Portrait of a Character – Carmen Calavicci
Carmen Calavicci serves a lot purposes.
Origins
For the Temporal Integrity Commission, Richard Daniels could not possibly be doing everything himself. Quartermaster Crystal Sherwood (and the other employees) would need direction as well. Therefore, their ultimate boss, I decided, would be an admiral.
Her name is a riff on Sam Beckett’s companion character in the Quantum Leap television series, Admiral Albert Calavicci.
Portrayal
Carmen is played by Annabella Sciorra. I wanted someone in my Star Trek fanfiction who would be younger than your standard admiral, and who would potentially be unconventional.
Annabella Sciorra as Admiral Carmen Calavicci (image is for educational purposes only)
After all, a lot of what the Temporal Integrity Commission does is off the books and not perfectly organized. I wanted the deep future to be somewhat like that, not so easily recognizable to both us and canon characters of earlier time periods. This is not wholly at odds with Star Trek canon, as Daniels does often seem to be flying a bit by the seat of his pants.
I wanted everyone to be doing that, and so Carmen, the ultimate improviser, was born.
Personality
No-nonsense and efficient, Carmen calls her charges ‘children’ much of the time, and truly cares about whether they’re all right. After all, despite the many physical enhancements they have, and the technology they possess, it’s still a dangerous business to travel in time. Plus I hear a British accent when I hear Carmen’s voice; she just strikes me as someone who’s mid-level posh. However, she’s also more than willing to street fight if it comes to that.
Carmen battles both migraines and alcoholism, but she has both more or less under control. Most of the time.
Relationships
As of the writing of this blog post, Carmen has no known relationships. The only bit is a short, drunken hookup with Rick, which they both regret in the morning.
Mirror Universe
Mirror Carmen (Annabella Sciorra)
There are no impediments to Carmen having a mirror counterpart.
Maybe she does. It’s highly doubtful that she would be an Admiral, even that late in history, long after the fall of the Mirror Empire.
And like most Mirror Universe women, she would likely not receive good treatment, and would use her body to gain privileges. However, as a woman aging, she would be losing her advantages.
FalseBill has written a version of an MU Carmen and has named her Genofeva. She and Carmen are both in Dishing It Out.
Quote
“I, God, this is an awful day and I don’t expect any of you to be unaffected. Three deaths in one day! I’d be shocked if any of you truly were unaffected. But we have some sort of issue, so I’m afraid we don’t have the time or the luxury allowing us to mourn even a little bit. I suppose we’ll all collapse later and become raving basket cases. As for the change, no one can pinpoint it yet.”
Upshot
Carmen is very nearly cigar-chomping, and does not suffer fools gladly. But she needs more back story, which I will write for her one of these days.
