Wednesday, May 21st, 2025 07:14 pm
I was swamped the entire writing and treating period for this round of ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
seasonsofdrabbles, and only barely managed the one fic I did write. Glad I finished something, though.
respects a triple drabble for Jaws. Brody/Hooper, post-canon, featuring a ghost.
Now to finally get back to my H/C Ex fic...
seasonsofdrabbles, and only barely managed the one fic I did write. Glad I finished something, though. respects a triple drabble for Jaws. Brody/Hooper, post-canon, featuring a ghost.
Now to finally get back to my H/C Ex fic...
Wednesday, May 21st, 2025 07:32 pm
Today was chilly and rainy - it was hard to get out of bed, were I was so cozy and warm. Part of me was like, is it May 21st or March 21st? I like it being cooler at night, but I'm so tired of all the rain.
I was supposed to go into the office yesterday, but my meeting got moved to tomorrow on Zoom, so I didn't have to go in. Luckily, my boss understands that I'm much more productive at home, and doesn't demand my presence more than once a month or so (if that). It's just been stupidly busy with the search committee stuff, though she and I are getting ourselves through it by clinging to the idea that once the search firm is on board, there will be significantly less of that work on our plates. *fingers crossed*
Meanwhile, I read another book:
What I've just finished: Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead by Elle Cosimano, the second book in the series. I enjoyed it, but I couldn't think too hard about any of it - just keep it light and breezy - because otherwise it's very hard to believe some of the things the characters choose to do.
What I'm reading now/next: Probably the next book in the series, Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun, since I don't want to lose momentum (okay, I did lose momentum between books 1 and 2 - I had 2 open in a tab for weeks before I actually settled into reading it; sometimes all I want is Batfamily, which is still my main interest in fic-reading these days, for whatever reason).
*
I was supposed to go into the office yesterday, but my meeting got moved to tomorrow on Zoom, so I didn't have to go in. Luckily, my boss understands that I'm much more productive at home, and doesn't demand my presence more than once a month or so (if that). It's just been stupidly busy with the search committee stuff, though she and I are getting ourselves through it by clinging to the idea that once the search firm is on board, there will be significantly less of that work on our plates. *fingers crossed*
Meanwhile, I read another book:
What I've just finished: Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead by Elle Cosimano, the second book in the series. I enjoyed it, but I couldn't think too hard about any of it - just keep it light and breezy - because otherwise it's very hard to believe some of the things the characters choose to do.
What I'm reading now/next: Probably the next book in the series, Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun, since I don't want to lose momentum (okay, I did lose momentum between books 1 and 2 - I had 2 open in a tab for weeks before I actually settled into reading it; sometimes all I want is Batfamily, which is still my main interest in fic-reading these days, for whatever reason).
*
Wednesday, May 21st, 2025 07:58 am
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Wednesday, May 21st, 2025 01:58 am
Title: solitude, and me remembering again
Fandom: The Warm Hands of Ghosts
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Freddie Iven/Hans Winter.
Author's Note [1]: Also here @ AO3. I've been wanting to do a fic set from Hans' POV during his time hiding out in Pop and looking for Freddie since I read the book. I have a lot of Hans Winter thoughts! The title comes from the poem Freddie recites to Faland in Chapter 21. Obvious disclaimer that I don't own these characters; they belong to Katherine Arden. Word Count - 3,185
(Hans had died with Iven and been resurrected with Iven. Whoever he had been before – however well he had buried this part of himself – it had come into the light with Iven.)
P.S. I can't believe that I, too, have now fallen for a story about WWI soldiers and keep writing fic about them that requires I do WWI research. This is just so...embarrassing. Like, if you're in fandom long enough, you will end up in the circus you never thought you'd join.
Fandom: The Warm Hands of Ghosts
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Freddie Iven/Hans Winter.
Author's Note [1]: Also here @ AO3. I've been wanting to do a fic set from Hans' POV during his time hiding out in Pop and looking for Freddie since I read the book. I have a lot of Hans Winter thoughts! The title comes from the poem Freddie recites to Faland in Chapter 21. Obvious disclaimer that I don't own these characters; they belong to Katherine Arden. Word Count - 3,185
(Hans had died with Iven and been resurrected with Iven. Whoever he had been before – however well he had buried this part of himself – it had come into the light with Iven.)
