Date: 24 May 2016 19:18 Title: Star Trek: Tesseract
Love seeing JQ for the first time here. Chipper and good-natured as always, he provides a much needed since of grounding. Whereas there's clearly a secret being kept from him (and between Maren and Icheb), you can see how much it grates on her not to tell him.
And yet, whatever the secret is, it clearly isn't enough to NOT convince her to talk to Icheb as she finds him waiting outside her quarters. Whatever was there is still there.
Date: 20 May 2016 23:23 Title: Star Trek: Tesseract
Ah, the first meeting between the two star-crossed lovers. Little did I -- or anyone for that matter -- know how much these two would influence the course of this mission.
Seeing Maren's thoughts here, among her first days aboard the ship, is perfect. The commentary about the way the ship was designed (especially this bio-neural gel packs, messy and wasteful as they are) was spot on. The engineers all in my head were all with her.
Date: 20 May 2016 00:43 Title: Star Trek: Tesseract
Oh, man. This is fun. Decided this story deserved a good re-read (like any favorite book) and this first chapter is chock-full of one of Irina. She's shameless. She's flirty. She's fun. She knows what she wants and how to get it.
Looking back, I wonder how this scene would look from Icheb's point of view. His introduction here was quick, but covered all the basics (and a few extras thanks to Irina's fascination).
But the bigger question is whatever happened to Eric Bouchard? I'm curious to see if he gets mentioned ever again, because I can't remember his name coming up again ... so that means he either got redshirted or he's still around.
Date: 22 Dec 2015 18:54 Title: The Way We Wanted It To Be
This is nice. And so sweet. And... wow. Just... wow.
Date: 05 Jul 2015 14:52 Title: Life Lessons
It's very true - there are shades of meaning and this is why we, as writers, are well-served by reading a lot and continually editing and paying attention to word choice. You're good at this; I like to think I'm improving at it. I think it's a part of what gives away more experience versus less.
For Maren, technically 'stubborn' isn't an insult. Yet it seems to feel that way to her all the same. It's the part where her gifts are, in some ways, denigrated.
Date: 05 Jul 2015 02:52 Title: Life Lessons
Yes. Agree with her on all points here; people call me "stubborn" far more than they call me "tenacious" and "stubborn" is often used in a negative way. Stubborness isn't a horrible thing, it has it's benefits (as Maren no doubt proves) but I get where she's coming from.
Date: 04 Jul 2015 18:38 Title: Life Lessons
Aww. Iden's a sweetheart (with deep pockets) and her dad turned out to be a good guy too. A fun look at our favorite Bolian and how kind she is.
Date: 04 Jul 2015 02:55 Title: Life Lessons
Oh, that's an excellent closing line! They sound like people I would love to know. :)
Date: 02 Jul 2015 13:52 Title: Life Lessons
I see you went with a downbeat story for this prompt. Adele's pain is very real and well-realized.
I think this is where Trek in particular is fictional. A lot of the magical stuff is, too, but the nuts and bolts of distance are truly wrong. Even if you hit Einstein upside the head and blow his theory away, space is still FAR. And it seems like only VOY and ENT really got that and tried to show it at all. I recognize that the demands of weekly television don't allow for showing the reality, but even a ship traveling at 1000 times the speed of light is going to take a month or so to traverse 100 light-years, and 400 or so light-years is still on the same galactic arm that we're on. Hence her comprehension that the distance is hard to fathom? Right on target.
Difficult and haunting; Adele is hurting in a way that's very relatable.
Author's Response:
Me? Downbeat? Never. (Heh.)
Voyager was definitely the best, IMO, about showing the insane distances involved with this kind of travel. At max cruising velocity, they could travel 1000 light years in a YEAR. Hence the 70-something year optimistic estimate for getting home.
In Tesseract, I try to keep the distance in perspective, even though the QSD means that under certain circumstances, they can cross the galaxy in a month. But they're not doing that every day. The insane energy levels and computational power needed to do that means that it's good for very large jumps and emergency escapes, and not much else -- it's just not worth the resources (they're not utilizing dark matter drives just yet ;-) ), and besides, their ability to see the universe around them is limited at that effective velocity ... meaning it's hard to really "explore" at slipstream speed. So they're at "regular" warp a lot of the time, and sometimes, they have to weigh whether the use of the QSD is worth it.
