teaser snippet: Leonard braids his baby's hair (215 words)

[kayliemalinza]

"Joanna's first visit to Starfleet Academy" won the poll!

(NB: Y'all remember that The Ex is black, right? Joanna's biracial. For those of you who haven't seen a lot of black/white biracial persons, their hair is pretty much a category all its own. There's a fairly wide range of what black/white biracial hair can look like (e.g. more black or

Comments

[possibly_thrice]

i might have accidentally cheated on that poll and I don't regret it at ALL

<3

[kayliemalinza]

How on earth did you manage to cheat?? And, ha, it did turn out rather well for you, didn't it? As I was posting the poll I realized that you'd already seen snippets from all the choices except this one.

[possibly_thrice]

Well see I was logged into some other account when I first saw this poll and voted and then later I saw it again all open and waiting and was like OH I MUST HAVE FORGOTTEN TO ACTUALLY MAKE MY CHOICE so I voted again. And. Well.

:'D

ANYWAY YES. Yes it did. It turned out wonderfully.

[kayliemalinza]

Ahaaaaaaaaaaa! I was suspicious about that one username I didn't recognize. >>

Considering that this snippet beat out Stoned!Pike by one vote, I think Re and leftarrow are allowed to beat you up now. >P

[janice_lester]

Awww, that is lovely. Hope you write more. :-)

[kayliemalinza]

Thanks. ^_^

[rubynye]

I am so envious of Joanna's hair (my curls are very tiny and form an afro that goes up rather than down). And AHAHA, I never expected this particular nostalgia out of a Star Trek fic:

Joanna kneels between his legs, resting her forearms on Bones' thighs as if they are the arms of her throne and his kneecaps are bulbs of polished wood beneath her palms.

BWEE.

[kayliemalinza]

Nostalgia for the throne or for the brushing? Actually, either way Joanna's characterization is so motivated by nostalgia (and envy) that it's not even funny. My hair isn't nearly as curly-- not even properly spiral-- but it's curly enough and I hated brushing my hair as a child, so there are many vivid memories of getting gunked up with detangler and assaulted by evil, eeeeeeevil combs. My momma was not nearly so gentle as Bones, so rather than settling myself in a throne, I kept jumping up to run away (I have since been vindicated, as my Husky Boomer does the exact same thing when my mom tries to brush him. SEE? I'M NOT TENDER-HEADED, YOU JUST SUCK

[captain_bookcat]

I REALLY LIKE THIS AND WISH I COULD LEAVE MORE SUBSTANTIAL FEEDBACK BUT I'M STILL IN KILLJOYS CAPSLOCK. I'M SO SORRY. :P

though you should know the primary reason i cut off all my hair is because of my own horror story memories involving detangler and brushes

[kayliemalinza]

I got a really short hair cut at some point in second grade which may have been related to detangling debacles, but all I remember is hating it afterward. :(

I also remember telling my dad, "It's the NEW STYLE not to brush your hair!" I don't think he bought it. :/

[kayliemalinza]

Oh, nice. Of course they framed it that there was something wrong with what you are rather than what they do. >[ And, idk, there's a lot of ways in which I'm not qualified to speak about this, but I'm thinking a good rule of thumb is that painful cosmetic procedures should not be forced on children? (I also have thoughts about the racial undertones of those standards of beauty but, again, not qualified.)

Still, as you said, the bright side is that no-one can ever make you do that again!

I'll have to check out CVS or Wal-mart or sommat to see if they're called 'bubbles' down here, too. And now, having seen this, I want to write a fairy tale where the princess has her hair done up in bubbles encrusted with diamonds. For formal occasions, she uses beads that chime like bells. :D

[rubynye]

There's actually an interesting cultural dialogue going on about those standards of beauty. But that's not why I came back to reply: I came back to delight in the mental image of the princess with faceted diamond bubbles in her hair. :)