P.S. I can't believe that I, too, have now fallen for a story about WWI soldiers and keep writing fic about them that requires I do WWI research. This is just so...embarrassing. Like, if you're in fandom long enough, you will end up in the circus you never thought you'd join.
Tuesday, May 20th, 2025 08:48 pm
Doctor Mordrid (1992). A researcher for the NYPD discovers her neighbor (Jeffrey Combs) is a sorcerer whose nemesis has just arrived to destroy the Earth. The credits say this is "Based on an idea by Charles Band" which is a very funny way of saying "This was supposed to be a Doctor Strange adaptation but the rights expired during pre-production" (lol).
This is very short, a tight 74 minutes, and extremely cheesy. Nobody gets much development or depth. I saw someone describe this as feeling like the pilot to a 90s procedural, and yeah, that feels about right. The main appeal is of course Jeffrey Combs, who honestly feels fairly awkward in the role of hero main character. To be fair, none of the direction or anything else is doing him any favors.
All that said, this DOES have a stopmotion battle between a T-rex skeleton and a triceratops skeleton, and that's pretty great, honestly. I'd say that probably was worth the price of admission all by itself.
The villain looked vaguely familiar, and I looked him up and found the actor went on to play Luke in the Buffy pilot and then the Judge in S2. Neat.
--
The Passenger (2023). A shy, awkward fast food worker in his early 20s (Johnny Berchtold) gets kidnapped by his cowoker (Kyle Gallner), who vacillates between gunning people down with a shotgun and providing his own fucked-up version of therapy in hopes of teaching our main guy to stand up for himself.
I somehow had osmosed a very different premise for this movie; I was maybe conflating it with He Went That Way, or some other carjacking movie? Some kind of "violent sadist terrorizes innocent person" story, which is extremely not my jam. This, however, is weirder and more complicated than that, and overall I enjoyed it a lot, especially considering it clearly didn't cost much to make. The dynamic between the two guys is interesting (I can totally see why there's a few hundred fics on AO3), and there are some genuinely very nice shots. I especially liked the opening sequence of driving through town just before dawn, and how the movie comes to a climax at nightfall. I also appreciate the movie's commitment to an extremely late 80s aesthetic for its fast food joint. Overall, a pleasant watch.
I do find it funny that I've seen Kyle Gallner in exactly two things (not counting his SPN appearance as a kid), both recently, both opening with him trying to kill people with a shotgun. He does have a real stereotypical redneck look about him, especially with the mustache.
--
Bring Her Back (2025). Directed by the Philippou brothers, who made Talk to Me, this is about a teenage kid and his younger, visually impaired stepsister who, after their dad dies, go to stay with a foster mother (Sally Hawkins, ie Elisa from The Shape of Water) and her extremely creepy other foster child.
This is in fact not out yet, but I got to see it at the Monday Mystery Movie showing last night. It also is not the sequel to Talk to Me (even though I swear the title is a line that appears in Talk to Me). There is a sequel to that movie greenlit, it's just not this movie. Just to clear all that up!
Anyway, I liked it a lot. The two main kids are great, and especially the kid playing the older brother puts in a great performance supported by some pretty nuanced writing as he tries to navigate this escalating situation that is so much worse and weirder than he realizes. Sally Hawkins is fantastic, and what's going on with her character is satisfyingly horrible, I feel, with some glints of pretty fun black humor. I also appreciated that the story arcs here don't map directly onto real life issues the way the demons in Talk to Me were basically a one-for-one swap with drug use. This story is too weird to allow that kind of straightforward interpretation.
The star of the show here has got to be the creepy other foster kid, Ollie, who starts out mute, staring, and occasionally banging on things, and then gets a lot weirder from there. The entire concept of his character is executed really well, just very effective and fresh with images that will stick with you. I love the angle this story takes on the trope.
FYI the foster mom's cat experiences some harm (although not super obviously, I missed it and someone had to tell me after), but as far as we know it survives the movie.
This is very short, a tight 74 minutes, and extremely cheesy. Nobody gets much development or depth. I saw someone describe this as feeling like the pilot to a 90s procedural, and yeah, that feels about right. The main appeal is of course Jeffrey Combs, who honestly feels fairly awkward in the role of hero main character. To be fair, none of the direction or anything else is doing him any favors.
