Fan fiction

Feb

2013

Review – Detroit Rock City

Detroit Rock City? Yeah!

Background

Loomis

So for the first fan fiction challenge on Archer’s Angels, I decided on a theme called “A Thousand Words”. A few images were gathered up and, because a picture is worth a thousand words, I asked people to write up to a thousand words about a particular image. I chose this image for Star Trek: Enterprise. This is the character Loomis from the canon Carpenter Street episode.

I decided he needed an ending to his story.

Plot

At the end of the canon episode, Loomis is hauled away in handcuffs, screaming about “lizard people” and a “chick with a ray gun”. At that point, the murders of various people from the Blood Bank are being tied to him. It looks like he’ll be going to jail.

In my story, the court never finds him competent enough to stand trial in the first place. Hence, instead, the court sends him to a psychiatric treatment facility. I intended it to evoke the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. It is not a pleasant place to be.

While there, he stands in the medication line with a small cast of characters, including Lakeisha (meant to evoke Lakeisha Warren Crusher, from Crackerjack), Ogden (a lot like Big Chief in Cuckoo’s Nest) and Phyllis.

At one point, a new doctor, Morgan (an ancestor to both Dr. Cyril Morgan and Dr. Pamela Hudson), begins to speak with him, as he protests that he is, indeed, sane. Morgan reminds Loomis that it might be boring at the facility. But if he’s found competent, he’ll be heading to the State Penitentiary. And things are even worse there. Loomis accepts this, and takes his medication without incident.

Story Postings

Rating

The story has a K rating.

Upshot

This twitchy character needed, I felt, a little closure. In some ways, I’d like to revisit him, although I’m unsure how to accomplish that without repeating myself. As of the writing of this blog post, this is the first chronological story in the In Between Days series. Concord and Crackerjack have scenes that take place earlier, and Richard Daniels goes to earlier times as well, but this is the first in-history story where all of the action occurs so early. The day it takes place, in fact, is the day that I originally posted the story.

Will I go back to this era? Possibly, but I’ll have to think of how to do that, as the HG Wells series was all about time travel and I’d rather not have yet more time travel in a future series. However, there’s no reason to not add some fill-in stories for Daniels, Crystal Sherwood and others, plus Eleanor can also talk about our time period.

Feb

2013

Portrait of a Character – Arashi Sato

Arashi Sato is ruthless.

Origins

My initial premise for the Empress Hoshi Sato was that she would be a bit like Livia from Suetonius (and from history). That is, this would be a viper of a mother. But she needed to have children in order to assure the succession. Therefore, I hit on a plan. Hoshi would have numerous children, all from different fathers. She would select the fathers from her senior staff. This was to create some security for her. Arashi Sato is the third of her six children. All of the children’s first names have some meaning – Arashi means storm.

Portrayal

I wanted someone who would be, perhaps, wiser than his years. Even though the age does not work out, I like John Lone.

Personality

Not everyone can be a warrior, so Arashi is the money man. Ruthlessly efficient and greedy, he doesn’t want to pay for anything, and wants a cut of everything. In Temper, even as a toddler, he is fascinated by PADDs.

Arashi (John Lone)

In the first alternate timeline, he keeps the books for Chip‘s Game Night wagers. His youngest brother, Izo, does the strong arm collecting, but Arashi does not sully his hands with such pedestrian matters.

Because he is so interested in books and record-keeping, and because he is ruthless and willing to cheat, the mirror Polloria reveals that he is the one of the Empress’s children who scares her the most, saying, “If he gets control after her death, I am sure he will take every means necessary to assure that he is looking in on every single aspect of everyone’s lives. So he’ll be searching for oddities, rebellions, conspiracies, anomalies and anything else that tickles his fancy. Of all of them, I hate her the most, and I wish her dead. But it’s Arashi who truly scares me. Anyone with a brain in their head should, if they take her out, take him out as well.”

Parentage?

His father is technically unknown, with the prime candidates being Frank Ramirez and José Torres. However, since neither he nor Torres has the Y Chromosome Skew, it’s far more likely that José can claim paternity.