As for Adele, she's an empath who basically just lost the other half of her soul. Yes, she's hurting, and in some ways, she always will be.
Thanks for the review!
Date: 02 Jul 2015 11:23 Title: Life Lessons
Truth spoken here in such few short words. You can definitely hear how thankful she is that Ken isn't a Borg, but you can hear her missing him all the same (as well she should).
Author's Response:
If he had been taken instead of killed, there's no way Adele would still be in Starfleet, except maybe on a suicide mission of vengeance. I can't imagine the assimilation of one's Imzadi would do anything but ruin a Betazoid. But yes, she missed him desperately ... and still does. There's a reason she hasn't married again in all this time.
Date: 01 Jul 2015 20:58 Title: Life Lessons
Man, Taran has a mess of a backstory much like my own Betazoid. The two definitely need to share a drink at some point in the future and exchange some tales. Striking pience, and a great look into a character that often gets forgotten about in the Tess universe.
Author's Response:
Well, she hasn't been forgotten so much as ... uh, replaced, at least in her core importance to the story. ;-) But yes, Taran and Felicia have more in common than their taste in human men. :)
Date: 01 Jul 2015 15:30 Title: Life Lessons
This is the 'magical' Star Trek characteristic that I am least interested in having for myself. I agree with Taran, that it would be overwhelming. I think with Deanna and Lwaxana it was often played for laughs, but the reality is that all of that internal back and forth would likely drive most of us nuts.
Well done as always!
Author's Response:
I guess it's all in what you're used to, but as a writer, I can think of nothing worse than anyone being able to peek into my unfinished, unedited thoughts ... and I really don't want to know what most other people are thinking, either. Between this and the naked weddings, Betazed is not for me. Bring on the flattering formalwear!
Date: 01 Jul 2015 02:07 Title: Life Lessons
Ouch. JQ, you make a convincing case for abstinence, not because of any possible diseases, but because of all the emotional havoc physical intimacy like this entails.
A painfully true piece, one that strikes at one's heart. Well done.
Author's Response:
JQ is horrified by the idea of abstinence in general, but in this case, he agrees it would have been better to keep it in his pants. There's a reason he usually sticks to sexually adventurous girls and telepaths ... he likes to have all the cards on the table, with no hidden agendas and/or expectations.
[Report This]Date: 30 Jun 2015 19:03 Title: Life Lessons
So she is memorable after all, although not for the so-called 'right' reasons.
JQ is my fave of the three. I just feel like his pain and his struggles are the most real. I hope that came out right. I like the others, but John strikes me as the most plausible and real, the one whose voice to me rings the truest.
This ficlet works extremely well, as his guilt, his caddishness, his faraway jealousy all conspire to make this a finely-etched portrait. Well done.
Author's Response:
Thanks, jes. It's not surprising that anyone would find John the most relatable of my "big three," as he's the only one who's "only human." (Yes, Maren's human, too, but she's more than that. She's carrying a genetic legacy that skews her more in Icheb's direction than in John's. She's not normal, and probably not all that relatable to most people.) I think most people have had a moment like John had here, when they realize too late that their own issues have become deep enough to splash over the sides of their carefully constructed walls, potentially drenching or even drowning innocent bystanders.
Date: 29 Jun 2015 13:54 Title: Life Lessons
Whew. That was a lot of spitfire coming out of Atherton's mouth, but a lot of what he says isn't off base. If Icheb was genetically engineered to be that smart, that superior, he'd totally be banned (unless he pulled a Bashir and snuck by). Starfleet -- and the Federation in general -- let's things enhanced with tech get a pass (Icheb, Data) and they freak out at genetic engineering.
Atherton is an asshole, concerned only for himself (and theoretically Rachel), but he does make solid points in his soliloquy. He just doesn't bother to consider how shitty Icheb (or Seven) must feel.