All that said, this DOES have a stopmotion battle between a T-rex skeleton and a triceratops skeleton, and that's pretty great, honestly. I'd say that probably was worth the price of admission all by itself.
The villain looked vaguely familiar, and I looked him up and found the actor went on to play Luke in the Buffy pilot and then the Judge in S2. Neat.
--
The Passenger (2023). A shy, awkward fast food worker in his early 20s (Johnny Berchtold) gets kidnapped by his cowoker (Kyle Gallner), who vacillates between gunning people down with a shotgun and providing his own fucked-up version of therapy in hopes of teaching our main guy to stand up for himself.
I somehow had osmosed a very different premise for this movie; I was maybe conflating it with He Went That Way, or some other carjacking movie? Some kind of "violent sadist terrorizes innocent person" story, which is extremely not my jam. This, however, is weirder and more complicated than that, and overall I enjoyed it a lot, especially considering it clearly didn't cost much to make. The dynamic between the two guys is interesting (I can totally see why there's a few hundred fics on AO3), and there are some genuinely very nice shots. I especially liked the opening sequence of driving through town just before dawn, and how the movie comes to a climax at nightfall. I also appreciate the movie's commitment to an extremely late 80s aesthetic for its fast food joint. Overall, a pleasant watch.
I do find it funny that I've seen Kyle Gallner in exactly two things (not counting his SPN appearance as a kid), both recently, both opening with him trying to kill people with a shotgun. He does have a real stereotypical redneck look about him, especially with the mustache.
--
Bring Her Back (2025). Directed by the Philippou brothers, who made Talk to Me, this is about a teenage kid and his younger, visually impaired stepsister who, after their dad dies, go to stay with a foster mother (Sally Hawkins, ie Elisa from The Shape of Water) and her extremely creepy other foster child.
This is in fact not out yet, but I got to see it at the Monday Mystery Movie showing last night. It also is not the sequel to Talk to Me (even though I swear the title is a line that appears in Talk to Me). There is a sequel to that movie greenlit, it's just not this movie. Just to clear all that up!
Anyway, I liked it a lot. The two main kids are great, and especially the kid playing the older brother puts in a great performance supported by some pretty nuanced writing as he tries to navigate this escalating situation that is so much worse and weirder than he realizes. Sally Hawkins is fantastic, and what's going on with her character is satisfyingly horrible, I feel, with some glints of pretty fun black humor. I also appreciated that the story arcs here don't map directly onto real life issues the way the demons in Talk to Me were basically a one-for-one swap with drug use. This story is too weird to allow that kind of straightforward interpretation.
The star of the show here has got to be the creepy other foster kid, Ollie, who starts out mute, staring, and occasionally banging on things, and then gets a lot weirder from there. The entire concept of his character is executed really well, just very effective and fresh with images that will stick with you. I love the angle this story takes on the trope.
FYI the foster mom's cat experiences some harm (although not super obviously, I missed it and someone had to tell me after), but as far as we know it survives the movie.
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Tuesday, May 20th, 2025 08:19 pm
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Wednesday, May 21st, 2025 05:07 am
Tuesday, May 20th, 2025 03:39 pm
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Monday, May 19th, 2025 02:29 pm
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Monday, May 19th, 2025 12:04 pm
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Tuesday, May 20th, 2025 01:04 am
Now for the normal post of thoughts about ST: TOS - S1!
This show has become such an unexpected joy, even while I'm moderating my expectations because - well - the '60s. As the season went on I was more and more intrigued with how the show was interested in playing with gender and gender expectations and - boy howdy - how those Trekkie zine ladies were on the money with Spock and Kirk. At the end of 1.16 'The Galileo Seven' when Spock is safely back on board the bridge, Kirk is fully draping himself by Spock as if he doesn't have a perfectly good command chair not three meters away. Okay, buddy.
