So...why am I not seeing more Spirk<=====>Jayvik comparisons on here?
I am nowhere near as knowledgeable as others on here, but I am going to take a crack at it and if someone else can go deeper tag me because I would love to read it.
Ok we got the reserved scientist (Spock and Viktor), who are low key outcasts due to the nature of their birth (Viktor was born sickly and a cripple and Spock is half human). They are both undeniably brilliant and gained entry into institutions that typically would not have allowed them entry (Viktor is from Zaun and Spock is the first Non-human (He is half human, half Vulcan with the appearance of being Vulcan) to be admitted into Star Fleet (Tapol was not a student of Star Fleet Academy but was their for its inception).
Then we have two charismatic, hard working, brilliant men who are smarter than people give them credit for and both have reputations for being himbos that is actually unearned lol. And both are amazing engineers (Kirk was specialized in engineering before going on the command track, someone correct me if I am wrong, like I stated earlier I am not an expert.) These two, while having other obligations, would like nothing more then to hang out with their science buddy. They would also go to extremes to save their science soulmate.
Like intergrate a dangerous magical item into their body to save their life. Or complete a coup to ensure that nothing and no one sends in the way of finding a cure.
Or going through hell and high water to find their science buddy soulmate after a near death (actual death) incident and bring them home. Or blow up the very ship they commanded together to ensure that nothing and no one would get in the way of him finding his friend.
And both were thoughtful enough to bring a blanket to cover their naked friends body.
Still not over the devastatingly vulnerable, tender expression on Jim's face before the "not in front of the Klingons" moment in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
Tell me they ain't catching feelings hard.
The way Jim is looking at Spock.
Oh my God.
He is so caught up and just plain lost in Spock in that moment. Husband energy.
That human has got it bad, bad, bad for that Vulcan.
VLD Retrospective: My POV as a Queer Biracial Asian Aspie
I don't generally enjoy listing my demographics in public spaces but for a Voltron Retrospective, I find it Quite Necessary to better convey how much VLD meant to me personally. This is one fan reconciling with a work I enjoyed for years, remain saddened for, and felt betrayed by. lf I'm good for anything, it's my being a Living Statistical Outlier.
VLD gave me explicit representation within its main cast: it gave me Shiro, who I clocked as chronically ill well before it was confirmed (Like Knows Like) & struggled with mental illness too (I'm not a war vet but Shiro's implicit Medical Trauma was Also There). Shiro is also, very obviously, an Asian &, as later revealed, a Queer Asian. There are few Queer Asians in western media who are Actual Characters: Shiro was (& remains) fun to have on board. It was, primarily, his struggles with his physical & mental health that most resonated with me.
Pidge is someone a lot of fans identified with, being a quirky genderbender maligned for her relative youth: I'm an autistic female who is gender "meh" so Pidge was "Representation" but she wasn't New nor Almost Unprecedented like Shiro or, as I'll elaborate further on, Keith. Every AFAB, every youth has felt undermined by their assumed gender & their youth: this is Not New. Pidge is fun but she wasn't Groundbreaking, not to me.
Keith and, to a lesser degree (as in assocoation with him), the "Half-Galra" Misfits were who I most identified with. Even before Keith was having Existential Crises over being Half-Galra, Keith read as someone biracial: his name, "Keith Kogane", makes him a white-passing Asian . I think current consensus is that Keith's Dad was "Mixed Asian*" but Keith's "orphan" (& secret alien) status prevented him from engaging with his heritage.
I am Not Galran (so far as I know) but I am a white-passing Asian & someone of "Two Worlds" (half white, half east asian). Star Trek's Spock established how most subsequent works of the sci-fi genre depicts half-human aliens: all the vibes of being Biracial, existential crises about Passing & feeling Disconnected ("rejected") by either/both halves of one's identity. Keith checks those boxes and Lotor's Halfsie Squad are similarly Coded (to lesser degrees).
Aliens, half-human ones especially, are very easily read as Neurodivergent as in "has ADHD &/or ASD": Keith continued this tradition & it further isolated him from his peers, especially because (like many of us on The Spectrum) he grew up "Undiagnosed". Keith knew he was Different but no one had the correct Context for his "Difference": this lead him to feeling Wrong, Rejected and Alien. This is an experience Familiar to anyone belatedly recognised as having ASD and also to Literally Any Queer Person.
