Paul Stamets/Hugh Culber
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Paul Stamets/Hugh Culber |
| Alternative name(s): | Culmets, Culbets, ShroomDoc |
| Gender category: | Slash, M/M |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: Discovery |
| Canonical?: | Canon |
| Prevalence: | |
| Archives: | |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
This article or section needs expansion. |
Paul Stamets/Hugh Culber is the pairing of Paul Stamets and Dr. Hugh Culber, a married couple, in the Star Trek: Discovery fandom.
Canon
Stamets and Culber are both stationed aboard the Discovery. As Chief Engineer, Paul Stamets makes the spore drive work consistently by injecting himself with tardigrade DNA and acting as the navigator. Stamets mental and physical health appears to suffer as he continues to interact with the spore drive, but he initially keeps this information from his husband.
Dr. Hugh Culber is murdered by Ash Tyler / Voq.
In the second season of the show it is revealed that Culber had been trapped in the mycelial plane since his death. He is rescued and brought back to life. Despite this, and as a result of his death in the first season, Culber has problems going back to his old life and breaks his relationship with Stamets.
At the end of the season, after a conversation with Jett Reno in which she tells him how she lost her wife, and after Stamets ends up injured in sickbay, they rekindle their relationship.
Fandom
This is the first canon LGBT relationship in the Star Trek Universe, and it is the most popular ship in the DCS fandom.
Ship Names
There were initially a multitude of ship names assigned to this pairing, including Stulber, Space Boos, ShroomDoc, Culbets and Stamber. In October 2017, when actors Anthony Rapp and Wilson Cruz, appeared on the Star Trek: Discovery aftershow After Trek, they gave their blessing to the couple name Culmets.
We fans certainly discussed the ship name before the After Trek episode.Culmets was my favorite. I think SpaceBoos is cute too.
I was screaming like the crazy fangirl I am when I saw After Trek and #Culmets became 'official'.[2]
Common Tropes & Storylines
- Pre-canon works can be Academy Era works depicting the two meeting at Starfleet Academy, or works detailing the early years of their relationship. Some fanfics make use of the expanded canon in the comic, Star Trek: Discovery Annual 2018, and depict the two meeting on Alpha Centauri.
- There are also Alternative Universe - Modern Era works that imagine an alternative meeting in the 21st Century.
- A very small number of works pair Mirror Paul Stamets/Mirror Hugh Culber, and can include Culmets meeting their Mirrorverse counterparts.
- Works set post season 1, often focus on Stamets grief following the loss of his husband.
- Several canon divergent AUs are fix-its wherein Hugh Culber doesn't die.
Example Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Fanfics
- i'll make this feel like home by merlypops. Starfleet Academy AU.
Archives & Fannish Links
- Hugh Culber/Paul Stamets works on Ao3
- Tumblr tags: Culmets, ShroomDoc, Stamets x Culber, SpaceBoos
References
- ^ Tumblr post by spaceboos, Oct 15 2017.
- ^ Twitter post by @_Xhexania, 10 Jul 2018