Date: 16 Dec 2013 22:04 Title: Chapter 1
Beautiful story. Very touching.
Author's Response:
Thank you so much.
Date: 05 Dec 2013 23:06 Title: Chapter 1
Well LBD, that was a bold choice showing Kirk and Spock reflecting on Sybok impact.
I think the choice of scenes with young Spock and Sybok were well chosen and well written.
I enjoy the scene on the roof between the two half brothers. I did enjoy you gave Sybok views a bit more time to develop and make a underlying reason for why he acted the way he did and how that affect Spock in due course.
Author's Response:
The addition of Sybok came late in the history of TOS. It just seemed natural given Sybok's views on life and Spock's hybrid nature that they would have a unique relationship to and understanding of one another.
Date: 04 Dec 2013 03:01 Title: Chapter 1
It remains as always a doff of a cap. It's Star Trek V for one thing, tapping into the rarely touched history of Sybok (I only recall AC Crispin's "Sarek" even going that far). You know what I think but two thumbs up.
Author's Response:
You doth make me blush, sir. It's been many, many years since I read Crispin's "Sarek." Might have to dust off that tome and see where we agree - and disagree. ;-)
Date: 29 Nov 2013 06:23 Title: Chapter 1
This was very beautiful, and I'm amazed how you made a very thought provoking, profound, philosophical story along with all the memories of Sybok. You certainly put a lot of thought and work into this piece, and you're way smarter than I am to be able to tackle that level of debate.
Very wonderful look at the relationship between the two. It was clear in ST:V that there was SOMETHING that had happened between the two to make Spock unwilling to kill his brother. And I loved that you tied in Spock's lyre, to make it so much more than just the odd instrument he was briefly seen playing. You almost wonder if the small smile he has in that episode is solely for Uhura, or if memories of his brother and what he would think of that situation came to his mind.
Very lovely piece, very wonderful expansion on this character. Good job.
And yes, I agree; snap to it, Jespah. Sybok/Eriecho. Go!
Author's Response:
Thank you, TS, glad it worked for you, and for the unwarranted compliment about my intelligence. ;) I assure you, it was more of tying loose ends together, as Strider so aptly pointed out below, as opposed to deep, philosophical thought on the subject.
I wanted to know why Spock couldn't kill his brother. Why he refused to help him but couldn't take that further step of physically opposing him, even at Kirk's expense. It just seemed natural, given Sybok's views on life, that he would have supported his little brother to the point of defending Spock's humanness when other Vulcans sought to dismiss it.
The lyre also seemed a logical progression, and I must confess that thanks to your insight, I'll never view that scene the same way again. For me now, the smile will always be for Sybok, not for Uhura. :)
And jespah, that's two votes now, Get crackin', woman! ;)
Date: 25 Nov 2013 09:26 Title: Chapter 1
I love how you take several small threads and weave them together--it's something you're particularly skilled at, and I always love to read it. And you address an important piece of Spock's history, as well as answering an important question--what gave Spock the courage to disobey his father and enter Starfleet?
My favorite bt, though, is this: "...Here was someone from his own family espousing the view that his hybrid nature was something good; something to be celebrated." I think that's something even Kirk and McCoy didn't do as well as you show Sybok doing it in this story. Well done!
Author's Response:
Thanks, madam. You know that's what I love to do. :) So glad it was effective here.
Yes, the question as to why Spock disobeyed his father always niggled at my brain -- it's not like he already had friends on Earth, or at the Academy, or couldn't have been posted to the Intrepid if he truly desired a career in space. After learning of his 'heretical' half-brother, it only seemed to make sense that some of these wild ideas may have held sway over a young, impressionable Spock.
Date: 22 Nov 2013 17:29 Title: Chapter 1
I like it.
I've thought, on occasion, about pulling an AOS Sybok into the Eriecho series, and this story is giving me more of an itching to do so. I think he's a fascinating character.
And I love what you've done with him. He almost seems like - and in the historical context of the first run of TOS, this works rather well - like a hippie teenager in 1967 or 1968 with a much younger sibling. And the hippie teenager is saying to his younger brother - things don't have to be the way that you have been taught. Question it all. It can be different. It doesn't have to be this way.
On Spock's end of things, his longing to belong, his suppression of half of who he is, those are all on well and good display. I love Sybok's challege to Sarek, that he clearly loved Amanda and a part of it was her very humanness, so why couldn't he love that in their son together?
A lot of Spock's issues can be laid at the feet of Sarek himself. While he's not one of the physical or emotional bullies that Spock has to face, his behavior of disappointment and disapproval have to have shaped Spock's desire to be more Vulcan than any 100% Vulcan, and, ultimately, it had to have also really hurt Amanda over the years.
Well done, and a great addition of depth to a character who could have used a lot more.
Author's Response:
Yes! Please, please pull him into the Eriecho series. The two of them would be great foils for one another!
I'm so pleased that it worked. Like Mistral, I didn't like ST:V or Sybok when I saw the movie. The novelization provided more insight into the character and his background, some of which I've drawn on for this story. The novel was actually quite good; it shows the potential the movie had, had it been helmed by someone who knew what he was doing.
I hadn't thought about the hippie aspect, but that is essentially who Sybok is - someone who thumbs his nose at his buttoned-up society and marches to the beat of his own drum. Much like Spock embodied everything Sybok believed in, Sybok is the physical representation of Spock's internal struggles. And I agree - Sarek has much to answer for. Like Spock I respect that character, but don't often paint him in the best light when I write him for just those reasons.
Thanks so much for the thoughful, in-depth review, and I'd read an AOS Sybok. Just sayin'...;-)
Date: 22 Nov 2013 12:30 Title: Chapter 1
Very well done. I've never liked ST:V or Sybok but you made him a more believable character here.
Author's Response:
Thanks, Mistral. Glad it worked for you. I didn't like the movie or Sybok, either until I read the novelization. It really shows the story's and the character's potential, had they been placed in more capable hands.