Star Trek XI: "Earth-style Romantic Gestures" (Uhura/Gaila)

[jain]

Title: Earth-style Romantic Gestures
Author: Jain
Pairing: Uhura/Gaila
Rating: PG
Word count: 3179
Summary: This wasn't the first time Gaila had hit on her.
Author's notes: Written for katemonkey for femslash09.

Comments

[antihysteric]

I really enjoyed this! Great details - love the STI report and Uhura's dressing so carefully, the part about hatesex featuring people like Uhura exclusively in porn (heeee) and the food description (yum!) The part about Kirk thinking of Uhura's feelings and considering Uhura his friend regardless of whether the inverse is true - b'awwww. <3

[jain]

Thank you so much! I'll admit that I love the idea of Gaila viewing pornography critically, with an eye towards using it to deepen her understanding of other species, at the same time that she notes the differences between fantasy and social reality. I'm very glad you liked it.

[mayhap]

I really adore your characterization of Gaila! She's simultaneously someone who fits certain preexisting Earth sexual stereotypes which seem to have been in the minds of the original writers who created the Orions, genuinely peculiar and alien in her own right, and herself, a particular incarnation of her species and culture, with her own ideas and ways of going about them.

Her seduction of Uhura is so sweet and so fun, it's just delightful! They're such an adorable couple; they complement each other very nicely from the beginning!

[jain]

Thank you so much for the lovely comment! It was an interesting experience writing Gaila, since I didn't want to deny her particular brand of sexuality, but I also wanted her to be compatible with Uhura's considerably different attitude towards romantic relationships. It's really wonderful to hear that the end result worked for you.

[jain]

Thank you! I'm very glad you enjoyed it.

[monkiedude]

Gaila and her long game!!!! Oh, man, this is great. I love the way you conveyed how flattered Uhura is throughout the story. YAY.

[jain]

Thank you very much! I'm glad you enjoyed it. And I really liked the idea of Uhura knowing Gaila enough that she didn't simply chalk up her come-ons to being an Orion, since her species certainly informs how and why she hits on people, but doesn't make her indiscriminate.

[zvi_likes_tv]

Oh, that's adorable. I love how they're both easy with one another's social customs and ways of being, without compromising their own beliefs or being pushy. And I love the comfortable friendship underlying the whole story. Nice.

[jain]

Thank you so much! I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Initially, I was having trouble thinking of a way to pull a happy ending out of this (since there are too many sad lesbian stories out there already) given their disparate worldviews, but then I realized that a sexual relationship between them would just be an extension of the cultural negotiations they would've gotten used to as roommates. Not that that makes it easy, of course; there's a fine line between compromising your beliefs and just compromising, and I foresee the issue of sex with other people being something they'll need to resolve later in a way that requires both of them to give in a little. But I do think they're capable of finding that resolution.