kathleen_dailey

sef1029 mentioned in a comment that no one's doing much reccing these days, and I agree. So in the spirit of being the change I want to see, here are three good Star Trek works that I've read recently.

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"Doarlish Cashen" by respocked

Words: 1,348
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator chose not to use archive warnings
Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space 9
Tags: Elim Garak, Horror, Occupation of Bajor (Star Trek), Post-Canon, Fantasy and Fictional Setting Racism, Hallucinations, Dark

Author's summary: At Tain's old vacation house, Garak’s shed skin starts to talk to him.



Even if the title doesn't clue you in, and even if none of the tags denotes your usual favourite subgenre, I urge you to give this story your attention. The author's execution is outstanding, and the premise is original and creative. The story is, as I said in my comment to the author, chilling and tragic and a truly impressive character study.

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"If All You Old Men Were Hares on the Mountain, How Many Young Girls Would Take Guns and Go Huntin'?" by This_world_of_beautiful_monsters

Words: 1,065
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: Graphic depictions of violence
Fandom: Star Trek: The Original Series
Characters: James T. Kirk/Janice Rand, Janice Rand & Spock
Tags: AU, Canon divergence. (See work for additional tags)

Author's summary: She stands there for what feels like an eternity, the words looping in her head on repeat: the lower decks, the lower decks. From far away she hears her feet start to walk, watches her hand reach out to press the elevator button.

Or, a love song to the wickedest of wraths.



A dark and dramatic AU take on "The Enemy Within." The author's exploration of Rand's experience--and her reactions--is clear-eyed and powerful. A few typos, but nothing that interferes with the story or lessens its impact.

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"A Vulcan April" by Kyra

Words: 351
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Fandoms: Star Trek: The Original Series; Star Trek: The Original Series (Movies); Star Trek; The Waste Land--T.S. Eliot
Characters: James T. Kirk/Spock
Tags:

Author's summary:
Mister Tom Eliot, famous dead Terran,
would've loved Vulcan:
such tightly held feeling,
no springtime, no rain,
no April-bred lilacs



I'm no Eliot scholar, but to my ear and eye the author has captured essential aspects of Eliot's imagery and allusions in the context of Vulcan (and kolinahr). Clever, unusual, and moving.

Something for my Heated Rivalry peeps:

A tour of the Heated Rivalry cottage

Hollander’s now iconic line, 'I’m coming to the cottage,' lands differently here, because the place feels suspended between fiction and reality. ... Over the next several weeks, a few lucky fans will have a chance to live in Shane and Ilya’s hideaway. They’ve won a contest to stay for a deeply discounted rate of $248.10 a night (a nod to the hockey players’ jersey numbers), before the property hits the market in June.

The feature doesn't seem to be behind a paywall (yet). It has some lovely pictures of the place and the fans.

My downstairs neighbour and I loaded up our shopping-carts with clothing, household goods, and electronics for dropoff at this year's Community Environment Day at Allan Gardens. We had a picture-perfect sunny day for the outing, and the walk down Jarvis to Carlton was very pleasant. Unfortunately, both of us were pressed for time, so we didn't get to walk through the park, which looked utterly alluring--vast and green and dappled and tranquil. We've promised ourselves to go for a good long walk through the park and the conservatory as soon as weather and our schedules permit. I haven't been to the conservatory since before the pandemic, so this is something I'm really looking forward to.

The McLaughlin Planetarium, closed for years, is being demolished. "The planetarium ... was a gift to the Royal Ontario Museum from Canadian businessman and automobile industry pioneer R.S. McLaughlin. It featured a dome, which was 75 feet in diameter, where the sun, moon, planets, stars, comets, and other wonders of the universe were shown using hundreds of projectors."

This makes me sad. The planetarium has been closed for years, but I always hoped that somehow it would be restored and reopened.

100 percent AI, but fun to watch nevertheless. (For me, more fun than some parts of studio-produced Trek of recent years.)

