Brandyjane wrote:Over the past few days I just read all sixty-six chapters of "Divergent Paths." WOW! I really, really like how Trip is portrayed. (Now I'm going to go back and skim through this conversation so that I can come back and participate without derailing the flow of things.)
Welcome aboard!
panyasan wrote:So T'Pol isn't un-Vulcan, she hasn't been told the whole truth.
Which kind of tracks with Trip's opinion, but may or may not be the truth of the matter. Time will tell.
BTW: Trips musing about Archer made me want to shout to Trip that he should let go. She has chosen you Trip for all the good and logical reasons, so be happy about it.
Yeah, but his thoughts
are grounded in something I hoped would be believable - this whole bond thing is new to him & T'Pol can't exactly explain it, so the question as to whether or not she'd have this sort of connection with any other male (Archer included) if she were stranded planetside with them is a valid one. I've already stated my thoughts about that before (very possible, not as likely and certainly not in this relatively short span of time with anyone other than Trip), but it
is a valid thing to wonder about ("is she with me by default? Am I her second choice?"), particularly since T'Pol doesn't exactly talk about her feelings, ya know?
Kotik wrote:nothing screams "Oops I didn't want that to happen" louder than abandoning the guy in bed and running off after a rather hot night together.
It's canonical that Vulcans do not require as much sleep as humans, so it would be completely illogical on her part to just lay there in bed, doing nothing and not addressing her confusion in the only way she knows (meditation.) You'll note that Trip thought nothing of her absence when he woke up until he couldn't find her on the ship, which was intended to be a subtle way of pointing out how he's accustomed to going to bed alongside her and waking with her gone (and probably already at work.)
She goes for round 2 when Trip calls her on her 'go away vibes'
Actually, she goes for round 2 when Trip asks if she wants them to stop, which is entirely in her character, I thought, as she did similar things during the show whenever she thought she was about to lose Trip because he was tired of their little game.
so where was the logic in running away in the first place and of all things, she's confused about enjoying it
It's exactly like she told him: she needed somewhere to meditate where she wasn't smelling him so she could hopefully get her mind right without being affected by sense memories - even with the life support totally functioning, Trip's scent is going to linger inside the
T'Muna-Doth. T'Pol is being completely honest and forthright.
I mean, they've been sleeping under one blanket for almost a year and unless I'm reading too much between the lines, I think the reasoning has been going beyond mere warming up for quite a while.
Not sure that's really relevant in this case as this is the first time they've had sex. For that matter, it's the first time period for T'Pol since I established back on the Zeon farmstead that she'd never slept alongside a naked male before. She was overwhelmed (and there is certainly more in that regard than has been revealed at this point), retreated, and tried to collect herself. At no time was she trying to push him away or thanking him for explorations into human sexuality.
Misplaced wrote:Here is my take on what transpired in that chapter. If we take into account that a). T'Pol has been taught that sex is merely a bodily function that does not provide any pleasure and b). despite the maturation of their relationship, TnT have not slept together until this point, then I think it's perfectly reasonable that she would be shocked when she finds it quite enjoyable. It makes sense to me that she would need to go clear her head and try to understand why it was so great if being a Vulcan, it's not supposed to be. It would be logical for her to question this new development.
And that is how it was constructed and intended to be perceived.
Seriously, the most angsty part for me was Trip still being hung up on the idea she would have developed this relationship with any ol' guy she was straded with. It's Trip who needs a little smack upside the head, not T'Pol.
Well, as I said above, I do think that's a believable thing for him to wonder about. Is it going to be a major element? No, probably not. At some point, T'Pol will likely realize what he's thinking and give him another metaphorical slap upside the head - as I stated in a previous post when discussing that thought, when viewed dispassionately, Trip is really the best person to be there with her. Archer would have tried to simply assume command even though he doesn't have the skills necessary to survive a situation like this and we've seen four years worth of examples (10 years, if the events of T-A-T-V are to be believed) where he totally ignores good advice, so it's probable he'd get them both killed pretty quickly. Apart from Reed, every other male character aboard ENT would be totally looking to her for guidance so she'd maintain the appropriate amount of emotional distance between them necessary to maintain her authority which precludes any connection from occurring; Malcolm is the only real wildcard, but his skillset is ostensibly similar to hers, so they might have an easier time surviving. In that case, though, I don't see them ever really connecting beyond their current status. Hence, Trip's concern is fundamentally flawed even if he doesn't realize it.