Date: 12 Jun 2014 00:00 Title: Graduation Day
I thoroughly enjoyed this look at a young, fresh-faced, and rather unsure of herself Bethany. Quite different from the strong, confident woman we see in later years, but oh-so-true. There aren't many people who know exactly what they want to do with their lives upon graduation, so this felt quite real. She'll make it work, and make her future career fit the person she is. This was a great introspective piece. Nice job, kes.
Date: 11 Jun 2014 08:01 Title: Graduation Day
Wow...that was absolutely wonderful. I know many people entering the military who had no idea where to go after commissioning; they had similarly "fallen into" the service with little direction.
The part where you talk about her feeling guilty for not deploying to the front lines...I can relate to that very well. I've been privileged to deploy four times now, but I'd never ever hold that against someone who was denied that chance through no fault of their own. You grow where you're planted. I hope Hank would tell her something similar.
Loved this...you did a great job with the character, and it was a wonderful fit in trekfan's universe. Well done.
Date: 08 Jun 2014 12:12 Title: Graduation Day
Good take on Bethany, I think it had a good realism as so many young people fresh from university or he academy hit that "So what now?" question point.
Good job.
Date: 08 Jun 2014 09:52 Title: Graduation Day
Great little character piece about the not so difficult to imagine anxiety of Academy graduates who do not have a ready-made vision of their splendid destiny within Starfleet. Not everyone dreams of becoming the next great starship captain, an explorer or a war hero.
Bethany is going to do just fine down the road but here, at the beginning of her journey, you did a terrific job of capturing that fleeting sense of 'what's next?'
Date: 08 Jun 2014 02:11 Title: Graduation Day
This is great because it resonates with so many readers at points in their lives. It's an every mans tale set within the Trek universe.life is waiting out there for people young people especially but not everyone is sure where they are headed. Sometimes the paths chosen were chosen for the wrong reason or for reasons unknown or simply, simply to have a path to follow. If you convince yourself you have a plan then maybe a plan will come forth. Interesting times lay ahead for Bethany.
i love that you explore an aspect of her choosing Ops and why it over other areas. I also like that Bethany struggles with her future path and is uncertain. It seems she was always hankering for Hank and wanted simply to follow him. It's only later in life that she will find her own standing but isn't it refreshing to read a character who doesn't know their path? Neat job stealing trekfan's universe.
Date: 07 Jun 2014 21:56 Title: Graduation Day
Lovely and very true to life. We are assaulted, in a way, in pro-written Trek and in fan fiction, with people who always, always, always seem to know what they are going to do, and where they are going to go.
Frankly, this is why I like Wesley Crusher (in part). He ends up a bit anchorless. It's a bit of Peggy Lee's old song, "Is That All There Is?"
Bethany, like countless young people before her, and countless after her, will find her way. And it might just be something that was impossible before. I love the pensive, reflective mood of this. Well done.
Date: 07 Jun 2014 19:49 Title: Graduation Day
That was spot on Bethany. The questions you ask, those are questions I could absolutely see herself asking. Bethany in her younger years is almost completely undefined and that's more a problem with how I conceived her (as only a love interest to Hank) rather than her fault as a character.
You've given her a direction in her youth, fresh out of the Academy, that I was unable to and done a marvelous job at it.