Post by Judith Eastman on Feb 25, 2021 6:15:06 GMT
We have 5 POTM nominations this month.
Please vote by Friday, Feb. 26th, at 4 PM Pacific Time. If needed, we'll have a runoff.
{Submission #1, by Jovireh Velal, is in the Event}Here's what the nominator wrote:
I just loved how Jov handled Van Elske and put him in his place
Here's the post itself:
Jovireh didn't respond when he clarified that he had left a verbal message rather a physical note. She didn't care about his reasons, she wasn't going to point him Thea's direction. Now if he happened to spot the other woman on his own, she wouldn't stop him. Just maintain a watchful eye to intervene if necessary.
Soon enough, his attention changed, and he mentioned getting drinks. Jov was about to turn him down when she felt fingers enclose around her left wrist. Instinctively, she twisted free from his grasp, her right hand simultaneously reaching across to grab his, her thumb pressing against the back of his hand to press his fingers towards his forearm and bend his elbow down towards the ground. It wouldn't cause any damage, yet. But it would hurt and hopefully catch his attention. "Word of advice - Don't touch people you don't know." She told him firmly, then released his hand and nodded her head towards the crowd. "Now how about you run along and behave, while you're still allowed to perform tomorrow night." It wasn't a question, and if he was paying the slightest bit of attention to her expression or tone of voice, he would know that.
You can read the post in context here.
I just loved how Jov handled Van Elske and put him in his place
Here's the post itself:
[PO3 Jovireh Velal - Front Ear Promenade - Blue Beta]
Jovireh didn't respond when he clarified that he had left a verbal message rather a physical note. She didn't care about his reasons, she wasn't going to point him Thea's direction. Now if he happened to spot the other woman on his own, she wouldn't stop him. Just maintain a watchful eye to intervene if necessary.
Soon enough, his attention changed, and he mentioned getting drinks. Jov was about to turn him down when she felt fingers enclose around her left wrist. Instinctively, she twisted free from his grasp, her right hand simultaneously reaching across to grab his, her thumb pressing against the back of his hand to press his fingers towards his forearm and bend his elbow down towards the ground. It wouldn't cause any damage, yet. But it would hurt and hopefully catch his attention. "Word of advice - Don't touch people you don't know." She told him firmly, then released his hand and nodded her head towards the crowd. "Now how about you run along and behave, while you're still allowed to perform tomorrow night." It wasn't a question, and if he was paying the slightest bit of attention to her expression or tone of voice, he would know that.
You can read the post in context here.
{Submission #2, by Charlie Fox, is in the mission's Excursion to the Mountains sub-thread}Here's what the nominator wrote:
Here's the post itself:
Charlie stepped around and beyond everyone, ignoring Harmon and Arav, the latter of whom seemingly equally as disinterested in her. Olsen hovered behind her for a few moments, before she sent the drone to get some aerial shots of the impressive wall with the desolate background of desert sands, which seemed to move with a life of its own every time a breeze stirred the top layer of fine particles. She pulled protective eyewear from a pocket inside her jacket and fixed them over her eyes. The glass had a purple, mirrored tint, meaning that nobody would be able to see were her gaze rested. Just as she liked it.
"They call them krik-rav-tukk, tukk for short," she said of the unusual beasts of burden to the group at large. "The direct translation is 'roundy-two-legs'." The corners of her mouth pulled downward as she tried, and almost succeeded, in hiding her amusement. She'd learned a lot about this planet and the Kurjarians in particular during her preparation for this trip, but the language was probably her favourite part. It was direct, and it had a simple, obvious honesty without much by way of flourish. Charlie could dig that.
The presentation of the weapons and sidearms threatened to spoil her mood some. She studied what the Kurjarian tribesman was offering her, her eyes narrowed behind the purple shades. Eventually deciding that she'd require something to defend herself with, if for no other reason than not wanting to put her teammates in a position to have to do it for her, she picked up a small handgun. She checked it over once, shrugged, and tucked it into the waist of her combat pants. It pressed against the warm skin of her lower back, cooling her. She zipped up her jacket, pulled a scarf across her mouth and approached one of the tukks herself, behind O'Connell.
"Fair play," she said to the pilot who was first to brave the unusual, almost precarious looking animals. "I can't decide if they remind me more of dinosaurs, or a Pac-Man with legs." Charlie took the offer of a Kurjarian hand and flung her leg over. She tried not to squirm in an effort to find a comfortable position, not wanting to disturb her tukk.
You can read the post in context here.
It takes a lot of skill to use the name "Roundy Two-Legs" in a post and make it make sense. Hats off!
