the delphic expanse

The writers of IAMD noticed there was chemistry between Archer and his much younger communications officer.

Kathy Rose wrote a very wonderful MU/AU fic exploring this. It's a little clean for my taste - but it's excellent nonetheless:

Familiar Strangers

"The Morning After" by Destiny Girl also pairs Archer/Sato - in the RU - with all the prerequisite stress over the inappropriateness. That story also pairs Reed and Amanda Cole.

"Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" by mochachill at ff.net is one of my favorite A/S fics.

I thought I caught a vibe that Hoshi might have a crush on Archer in the first couple of episodes, but I didn't notice any more hints of that until the Mirror Universe episodes. For the longest time I thought I was just weird for seeing Archer and Hoshi as a potential pair.

Brandyjane, you are not alone. I saw that same dynamic as well and always thought they would eventually get together. LOL

But I'm pretty open minded when it comes to ships these days. My two favorite are TnT and Soval/Amanda. But I can see the possibility in virtually every pairing there is.

Oh, there's definitely a spark in those early episodes - and she's got the whole hero worship thing going on. Obviously, it would have been completely scandalous if they hooked up - but there was chemistry there.

In my opinion it wouldn't have looked good on screen because he's so much older. It's more than just age, it's experience, too. Hoshi seemed younger than her years in the first season. There's also the fact that Archer seemed to treat her as a kid sister or something. Now if they'd started her out as the martial arts expert who breaks people's arms, then maybe it wouldn't have felt weird to me. I definitely think it could have been done, just not with the way Hoshi was presented early on.

Brandyjane wrote:In my opinion it wouldn't have looked good on screen because he's so much older. It's more than just age, it's experience, too. Hoshi seemed younger than her years in the first season. There's also the fact that Archer seemed to treat her as a kid sister or something. Now if they'd started her out as the martial arts expert who breaks people's arms, then maybe it wouldn't have felt weird to me. I definitely think it could have been done, just not with the way Hoshi was presented early on.

I'm not sure the age difference bothered me, but I agree that I saw Archer as viewing her as a younger sister, or at least someone he would particularly look out for, since he talked her into being on Enterprise.

Kathy Rose wrote:I'm not sure the age difference bothered me, but I agree that I saw Archer as viewing her as a younger sister, or at least someone he would particularly look out for, since he talked her into being on Enterprise.

The age difference never bothered me. I will say that it was Countdown that actually made me interested in the possible pairing, myself.

I can't see them getting together until he's an admiral and she's no longer serving in Starfleet, personally.

I prefer this ship over the R/A one... except in the Mirror Universe. I think that MU Reed is a far better match for MU Hoshi there. Though it would be a very... twisted relationship -- moreso than Trip & T'Pol

At this point, I'm pretty sure that I'm the only one on this board that actually sees this ship! LOL There was a slew of folks, I noticed, at the Linguistics Database that liked the pairing, but it looks like they've moved on.

So, for myself, I'm going to post my new favorite Archer/Sato fic... which was a round robin endeavor: "Somewhere in the Night"

It has its flaws, but what I love the best is the beginning - the backstory of how they met. Really well written and interesting. And I think at the moment the hottest scene in the whole thing is.

*spoiler alert*

When they are serving together on Enterprise after about six months and she's up for a one on one review and they have a strained meal (they are following Starfleet regs on fraternization up to this point). As she leaves, he stops her and kisses her. This: makes me weak in the knees: "Archer kissed his way down her neck, his hand on the tab of her zipper. "Please?" he asked." The need is so intense!
*end spoiler*

I think that, coupled with the chemistry I saw between the two characters onscreen (I know everyone interpreted it differently), one of the things that I'm loving about Archer/Sato fics is the very alpha male-ness of Archer. It rings true, for me, to his character. He wants something, he gets it. He's driven.

My OTS will always be Trip & T'Pol but RU Trip is not aggressive. He's more of the classic "nice guy." Sure, he has a temper, but when it comes to the lady he loves, he'll put up with a whole mess of crap... he also won't overtly pursue her, despite his talk about being a "ladies man" in earlier seasons. LOL And MU Tucker is only more lewd, but he's still a bit of a push-over when it comes to the lady he's after. (More aggressive, but still not "alpha")

Archer, on the other hand, sets his sights on something and goes after it. In my favorite fics, he may be tentative initially, either because he doesn't believe it's a good idea or he's unsure of how he feels ... but once he makes a decision, it's like "damn it all to hell, I'm taking her." And that's freaking HOT. I can picture him looking at Hoshi like that (or I suppose whoever anyone wants to pair him with)... like "I want you and I'm not afraid to show it. Unless you have objections, I will be taking you." Not overly aggressive -- it's more subtle, but it's definitely there in his character.

And it's not that Hoshi is a pushover that makes it work for me. She's still her spunky, intelligent self. In fact, in the fic I linked in this post, I absolutely LOVE the way her character is written -- especially before she joins Enterprise. (The story takes what I believe is a convaluted turne later that was due to Round Robin -- fortunately it's set back on the right path. LOL)

And as I posted above, strangely enough, in the MU... I like Reed/Sato better. LOL

Anyway. That's just me. I don't know if I'll just be talking to myself from here on out, but there it is.