the delphic expanse

I can't say I endorse this pairing myself - don't see it at all - but I did notice this lonely, little Malcolm/T'Pol fic on ff.net. It's both heavy handed and a little bit OTT in its persistence in portraying Archer and Trip as bad guys:

Unusually Strong


I think a better option is JustTripn's E2 series, in which after Trip's death T'Pol takes up with Malcolm.

I wish we'd seen more in the way of friendship between Malcolm and T'Pol. They seem to have a lot in common. A lot of stories have Malcolm/Hoshi and Trip/T'Pol interacting as couples together. I guess it might have been boring to have two happy couples on screen, but I like the dynamic in fiction.

When I wrote my E2 story, I found myself with a great deal of Malcolm/T'Pol scenes - which happened organically since they would often be working together. Plus I think their personalities compliment each other.

JustTripn''s E2 story went further than mine - having T'Pol pair off with Malcolm after Trip's death (and if I remember correctly Lorian being very angry).

Brandyjane wrote:I wish we'd seen more in the way of friendship between Malcolm and T'Pol. They seem to have a lot in common.

I concur! I always wanted this, too, at least a little more understanding between them. It would have been nice to see at least some development in regard to a deeper relationship than just a working one.

I kind of like this pairing and I'd love to explore it more, I think it could have worked well had the writers not gone in the Trip/T'Pol direction. By the end, though, I was hankering for a relationship with anyone for Malcolm, so I would have been happy to see him with Hoshi (some good chemistry there, too), but ultimately I think I like Malcolm/T'Pol better. I think it was kind of sweet when Malcolm had that almost adolescent crush on her in the beginning, though it probably had a lot to do with his emotional state, I can see him being the type to crave the unattainable in a quest for personal achievement and self-worth, without any risk of actual experience.

Mr Smith wrote:

Brandyjane wrote:I wish we'd seen more in the way of friendship between Malcolm and T'Pol. They seem to have a lot in common.

I concur! I always wanted this, too, at least a little more understanding between them. It would have been nice to see at least some development in regard to a deeper relationship than just a working one.

They do have a lot in common:

Malcolm was an agent with Section 31 and T'Pol worked as a agent for the Vulcan Ministry of Security before they both moved on. Then her VMS past caught up with T'Pol and later S31 caught up with Malcolm.

Both had a somewhat strained, though still caring, relationship with their families. Both seemed sometimes trapped by tradition. Both broke with tradition. They're both reserved people but not without feelings or passions. Both seemed to enjoy reading from actual physical volumes in their leisure time.

And both had incredible chemistry - and similar frission early on - with Trip, who was their complete opposite.

Their very similarities are what made me decide early on that I wouldn't want them to be a romantic item. I would have liked to have seen Malcolm's crush on T'Pol develop into friendship onscreen. I feel like it did off-screen, but I wish we'd seen it happen in canon. I guess I always thought that when it became obvious to Malcolm that Trip had a thing for T'Pol, Malcolm gave up on any dream of something with T'Pol.

One of my favorite scenes with Malcolm and T'Pol was in "Zero Hour" (I think) when T'Pol didn't tell Malcolm or Travis that there was a holographic door in the sphere they were trying to enter. Malcolm clearly thought she had lost her mind, and who could blame him. He'd been giving her "are you okay" looks for several episodes. I had the impression that Malcolm caught on pretty early that T'Pol's behavior in Season 3 was not normal. I always wondered why she didn't just tell them that the door was holographic and that they wouldn't crash into the sphere. The only thing I could come up with was that she new he was doubting her and she wanted to give him a lesson to show him that she still knew what she was doing.

Actually, in Kobyashu Maru,

Malcolm and T'Pol go on an adventure together. The authors make excellent use of their their mutual caring/love for Trip and their shared spy backgrounds when they leave Enterprise to go rescue Trip. And Malcolm believes T'Pol - who knows Trip needs help because of the bond.

It's the kind of thing I wish we had seen more of onscreen.

Honeybee wrote:Actually, in Kobyashu Maru,

Malcolm and T'Pol go on an adventure together. The authors make excellent use of their their mutual caring/love for Trip and their shared spy backgrounds when they leave Enterprise to go rescue Trip. And Malcolm believes T'Pol - who knows Trip needs help because of the bond.

It's the kind of thing I wish we had seen more of onscreen.

So totally reading this now, thank you for that information, and so totally want to write T/T/R now. This board has been so wonderful for expanding my interest in different pairings and threesomes.

Fic rec: A Sickbay Visitation by Lady Conqueror,rated G. It could be seen as friendship or pre-ship (personally,I can go either way).Posted on ff.net.