Footsteps of the Elephant

James Tiberius Kirk. (TOS)

1. My OTP for him: Augh. What a complicated — I can’t — I. Hm. Obviously, Kirk is completed by his two friends, Spock and Bones. But he’s loved so many people so deeply, throughout the years, and he never stays with them. Even Spock and Bones, he forfeits them for his career in Star Fleet. So, I don’t know. I suppose Kirk/Freedom is the only honest one. But that makes me really sad, because Kirk was so lonely.

2. A person of the same sex I ship him with: McSpock. (lol). I’m running into problems here, trying to come up with an actual ship for Kirk. Because I don’t feel very strongly about most of his romantic relationships. Especially not with other men. Because he’s a flake. An endearing flake, but a flake nonetheless.

3. A person of the opposite sex I ship him with: Edith Keeler. No one should even try to argue that. His feelings were genuine, and his devastation cutting and unfeigned. If you try to imply that Kirk’s sacrifice in that episode meant nothing because he didn’t love her, I may have to burn your house down. Had he and Spock never found McCoy, Kirk would have found a family. Released from his duty to his ship and crew, unable to fly the stars, Kirk would have found that other dream he held so dear: a home. (Like in the Nexus, which gives everyone their heart’s desires. It gave Kirk a home, with a woman he had loved.) He LOVED Edith, in the way that only two kindred souls can. 

4. An uncommon person I ship him with: Carol Marcus. Uncommon? Probably not. But decades after she left him (or he left her) he still hurt. He still cared. Their interactions, like old friends who have set their griefs behind them and now only feel affection for what the other has become, really touched me. It’s the way I see people interact who loved each other deeply at one time, and even though they parted ways, they still would go to great lengths for each other. In another life, maybe they could have worked it out.

5. A ship with him that I don’t care for: Most of them. I like ships where people actually care for each other, love each other even, instead of just getting their rocks off together. I mean, come on.