(no subject)

[msmemory_archive]

Totally fluffy Trek question: what happens to pon farr now?

ETA: Comments are likely to include spoilers. Click at your own risk!

Comments

[alphaggek.livejournal.com]

Ya know, that's a very good question...

Do they decrease the interval so they go into pon farr every year, every month, or what?

And no, I won't say _why_ they would have to :)

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

I don't know what the total canonical view of pon farr is these days, so I don't think I can hazard a guess. It probably got expanded in some of the series that I didn't watch much of (Voyager, mostly.)

[tpau]

iwould hazard to guess that since it is biochemical it happesn as before every 7 years. but it sin't liek Vulcan's can't and don't breed at other times...

[kimbari.livejournal.com]

Good question, but I don't see why any aspect of it might change. We saw in Amok Time that things (heh-heh) are a little different with Spock because he's half human, so let's see what's out there. ;)

[digitalemur.livejournal.com]

My gut response? Who cares, I hated T'Pring anyway and I get the impression the betrothal must not have occurred in the new timeline. I must admit that after about five minutes of "YOU CAN'T BLOW UP VULCAN BRING IT BACK BRING IT BACK!" I finally thought "You know, I hated T'Pring anyway, like all good Spock fangirls, hey at least THAT'S over with." I believe I may have even emitted a small "Yay!" And then it, um, became clear that in the new timeline Spock likely wasn't betrothed in the first place, not that it matters now if he was.

But to answer your question, I think the answer is some combination of cloning and assisted reproduction. One would presume the best scientists in the Federation can figure out how to jimmy the lock on their own reproductive problems. I hope they have uterine replicators!

Options

[metageek.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Options:

• Breeding more often. They might have to fiddle with the biochemistry of pon farr, but that should be possible. On the other hand, maybe the reason pon farr evolved is that pregnancy is unusually hard on Vulcan women.
• Uterine replicators. I don't think I've ever seen them in ST, but I also don't remember seeing any references to pregnancy, which might be because everybody uses uterine replicators.
• Matter replicators. This just requires the writers to bite the bullet and admit that the distinction between holodeck matter and real matter is horseshit. However, the social implications of being able to make copies of people are pretty messy.
• Outbreeding.
• IVF and surrogate mothers. If Amanda can give birth to a half-Vulcan, why not a full Vulcan?
• Genetic engineering to produce a nonsentient creature which grows up quickly and can then act as a surrogate mother for a Vulcan baby. Basically a uterine replicator, but with a side helping of ick.
• Romulans. Variants:
  • Romulans as surrogate mothers.
  • Vulcans marry Romulans. Culture shock, huge opportunities for espionage.
  • Nonconsensual: some desperate Vulcans fly to Romulus and kidnap a bunch of girls to place as brides; the Enterprise gang has to do the Right Thing, even though Spock is thinking, "Ooh...that one's hot.".
• Time travel. Go back in time, find Vulcans who are about to die, save them, and bring them forward. Mind you, this would make a bad story, because it has a gaping plot hole: "If you can do that, why can't you go save the planet?".
• Patience. At the moment, the survivors' biggest problem isn't their low population; it's the fact that their homes are gone. Having lots of kids is just going to make that worse.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

Nothing.

One presumes that an advanced civilization already had birth control, and other medications.

But: I always interpreted Pon Farr, as "Now, I gotta". But nothing in the show ever suggested they couldn't have sex whenever they wanted.

(Why would Amanda have married a man she could only have sex with once every 7 years?)

[hfcougar.livejournal.com]

I am commenting without viewing the other comments to remind you that someone has actually released a fragrance for women called Pon Farr.

Scary.

I really wanted it, despite not even knowing what it smells like, until it occurred to me to wonder whether I actually want to smell like someone who only gets laid once every seven years.

[jenwrites.livejournal.com]

It seems to me that Old Spock is thinking he's gonna get a lot of Vulcan tail. At least, that's the subtext I saw when he shoved Young Spock back onto the Enterprise and said he'd take care of helping rebuild the race. "Run along now, young me. The ladies await."

[baron-steffan.livejournal.com]

Oh, good question.

The new film was a good ride (and yes, seeing it at the Jordan's IMAX was the only way) but unlike everyone else, I'm not totally in love with it. Let's face it: the mythos was severely raped re-written, and given past history, there's every reason to expect they're not going to screw with this continuity either, for what it's worth.

More, soon, on my own journal.