To summarize the above: Shiro meant A Lot to me because he struggled with his health in silence (& was Asian); Keith meant a lot because his Human Demographics & Coding match almost entirely with my own. Shiro became "more" Important to me through his being Keith's Most Important Person (KH fans: you see where this is going): I was already Attached to Shiro, Keith made me invested in him.
KH fans knew from my invoking of "Taihetsu no Hito" [JP for "Most Important Person"] that, through being Invested in Keith & thus Shiro, I quickly Recognised that Keith? Desperately in love with Shiro. I did not, however, consider Shiro likely to Act on any Reciprocating of such feelings (which he did show signs of developing, as early on as that Stranded From Everyone Else and "when I die, you be Black Paladin" episode) due to the implied age gap between them. I knew Shiro was Younger Than Assumed (very early 20's at oldest, I figured from Contextual Clues), that Lance & Hunk were about 17 & that Keith was Older than Lance (so, 18). The age gap between Shiro & Keith was never that much of an issue: it was their difference in Rank & the ages they were at their First Meeting that were the "real" obstscles, to my mind. Season 6 or 7 did a Flashback that made Keith 14 when he first met Shiro: that very much explains why Shiro was reluctant to acknowledge attraction to Keith & unlikely to act on it. Keith did, however, read as Crushing On Shiro pretty much from their first encounter (Keith stealing Shiro's car was a very obvious effort to gain Shiro's attention & respect: something Keith was unlikely to recognise as Crush Evidence but Shiro definitely did).
And then Shiro lost 3 years to Time Dilation while Keith gained 2: their Reunion post-Space Whale was very telling. For the first time, Sheith actually seemed genuinely plausible to me. Keith had had a Glow Up that allowed Shiro to stop thinking of Keith as the kid he'd been when they first met & actually admit that his excuses to not act on any attraction had stopped holding weight. I remain completely convinced that "Kuron" had fallen, equally & just as desperately, in love with Keith over the series and that the Aggression Kuron exhibited toward Keith was as much caused by That (Gay Pining he refused to act on, even as Keith ran around in his Infamous Blades Uniform) as it was by Haggar (& Kuron's growing suspicions on his "true" nature).
Then there was the "You're my brother... I love you!" scene. Initially, given The Current Events of the time, I was irritated by the Abrupt Brother-Zoning from the Very Obviously Pining Keith to Shiro.
Then I noticed the order of these sentences: first, "you're my brother" (neither Shiro nor Keith have any siblings: in asia, there's MLM equivalent to "they were Roommates" in "they're sword/sworn brothers") and THEN, more desperately and while at the cusp of death... "I love you".
VERY ON BRAND, KEITH. It's also the "I love you" that gets through Kuron's programming enough for Keith to save them both. From my observations of VLD, the sole remaining obstacles to Sheith sailing were "will Shiro retain Kuron's memories and, if so, will he accept Kuron as being another Him" and "will the writers be able to get the execs to sign off on TWO queer paladins being queer with EACH OTHER"?
and then... the love confession was never addressed & Shiro stopped interacting with any of the Paladins beyond a professional setting.
By then, a lot of the show was looking Off and I actually looked at the online Voltron fandom to see if other people were Connecting Dots: some Meddling had happened, Shiro was being OOC as all heck, Allura and Keith seemed pretty miserable, Romelle was Sus as Heck, why was Allurance happening, where the heck is Lotor (etc)....
I was, like everyone else, greatly upset by Allura's needlessly being Killed Off and by Shiro's Stock Photo husband. I was also Not Impressed by the alleged "happiness" found by any of the Paladins: Shiro retiring his greatest dream, of flying and exploring the galaxy when he had just found out he Wasn't Going To Die from his Chronic Illness? Jim Kirk, another charismatic spaceship captain who loved to explore the universe, had a similar "retirement" ending for its Heroic Captain.
The first Star Trek film, set post-series, conveyed exactly how Shiro's "happy" ending played out for a character Shiro was almost certainly inspred by: Captain James "Jim" Tiberius Kirk.
