jespah

Shuttlepod pilot, fan fiction writer, sentient marsupial canid.

Mar

2017

Portrait of a Character – Sarek

Sarek Origins

Sarek the character is, of course, canon.

Sarek Portrayal

Ben Cross as Sarek (image is provided for educational purposes only).

As in canon, Sarek is played by Ben Cross when younger and, when older, by Mark Lenard.

Personality

Relationships

Amanda Grayson

The Sarek and Amanda marriage in TOS is perhaps the best-realized love relationship ever in the history of Star Trek. Even though he is emotionally unavailable to Spock (and probably also to Sybok), the same cannot be said of Amanda. Because Vulcans have touch telepathy, and they are often touching, they must be sharing their thoughts nearly all of the time.

Perrin

After Amanda’s death in the prime timeline, Sarek eventually weds Perrin, another human. Because he is older, she is a lot more protective of him and, perhaps, a little too much so.

Mirror Universe

Sarek must exist in the Mirror Universe because Spock does.

Mark Lenard as Mirror Universe Sarek (actually, this is an image of the actor as a Romulan Commander; image is provided for educational purposes only).

Like most denizens of the Mirror, he is tougher and is probably more emotional than a Vulcan should be. The idea is interesting and I might write it.

Quote

Mark Lenard as Sarek (image is provided for educational purposes only).

“I see the humans are mostly on one side, and my fellow Vulcans are on your own side. Yet this dinner, and this week, they have been set aside for you to meet one another. And you are not doing so. And I have been speaking with two persons who were wrongfully sent to Canamar Prison. And you apparently rarely speak with them as well.

“I understand that there is an Earth saying. It is something like this – beggars cannot be choosers. …

“And my understanding of what that signifies is that we are a small band. And we have few options for meeting others. The humans and our other allies have done what they can in order to accommodate and assist us. For without them, we would be most vulnerable. And our species, I am certain, we would die out. For our natural processes, they are slow. I have heard humans refer to Vulcan customs about marriage as moving at a glacial pace. And that is true. But the glaciers, they must be rushed. And wombs must be rented. And we must live in places such as this, for our own safety, and to make friendships among our people. And to, perhaps, meet new mates….

“My understanding is that this is a holiday for family. And our families have all been sundered. And so we must make new ones. And they might have red or blue blood, rather than green, in their veins. They might have emotions. They might eat meat. But consider this. …

“This is my child! He is a Vulcan! And it is he who will help to rebuild our race. He and thousands like him are our future! And these good people, they are, they are no replacement for the ones who are gone. But they are my family now, if they will have me.”

Upshot

As an indispensable part of JJ Abrams universe, this character is also a necessary component of Eriecho’s world. He might even go to her wedding.

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Mar

2017

Review – Paradox

Paradox – boy, are we ever in trouble!

Paradox Background

Deep Future

As a part of a Star Trek fanfiction competition, fellow writer kes7 and I decided to collaborate on this time travel mayhem-style crossover novel. Levi, the most squirrelly and ADHD-addled person in history, nervous and quirky to a fault, would be tasked with saving humanity.

By having to be socially acceptable or at least in the realm of socially competent.

Yeah, I agree.

We’re doomed.

Plot

In which humanity’s survival depends on Levi Cavendish’s social skills. Takes place in 3110.

kes7’s original character, Maren O’Connor (who we decided would be related to Kevin), and canon character Icheb, are an item in her universe. At this stage in their development, they are building their own time traveling device. But this is rather early in the engineering process, and the device is imperfect. It threatens the multiverse and humanity (because why not make the stakes super-high?) and the Temporal Integrity Commission has got to stop them.

Reluctantly, Carmen sends Levi and Otra. However, Otra does not have permission to go to the surface although she can communicate directly through Levi’s implanted communicator. As she feeds him information, he becomes even more confused. It does not help that a girl named Marci is flirting with him, big time. Which is Levi’s mother’s name.

It helps even less that Otra has finally realized that she is in love with him.

Awkward!

Story Postings

Rating

The story is Rated K.

Upshot

We had a lot of fun writing this one, but we will both admit our resolve sometimes wanes. The story remains unfinished after a few years. We need to finish this one. I want to know what happened. Don’t you?

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Mar

2017

Portrait of a Character – T’Pring

T’Pring is a cypher and a blank slate. Everybody seems to want to put their own spin on her. I have seen her portrayed as a Federation traitor and as a lesbian. I like the idea of a different take on her.

T’Pring Origins

Arlene Martel as T’Pring (image is provided for educational purposes only).

Portrayal

As in canon, T’Pring is played by actress Arlene Martel. I have no idea who would play her as a young girl; it would have to be someone with similar exotic looks and ice queen appeal.

Personality

Emotionless and perhaps cold, T’Pring is a classic Vulcan woman. She knows what she wants and she is not afraid to go out and get it. This is her plan, no matter the cost.

