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Snowflake challenge No. 5(?)
Jan. 29th, 2025 07:25 pmChallenge #8 Write a manifesto, promo or primer
Oh, boy! How am I supposed to choose? And how do I write those? I'm already excited to try something new. After looking up some ship manifestos I've realized that I've read exactly two of those before, both appeared out of nowhere shortly after I asked myself "why does anyone ship that?". Both ships are now a permanent part of my TBR/open tabs collection, so those manifestos were very convincing and had a point. (It's Harry/Draco and Sokka/Zuko if anyone is wondering.)
This is the opportunity to ramble about my favourites and now I can't make a decision. Love it. I'll try to go with something that is 1. not a widely spread ship and 2. makes me slightly lose my mind every time I have the chance to talk about it.
Meet Amanda Grayson and Sarek. If you are in the Star Trek fandom you might recognise Spock's parents.
Who are Amanda and Sarek?
Sarek is the Vulcan Ambassador to Earth, so an important and powerful political figure. He's also constantly struggling with his emotions, cause he does love his wife and children, but he tries really hard not to show it, which is a problem when the family is half Human. It makes him look like an ass sometimes but he's actually a softy.
Amanda is, well, that depends. There isn't that much about her in the canon, so it changes from fic to fic. It also depends a lot on which show/movies the fic is based on. In general she is a head strong, capable woman, good at whatever job she has and often willing to follow through with the interesting rather than the obvious or sensible choice.
What canon should you consume?
Well, that's a bit hard to summarise. There are bits everywhere but nothing that really focuses on either of them. The most you will probably get from the show Discovery, but that's not necessary. I think what's more important for this ship is to understand Vulcan culture, so TOS, AOS and DIS will all serve you well, or just read up on Memory Alpha a bit. Or if you are a K/S shipper you should be good. (Did I just list K/S fics in the canon section? yes. yes I did.)
Typical Tropes and such
It's often a side pairing in K/S fic and usually very heavy on Vulcan Culture and world building, including cultural misunderstandings. That also includes often Pon Farr related problems and misunderstandings, but they usually get sorted out.
Then there is of course the fact that Sarek is emotionally constipated. And Amanda is usually the exact opposite. Which makes for an interesting dynamic.
What do I love about this ship?
Long story short: It feels like Horatio Hornblower/William Bush to me.
Long story for everyone, who doesn't get lost in age of sail stuff from time to time: An emotionally constipated idiot - Sarek - , who is actually pretty smart, struggles with existing. He thinks he has to solve all the problems in the universe on his own since he has an important job. But no one really notices, how much he struggles, 'cause he's good at improvising and making plans with what he has at hand.
This idiot meets someone - Amanda- , who is openly emotional, but not necessarily emotionally available though and probably cursing. She is also very competent, but not the same kind of books smart and struggles with the question "where do I belong?".
The moment they get together, they become a power couple, more powerful together than ever on their own. They grow because while getting to know each other, they get to know themselves too. Sarek learns to face his emotions (a bit), Amanda learns to trust her emotions. Sarek becomes the answer of Amanda's "where do I belong?" and Sarek has something other to focus on besides his work, which opens him to new possibilities.
And there is a lot of family dynamics and exploration of alien cultures, which I love a lot.
That being said, especially when the fic sticks to the canon a lot it's not a lovey dovey happily ever after. I could never properly put it into words, but luckily![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
TomFooleryPrime did on a post about their canon relationship.
Content Warnings
Dubious Consent - I haven't seen it a lot, but one may stumble over it when looking at this ship.
Fic Recs
Between Now and Eternity byTomFooleryPrime T | F/M | #Strangers to Lovers #Wilderness Survival #Slow Burn
Sarek and Amanda crash on the same planet and are stuck there for a while.
Polyphony bysaavik13 M | F/M | #Vulcan Datin # horny
It's a little out of the ordinary and difficult to summarise, but a fun read.
Logic Demands That You Take Off That Ridiculous Hat, Get Naked, and Come to Bed byigrockspock T | F/M | #Getting Together # Huddling for Warmth
A team building exercise goes awry and they have to huddle for warmth.