Captain Kirk's "happy ending" was introduced in TMP as being: a promotion/retirement, marriage, & settling on Earth. Sound familiar, Shiro? TMP then shows how that "happy ending" plays out for someone like Jim (or Shiro): barely a handful of years later, Jim is miserable in his "retirement" (he was Promoted to a desk job); his Very Sudden marriage to a Previously Unknown Character is crumbling (& is even implied as being arranged by Starfleet's Brass to keep their Poster Boy on earth!); he clearly misses his Team (his Found Family) & at his first "valid" opportunity to get his Team together to fly into space again? That's exactly what Jim does.
Star Trek: TMP also, incidentally, features Jim living out some kind of Space Divorce Drama with his Right-Hand Man, the Half-Human Alien Spock. The two had apparently spent all those years apart and Spocks's "logical response" to [everything post-TOS] was... becoming a Vulcan Monk in order to Purge All His Emotions. (Krolia, please tell me that the Galra do not have an Equivalent to Vulcan's kolinahr & that, if it DOES, you Forbade Keith From Doing It).
Jim & Kirk saved each other, often very impossibly, in every other episode of TOS. They were also so widely shipped by fans that the "founding" of modern fandom cukture is often attributed to those first K/S shippers.
The easy Parallels between Spock/Kirk to Keith/Shiro were something that seemed to increase as VLD continued, likely as its creative team started recognising how naturally Keith & Shiro played out that epic space romance. The relationship between the Black Paladins was consistently emphasized within the series (until it abruptly Wasn't) and their bond was considered the strongest shared by any two paladins. A Sheith required very little effort from VLD's creative team and, given the Time Dilation plot point, that effort WAS made: Keith shows up Older & Blade-ier, Shiro Visibly Reacts and seems perfectly set up to Reevaluate his relationship with Keith, both of them visibly Adult and already established as "Equals".
Reading the research done by Team Purple Lion helped me understand the many degrees of unpleasantness caused by the Forced Removal of Lotor from VLD's endgame: the series' overall plot, key themes and multiple character arcs were contingent to the ugly consequences of Voltron's [murdering] him, the emotional effects Lotor had on Allura, the ways Lotor was integral to the show's themes of Redemption & Recovery & Love (of all forms). Just about every main character (and the imexplicable presence of several other characters) had their Arc underminded by Lotor's staying [murdered]: Lotor (obvs), Allura (VLD's Actual Main Character), Lance (who suddenly became Every Creepy "Nice" Guy), Pidge, Axca, Romelle, Merla, Yzor & her girlfriend, Honnerva...
I was invested in the plot, characters and themes of VLD: its ending wasn't just upsetting, it was contradictory to its own story. Though I am not invested in any VLD ships other than Sheith (for the way the characters are individually Important to me, the ways Shiro is important to Keith, the ways their relationship parallels K/S down to the syllables), the series had set certain ships up through its Themes and within its plot: Allura/Lotor, a reclamation of Allura's agency & a thematic resolution to the major conflicts of the series; Shiro/Keith, a love story the series spent 7 seasons telling; the tentative beginnings of Lance/Pidge, a Chekhov's Gun that would round their individual character development through better understanding each other; Hunk & Recognition of his Ingenuity, Bravery, Compassion (which would, incidentally, feature Hunk/Shay and Hunk's central role in the intergalactic Recovery proces). All of these ships serve a Purpose within VLD's plot, aid individual character development, reinforce the series' overarching themes, and have a solid basis within the text of VLD (as well as outside of it, in interviews and statements from the creative team).
I was able to "recover" from the betrayal of how VLD ended, largely through the detective work of fans like Team Purple Lion and reading many "fix-fic" wherein Allura Lives and Shiro is not OOC as all heck. VLD was one of many series, at the time, whose Betrayal of its themes & characters made Waves all over Fandom. It was, however, one of the Betrayals that hurt me more "personally". It was also a fantastic example of Creatives having horrid working conditions, Corporate Interests actively Hurting their consumers, of Fans being forced to Play Detective due to the modern Media Landscape: the culture of creatives being under strict NDAs, of their being without Unions, of how abruptly Projects can be undermined by the Whims of singular entities (creating additional work on an already overworked labour force, often in ways that betray their own work).
