Date: 25 May 2014 02:10 Title: Winona Kirk
WHOA! I totally did not catch that this was in the Alternate Universe until the end. That was crazy good. Exploring someone's life in their final moments through the people they've lived was brilliant. You've done an amazing job, Jespah.
Author's Response:
Oh, I thank you; you're too kind.
/curtsies/
Date: 24 May 2014 21:14 Title: Winona Kirk
Interesting that it turned out to be Winona and the baby that he saved. Wasn't expecting that, but it makes sense. George couldn't possibly have been the only one to remain on a ship that large. I liked that in the final moments of his life, after focusing on all the women in the short nanoseconds he had, he realized that he truly did love someone. Fantastic and very well written.
Author's Response:
I thank you kindly - for Tommy, to say that and admit that, is scarier than any looming, rushing fireball.
Date: 24 May 2014 21:08 Title: Erika Hernandez
I love that we're finding out a lot about Tommy's character and background in these snippets, too. Nicely done.
Author's Response:
Yep, he's the lens through which all of these people are being seen. With work, and with Erika, I see him almost like Picard in Tapestry. In that TNG episode, Picard is shown what his life would have been like without X. Picard would have been kind of a middle manager type. Without Erika, Tommy would have been standard-issue cannon fodder and not much more.
Date: 24 May 2014 20:39 Title: Winona Kirk
Heartbreak is not easy to get over, and you sure us along for the ride on this one. You linked both universes very well. Well done on a very good story,
Author's Response:
Many thanks. I wanted him to be a redshirt with meaning.
Date: 24 May 2014 20:36 Title: Erika Hernandez
Erika Hernandez, a character we didn't see enough of while Enterprise. Very enjoyed this insight into the charcter. Well done.
Author's Response:
Aw, thanks!
Date: 24 May 2014 20:27 Title: Winona Kirk
Love how this ties into the JJverse, and that, in his final nanoseconds Tommy does realize that he loved someone. As much as I hate to think about what's going to happen in the next nanosecond, I keep thinking back to all of those people on the bridge, waiting for him, and I know Tommy will be all right. Really, really well done, jespah. Great so see that George Kirk wasn't the only one who made sacrifices for the well-being of the people on the Kelvin.
Author's Response:
Tommy will be okay, yes. When I wrote Fortune, I kept going back and forth as to whether there would be an afterlife. I decided, what the hell, yes. And for Tommy, who has confessed the biggest, most important thing of his life, ever, his brother will essentially take him home.
Date: 24 May 2014 20:13 Title: Winona Kirk
And now...Tommy just became one of the most important people in the AU. Wow. You had mentioned he had sealed the door to save other people...I wasn't expecting who those people were. That was awesome. Many thanks. He's just a guy; he just does one small thing. And Winona might or might not have seen the blur of activity from the corner of her eye, but she probably didn't. What is a redshirt, but that person, who quietly serves and is forgotten, but the whole storyline hangs on their sacrifice?
I loved this story, the way he visited these memories of the women who made the greatest impact on his life. This was a great read; well done
Author's Response:
Date: 24 May 2014 20:13 Title: Erika Hernandez
I like the back and forth here. He's been talking to Kevin all along, but somehow now it's getting more desperate, more urgent. I knew about Doug's origins but I'm so glad you took the time here to explain it for those who might be unaware of where he came from.
Didn't get the reference to Doug almost killing Lili, though. Is that story already written or yet to come?
Author's Response:
Doug almost kills Lili in Reversal, about, I want to say, 2/3 of the way through the story.
And yes, Tommy's running out of time, and there's so much he needs to explain, to someone who was maybe a silent observer or maybe wasn't there at all.
Date: 24 May 2014 20:09 Title: Winona Kirk
found it a touching piece and moving in the sense of the end coming at last. Nice work,Jespah.
Author's Response:
Thank you very much.
Date: 24 May 2014 20:09 Title: Erika Hernandez
You hinted at it in the last chapter, but wow. You just bridged the gap between your Enterprise-verse and the JJVerse. Crazy...
Guess this is nearing the end. I'm enjoying these little glimpses, but I really font want to see him die. I'm hoping for a miracle from these people he's seeing on the bridge.
Author's Response:
The bridge is ... the bridge. He wouldn't be seeing it if he weren't almost on it. Yep, this is also the bridge between the two continuities (I also write this clan as bridging to TOS. One of these days I'll reconcile those sides).
Date: 24 May 2014 20:03 Title: Lili O’Day Beckett Reed
Mmm, good Spanish cooking. And the ever complex relationship you devised for these characters...gets thrown out with Malcolm. Very interesting, but not completely unexpected given who Malcolm was. You always wrote him as a bit of a hopeless romantic, so him dedicating himself to Lilli in the end makes wonderful sense.
Now I'm hungry. Mmm empanadas...
Author's Response:
I really have to channel Lili and make them one of these days. But yeah, I see him as a hopeless romantic and just someone who never had the right person to give himself to, so he held back and held back. Once he could be with her, his life was complete, and it was like a dam had burst.
Tommy observes this from afar and never has it for himself.
