Although I went on to be primarily attracted to women, Spock was the first crush I remember. And as it turned out, I married a brilliant scientist who's also tall, slender, and dark-haired. Because evidently first crushes are just that powerful. :-)
Spock is celebrated in Star Trek fandom primarily for his intelligence, and certainly there's a lot to admire there. But what *I* admire most about him is his ethical nature -- his goodness or virtuousness or righteousness. Spock will always do whatever he believes to be the right thing no matter how much it costs him personally. Risk the death penalty to take his former captain to a place where he could have the illusion of a full life, in spite of being too disabled even to communicate? (As in "The Menagerie.") No problem. Risk the loss of his father's life and his mother's love to do his duty to the ship, to Starfleet, and to the hundred ambassadors that were their passengers? (As in "Journey to Babel.") It was hard, but he did it
( ... )
Of course, this is what makes me crush on Spock NOW. Back when I was eleven and first fell in love with him, it was more a sense of affinity. Americans are all supposed to be extroverts, to the degree that those of us who are introverts often feel like aliens in our own land. And as a geeky girl child during a time period that was way more sexist than today -- and things are still plenty sexist today -- I knew that I wasn't the way girls are "supposed" to be but couldn't seem to stop being myself.
Spock was such a relief! A fellow introvert who was determinedly Vulcan, in spite of the fact that even his friends twitted him about being Vulcan. He showed me that it was possible to follow one's own path and still be respected and valuable. Spock seemed to me to be better than the people who were being what they were "supposed" to be, and given my own divergent path, which I was only dimly aware of at the time, he would be terribly precious to me, as a sign that one could walk such a path and still thrive
( ... )
You know, I've never been asked why I crushed on Spock before... thank you for opening that concept.
Wow, I could Not have put it better myself. When I fell for Spock, it was for his calm demeanor in the face of crisis. Then as I proceeded watching more, I loved him for his integral sense of honor and the nobility of his essence. That intrinsic feeling that he would follow his own path to truth, not simple perceptions of each moment. His intellect was my first moment of arousal, though at that time I didn't understand what it was. I am still ultimately turned on by intelligence, and arousal Really does begin in the brain, at least for me.
Oh, yeah! When I watched Buffy, I enjoyed looking at Sarah Michelle Gellar and Charisma Carpenter, because they're gorgeous, but the characters I crushed on were Giles and Willow. Unless they're jerks, the super-smart characters who know almost everything just pull me right in.
When I was younger, it was assumed that women didn't feel sexually attracted to someone unless they knew and liked that person. Lately, people keep trying to hand me the label "demisexual." Evidently needing to know and like someone before being able to become aroused by that person is now considered different enough from the mainstream to need a special label, whereas it used to BE the mainstream, at least for women.
So yeah, arousal certainly begins in the brain for me, too. But then, anybody I've met through Hermione/Severus fandom is almost certainly mind-oriented; we're a self-selected group. :-)
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Although I went on to be primarily attracted to women, Spock was the first crush I remember. And as it turned out, I married a brilliant scientist who's also tall, slender, and dark-haired. Because evidently first crushes are just that powerful. :-)
Spock is celebrated in Star Trek fandom primarily for his intelligence, and certainly there's a lot to admire there. But what *I* admire most about him is his ethical nature -- his goodness or virtuousness or righteousness. Spock will always do whatever he believes to be the right thing no matter how much it costs him personally. Risk the death penalty to take his former captain to a place where he could have the illusion of a full life, in spite of being too disabled even to communicate? (As in "The Menagerie.") No problem. Risk the loss of his father's life and his mother's love to do his duty to the ship, to Starfleet, and to the hundred ambassadors that were their passengers? (As in "Journey to Babel.") It was hard, but he did it ( ... )
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Spock was such a relief! A fellow introvert who was determinedly Vulcan, in spite of the fact that even his friends twitted him about being Vulcan. He showed me that it was possible to follow one's own path and still be respected and valuable. Spock seemed to me to be better than the people who were being what they were "supposed" to be, and given my own divergent path, which I was only dimly aware of at the time, he would be terribly precious to me, as a sign that one could walk such a path and still thrive ( ... )
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Wow, I could Not have put it better myself. When I fell for Spock, it was for his calm demeanor in the face of crisis. Then as I proceeded watching more, I loved him for his integral sense of honor and the nobility of his essence. That intrinsic feeling that he would follow his own path to truth, not simple perceptions of each moment. His intellect was my first moment of arousal, though at that time I didn't understand what it was. I am still ultimately turned on by intelligence, and arousal Really does begin in the brain, at least for me.
Reply
When I was younger, it was assumed that women didn't feel sexually attracted to someone unless they knew and liked that person. Lately, people keep trying to hand me the label "demisexual." Evidently needing to know and like someone before being able to become aroused by that person is now considered different enough from the mainstream to need a special label, whereas it used to BE the mainstream, at least for women.
So yeah, arousal certainly begins in the brain for me, too. But then, anybody I've met through Hermione/Severus fandom is almost certainly mind-oriented; we're a self-selected group. :-)
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