So, uh, surprise: this was a Retrospective inspired by the current Writers Strike & growing awareness (that we have known & ignored for years) of how unethical the working standards of animators are. There are Actual Americans and Actual Artists who can speak on these issues more specifically, as well as the best ways to help the affected: this was a more individual Take, from One Fan, and the ways that media has affected That Fan emotionally (though, being an Aspie, i'm pretty distanced from articulating any Specifics beyond "upset" because "this is narratively inconsistent"). The purpose of writing this was personal catharsis, a means of discovering how I feel about VLD all these years later, and perhaps as an act of microcosm within a greater fandom macrosm RE: engagement with media & correctly identifying how the faults of its business structure sabotage excellent works of fiction from staying "excellent" or becoming "magnificent".
*"Korean-Japanese" seems to ne the current consensus but as Sourced outside the text of the series. It is not his "exact amounts of Asian" that Keith is "relevant" to me but his being both Mixed & disconnected from his asian Heritage.
So the song “Maiden Wine” from the TOS episode Plato’s Stepchildren is gorgeous, but if we take a moment to consider the true meaning of it in the context of Kirk and Spock’s relationship, it takes on a heartbreaking significance.
Plato’s Stepchildren is about a group of psychokinetic beings who take over the bodies of the crew and dehumanize and humiliate them for their own amusement. The core message of the episode is the corrupting nature of power and the importance of autonomy, but that tends to get lost in the sheer weirdness of it all. (Seriously, it’s a strange episode.) However, what I find most compelling is Spock’s emotional journey throughout the episode, in which he is forced to confront his feelings and why he believes they must be controlled, especially in regards to Jim.
A major theme in TOS is Spock’s internal turmoil over his emotions and feelings of attachment to others. Having been raised in a society in which emotional expression is considered a shameful lack of control, Spock views his inability to regulate the intensity of his feelings as a personal failure. Which is why the Platonians’ treatment of him is especially cruel. They make him to sing and dance. They force him to laugh and cry. They make him dance around Kirk’s head, nearly injuring him in the process, as he is helpless to do anything to stop it.
And Spock is furious. But not because of the violations they committed against his own person. Rather, because of how they dared to use him as an instrument to harm Jim. Later in the episode, Spock is visibly withdrawn from the rest of the crew, silently boiling. The first thing he is concerned about is how Jim had suffered. (“I trust they did not injure you too much, Captain. The humiliation must have been most difficult for you to bear. I can understand… I might have seriously injured you, Captain, even killed you.”) He confesses that “they have evoked such great hatred in me [that] I cannot allow it to go further.” He is so deeply upset by their treatment of Jim that he literally breaks a goblet in his anger, telling himself “I must master it. I must control.” Damn.
At the end of the episode, the crew is once again exploited by the Platonians for their entertainment. And how do they choose to torment Spock? They degrade him by forcing him to sing “Maiden Wine.” And what does “Maiden Wine” mean? It’s a warning. It’s a song about the danger and pain of falling in love with a man who moves on from one relationship to the next. Sound familiar? As Spock sings, the crowd mocks him. He is made to bear his heart to the judgment of society as the feelings he had kept buried are forced to the surface. It’s excruciating. The crowd gets a sick enjoyment out of his vulnerability, jeering at him “careful Mr. Spock, too much love is dangerous! Cupid’s arrow kills Vulcans!” when he’s forced to kiss Chapel. It’s this very physical manifestation of Spock’s anguish over his emotions and desires. Again, sound familiar?
Perhaps Leonard Nimoy simply wrote it as a pretty song. But I remind you of the thoughtfulness and deliberation with which he crafted this character. This was a song that he made directly for Spock, and he rarely made acting and directing choices without reason. (It also wasn’t as if he was unwilling to deal with queer themes; he had the courage to produce and star in a gay movie in 1966.) In addition, the idea that these lyrics potentially relate to Kirk and Spock’s relationship is even likelier when you realize that Spock is singing to Jim. I didn’t notice this at first, because the editing does not make it obvious, but he literally faces Jim as he sings a song about the heartbreak of loving someone you cannot have with a look of utter devastation.
Even though he is being forced to sing those words, the episode makes it apparent that the facial expressions of those being controlled are genuine. His acting choices in combination with the lyrics make the most sense when viewed from this angle. Why else would he appear to be on the verge of tears if the song didn’t have a personal meaning to him? On top of that, it’s important to note Chapel and Uhura’s looks of devastated understanding. Wouldn’t their reaction make a lot more sense if there was an unspoken, deeper significance to the song that they were able to recognize?