So by the time of He Stays a Stranger, Arashi is continuing to handle the books. But – and this is the prime timeline for the Mirror Universe – he is far less interested in rule than in money. Ruling will go to his elder brothers, Jun (son of Richard Daniels) and Kira (son of Aidan MacKenzie). Izo will handle the secret police.

Hoshi is satisfied with Arashi’s choice, noting that empires need funds and treasuries.

Relationships

Arashi Sato has none whatsoever, except with a pocketbook! Even in the prime timeline in the Mirror Universe, he never marries, and any other specifics are not yet known.

Theme Music

As would likely be expected, his theme music is Pink Floyd’s Money.

Prime Universe

Like all of Empress’s Hoshi’s children, he cannot have a Prime Universe counterpart. However, he has an analogue in Doug and Melissa‘s part of the big arrangement – Neil Digiorno-Madden, who also has a head for business. But the differences are apparent, as Neil has two loving relationships, fathers two children and in a lot of ways is more like Lili than Lili’s daughter, Marie Patrice Beckett.

Quote

“I dreamt about collections.”

Upshot

As I wrote the Empress’s children, I needed a way for each of them to stand out. As the money man, Arashi stands out easily. I can see writing more about him in the future.

Feb

2013

Review – A Single Step

Single step indeed!

Background

In 2012, Trek BBS held a monthly fan fiction challenge called “Meet the Neighbors”. The idea was to show a first contact.

I decided to pull in a few elements and bring them together. They are from canon and fan fiction, films, and television.

In the Star Trek First Contact TNG film, the Borg almost assimilated us before we ever got the first Warp One ship in the air (the Phoenix). Furthermore, it shows, at the end, Zefram Cochrane and Lily Sloane joining hands.

In the Original Series, Zefram Cochrane is later found on Gamma Canaris. He’s single, and he is older. But he is kept young by a mysterious companion. In the Animated Series, there are the Caitians, but their First Contact is not in canon. Furthermore, I have a non-sentient original species called the Derellian bat. This bat has been in all sorts of places – in Reversal, Temper, Throwing Rocks at Looking Glass Houses and Intolerance, just to name a few.

Plot

The story begins with Lily and Zefram, an aged couple living their final years on the Alpha Centauri Colony. But all is not right, as Lily coughs a lot, and tires easily. She’s dying of lung cancer.

Lily Sloane Cochrane (Alfre Woodard)

There is a light in the sky, and a crash. They go to investigate, and it turns out that an alien ship has arrived. The hatch is opened. And there is a most curious creature. M’Roan looks like a cat, but he’s wearing clothing and he’s about the same size as Lily and Zef. He’s also bipedal. He has a small wound. So the Derellian bat shows off a little minor empathic healing qualities and closes up the wound.

M’Roan sees too deeply into Zef’s life, but that is the basis of a friendship. And, in the end, he and Zef take the bat and take off, for “the second nebula on the right and parts unknown“.

Story Postings

Rating

The story has a K rating.

Upshot

M’Roan, a Caitian

I enjoyed putting this one together, and I liked the portrayal of an older couple very much. This is also, currently, one of the few death scenes I’ve written where the dying character does not see a transition. Or at least she does not describe it.

I also think the wrapping together of the film, the three series, one film and fanfiction all works together. Jonathan Archer also gets a shout out, making this story, in reality, a quintuple crossover. I really like it.

Jan

2013

Progress Report – January 2013

January 2013 was busy.

January 2013 Posted Works

The month started off with the holidays winding down and a new quarter starting. Both of these meant more regular work.

The Trek United Adult Trek Anthology was posted! It was terrific fun to write and edit, and everyone was wonderful to work with. We will do it again for 2013. It garnered over 80 impressions on the first day alone!

On Ad Astra, I answered my own challenge about family with A Gathering, which takes place in the JJ Abrams-Eriecho universe. That isn’t even a series yet, although it probably should be by now.

