Not Enough Love For Resident Alien So I’m Putting This Here

What if: Saavik performed a mind meld on David Marcus on the Genesis planet? Find out what happens next on Star Trek: Eridani

Concept written by @purple-iris , art by me :)

Read more about the retcon here:

OH MY GOSH A MILLION TIMES YES!! (This is a weird note but for some reason this reminded me of how Ponyo evolves from a fish to a girl through weird chicken-frog phases, idk.) I think I’ve seen others (or wikis) mention Betazoid eyesight being different from humans in terms of night vision (like frogs), and maybe field of view is wider, but they evolved to handle similar-to-human typical lighting when they evolved to remain primarily on land?? Maybe this also has some sort of connection to how their REM is reached at a different frequency than humans??

Side note I’ve found the home planet is called Cyndriel by the Betazoid people!

Thank you guys for contributing to this!

Hi! First off I want to say I love your analyses of Vulcan culture and pieces regarding Vulcan language, etc. it’s always so well-thought out and interesting to read/consider!! I’m also a huge fan of your writing in general <3. I was wondering, though, if you’ve ever given any thought to Betazoid culture and religion, or even language? Although there’s mention of the Four Deities and some cultural (religious??) artifacts, as well as seemingly matriarchal Houses, there doesn’t seem to be much info in terms of specifics or what the polytheistic belief system on Betazoid might actually entail- and I’ve seen a handful of Betazoid words, but not much in the way of language or language structure, so I basically was just curious as to whether you had any thoughts or headcanons on any of this! Sorry for such a long ask lol

Oh man, that's so interesting to think of! I really don't know a thing about Betazoids though.

I have a couple headcanons, like that they didn't use language at all before their first contact, or that they are naturally pretty upbeat and non aggressive (which is why they don't shield their telepathy like Vulcans do—no dark feelings to hide).

But I'm fairly certain beta canon would nix the first one, because supposedly Betazoids don't develop telepathy till adolescence. (Though I don't like that—they are so relaxed in their use of it that it feels like they must have it from the beginning.)

I also think Betazed is an exonym—something humans assigned them from the Greek alphabet. Which would mean their own name for themselves might be quite different! That is, if they called themselves anything at all before meeting humans.

So in short: I've got nothing, but maybe somebody else who sees this might know something?

Spockin out

The spoot

Dr. Tuyết Duong 

Born and raised in Vietnam, Tuyết Duong was an apt doctor and neurologist. She studied xenobiology and attended the College of Medical Sciences at the Tri-Planetary Academy. Her skills caused her to be commissioned by Starfleet in a planet-wide medical crisis, and following that event, she kept working for them in various sectors. When planning out the medical crew of the Eridani, her name was on the listing of possible medical professionals, and Dr. McCoy vouched for her, having read her paper in neurology and heard of the events in which she provided medical aid. As such, at 34 years old, she was a doctor on the Eridani. 

She was very sociable, easily adapting to the many medical crews she worked with, and especially caring toward those around her. Despite all of this, being a commissioned doctor with no real field training by the Fleet left her feeling quite useless on away missions, because outside of providing medical aid, she could not defend her fellow crewmembers or herself effectively or contribute to strategic planning. 

Ensign Terrance Riley, tactical department 

Son of Kevin and Niamh Riley, Terrance Riley was born in 2274 in San Francisco, but spent most of his summers in Donegal when he was growing up. As a teen and even a young adult, he was a bit embarrassed by his father’s big personality, but grew to be more accepting of his heritage and family. 

During his time at the Academy, he often was Sopek’s “human studies club” fact checker, not by will but rather due to the Vulcan’s insistence. A meek and mild mannered boy, he tended to be pushed around easily. Despite a certain annoyance with Sopek’s attitude, the Vulcan also defended him from bigger bullies in the optic of “conserving the club’s fact checker”, which created a certain respect between the two. His demeanor came in great part from growing up learning not to complain about things and not asking for help, as he has many siblings. His interactions with Sopek inadvertently taught him to stand up for himself. 

As a tactical officer, he was a very quick thinker, and easily came up with strategies on the spot. Captain Saavik often liked to hear his ideas in times of crisis. 

He became an ensign in the tactical department at 22 years old on the Eridani for the ship’s five year mission in 2296.

Oogie wit dat Boogie yunno?

Dr. Joanna Eleonora McCoy, Chief Medical Officer

Daughter of Dr. Leonard Horatio McCoy and Jocelyn McCoy, née Hall, was born on January 7, 2257. In her early life, she lived on the planet Centaurus, an Earth colony orbiting Alpha Centauri. She and her family were there in 2259 when the planet experienced a crop failure and the entire population was threatened by starvation; fortunately, philanthropist Carter Winston's intervention prevented the worst. While she was a toddler at the time, both of her parents repeated that story to her very often, and this selflessness inspired Joanna in her career. When she was four, her parent’s relationship, which was already fraught, broke apart in a messy divorce, partly due to her father’s job taking him off planet often, and her mother’s growing discontent with their relationship and her longing for a former sweetheart of hers. While they tried to shield her from it as best as they could by sending her often to stay over at her aunt and uncle Donna and Fred Withers, she still witnessed many arguments and was disheartened by the repetitive fights and the pressure to have to “pick a side”, even if her parents never asked her such a thing.

Deciding on a compromise, Joanna would stay for a few weeks with her mother on Centaurus, then a few weeks with her father on Earth, as he decided to return to live in Georgia to practice medicine. During these shuttle flights, Joanna fell in love with the vastness of space, seeing it as more of a bridge between her family than a dark, unknown dangerous thing as her father did. Additionally, these constant transitions made it hard for her to ever feel rooted and at home somewhere, except in space, which influenced her choice to pursue a Starfleet career.

