Date: 14 Jun 2009 22:36 Title: Quid Pro Quo
Wow wee! Honestly, that just zinged my brain. Loved every bit of it. Guinan's assurance and confidence shaken by Q's desperation. Q being desperate but trying to pretend otherwise. The verbal play and especially the right on characterisation of Q. Really well done. Nicely conceived and delievered.
Loved too the backstory between Q and Guinan and the turbulent history between the Q and the El-Aurians. Fascinating stuff and so neatly conveyed here. Hope for more of this. I really do hope it is a series.
The whole story concept and idea is something new on me. Like it very much and as I say it fries my head. Awesome.
Date: 12 Jun 2009 12:07 Title: Quid Pro Quo
Wow, the mind just boggles at the possibilities.
This is truly a great jumping off point for another of your phenomenal Q stories, one that weaves past and future, TOS, TNG, and nuTrek all into one. I'm hoping for more...
Date: 11 Jun 2009 19:27 Title: Quid Pro Quo
I like where you took this but the references to other events just means I have a need to read more of your stuff....
Date: 11 Jun 2009 17:12 Title: Quid Pro Quo
I am confused...was that Q? and Guinan but with different names?
Anyway..I like the start of this story. Keep it going...
Rob
Author's Response: Yes. In "Q Who" when Guinan is introduced by name, Q says, "Guinan? Is that your name now?" So when they first knew each other, it wasn't her name (although it was a name she'd used before, as she had it in the 19th century in the episode with Mark Twain.) As for Q, I consider it impossible to imagine that an ineffable race of beings of pure thought energy actually named themselves after a letter of our alphabet. Their name is a translation of a difficult-to-translate concept; only in English/Fed. Standard are they the "Q". And since names are important to the El-Aurian people (again, my guess based on Guinan changing her name repeatedly), and Guinan knows many Q ("Some of them are almost respectable"), I imagined that she (and other El-Aurians) gave individual names to them.
When Spock Prime gets involved, Q's name will be Q again, since that's his name in Federation Standard and the name Spock Prime knows him by. But Guinan's name might never actually change back to Guinan in this timeline.