenches.
“Jim…” he murmurs. “If I'd have known sooner…” he shakes his head. “I did try. I mean; I knew you liked roses, though perhaps I've ruined them for you now-”
Jim closes the distance between them, and Sulu falls silent.
He can taste forget-me-nots on his lips.
*
For the third time today, there’s a white orchid in Spock’s sink. This one is in significantly worse condition than its predecessors: the stem wilted and drooping, the flowers shattering upon impact with the basin. This is not the only variety of plant he has produced- there had been a moment, hours ago, when he had coughed up some small, blue flowers, of Earth origin. At first, he had assumed he was merely intercepting telepathic signals from the afflicted people around him, but now, faced with the evidence before him, he can only conclude that he has indeed been infected himself.
This development is slightly bothersome, as Sulu and Jim are currently talking to one another next door. Still, it’s no matter. His own health is secondary to the captain’s, and the plants Spock has been producing are at least more forgiving than roses. He will forever remember how distraught he was when he thought he had killed Jim during pon farr. If staying away from him is all that is required to assure his safety, then that is what he must do. After all, the plants are induced via telepathy- a distinctly Vulcan area of expertise. Perhaps he can travel to Gol in order to learn how to master it-
There’s a distinct knock.
“Spock?” Jim’s voice is muffled by the door between them. “Are you alright in there?”
Spock steadies himself against the counter, and drops the orchid- and all its fallen petals- into the matter reclaimator beside him. “Enter,” he coughs as he clears his throat.
“Spock?” Jim repeats. He leans against the doorway with one hand.
“I am quite well,” he says, tightly.
Jim glances over his shoulder towards the sink, but Spock was careful to remove any traces of blood. There have been many times over the course of their mission when their shared bathroom has been a benefit- it saves time to discuss ship matters while brushing their teeth- but, presently, it is a detriment.
“Are you sure?”
“I am relieved to see you out of sickbay,” Spock tries to say, but the words stick- and they're not the only thing stuck in his throat.
He freezes. He's never had two attacks so close together before, nor so fast. There's no way he can hide it from them.
The stem has already breached his throat.
“Oh, Spock.” Jim drops to his knees beside him, and tries to grasp hold of his hands. “Has this been happening all day?”
Spock makes a small sound. His vision swims, until Jim is nothing more than a vague golden blob before him. The telepathic interference from the two of them is unbearable, and Spock clutches both sides of his head, whimpering slightly.
“I’m here.” Jim’s hands are either side of his face, prying his hands away.
He trembles, and a hand strokes his hair. The touch is soothing.
“Let me help.”
Jim takes Spock’s face in his hands and kisses him gently. Soft, open-mouthed kisses to coax the poison out of him. Spock claws at his shirt, shivering uncontrollably as he veers backwards, and hands catch him. He turns his head, chest and stomach heaving as he spits a flower to the ground.
He tries to flee, to bolt like a horse from the stable, but those same hands reassure him, holding him tight.
“What was the plan?” Jim teases, gently. “Were you going to avoid us for the remainder of our five-year mission?”
“Jim…” Spock grumbles.
Something stirs in his chest, but he attempts to remain stoic as they embrace him. As predicted, the connection between Jim and Sulu seems to have fallen dormant. As they huddle together, the telepathic pull from the two of them lessens, but there's something else tugging at him; some other compulsion. He ignores it.
At long last, Sulu picks up the fallen flower.
“White orchids?” he comments, as he pinches the leaves between forefinger and thumb. “Yours, Jim?”
Jim nods, and offers Spock a hand up. He takes it, feeling distinctly off-kilter. There's a twinge in his chest, and he tightens his grip on Jim's hand.
Then, he doubles over again, coughing violently.
“Spock!”
*
Jim and Sulu sit at Spock’s bedside as Bones hovers over him, a short distance away. He runs a tricorder over him as he fusses, and touches his face more than is strictly necessary.
Jim tugs on his sleeve. “It looks like your theory was correct after all, Bones,” he says, as he opens his palm to reveal the bunch of bright flowers clenched within. “Azaleas. I’ve heard they’re quite common in Georgia.”
Bones goes very still as he looks at the flowers, and, finally, to Spock.
“Now just wait a damn minute,” Bones says. “I should have known it was suspicious how quick you were to support that aesthetic preference notion-”
Spock raises an eyebrow. “As I recall, you were the first to raise that theory, Leonard.”
“Well, now, that's beside the point!” he splutters, as he flushes the same shade as the azaleas.
Jim rests his head on Sulu’s shoulder as the two of them begin bickering back and forth, perhaps a little more gently than usual. Jim smiles to himself. The small matter of Spock being in a hospital bed has never made either of them hold back before.
Sulu’s shoulders shake with silent laughter, and, at last, it occurs to Jim that, with friends like these, perhaps he can balance love and duty more easily than he thought.
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circeladyofaeaea · 6 months
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Star Trek: The Motion Picture
So I took an edible and watched TMP last night and developed a new appreciation for it.
The vibe is so different from the rest of the movies because it relies heavily on parallels and philosophy whereas the subsequent movies + tv shows are pretty straightforward sci-fi. You rarely wonder what a character means by a line or what message is trying to be conveyed. Which I think is also fun! And I can see why audiences were turned off by the less clear approach to TMP as well as the comically long scenery shots - I was high and I was still thinking ‘okay this was already impressive 10 seconds ago I think we can move onto the next shot now?’. It’s like they were so proud of themselves for doing revolutionary things with SFX that they were reticent to cut a single moment of it, which honestly I get. Still, I want to give this movie more credit and love than it usually gets. (Beware I spent 2 hours writing this)
Something about watching it as an adult allowed me to truly admire the parallels between Spock and V’ger this time around. V’ger, like Spock, is on a pursuit of logic that will never be satiated, and must merge with humanity in order to find fulfillment/purpose. This is ultimately a Spock-heavy movie, even with him being absent for a chunk of it, because the whole storyline is an allegory for Spock’s acceptance of both sides of himself. And the audience loves Spock, so they should be happy about that, right? But I don’t think the depth of the comparison is as obvious to people who aren’t either A) Star Trek buffs or B) movie buffs. I mean obviously the audience gets that Spock realizes his pursuit of pure logic and the purging of emotions would have never fulfilled him upon melding with V’ger, a being of pure logic, and sensing it’s feeling of utter purposelessness. Spock says that outright. But there are other, more subtle allegories going on.
