LAST EDITED ON Oct-12-01 AT 04:16 PM (EDT)

>that the Eyrie writers, like the Star Trek writers, enjoy
>Vulcan-bashing.

Well, sure - I mean, I'm no xenophobe, as long as they're reasonably humanoid and don't, you know, smell funny or anything, I -

... oh, bashing. Sorry. My mistake.

>my head torn off; it's my perception that Star Trek has
>more or less consistently treated Vulcans as people who really need to
>lighten up.

Um... that's because Vulcans are people who really need to lighten up.

Or at least they're a people who really need to lighten up. They're so... tense. The teachings of Surak are an overcompensation for the situation that spawned them, and I suspect (as do, in the UF universe at least, quite a few Vulcans, most of them young) they are not only no longer necessary in the modern universe, but a hindrance. Logic is all well and good, and a terribly useful tool, but it's only one tool. The Vulcans suffer badly from the "if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" problem. It's my belief that suppressing all emotions when you have pretty powerful ones to start with is a bad idea. It might make for a quiet planet, but I suspect the Vulcans have more than their share of clocktower snipers.

(Can you see the news item now? "Neighbors described Stuvek as 'quiet' and 'reserved,' 'the last person one would expect to commit such an act.'")

Now, as a UF character, I like Vulcans - that ought to be pretty obvious - but all the ones I've had much close contact with have deviated somewhat from Surak's teachings. They've figured out that being humorless automatons doesn't really go well with the vaunted Vulcan tradition of courtesy, for one thing. :) (Admittedly, only two of the four Vulcans I've been shown to be on a named basis with are pure-blooded, and of those two, one is a Charismatic and kind of a nutball besides, but... :)

I figure it's a self-discovery process like any other - some Vulcans figure it out, adapt themselves, and become possessed of a graceful, rather wry humor that nicely complements their rational bearing and goes a long way toward making them likeable to an impulsive, irrational human like me. Others, though, just turn into insufferable stiffs with major repression-based psychological issues, like Sarek. And as I mentioned above, I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that some - perhaps quite a few - just crack outright. Since they have a vested interest in maintaining the illusion that their way is the only way that works, the Surakites would be inclined to keep that little fact away from the galactic population as a whole...

>--Zenigame, who wishes the androids and aliens would occasionally
>aspire to be more Klingon

You know, it's a real funny coincidence that you should say that. Bordering on creepy.

--G.
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Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/