Relationships

Spock

As in canon, T’Pring and Spock are promised to each other. They barely know each other. For a half-human, that should be intolerable, but it is not Spock who initially objects to their union; it’s T’Pring. And so she carries on what is essentially an affair until she can be freed from her obligation.

Stonn

In These Are the Destinations, T’Pring and Stonn know each other earlier. As a part of that story line, they are to get together (except I have not yet finished that story!).

One question I have about canon is – just how complicit was Stonn in the Amok Time scheme to either kill Spock or Kirk? Is she just evil, or was he her willing co-conspirator?

Mirror Universe

T’Pring could, I feel, exist in the Mirror Universe.

Arlene Martel as Mirror Universe T’Pring (image is provided for educational purposes only).

I write Mirror Universe women as being as ruthless as she seems to be in the prime universe. She would be in need of someone like Stonn. Or maybe she really does become Spock’s bride in the MU. That is an intriguing idea, and I just might write it.

Quote

“This is going to be so dull.”

Upshot

T’Pring would be an especially interesting character to explore in the Eriecho/JJ Abrams universe. I have tried to stay away from ‘small universe’ syndrome there, where everyone is related or close or there are far too many coincidences to be believable. Hence it might be a little much for T’Pring to exist there. Then again, if I pair her up with Sybok, that could really get things rollicking.

Now that is one hell of a plot bunny.

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Mar

2017

Review – Dear Naurr, Dear Lili

Dear Naurr – Can I help you with cooking? I’m willing to help. Let me know. – Lili

Dear Naurr, Dear Lili Background

Dear, Naurr/Dear, Lili

After seeing Naurr the Cajun Caitian chef for the first time, I was hooked. The best part about him, to my mind, beyond the fact that he was a walking mass of malapropisms and weird immigrant-style unfounded assumptions, was that he was native to the ENT time frame.

That meant he was alive at the same time as Lili. I hit upon the idea of Lili giving him a little friendly advice. I had already answered the letters from home prompt, but I gave it another go and this one proved to be just as satisfying albeit rather different.

Plot

On February 17, 2158, Lili gives a little advice to a new chef.

Married to Doug and pregnant with Joss, not to mention opening up Reversal on Lafa II, Lili is one busy lady. But she needs to confide a bit in someone. Treve, her business partner, has a friendly ear but he is not a chef. Lili needed someone who could more or less understand about recipes. This person would also understand some of her cooking frustrations.

Further, the story provided an opportunity to revisit a favorite time period, where Doug and Lili are newlyweds and it is before Malcolm and the beginning of the open marriage and what they, along with Melissa and Norri, refer to as the arrangement. Sometimes, it’s good to just write a far simpler relationship scheme.

Story Postings

Rating

The story is Rated K.

Upshot

I really enjoyed getting them together, at least virtually by means of an essentially epistolary novel. This led to Bomb(e) as a sequel.
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Mar

2017

Portrait of a Character – Christopher Pike

Christopher Pike is a terrific character in any timeline.

Bruce Greenwood as Captain Christopher Pike (image is provided for educational purposes only)

I am still trying to figure out if I want Shelby Pike to be related to him. But why the hell not?

Hell, maybe she should be.

Christopher Pike Origins

In the Original Series, he is a handsome, intelligent captain . He is just as impulsive as Kirk. But Pike has a tragic accident yet gets a kind of illusory happy ending. In the JJ Abrams universe, he dies heroically.

Portrayal

As in canon, this character is played by Bruce Greenwood and, after he suffers his disability, by Jeffrey Hunter.

Personality

Christopher Pike, Disabled

Like most of us, Pike does not consider what might happen if the unthinkable were to occur. But it does.

So in the prime universe, he is rather badly injured. Just how conscious and aware is he? I write him as being heartbreakingly conscious of the world around him. Plus this is so much so that he flashes Morse code. And it is better than any therapy when Nyota Uhura understands him.

Relationships

Pike’s only known canon relationship is with Vina, from The Cage and The Menagerie. However, given the illusory nature of the setting, that ‘relationship’ seems a bit unreal, too.

Mirror Universe

There are no impediments to Christopher existing in the Mirror Universe.

Mirror Christopher Pike

Like many Mirror Universe men, I would have him sporting the Y Chromosome Skew. Hence this would make him more powerful . Furthermore, he would be much more interested in women, but also a much better father.

Quote

There was a series of beeps. “He says,” Nyota explained, “that’s he’s very happy to have such beautiful company.”

Upshot

Pike, like the main character in Johnny Got His Gun, deserves to return.

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Mar

2017

Review – Bombe(e)

Bombe! Oh, no! Relax; it’s a bombee glacee.