I realized for the first time during my rewatch last night the depth of Spock’s inner turmoil that must have led him to choose Kohlinar. I always thought it was because of his conditioning since birth that his human heritage was a shameful thing, and yes, it totally is. But it also seems to have been because of a heavy burden of existentialism (and I’m guessing Vulcans don’t often allow themselves to get into the sentimentality of existentialism, so Spock naturally wanted to purge himself of it). He doesn’t say it outright, but it seems when he talks about V’Ger that he must have been feeling the same way when he went on his own pursuit of pure logic. He felt purposeless, just like V’ger. He was wondering why he was born, why he even existed. Is this all there is? When V’Ger admits it does not know what it needs, I thought of how Spock must not have known what he needed either when he left Starfleet to undergo the Kohlinar. His meld with V’ger finally allows him to realize that he will never find the answers through pure logic. He will not find fulfillment in life if he does not embrace his human side - and not only his human side, but his human companions. He can’t just leave Starfleet for Gol and abandon them as if they won’t miss him, as if they don’t care about him and love him. Maybe our relationships with those who love us, that “simple feeling,” is what gives life meaning.
I also did not realize how deep the parallels between Spock/Ilia and Jim/Decker were until I watched it last night. First of all, we have a human captain reuniting with an alien individual from his past who he was once very close with. That was obviously intentional. Both pairs are still in pain from their respective separations. And while Decker represents humanity as a whole, he is also a mirror character to Jim. Decker is, not coincidentally, the human who merges with V’ger and finally brings it fulfillment. So really, Jim’s close friendship (or whatever else their relationship potentially is) is another thing that brings Spock to accept his humanity.
And the merging of Decker and V’ger being both visually beautiful AND a representation of Spock finally accepting that his human and Vulcan ancestry is intertwined together within him, both inextricable parts of himself that he must honor? I mean come onnnnn. I’ve seen several interpretations of this moment being about God’s need for humanity and vice versa, but to me this ending was all about Spock. Spock finally accepts himself for who he is - who can’t admire that for him? I bet he later categorized his life as “before and after V’ger.”
Moving on from talking about Spock (difficult), I wanted to talk about Jim in this movie as well. Jim is a huge mess at the beginning of this movie, which is indicated both by his overly emotional decision making/general crankiness and his moody eyeliner. I don’t think we ever see him this impatient and hostile with his own crew. Bones calls him out right to his face for not trusting his crew to do their jobs (which is funny because later on he finds out Spock has left in a thruster suit and is like uhhhhh wait let him cook). We also rarely see Captain Kirk so scared and insecure. Take for instance the desperate way he tells Bones that he needs him and Bones’ reaction to that (it seems Bones has never seen Jim so terrified in his life). Additionally, the look on his face after they watch the space station be destroyed… Jim’s completely lost. :( His confidence in his abilities as a captain have dwindled significantly, and I think that’s both because he’s been relegated to pencil pushing for over 2 years and because Spock isn’t there. When Jim asks for a Vulcan science officer and tells Decker he’ll have to double as science officer… he wants Spock by his side so badly to help solve this problem. Jim’s legendary abilities as a captain are nothing without Spock’s guidance. The wormhole scene is a little long but I think ultimately necessary in understanding Jim’s current state of mind.
And then, Spock! Spock shows up and Jim’s instantly way more chill with his crew, especially Decker. He’s obviously hurt by Spock’s cold demeanor after years of separation (“will you PLEASE… sit down”) but much more confident in his abilities as captain. It seems we’re learning that we can’t be all emotion without any logic, either. Jim needs Spock just like Spock needs his humanity, needs Jim (not even in a spirk way, although this movie does make it super hard to take the spirk glasses off).
Of course the concept of a creator and humanity’s relationship with said creator is important to this movie. Just like V’gers creator, did God create us forever ago just to forget about us? Does God care about us? Religion never really resonated with me so I don’t have much to say about this unfortunately. Roddenberry’s obvious obsession with the concept despite it never quite landing with the Star Trek audience is kind of funny though, considering the early drafts of this movie and then later the plot of Star Trek V. That man wanted to make a movie about confronting God SO BAD
I also would be remiss if I didn’t bring up the music. The score really drives this movie; there’s very few scenes without music directing us how to feel or telling us what the character is feeling. I was particularly struck by how romantic the music is when Jim sees the Enterprise for the first time.
Anyway, I love this movie even more now and while I can see why some of the risks it takes didn’t resonate with everyone, it is certainly an artistically and emotionally beautiful movie. It’s quite different from the other Trek movies, and while I do love the other movies, I love how this one expresses a different side of Trek. Not to mention the performances, visuals, and soundtrack. So I think that now I’d say this is my second favorite movie, after ST:IV (because it brings me intense joy) and before ST:II.