Plus I added a new little Daranaean story about Inta II, called Confidence. I added a prime universe-mirror universe story about Aidan and Susan, called The Pivot Point. The Puzzle and The Pivot Point were added to In Between Days context.

So I then began what I’ve been referring to as the E² stories with the first of four books, Reflections Down a Corridor. I added a short story (in response to a prompt about Trek technology) with a Richard Daniels Times of the HG Wells prequel story, Marvels, about his encounter with Irene of Castile. So I also placed that story into HG Wells context. I answered the politics challenge with Voice of the Common Man.

On Fanfiction.net, I added Broken Seal, The Puzzle, Tumult, Ceremonial, Achieving Peace, Shell Shock and There’s Something About Hoshi.

On Archer’s Angels, I added More, More, More! and There’s Something About Hoshi.

Milestones

The read total numbers for Reversal and Together continue climbing. Intolerance exceeded 10,000 overall reads on January 7th. Temper has fewer overall reads but has received more attention at Ad Astra than Intolerance has. Oddly enough, the opposite is true at Trek United. Temper will be the next one to hit 10,000 overall reads, but that will take a bit longer, possibly a few more months if current trends hold.

The two Issuu documents with the most reads (both with over 1,000 and climbing) are Freak School (located within HFO 1.0) and Freak School 2 – Report Card (located within HFO 2.0). These are somewhat understandable as they are earlier releases and neither is rated MA, which means that readers do not need to register (or log in with Facebook Connect) to view the documents. The MA rating on Issuu is a true hindrance to read counts.

I won the Trek BBS “Wish Fulfillment” challenge with The Further Adventures of Porthos – The Stilton Fulfillment. The prize is to add my story to their archive and select the next challenge topic (but I can’t participate in it). I selected ethnicity and culture.

WIP Corner

I am continuing to work on and research the Barnstorming series. This is the sports series I have been kicking around. Plus I also created a story for the current Ad Astra prompt, which is about politics.

Prep Work

I prepared Twitter fodder for the entire calendar year. This helps when I’ve got nothing new to tweet about; it’s already there. This blog also feeds directly to Twitter. Hence it adds a new entry every Tuesday and every Friday, so long as I update the blog, of course.

This Month’s Productivity Killers

This month contained not one, but two trips to see my family. While I can type on the laptop (including on the train), the noise and the conditions aren’t exactly conducive to creativity.

Jan

2013

Portrait of a Character – Gary Hodgkins

Gary Hodgkins starts out with a lot of strikes against him and doesn’t improve much.

Origins

I wanted a MACO who would be, at times, a bad guy, or a guy with some pretty hard luck. Star Trek: Enterprise canon didn’t really cover that, but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t cover it in fanfiction. Enter Gary Hodgkins, who first shows up in Intolerance.

Portrayal

Gary Hodgkins (Justin Long)

I wanted him to be fairly young and perhaps a decent-looking guy who has a lot of bad things happen to him. He deserves many of these bad things, both in our universe and in the mirror. Bad stuff can happen!

I selected Justin Long for this portrayal.

Personality

Duty-bound but sometimes difficult, Gary follows along in the mischief that Dan Chang often finds himself getting into. It isn’t until the end of his life in the first E² kick back, and during the second, that he finally becomes a decent person. In the prime universe’s prime timeline, he doesn’t really get a chance. This is because, in Intolerance, he becomes permanently disfigured and disabled. This forces him to leave active Starfleet service. He’s often paired with Tristan Curtis as they are friends and sometimes, quite literally, partners in crime.

Relationships

Sophie Creighton

Because Gary dies young during the first kick back in time (and he has behaved rather badly), he has no relationship then. But in the second kick back, he and Sophie wed. I only give a little about their relationship but there’s a lot on their descendants.

Their grandson Richard marries Jolene Tucker, T’Pol and Tripp‘s (and Susie Money and Mario Lattimer’s) granddaughter. Jolene and Richard’s twins, Stephen and Stephanie, are married (respectively) to Marie Helêne Archer (granddaughter of Jonathan, Esilia, Lili, and José) and Connor Greer IV, who is the father of canon character Greer (although that character did not have a canon first name or even a first initial).