Background

Bomb(e)

As a follow up to Dear Naurr, Dear Lili and to provide a holiday gift for Naurr’s creator, False Bill, I wrote this trifling bit of silliness.

The Cajun Caitian chef would be a hero, fighting off Romulan invaders in a boarding party. Therefore, in keeping with canon, Naurr could not see them, so I have him hit over the head. Hence he will not have much of a memory of, well, anything afterwards.

This works fine for my purposes and adds to the fun. Also, given the head injury and Naurr’s propensity for malapropisms, no one can figure out where the bomb supposedly is. Naurr is going to get a medal for this, for sure.

So long as the ship, the Ariane, isn’t blown to smithereens.

Oops. That would be bad.

Plot

On June 3rd, 2158, Naurr makes a bombe glacee and fools a mysterious boarding party into believing it’s an actual bomb.

A big part of the joke is just waiting for the joke to happen. I also had some fun adding two characters of my own to the story. One is the doctor, Bernardine Keating-Fong. Sharp-eyed readers will recall her as the instructor in Intolerance. Plus there is a guy set to defuse the so-called ‘bomb’, Tim Randall. Think back, alert readers! Tim, in the Mirror Universe, is one of Doug’s kills.

Story Postings

Rating

The story is Rated K.

Upshot

The story is cute and silly. Also, the fun part is not so much the punchline as that is rather obvious. It’s more that the reader does not know just when the punch line is going to happen. So I enjoyed writing this one very much! Viva Naurr!

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Mar

2017

Portrait of a Character – Rita Spinelli

Rita Spinelli was originally a complete throwaway character and did not have a name. Once she had one, though, I decided I liked her, and I wanted to keep her.

Origins

Christina Ricci as Rita Spinelli (image is provided for educational purposes only)

I needed a character who would be an odd symbol of hope.

In the midst of the violent aftermath of the Third World War, during Colonel Phillip Green‘s reign, the multiverse is smashed together by an enemy called the Chilo. Heroes from several universes were summoned, in this epic crossover, to defeat the enemy. Some would be on ships (including Levi Cavendish and Branch Borodin), and some would be on the ground. That included Otra D’Angelo. But there also needed to be natives. Beyond Donald Janeway, Jared Riley, Liesl Green, and Cameron Petraeus, there would be one symbol.

Enter Rita.

Portrayal

Rita is ‘played’ by actress Christina Ricci. I love how she can speak in a monotone and almost be like a trauma victim, and then turn on a dime and be cutting. Rita keeps her feelings close to the vest.

Personality

Angry, damaged, and nine months pregnant, Rita leads a small resistance division against Green. But the Chilo are unlike anything she has ever seen before. When screwup Seymour Sonia practically falls into her lap, she treats him poorly, but still takes care of him, as she watches him becoming a coulamine (candy) addict. After he delivers her daughter, Speranza Memoria (Sky), Rita takes pity on Sonia and helps get him clean.

Relationships

Donald Janeway

Sky’s unnamed father is dead. Donald, who had done computers work for Green, also falls in Rita’s lap. Like her, he has demons in his past. But in her he sees an opportunity to try to rise above it all, or at least to have a future. Nerdy and overly formal, he is the stability she needs. He is the only father Sky will ever know, and they are ancestors of Kathryn Janeway.

Mirror Universe

I write Mirror Universe women as being beholden to men for their happiness and safety.

Christina Ricci as MU Rita Spinelli (image is provided for educational purposes only)

She could potentially be much more delicate. She is a smart character, and so that could be a rather calculating move on her part, to play to helpless coquette in order to snag a higher class of man.

Quote

“Listen, we’re not selling fuckin’ Girl Scout cookies here! Now there are these big rainbow-y, uh, things out there, and they are taking over people. Sonia called ‘em Chilo. But the candy keeps ‘em away.”

Upshot

For a character without much of a future, Rita becomes a rallying point for a damaged world. I just wish we had finished that story!

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Mar

2017

Review – Another Piece of the Action

It’s another piece!

Another Piece of the Action Background

Barking up the Muse Tree | jespah | Janet Gershen-Siegel | Another Piece of the Action

Another Piece of the Action (cover by thebluesman)

During the time period just after You Mixed-Up Siciliano, in January of 3110, Kirko, Spock and the boys join Temporal Agents Richard Daniels, Sheilagh Bernstein, and Deirdre Katzman in handling Bela Oxmyx and his cronies. This is a collaborative story with the bluesman.

Isn’t the cover just fantastic? Justin made it. I have a copy (signed by him) hanging in my computer room.

Plot

As a means of getting back to the story, we decided on time travel. The Temporal Integrity Commission would have to fix the problems which Kirk and company had compounded at the end of the canon episode, when someone left a communicator behind.

