Star-Struck is an alternate universe - AU - about the lives of T'Ori and Maiek, in which things both start out and turn out very differently. It takes place primarily on Earth, but involves many of the same characters, some of which we get to know better than in Star-Crossed. Unlike Star-Crossed, it isn't a multi-part saga, therefore occuring within a shorter range of time. It also doesn't have much to do with Starfleet, and the storyline has much lower stakes.
Maiek is glad that, as a child, he came to Earth as a refugee, despite the fact that it wasn't easy, as a Romulan. If he hadn't, he never would have met his four best buddies and started up a band - the Green-Blooded Immigrants, or GBI for short. Ever since their teenage years, they've been playing in basements, dive bars, and sometimes even festivals for the entertainment of Humans who don't care where they came from (or maybe are interested for that exact reason). But it doesn't pay the bills, and besides their drummer, the band all have day jobs. Maiek wishes they could make it big, but he feels like the time for that has long passed, and his life and the lives of his bandmates are slowly spiraling into directionlessness.
Then Maiek meets T'Ori, a beautiful Vulcan woman staying on Earth for an extended period. Endlessly curious about most things and with a gorgeous singing voice, T'Ori becomes Maiek's obsession. He begins pumping out dozens of new songs inspired by his infatuation with the logical girl and he feels sick with love. He's notorious for falling hard when he does fall, but this is really bad. Then, a performance of one of these songs goes viral, and suddenly the super-stardom GBI has dreamed of has fallen into their laps. But Maiek's pining and yearning makes the whole thing bitter-sweet. Record labels and recording in a real studio don't feel so exciting without the Vulcan he wants so badly.
His buddy decides to intervene on Maiek's behalf, and invites T'Ori to do backup vocals for their next album. Maiek is terrified and embarrassed, but finds T'Ori is far more open and accepting of him as a Romulan than he expects. As they get closer, Maiek finds that the distance between them feels like far too much, and only after one impulsive night does Maiek make a discovery about T'Ori that means he absolutely cannot let what they have become known to all the snoops who are suddenly far too interested in his personal life. But T'Ori has plans of her own, and things are about to go from interesting to downright fascinating.
To read about the characters, click one of their names below.
Maiek is the vocalist of the Green-Blooded Immigrants, or GBI for short. He can also passably play a few background instruments for shows. Despite the fact that GBI primarily plays alt-rock, grunge, and industrial, Maiek's voice has been described as "velvet" and he finds it has a profound effect on women (and some men). As a single guy, he doesn't hesitate to take advantage of that every now and then, but in his grey heart, he'd really like something more serious. Speaking of hearts, Maiek is a bleeding heart - he's a bit emotional, a lot passionate, and he loves to love, and has been writing poetry since he was young. He can also be broody at times, and though at one point he had daddy issues, he did a lot of work and wrote a lot of songs about it, turning the issue into satire. He dreams of stardom with GBI, but if he were to be honest, his dreams of a loving relationship are even more important to him. T'Ori is a young Vulcan woman who has travelled to Earth on the arm of her betrothed, Toval, who has been assigned to Vulcan's embassy on Earth. Being 1/4 Human, she is very interested in getting to know the planet her grandmother came from, and is fascinated with Earth culture and the nuances of Human interaction and emotion. Perhaps more interesting is the group of Romulan men she meets who have immigrated to Earth as children and now sing in a rock band together. There is no real reason for her to spend time with them, as Toval has pointed out, and so she does not. Even so, her interest does not wane. T'Ori is a philosopher and a scientist at heart, and so everything is a source of knowledge for her. She has found it difficult to sate her curiosity about many things in the past, and her betrothed is sure to attempt to keep this in check... although he does not always succeed. Khiy is likely Maiek's closest friend within the band. Next to Maiek's broodier self, he's a lovable goofball, full of energy, zest for life... and libido. Very openly pansexual, Khiy's primary hobby is hooking up until he meets someone who can keep up with him. He's also a bit too fond of recreational drugs and alcohol, and those are probably the reasons he doesn't have a day job like the other guys. But he's also the band's personal cheerleader on top of being the drummer, and is the member who most believes - and perhaps relies on - the band making it big one day. Khiy happens to believe the Vulcan girl that Maiek's pining over is pretty cute as well, but knows Maiek needs to get laid more than he does. He's more than ready to be Maiek's wingman, even if his buddy would rather write explicit songs about what he wants to do, rather than actually going and doing it. Toval is a Vulcan political aide who has been recently assigned to the embassy on Earth. As per the request of his betrothed's father, he's brought her along to keep an eye on her, as they both know she is prone to (accidentally or intentionally) getting up to mischief. On top of this, he's older than her by 6 years and knows he'll soon experience the plak tow, and it will be better to have her around than on Vulcan when that happens. Toval is a very traditional man, coming from a traditional family who has certain beliefs about the roles of men and women, but his attempts to push those beliefs onto T'Ori have been futile. While his true interest lies in biology - specifically botany - and he would have preferred to be a professor teaching it on Vulcan, he was pressured into going into politics by his family, and now finds himself on Earth. He would prefer if T'Ori stayed within the small neighbourhood where they are living, but as usual, she does not obey any of his requests or commands, and he is experiencing increasing difficulty in keeping her in check.
Maiek tr'Khellian
R'Nan T'lthk T'Ori
Khiy tr'Tovan
D'Vros R'Tai Toval