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trepkos.
I think I've mentioned before that growing up without TV reception, I really only saw shows when I was visiting Grandma or one of my cousins, and therefore my knowledge of Star Trek was largely based on the novels, and the very rare episode I caught while in town, or that someone had on VHS (mostly TNG, which was airing at the time).
I relied on the secondhand knowledge provided by the novels, which would refer back to canon events in an entirely muddled way that made it difficult to know what had happened. I was therefore delighted to discover that James Blish had written narrative versions of all the Original Series episodes.
"Great!" I thought, "Now I can get all the details straight, and understand the references in the novels."
I forget how I figured it out, maybe one of the novels contradicted the Blish versions, or maybe it was in one of the other reference books (we had, at one point, the nitpicker's guides and the encyclopedia). But I worked out that Blish was not only changing details, but sometimes changing the entire endings of episodes! Shock! Betrayal! Horror! Imagine the most outraged 9-10 year old you've ever seen!
(In retrospect, I'm wondering if Blish was writing them from memory? Or possibly shooting scripts? Does anyone know? Knowledge of this must exist.)
However, I was actually kind of disappointed when I finally saw "Amok Time," because I low-key liked some of Blish's made-up details? Well, not most of them, but there's a beat in the ending that I fully imprinted on, and that isn't in the original episode. And I know this is blasphemy, because the original ending is fully iconic, with Spock smiling and almost hugging Kirk before he remembers he's not supposed to have feelings. However, hear me out. I went and found the Blish version on Archive.org (they're all there, if you want to delight in corny 1970s renderings of 1960s camp), and it goes thusly:
I know it's not a masterpiece of literary genius,‡ but it does hit the niche trope of "emotionally more open character comes upon emotionally closed character secretly having a good cry, and that leads tobanging revelations of true feelings." Which I could read a hundred thousand versions of and never tire of wanting more, and I have indeed included in at least a couple of my own fic. I'm not sure if this is the first time I ran into it, but it might have been? If so, Thank you, Mr. Blish!
Anyway, hi. I'm actually doing reading for history. Of 12th-century nuns, not mid-20th-century pop culture.
* Definite article in the original?
† Nurse Does Not Have a Last Name!?
‡ Look. The thing about being nine is you don't notice when the prose is Not Very Good.
trepkos.I think I've mentioned before that growing up without TV reception, I really only saw shows when I was visiting Grandma or one of my cousins, and therefore my knowledge of Star Trek was largely based on the novels, and the very rare episode I caught while in town, or that someone had on VHS (mostly TNG, which was airing at the time).
I relied on the secondhand knowledge provided by the novels, which would refer back to canon events in an entirely muddled way that made it difficult to know what had happened. I was therefore delighted to discover that James Blish had written narrative versions of all the Original Series episodes.
"Great!" I thought, "Now I can get all the details straight, and understand the references in the novels."
I forget how I figured it out, maybe one of the novels contradicted the Blish versions, or maybe it was in one of the other reference books (we had, at one point, the nitpicker's guides and the encyclopedia). But I worked out that Blish was not only changing details, but sometimes changing the entire endings of episodes! Shock! Betrayal! Horror! Imagine the most outraged 9-10 year old you've ever seen!
(In retrospect, I'm wondering if Blish was writing them from memory? Or possibly shooting scripts? Does anyone know? Knowledge of this must exist.)
However, I was actually kind of disappointed when I finally saw "Amok Time," because I low-key liked some of Blish's made-up details? Well, not most of them, but there's a beat in the ending that I fully imprinted on, and that isn't in the original episode. And I know this is blasphemy, because the original ending is fully iconic, with Spock smiling and almost hugging Kirk before he remembers he's not supposed to have feelings. However, hear me out. I went and found the Blish version on Archive.org (they're all there, if you want to delight in corny 1970s renderings of 1960s camp), and it goes thusly:
[Kirk] came gradually back to consciousness in the Sickbay.* McCoy was bending over him. Nearby was Spock, his hands over his face. His shoulders were shaking.
Nurse Christine† came into his field of view, and turning Spock towards the Captain, gently pulled his hands away from his face. Kirk smiled weakly, and spoke in a faint but cheerful voice.
"Mr. Spock—I never thought I'd see the day..."
"Captain!" Spock stared down at him, absolutely dazed with astonishment.‡ Then, obviously realizing what his face and voice were revealing, he looked away.
I know it's not a masterpiece of literary genius,‡ but it does hit the niche trope of "emotionally more open character comes upon emotionally closed character secretly having a good cry, and that leads to
Anyway, hi. I'm actually doing reading for history. Of 12th-century nuns, not mid-20th-century pop culture.
* Definite article in the original?
† Nurse Does Not Have a Last Name!?
‡ Look. The thing about being nine is you don't notice when the prose is Not Very Good.
Since apparently we're never going to find out what happened, and I'm not mad about that! /s
Does anyone have a rec for Gatwa!Doctor/Rogue fixit fic? Like a long h/c one with travails and shit.
I'd take other Doctors, too, but mostly want more Gatwa.
Does anyone have a rec for Gatwa!Doctor/Rogue fixit fic? Like a long h/c one with travails and shit.