Other unorganized thoughts:
Massive smile on my face as soon as Jim is like “oh someone is refusing to beam up? Wonder who that could be?” I LOVE BONES!!! And I ADORE his divorced dad 70’s civilian outfits in all of the movies, but especially this v neck jumpsuit with the beard. He’s everything
The thrill of Jim taking the enterprise out of spacedock is so visceral
Spock fixes the engine issues SO FAST - like ok I guess Scotty is just stupid or something all of a sudden??? Lmao
On that note: Scotty is so fucking busy this entire movie? We never see him leave engineering. I feel bad for him and I hope the first thing he did once they were in the clear is take a fucking nap
Jim changing into the slutty white short sleeve when Spock shows up mhm… okay. I know what you are
I laughed when Spock says “I must meld with it” like yeah of course that’s your solution. You always go straight for a mindmeld with unknown entities. Even after Kolihnar he’s still a mindslut
I wrote “Spock’s God is logic and the creator does not answer” while I was watching the V’ger Decker merging scene… not sure exactly what I meant but it has legs
Triumvirate matching outfits during the Voyager reveal scene yayyyy
I have more than a few thoughts on the intentions behind Kirk and Spock’s relationship in this movie. Certainly they would have realized it reads a little gay? Especially considering that they chose to make the relationship parallel to Jim and Spock’s a romantic one? So somebody behind this movie must have either wanted the spirk subtext or didn’t care if it was interpreted that way. Whatever, I have nothing to say that hasn’t already been said on the subject, I just think it’s silly to act like they’re just guys being dudes. At their straightest, they have an extremely close, brotherly like friendship which leads them to find each other again in any lifetime and communicate without speaking. Right. Right. Like I love my close friends but we’re not like THAT
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raddocwrites · 5 months
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Do you even lift, Bro Una
Una carries this crew. Literally
Una sighed in relief as she spotted part of the away team approaching her. All the other groups had made it back to the rendezvous location forty-five minutes ago, so una had started off in the direction that la’an, uhura and kirk had taken about 15 minutes earlier. She knew both uhura and kirk could become consumed in their work, but she trusted la’an to keep them on schedule. So, when they hadn’t shown up on time, something in una had clenched uncomfortably.
Una slowed as the trio neared. Her earlier relief evaporated and her worry returned with a vengeance. Kirk limped and held his arm at an awkward angle. La’an helped to support uhura who seemed only half conscious. There was a nasty gash above the communications experts forehead.
Una rushed forward, already offering her shoulder to kirk who shook his head, so una turned and slipped herself under uhuras other shoulder instead. “What happened?” she asked tensely looking towards la’an.
The Lt was pale and breathed heavily from the weight of supporting uhura. But otherwise she appeared uninjured. She didn’t take her eyes off the uneven path in front of them. “Ambush,” la’an huffed shortly.
“The locals knew we were Starfleet. And they weren’t happy we were looking into the unusual gravitational metrics,” kirk supplied as he limped along.
Una immediately opened her communicator but nothing happened.
“There jamming comms,” la’an said sharply. She shifted her grip and finally lifted her head to cast a worried glance at uhura. She didn’t like the pallor of the ensigns skin.
“Great,” una managed sarcastically. She sobered slightly. “We are less than a mile out.” She looked over to kirk who was in obvious pain but had a determined expression under that mustache of his. “Lt kirk, what are the extent to your injuries?”
Kirk grimaced but kept moving. “I think my arm is broken. Other than that, just scrapes and bruises.”
Una nodded and looked closer at uhura. “And the ensign?” she asked.
“They threw an improvised bomb at us,” kirk said in amazement. “Like, who even does that in the age of phasers?”
Unas eyes widened and la’an added, panting, “Shrapnel caught her in the head.”
Unas nodded grimly and tightened her grip. “Ensign? Ensign uhura, look at me.”
Bleary eyes turned towards una and worked to focus. “C-commander?” uhura rasped.
Una smiled. “That’s right ensign. How are you feeling?”
Uhura frowned with confusion. She looked down. “Why am I wet?”
Unas eyebrows rose and she scanned the ensign again. No sign of moisture that una could see. “We are almost there,” she said instead. And to her relief it was true.
She practically heard la’ans grateful sigh. Spock saw them coming and quickly sprinted the last several hundred yards toward them.
Una frowned as la’an seemed to slow, dragging the progress of all three of them. The other woman turned her head, coughed several times then continued determinedly.
Spock slid to a halt. “May I be of assistance, commander?” he asked, only the speed with which he asked the question belied the tension he felt.
La’an nodded to spock before una could. “Take uhura. She needs immediate evac.” Spock nodded and quickly extracted the ensign from both la’an and una. He held her effortlessly in his arms as he turned and ran, cradling the young officer to his chest as gently as possible.
La’an swayed slightly as uhuras weight vanished. Then she grit her teeth and continued.
Una moved closer to kirk, who was moving somewhat unsteadily. La’an seemed to slow even further so she trailed behind a step or two. Una didn’t worry. La’an usually liked to take either point or rear guard. But with safety in front of them, it made sense for la’an to cover their backs.
When they were just fifty feet away chapel ran up to them. She quickly took kirk and started mentally tallying all of his injuries while outwardly she chatted with him about what a weird day it was turning out to be.
La’an sucked in another breath through her nose. She forced herself to take another step. She let her lips twitch up in satisfaction as uhura was beamed to safety. She even breathed a sigh of relief when kirk joined the others. She took another breath. They had made it. She had gotten them home. She grit her teeth even harder and tried to force herself forward, but it was like moving through solidifying plasma.
Even as she slowed, she smiled. She had gotten all her people safely home. She let out a sigh at the thought then blinked, trying to clear the back dots from her vision.
Una let out a relieved breath and turned back towards la’an. She expected to see her friend smirking at her, ready to offer a smart comment. Instead, una felt her breath hitch as panic seared through her.
Her security officer was several paces further back than una thought and was clearly struggling. La’an ground her teeth, her nostrils flaring with each breath, determinedly forcing herself forward. But it didn’t stop her from swaying dangerously, like she was held up by a single, tiny thread about to snap. She pressed a hand to her side. A hand coated in red. BLOOD.