Date: 24 May 2014 19:56 Title: Takara Sato Masterson Tucker
This was a little confusing for me, so just to clarify...Takara and Tommy never actually met except in the shared dream state unique to Lafa II, right?
Anyway, onwards!
Author's Response:
There's one alternate timeline story where they do (Temper), but in the main timeline, they never do. Thanks for reading.
Date: 24 May 2014 18:58 Title: Lili O’Day Beckett Reed
I love how all of these kids think of all the women in this relationship as their moms, biological or no. I must admit that I watch 'Sister Wives,' (ducks to avoid the stuff being chucked at her) and this sounds a lot like what we hear from those kids on the show. Relationships like this can work for some people, for the betterment of everyone in the family. I definitely get that vibe here.
PS Love the foreshadowing of what is to come here - at least what I think is to come. ;)
Author's Response:
Yes, they're a bit like sister wives in that there's cooperation. It's kind of a strange arrangement, and I find myself explaining it as exposition in a lot of stories, as it's not too obvious. They make it work. Thanks for reading!
Date: 24 May 2014 18:52 Title: Winona Kirk
Well, at least he thought of Takara. I've enjoyed all your little ficlets jes.
This has been so much fun reading these.
Thanks for sharing.
Author's Response:
Thank you so much for reading!
Date: 24 May 2014 17:32 Title: Takara Sato Masterson Tucker
I'll admit too that I had some difficulty following the relationships, and who begat whom, but for me, that wasn't the point of this chapter. Much like the previous one, Tommy is lamenting love lost - or never truly realized. Whether a doomed relationship with Cindy or an unattainavle one with Takara, you've just got to feel for a guy who knows his life is ending and has admittedly never loved anyone. Sad. And haunting.
Author's Response:
He knows he's down to the wire, and this is the thoroughly unattainable relationship that he is denied. He has to watch (figuratively) as she lives her life and goes on without him.
Date: 24 May 2014 17:27 Title: Winona Kirk
Oh, man. What an ending. He died a hero ... at least we'll remember him. Great story, Jes.
Author's Response:
Thank you very much. I knew when I started this that he would die. The question was how to show, in 3500 words or less, how he had lived.
Date: 24 May 2014 17:21 Title: Cindy Morgan
A wonderful, realistic look at the trials and tribulations of youth, and for human kids growing up somewhere outside their 'element.' Kudos to the Calafans for trying to bring a sense of normalcy to their lives, and preserving human traditions. So often, those in the minority have the things unique to their heritage trounced on or ridiculed.
Author's Response:
One of these days, I'll actually write their Prom; I've only done the memory and the befores part. The Calafans are fascinated by humans. Maybe they'll have a Homecoming Game and everything. Hmmm.
Date: 24 May 2014 15:07 Title: Winona Kirk
O that was an epic ending, saving Mrs Kirk and her baby lives without a second though for himself.
The choice of final words felt a natural conclusion and made the character dead that little bit harder.
Congratulations on completing your TTOT 2014 tale.
Author's Response:
I thank you so much!
Date: 24 May 2014 14:58 Title: Winona Kirk
Bloody brilliant. I was wondering at the increasing little nods to the Star Trek 09 movie and for a moment I had a thought we might get Winona Kirk in this piece but I stupidly never thought to connect his death to an act of bravery and saving Winona Kirk's life - and by default then Kirk's. So again, Tommy does not see the full breadth of how his life impinged and affected others. And we can safely say now, the universe's too for without his sarcrifice, there'd be no Kirk. Super job and a terrific way of tying this all together and beautiful ending. And now he can be with Takara. Sublime.
Author's Response:
Many thanks and he will haunt her dreams until she crosses her own bridge.
Date: 24 May 2014 14:38 Title: Winona Kirk
Oh man, heartbreaking to the end here jespah. What a fantastic series, a glimpse at a man's life in his last moments. This one brought everything full circle, tied it in with nuTrek and gave us closure. Fantastically done!
Author's Response:
I thank you so much!
Date: 24 May 2014 08:50 Title: Erika Hernandez
Captain Hernandez! Ooh, Ooh, she was captain of the... crap.. I don't remember, the NX-02 right? And it was lost during the Earth-Romulan War?
Author's Response:
Oh, that's the book continuity (which I ignore, truth be told)!
Date: 24 May 2014 02:34 Title: Erika Hernandez
The last line ... I love it.
Author's Response:
Thank you. You know bureaucracy, even in eternity ....
Date: 24 May 2014 01:51 Title: Erika Hernandez
Having someone have faith in you in one of the best things you can possibly get. Love the way he speaks about this and how thankful/grateful he is that she put that faith in him. Speaks volumes.
Author's Response:
He probably would have just been a foot soldier without her telling him that he could be a lot more than that. Thank you for your review!
Date: 24 May 2014 01:48 Title: Lili O’Day Beckett Reed
A fond reflection on a favorite meal and the memories within. Well done (and hunger inducing!)
Author's Response:
One of these days, I'll actually figure out how to make her empanadas ....
Date: 24 May 2014 00:39 Title: Erika Hernandez
Yay for Erika, I do wish we could of seen more of her and Archer in cannon. Still you show her kindness mixed with good leadership in this story.
Another excellent story.
Author's Response:
Oh, thank you!