I'd take other Doctors, too, but mostly want more Gatwa.
So it turns out the reward for having submitted a research paper in a (more or less) timely fashion is having to turn around and work on the next paper. So I'm def not procrastinating from that! Look! There's a nun!
I had an open tab with the outlines for book reviews for like a month, then finally managed to overwrite the saved draft with something else. Which is no loss as it was just the titles and a preamble about how far behind I am. I hope that once school is out after the 22nd, I'll be able to catch up with the handful of books I read in the last six months!
Anyway! Fun meme fromregshoe:
My favourite book of all time is: Oh jeez. Prooooobably The Lord of the Rings? It's certainly the book that's meant the most to me, but I admit that I've listened to the BBC radio play from the 1980s more than I've read it in recent years. I keep thinking that I should reread, then not getting around to it.
My current favourite book (read or re-read in the last 3 months): Persuasion by Jane Austen, hands down.
The last book I bought was: Companions on the Road by Tanith Lee, which I haven't read yet.
The first book I bought with my own money: Too long ago to remember. Probably a used Star Trek novel?
The first book I received as a gift: My brother and I used to get a lot of those slim hardcover Eyewitness science books, so that seems likely. Or a used Star Trek novel.
The last book I received as a gift was: It's bad that I'm fully blanking on this. People don't give me many books, because I gave so many away last time I moved, and I may move again soon.
The last book I borrowed from the library: The Beginning Comes After the End by Rebecca Solnit.
The book physically closest to me right now: Pageboy by Elliot Page, which Nenya has been not reading for about six months now.
Do you read bookfic, and if so what is your favourite bookshop fic? I assume we're not counting fandoms with canonical bookstores, such as GO? In the case of AUs, I can't think of one (and don't seem to have one bookmarked), but I don't object to them in theory. I did want to write a Band of Brothers AU where Dick starts a queer bookstore post war. I do read fic about book fandoms though, and hope to look at my TBR tab once school's over.
Physical book or e-book: E-book. So portable!
Used or new: Used. The shops are more fun.
Fiction or non-fiction: Both.
Read at a coffee shop or at the park: Park!
Paperback or hardcover: Paperback, but only the mass market/pocket book style, not clunky trade paperbacks.
Romance or Crime: Romance! (but it can have crime in it, if it wants)
Stream of consciousness? Only by Laurence Sterne.
Poetry? Yes.
Memoirs? Yes.
Philosophy? Only theology.
Thrillers? No.
Chronicles? Like... travel books? The chronicles of Narnia? No to the former, yes to the latter.
Dialogue heavy? Usually not.
Code:
I had an open tab with the outlines for book reviews for like a month, then finally managed to overwrite the saved draft with something else. Which is no loss as it was just the titles and a preamble about how far behind I am. I hope that once school is out after the 22nd, I'll be able to catch up with the handful of books I read in the last six months!
Anyway! Fun meme from
regshoe:General Questions
This week I'm reading: Just finished The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar, and currently rereading The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older.My favourite book of all time is: Oh jeez. Prooooobably The Lord of the Rings? It's certainly the book that's meant the most to me, but I admit that I've listened to the BBC radio play from the 1980s more than I've read it in recent years. I keep thinking that I should reread, then not getting around to it.
My current favourite book (read or re-read in the last 3 months): Persuasion by Jane Austen, hands down.
The last book I bought was: Companions on the Road by Tanith Lee, which I haven't read yet.
The first book I bought with my own money: Too long ago to remember. Probably a used Star Trek novel?
The first book I received as a gift: My brother and I used to get a lot of those slim hardcover Eyewitness science books, so that seems likely. Or a used Star Trek novel.
The last book I received as a gift was: It's bad that I'm fully blanking on this. People don't give me many books, because I gave so many away last time I moved, and I may move again soon.
The last book I borrowed from the library: The Beginning Comes After the End by Rebecca Solnit.
The book physically closest to me right now: Pageboy by Elliot Page, which Nenya has been not reading for about six months now.
Do you read bookfic, and if so what is your favourite bookshop fic? I assume we're not counting fandoms with canonical bookstores, such as GO? In the case of AUs, I can't think of one (and don't seem to have one bookmarked), but I don't object to them in theory. I did want to write a Band of Brothers AU where Dick starts a queer bookstore post war. I do read fic about book fandoms though, and hope to look at my TBR tab once school's over.
This or That
(watch me be bad at binary choices)Physical book or e-book: E-book. So portable!
Used or new: Used. The shops are more fun.
Fiction or non-fiction: Both.
Read at a coffee shop or at the park: Park!
Paperback or hardcover: Paperback, but only the mass market/pocket book style, not clunky trade paperbacks.
Romance or Crime: Romance! (but it can have crime in it, if it wants)
Yes or No
(see above)Stream of consciousness? Only by Laurence Sterne.
Poetry? Yes.
Memoirs? Yes.
Philosophy? Only theology.
Thrillers? No.
Chronicles? Like... travel books? The chronicles of Narnia? No to the former, yes to the latter.
Dialogue heavy? Usually not.
