False Friends by Rubynye (Teen And Up Audiences)
Fandom: STAR TREK: REBOOT
Pairing: Gaila/Jim Kirk, Gaila/OCs
Length: 1417 words
Author on LJ: no lj listed on AO3
Author Website: archiveofourown.org/users/Rubynye/pseuds/Rubynye
Why this must be read:
This one was a surprise to me, since it's not only STR het, but a Jim/Gaila fic. Two things that usually don't interest me that much. I never really understood fandom's seeming obsession with her. The only real impression she left on me in the first Star Trek reboot movie was that she was hot, nice, and liked to have sex with Jim Kirk. That was all fine and good with me, but I never felt more than dead-neutral about her. Ever since the first JJ movie came out, I've seen various fics where authors try and shoehorn her into some kind of cardboard polyamorous, feminist archetype. It always annoyed me and made me scroll right past any summary that hinted as such. I'm all for equality and female empowerment, but I don't like feeling like I'm being lectured when I read fic.
Which is why "False Friends" is so great. Even if you're not particularly into het in this fandom, you might be into a unique and sincere portrait of a friendship that defies conventional boundaries. Here, Jim and Gaila are friends who occasionally like to have sex with each other. I say "friends who occasionally like to have sex with each other" rather than the harsh "fuck buddies", for a reason. The center of this fic revolves around a very sweet and considerate friendship between two people who don't always follow the usual definitions of friendship that other people do.
In this story, Gaila confides in Jim a troubling incident in which a casual, fully consensual threesome with a friend and that friend's boyfriend results in the "homewrecker" accusation being thrown around by that friend's roommate. Gaila wants to know the exact meaning of this term and if she has hurt anyone by her actions, as is implied by the namecaller. The way Jim responds to her questions is perceptive and kind and above all, helpful.
Rubynye gives us an intriguing glimpse into an alien culture without making it come across as a cheap podium for intrusive authorial beliefs.
False Friends
Pairing: Gaila/Jim Kirk, Gaila/OCs
Length: 1417 words
Author on LJ: no lj listed on AO3
Author Website: archiveofourown.org/users/Rubynye/pseuds/Rubynye
Why this must be read:
This one was a surprise to me, since it's not only STR het, but a Jim/Gaila fic. Two things that usually don't interest me that much. I never really understood fandom's seeming obsession with her. The only real impression she left on me in the first Star Trek reboot movie was that she was hot, nice, and liked to have sex with Jim Kirk. That was all fine and good with me, but I never felt more than dead-neutral about her. Ever since the first JJ movie came out, I've seen various fics where authors try and shoehorn her into some kind of cardboard polyamorous, feminist archetype. It always annoyed me and made me scroll right past any summary that hinted as such. I'm all for equality and female empowerment, but I don't like feeling like I'm being lectured when I read fic.
Which is why "False Friends" is so great. Even if you're not particularly into het in this fandom, you might be into a unique and sincere portrait of a friendship that defies conventional boundaries. Here, Jim and Gaila are friends who occasionally like to have sex with each other. I say "friends who occasionally like to have sex with each other" rather than the harsh "fuck buddies", for a reason. The center of this fic revolves around a very sweet and considerate friendship between two people who don't always follow the usual definitions of friendship that other people do.
In this story, Gaila confides in Jim a troubling incident in which a casual, fully consensual threesome with a friend and that friend's boyfriend results in the "homewrecker" accusation being thrown around by that friend's roommate. Gaila wants to know the exact meaning of this term and if she has hurt anyone by her actions, as is implied by the namecaller. The way Jim responds to her questions is perceptive and kind and above all, helpful.
Rubynye gives us an intriguing glimpse into an alien culture without making it come across as a cheap podium for intrusive authorial beliefs.
False Friends