Date: 15 Dec 2013 00:06 Title: Triangle Theory
Oh Kes7, this internal hurt of your three main characters is so believable; each of them is true to the character you’ve given them. John, worrying about his friends and the one girl he can’t have.
Maren knowing she not lying well to John or herself over the effect of Icheb leaving her has had on her. The self-torture she putting herself thorough bears a realistic feel of broken love. Trying not to hate the people she really blames for his coming death over the sacrifice implant.
Then Icheb himself trying to be a logical person, trying to convince himself that he spare Maren the pain of his death, he seems not to have realize the pain their separation would have on her. The logic of his reason for wanting to run back to the Delta quadrant on the Tesseract rather than returns, does strike me as someone trying to do the right thing for all the wrong reasons.
Date: 31 May 2013 02:42 Title: Triangle Theory
I thought your ficlets broke my heart. They have nothing on this. I understand Icheb's reasoning for doing what he did, but in a way, it broke both of them. Just when they need each other the most, when they can draw on that strength they so obviously get from one another they find themselves alone, adrift and hurting.
Got news for you, Icheb - running isn't going to change reality (if the doctor is, in fact, right in his assessment that nothing further can be done) and now Maren will have to face that devastation on her own. When people truly love each other, things like this don't matter - they want, they *need* that time together - especially in the case of thhe one who will be left behind.
Maren's gonna be devastated when he's gone anyway ("I checked the casualty lists often, because I know he's gonna be there one day"), and in many ways it will be worse for her, not better, to not understand his final days. To not know how it was, whether he was in pain or not at the end, and to always wonder if there was something she could have done - a way to have made it more bearable for him.
But this seems very real, and believable - tragedies have a way of bringing people who are close even closer, or separating them by an impassable gulf of misunderstanding and profound grief. My heart aches for them, and for J. Q., who is caught in the middle and loves them both but has no idea how to help either of them.
This (and the ficlets) make me want to really, really know more about these two, and Tesseract is definitely going on my reading list. Hopefully I can start on it once the craziness that is the TToT dies down. ;)
Author's Response:
Thank you so much for the lovely review, LBD. Icheb has a way of confining intense emotions within a cage of intellectual rationalizations. We saw it in "Imperfection" when his fear of losing Seven translated into him risking his life to save hers against everyone else's wishes, including hers. He didn't talk about his emotions ... he just made a plan, made a decision and carried it out, without caring for a second what anyone else thought about it. He's incredibly stubborn, and once he's made his mind up about something, the only person who is going to change it is him.
I'm glad this makes you want to check Tess out. It's a very different kind of story than this one, but Icheb and Maren are star players and you'll get to see the aftermath of this. I hope you enjoy.
Date: 31 May 2013 01:56 Title: Triangle Theory
Oh, Icheb! Lovers have been together through someone's terminal illness since humans were living in caves. I do understand the decision you've had him make, but it's still, well, there's reams of precedent for staying together. And potentially working on a treatment - forget the Doctor claiming that all options have been exhausted. After all, Icheb isn't exploring anything like that on the Hale. He could, conceivably, do something to help his own cause.
John - cripes! He needs to get laid. By someone over than Maren. Srsly.
And he is unfairly in the middle of this drama. But he has allowed himself to get dragged into it. He needs a major diversion.
Maren - she is, obviously, clinically depressed, waiting for word that Icheb is no more. And not allowing herself to feel righteously angry at him for, essentially, giving up and shutting her out.
Damage, damage, damage.
Very well-written, complex characters!
Author's Response:
Well, as for your message to Icheb, you're channeling Maren, there. She thinks the exact same thing!
Re: John -- He does get laid. A lot. By all the women BUT Maren. That's the problem.
Maren ... yeah, she's depressed, and definitely unwilling to blame the one she loves. Her anger comes later, much later. You'd have to read Tesseract for that. ;-)
Thank you so much for the review!
Date: 29 May 2013 21:00 Title: Triangle Theory
This hurts to read in the best way possible. You’ve squeezed every ounce of regret, disappointment, sadness, and caring into these words, top to bottom. I can identify with each of these characters in different ways.
For John, it’s the one that got away and then became something you couldn’t live for out. It’s both the best and worst way for things to turn out. A girl he clearly loves, that he clearly wishes to hold and have, but is prevented. Not because there’s anything physically in his way so much as internally, that JQ loyalty to his friends that is virtually unshakeable. The three of them, together, make a sum greater than their parts. JQ doesn’t want to lose her by crossing that line and we can all identify with that. We all know that feeling, I certainly do … there are some friends you can never risk that with. The loss would be too great.
We have Maren, who’s tired. She’s wore out, exhausted in some ways with life. Icheb is going to die, he’s accepted it and left her by herself. She’s tried to move on but when you find the right person, the one who speaks to you in ways you didn’t know was possible, the one who’s completed you before you knew you needed to be completed … you can’t forget that. It’s admirable that she’s tried as long as she did and sad at the same time that she’s checked out of those areas of life that she knows can no longer hold any real meaning for her.
Icheb is perhaps the one I identify with most. He’s screwed up. He knows it. He had the best thing that ever happened to him, sitting in his lap, in his hands, and he held onto her for many years. She was to be his wife. They were to happy and for once in his long journey everything was lining up. Then it wasn’t. Then it fell apart and in a desperate struggle to gain control of the situation … he left her. To spare her the pain of watching him die. I don’t agree with the decision, I feel like he made it out of a place of fear more than out of a place of mercy, but he made it. And now he wishes he didn’t, in some ways. For every reason he has to hold onto her, he finds a reason to spare her.