Mirror Universe

Justin Long as MU Gary Hodgkins (image is for educational purposes only)

Gary has numerous issues in the mirror universe. He is seen in Coveted Commodity, loyally guarding the Empress in Sick Bay and spelling trouble for Travis.

In Temper, in the first temporal dislocation, he loses his life with a lot of other people from both universes when the Luna is destroyed in a head-on collision with the Bluebird.

In the second temporal dislocation, he dies during a Calafan slave revolt. And in the correct Mirror Universe timeline, he is falsely accused (as is Tristan Curtis) and is executed for helping Chip and Lucy get away with the Empress’s twin children, Takara and Takeo.

Quote

“The captain, when he told us all about it, he said he hoped it wasn’t due to a lack of trust. I mean, I can see how it could be really upsetting. He married an Ikaaran woman the last time out. To know that she kept something that big from him, I mean, that’s gotta be hard.”

Upshot

I’m not so sure where I can go with Gary, as he’s got to be off the ship (the nature of his disability means that he’s got to fly a desk). But there’s no reason why I can’t show him before Intolerance, or in an office or civilian capacity otherwise.

Jan

2013

Recurrent Themes – Members of the Press

The press should survive.

Background

Oh, the press! I suppose I have a bit of a love-hate set of feelings for them. However, they are, of course, necessary in a democracy. Yet they can be awfully intrusive. I well recall reading about Princess Diana’s death, from a car crash after a chase (and horribly hounding) by paparazzi.

So I’m kind of ambivalent when it comes to the Fourth Estate.

Press Appearances

Rona Moran

In Soldiers’ Marriage Project, and in Flight of the Bluebird, Rona is gossipy. It’s her job; she’s a gossip columnist. She is also over the top. However, she’s sensitive to people, and doesn’t take advantage of her sources and connections, and doesn’t belittle anyone except for her third ex-husband, Maurizio D’Angelo. And she even apologizes to him at the end of Flight of the Bluebird.

Craethe

He is a Daranaean reporter, seen in Take Back the Night. Keeping with that species’ sexist ways, he mainly asks the crew of the NX-01 about their marital statuses and whether they have children. He gets a bit of a shock to learn that Erika Hernandez is a captain. He’s also shocked that Jonathan has never married, Malcolm is a father but isn’t married to Lili, and Phlox has three wives who each have three husbands. Lucy is another bit of a shock for him, that she is unmarried, has a daughter and she’s the one working, whereas her ex is the one at home taking care of their daughter.

Craethe reports on Mistra’s trial, back to an unnamed anchorman in the studio. There is also a nameless field reporter who reports on the protests that go on outside the trial. He even meets the Alpha’s Prime Wife, Dratha, and comments on her smell (e. g. her beauty) rather than her intelligence.

Troy Scott

In Where the Wind Comes Sweepin’ Down the Plain, he’s an anchorman in an alternate timeline and reports on a riot at what turns out to be where Otra is being kept. He comments on footage that contains an image of Anthony Parker with an axe.

Martha Fernandes

In Reflections Down a Corridor, she is seen reporting on the news from 2037, including a sideline interview with one Corporal Phillip Green.

Upshot

No doubt there will be more reporters and newscasters in my Star Trek fan fiction’s future, as the news, and the free reporting thereof, are an essential (yet sometimes abrasive) element in any democracy.

Jan

2013

Recurrent Themes – Performing Artists

Performing artists in Star Trek? Sure.

Background

The performing arts are canon. In Star Trek: TOS and TNG, members of the crew put on plays and the like in amateur productions, or characters go to shows. In VOY, characters might see a show on the holodeck, or even participate.

Then in the E² stories, there’s nothing different and exciting to do a lot of the time outside of work, so the characters think up some entertainments.

