Time, Space, and Plexiglass

Fandom: Star Trek AOS (Reboot)
Pairings/Characters: Kirk/inappropriateness, hints of Kirk/Spock
Rating: Teen +
Length: 3,235 for the fic, 23 minutes for the podfic
Creator Links: insaneidiot reena_jenkins
Theme: Working Together

Summary: The crew of the Enterprise is subjected to a compulsory seminar on Inappropriate Workplace Behavior, and Jim Kirk finds this to be particularly challenging.

Content notes: In addition to Kirk being inappropriate in the ways one might expect from canon, the seminar leader is stereotyped in a way that might be considered offensive.

Reccer's Notes: I'm reccing both the story and the podfic here because the story is only on LJ, and the writer does not seem to be active anymore. The podficcer, however, is still around, and the pod is hosted on AO3, which may be more accessible for some. It is also the way I first encountered this story.

Now that we have all that out of the way, I can gush about how hilarious this story is because Jim Kirk + Starfleet bullshit is fertile territory, and I always laugh really loudly when listening to the podfic. Jim is so deeply wounded by any attempt to rein in his obnoxiousness, inappropriateness, and mouthiness. The best thing about this fic, though, is Jim's relationship with his crew. Throughout the seminar, we see the dynamics play out, and it becomes clear that the seminar was put together for a very different kind of workplace and a very different kind of crew. As Jim puts it: "All the team unity and 'synergy' exercises in the universe aren’t going to build real trust or strong relationships amongst a crew."

As you might expect, Jim gets kicked down a couple notches by the seminar leader, but the tables turn in an unexpected way by the end of the seminar.

Reena, as usual, does a wonderful job with the podfic.

Fanwork Links: Wrote the Book fic at LJ and Wrote the Book podfic at AO3

Fandom: Star Trek Reboot (AOS)
Pairings/Characters: Gen
Rating: Teen
Length: 1390 words
Creator Links: lazulisong
Theme: Working together

Summary: Winona is called to fix the cock-up of the Yorktown's engines. She uses one of the science-bitches to help her do it.

Reccer's Notes: This fandom has many versions of Winona Kirk. The one you get here is the engineer who does NOT fuck around and can fix anything you throw at her. She is irreverent and badass. And, in this particular story, she is wonderfully, delightfully contrasted with Spock, who is helping her fix the Yorktown engines. Yes, Spock is the science bitch.

I really can't say much more because I'm laughing too hard rereading the story in order to write this rec. Laz perfects the art of proving that swearing isn't what you do when you lack imagination. Every cuss word in this fic is a brilliant gem of hilarious, creative, and accurate speech.

Like every ridiculous fic that is very, very good, this one makes you believe that this Winona Kirk is not only possible, but is absolutely in character. It also makes you believe that this Spock is possible and will call Winona Overlord and let her call him Tiny Science-bitch.

Fanwork Links: One Foot in Front of the Other