It’s a sad, sad way.
But Team I/M has the utmost faith Icheb will make this right. A touching, deep story one that was written in first person to the finest degree. Well done. We should all be so lucky to experience the love these three have for one another.
Date: 27 May 2013 17:01 Title: Triangle Theory
Out of the three accounts I think John's account was the best. I particularly like the first bit 'I’d run my hand along her perfect creamy cheek and bring her lips to mine and make sure she knows without a doubt that she doesn’t ever have to be alone, because I would keep touching her like that forever, if only she would let me.'
That is so sweet and poetic, and one of the most tender things I have ever come across in Trek fan fiction! Icheb/Maren is right up there with Romeo and Juliet and all those great romances. The coolest thing about it is that there isn't a chemistry per se between Icheb and Maren, I mean yes they share common attributes like intelligence, resourceful and social awkwardness. But you don't make the two deliberately sexy, and instead it really feels like the genuine bonding of two different souls.
As for Maren, no matter how much she says she just wants Icheb back, I know he will have to bow on scrape on the ground before her, before Maren even considers letting him back into her good books. So I wouldn't say this is soap-like this is solid bona fide drama, though I wonder if Maren and Icheb would ever truly rekindle the love they once had for each other.
That's one other thing I will be looking for in your second Tesseract book. And as for Icheb, boy does he say the obvious in such PC ways! In particular I love how he expressed his desire to be in bed with Maren. Though one slight problem I had is Icheb doesn't seem as guilty about what he has done, he seems to mostly rationalise his choice though again that's Icheb for you.
As a story which introduces these three friends, this totally nails it for any newcomer to the Tesseract series. So good job and a great read!
Date: 19 Nov 2012 02:37 Title: Triangle Theory
Oh, nobility - how tough it can be to do the so-called right thing. And that seems to be the issue for all three legs of this triangle.
Author's Response:
Thanks for reading, jespah! I'm really glad you commented.
Date: 21 Feb 2010 11:57 Title: Triangle Theory
This is a tragic, gut-wrenching look at the strained relationships between three of Tesseract's major characters, prior to their arrival onboard. John's strong bond with both Icheb and Maren, as well as his unrequited love for Maren are simultaneously wonderful and achingly sad. Icheb's self-imposed exile has left him alone and afraid, while Maren drifts though life as an empty shell of her former potential.
This terrific short-story helps encapsulate and summarize the relationships that will become such a driving force behind the Tesseract storyline.
Kudos!
Author's Response:
Thanks for reading and reviewing, Gibraltar! I'm very glad you liked it.
Date: 17 Feb 2010 18:11 Title: Triangle Theory
A very nice, and very timely, short story which not only helps to further explore and understand three of your most interesting and crucial characters, but also gives us the unique opportunity to see a single situation from three different vantage points. A terrific stylistic method which you have managed to pull off flawlessly.
Author's Response:
Thanks for reading and reviewing, CeJay! I really appreciate your kind comments about both the content and style of this piece. I'm very happy you liked it!
Date: 17 Feb 2010 13:15 Title: Triangle Theory
Terrific absolutely bleeding heart breaking terrific kes. The trio each get a spotlight each. Their reflections on the date and how so it is viewed through Icheb's eyes is a terrific detail and oddity. It always strikes me how smart you make the nuances and differences between Icheb understanding of the world because of his Borg assimilation. There are many obvious pitfalls and gags you could go for but it always tends to be smart, insightful, sometimes heartbreaking or intriguing and always an honest reflection of Icheb. What can I say at this stage but great stuff kes.
Author's Response:
Thanks for reading, MF, and for your kind comments!
Writing Icheb, I do try to avoid the Borg gags whenever possible. Assimilation is so obviously a horrible, life-changing, never-recover-from-it-completely kind of thing, and it always kind of bugged me on Voyager when the characters would make light of it. One of my favorite moments from the series was when Harry and Tom were in the mess hall having a beer after blowing up a Borg scout ship, and Tom was reassuring a slightly regretful Harry, saying "Come on, we did them a favor, they were just mindless automatons." Seven was right behind them and looked less than pleased. Tom said, "I didn't mean anything by it," and Seven replied, "It is impossible to offend a mindless automaton" in this voice just dripping with sarcasm, and walked away. It was one of the rare occasions when the writers really acknowledged the insensitivity so often displayed by the characters with regard to Seven, and later, Icheb.
Anyway, I try to avoid indulging in the same insensitivity with my writing. The whole ex-Borg thing is so complex and layered and deserves better than a few funny cracks or stereotypes. Especially for someone like Icheb who has the added baggage of the story behind his assimilation and the fact that he regained free will before he was actually able to leave the Borg cube (yet, under pressure, chose to yield his will, at least for a while, to First). His little arc on the show WAS kind of heartbreaking. And intriguing. So I'd agree with that assessment of his character, and I'm glad you think I'm doing it justice with this more grown-up version. Thanks again!
[Report This]Date: 15 Feb 2010 20:54 Title: Triangle Theory
That's a beautiful,melancholy story of love lost. It makes me want to know more about your star-crossed lovers.
Author's Response:
Wow, thank you very much, Mistral! It means a lot to me that someone who isn't very familiar with these characters would rate this story so highly. I've got plenty more angst and drama for those three scattered throughout Tesseract, as well as a few shorts ... feel free to check the whole series out if you want to see more. Again, thanks so much for reading, and for the kind review. It's much appreciated!