Date: 15 Jul 2013 23:35 Title: Vulcan Voodoo
The eyebrows line really made me whoop. Well done - very funny and it makes perfect sense, too. Why wouldn't somebody be freaked out by that?
[Report This]Date: 24 Aug 2011 18:30 Title: Vulcan Voodoo
This seemed like an appropriate story for the Enterprise-era considering Amelia's reaction. It was starting to border on farcical with Amelia and T'Shae going back and forth and everybody else in the room occasionally chiming in. Even considering the mitigating circumstances, Amelia's attitude toward T'Shae almost made McCoy look easy-going around Spock. And of course, one would obviously be skeptical of mind-meld solution even after the Syranite revolution and the Panar syndrome stigma.
Author's Response:
Yes, I imagine a person/human has to be really skeptical of such an unknown alien practice. All the more so when that person is Amelia who as you say has quite an attitude. I'm glad you liked it and thank you for reading and commenting. You raise a good point about it verging on farcical and when/if I fold this into the Falcon story continuity proper I will have to watch that. Thanks again for reading and the terrific feedback.
[Report This]Date: 23 Aug 2011 18:07 Title: Vulcan Voodoo
If we consider Amelia Thatcher as two parts B’Elanna Torres, one part Scotty and a dash of modified personality inspired by the presence of the non-corporeal lifeform, then her outlandish behavior seems well within the realm of the possible. I would have liked to have seen a wider range of responses from her, (maybe fewer of the ‘up your …’ variations), but for the most part I enjoyed her lively, sometimes caustic dialogue and I would hope that future revisions of this story preserve her unique brand of rawness. (Assuming that it is a little more subdued when she hasn’t got a ghost in her head!)
One small comment on the ending. I wonder how many people might have missed your bit of clever wordplay on touché in the last line? (My wife missed it and she’s the real reader in the family.) Perhaps when Ankorr asks, “When is she ever?” Grey replies, “touché,” then the Captain counters back with, “Don’t you mean, T’Shae?”
I enjoyed my first visit to the Falcon, and I hope we see her again soon!
Author's Response:
Thank you Samuel for reading. I really appreciate it and the feedback. Yes, Amelia is very much a bit of a firebrand. In other postings of Amelia, she remains caustic, lively, outlandish and raw. It's a little more subdued. Maybe not so to the hilt as here, but it depends on the situation. If she ain't in her engine room when it is all going wrong, then she ain't a happy bunny and doesn't react well to extreme situations - it tends to prompt her to become extreme herself.
As for the ending, alas not so intentional - although T'Shae's name did derive from that line of thinking as I was thought Vulcans were fun when they got to deliver the touché moments or were in receipt of them. But that was way back in my conception of the character and I had completely forgotten about it. But I should just have pretended really that it was! Curses. But I am stoked that your wife read this too! Yay!
I'm thrilled you enjoyed your first visit to the Falcon and I hope to have you visit another Falcon story again in the future. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing.
Date: 22 Aug 2011 00:15 Title: Vulcan Voodoo
There were definitely some good one-liners in here, and I think you could easily write a sitcom if you ever set out to do one. Overall, I got the sense that I was watching something like Everybody Loves Raymond in space.
I could understand Amelia's behavior as being induced by a medical condition, outlandish as it was; some of the stories you hear about people coming out of anesthesia or being on morphine, and the outlandish things they say and do during those times, are pretty out-of-this-world!
(I won't post the original video because I think the dad was exploiting his kid, but the spoof "Chad After Dentist" gets the point across about weird anesthesia reactions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGTAnXqn9Jc )
Given that, wacky as it was, I found Amelia's behavior quite believable, and you definitely captured what a patient in an altered state of consciousness can get up to.
I've got to say, though, the behavior of the rest of the crew was not the professional conduct I would've expected when dealing with a person clearly suffering from a medical condition. T'Shae I can almost understand given the bad behavior of a lot of pre-Syrranite Vulcans, but the way things went after the whole "hormonal" turn of events...that's where it became a tougher pill for me to swallow.
It's not that ENT wasn't without the same sort of issues; Captain Archer's immature behavior never rang true to me as someone who is supposed to have "the Right Stuff" (and given that the fleet was so small then, I would've expected the selection criteria to be pretty intense). But for me, that was a bit overkill.
BUT...you know what I challenge you to do? If the mood strikes you, I'd love to see you write a "TV show" that the Trek characters might watch. A scenario like this would be *perfect* in that context. We don't hear about it, but they must have a pop culture on Trek?