I have especially been struck by how much fanon!Kirk diverges from canon!Kirk (at least in S1). Kirk is not a womanizer by any means, which...I would have lost money on that bet, I admit. I'm actually struck by how many times women throw themselves at him while he's either not interested (1.09 'Dagger of the Mind') or the so-called seduction is part of a larger plot (1.13 'The Conscience of the King'). I'm also struck by James Kirk, famine and genocide survivor, who was described as "grim" as an 18 year old cadet by his bully, a "stack of books" by his students, who is deeply focused on food and the responsibilities of command, is good at both chess and poker, and who refuses to become the monsters from his childhood.
I was not expecting James Tiberius Kirk to be a new fave, okay?! But here we are!
( A question. Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question. )
In descending order of favorite episodes this season (but all these are faves):
1.13 'The Conscience of the King' 1.14 'Balance of Terror' 1.29 'Operation: Annihilate!' 1.25 'The Devil in the Dark' 1.27 'The City on the Edge of Forever' 1.04 'The Naked Time'
And now, at last, I can proceed to S2 - and 2.01 'Amok Time' :D
This show has become such an unexpected joy, even while I'm moderating my expectations because - well - the '60s. As the season went on I was more and more intrigued with how the show was interested in playing with gender and gender expectations and - boy howdy - how those Trekkie zine ladies were on the money with Spock and Kirk. At the end of 1.16 'The Galileo Seven' when Spock is safely back on board the bridge, Kirk is fully draping himself by Spock as if he doesn't have a perfectly good command chair not three meters away. Okay, buddy.
I have especially been struck by how much fanon!Kirk diverges from canon!Kirk (at least in S1). Kirk is not a womanizer by any means, which...I would have lost money on that bet, I admit. I'm actually struck by how many times women throw themselves at him while he's either not interested (1.09 'Dagger of the Mind') or the so-called seduction is part of a larger plot (1.13 'The Conscience of the King'). I'm also struck by James Kirk, famine and genocide survivor, who was described as "grim" as an 18 year old cadet by his bully, a "stack of books" by his students, who is deeply focused on food and the responsibilities of command, is good at both chess and poker, and who refuses to become the monsters from his childhood.
I was not expecting James Tiberius Kirk to be a new fave, okay?! But here we are!
( A question. Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question. )
In descending order of favorite episodes this season (but all these are faves):
And now, at last, I can proceed to S2 - and 2.01 'Amok Time' :D
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Tuesday, May 20th, 2025 12:25 am
Having finished S1 of Star Trek: TOS, I wanted to jump straight into the Weird Thought, which is that the show - particularly in how it centers around KIrk and Spock - strongly reminds me of Xena: Warrior Princess (XWP) and how the latter similarly centered the show around Xena and Gabrielle. This is not to say that ST: TOS doesn't include or feature other main characters, especially Leonard McCoy, but you couldn't - wouldn't - have this show without Kirk and Spock at its center. Episodes largely pivot around how they counterbalance or balance each other and the show makes a point of, when they are not outright paired together in a plot, to have them touch base throughout the episode, be focused on each other throughout the episode, or at least end the episode together.
( At his side, as if you've always been there and always will. )
( At his side, as if you've always been there and always will. )
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Saturday, May 10th, 2025 09:28 pm
What a fantastic episode with which to end the first season of Star Trek! Not for Kirk, obviously, who has one of the worst days of his life, but it's great for us as the audience. This episode is also a really good illustration of "Who do I have to be?" in action from Kirk.
( I will accept neither of those alternatives, gentlemen. I cannot let this thing expand beyond this planet, nor do I intend to kill a million or more people to stop it. I want another answer. I'm putting you gentlemen on the hot seat with me. I want that third alternative. )
( I will accept neither of those alternatives, gentlemen. I cannot let this thing expand beyond this planet, nor do I intend to kill a million or more people to stop it. I want another answer. I'm putting you gentlemen on the hot seat with me. I want that third alternative. )
Saturday, May 10th, 2025 09:22 pm
1.28 ‘The City on the Edge of Forever’ is a pretty intricate plot for this season, with a lot of threads still packed into the 50-minute format. My favorite things include:
+ Edith Wheeler and her dreams of starships; she’s just like us
+ Edith’s (probably very famous line) about Spock belonging next to Kirk, and Kirk belonging somewhere else. This season - the very first! - is going very hard on Spock and Kirk as a matched set.