Just when I'm about to give up on finding a non-run-of-the-mill, TOS-centric fic that engrosses, provokes thought, and assumes a reader's willingness to reflect and theorize along with the author, AO3 offers me this:

"The Proliferation Problem (or: David Marcus Built a Garden Tool)" by InForestPlace

Rating: General audiences
Warnings: No archive warnings apply
Fandoms: Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - Fandom, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock - Fandom
Characters: David Marcus, James T. Kirk, Khan Noonien Singh, Carol Marcus

Author's summary: David Marcus died believing Starfleet wanted to weaponize his work. He was right that it was beautiful. He was wrong about almost everything else. A structural analysis of what Genesis actually was, what Khan understood immediately, what Starfleet could not explain, and why Kirk's hand went against the glass.

The author's note calls this work "meta-fic," but except for a specific mention of "TWOK" it reads like a wholly in-universe post-mission analysis, prepared by, perhaps, a respected military historian or political-science scholar, and delivered--not in an academic journal but in person at some high-level meeting, because the piece is informal, personal, and reflective--to very senior Federation policy makers and Starfleet leadership.

And this author can write: the style, pacing, and structure of the story are all very skillfully handled.

The story captured my interest from the very first line. An impressive find.

The Real Jerk's co-founder dies at 69.

Ed Pottinger's death is very sad news. Until mobility issues intervened, spouse and I were regular customers at The Real Jerk ever since its very first incarnation (a storefront on the north side of Queen near Greenwood) back in the 1980s. We were so happy when the restaurant relocated to Queen and Broadview because it was closer to work and thus an easier destination for takeout for both staff and clients. I really hope the restaurant (now even closer to the old studio, at Carlaw and Gerrard) continues to flourish.

Subject line courtesy of my viewing partner, a diehard Letterkenny fan.

( No spoilers, just opinion )

Yesterday was just cascades of fat, wet, bloppy snow; ice pellets alternating with freezing rain; and dangerously slippery surfaces everywhere. Naturally I had to (1) keep an appointment with my family doctor (lest it take me months to get another one), and (2) accompany the spouse to a root-canal appointment (reason ditto). Total of four to-and-from cab rides, one across town to Bloor and Christie, one just a few blocks to Cumberland and Bay. Needless to say I tipped both drivers an immense amount, since they were the ones doing the dangerously heavy lifting during the storm. In theory we could have walked to the endodontist, but the sidewalks were so messy and treacherous that I don't think the spouse could have pushed the walker through it all. Thank you, Beck Taxi, for being reliable and timely and keeping us safe.

( Cut for medical and hospital stuff )

I've been postponing buying a new phone because I jusdonwanna, but after the hospital experience with an ancient phone that doesn't hold a charge for more than an eyeblink I'll have to take care of that chore PDQ. I didn't have my charger with me, of course, and although I was allowed to use the charging station at the nurses' desk, I had to (guiltily, reluctantly, shamefacedly) ask someone to take it there since they wouldn't let me go out of the room until they were satisfied that I wasn't going to infect anyone with anything. So there'll be no more procrastinating on the phone front.

Today, while the spouse was at his physio rehab class, I ventured over to Valu-Mart for provisions because the prediction is for more precip of one awful kind or another over the next couple of days. The sidewalks were mostly clear, but OMG the ankle-deep piles of slush and pools of water at Every. Single. Curb. I guess the sewers are so plugged up that no public or private organization is willing or able to clear them. Having to drag my fully loaded shopping cart back home through the mess was not fun. I can't imagine how mobility-device users navigate this shit. Thank goodness the spouse has access to Wheel-Trans for trips that can be planned far enough in advance.

While eating lunch I saw two extremely large raptors stalking the giant cloud of pigeons that routinely circle back and forth near the corner of Yonge and Charles. They were too far away to identify, but I'm guessing they were eventually successful in getting a meal, if only by virtue of the sheer size of the pigeon buffet.