Una stared at it, her eyes drawn to the alarming crimson as if by a tractor beam.  Her stomach seemed to fall away and then land with a nasty jolt in her feet.
She sprinted back to la’an just as the smaller woman collapsed. La’an shifted, struggled, tried to rise up to her knees but didn’t make it. She-
But then una was there. She didn’t wait. She just scooped la’an gingerly up into her arms and ran. Shed never run so fast in her life.
“Damn it la’an!” she scolded breathlessly. “Why didn’t you say you were injured?!” She now felt the wetness that uhura had asked about. La’ans whole side was soaked. She could feel the warmth of it drenching her own uniform, seeping through the thick cloth and painting her own skin slick. How long had la’an been bleeding like this?
Unas nostrils flared, sick with worry and the coppery tang of blood. She slid to a halt in front of chapel and spock. Everyone else had already transported aboard. “Beam us directly to sick bay,” she commanded.
“Hey, chief,” la’an whispered. Her teeth were stained red. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head before una could respond.
Una was moving before she fully solidified. She crossed the room in two steps and carefully laid la’an on the biobed where Mbenga was ready for her.
“What did I say about being brave?” una scolded softly. Because she needed to believe that la’an could hear her.
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dig-jules · 1 year
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just watched requiem for methuselah. are you kidding me.
Spock is playing the music that Jim and rayna dance to and these camera shots right here
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and the way Jim dismisses him and his discoveries because Jim is too busy falling for rayna not realizing that those discoveries are what will reveal the very reason that they cannot be together, that being her true nature and the circumstances leading to her “birth”
And he just walks away and the shot pans to Spock sitting there.
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ok to be so fair the whole next scene is actually so sweet btw bc jim really does love her
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BUT ofc Spock returns to save him from the consequences of his love for rayna (consequences this time being the attack of the robot) in some serious foreshadowing, and an air of tense formality returns with Spock, at least in Jim’s eyes- because Spock represents duty to him- but in truth Spock is acting out of concern and friendship because why would he have followed him in the first place?
ok and then Spock actually sounds frustrated and repeatedly insists Jim pay less attention to Rayna to focus on the matter at hand because oh yeah everyone’s gonna fucking die of the bubonic fucking plague if they don’t get this figured out in 2 hours and Jim considers it to be him conceding to not truly understanding or being forgiving to concepts of love or passion but really Spock’s just gotta get their crew home just like Jim and he already suspects raynas not real and he knows that Jim’s greatest weakness will always be the love that he gives so freely and always has taken from him by circumstances outside his control or as a result of his own insufficiencies and that the more time he spends with Rayna the more pain will result. just like the first attack
So it makes sense that later Spock volunteers to go ahead to try to find the cure because he knows what lay behind that door will also likely be what reveals what Rayna truly is and Spock would rather sacrifice Jim’s opinion of him despite all his obvious longing to be seen and heard this whole episode than let Jim experience the inevitable despair that comes with discovering the object of his affections is in fact an object
And then when they all learn about Rayna being an android SPOCK is the one to explain Jim’s love for the android in perfect clarity because he does understand. He just expresses it analytically because that’s how he processes things. And when she dies from experiencing love for Jim that exceeds what she was built to process Spock can explain that too, he can explain that longing because this? This is something he knows intimately- this care she can’t grapple with because circumstances don’t allow it and everything she’s been taught thus far doesn’t tolerate it is HIS EXPERIENCE like even in that EXACT MOMENT
And then they’re back on the ship and yeah everyone’s saved hooray but Jim is a fucking mess i mean his robot girlfriend just died because of him fair enough.
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And Spock is there with him through it all and he sees Jim’s grief empty him until he’s just a shell of himself and then the doctor walks in and is just like “hell yes he's asleep now i can blame you” and then proceeds to tell Spock he feels sorry for him because can’t understand or experience love or emotion and doesn’t know the desperation it will drive a man to and Spock just TAKES it because you know what.. maybe he doesn’t? How can he trust himself to recognize what he’s never fully allowed himself to feel, or express the emotions he’s been told he isn’t capable of understanding by everyone around him his entire life
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so when bones leaves and Spock steps forward and reaches out to jim’s face and makes the ultimate sacrifice to his own traditions and teachings and even his own sense of morality just to make Jim forget and take away his pain (because he’d rather take on the burden of guilt than watch jim remain a crumpled form in front of him) are we really surprised? because did we too think him incapable?
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and so the episode ends with Rayna having died for truly allowing herself to acknowledge love, and spock now does the same- because if not physically dead, this moment is one of the many which give way to his decision to undergo complete ego-death after the series ends
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vermin-disciple · 6 months
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Posted for the @trektober-challenge Day 7 prompt, "Mirrorverse."
I wrote this a number of years ago (2016, iirc). It was originally the prologue for a much longer TOS Mirror Universe fic that I plotted out in detail but only wrote a few scenes and snippets of. I was rereading some of my old notes and WIPs and decided that this scene could stand well-enough on its own, and since I doubt I'll ever finish that fic I might as well post it.
CW: Discussion of torture
"Your position is illogical, Doctor." McCoy threw up his hands in obvious frustration. "That's what I keep trying to tell you, my pointy eared friend – this has nothing to do with logic!" Spock did not purse his lips, or show any other signs of consternation with his colleague's line of – well, he couldn't very well call it reasoning. "The agony booth inflicts as much pain as a human body can tolerate without losing consciousness, infusing the entire system so that every part of the body is equally affected. Your preferred method inflicts pain only on a discrete portion of a person's anatomy. I fail to see how you could argue that it is the more effective choice." McCoy took a step closer, deliberately infringing on Spock's so-called personal space in a predictable and transparent attempt to discomfit him. "You fail to see it because you are too Vulcan to understand human psychology." Continue on AO3
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Watching TOS - not-carbon-based life! Jim is embarrassed! I love it all
.
