Date: 16 Nov 2009 01:54 Title: Chapter 1
This was really interesting. An example of great characterisation too. There was sadness that Pike was not aware of and it also seems that AOS Spock is much more assured of himself than TOS Spock was in his youth. I was wondering just yesterday if TOS Spock would have told the Science Academy to go jump quite the way that AOS Spock did. I don't see why not, as the timeline shouldn't have altered that much, but having read this, I'm wondering all the more. TOS Spock seemed much less confident as a Lieutenant in 'The Cage'.
Thanks for a good read and an interesting perspective. Thanks for writing and sharing.
Nutty
(at work, at lunch)
Author's Response: I also think a major difference between young AOS Spock and young TOS Spock is that his emotions in general are much closer to the surface. As you noted, him telling the Science Academy off is a good example, plus the general PO'dness he had every time he had an interaction with Kirk. Perhaps the "irritation" is how he channeled the uncertainty and lack of confidence we saw around "The Cage" era. I'm glad you enjoyed the story.
Date: 22 May 2009 22:04 Title: Chapter 1
I should add that I liked how Prime Spock wanted to visit Pike. It bespoke of the importanc ethis man had in his life. Especially so, when one considers that Spock, trapped where he is, has to say goodbye to that life and those memories.
Spock's loyalty and willingness to sacrifice career and life for Pike is always a testamne to the hidden emotions of the Vulcan. So Pike must have been very important. A mentor. An inspiration. I like how you honour it here.
Author's Response: I think I need to re-watch "The Menagerie" again!
Date: 22 May 2009 20:50 Title: Chapter 1
An excellent tale Rocky. This adds a depth and level of emotion in part absent in the new movie. Hoever, it does the movie justice and the characters too by exploring it so. It has so much potential for what they will do with the characters we know and how these things will change them.
The greatest joy of the movie was seeing Pike treated so heroically. The greatest sadness was the sadness surrounding Prime Spock's fate. A sadness you touched on and affectionally told here. He has indeed the loss of his universe, his past, his memories, his reputation and friendships to cope as well as the guilt attached to Nero's incursion and alteration to the timeline.
The hidden emotion of Spock, and how Pike could see it and understand it, was nicely done and deftly handled. I also found the words spoken by Prime Spock to be spot on. The choice of words and the hidden emotion were like they were lifted off the screen. I could see Nimoy saying those lines. Really well done.
Author's Response: Thanks! I'm glad the emotions resonated for you. I also loved Pike in the movie, and I would have enjoyed seeing some interaction between these two on screen.
Date: 20 May 2009 18:45 Title: Chapter 1
I enjoyed this immensely. Chris Pike was an integral part of TOS even though we only ever saw him in that one episode. He must have been a special man, indeed to cause our logical, rational Vulcan to risk everything - his friendship with Jim, his career, his very life - to see that his suffering was eased.
IMHO, Chris Pike was one of the best things about the movie, and it was a nice nod to canon to get to see him live up to the potential we only glimpsed in TOS. I was also waiting for the horrific event which we expected in some form or another, and was glad to see something positive come out of this reality which changed so many things and people for the worse.
It must have been so - moving, for lack of a better word - for Spock to see Chris Pike alive and functional as opposed to the man he was in TOS. Despite the real and painful losses Spock Prime witnessed, at least there was something positive for him to hold on to.
Great story. Yours is the only one I've permitted myself to read about the movie, and it didn't disappoint! Excellent job!
Author's Response: So glad you liked it! Thanks for the feedback.
Date: 19 May 2009 00:50 Title: Chapter 1
Wow. VERY powerful.
For me, the end of the movie with the new version of Pike was very moving. I'm SO glad to see that someone else felt similarly!
I am glad to see Pike doing what he can to regain function in his legs. That effort is very admirable. And yet...I think his life in this timeline as a paraplegic--but as an admiral, and with a vibrant career (and possibly second career ahead, given the human lifespan of that time) is SO much better.
Most of the other characters, as I watched Star Trek XI, I felt were changed for the worse by the altered timeline, twisted by their suffering. (I say this and I LIKED the movie.)
But Pike...I kept waiting through the entire movie for the axe to fall on him, for him to be either killed or so severely mutilated that he would wind up in a state as bad as his TOS self.
And it didn't.
And that almost made me cheer out loud in the theater--because even though others lost so much, Pike WON.
“No. Don’t include me in your personal tally of penance. I’m alive.”
VERY powerful words. I can't say that enough.
And you really hint, too, how awkward Spock must be feeling about this. I wonder if he's conflicted in himself about the idea of taking comfort in Pike's better fortunes, when compared to so, SO many people who died horribly, including his mother.
But the fact that he would be conflicted--it rings right. This is the same Vulcan that nearly threw away everything for the original Pike's sake.
GREAT work!
Author's Response: Thanks! Pike also resonated with me, and it was fascinating to see a side of him only hinted at previously, as well as his relationship with Spock. Glad you enjoyed the story.
Date: 18 May 2009 15:51 Title: Chapter 1
Very nicely done. You've captured both the original Spock, as well as the re-imagined Chris Pike expertly. A brief but poignant and introspective look at these men, and of a history both shared and lost.
Author's Response: Thanks! I'm glad you liked the story, and I appreciate your taking the time to let me know.