Ramble!verse fic wherein Gaila is molting (Gaila POV, 2154 words, R, Gaila+McCoy)

[kayliemalinza]

I was supposed to be writing a Gaila/Winona shag-or-die, and ended up writing a prequel instead. It's ramble!verse's first proper Gaila fic! Yay. ^_^

Now with headers for cross-posting:

Title: Wherein Gaila is molting
Author: kayliemalinzaWord Count: 2,154

Comments

[possibly_thrice]

Gaila curses in her mother tongue, a staunch invective that Nyota once likened to a clay bowl breaking and then asked her to repeat.

This is lovely and characteristic of you; the two directions in the sentence, with the harsh comparison and then the curiosity. I like these recognizable bits of Uhura, viewed through the lens of Gaila; they make the rest in all its foreign gore glitter brighter.

There, attendants walked up and down the furrows aerating the ground with their nubbly soles. They sang while they walked, dropping notes as round and perfect as any seed. Her cocoon was made of fine silken leaves, not medical gauze, and held delicious treats between the layers: petals of her ancestors, pith from pungent fruit, the curled up tendrils of fresh-plucked legumes. Such little things, such great joy when Gaila clawed her way out with new skin.

Obviously this is beautiful in addition to being fucking fabulous science fiction, but I also wanted to comment on how great it is to think that Gaila is basically a sexy green vampire. 8D

[kayliemalinza]

This is lovely and characteristic of you; the two directions in the sentence, with the harsh comparison and then the curiosity. I like these recognizable bits of Uhura, viewed through the lens of Gaila; they make the rest in all its foreign gore glitter brighter.

Hmm! I... was not aware that I do that? (NB: I'm not doubting you, I'm just ignorant of my own methods sometimes.) Do you mean directions like instructions/command or like themes or motivations or sommat?

And yeah, recognizable bits-- that's half of the fun of writing different POVs, seeing how they view characters you already know from the inside. And now (hopefully) any of Gaila's dialogue in other POVs will be informed by this fic.

(I hope Bones was recognizable, too, though he is oddly 2D here, I think, but that may be a function of Gaila's selective obliviousness, idk.)

fucking fabulous science fiction\o/ thank youuuuuu. You will probably not be surprised, but I really like the "science" part of science fiction and I got all geeky with the botany shenanigans here

[yalegirl03]

Interesting. I really liked this different take on Gaila. This line really struck me:

"Give me time and a trellis and I could look like your wife, if you want."

[kayliemalinza]

Thanks! I'm really glad you like that line; it's one of my favorites, too. ^^

[what_alchemy]

This FIC - How does it own my life? It's so clear and stark and imaginative and original (is that redundant? I don't care because this fic is so amazing I can't help repeating myself). I love aliens that are REALLY alien, you know? And she's so alien while at the same time being completely sympathetic and relatable and strong even while she's vulnerable, and I love every glimpse into her past, every flash of alien culture, pretty much every single thing about this fic, and now I have to go away and rec this to my one fandom friend. Thank you so much! You've done a wonderful, wonderful job here.

[kayliemalinza]

Ahahaha oh, thank you so much for this comment! I'm so glad I managed to get across the things that I wanted to. And you're right about REALLY alien aliens--they're so much fun to play around with; so much potential. I'm happy you enjoyed this. Thanks for the rec!

[sholio]

Oh, this is absolutely gorgeous! It's such kickass science fiction, so very alien but still relatable and real. I adore this explanation for the Orion resemblance to humans (they're flowers, and that's what flowers do!) and how Gaila doesn't understand things about humans that seem obvious to us, or feel quite the same emotions that we do. And I like how you drop hints about her backstory and the chain of events that brought her to the Federation, but don't spell it out.

[kayliemalinza]

Thank you so much. ^_^ I got so excited when I stumbled upon the Gaila-as-a-flower theory--I appreciate the camp of Rubber Forehead Aliens, but it's just not as satisfying as doing something really weird and scientifically realistic. This comment was just great; I love seeing people grok what I was trying to put down.

[rhipowered]

This is so deliciously different and alien and brilliant, and I need to read it again to parse it entirely.

But wow. Lovely.

[kayliemalinza]

Thank you! It's so encouraging to hear that this prompts a re-reading. :)