So, I’ve been thinking about this line in the tos episode The Enemy Within:
SPOCK: Captain, no disrespect intended, but you must surely realise you can’t announce the full truth to the crew. You’re the Captain of this ship. You haven’t the right to be vulnerable in the eyes of the crew. You can’t afford the luxury of being anything less than perfect. If you do, they lose faith, and you lose command.
I italicized the important part, because this - this is why Spock/Kirk is so understated in the series (I mean their love is clearly there, but we never see a full extent of it).
I recently saw an older post with some fans wondering “How does Kirk send Spock to his death so easily throughout the series? Or seem so casual when he’s considered dead?” In fact, in Return to Tomorrow, Kirk does seem (on the surface) very calm about the fact that Spock is supposedly dead after that alien takes over his body. In the quote:
KIRK: Spock’s consciousness is gone. We must kill his body – the thing in it.
he comes to this conclusion rather decisively, quickly, and with no sorrow or obvious remorse. Hell, even the person I was watching the episode with turns to me and says, confusedly, “Maybe he didn’t care about Spock that much at all?”
But that’s just the thing. Every time Spock is in danger (when he was in Pon Farr, when he was flying that little ship to his assured death in The Immunity Syndrome, when Nomad the superprobe took over his brain), Kirk only shows a visceral reaction to it when he’s not witnessed by the majority of the crew. Because, as Spock himself says, he can’t be vulnerable in the eyes of the crew. In fact, I argue that the more Kirk tightens up and has a facade of not caring, that indicates that he’s feeling very deep emotions at the situation at hand. But he buttons it up, even more, because he can’t afford to be vulnerable.
When Nomad took over Spock’s brain? Kirk freaked out. Only because there were only two security guards witnessing the scene, and there was an empty hallway that Kirk and Spock where recovered their wits about them. Hell, Kirk had his hands on Spock for a full MINUTE:
and when Kirk is doing a Captain’s Log in The immunity Syndrome, and he calmly but sadly records Spock’s death and recommendations for him? You can barely see the emotions on his face, and he seems collected, but we all know that if the bridge crew wasn’t watching him closely, it would be a whole other story. This is an example of the more Kirk thinks he needs to hide, the more blank he seems to be.
Kirk can’t afford to be vulnerable in the eyes of the crew. And the thing that could make him look the most vulnerable? His love and devotion to Spock.
I rewatched Metamorphosis (TOS, S02E09) and I’m having a lot of feelings about this. Even if –to be honest–, the first time I watched it it left me quite indifferent.
But sometimes I happened to read people talk about it as a K/S parallel and I grew very curious about that. So, I watched it again! And let me tell you that it’s highly likely that there’s something to read between the lines…
And, I’m most probably going to write a longer meta about this sooner or later.
But for now can we just appreciate how Kirk and Spock are the only ones to try to describe what love is in that episode, and how the definitions they give seem to also define their behaviors with each other/what they think of each other?
Like… the fact that Spock doesn’t interract the same way with Kirk as he does with the others, and the way he speaks his name… The fact that Kirk considers Spock to be “the noblest part of himself”, and his soul as if it was his own, that he would do almost anything for him… ?
(It could’ve been accidental or not I’m not really sure even after having reflected upon it for a few days :/)
Aren't Prime Kirk and Spock's reactions to their Mirror Universe incarnations of each other hilarious?
LOOK AT JIM'S FACE.
He is such a shook lil' cinnamon roll: What the what now? Where's my Spock?! BEARD!!! Spoop intensifies
It's also hilarious what a monumental deal that Jim is making over Spock's beard. Immediately. Like why does that matter so hard to him?
A grand total of nobody but Jim is making such a fuss about it. Nobody else is out here popping off over First Officer Spock's facial hair like this except Jim. And it is both Jim's doing it.
Zero chill about Spock's facial hair in every universe confirmed. Apparently Spock's grooming being Jim's business is a universal constant.
Also precious: How quickly Jim Prime just gravitates to Spock, even a Mirror Spock, when he is feeling in over his head in the Mirror universe. He immediately sets about trying to work with Spock - any Spock - to find a solution, because that's just second nature to him.
Spock is his security blanket in any universe, it seems.
Jim Prime even takes it so far as to join Bones in insisting upon saving Mirror Spock's life at the risk of not getting home to their own universe:
Jim Prime believes in his heart of hearts that every Spock - - that every single Spock in every single universe has an ounce of good in them that is worth appealing to and saving.