The Devil in the Dark - loooved it
It's a really good episode, with real tension (I was so scared for the Horta) and highly emotional! Discovering new form of life and trying hard to communicate with it! to understand it! Empathy for the alien! Overcoming the fear of the unknown!
Jim being ready to kill it to stop the murders and Spock appalled by the idea, then Jim standing in front of it, seeing immediately it's not hostile and talking to it? While Spock in the communicator, upon hearing Jim is 10 ft from it, "Kill it, captain, quickly"??? Poetic cinema. So good
"No kill I" then the mind meld with the Horta? I was crying. So well done. Nimoy's acting is perfect.
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(yes these are EGGS it's obvious these are EGGS you know these are EGGS Spock)
I had to laugh at Jim trying to keep Spock away from the search, by telling him,
KIRK: Mister Spock, you are second in command. This will be a dangerous hunt. Either one of us by himself is expendable. Both of us are not.
Lmao that literally never bothered you before Jim
And of course their final banter always on point.
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Errand of Mercy
You think you don't want war and when you meet pacifists who won't let you wage war, you're all mad. It was interesting seeing Jim closer to the Klingon in this moment, than to the pacifists - and then regretting it. For once he wasn't right about something. And it's a brilliant foil to his role in A Taste of Armageddon.
Otherwise a nice enough episode, with some high points:
Hilarious that they both (Jim&Spock) beam down (and of course get taken by aliens) after Jim acknowledged in the previous episode that it's quite stupid.
Jim being so insistent on making the Organians understand what's coming for them and the risk they face as Klingons are a military dictatorship
Once again being threatened with being mind-wiped, just another day in Captain Kirk's life.
No creature can resist Jim Kirk, even a Klingon commander is like "oooh that's the famous captain of the Enterprise!" *starry eyes*
This omg:
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KIRK: I'm embarrassed. I was furious with the Organians for stopping a war I didn't want. We think of ourselves as the most powerful beings in the universe. It's unsettling to discover that we're wrong.
Ha. Learned something there did you Jimbo? (lovingly)
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The Alternative Factor
I love the whatthefuck plots, I love how whimsical this show is. And I liked this episode - yay parallel universe! - although the ending is darker and less optimistic than previous ones.
KIRK: Sometimes pain can drive a man harder than pleasure. I'm sure you know that, Doctor.
-> I'm not saying anything but i'm THINKING really loudly about it
Jim being so done with Bones and Spock made me laugh
I love when Jim and Spock get to the same conclusion at the same time :')
There are some very dramatic close-ups happening in this episode
The ending is haunting me:
KIRK: There is, of course, no escape. How would it be? Trapped forever with a raging madman at your throat until time itself came to a stop? For eternity. How would it be? SPOCK: Captain, the universe is safe. KIRK: For you and me. But what of Lazarus? What of Lazarus?
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hummingbird-of-light · 10 months
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June of Doom Day 3
3. “I can handle it.” 
| Kidnapping | Fracture | Struggle |
TW: crash, open wound, blood and injury, graphic description of violence and death, major character death, animal attack
~
"Please, I just want to know if someone made it out alive."
Khan didn't respond to Scott's pleads. Instead, he focused on the shuttle's controls.
"They-" the Scotsman tried to talk once again, but the augment harshly cut him off.
"They killed my family!
Scotty's eyes widened and he winced. No... that was impossible! He knew his crew. They'd never...
"Nae..."
"My crew was hidden in the torpedoes. Spock and the rest of your oh-so-precious crew detonated them."
Scotty still couldn't believe it. Tears streamed down his face as he tried to find some words.
"An eye for an eye, Mr. Scott. They killed my crew... so I killed them."
The engineer's face went pale and he ran a hand through his hair. Was it really true? Had they actually killed Khan's crew?
Quiet sobs escaped his mouth, despite him trying to hide it.
He couldn't do this. He couldn't take the pain.
An image of Keenser appeared in front of his closed eyes.
No...
'I can handle it,' a soft voice in his mind reminded him. He'd had to get through this kidnapping. For his friend.
++++++++
"Where are we going?"
The engineer looked at Khan, wiping away last tears. He didn't have time to mourn just yet. He had to find a way to break free.
"Somewhere I can think. Somewhere I can plan just what I do to your Starfleet."
Khan wanted revenge. That was quite obvious. And Scotty didn't like the look in the augment's eyes. Whatever part did the Scotsman play in that plan?
"And ye expect me to help ye?"
Khan glanced at his hostage, a dangerous twinkle in his eyes.
"If you want to stay alive."
Scotty swallowed. He didn't want to die. Despite everything he'd lost, there was still a reason to fight.
"What-"
Khan didn't get to finish his question for suddenly, a red alert started to ring.
Scotty jumped up from where he was sitting and looked at the control panels. His eyes widened in horror.
"We are being pulled into that planet's orbit. It's too strong for this wee shuttle!"
Panic rose inside of Scott's chest. He had survived and now he'd die in a crash?
"We have to get out of here."
Khan stayed as cool as ever. He got up and walked over to where he expected the rescue pods, however, there were none.
"We're going to die," Scotty breathed fearfully.
"No, we're not. I'm going to land this shuttle."
Khan walked back to the controls and Scotty just stared at him in disbelief.
"Ye cannae land it! The systems are failing!"
They had entered the planet's atmosphere and were now crashing towards the ground.
"I will land it," Khan repeated his words and he actually stayed true to them.