Eventually, her father got a starfleet commission, and as such the visitation time was more stretched out, but she never lost contact with him. When he joined the crew of the Enterprise as CMO, Joanna often exchanged messages and video calls with her father. During that time, she continued her schooling on Centaurus and did her pre-med there, until 2278, when she decided to return to Earth for medical school at the University of Mississippi, of which Leonard McCoy was an alumni.

Being a young woman with her first real taste of freedom, she had a few situationships, namely with a woman named Marianne, with whom she believed she had a serious relationship, but it wasn't reciprocated.

In 2282, while already having gone through medical school, she decided to join Starfleet medical to take additional xenomedicine and xenobiology classes, as well as earning her qualification for space service and a Starfleet commission. It was where she first met Saavik, then a first year cadet who got herself injured in a less-than-fair boxing match with a jealous player of a rival baseball team while Joanna was volunteering as a medic on duty at the Academy Gym. During that period, she also dated Malcom Erikson, then an Academy upperclassman who had to retake a few fitness tests and classes to be allowed his full commission as an officer. Joanna’s time at the academy in San Francisco brought her closer with her father, partly because it allowed her to spend time with him regularly for the first time since he began serving when she was 12.

She then served on Luna base and on Mars as a doctor, then on Deep Space 2 from 2284 to 2290, before requesting to start working on ships, namely the U.S.S Carpenter until 2296, when newly appointed Captain Saavik made a request to have her as her CMO on the U.S.S Eridani.

Joanna’s father was nervous about her joining the fleet and very scared of her first long space deployment with the Eridani, and has always been wary of her joining Starfleet, considering his own dangerous experiences in space.

A shrewd doctor and surgeon, she inherited the fierce protectiveness of her father, and is known to have a temper when under pressure. She also is a very trusting person, being far less skeptical than her father, with a very loving and generous personality, and that has caused her to be burned one time too many in her romantic relationships. Despite that, her kindness remained, and her bedside manner was appreciated by many crewmembers, until she began berating them for their carelessness in the field.

Dr. David James Marcus, science officer and head of the science department

Son of the renowned scientist Carol Marcus and then Commander James T. Kirk, he was born in 2263 in Montréal, but later lived on various starbases and scientific outposts with his mother. Carol Marcus took the decision to raise her son on her own after her separation with Jim, before she even gave birth to David, as she found Kirk’s career to be incompatible with parenthood and feared that her son would follow in his footsteps and leave to explore the dangers of space.

David was homeschooled for his primary and secondary education, with tutoring in all the necessary fields by many of his mother’s colleagues. Considering this and the fact that they moved a lot for Carol’s research, David did not have many friends growing up. He went to college and completed a double major in xenobiology and astrophysics, before getting his doctorate in particle physics. He then joined his mother’s research team on Project Genesis. At this time of his life, he was very cautious of the military, believing Starfleet, while affiliated with the research of the Genesis Project, would attempt to steal and use the technology in nefarious ways.

His first meeting with his father James Kirk was a shock, but he quickly realised how alike they were, both determined, intelligent, caring yet stubborn men. Following the event on the Genesis planet, namely his death and revival, David suffered from many medical consequences due to the Genesis effect healing his body, yet causing nerve and muscle damage, which left him disabled. His symptoms are similar to epilepsy, migraines as well as mobility issues, which arise when standing up for extended periods, for example. He resorted, after his year long recovery on Vulcan, to use orthotics braces to facilitate his movements and prevent pain and mobility issues.

While still preoccupied by the possibility of corruption in any organisation, he decided after his recovery to pursue a career in Starfleet, to his mother’s dismay. Part of his reason for joining the fleet is a desire to do better with his wide scientific knowledge, mostly after how his impatience caused many deaths with project genesis. He still doesn’t always trust Starfleet, and also wants to use his presence in the fleet to prevent use of new technology in ill manners. As such, he is strict about protocols, as well as safety precautions in the science department he runs. Along with that, David’s upbringing among scientists and on various space stations did not allow him to make many friends, and his friendship and sibling bond with Saavik also motivated his career choice. His very sheltered life as a teen and young adult, on research labs and space stations, also awakened a desire to discover what’s out there, and to be on the front line of scientific discovery.

When he began the procedures to enter Starfleet Academy for for command, field science and space training, Saavik had to plead her case with the Admiralty, both because of his scientific fraud regarding the addition of proto-matter in the Genesis matrix, but mostly because most of the Admiralty believed his disability to be too great of a liability on a spaceship. That never deterred him, as he believed that he could achieve a space posting and was ready to put in the effort to achieve it.

In 2287, he became a part of the science team on the Enterprise-A, serving on his own father’s ship. This assignment allowed father and son to get closer, but David never got to build as strong a bond with Jim as the one he had with his mother. When Saavik was transferred from her post as helmsman of the Enterprise-A to the Eridani, he put in a request to join her. He was refused until 2291, when he joined Eridani’s science team as lieutenant.

He was outspoken, unafraid of telling what he believed, as well as quite stubborn. David was also very passionate about his many projects, and very enthusiastic about the new discoveries Eridani can make out in space.

By the time that Eridani departed for her five year mission in 2296, David was 33 years old, a lieutenant-commander and Saavik had named him her science officer and head of the science department. Despite Carol’s mistrust of Starfleet, she is very proud of her son’s achievements.

This is my cat her name is Pigeon