Inktober Prompt 3: Boots 🥾

stu’s the kind of guy to shout CONFESSION TIME (giving billy an aneurysm) at a party and says the most unhinged unasked for shitty story and then proceeds to laugh about it whilst everyone else is either disturbed or laughing along uncomfortably

Lieutenant Lila Velann

Lila Velann was a Betazoid, daughter of diplomatic aides who brought her along travelling with them on various systems. Loving the opportunity to encounter new people, cultures and planets, she began training to enter the diplomatic corps of Betazed. Through these experiences, she learned over 20 languages and came in contact with various cultures. From a young age, she showed signs of intense telepathic and empathic abilities. These abilities caused her to become overwhelmed as she met dishonest, hostile or treacherous diplomats and politicians, and she could not keep the calmness and grace expected of a Betazoid diplomatic aide. Her reactions ruined an important negotiation and she was expelled from the training in the diplomatic corps. 

That event turned her life’s plan upside down, and she quickly had to choose a new career. She entered the University of Betazed in applied politics, but her diplomatic failure became widely known among her classmates, and they began berating her for it, considering how many of her peers had parents or people they knew also involved in that negotiation. Unable to take the pressure of their frequent bullying, shamed and humbled, she transferred to Starfleet Academy to pursue in xenolinguistics and communications. She took a rapid liking to this domain and was at the top of many of her classes, allowing her to get a posting on staships from the age of 18. 

She was assigned as Eridani’s head communication officer in 2293, and was 25 years old at the start of the five year mission in 2296. 

Through her studies and the discipline of the Academy, she worked hard to conform to the genial and unassuming manners that had been expected of her since her early childhood, and by the time she began working on the Eridani, she had become a professional and a much more mild-mannered officer, but the fiery element of her was still vibrant and alive underneath that calmer side she developed. To manage her struggle with her overwhelming telepathic and empathic abilities, she often turned to Betazed religion and meditative techniques.

Demora Sulu! Read her bio here:

I'm obsessed with "comment, Mr Spock" "very bad poetry, captain" we don't talk about Spock being into art and also bitchy about it enough as a community

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?

The Doctors McCoy are hashing it out in episode three of Star Trek: Eridani, babey!

And ensign Terrance Riley is NOT having a good time.

Read all about it in my newest little fic here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/65276386

And yeah, Sopek is there too 🥴

Save Terrance, guys.

Marithyk Ry’Anauk

Marithyk is Kyral’s younger brother by 4 years. Since his brother’s departure from the Andorian Imperial Guard, Marithyk had been fiercely protected by Kyral, but also very much encouraged by him when he expressed his interest in a scientific field, which Kyral believed to be safe. When he decided to follow a specialisation in xenobotany, it became clear he would have to work on planets after his schooling on Earth, the planet on which the relocated after Kyral’s Ushaan duel and his entry at the Academy, and that was far less pleasing to the older brother. 

He had an ever curious personality, with a great enthusiasm for any plant life, from its biological composition, ideal terrains, chemical structure and even symbolic meanings to various cultures. His general demeanour made him seem naive and unassuming, but his brother’s Ushaan and following months of fear on Andoria before they left for Earth, along with Kyral’s constant near paranoia made him very aware of the dangers of the world. 

As a result of being very sheltered by his brother, he had a deep longing for freedom of choice, which translated in his desire for pursuing sciences and space explorations in his domain of xenobotany. He was especially interested in rare flora, hoping one day to be able to analyse one sample of the botanical specimens grown in the Genesis Cave on Regula in the second phase of Project Genesis. 

After his brother’s departure as the Eridani’s First Officer, he began joining exploratory science vessels, and even returned to Andoria for the first time since he was 10 years old. 

Marithyk was introduced in the third season of Star Trek Eridani, when he became a commissioned xenobotanist on board the ship, but he was mentioned beforehand by his brother Kyral in many instances.  

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. 

No signs of life @hereticaster prompt 2 I’m gonna catch up I swear 😭

Captain Saavik of the USS Eridani

Read her bio here: