Archvied fic rec - Twice Upon a Time

[sakura_no_miko]

Title: Twice Upon a Time

Author: Elise Madrid

Fandom: Star Trek: The Original Series

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Kirk/Spock, (background Kirk/OFC, Gary/OFC, Bones/OFC, Spock/T'Pring)

Warnings: character death, murder (minor character), allusions to non-consensual sex, explicit sex (gay), homophobia, madness/psychopathy/paranoid delusions

Other notes: Alternate universe, episode-based fic/episode re-writes, minor character in the spotlight, multiple points of view, bonding

Length: 33k

Summary: Once upon a time, James Kirk had to kill his best friend. Twice upon a time…..

 

Ah, I remembered the other thing that always amazes me about classic fic: people used real names, or at least real-sounding pseudonyms. Really, isn’t it odd that a name like “the_schwarma_bums” (someone from the Avengers kink meme) or verizonhorizon (a Star Trek writer) or even heeroluvah69 (I think that was from a Gundam Wing fic, actually) sounds a lot less weird than “Elise Madrid”? Seeing a properly capitalized name with no icons or underscores is…odd.

Anyway, that’s not really related to the fic itself.

So, I wasn’t a Star Trek fan until the ‘09 reboot movie. I just managed to miss it in my childhood, despite having access to a lot of tv (I remember Bewitched and Matlock, but missed Star Trek. Makes no sense.). When I finally got into it, I had this burning idea of the ideal fic to write, one glowing with throwaway details referencing episodes and events, something that really felt like it was part of a bigger world.

Elise Madrid is the writer I was trying to be. This story is just amazing. It rewrites the first episode of the series, and several others after, by keeping Gary Mitchell alive, and having Kirk and Spock get together. Minor character fics can be really amazing in the right hands–seeing things from a new perspective, illuminating events that happen off-camera, things like that. here, you get the bonus of watching a character slide into madness. What was a brief event in the original episode–Kirk’s former friend sinking into paranoia and murderous rage–is extended here, tense and subtle and with just a hint of, “well, maybe things will turn out better?” to keep you guessing. You get Gary’s descent into madness alongside the emerging friendship (and romance) of Kirk and Spock, and both sides of the narrative keep you reading. Great, great fic.

 

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Originally posted on tumblr on 07/15/12