+ All the respect for Kirk shutting down the male heckler at the food kitchen and saying he wanted to hear what Edith has to say <333
Interestingly, Spock, Kirk, and McCoy all are returned to their future as soon as Edith dies again - so the guy who took McCoy’s phaser and seemingly phased himself out of existence must ~always have done so~. One can’t help but wonder how he might have played a role in history if those three hadn’t gone back, either.
Also: It’s the second time travel episode and we’re still in the first season!
original tags: #pour one out for a real one
( You see the same things that I do. We speak the same language. )
+ Edith Wheeler and her dreams of starships; she’s just like us
+ Edith’s (probably very famous line) about Spock belonging next to Kirk, and Kirk belonging somewhere else. This season - the very first! - is going very hard on Spock and Kirk as a matched set.
+ All the respect for Kirk shutting down the male heckler at the food kitchen and saying he wanted to hear what Edith has to say <333
Interestingly, Spock, Kirk, and McCoy all are returned to their future as soon as Edith dies again - so the guy who took McCoy’s phaser and seemingly phased himself out of existence must ~always have done so~. One can’t help but wonder how he might have played a role in history if those three hadn’t gone back, either.
Also: It’s the second time travel episode and we’re still in the first season!
original tags: #pour one out for a real one
( You see the same things that I do. We speak the same language. )
Saturday, May 10th, 2025 09:18 pm
Not my favorite episode - it was quite hard to watch, actually, especially with the weird-bad fight scenes, though I did find Kirk's conversation with the antimatter guy at the end interesting and worthwhile.
POST #1
I’m on 1.27 ‘The Alternative Factor’ and: Everyone in this episode is acting weird. It’s a weird plot, but also everyone is acting weird (especially Kirk and McCoy).
The cake goes to Spock pretending not to know why someone would be upset when he has made “the logical deduction” that they are a liar. Spock, it’s all fun and games until someone is possessed by their mortal enemy (or something).
POST #2
…if this possession/fighting your enemy inside you plot is a metaphor for mental illness of any kind: oh boy howdy, is that badly done!
lucy-moderatz replied to the Tumblr post: my dad calls that episode “the one where a guy fights himself.” 🤷🏻 it’s an odd one.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
elperian: accurate assessment!
+++
anghraine replied to the Tumblr post: I thought it was mediocre at best, J dislikes it even more, and the replay of the terrible effect … lol.
elperian replied: the terrible effect was terrible, although I liked the “antimatter” guy in the end, but still - it was pretty middling.
POST #1
I’m on 1.27 ‘The Alternative Factor’ and: Everyone in this episode is acting weird. It’s a weird plot, but also everyone is acting weird (especially Kirk and McCoy).
The cake goes to Spock pretending not to know why someone would be upset when he has made “the logical deduction” that they are a liar. Spock, it’s all fun and games until someone is possessed by their mortal enemy (or something).
POST #2
…if this possession/fighting your enemy inside you plot is a metaphor for mental illness of any kind: oh boy howdy, is that badly done!
lucy-moderatz replied to the Tumblr post: my dad calls that episode “the one where a guy fights himself.” 🤷🏻 it’s an odd one.
elperian: accurate assessment!+++
anghraine replied to the Tumblr post: I thought it was mediocre at best, J dislikes it even more, and the replay of the terrible effect … lol. elperian replied: the terrible effect was terrible, although I liked the “antimatter” guy in the end, but still - it was pretty middling.Tags:
Friday, May 9th, 2025 09:13 pm
I haven't talked about some of the racism in casting issues much yet, mostly because they seem very well acknowledged and then later addressed or corrected by later star trek. Khan is supposed to be an Indian man and is played by Ricardo Montalban, who does a good job in the role but is Mexican and well - reasonable people seem to recognize the problem with this.
But I was simply not prepared for the Klingons, oh my gosh. I knew there were casting issues but uh: This guy in 1x26 'Errand of Mercy' is in straight-up blackface D:
( cut for images )
But I was simply not prepared for the Klingons, oh my gosh. I knew there were casting issues but uh: This guy in 1x26 'Errand of Mercy' is in straight-up blackface D:
( cut for images )
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Thursday, May 8th, 2025 09:08 pm
1.25 ‘The Devil in the Dark’ is good for many reasons, but it also includes the first “I’m a doctor, not a _____” from McCoy :D
“I’m a doctor, not a bricklayer!”
