space and starship families
I've seen Star Trek Beyond three times since it's come and and twice in the past week, and love it a little more each time. I'm awash in an ocean of feelings about starship families and the captain Jim Kirk has grown into. The 2009 movie has always been a favorite, a comfort movie of sorts, of delightful tropes and characters and a wealth of potential for this universe that holds them. I was entertained when I watched Into Darkness but now have no recollection of it: did it contain any coherency of the plot or consistency of character development? But Beyond brings me back to all the initial feelings of well-loved characters and relationships and their stories of adventures through space. The feelings I have for the starship Enterprise are practically tangible too, as much a part of that family as any of the crew.
And I love to see how Chris Pine has aged over the years as Kirk, because it correlates to the growth of Kirk as a captain. I love seeing the new lines in Kirk's face (and the new hair!) because time has passed in universe too, and he's three years into that five-year mission, no longer the brash cadet who gave Starfleet the finger while at the same time becoming its youngest ever captain. He's learning to be a good captain while remaining so fundamentally Jim Kirk -- a little reckless, still brash, but responsible now. Still afraid he's not good enough, but overcompensating less with swagger and bravado, learning instead to rely on his crew, their talents and their determination. And they've got his back; they don't fail him.
I also love the way the Kirk and Spock relationship has matured, evidenced in their few exchanges in the latest movie, and I love seeing the support and camaraderie of the entire crew working together, in whatever pairings. Infinite diversity in infinite combinations.
I've been going back to fandom classics and drowning myself in Star Trek AOS fic, and feelings, with all the action plots and romantic tropes I can get my hands on. I cannot fathom anything but Kirk/Spock despite adoring the many shades of their respective relationships with other characters. But after Beyond, I have a very particular version of Captain Kirk in my head. I know now how to recognize whether that's the one I'm reading and it can be jarring if it isn't (but sometimes I'll read it anyway).
I...have a lot of feelings about Kirk getting beat up, because he is really pretty when he is in pain, either physically and emotionally. Oh, that angst. But at the same time he's so unmistakably the best parts of being human: full of feelings, fear and joy, irrational and reckless, intuitive, tempered now with a little more sense of accountability, of taking care of more than himself, and wanting the best for others.
And, damn, but I absolutely find Chris Pine so much hotter as Kirk as he gets older (both actor and character). This is really, really doing it for me.
And I love to see how Chris Pine has aged over the years as Kirk, because it correlates to the growth of Kirk as a captain. I love seeing the new lines in Kirk's face (and the new hair!) because time has passed in universe too, and he's three years into that five-year mission, no longer the brash cadet who gave Starfleet the finger while at the same time becoming its youngest ever captain. He's learning to be a good captain while remaining so fundamentally Jim Kirk -- a little reckless, still brash, but responsible now. Still afraid he's not good enough, but overcompensating less with swagger and bravado, learning instead to rely on his crew, their talents and their determination. And they've got his back; they don't fail him.
I also love the way the Kirk and Spock relationship has matured, evidenced in their few exchanges in the latest movie, and I love seeing the support and camaraderie of the entire crew working together, in whatever pairings. Infinite diversity in infinite combinations.
I've been going back to fandom classics and drowning myself in Star Trek AOS fic, and feelings, with all the action plots and romantic tropes I can get my hands on. I cannot fathom anything but Kirk/Spock despite adoring the many shades of their respective relationships with other characters. But after Beyond, I have a very particular version of Captain Kirk in my head. I know now how to recognize whether that's the one I'm reading and it can be jarring if it isn't (but sometimes I'll read it anyway).
I...have a lot of feelings about Kirk getting beat up, because he is really pretty when he is in pain, either physically and emotionally. Oh, that angst. But at the same time he's so unmistakably the best parts of being human: full of feelings, fear and joy, irrational and reckless, intuitive, tempered now with a little more sense of accountability, of taking care of more than himself, and wanting the best for others.
And, damn, but I absolutely find Chris Pine so much hotter as Kirk as he gets older (both actor and character). This is really, really doing it for me.