When the shuttle hit the ground, Scotty was hit by some debris that fell from the ceiling. Luckily, he had sat back down in his seat again, so he wasn't thrown around like a rag doll.
Yet still, pain shot through his body at the impact. He managed to undo his seat belt and looked around. Smoke made it hard to see, but he made out the figure of Khan.
He wasn't moving.
Scotty got up from where he was sitting, but as soon as he tried to take a step, a sharp pain shot through his leg. He looked down and almost instantly his stomach turned around.
A sharp piece of metal was pierced through his thigh. How had he not noticed it right away? Blood was streaming out of the wound and Scotty knew that he needed medical help as soon as possible.
Groaning in pain, he made his way over to Khan. There was a cut on the augment's forehead. Apparently he had hit it.
Scotty stared at the man's chest for a moment and when he saw it moving up and down, he knew he didn't have much time.
He had to escape! Now!
As fast as he could, the engineer opened the shuttle's door and got out of it.
However, his hope for help, was quickly destroyed when he looked at his surroundings.
A desert!
Green sand and a reddish sky with a hot burning sun. No people or buildings.
The Scotsman swore loudly in Gaelic. This wasn't fair! His only spark of hope was stumped out in merely a few seconds.
He glanced over his shoulder. Khan was still not moving.
Scotty knew that it was his only chance. So he started to run. Well... it was more of a quick limp.
The pain in his leg got worse with every step he took, but Scott tried his best to remind himself of his mantra.
"I can handle it. I can handle it. I can handle it."
He repeated the words over and over again. He just had to believe in them. Then everything would be fine.
But the sun was burning and he was getting weaker and weaker. He felt the sweat run down his face like water. He felt his throat drying up.
And eventually his body couldn't take it anymore.
Scotty collapsed and the world around him started to spin. He was feeling dizzy, about to throw up.
The last thing he saw were feet and a person kneeling down to him. A deep voice filled his ears.
"You shouldn't have tried to run, Mr. Scott. Now you'll pay the price."
Khan.
He had followed him. He had found him. But he wouldn't help him.
Scotty heard strange noises coming closer. It sounded like snarling. But his eyelids were too heavy to take a look at whatever was there.
"As the saying goes, the devil takes the hindmost."
He heard Khan's footsteps disappear into the distance.
And suddenly all hell broke loose. Something attacked Scotty. Teeth and claws buried themselves inside his flesh and the Scotsman couldn't help but scream.
'I'm sorry, Keenser.'
He should have known that the planet wasn't uninhabited. He should have known that something was waiting out in the desert.
His screams for help were drowned out by the noises of the creatures feasting on him.
Scotty's last thoughts were with his friend, who he had left behind.
He hadn't been able to handle it.
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ichayalovesyou · 2 years
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(Re)Discovering A Strange New Spock: “The Man Trap” (1x01)
Previous: Where No Man Has Gone Before
Next: Charlie “X”
A meta anthology where I re-examine TOS, especially Spock, in light of the new information Discovery & Strange New Worlds has revealed about him to us.
Onto the Analysis!
Spock & Uhura
Now this interaction is a lot more interesting now that we know how long Uhura & Spock have known each other, and the significant shift in Spock’s outward manner in that time. What previously may have come off as flirting or being bored takes on a lot more meaning.
The change in command from Pike to Kirk is still very recent. Uhura (most likely) does not know what will befall Chris, nor that it is indirectly because of Spock. Uhura is a people watcher, she probably noticed how close Chris and Spock were. She also knows that someone she likely considers a friend by now has grown cold, even despondent in his absence. Her conclusion is likely that he is lonely, and could use someone to talk to.
So her attempt to make small talk makes even more sense than her wandering over to the captain’s chair unprompted. She starts by getting the usual Spock fair of getting what she says taken literally, but then the news of a death occurs and that is where things get interesting.
She seems genuinely shocked at Spock’s utter lack of reaction to the news. Not necessarily in a “Vulcans don’t express emotion and I have a problem with that” way, but in a genuinely “that’s a little bleak/harsh even for you” way. It also is made obvious she’s noticed him warming up to Kirk. The fact that he seems undisturbed by the possibility he died, as compared to everything she’s seen from him before, is upsetting.
Then HE responds with “my demonstration of concern will not change what has happened” which is painful considering what he knows will happen to Pike. He completely ices her out with that defensive response, and she looks confused and angry, dare I say hurt when she returns to her station. That reaction seems to telegraph “what happened to you?” reaction from her.
Spock’s First Impression of McCoy
We can safely bet that McCoy is a recent addition to the ship’s compliment on Jim’s request. Replacing Dr. Piper and/or taking over for Dr. M’Benga for yet to be disclosed reasons. Spock’s first impression of Bones is not a good one. Not even because of their antagonizing nature toward each other, but because McCoy’s fatal flaw (and defining virtue) is that his heart is too soft.
Jim is already friends with Bones, Jim is used to McCoy being a reliable officer and a good friend. Spock however doesn’t know him. What Spock sees is someone who lets his feelings, his sentimentality, for someone who he’d not only parted ways with but was dead before they ever met again, endanger the crew. Worse still, the friendship between Jim & Bones has endangered Jim.
What Spock sees from Bones is a confirmation. An affirmation that how he is coping with his losses is the correct way (spoiler: it’s not). He sees the consequences of McCoy’s emotional behavior as a fault of himself, not a fault of the salt vampire’s manipulation. Spock sees this purely as a weakness that greatly endangers Jim. He must argue with McCoy to save Jim’s life, to shake him enough to do what must be done.
He does not put himself in McCoy’s shoes. He does not consider how he might react if the vampire had taken Jim’s form, or Chapel’s, or Uhura’s, or even Pike’s. He doesn’t take into account McCoy’s hipprocratic oath, or that this is the first (and only) time Bones has had to kill anyone before. Empathy is the crucial, necessary aspect missing, the thing he now refuses to allow to his logic.