I am here for Spock and Kirk being extra about each other’s safety in the tunnels though, and ultimately Kirk treating the Horta like a sentient creature instead of choosing to kill it the second time he meets it.
It is an absolute fave when scifi chooses to take an “Eugh that thing is a monster! How hideous alien and ugly it is!” and chooses to humanize it.
lucy-moderatz replied to the Tumblr post: the horta is my beloved. <3
anghraine replied to the Tumblr post: It’s one of the favorite episodes I mentioned was coming up! I love both Kirk realizing… oh this is an innocent person and the human miners were the devils in the dark and Spock was right, and him browbeating McCoy into treating her, and admittedly, also Spock throwing away his principles when he thinks Kirk is in danger (love the switch between them!). And the Horta herself, my beloved!
elperian replied: anghraine and lucy-moderatz I’m glad we all love the horta! <333
elperian replied: but yes, spock and kirk switching positions on the horta was A+++. spock very much wanted to save the horta out of principle but chose kirk without a second’s hesitation when he thought kirk was in danger, and kirk wanted to stop the damage being done and switched positions once he realized the damage wasn’t random violence but something else.
“I’m a doctor, not a bricklayer!”
I am here for Spock and Kirk being extra about each other’s safety in the tunnels though, and ultimately Kirk treating the Horta like a sentient creature instead of choosing to kill it the second time he meets it.
It is an absolute fave when scifi chooses to take an “Eugh that thing is a monster! How hideous alien and ugly it is!” and chooses to humanize it.
lucy-moderatz replied to the Tumblr post: the horta is my beloved. <3
anghraine replied to the Tumblr post: It’s one of the favorite episodes I mentioned was coming up! I love both Kirk realizing… oh this is an innocent person and the human miners were the devils in the dark and Spock was right, and him browbeating McCoy into treating her, and admittedly, also Spock throwing away his principles when he thinks Kirk is in danger (love the switch between them!). And the Horta herself, my beloved! elperian replied: anghraine and lucy-moderatz I’m glad we all love the horta! <333 elperian replied: but yes, spock and kirk switching positions on the horta was A+++. spock very much wanted to save the horta out of principle but chose kirk without a second’s hesitation when he thought kirk was in danger, and kirk wanted to stop the damage being done and switched positions once he realized the damage wasn’t random violence but something else.
Wednesday, May 7th, 2025 09:04 pm
Watching 1.24 ‘This Side of Paradise’ and seeing Spock get sprayed with flower spores and suddenly kiss a woman: Oh, it’s a metaphor for hetcomp.
anghraine replied to the Tumblr post with: Yes! She even says he won’t have a choice about it, which… blech. (Some people think Sudden Heterosexual Spore Cult Spock reveals his true self without inhibitions, and I’m like, no, Spock’s true self without inhibitions is crying about his mom, come on.
elperian replied: some of these people didn’t take ‘the naked time’ to heart and it shows! also, spock talking about his duty to the ship and to 'that man’…oof. I get why spock seems melancholy about how he had felt 'happy’ for the first time in his life, because the idea of like…just letting go of having to think through everything all the time and just relax could be *incredibly* freeing, but that’s not to say that it was his true self or who he wants to be. even the colony leader was melancholy about the time they lost not being able to do what they had hoped to do.