I decided to use Richard Daniels, Sheilagh Bernstein, and Deirdre Katzman as my part of the cast. These characters would have the specialties needed, e. g. a jack of all trades like Rick, a computers person like Sheilagh, and then Deirdre would be the engineer.

Justin (the bluesman) opted to mainly handle the canon characters as we wrote the story. Together, we weaved a story whereby the plot would be fixed, our characters would happily cross over and work together for a common cause, and we even got to throw in a little humor and flirting along the way. Plus Sheilagh tells Spock his computers are primitive.

Story Postings

Rating

The story is Rated K.

Upshot

We had a blast with this collaboration. I would have loved to have done it again. But sadly, Justin passed on, on December 22, 2016. He was a dear friend and a kind, talented, patient, and generous collaborator. I miss him.

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Feb

2017

Progress Report – February 2017

February 2017 ended up as yet another quiet month for Star Trek fanfiction writing.

Posted Works

First of all, on the G & T Show forums, I posted nothing. Because at that site, the forums were removed due to the influx of spammers. And at this moment in time, the replacement blogs have not yet been created or started. Hence, still nada!

However, at this time, I have no replacement. Therefore, I posted very few stories and, as a result, the read counts did not advance too much.

And on Fanfiction.net, I continued to post The Point is Probably Moot.

Finally, on Wattpad, I posted You Mixed-Up Siciliano. And on the @WattNaNo side of things, I added to How to NaNoWriMo.

Milestones

See the Stats page for individual read and review counts.

WIP Corner

Because I finished and won NaNoWriMo in 2016, I continued to edit The Real Hub of the Universe. Furthermore, this wholly original science fiction work takes place in Victorian Boston. As a result, I have been working on outlining a sequel and I will also look to line up a group of beta readers.

I also worked on editing The Enigman Cave to get it ready for querying.

Prep Work

I next created a Wattpad draft for the following fanfiction piece from The Times of the HG Wells. And that turned out to be Spring Thaw.

This Month’s Productivity Killers

As always, sometimes the muse just takes a vacation. And that can be extremely frustrating! I ended up working for three separate companies and that, of course, made me rather busy indeed. Furthermore, I wanted to take something of a break. The Real Hub needs editing and beta reading, and that means I need to take any changes into consideration before I can really get started on the sequel. In addition, I got together as much of The Enigman Cave as possible and that included working on a query letter and teaser (blurb) pitch.

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Feb

2017

Review – Stocking Stuffers 2013

Stocking Stuffers 2013 Background

Stocking Stuffers 2013! In 2013, Star Trek fanfiction writers got together. Hence we traded a bit of fun in each others’ universes. And this was my contribution.

Plot

Stocking Stuffers 2013

In order to follow along with the holiday theme (and Christmas isn’t even my holiday!), I thought outside the proverbial box and tried to pull in various aspects of the holiday, everything from children believing in Santa Claus, to a long distance relationship at that time of year, to decorating a tree or even making it snow.

However, for my own fanfiction, I selected Richard Daniels, right around New Year’s Eve, for the changeover to the new millennium. And Daniels also appears on the cover. This is because his portion of the story predates canon. However, for him, as it is for a lot of real people, the holidays are a time for reflection, for taking stock, and maybe even for some melancholy. And due to the switch from 1999 to 2000, Rick is also feeling the weight of everything changing. Because after all, in canon, World War III is supposed to start soon.

Fortunately, in reality, we are still waiting for that. And hopefully, we will be waiting forever.

Music

Yet only Daniels really has music in his story (apart from Icheb playing and singing ‘Good King Wenceslas’). However, Daniels hears the music of the time, as he often does during his temporal meanderings.

Story Postings

Rating

The story is Rated K.

Upshot

I would really love to do this again, as it was great fun. However, my only problem is, I might have run out of basic holiday premises to cover. Help a gal out, will ya?

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Portrait of a Character – Sarek

Sarek Origins

Sarek Portrayal

Personality

Relationships

Perrin

Quote

Upshot

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Review – Paradox

Paradox Background

Plot

Story Postings

Rating

Upshot

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Portrait of a Character – T’Pring

T’Pring Origins

Portrayal

Personality

Relationships

Spock

Stonn

Mirror Universe

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Review – Dear Naurr, Dear Lili

Dear Naurr, Dear Lili Background

Plot

Story Postings

Rating

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Portrait of a Character – Christopher Pike

Christopher Pike Origins

Portrayal

Personality

Relationships

Quote

Upshot

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Review – Bombe(e)

Background

Plot

Story Postings

Rating

Upshot

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Portrait of a Character – Rita Spinelli

Origins

Portrayal

Personality

Relationships

Donald Janeway

Mirror Universe

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Review – Another Piece of the Action

Another Piece of the Action Background

Plot

Story Postings

Rating

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Progress Report – February 2017

Posted Works

Milestones

WIP Corner

Prep Work

This Month’s Productivity Killers