Here's the post itself:
[Charlie Fox - Dalab Mountains]
Charlie stepped around and beyond everyone, ignoring Harmon and Arav, the latter of whom seemingly equally as disinterested in her. Olsen hovered behind her for a few moments, before she sent the drone to get some aerial shots of the impressive wall with the desolate background of desert sands, which seemed to move with a life of its own every time a breeze stirred the top layer of fine particles. She pulled protective eyewear from a pocket inside her jacket and fixed them over her eyes. The glass had a purple, mirrored tint, meaning that nobody would be able to see were her gaze rested. Just as she liked it.
"They call them krik-rav-tukk, tukk for short," she said of the unusual beasts of burden to the group at large. "The direct translation is 'roundy-two-legs'." The corners of her mouth pulled downward as she tried, and almost succeeded, in hiding her amusement. She'd learned a lot about this planet and the Kurjarians in particular during her preparation for this trip, but the language was probably her favourite part. It was direct, and it had a simple, obvious honesty without much by way of flourish. Charlie could dig that.
The presentation of the weapons and sidearms threatened to spoil her mood some. She studied what the Kurjarian tribesman was offering her, her eyes narrowed behind the purple shades. Eventually deciding that she'd require something to defend herself with, if for no other reason than not wanting to put her teammates in a position to have to do it for her, she picked up a small handgun. She checked it over once, shrugged, and tucked it into the waist of her combat pants. It pressed against the warm skin of her lower back, cooling her. She zipped up her jacket, pulled a scarf across her mouth and approached one of the tukks herself, behind O'Connell.
"Fair play," she said to the pilot who was first to brave the unusual, almost precarious looking animals. "I can't decide if they remind me more of dinosaurs, or a Pac-Man with legs." Charlie took the offer of a Kurjarian hand and flung her leg over. She tried not to squirm in an effort to find a comfortable position, not wanting to disturb her tukk.
You can read the post in context here.
{Submission #3, by Shavan Th'zhaar, is in the mission's Walking Tour of the Capital sub-thread}Here's what the nominator wrote:
Here's the post itself:
T’Laara nodded to Ozu, and then to Hetav. “Greetings,” she said politely when Ozu introduced her. “I do not see what there is to forgive. The infestation of shrews aboard our station was hardly your fault.” Nor was she truly of the Academic caste, as she was not Caldonian, nor did she plan to take up residence there. It was, however, nice to be appreciated.
They continued walking, and one of the medical officers asked about seeing their medical laboratories, which prompted T’Laara to consider what the Caldonians thought of her own chosen field of study. What she had seen outside the city walls was primarily harsh desert, but every planet had varied biomes, and wherever there was life, there were some form of plants. She would be interested to learn more about what sort of life forms inhabited Caldonia, other than the ones she was already familiar with; the Caldonians, Kurjarans, and of course the shrews. There was also the dome itself, a fascinating feat of engineering.
“I would actually be interested to learn more about the nature on this planet. Perhaps the tour will also include a visit to a greenhouse, or other facility dedicated to life science?” She looked around at the buildings on Research Boulevard, more musing aloud than addressing anyone in particular, since most of the group were now once again engaged in debating the caste system. While she understood the impulse, she highly doubted that questioning it would have any impact.
You can read the post in context here.
When most characters tried to argue Yatin into submission about the castes, T'Laara (and a few others) took a different approach. We can only wonder if it might have worked.
Here's the post itself:
[T’Laara - Research Boulevard]
T’Laara nodded to Ozu, and then to Hetav. “Greetings,” she said politely when Ozu introduced her. “I do not see what there is to forgive. The infestation of shrews aboard our station was hardly your fault.” Nor was she truly of the Academic caste, as she was not Caldonian, nor did she plan to take up residence there. It was, however, nice to be appreciated.
They continued walking, and one of the medical officers asked about seeing their medical laboratories, which prompted T’Laara to consider what the Caldonians thought of her own chosen field of study. What she had seen outside the city walls was primarily harsh desert, but every planet had varied biomes, and wherever there was life, there were some form of plants. She would be interested to learn more about what sort of life forms inhabited Caldonia, other than the ones she was already familiar with; the Caldonians, Kurjarans, and of course the shrews. There was also the dome itself, a fascinating feat of engineering.
“I would actually be interested to learn more about the nature on this planet. Perhaps the tour will also include a visit to a greenhouse, or other facility dedicated to life science?” She looked around at the buildings on Research Boulevard, more musing aloud than addressing anyone in particular, since most of the group were now once again engaged in debating the caste system. While she understood the impulse, she highly doubted that questioning it would have any impact.
You can read the post in context here.
