we're all stories in the end

Children's Work
by such_heights
fandom: Star Trek: Discovery
characters: Michael & Spock
content notes: none
music: Dessa
summary: My little brother's nearly twice my age / he taught me how to meditate / I taught him how to read
download: 35MB .m4v / 313MB .mp4
notes: Made for audreyv for festivids! Many thanks to raven and happydork for betaing.

Also on AO3 and tumblr.

( lyrics and embed )

Learn to Let Go
by such_heights
fandom: Star Trek: Discovery
content notes: none
music: Kesha
summary: 'Choose redemption, your happy ending's up to you.' A Michael character study.
download: 195MB zipped .m4v
notes: notes: for colls in Festivids 2017. Spoilers up to 1x09. Also on AO3.

( embed and lyrics )

Taking a look back at all the prompts you gave me back in December - still lots of good ones I'd like to answer! And while I make no promises, do feel free to leave any other suggestions if you have them.

amaresu asked for most influential stories in your life, which is a lovely question.

I think that the worlds of Star Trek, Harry Potter and Doctor Who form a trio of stories that have mattered the most to me over the years. I was raised on Star Trek from birth, I read Philosopher's Stone at 7 and had to wait until I was 18 for Deathly Hallows to be released, and Doctor Who's return in 2005 instantly rekindled my love of sci fi and is a love that has lasted nearly a decade now.

Although they're three very different kinds of franchises with different philosophies and goals, I think there are a few common themes connecting them which say a lot about the things I tend to look for in fiction. Found family, heroism, good vs. evil, exploring strange new worlds, finding yourself, trying to work out what it means to be a good person. They're ultimately optimistic about the human condition, regularly with a sense of silliness and whimsy, and all provide instant happy places for me. <3

Stolen from chaila:

Pick 5 TV shows you like before reading the questions.

1. Doctor Who
2. Avatar: the Last Airbender
3. Avatar: Legend of Korra
4. Community
5. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

( questions! also major spoilers for Deep Space Nine for anyone who's watching for the first time at the moment )

There are a bunch of rewatches going on for shows I love just now!

donebykorra is rewatching Avatar: the Last Airbender, and is currently up to the mid-season S1 two-parter. (AKA WHEN THINGS GOT AWESOME.)

ds9_rewatch has been going for a couple of weeks now, the post's just gone up for 1x03.

Over at scchronicles_tv, a Sarah Connor Chronicles rewatch is being organised. There's a sign-up post here if you'd like to recap an episode.

I need to dig out my DVDs and get on this, for I love all three shows very, very much. The DS9 comm is the only one with spoiler policies in place, so I don't recommend the other two if you're new to the shows in question. Ah, plotty ensemble shows with complex characters and rewarding arcs and awesome ladies, you are my favourite.

Don't mistake a new face for a new soul.

( 'I guess you boys from temporal investigations are always on time!' )

Rec: Old Man by snow
Prompt: "the Trills' relationship with gender is ... complex." Written for LGBTfest.

Some vids I've been enjoying recently:

Starlight by buffyann [dance movies]
Dancing is all they want.

An older vid I've stumbled on, it's probably some of the best straight-up kinetic editing I've seen to date.

DLZ by bop_radar [Sarah Connor Chronicles]
We are the Resistance.

This is dense and smart and I love it a whole lot, just like the show.

When I Ruled The World by di_br [Doctor Who]
I really wanted to make a vid comparing and contrasting both Doctors, showing just how much he's changed and yet how much of him still stayed intact. This is Ten looking back on his time as the Ninth Doctor, realizing how much he's changed since then and wondering if it was all for the better.

I like vids that remind me that I kind of like that Tenth Doctor guy really. Also, Nine!

Steady As She Goes by jesuit24 [Star Trek TOS]
Look out for dramatic!Kirk, Spock keeping his pimping hand strong, Bones drinking as well as some hideous alien villains.

*hearts* Rewatch people, we've got some treats in store! :D

... on the dance floor by sloanesomething
NOT ENOUGH LADIES, TOO MANY MANS.

OMG. Hilarious, but also depressingly bang on. Too many misters, not enough sisters!

In honour of that last one, some Star Trek recs about chicks:

Oh Two Hundred by mekosuchinae [Uhura with a side of Spock/Uhura, teen]
"I'm working on it," she said, already thinking of how to explain transporter technology to someone who might not know what it was in a language she had thought dead not two hours ago.

[People with kinks for competency/languages/Uhura being awesome, you'll LOVE this.]

Whore by igrockspock [Gaila, teen]
Gaila hates the word 'whore.' Luckily, so does someone else.

A Brief History of Lt (j.g.) Gaila Aboard the USS Enterprise (NCC 1701) by taraljc [Gaila, ensemble, PG]
Her first month aboard Enterprise, Gaila is put on Gamma Shift in Engineering.