Code:
Ten books new to me. Eight fantasy (of which three are rpgs), one science fiction, and one non-fiction. At least three are series.
Books Received, June 6 — June 12
Poll #34725 Books Received, June 6 — June 12
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 31
Which of these look interesting?
View Answers
When Life Gives You Corpses by Lene D. Buttner (March 2027)
10 (32.3%)
A Storm of Dragons and Sorcery by Jeaniene Frost (March 2027)
3 (9.7%)
Tribes in the Dark by Wil Hutton, Logan Rollins, et al with art by Ghislain Barbe and Juan Ochoa (June 2026)
4 (12.9%)
The Seventh Banisher by A. K. Larkwood (March 2027)
9 (29.0%)
Anji in Shadow by Evan Leikam (January 2027)
5 (16.1%)
The Playful Lem by Stanislaw Lem (July 2026)
17 (54.8%)
Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game, Gamemaster’s Guide by Dominic McDowall and Pádraig Murphy et al (June 2026)
2 (6.5%)
Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game, Player’s Guide by Dominic McDowall and Pádraig Murphy et al (June 2026)
2 (6.5%)
A Song of Sugar Sparrows by Seanan McGuire (January 2027)
15 (48.4%)
The Thinking Animal: What Other Minds Reveal About Our Own by Nichola Raihani (February 2027)
19 (61.3%)
Some other option (see comments)
1 (3.2%)
Cats!
21 (67.7%)
So, "the cure" is like my song of the summer at this point.
(everyone: are you okay? me: fine, why do you ask?)
I was tentatively hyped for the whole album. I'm not that familiar with Rodrigo's stuff, being almost twice her age and more into folk than pop, but the two singles seemed promising. I will say the whole album is a lot more like "drop dead" of the two, which I didn't like as much as "the cure." After two listens through, I have a couple songs that I like, but no new ones that I love, and it's all a bit samey? I'll give it another listen, but you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love (great title!) is not blowing me away. Again, it's also not for me, so I hope her fans enjoy it.
Here's a great live version of "the cure," with a string section.
(everyone: are you okay? me: fine, why do you ask?)
I was tentatively hyped for the whole album. I'm not that familiar with Rodrigo's stuff, being almost twice her age and more into folk than pop, but the two singles seemed promising. I will say the whole album is a lot more like "drop dead" of the two, which I didn't like as much as "the cure." After two listens through, I have a couple songs that I like, but no new ones that I love, and it's all a bit samey? I'll give it another listen, but you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love (great title!) is not blowing me away. Again, it's also not for me, so I hope her fans enjoy it.
Here's a great live version of "the cure," with a string section.
Generic Asian Man Willis Wu dreams of becoming Kung Fu Guy. If he's not careful, he might become Dead Asian Guy instead.
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
Worldcon in Memoriam reports:
"Author Jane Yolen (b.1939) died on June 11. She wrote books and novels for all ages, including Briar Rose, How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?, and The Devil’s Arithmetic. Yolen won 2 Nebulas, a World Fantasy and was named Grand Master by SFPA, SFWA and World Fantasy. She served as SFWA President."
"Author Jane Yolen (b.1939) died on June 11. She wrote books and novels for all ages, including Briar Rose, How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?, and The Devil’s Arithmetic. Yolen won 2 Nebulas, a World Fantasy and was named Grand Master by SFPA, SFWA and World Fantasy. She served as SFWA President."
Surely, issues like traffic jams, speeding, and road rage can be solved through these creative strategies...
Safer Driving Through Science Fiction
I just deleted Pokemon Go because I found out it's being used specifically to train war drones.
Pokemon Go Scans Quietly Trained The Navigation Tech Now Headed Into Military Drones.
It makes me sick that a game I played for fun and to discover parks and landmarks and such has been used for something so fucking evil.
Pokemon Go Scans Quietly Trained The Navigation Tech Now Headed Into Military Drones.
It makes me sick that a game I played for fun and to discover parks and landmarks and such has been used for something so fucking evil.
Ada Palmer & Jo Walton converse about Science Fiction and Fantasy.
Trace Elements: Conversations on the Project of Science Fiction and Fantasy by Ada Palmer & Jo Walton
Jump-start your tabletop fantasy roleplaying campaign with the hundreds of pages of system-neutral tools and tables in this all-new Dungeononomicon Bundle from Raging Swan Press.
Bundle of Holding: Dungeononomicon
Two things stand between Kim Wooram and victory: rival contestants and institutional misogyny so entrenched women aren't allowed to compete at all. For the first, Wooram has exemplary skills. For the second, a cunning plan.
Project V by Park Seolyeon
Is anyone here already planning on being at this year's Worldcon?
Jun. 9th, 2026 12:27 pmjames_davis_nicollIf so, would anyone like to be me for the purposes of accepting the Hugo should I win?
Street Candles (Stardrifter, volume 2) by David Collins-Rivera
Jun. 9th, 2026 09:23 amjames_davis_nicoll
Ship's gunner Ejoq Dosantos waives prudence for one quick off-ship errand that proves neither quick, nor easy, and quite possibly not survivable.
Street Candles (Stardrifter, volume 2) by David Collins-Rivera