anghraine replied: Yup, a drugged spore haze that creates an artificial sense of belonging in the spore cult undoubtedly IS as close to happiness as he’s experienced, but that’s because his life sucks (which IS entirely consistent with “Spock without inhibitions is miserable and crying about continually hurting people who care about him, esp Amanda and Kirk” from “The Naked Time”) not because he secretly wants to be drugged and heterosexual. And yeahhhh tying “I am what I am”/“if there are self-made purgatories, then we all have to live in them” to “that man on the bridge” is UHHHHH. Okay. thisisfine.jpeg (1/2) And yeah, strikingly unlike “The Naked Time,” pretty much everyone here reacts to the spore haze in the same blandly contented, “yay belonging” way regardless of their original personalities or hang-ups (it’s not a great Kirk episode IMO, though I find his seething resentment of Leila and “of course the one I’ve got to break out is Spock, this is going to be painful on multiple levels” very funny, but his realization that he’s up against the same “paradise” with literally everyone is correct!), and individuality is primarily revealed in how they react afterwards: some are /shrug, some like Elias are regretful, some like Spock are shaken, some are angry. (And of course, there’s Leila wanting to go back to the spores with Spock because she knows he’d never actually consent for real…) (2/2)
elperian replied: the purgatories line! being with kirk but not actually being able to be with kirk as his captain? there’s a lot to unpack there. and yes, good note on how everyone acts roughly the same when drugged, except for mccoy’s georgia accent getting ramped up to 200% for some reason. it is interesting that kirk didn’t really need spock to initiate the irritating signal that broke everyone else out - but in the event it didn’t work, he’d already made sure spock was free and by his side. INTERESTING. (1/2) oh! oh! and saying this is the “true” spock seems to overlook the way he just…refuses to give her his whole name. “you couldn’t pronounce it” is a polite way of saying no, but when he’s not spored-up, he doesn’t share himself with her. (2/2)
anghraine replied to the Tumblr post with: Yes! She even says he won’t have a choice about it, which… blech. (Some people think Sudden Heterosexual Spore Cult Spock reveals his true self without inhibitions, and I’m like, no, Spock’s true self without inhibitions is crying about his mom, come on.elperian replied: some of these people didn’t take ‘the naked time’ to heart and it shows! also, spock talking about his duty to the ship and to 'that man’…oof. I get why spock seems melancholy about how he had felt 'happy’ for the first time in his life, because the idea of like…just letting go of having to think through everything all the time and just relax could be *incredibly* freeing, but that’s not to say that it was his true self or who he wants to be. even the colony leader was melancholy about the time they lost not being able to do what they had hoped to do.anghraine replied: Yup, a drugged spore haze that creates an artificial sense of belonging in the spore cult undoubtedly IS as close to happiness as he’s experienced, but that’s because his life sucks (which IS entirely consistent with “Spock without inhibitions is miserable and crying about continually hurting people who care about him, esp Amanda and Kirk” from “The Naked Time”) not because he secretly wants to be drugged and heterosexual. And yeahhhh tying “I am what I am”/“if there are self-made purgatories, then we all have to live in them” to “that man on the bridge” is UHHHHH. Okay. thisisfine.jpeg (1/2) And yeah, strikingly unlike “The Naked Time,” pretty much everyone here reacts to the spore haze in the same blandly contented, “yay belonging” way regardless of their original personalities or hang-ups (it’s not a great Kirk episode IMO, though I find his seething resentment of Leila and “of course the one I’ve got to break out is Spock, this is going to be painful on multiple levels” very funny, but his realization that he’s up against the same “paradise” with literally everyone is correct!), and individuality is primarily revealed in how they react afterwards: some are /shrug, some like Elias are regretful, some like Spock are shaken, some are angry. (And of course, there’s Leila wanting to go back to the spores with Spock because she knows he’d never actually consent for real…) (2/2)elperian replied: the purgatories line! being with kirk but not actually being able to be with kirk as his captain? there’s a lot to unpack there. and yes, good note on how everyone acts roughly the same when drugged, except for mccoy’s georgia accent getting ramped up to 200% for some reason. it is interesting that kirk didn’t really need spock to initiate the irritating signal that broke everyone else out - but in the event it didn’t work, he’d already made sure spock was free and by his side. INTERESTING. (1/2) oh! oh! and saying this is the “true” spock seems to overlook the way he just…refuses to give her his whole name. “you couldn’t pronounce it” is a polite way of saying no, but when he’s not spored-up, he doesn’t share himself with her. (2/2)Tags:
Wednesday, May 7th, 2025 08:54 pm
I watched 1.22 ‘Space Seed’ a couple days ago but was too tired to finish writing up my thoughts. This is the episode that introduces both Khan and the Eugenics Wars of the 1990s, and it’s interesting to see how much of the groundwork for later history is introduced here.
( You are an excellent tactician, Captain. You let your second in command attack while you sit and watch for weakness. )
( You are an excellent tactician, Captain. You let your second in command attack while you sit and watch for weakness. )