Author's Response:
Atherton told me to tell you that Icheb and Seven should feel shitty. If they'd turn the contents of their cortical arrays over to Starfleet, maybe he'd reconsider his position ever so slightly. But as long as they're playing the "my thoughts are my own, even though they're not really all my thoughts" card, he's going to keep on hating them.
(Shorter Atherton: "Haters gonna hate.")
Date: 29 Jun 2015 13:05 Title: Life Lessons
Woof, that's some major hostility - although I can see why, In the filmverse, assimilation is seen as so much worse than death that people like Hawke are just outright killed. Despite the success with Locutus, no one tries (although in all, heh, fairness, the Enterprise was outnumbered and they were desperate).
Good capture of an angry, bitter, hostile man.
Author's Response:
Thanks. :) I think Locutus was an exception because he was designed from the start to be a different kind of drone, one more attractive to or compatible with humanity's independent nature. I'm thinking that was why it was so easy for them to remove so much of his technology, although we see in FC that it's obviously not ALL gone. But that's just fanwank on my part.
Date: 28 Jun 2015 22:03 Title: Life Lessons
Oh, this is bittersweet and hard to read. But it is, ultimately, his decision to make. But it seems to be getting made as a matter of weights and measures. Looking forward to seeing how you handle the rest of the prompts.
Author's Response:
I'm hoping to hit a lot of other characters this week. Icheb just jumped out as today's victim -- ahem, subject. (Oh, never mind, that sounds just as bad.) Thanks for the review!
Date: 28 Jun 2015 22:03 Title: Life Lessons
That was a tough one. Hate to see Icheb break all that down mathmatically, without the benefit of hope or faith -- something with Maren provides -- and come to the cold conclusion that he has to go in order to save the woman he loves from his death.
I like your take on this, but it makes me sad.
Team I/M wishes it wasn't so.
Author's Response:
Yeah, a bit depressing, but it's a theme and topic very much on my mind IRL and it fit the challenge. Not all of them will be this dark. (I hope ... )
Date: 28 Jun 2015 19:37 Title: Paradox
Well, Levi managed to avoid the horrible timeline spawning event (and did it classically), Marci is out of the picture, and now the three primary stars are all about to meet each other in a very interesting way. I'm intrigued. Loved the confused and hesistant way Levi was acting here, completely unprepared for it all, and the interaction between Icheb and Maren is fun as usual.
I wonder how he manages to destroy this thing ... or if he just manages to convince the two that it isn't worth doing.
Author's Response:
Thank you for reviewing (this is jes). I have no idea what he's going to do next. This story might end up on Unblock the Block.
Date: 28 Jun 2015 19:31 Title: Paradox
Oh. Oh, oh. Oh.
Man, this is a mess, but one I couldn't stop laughing at. A thousand different timelines launched, and all of them dreadfully bad for the universe ... but oh so fun.
Date: 28 Jun 2015 19:27 Title: Paradox
What a mess, but I was smiling all the way through. Levi finds himself in the most hilarious of situations ... he's about to score a homerun and doesn't even know he's playing!
Definitely get why Maren is annoyed Stratton girl, though. God, she's a pain.
Date: 28 Jun 2015 19:21 Title: Paradox
So sweet. These two together is a rightness that is hard to find in fiction.
Team I/M approves whole-heartedly.
Date: 28 Jun 2015 19:15 Title: Paradox
LOL, Levi. Trying to bed someone he just met in the past? Man, Richard Daniel's old ship sure has a strange effect on people. Charmingly awkward as usual. I wonder how he's going to lead them down a different path?
Date: 28 Jun 2015 19:06 Title: Paradox
Oh, fun set up. How I managed NOT to leave a review for this before is beyond me, but I like the way all this comes to pass -- very naturally for all parties involved. It pleases me to no end that we get to see Icheb and Maren happy here and Levi, of all people, becoming friendly with them.
And pie. We love pie.
Moving on ...
Date: 28 Jun 2015 18:58 Title: Star Trek: Tesseract -- Part II
Ominous, vague, and oh so Q ... loved it. The interplay between Junior and Maren is layered, the meaning behind his words chilling. What he did to her mind is a question to be answered later, I suppose, but Maren is now awake.
Now things are going to get REALLY interesting.