Author's Response:
Firstly, looking up that video sent me on an unintended tangent this evening! LOL! Secondly, thank you for reading and reviewing so thoroughly. Very much the intention here was humour so the sitcom feel is good. Especially Everybody Loves Raymond like. Very much a silly light fluff piece given Amelia's outlandish behaviour. It is a scene that will probably get tweaked and elaborated upon when it gets folded into a story proper. Hopefully then I can flesh out the others - Grey and AnKorr - more to show they are more professional; although not always when it comes to Amelia it does have to be said. T'Shae is very much among the worst of the pre-Syrranite Vulcans. Thank you again for reading.
Date: 21 Aug 2011 20:28 Title: Vulcan Voodoo
Hee hee – that was fun, MF. This was my first introduction to Amelia Eliza DeWitt Thatcher – I’ll definitely have to delve into that character a little more deeply. Are you sure she isn’t a long-lost ancestor of one Leonard H. McCoy? ;-) She seems to have a gift for an acid tongue where strait-laced, logical, pointy-eared humanoids are concerned, too. ;-)
Loved her reaction to the mind meld – we’ve always seen willing participants (with the exception of McCoy in the Mirror universe) who are calm an collected; nice to see someone who is just plain freaked out by the idea. And the fact that she found the ritual words used to initiate one so silly just seemed so in character given her other hot-headed tendencies.
As you said, just a bit of fluff, but laugh-out-loud funny fluff. :D
Author's Response:
Aw thanks LBD. Yes, pure fluff, but it pays sometimes just to entertain. Especially when up against such sterling competition as yourself! But yes, the point was to give a smile I hope it did just that for you.
Amelia is very vocal. And when it comes to a particular Vulcan there is a similarity. Amelia and T'Shae are like McCoy/Spock - just without the underlying friendship! Who knows, maybe in time! Ha! Actually, the plan might to make things change somewhat after this mind meld, which should prove interesting if I can achieve it. But yes, amelia finds the whole mind meld thing freaky and indeed superstitious ridiculousness for such 'logical' people. When you think about it, especially in the ENT era, it has to be a very strange and alien concept to allow people into your brain space.
Thank you SO much for reading, reviewing and enjoying. Hopefully, I can get you some more Amelia/Border Dogs stuff to enjoy.
Date: 21 Aug 2011 09:18 Title: Vulcan Voodoo
Wow, to say Amelia was over-reacting would be an understatement. Her captain must be a very patient person, since it seems that such behaviour isn't just the result of the alien 'infection' and he had dealt with it on earlier occasions to have developed such a thick skin. I'm surprised she managed to make friends with anyone and not surprised at all that some people can't stand her.
An interesting approach to the challenge.
Author's Response:
Firstly, thank you for reading Rejal and for reviewing. That means a lot, especially if the characters are unfamiliar and the story has no prologue or background information given. Yes, Amelia is over-reacting. She tends to on a normal basis but of course it was taken to an extreme here because of the situation and because of the presence of the alien affecting her! But she isn't like this all the time, otherwise it would be difficult to see how she could make friends as you say. However, she does because she's fiercely protective of her friends and those who work under her. She's something of a juggernaut when it comes to work and there's no stopping her. But it is safe to say, if she hadn't AnKorr as her captain, and moreso before that her previous captain Dwight, she would not be in the position she is in.
Glad you found it to be an interesting approach, it was a germ of an idea that just happened to fit the challenge theme but I doubt it standing up to the other entries at all! More of a light and fun interlude. Again, thanks for reading and commenting.
Date: 20 Aug 2011 17:16 Title: Vulcan Voodoo
Ah, the crew of the Falcon, how I missed them! It's been so long, it's good to see them back in action, if only in limited form here. A good story with a bunch of great lines-Grix was pure win, I would have laughed too; and the banter between Amelia and T'Shae was absolutely knock out, drag out, awesome. Cool entry MF.
Author's Response:
Thanks trekfan. Yes it has been a LONG time since I've written any Falcon stuff, so it was a joy to go back to it. And yes, if I had been Grix I'd have passed out in that situation with Amelia declaring 'Are you saying I'm hormonal?' Just as well he wasn't about for the short or fat bit! Hee, hee. Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.
[Report This]Date: 20 Aug 2011 16:49 Title: Vulcan Voodoo
OMG. This is classic Amelia vs. T'Shae, turned up to eleventy. I've so missed these characters. Creative "illness" there, with the ghost/poltergeist/non-corporeal being ... and very Trek with the mind meld solution. Too bad Amelia is about as cooperative as a bag of cats on the best of days, and this was her at her worst! Quite a few laugh-out-loud moments, here. Loved it.