What was Trip *really* about to say?

[Aquarius]

Didn't see a thread for this already, and it's been on my mind, so I'm asking.

In "Harbinger," during the "morning after" xcene when Trip says to T'Pol "I suppose we should talk about last night..." he looks like he's got something to say but either he can't quite find the right words, or he chickens out, and he tells T'Pol to go first. Then anything he has to say about the situation is just reactionary to what she said about it being an experiment; any other feelings are understandably put to the side because she kind of blindsided him with that.

So I'm wondering, what do you think he really wanted to say there? "Let's just be friends"? "Please have my babies"? "I got dressed in kind of a hurry and I forgot my shorts; is it alright if I stop by later and get them?" Something else?

Furthermore, if he did speak first, would whatever he said have affected the outcome? For some reason I always had the feeling that since he told her to go first, she was kind of preemptively shutting him down before he could shut her down. But what if he'd gone first with something like "Look, I don't quite understand what happened last night, but I'm all for taking it slow and seeing where it goes"? Is it possible that if he'd given her some indication that it meant something to him, she would've likewise admitted it was meaningful to her? Or would it have made no difference, due to being too freaked out by it all and maybe too deep into her addiction?

Things to ponder...

[Alelou]

There are fics about this, actually. I wish I remembered titles and authors, but I don't. I think there's one that's something like, No, I'll go first.

I have always assumed, from his obvious fear and his pained reaction to what she said, that he was going to say something that put himself at emotional risk. I think you can also infer that from his behavior later in that season, since he kept, periodically, prodding her even though she kept shutting him down.

If he'd been braver about it right from the beginning, you have to wonder how T'Pol would have reacted. She was so disarmed by Sim's confession that I can't help wondering if she might have 'melted' for a Trip making the same sort of heartfelt declaration. But we'll never know. And in any case, nothing was going to be allowed to happen that happily and quickly on an ongoing TV series.

Conflict is, after all, the essence of drama.

[justTripn]

That was Elessar's "I'll Go First." I LOVE that one. Actually it was a hit with everyone. I think he hit the nail on the head. THAT's what Trip was going to say.

Looks like he's going by "John O." again:

http://triptpolers.houseoftucker.com/fi ... irst.shtml

[Alelou]

Oh, duh. Yep, it's cute. (And hey, do I detect an evolution in the strength of Trip's dialect in John's stories? LOL.)

[Aquarius]

But we'll never know. And in any case, nothing was going to be allowed to happen that happily and quickly on an ongoing TV series.

Conflict is, after all, the essence of drama.

True enough, that it's all academic because that's not what canon shows us. But I think speculation is part of the fun!

And you are also right in that conflict is necessary for drama. However, I also believe that there is conflict along the path not taken here; if they both admitted to being interested in each other, you've got the illicit nature of two officers trying to have a relationship on the down-low, the cultural differences, probably all kinds of physiological things that turn up in the darnedest places when you're mating outside your species, etc. T'Les's reaction when T'Pol pulled her "Guess who's coming to dinner?" thing was just the beginning.

[Alelou]

Well, that's true. Perhaps this is why we never run out of TnT stories. Even as a committed couple, these two will never have it easy.

[Elessar]

Oh, duh. Yep, it's cute. (And hey, do I detect an evolution in the strength of Trip's dialect in John's stories? LOL.)

You mean from strong to not-so-strong? Or the other way around?

[Alelou]

Well, if you haven't toned it down, you better go read our submission requirements again, bud. (I thought you wrote them.)

BTW, are those updated for the new system yet? (Before anybody else bothers to code their itals?)

[Elessar]

Well, if you haven't toned it down, you better go read our submission requirements again, bud. (I thought you wrote them.)

BTW, are those updated for the new system yet? (Before anybody else bothers to code their itals?)

That story was on House of Tucker, so if it had too much twang and they posted it, that's their problem. I was asking your opinion of whether it had gotten weaker or stronger.

I already checked, those aren't in the submission requirements. (the italics/bold coding). We just asked people to do it sort of ad-hoc. But, in the big global announcement about the new fanfiction system, I indicated that they shouldn't code anything anymore.

[Alelou]

House of Tucker had that in their guidelines too? Is that where our guidelines come from?

(But you have toned it down, haven't ya? I don't recall you writing "mah" recently instead of "my.")

[Aquarius]

^ The only time I did that was 'cuz he was drunk.

Okay, so like does anyone else wanna guess what Trip was going to say?

In the meantime, I'll return to writing something smutty...

[anaM]

Poor Trip, he stepped back and let T'Pol chose the direction of the relationship.
That was a big mistake, I think, but I understand him.
I suppose he would take the "let's see where this gets us" approach and not go much deeper, after all they were in the mess hall and not alone, a strange place to have this conversation and maybe not the right place for declarations of love. But he probably felt he wouldn't be able to hide his feelings completely and so he chickened....
Now how would T'Pol have reacted? I'm not sure she really was able to understand at this moment so she still could have gone the "it was an experiment" way. Or maybe she would finally realize her emotions?
As in Elessar's piece, that is exactly what the fangirl in me would have loved to see on tv . It would also have been the way two grown up, relatively mature, with feelings for each other people would react the morning after.

[Linda]

That was a great story. The shyness of Trip coming through and him saying just enough to get them started. And I still feel what I said in the comment I left on that story:


It would have taken just a little nudge to have made them say this, instead of what they did in the episode. Just think of how differently the show would have progressed if they had. Such lost opportunities - just like in real life.

[justTripn]

Yes, this is why I can't buy the parallel mirror universe, because so much in life depends on these little tiny moments that could go either way. Every once in a while, out of the blue, one of our boys will say about the dog we brought home from the shelter, "What if we didn't pick Leela?" (because she makes our life so wonderful). Probably way off the point, but not for me, last week there was a soccer brawl at indoor soccer and 4 of our boys were banned from the next game. The facility asked me if I could still field a team for the last game, and I said, no, sorry, I'm going to have to cancel. I hung up and started calculating in my head and two minutes later called back and said, "I'm going to field a team." I put out the word, and players called their friends, and we had all kinds of Schenley alumni coming out for one last game. People who played on the team one or two years ago. It was like a reunion. I just got back from the game. We won and it was perfect. A perfect ending for the year (and for me, perhaps, forever, since my kids go off to college).

[Elessar]

That was a great story. The shyness of Trip coming through and him saying just enough to get them started. And I still feel what I said in the comment I left on that story:


It would have taken just a little nudge to have made them say this, instead of what they did in the episode. Just think of how differently the show would have progressed if they had. Such lost opportunities - just like in real life.

I remember this! That's what I thought! IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN THE SLIGHEST PHOTON'S RELATIVISTIC PUSH!

Maybe someone should write a parody where Q pops in and just goes "Just ADMIT IT ALREADY! GOOOOOOOOOD!"