The Serendipity Paradox byTomFooleryPrime T | F/M | #Espionage #Slow Burn
"A school teacher, an ambassador, and a plot to overthrow the Federation. Love isn't always easy ... or logical."
It's a great mystery plot with a nice love story thrown in.
Oh, boy! How am I supposed to choose? And how do I write those? I'm already excited to try something new. After looking up some ship manifestos I've realized that I've read exactly two of those before, both appeared out of nowhere shortly after I asked myself "why does anyone ship that?". Both ships are now a permanent part of my TBR/open tabs collection, so those manifestos were very convincing and had a point. (It's Harry/Draco and Sokka/Zuko if anyone is wondering.)
This is the opportunity to ramble about my favourites and now I can't make a decision. Love it. I'll try to go with something that is 1. not a widely spread ship and 2. makes me slightly lose my mind every time I have the chance to talk about it.
Meet Amanda Grayson and Sarek. If you are in the Star Trek fandom you might recognise Spock's parents.
Who are Amanda and Sarek?
Sarek is the Vulcan Ambassador to Earth, so an important and powerful political figure. He's also constantly struggling with his emotions, cause he does love his wife and children, but he tries really hard not to show it, which is a problem when the family is half Human. It makes him look like an ass sometimes but he's actually a softy.
Amanda is, well, that depends. There isn't that much about her in the canon, so it changes from fic to fic. It also depends a lot on which show/movies the fic is based on. In general she is a head strong, capable woman, good at whatever job she has and often willing to follow through with the interesting rather than the obvious or sensible choice.
What canon should you consume?
Well, that's a bit hard to summarise. There are bits everywhere but nothing that really focuses on either of them. The most you will probably get from the show Discovery, but that's not necessary. I think what's more important for this ship is to understand Vulcan culture, so TOS, AOS and DIS will all serve you well, or just read up on Memory Alpha a bit. Or if you are a K/S shipper you should be good. (Did I just list K/S fics in the canon section? yes. yes I did.)
Typical Tropes and such
It's often a side pairing in K/S fic and usually very heavy on Vulcan Culture and world building, including cultural misunderstandings. That also includes often Pon Farr related problems and misunderstandings, but they usually get sorted out.
Then there is of course the fact that Sarek is emotionally constipated. And Amanda is usually the exact opposite. Which makes for an interesting dynamic.
What do I love about this ship?
Long story short: It feels like Horatio Hornblower/William Bush to me.
Long story for everyone, who doesn't get lost in age of sail stuff from time to time: An emotionally constipated idiot - Sarek - , who is actually pretty smart, struggles with existing. He thinks he has to solve all the problems in the universe on his own since he has an important job. But no one really notices, how much he struggles, 'cause he's good at improvising and making plans with what he has at hand.
This idiot meets someone - Amanda- , who is openly emotional, but not necessarily emotionally available though and probably cursing. She is also very competent, but not the same kind of books smart and struggles with the question "where do I belong?".
The moment they get together, they become a power couple, more powerful together than ever on their own. They grow because while getting to know each other, they get to know themselves too. Sarek learns to face his emotions (a bit), Amanda learns to trust her emotions. Sarek becomes the answer of Amanda's "where do I belong?" and Sarek has something other to focus on besides his work, which opens him to new possibilities.
And there is a lot of family dynamics and exploration of alien cultures, which I love a lot.
That being said, especially when the fic sticks to the canon a lot it's not a lovey dovey happily ever after. I could never properly put it into words, but luckily
Content Warnings
Dubious Consent - I haven't seen it a lot, but one may stumble over it when looking at this ship.
Fic Recs
Between Now and Eternity by
Sarek and Amanda crash on the same planet and are stuck there for a while.
Polyphony by
It's a little out of the ordinary and difficult to summarise, but a fun read.
Logic Demands That You Take Off That Ridiculous Hat, Get Naked, and Come to Bed by
A team building exercise goes awry and they have to huddle for warmth.
The Serendipity Paradox by
"A school teacher, an ambassador, and a plot to overthrow the Federation. Love isn't always easy ... or logical."
It's a great mystery plot with a nice love story thrown in.
