Loves and stratagems

The Vulcan Academy Murders is fantastic because: 

- There is lots about bonds
- Kirk stays in Spock’s childhood bedroom (nothing said of where Spock sleeps)
- Twenty pages in they talk about a Vulcan and a human who have ‘become brothers’
- Kirk asks a human living on Vulcan if she’s dated any Vulcan men, while Spock asks his dad about marrying a human.
- There is a scene where Spock admits to Sarek that he was not attracted to T’Pring - seriously, it gets this close to being a ‘dad I’m gay’ moment.
- So much Sarek and Spock bonding
- So much Sarek and Amanda cuteness
- Kirk’s attempt at a romance reads a lot like him trying to distract himself from his planet-sized crush on Spock.
- McCoy is fricking awesome.
- McCoy showing his vulnerable side.
- M’Benga!!!!
- Constant mentions of how close Kirk and Spock are. 
- Lots of stuff about societal fears of human/Vulcan bonding but also about how it becomes accepted. 

In short, this book could be named Spock goes Home to Come Out to his Father and Kirk Tags Along to Ask for Dating Tips (and also there is a murder mystery).

hurt-spock:

spatscolombo:

There’s kind of a prevailing notion that Spock is a tougher cookie than the rest of the crew, because he’s physically stronger and always so composed and because of quirks of Vulcan biology (including healing trances) that occasionally save him from things a human wouldn’t have survived.

But it strikes me that outside of muscular strength, lucky breaks, and a refusal to admit it, he’s actually kind of delicate. It’s in a chronic, almost autoimmune way. Most of his “advanced healing abilities” have to do with being able to either ignore injuries or function despite them, not being able to avoid them. He’s the first Vulcan-Human hybrid to ever survive; he’s had to spend time in test tubes and incubators since literally before he was born. At least some of his medical concerns will always be unprecedented and unpredictable, even to the most experienced doctors. (Think about the fact that nobody knew he was going to experience pon farr until he did.)

He mentions several times in TOS that hyposprays and other medical procedures make him nauseous–actually that might be where a lot of his early animosity toward Bones comes from. He’s a vegetarian who regularly gets stranded in uncharted space; even much less ambitious travel is not generally kind to people with dietary restrictions. (Is copper deficiency a thing?) We rarely (if ever?) meet other Vulcans as thin as he is.

No matter where you fall in the controversial Vulcan Body Temperature Debate, he’s a person who grew up in one climate and environment who now has to live full-time in an extremely different one, one that’s been engineered to be “ideal” for a different species. And as a touch telepath he has an entire extra psycho-physical system that can be attacked or disrupted, one that nobody else on the Enterprise has to worry about–or can help him with.

I don’t really have a point here except the one I always have, which is that Spock is more delicate and vulnerable than he lets on.

I have nothing really to add to this wonderful post other than, yes, Spock is a delicate little thing who needs to be protected better, dammit! 

(via purringvulcan)