The First Time by bravecows [OFCs, G]
"It's hard to believe we're in the same Starfleet, yeah."

Meta: Dear Winona Kirk by latropita

Art: Apple by irrel, a fantastic illustration for rheanna27's Lunch and Other Obscenities that I recced the other day. She also drew Stars, which is little!Spock and little!Uhura and SO CUTE OMG. <333

I should definitely have been working, but instead I just saw my birthday in by writing a little more of the totally self-indulgent genderswapped Star Trek story I've got going - based, of course, on liviapenn's picspam of epic win.

While I'm here, an offering - Star Trek stories that have made me laugh, often loudly and in public places. *draws sparkly hearts around shiny new fandom*

99 Bowls of Plomeek Soup on the Wall by petra and jamjar [Sarek, Amanda, Spock, gen]
Sarek's vacation plans displease his family.

Cadet Kirk's Starfleet End-of-Year Report by dolorous_ett [gen]
Although Jim’s attendance and exam performance were of an acceptable standard, he does not seem to understand that safety rules are there for a reason, and that it is not possible to cause a ship to exceed its manufacturer’s expectations by personal charm alone. He is a nice young man, and I am sure will do well in future, but he has to learn that the laws of the physical universe cannot be bent to his whims.

Four Consequences of the Unexpected and Unlikely Friendship Between James T. Kirk and Nyota Uhura by trisfic [Spock/Uhura, some Kirk/McCoy, PG-13]
Boys. Girls. Clothes. Pon Farr.

The Fistbump is Non-Optional by mekosuchinae [Kirk, Spock, McCoy, gen]
This was why he was captain, and also awesome.

Powers of Observation by schweinsty [McCoy, ensemble, gen]
Jim *cuddled*. Like a goddamned puppy.

Okay, that last is admittedly less funny and more like the written equivalent of being wrapped in a big hug. It's great.

♥

This week's episode on the Star Trek Rewatch is ... *drumroll* 2x15 The Trouble With Tribbles. Thanks to everyone who's shown an interest so far!

FAQs, both hypothetical and actual

( how to find the episodes )
( scheduling and how to participate )
( Miscellany )

... and finally

Several people expressed interest in group chats etc, which sounds like a lot of fun but I don't know how compatible our time zones are. Something to work up to, perhaps? In the meantime, you can use this post to comment with a brief introduction if you'd like -- your history with Star Trek, other fandoms, the timezone you're in, anything that springs to mind.

*

See you on Friday!

I am full of cold and thus good for nothing apart from drinking liquid fruit (I'd say juice, but that would be doing Innocent smoothies a real disservice, mmm), and clicking idly through fandom. Here, let me throw links at you!

***

Up and coming series news (lots of mild spoilers of the casting/press release/actor interview variety):

Regarding the new series of Torchwood, we have new trailers up (via James Moran) on the BBC UK and US sites. There's also (via lefaym) an interview in the Gay Times with John Barrowman and Gareth David-Lloyd, complete with pictures for anyone who's into that sort of thing. *g*

( quick thoughts )

Regarding the new series of Doctor Who, (via half my flist) the new companion has been announced. ( quick thoughts )

And finally, regarding the new series of Merlin, the BBC has a press release with lots of casting news, and there are con reports flooding on. I feel that this post is particularly relevant to my interests (via heathershaped). ( v. quick thoughts, long section of post is long )

***

liviapenn wrote a really awesome meta post on Star Trek XI and Kirk, Spock, Bones & Uhura: the new OT4 that got me conceptualising dynamics in a whole new and fun way. My eyes are all heart-shaped at this fandom right now. I will probably put together a recs post of some of my absolute favourite Reboot stories in a week or two, but in the meantime you can find an ever-growing collection here on my delicious account.

Speaking of Star Trek. Your opinions, let me canvas them. It seems to me that lots and lots of us are getting very fannish about the new Trek without being familiar with TOS, or are familiar with TOS but have a desire to rewatch it. I have a vague notion of throwing up a post, say, once a week about a particular episode, and there can be picspam and summaries and parodies and fic and icons and discussions and recs, whatever people wanted. I'm leaning towards hosting it on my journal rather than creating a community, because I think that will make it easier for people to dip in and out as they wish. I'd also want to host it all on one journalling site, which makes sense for discussion, and that would probably be Dreamwidth (much longer comment limits, for one thing), and folks without Dreamwidth accounts could participate via OpenID -- though, if you're still after an account, there are invites all over the place right now, so I can definitely either give you one or source one out for you. Also, if people who didn't subscribe to me wanted to participate, they could do so by tracking my star trek rewatch tag, either on Dreamwidth or LJ.

If there's sufficient interest (to be honest, that can pretty much mean 'anyone apart from me') over the weekend, then I will announce the first episode on Monday, and throw up a discussion post next weekend.

( click for polling! )