Date: 26 May 2015 16:42 Title: The Other Side of the Galaxy
Still digging this story. I like the fact that you didn't kill off half the senior staff (or at least bridge staff) in this re-imagining. And something tells me this will pan out much different then when it was a Starfleet and a Maquis ship. Maybe they'll get their alliance with the Cardassians after all, even if a temporary one.
Good stuff.
Date: 25 May 2015 08:05 Title: The Caregiver
And just when I thought there could be no more twists! Absolutely fantastic.
Date: 25 May 2015 08:00 Title: HeghlumeH QaQ jajvam
Again, there are so many elements to consider when deciding who might have the upper hand... this fic is so beautifully crafted.
Date: 25 May 2015 07:55 Title: Splinters and Shards
There are so many elements in play in this fic - you do so much in under 500 words a chapter!
Date: 25 May 2015 07:50 Title: Calm Before the Storm
Wow, great build-up of tension!
Date: 24 May 2015 10:12 Title: The Caregiver
Okay, yet another twist I didn't see coming. This is a true who-is-who of the Trek universe, going through all its various iterations. All put into interesting new places. Now we get a taste of what Voyager may have looked like in a different and darker universe. Nicely done.
Date: 24 May 2015 03:15 Title: The Caregiver
WHAT!!?!?! I should have seen the Caretaker coming, but the Borg, I did not see. Way to throw the curveball.
I love the idea of doing this throughout TToT. I wish I could have expanded on my own entries, so maybe I will. Specifically, there was a twist at the end of my last piece I wanted to add and ran out of room for ... hmm. *thinks*
Great work this week, Joel. Really cool stuff.
[Report This]Date: 23 May 2015 16:14 Title: The Caregiver
Well, that's a way to leave a story (even if it is only for a short while). My goodness, a lot to digest here, but I have to say I'm really intrigued as to where you're taking it all. The Borg have advanced much further in this universe than in the prime one, the Caretaker is a Caregiver (and not sickly, it seems), and the DQ dynamics are going to be insanely fun (Federation, Cardassians, Klingons, Odo, and Kira? Talk about a party!). I'm really excited to keep reading on -- I like you're taking the ficlet challenge to the next level (maybe next year we can extend it, perhaps?). Cool stuff.
Date: 23 May 2015 16:11 Title: HeghlumeH QaQ jajvam
WORF. Seeing him in full Klingon warrior mode was nice, especially because you didn't make him the brute he was in the MU (like DS9 did). Curzon still being around was a cool surprise, though I am sad Jadzia isn't there (they should be together somewhere, somehow, but I'm hoping she was a member of the Federation ship taken with the displacement wave).
Date: 23 May 2015 15:15 Title: The Caregiver
Fantastic and creepy. So glad you'll be continuing the story.
Date: 23 May 2015 12:51 Title: The Caregiver
OMG, awesome!
As I pedicted, the Caretaker array did indeed grab these folk but hell no Joel won't let the twists, turns, thrills and spills end there. Instead, we get the Borg. Wowzers. This is a great climatic teeaser end to things and would work perfectly too. leaving the reader to conjecture and speculate on the ending. However, I'm over the moon about the prospect of it continuing. This should be a thrill.
Date: 23 May 2015 12:32 Title: HeghlumeH QaQ jajvam
Oh! I'm going out on a limb and saying this is the Caretaker Array. If so, mad and ingenious story twisting telling. Love that you would take an AU already rich in scope and perspectives but take it to a whole other level by dumping them into the DQ. So Alliance team up with Janeway and co. to make it home to the AQ, then? If so, cna't wait for the reveal.
As for the particulars of this ficlet, I live the touchstone of Dax in Worf's life (albeit Curzon) seems very fitting and Trek small universe multiverse-ness. It works and it works also to develop a depth to the Klingon culture with this family advisor position, etc. Really like that vibe and detail. Great stuff.
PS (does that mean if my theory is correct make Sisko in this scenario the Seska of this tale? Wow - that makes me giddy)
Date: 23 May 2015 03:08 Title: HeghlumeH QaQ jajvam
You win the prize for being the first Ad Astra author in the history of the site to send me to the dictionary. I did not know that "coruscating" meant "flashing and sparkling." Filing that one away for later; thanks for the shiny new piece of vocabulary!
Aside from that, it's interesting to see Curzon Dax in his position here. One wonders at the backstory that led to such an arrangement!
I am also wondering what this weapon is, and who set it off. Odo (or whatever shapeshifter that was) seemed to have stopped Kira from blowing the bomb, but that scene ended with her in unimaginable pain. What's going on here?
One more day to find out.
Date: 22 May 2015 22:23 Title: HeghlumeH QaQ jajvam
Oh, man! What the --?
