[Report This]Date: 04 Apr 2009 15:48 Title: Chapter 8
It's nice to know LaForge can be an insensitive jerk on occasion to everyone; still, your characterization of the TNG cast and Q especially is truly top-rate stuff. I can see both sides of the argument here, too; no small feat. Looking forward to seeing where this goes!
Date: 03 Apr 2009 19:53 Title: Chapter 7
Yes, it is definitely a ton of fun watching Q work. He thinks brilliantly outside of the TNG box, right down to knowing how to manipulate knowledge in ways that are beneficial. I'd venture he's an asset to the Federation beyond what they could imagine -- damn shame they might not realize that in any positive ways.
Date: 02 Apr 2009 18:00 Title: Chapter 6
It's really fun to watch Q's poor emotional regulation; you know he's going to improve it, just because he has to actually live, but it still makes for a thoroughly neat thing to watch.
Date: 01 Apr 2009 15:52 Title: Chapter 5
Your Wesley's definitely much neater than the original canon version was, at least in that era. His interactions with Q are priceless; him being a sneak is even better.
[Report This]Date: 31 Mar 2009 13:46 Title: Chapter 4
I absolutely love the fact you included The Cold Equations. That story has haunted me since I was... crap, a whole lot younger. I've never given up on trying to save the girl, and sometimes I'll even go back and try to think of some new way to do it. Was a bit disappointed with Picard for not actually realizing what the point of sci-fi was in our period of time, but that sort of nods towards the sometimes worryingly... not-quite-as-utopian-as-it-looks society TNG takes place in. Great character study and arguments on both sides.
Date: 31 Mar 2009 13:23 Title: Chapter 3
"I'm in engineering. Data and I are trying to figure out how to build an artificial wormhole with stone knives and bearskins."
Given how you think, I wouldn't be shocked if Edith Keeler had been a Q. ::laughs:: Fascinating chapter.
Date: 30 Mar 2009 16:33 Title: Chapter 2
Ha! I loved the linguistics discussion, even if it didn't get completed; I had never actually thought of that before, especially when it came to the Vulcans. I imagine the answer would be that the Vulcans allow humans and other humanoids to call them that because the actual pronunciation would be impossible for them, but still, it was a neat little side note. The whole chapter was interesting, though, from Q's uncivilized behavior, to his more-civilized-than-humanity behavior, to his use of physics and the basic laws of the universe to suggest a plan that's so outlandish, it just might work.
Date: 29 Mar 2009 19:40 Title: Chapter 1
Finally got to start on this. I think the most fun I got was watching Q go too far when he was trying to clean himself up -- that's a fabulous, fun kind of reaction. All of it, though, was good; his (rather smart) notion that clothes are kind of useless, the way he reacted to his hair being a mess, all of it.
Date: 24 Mar 2009 05:43 Title: Chapter 5
This was actually kind of fun watching Wesley and Q work together!
I appreciated the "when you absolutely positively have to..." line: nice FedEx reference! ;-)
Also, it was interesting as they discussed the value of thenno. I wonder, in this universe, would Q's comments about Bajor result in the early discovery of the wormhole? What if the Cardassians get hold of that information? That could have SERIOUS implications down the line if the Obsidian Order ever finds out what Q said and puts it together before the Federation does!!! Gul Dukat as Emissary...that could be BAD...VERY BAD...
Author's Response: It would be, true... but I doubt there are Cardassian spies in Engineering aboard the Enterprise, so unless Wesley puts it in a report it's not likely to go any further than Q. (Also, technically I think Dukat couldn't be the Emissary because Sisko was predestined to be, having been borne by a Prophet possessing his mother's body, so he's sort of half-Prophet from the beginning.) But this is why it would be a good idea, if Q survives this, for them to keep an eye on him rather than shipping him off to some starbase, as they wanted to do; even assuming Q *cares* about not disrupting Alpha Quad politics, which is arguable at this point, Q simply doesn't know what they don't know and therefore couldn't *help* giving them information that's potentially destructive. :-)
Date: 13 Mar 2009 23:57 Title: Chapter 4
Very interesting so far...watching Q cope with being a mortal on a permanent basis is quite fascinating--and I would definitely like an answer as to why it is he retained all this physics knowledge and such, and yet knows nothing about being in humanoid form.
I'm also liking the insight into the Calamarain.
Another interesting aspect, though...that Q would be so angry about emotion-reading, considering he likely did the same thing to others. I do think, though, that he actually starts a valid debate about the ethical use of telepathic/empathic powers. That was one of the things about Troi that creeped me out...unlike with a Vulcan where you (usually) get the chance to consent to a mind-meld, there is no consent involved in this case.
I also look forward to seeing what happens if Q regains his powers--if he will be changed by this experience or not...
Author's Response: The reason Q remembers so much about physics and so little about having a humanoid body is the same reason you will forget a telephone number you dialed once last week but remember the ones you dial every day. He's had to compress billions of years of life into a human brain -- most of his memories just won't fit. So he lost all but the most recent or most relevant or most outstanding memories, knowledge, and so forth, and to a Q, who works with physics *constantly* to do the things they do but rarely is actually in a humanoid body and isn't bound by its restrictions when they are, physics is vastly more important than the care and feeding of a human body. It's probably true that Q did the emotion-reading thing to other people, but the thing he points out to Picard is true -- in the entire series, he never *did* read their thoughts or emotions and then publicly reveal information about them based on what he saw. We know he *can* read minds because he said he got the Napoleonic marshal outfit from Picard's mind, but he doesn't use it to humiliate people -- and given how many, many things he *does* do to humiliate people, I drew the conclusion that that's actually a taboo for him. I doubt he's never done it -- in a lifespan as long as his, there's probably very little he's never done -- but it's actually notable that he doesn't do it in the series, given what a jerk he is about everything else. :-)