{Submission #4, by Kaya Som, is in the Down-Time thread In Which Kaya Finds What She's Not Looking For}Here's what the nominator wrote:
Here's the post itself:
It was as if Kaya Som had been planning it for weeks, as if she'd made up her mind and was following through after weighing her options, as if she knew where she was going. But it just happened. As soon as the Mac began to approach Frontier for docking, she packed a bag, changed out of her uniform and stuck her comm badge under the mattress. Once, aboard the station, she went to the arrivals and departures boards, found a spot on a merchant freighter taking passengers, [fn]An Alpha Centauri company that runs wine, spices, and other things like that.[/fn] and within a few hours she was gone.
It was a two-day journey to Cait. One more ship and another two days and she was on Qo'nos. Never a word to anyone.
[ Trill on the loose Kaya Som | a drinking hall, veng wa'DIch (First City, Qo'nos capitol city) | 10 days later. 2381.01.12 | 3 hours past sundown ]
In the coming week, Kaya dramatically over-estimated her ability to keep up with Klingons and spent as much time under a table as sitting at one. It was all about the oblivion, a clawing drive to forget, a spiteful swipe at the anger of betrayal. Starfleet had let her down, thrown her away, and made her feel like she was crazy for cracking. When she was lucid, she knew she was tanking her career, burning every bridge she'd built. She knew she'd be considered missing soon (if not already) and suspected court martial welcome home party would be waiting for her when they finally tracked her down. She hadn't contacted her friends or family and certainly no one in Starfleet. She was sick and tired and nothing mattered, hooray.
"Heghlu’meH QaQ jajvam,"[fn]'It is a good day to die,' roughly.[/fn] she'd shouted in slurred, accented Klingon and was roundly chastised. She was a small Trill who had endeared herself among sturdy Klingons as gregarious and amusing like a pet, yet it was still not her place to claim Klingon battle-cries as a party anthem.
"I'd rather go out laughing," she insisted. "Rather - rather - Starfleet can cozy up in a black hole!"
This proclamation earned her some esteem; her brand new friends banged on the table, clapped her on the back, nearly sending her off the bench.
Kaya had made no attempt to cover her tracks in her hasty exodus. Her name was on passenger manifests and in Qo'nos customs as well as on the guest registry at a nearby hostel. Maybe Starfleet would kick her out, maybe then she could do what Charlie had suggested and 'start her own thing'. [fn]Pieces of Me[/fn] Maybe she wouldn't have to worry about dying a disposable death every other shift.
"That's what I'm going do to," she declared without context, her inner dialog sliding into speaking aloud. "I'm going to get my own ship and I'm just going to go, right?. I'm just going to go! Tired of getting almost murdered."
"You lack a warrior's spirit! A warrior welcomes danger and fights to the bitter end!"
"That's exactly my point. Exactly my point. I didn't sign up for that. I'm not a warrior, S'kor. I'm not warrior, I'm Kaya. Yaya. Kaya'ggi [fn]'ggi' diminutive, little Kaya[/fn]. I'm a child of the stars…" she said wistfully as her head lolled down to the table again and her vision went wobbly and dark. There was that, but a festering shame of having utterly failed, and that felt impossible to face.
You can read the post in context here.
Space is hard. Dealing with the things that happen to you while you're serving can also be really hard. Kaya Som reminds us that in reality, it's a struggle, and we may not all be able to react to pain and trauma in ways that are expected of us.
Here's the post itself:
[ CPO Kaya Som | Frontier Station | The day the Mac arries back; 2381.01.07 ]
It was as if Kaya Som had been planning it for weeks, as if she'd made up her mind and was following through after weighing her options, as if she knew where she was going. But it just happened. As soon as the Mac began to approach Frontier for docking, she packed a bag, changed out of her uniform and stuck her comm badge under the mattress. Once, aboard the station, she went to the arrivals and departures boards, found a spot on a merchant freighter taking passengers, [fn]An Alpha Centauri company that runs wine, spices, and other things like that.[/fn] and within a few hours she was gone.
It was a two-day journey to Cait. One more ship and another two days and she was on Qo'nos. Never a word to anyone.
[ Trill on the loose Kaya Som | a drinking hall, veng wa'DIch (First City, Qo'nos capitol city) | 10 days later. 2381.01.12 | 3 hours past sundown ]
In the coming week, Kaya dramatically over-estimated her ability to keep up with Klingons and spent as much time under a table as sitting at one. It was all about the oblivion, a clawing drive to forget, a spiteful swipe at the anger of betrayal. Starfleet had let her down, thrown her away, and made her feel like she was crazy for cracking. When she was lucid, she knew she was tanking her career, burning every bridge she'd built. She knew she'd be considered missing soon (if not already) and suspected court martial welcome home party would be waiting for her when they finally tracked her down. She hadn't contacted her friends or family and certainly no one in Starfleet. She was sick and tired and nothing mattered, hooray.