He is hurting over his own personal, emotional losses and does what he has an illogical habit of doing, only absorbing the information that reconfirms the most miserable of his beliefs. In this case that emotion is an inherent failing, especially within himself. It is no wonder that the two of them are so prickly toward one another.
Logic may have saved the day this time, but Spock has learned nothing (yet). Things only time, and new friendships, will teach him.
A Lingering Warmth for Kirk (Despite Despite Despite)
Even as he strives to hide it, and there isn’t a ton of screentime between the two of them this episode. The connection shines through in the third act. He puts himself in danger by pulling a “fuck around and find out” with the salt vampire. Jim’s urgent concern for him when he hears Spock’s been attacked. Spock’s desperation to save Jim from “Nancy”. Even if he’s getting better at hiding the fact that he cares from others, he cannot hide the truth from Jim.
Then, just as this burgeoning crucial flaw is being established, he expresses empathy for Kirk and ONLY for him. He sees that Kirk is looking perturbed and reflecting, and asks, in the gentlest way
“Something on your mind Captain?”
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abyssalzones · 1 year
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🍕🍀🎹 FOR ANYONE (everyone) IN EV YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT!!!!! id love to hear abt them all but do so only if youre in an infodumping mood don't force yerself <:)
Yasha you of all people should know that I am Always in an info-dumping mood. VERY LONG POST UNDER THE READ MORE
🍕 - What is their favorite food?
ROSE CUBBAGE: I'm fairly certain I've answered this before (feel free to dig through my OC tag to find a series of other asks that I went into depth with a little while ago) but I think Rose would love any type of food that is a sweet/savory combination. Foliaverds don't have strong "sweet" flavor receptors, being hyper-carnivorous, but the sugars you'd see in fruit do get across to their palette more or less. See this dialogue from the outline of a chapter:
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DOMINO: Domino is extremely picky about her food, something unusual for her species- who are usually content as filter-feeders, snacking on whatever bacteria and small animals (or even bits of dead animals- they aren't picky) make themselves at home in the caverns of Yxin, either colonizing the rocks or floating aimlessly through the densely-chemically-populated air- but she has an odd taste for salts. Odd, because that stuff is considered pretty acidic and foul to most moeboids. Keep an eye on her or else you'll lose track of your table salt.
VENUS: As with most Ikarians, Venus's diet consists mainly of insects. However, he normally has a very subdued appetite due to... multiple things. Their samefoods mostly consist of cold (or just not hot) things that don't have a very strong smell: frozen crickets, protein chips, dried fruit, and (expensively) tenjarian-tempered yogurt that's supposed to be digestible for every species, but most think it tastes... awful. Venus loves it, for some reason.
GILLS KVN: Herbal tea and pain pills. Well- that'd be the answer early on, anyway. He starts eating more regularly with time and feeling a little more comfortable actually getting out of his lab to visit the kitchen, and as per usual for his species, mostly favors raw seafood. He prefers animals with shells, though, since overly-mushy textures bother him immensely. As for his favorite favorite, I think he'd enjoy a bowl of south Kaaleran noodles (thin, dried parasitic eels native to Kaalera's coasts, cleaned and fermented with starch. Add steamed veggies, whatever eggs you have on hand, and plenty of spices), which is notoriously too hot for most species to handle.
SPARKPLUG: I elaborated on this a little before, similar to Rose, but I think Sparks is partial to sweets! Sweet for his species, anyway. He loves the kinds of tangy, metallic preserved pastries native to his home planet, recipes carried down and altered by his family for generations, across planets. I'm lazy so I'm just going to steal what I already wrote:
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Pie is a universal concept.
NORA ACTON: Peanut butter + banana + bacon sandwich. Simple, very filling. I like to think she only realized this after moving out and trying to figure out how to feed herself in her academy days.
🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?
Going to give you a catch-all answer for this to start with: the conceit of the comic, and subsequently most of the crew, was that it was originally a cast of Starbound OCs! That obviously has changed, but it's still in their roots. As for specifics...
-Rose was sort of her own thing, a position of leader and captain that needed to be filled- and she only really came into her own later in terms of development, inspired by characters like Alyx Vance or Ellen Ripley in particular- and my own personal experiences, actually. I think in a lot of ways Rose is closest to me.
-Venus's inspiration is weirdly difficult to pin. Taako from TAZ, maybe? A little bit of the Rito from when I played BOTW? He's kind of his own character, really.
-Gills, however, was definitely strongly inspired by Ford Pines. I feel like it's a little obvious sometimes. Then, a little later, characters like Spock, or Kim Kitsuragi.
-Sparkplug... draw your own conclusions based on the information above, particularly his dynamic with Gills. His arc, however, was also strongly influenced by my own ongoing struggles with chronic fatigue.
-Domino is inspired by a whole host of fictional characters, ranging from Lupin to Max from sam & max to Shiraishi from golden kamuy, but the most important part is that she was originally an OC created by my friend Addy, who I've known since the comic was in its baby stages. That part of who she is is extremely important to her core as a character.
-Nora is kind of like... a fusion of Sam Raimi era Peter Parker and inspector Zenigata from Lupin III. But british. and butch.
🎹 - Do they have any hobbies?
ROSE CUBBAGE: Worrying. Creating collages, actually, but those mostly consist of future plans and secret obsessive corkboards. She used to enjoy biking, and still has her bike from when she was an older teenager sitting around on the station, despite not using it much.
DOMINO: Stealing things to create "art" in her room. I think she'd love to branch out and create more multi-media type stuff, but she's mostly motivated by boredom.
