So I had an idea for a Star Trek fic. Big whoop. I have about as many of those as I have dirty dishes on my desk. But this one is a bit unique, so I thought I'd share it with anyone willing to listen. First of all, it's only set in the Star Trek universe, featuring no characters established in other Trek works. Second of all, it's a very slice-of-life, fluffy type of story, no high adventure whatsoever. I know, blah, but it can't all be pew-pew space battles and exotic aliens. Let me give you a rundown of what I have figured out so far. It has a brief prologue, and/or series of flashbacks, taking place shortly after the foundation of the Coalition of Planets. Sebak, a gawky young staffer, and Liss Canaan, a snarky security guard, have a sweet little office romance. The thing is, they both work at the newly-constructed Vulcan embassy on Andoria. He's a Vulcan. She's an Andorian. People stare. Their relationship progresses regardless, they marry, and, with a little (read: a lot) of medical assistance, they have a child. They both agree that a half-Vulcan, half-Andorian child would have a ton of adversity growing up on either of their home planets, so they move to a more neutral territory: Earth. It's not perfect, but it's the closest thing. Fast forward fifteen years, to where their son, T'Pakra Canaan, is in high school. The bulk of the story focuses on how T'Pakra, known to his few friends as Tip, gets by in a world that, at the very least, looks at him funny. He also has to undergo regular treatments to help him live with his various genetic defects, and treat the complications from surgeries that tried to. I haven't come up with major plot events, but I'll post events, ideas, and additional characters and character details.
A Story Idea I had
- Thread starter Dashiell Mirai
- Start date
There is potential here--stories don't always have to be about Starfleet and starships. I'd say the biggest hurdle you're going to have is dealing with how Sebak squares falling in love with the Vulcan philosophy of suppressing emotions through logic. Making him v'tosh ka'tur is one possibility--that would also make him an outcast amongst Vulcans. Liss might well be disowned by her family as well, giving you a story about how two outcasts can make things work.
There is, indeed, something like that. Sebak has been ostracised from most of Vulcan society for most of his life. He studies other cultures, particularly Andorian, and is a lot more open to defying Vulcan societal rules. His family was not happy. As for Liss, her family is mostly of grizzled war veterans. They're at first very wary of Sebak, but become more OK with him after her dad shares a few drinks with and sufficiently terrifies the poor man. I do want to emphasise, though, that the focus of the story is on T'Pakra. I just tend to think stories through cause-to-effect, which is why his parents have more detail at the moment than him
You had me until Trip. Then I just imagined Tucker lecturing the little hybrid on the dangers of unprotected sex and Starfleet making its male cadets wear those fake pregnancy stomachs they used to force on teenage girls in schools.
Yeah. I did.
So, I've come up with several ideas for Tip's character. He's a high school freshman, on the lower rung of the social ladder. He has a moderately edgy sense of humour, spends a lot of time browsing subspace net feeds, and is very, very socially awkward. Essentially, if he were around today, he'd be the sort of person who enjoys dank memes and anime. Although there's a lot more to him than that. He gets good grades in school, and excels at civics, mostly because of his father's background in cultural studies. However, he struggles in math. He is also a music nerd, and often makes his own songs. He's a little high-strung, places far too much importance on his own grades, and, like many people his age, has rock-bottom self-esteem. This, and his awkwardness, are exacerbated by the fact that he's a half-Vulcan, half-Andorian living among Humans. I'm still coming up with the specific characters in his friend group, but let me know if you have any suggestions for them.
I'm a big fan of slice-of-life stories. When I read sci-fi or fantasy novels, I'm always way less interested in the Grand Scheme - Big Adventure moments, and far more interested in the small scenes that show 'real' people working through real problems.
I will look for it - thank you :-)
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