"Heghlu’meH QaQ jajvam,"[fn]'It is a good day to die,' roughly.[/fn] she'd shouted in slurred, accented Klingon and was roundly chastised. She was a small Trill who had endeared herself among sturdy Klingons as gregarious and amusing like a pet, yet it was still not her place to claim Klingon battle-cries as a party anthem.
"I'd rather go out laughing," she insisted. "Rather - rather - Starfleet can cozy up in a black hole!"
This proclamation earned her some esteem; her brand new friends banged on the table, clapped her on the back, nearly sending her off the bench.
Kaya had made no attempt to cover her tracks in her hasty exodus. Her name was on passenger manifests and in Qo'nos customs as well as on the guest registry at a nearby hostel. Maybe Starfleet would kick her out, maybe then she could do what Charlie had suggested and 'start her own thing'. [fn]Pieces of Me[/fn] Maybe she wouldn't have to worry about dying a disposable death every other shift.
"That's what I'm going do to," she declared without context, her inner dialog sliding into speaking aloud. "I'm going to get my own ship and I'm just going to go, right?. I'm just going to go! Tired of getting almost murdered."
"You lack a warrior's spirit! A warrior welcomes danger and fights to the bitter end!"
"That's exactly my point. Exactly my point. I didn't sign up for that. I'm not a warrior, S'kor. I'm not warrior, I'm Kaya. Yaya. Kaya'ggi [fn]'ggi' diminutive, little Kaya[/fn]. I'm a child of the stars…" she said wistfully as her head lolled down to the table again and her vision went wobbly and dark. There was that, but a festering shame of having utterly failed, and that felt impossible to face.
You can read the post in context here.
{Submission #5, by Jovireh Velal, is in the Down-Time thread Back to Reality}Here's what the nominator wrote:
Here's the post itself:
The doors slid open to reveal Shavan, and the look on his face was enough to make her open her mouth to apologize and leave, but she stopped when his expression changed to a smile and he stepped aside to let her in. Well, that was what she got for not calling first. Jov didn't respond to his greeting, but stepped inside, waiting for the door to hiss closed behind her. The moment that it did, she reached out to grab his face and kissed him passionately.
After a few moments she broke her lips away from his, letting her hands drop to his shoulders as she released a shaky breath. "I'm sorry... I just had to make sure... I don't know." It suddenly sounded very stupid, and she took a step back, about to apologize for bothering him when she remembered the way his mood had lifted when he saw her.
So she stopped and took another deep breath, lifting her gaze to meet his. "It doesn't feel right. I keep thinking we're still back in that room, and this is all just some elaborate mind control to make us think we're free." Yes, it definitely sounded stupid now that she said it out loud. Their captors hadn't had the level of technology to pull it off. But she knew what a powerful telepath was capable of. "You're the only one they can't fake." Her voice had gotten quieter as she finished her explanation, and then she just stood there, suddenly realizing she had no idea how she expected him to react.
You can read the post in context here.
"I just had to make sure," is the funniest reason to jump someone's bones after a shared trauma.
Here's the post itself:
[PO3 Jovireh Velal - Front Ear - Shavan's Quarters]
The doors slid open to reveal Shavan, and the look on his face was enough to make her open her mouth to apologize and leave, but she stopped when his expression changed to a smile and he stepped aside to let her in. Well, that was what she got for not calling first. Jov didn't respond to his greeting, but stepped inside, waiting for the door to hiss closed behind her. The moment that it did, she reached out to grab his face and kissed him passionately.
After a few moments she broke her lips away from his, letting her hands drop to his shoulders as she released a shaky breath. "I'm sorry... I just had to make sure... I don't know." It suddenly sounded very stupid, and she took a step back, about to apologize for bothering him when she remembered the way his mood had lifted when he saw her.
So she stopped and took another deep breath, lifting her gaze to meet his. "It doesn't feel right. I keep thinking we're still back in that room, and this is all just some elaborate mind control to make us think we're free." Yes, it definitely sounded stupid now that she said it out loud. Their captors hadn't had the level of technology to pull it off. But she knew what a powerful telepath was capable of. "You're the only one they can't fake." Her voice had gotten quieter as she finished her explanation, and then she just stood there, suddenly realizing she had no idea how she expected him to react.
You can read the post in context here.
Please vote by Friday, Feb. 26th, at 4 PM Pacific Time. If needed, we'll have a runoff.