I wonder if this is temporal, and will smash up this timeline ...?
[Report This]Date: 22 May 2015 03:51 Title: Splinters and Shards
ODO! Yes, with the save and a brilliant manuever at that. Bravo, sir, bravo.
Date: 21 May 2015 23:28 Title: Splinters and Shards
Wow, lots of twists and turns in this. I can almost laugh at the fact, despite the ship being attacked and likely to blow up around them, Kira is determined to work on the bomb. Until Odo decides otherwise. And was he the vole too? Like how it might mirror his introduction in the Prime verse canon too.
Nicely done. Lots of action. Lots of intrigue. Lots of possibilities. Lots of touches with canon and yet new and exciting twists and turns on the character interactions.
[Report This]Date: 21 May 2015 12:24 Title: Splinters and Shards
Odo does creep up into the weirdest of places, doesn't he?
Again, executed (heh) perfectly, very moody and scary. In few words and very short order, the reader is sucked right back in.
Date: 21 May 2015 12:10 Title: Splinters and Shards
Odo? Is that you?!
Well, we have Kira and Odo in the same place (maybe). I can't wait to see where that will go.
As is par for the course with you, this is a fun roller coaster ride, and I'm not sure what the next turn will bring. A drop? A loop? A sideways curve? No matter. Wherever it goes, it's bound to be a fun ride, and I've got my safety bar dropped and locked, so I'm not going anywhere. :)
Date: 21 May 2015 10:50 Title: Splinters and Shards
Another unexpected twist, well done. Looks as if Odo and Kira are not exactly friends in this reality. So much for blowing them all up. Of course there's still Worf and the Klingons to worry about. And from the looks of things, he battle is already joined.
Date: 20 May 2015 18:29 Title: Calm Before the Storm
Oh, Sisko's going to let everyone burn to save Jake. I can't say I blame him, he's got to know the Federation and Starfleet are probably going to fall somewhere inside him. Seeing a young Ensign Hawk was a nice callback to (will he survive here? Dude needs to live somewhere!). The stage has been set and the first act is about to come to a close ... :)
Date: 20 May 2015 17:37 Title: Calm Before the Storm
Yipes! Crumbs! Shit! Great!
Date: 20 May 2015 17:35 Title: Serpents in the Grass
Kira hascause to be angry. But typically DS9 morality stakes coming into play you consider whether her anger is truly justified, whether it is properly targetted, or whether her path is more destructive and disasterous in the long run. DS9 took the whole ambiguity of the different sides and perspectives and played them out really well over the 7 years. Here, you have done so to an extraordinary degree and all within 150 words so far. That's a mean feat. Additionally, I like this this AU so much better than the camp Mirror Universe of DS9. It actually fits better with the tone of the series and its over arching themes and arcs in many ways to play out this Klingon vs Starfleet Yesterday's Enterprise universe. Or certainly, you are selling and writing it far more convincingly than the MU episodes of DS9 ever felt. Super. Terrific. Twisty. Engaging. Rivetting. Awesome... I err.. liked it.
Date: 20 May 2015 17:28 Title: Unlikely Bedfellows
No in seriousness, it really did surprise me. It literally made me draw breath and gasp. That's just fucking with us Joel. Honest to goodness, fucking with us.
I LOVE IT
But super twisty and adds whole new frakked up scenarios to this situation. And apart from that, it really is a case of it being in-character for Sisko, who has shown when pushed can go to extreme lengths (The Maquis and Eddington for example) and loves Jake so much (the entire series).
Date: 20 May 2015 13:41 Title: Calm Before the Storm
Is Ensign Hawk the same person as Lt. Hawk from First Contact? Because that would make me happy.
On to more relevant things ... so Sisko is in on the plan. Understandable, given his plight, but he's no Kirk -- apparently he believes in the no-win situation. That's rather fitting for his character, who was far more ambiguous in his morals and more pragmatic in his dealings than Kirk ever was.
I wonder if he plans to go down with the ship, knowing that he'll never find out whether the Klingons kept their word ...
Author's Response: Yep, Hawk is the same Hawk! So you can be happy! :) Thanks for the comment, glad that the situation fits with Sisko, although I tend to think the Prime Sisko would have been a little more unwilling to go along with the Klingons.
[Report This]Date: 20 May 2015 13:06 Title: Calm Before the Storm
Hawk! I love the connection to the movieverse. I take it, is Idaris a part of the Dax line?
Again, you are perfectly weaving together canon and AU and making for an enjoyable and believable story.
Author's Response: Yay, you recognised Hawk! I was looking for conn officers who would be about the right age to be here, who would be recognisable without being another major character and he fit right in! Glad you're liking this! As for Idaris, I would suggest looking the name up on Memory Beta... :)