1. It's no secret that Jim underplays his smarts. He likes to be underestimated, because when people underestimate you, they don't expect anything from you. It's... a lot easier, that way. Outsmarting people when they don't expect it is something he can do. Living up to other people's expectations - not so much.
(Now, living down to other people's expectations... he's an expert.)
2. It's politically incorrect to call it gypsy blood, but that's more or less what it is; Jim Kirk is not a man who feels comfortable with routine. He can stick to a project, sure, and the Academy is easy because the schedule changes for every semester, new people coming in, graduates leaving - infallibly, by the time he manages to remember his timetable, it's exam time and those courses are done with and he can move on.
He does want to leave San Francisco, sometimes. He's never stuck himself in a place this long since he was eighteen and the itch to take off, to buy a ticket to nowhere and just move, is hard to manage sometimes. So he doesn't own a car, carefully refrains from owning a motorbike, and tries to make the occasional off-world holiday during breaks be enough. He stays for the summer too, because he knows if he went off on a summer holiday trip, he wouldn't come back.
He'll have a starship, when this is done. Then he can run.
3. It's a pretty startling realization to have, eight months into the Enterprise's five year mission, but he suddenly doesn't want to run anymore. Of course, in a way, he already is on the run; but at the same time he's tied to the Enterprise - it's a place he can't leave.
The startling thing is that he doesn't want to, not even a little bit. It takes him embarrassingly long to figure out that it's because the Enterprise is the first place he's ever called home and meant it.
And bonus fact 4!
It took years for Jim to let himself actually be smart. It's one thing to underplay your intelligence to others, it's another thing entirely to not even admit it to yourself, and Jim went years being a dumb jock - not even pretending, because that was exactly what he wanted to believe about himself.
He sometimes wonders whether, if he'd let himself be smart sooner, his life would have been very different.
Mostly, he resents all the reading he has to catch up on.
Gimme a few days to think about Hardison, he's not as immediately in my head as Kirk is ;)
I think I loved 2 the very best, because that was so Jim during his Academy years, in spite of McCoy and Pike and everyone else he met and worked and formed relationships with at the Academy, I think Jim would still find himself, from time to time, walking across the Academy quad only to stop and hear the noise of some car or motorcycle driving off or the sound of a shuttle craft flying overhead and his very first thought be some expression of the desire for that to be him getting away from the Academy as fast as possible not even caring what the destination may be just that it's someplace else that's not here, only for Jim to shake himself, letting the moment pass and continuing on his way. I imagine he gets this look on his face during those moments which many would be hard pressed to identify (I think McCoy, after the first year at least, would be one of a handful of people who actually could read the look for what it was).
And I love the attachment he forms to the Enterprise, despite his more ingrained instincts about 'home' and 'place', the way that whatever past misgivings he may have had about StarFleet, and despite his only joining because of a double dog dare, and how it's become everything about his life, how becoming Captain of the Enterprise really has become everything he ever wanted out of life, just yes ♥
YAY BONUS FACT! And oh boy, it really is easier to live up the dumb stereotype and live down to others expectations for years, only to suddenly have to do a rush job on flipping everyone's previous perception of him because he can't afford to fuck around anymore. But really, if there ever was someone who could pull it off, it would definitely be James T. Kirk.
Also, I just have to say, it's always surprised me really, the number of people in fandom who think that Jim actually stayed in Iowa all those years, just because he was there at the bar in Riverside that night and because of his record (admittedly, two very strong facts that could be used as evidence that he did BUT- not only does it show a lack of imagination, it also shows imho how little people seem to know or understand who Jim Kirk was and certainly who he still is in this new verse). Sometimes I have a hard time believing he actually waited until he was 18 before getting the hell out of dodge, so really I'm thrilled to hear more people are of the same mind about Jim Kirk's highly possible transient lifestyle prior to signing on to Fleet.
1. It's no secret that Jim underplays his smarts. He likes to be underestimated, because when people underestimate you, they don't expect anything from you. It's... a lot easier, that way. Outsmarting people when they don't expect it is something he can do. Living up to other people's expectations - not so much.
(Now, living down to other people's expectations... he's an expert.)
2. It's politically incorrect to call it gypsy blood, but that's more or less what it is; Jim Kirk is not a man who feels comfortable with routine. He can stick to a project, sure, and the Academy is easy because the schedule changes for every semester, new people coming in, graduates leaving - infallibly, by the time he manages to remember his timetable, it's exam time and those courses are done with and he can move on.
He does want to leave San Francisco, sometimes. He's never stuck himself in a place this long since he was eighteen and the itch to take off, to buy a ticket to nowhere and just move, is hard to manage sometimes. So he doesn't own a car, carefully refrains from owning a motorbike, and tries to make the occasional off-world holiday during breaks be enough. He stays for the summer too, because he knows if he went off on a summer holiday trip, he wouldn't come back.
He'll have a starship, when this is done. Then he can run.
3. It's a pretty startling realization to have, eight months into the Enterprise's five year mission, but he suddenly doesn't want to run anymore. Of course, in a way, he already is on the run; but at the same time he's tied to the Enterprise - it's a place he can't leave.
The startling thing is that he doesn't want to, not even a little bit. It takes him embarrassingly long to figure out that it's because the Enterprise is the first place he's ever called home and meant it.
And bonus fact 4!
It took years for Jim to let himself actually be smart. It's one thing to underplay your intelligence to others, it's another thing entirely to not even admit it to yourself, and Jim went years being a dumb jock - not even pretending, because that was exactly what he wanted to believe about himself.
He sometimes wonders whether, if he'd let himself be smart sooner, his life would have been very different.
Mostly, he resents all the reading he has to catch up on.
Gimme a few days to think about Hardison, he's not as immediately in my head as Kirk is ;)
Reply
I think I loved 2 the very best, because that was so Jim during his Academy years, in spite of McCoy and Pike and everyone else he met and worked and formed relationships with at the Academy, I think Jim would still find himself, from time to time, walking across the Academy quad only to stop and hear the noise of some car or motorcycle driving off or the sound of a shuttle craft flying overhead and his very first thought be some expression of the desire for that to be him getting away from the Academy as fast as possible not even caring what the destination may be just that it's someplace else that's not here, only for Jim to shake himself, letting the moment pass and continuing on his way. I imagine he gets this look on his face during those moments which many would be hard pressed to identify (I think McCoy, after the first year at least, would be one of a handful of people who actually could read the look for what it was).
And I love the attachment he forms to the Enterprise, despite his more ingrained instincts about 'home' and 'place', the way that whatever past misgivings he may have had about StarFleet, and despite his only joining because of a double dog dare, and how it's become everything about his life, how becoming Captain of the Enterprise really has become everything he ever wanted out of life, just yes ♥
YAY BONUS FACT! And oh boy, it really is easier to live up the dumb stereotype and live down to others expectations for years, only to suddenly have to do a rush job on flipping everyone's previous perception of him because he can't afford to fuck around anymore. But really, if there ever was someone who could pull it off, it would definitely be James T. Kirk.
Also, I just have to say, it's always surprised me really, the number of people in fandom who think that Jim actually stayed in Iowa all those years, just because he was there at the bar in Riverside that night and because of his record (admittedly, two very strong facts that could be used as evidence that he did BUT- not only does it show a lack of imagination, it also shows imho how little people seem to know or understand who Jim Kirk was and certainly who he still is in this new verse). Sometimes I have a hard time believing he actually waited until he was 18 before getting the hell out of dodge, so really I'm thrilled to hear more people are of the same mind about Jim Kirk's highly possible transient lifestyle prior to signing on to Fleet.
Reply
Leave a comment