VENUS: Between you and me, I think they write fanfic. Something he would no doubt label as extremely cringe and keep very close to his chest, but fun to kick back and knock out a couple hundred words on every once in a while. They mostly tinker with robotics, though that's less of a hobby and more the main thing he does around the station, so it can get a little boring. I think they could put effort into making video games if they really felt up to it, but they struggle with seeing the point in it. Creative passion projects are embarrassing, after all- from his perspective.
GILLS KVN: Aside from reading, I'm not so sure Gills has any hobbies to begin with. He spends most of his time working on projects in the lab, which while he might consider it fun, it's still ultimately work. I think he would really benefit from taking up something like terrariums or aquariums, maybe some casual gardening. That, and cooking- which is really another form of chemistry, if you think about it.
SPARKPLUG: Another damn workaholic. However, Sparks enjoys music as a hobby immensely, and is rarely far from a stringed instrument, such as his retractable banjo. When the joints in his hands get tired or locked up, I think he'd enjoy getting outside and doing a little nature-watching. Does that count as a hobby? It does now.
NORA ACTON: Nora is definitely the most visually artistic of the crew, something that she's never considered for a career but definitely enjoys as a hobby. She mostly does environmental art, studying things from nature and her surroundings- a fun practice for someone with such a photographic memory. Similarly, I think she loves using her camera, even if it's mostly something she picked up for work.
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hi, wheelchair anon! i think tumblr keeps eating my asks 👿 and i cannot for the life of me figure out why. anyway, trying again:
i understand who pike is and what his story is and all that. the reason why i said i think that joke could benefit from rethinking is because it implies that wheelchair users are inherently suffering (the "suffer in style" line especially). wheelchairs are liberating tools, and implying that using the sauna thing will let you "suffer" like pike makes it sound like you view pike as only suffering, and that those in a similar situation to him must also only be suffering. it echoes the assumption that all disabled people are miserable tragedies and all we do is suffer, even if that wasn't the intention
Thanks so much for writing back! :) I was glad to hear from you again. I am sorry that it took so long for me to write back, but I wanted to give this response the thought, respect and time that it deserved. I've been writing it over the past few days.
I completely understand your perspective and how a person may have come away with that interpretation; I want to take the time to wholeheartedly apologize to you and anyone else who came away feeling that as a product of anything I've posted.
Having heard your perspective, that is 100% a valid take without context and makes complete sense. I hate that I made you or anyone else feel that way, regardless of my intent/perspective. With that said, I hope you will be willing to hear and consider mine and where my idea of "suffering" re: Pike came from - and how it truly had nothing to do with his wheelchair use.
I want to make it clear that the "suffering" I was referring to regarding Pike was not that he was in a wheelchair, but the fact that his whole body was so horribly irradiated by the accident that he (canonically, he expresses this himself in the limited means that he has at his disposal) is suffering with no quality of life.
The machine he is encased in is not exclusively a wheelchair, but an entire life support system; it must carry out all of his bodily functions for him. It helps to physically keep his body together and from further deteriorating as it had begun to burn and melt due to exposure to excessive radiation (see the purple scarring along his face from radiation burns and know that they cover his whole body).
The chemical bonds that hold a person's DNA together break down from high radiation exposure and causes tissue and organs to come apart and/or mutate; this is incredibly painful to live with if you survive it. Firsthand accounts from individuals who have survived high levels of radiation or who have seen others die from radiation exposure corroborate the fact that survivors of extreme radiation exposure - however long they survive after exposure - tend to live very painful, agonizing lives as a product of those burns and mutations.
In canon, Spock has a rare obvious burst of empathy and emotion when he sees his former Captain in his irradiated form. He literally steals Pike to bring him to another planet to have another chance at life as the extreme radiation Pike was exposed to has left him absolutely suffering (Pike also confirms later in The Menagerie that even though he didn't want Spock to risk his job, he does want to go to the planet to alleviate his established suffering.) The burns/mutations that followed Pike's accident rendered him in constant physical suffering as well as a complete inability to express himself outside the binary (yes and no).
Pike isn't suffering because he is in a wheelchair, he is suffering because he is permanently, intensely irradiated: his body began to break down due to radiation, and the side effects of radiation burns and mutations are documented as excruciating.
TLDR: Pike is known to canonically suffer; not due to his mobility issues, but due to the fact that excessive exposure to radiation caused his body and organs to burn/melt to the point that a machine completely self regulates for him and holds what was left of him together. His body is a prison of pain as an after effect of radiation exposure, and the side effects of that was the "suffering" I referred to.
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I hope after reading that, you understand my perspective and accept this answer as genuine; that I am of the belief that Pike suffers as a character not because he is in a wheelchair, but because he is immensely irradiated and burned.
I work with trauma informed asylum seeking refugees, many of which have disabilities as a product of war, and students who are wheelchair users.
I guarantee you, my students are thriving and well; I am absolutely not of the belief that wheelchair users are collectively or inherently suffering.
In fact they are some of the most motivated, driven individuals I've worked with who inspire others to live life with their same gusto. I have seen what my students can and do achieve. They are thriving, and I hope you are, too. :)
Again I apologize for how that may have been interpreted. In no way do I feel that all individuals in wheelchairs are inherently suffering. Some of my happiest, most diligent and driven students who have spoken at national conferences or starred in some of our biggest musicals have also happened to be wheelchair users, and they inspire many of my other students and myself to be brave, to put ourselves out there to try new things, and to live life unapologetically.
Thank you for taking the time to write me and to bring my awareness to a perspective that I had not considered prior to posting. Even as an adult I am ever growing and learning from others how to improve upon myself and live as a better, socially conscious person. I just hope you know that what I have written here is genuine and where I was coming from. I appreciated the opportunity to have this discussion with you and to share our perspectives on this front. It is what Star Trek is all about!
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