It amazes me how unwavering his faith in Spock's character is. It actually pays off for Jim Prime to put his faith in Spock, wherever he ends up in any universe.
And then there is Spock Prime back at the ranch with Mirror Kirk, exhausted:
Mirror Kirk : Has the whole galaxy gone crazy? What kind of a uniform is this? Where's your beard? What's going on? Where's my personal guard?
Mr. Spock : I can answer none of your questions at this time.
Mirror Kirk : [chuckling in amusement] All right, Spock. Whatever your game is, I'll play it. You want credits? I'll give them to you. You'll be a rich man. A command of your own? I can swing that, too.
Mr. Spock : Apparently, some sort of transposition has taken place. I find it... extremely interesting.
Mirror Kirk : Spock. What is it that will buy you? Power?
Mr. Spock : [shaking it off] Fascinating.
Aww, Mirror Jim doesn't understand what real love is. He is out here thinking that he can buy or favour his way out of this with Spock Prime.
Meanwhile Spock Prime is like: Wow. I wonder what actually motivates Mirror Spock to help this guy; I just do what I do simply because I love my Jim.
How sad. How pitiful. :( Bet Mirror Kirk is amazing in bed though. SHHH!-What? We are all thinking it, including Spock Prime.
Especially Spock Prime.
Y'all know Mirror Kirk was a handful, and it's kind of tender and sweet that Spock Prime seems happy and relieved to have his own Jim back.
(Also the way Mirror Spock says to Kirk Prime: "I must have my Captain back." Like, no matter which Spock we are dealing with, it applies. Ugh. Ugh. Spock loves his Jim in any universe. Don't even care how broken he is, give him back. Just . . . UGH. Primo.)
Still, cinna- I mean Kirk Prime really resonated with Mirror Spock. So much so that he convinced Mirror Spock to help him and led him to question the entire Empire in the process.
Mirror Spock : The Empire shall be overthrown, of course.
Captain James T. Kirk : The illogic of waste, Mr. Spock. A waste of lives, potential, resources, time. I submit to you that your Empire is illogical because it cannot endure. I submit that you are illogical to be a willing part of it.
Jim Prime just swooped in out of nowhere and shook up Mirror Spock's entire foundation, identity and life.
So now Mirror Spock is out there like:
Dang, I need to get me a Cinnamon Roll™ edition Jim Kirk of my own.
(P.S.: Do you think that after Jim Prime disappeared into the Nexus that Spock Prime went wild going through every single crackhead possibility, outcome and avenue he could explore in his desperation to try to understand or uncover what happened to his Jim?
And he'd lie awake at night thinking over theories and possibilities and places to look and it just hits him one night like: Merciful Surak. Did Mirror Spock finally come over here and purloin my Cinnamon Roll™ edition Jim Kirk?
The Infinite Vulcan | TAS 01X07 | Spock Vulcan-Gushing at Kirk
AGMAR: No! Our dream must not be allowed to die!
(Stavos smashes the glass box)
KIRK: Murderer! You've killed Spock!
G SPOCK: To persist in this behaviour, Captain, is to negate the eloquence of your previous argument. May I suggest a more constructive way?
(The giant places a huge finger on Spock's head)
G SPOCK: My mind to your mind, my thoughts to your thoughts.
SULU: The Vulcan mind touch.
SPOCK: *Regains consciousness* I am pleasantly surprised at your capacity for deductive reasoning, Captain. When you are not being bellicose, there appears to be no end to your arsenal of formidable talents.
KIRK: Spock. Spock, you old --
Ok I barely see my mans Spock give a compliment beyond "you have served adequately" or "it was satisfactory".
Now he out here falling all over himself for Jim Kirk hittin' him with that "Well, when you ain't throwin' hands, your eloquence and brilliance is endless."
Or, you know, "there appears to be no end to your arsenal of formidable talents."
What?
Arsenal of formidable TALENTS?!
Did any other crewmember within hearing range just stop, look at each other, and go "are you f**king kidding me?"
Please God tell me Bones latches on to that and never lets it go.
You get your katra back in your body for five seconds and first order of business? Flirt with Jim Kirk. LOL
I ain't never heard someone get such a raving, blatantly flattering compliment like this outta Spock in my life besides Jim Kirk.
