sybok is such a fascinating character to me.
imagine you grow up with your single mom and she tells you that, despite what others say, emotions are not inherently bad. they can be a source of pain, but also of immense strength. and she’s your mother, and she’s a very important woman in the community, so of course you trust her. but then she gets taken away for her beliefs — the same ones she instilled in you — because that way of thinking is dangerous. emotions led to the wars of your planet’s past and the splintering of your people.
so you’re sent to live with your father, and he’s important too. you learn what it means that he’s an “ambassador” and. hang on. his job is to deal with offworlders. humans. known for their emotional illogic. but your father says that their perspective and experiences are as valuable as your own. he believes in k'lalatar prkori k'lalatar prnak'lirli — infinite diversity in infinite combinations. but when you express the emotions your mother told you were not inherently bad, so long as you controlled your actions, you are ridiculed, and you feel shame for letting him down.
your father marries. technically, he was never properly married to your mother. through him you find yourself connecting with terran culture and language, and you learn that you are what is considered a bastard. you remember that when he chastises you for being too openly expressive.
your father does not marry a vulcan, but a human. he says that it is logical — what better way to come to understand humanity, after all? — but there are many suitable human ambassadors, and he marries a teacher. not that you complain, of course. your father is an adult and his mind will not be changed once he makes it up. you can see fallacies in his logic. but he is happy, even if he refuses to admit it.
your father and stepmother decide to have another child. in the third month, your stepmother miscarries, and she is heartbroken by it. you can tell that your father is, too — and he’s all the sharper when you try to offer comfort to him. your stepmother is receptive, though. she reminds you of your birth mother. (you sometimes struggle to remember what she looked like. you were very young when she was sent away.)
eventually, after years of research and effort and legal battles to grant permission to alter the genome of the fetus, your little brother is born. he cries when he’s removed from his growth chamber. so does your stepmother. he has pointed ears and copper-based blood, just like you. and he has emotions, just like you. it’s clear that he does when he pouts and stomps as a toddler. when he gets into fights at school. when he runs off into the mountains for days on end. when he undergoes the kahs’wan in the dead of night. he worries your stepmother. pains her, even. but it’s borne of a well of love so deep you have no way to fathom it yet. (if you look closely enough, you can see her emotions reflected in your father, unrelated to their mated bond.)
you excel in school. you are brilliant, strong-willed, and know how to construct an argument about damn near anything. anything can be a “logical” conclusion, depending on perspective, or the lens through which it is viewed. you consider becoming a philosopher, like your father’s forefather, surak. namesake of your house. savior of your people. progenitor of your way of life.
you leave vulcan, though not by choice. you are labeled v’tosh ka’tur. a vulcan without logic. you are banished from your home. you do not say goodbye to your father, but you do to your little brother. he is scared. afraid of being alone. but you have no choice. you leave him behind. you never expect to see him again.
but you do. he left your homeworld of his own volition. he told the vulcan science academy to go fuck themselves and enlisted in starfleet. he is no longer the scared and lonely boy you left behind. his bond with his crew is unbreakable, and you can’t help the pride welling in your chest. you don’t want to.
you give your life for his, and for those he loves.
prguitarman
theartofmadeline
dededos
annaxmalina
jacobvanloon
gummygunk
pixelskylines
kaledo-art