Singing

In the E² stories, the characters play a baseball game. As a means of opening the game, and to fill in the Seventh Inning stretch, Captain Archer finds a singer. Meredith Porter is an Engineering crewman and an older woman, almost as old as Lili. For the game, she sings America the Beautiful and Take Me Out to the Ballgame.

In the Romulan War story, Soldiers’ Marriage Project, a performance is not seen, but it is referenced – pop sensation Kurt Fong and soprano Rosumund Taylor sing Ain’t No Mountain High Enough. Fong shows up again, or, rather, the team responsible for answering his fan mail, in Gainful.

Lili also sings, but she’s not a professional. In Together, she sings O Pato to Joss. Then in Temper, she sings Arroz con Leche to Tommy. In Fortune, she sings La Petite Poule Grise to Declan. And in the E² stories, she sings Maria Elena to, of course, Maria Elena, and reprises Arroz con Leche, but sings it to the infant Valleri Rostov.

Dancing

Aside from Shelby Pike, who had been a ballerina before she joined Starfleet, no one else is a professional. However, in Together, it’s revealed that Jennifer and Frank are particularly good. In Fortune, Malcolm gives Lili dancing lessons as a wedding gift.

In the E² stories, people dance all the time, either at weddings or at various parties. Because Jenny is paired with Aidan, the pairing isn’t quite as good, evoking the fact that she’s not with the right person. Aidan’s no dancer. He mainly just facilitates her movements. First dates and early explorations of feelings are also expressed through dance, particularly between lonely male crew members and Ikaaran women in both of the kickbacks in time.

Acting

In Wider than the Sargasso Sea, aspiring actress Gabrielle Nolan is forced to star opposite aspiring actor and archenemy Desh, who is a Breen. They act as Jane Eyre and Rochester, respectively, in a production of Jane Eyre.

Actress Alyssa McKenna is mentioned in Soldiers’ Marriage Project, but she isn’t acting. Instead, she’s serving food for a charity.

Playing a Musical Instrument

In the E² stories, Rex Ryan entertains everyone by playing guitar. He has a somewhat limited repertoire and mainly plays songs like This Land is Your Land. However, when he gets together with Meredith, and when she is pregnant with his child, they team up. He plays and she sings Danny’s Song (although in both kickbacks, they name their son Nicholas).

Philip Digiorno is a professional violinist. In An Announcement, he’s shown as a young man, and practices a mazurka while Leonora and Alex, his two younger siblings, listen in.

Historical professional musicians are seen in the HG Wells stories on several occasions, and time traveler HD Avery is tasked with fixing a lot of musical missions, most of which have to do with assuring a musician’s death. However, he also works to assure that the Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon album is released. Other professional musicians seen in the series include Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper (JP Richardson), members of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain. Cobain and the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd have no lines, however.

Stand Up Comedy

While no one is an actual professional, Chip Masterson dreams of his moment of performing stand up in a little comedy club on Risa, where the audience is mainly composed of appreciative Orion slave girls.

Upshot

Where the characters go, sometimes entertainment follows in their wake. I know I’ll show more plays, songs and dances as more stories are written.

Jan

2013

Spotlight on an Original Weapon – Phase Bow

A phase bow serves a ton of purposes.

Background

Hunting is Star Trek: Enterprise canon, and occurs during a visit to a so-called “rogue planet” where Eska hunters are seeking a creature that turns out to be sentient. Oops.

However, I didn’t want hunting to be too easy. Plus I wanted Doug to be more of a skilled hunter, and not just a blind shooter. Hence, when he hunts game (with or without Melissa, and with or without Calafan friends), he uses a phase bow.

Mechanics

Much like a standard bow and arrow, a phase bow, instead, uses phased energy rectification (much like a canon phaser itself does), but the resultant emissions are pulses almost like what particle weapons emit. Arrows are, of course, unnecessary.

Phase bows come in several sizes. In Temper, I reveal there’s a smaller size for women. In Fortune, it’s revealed that the phase bow that Doug uses is huge, and is too heavy for Melissa to lift by herself, even though she is rather physically strong. There is even a child’s version available.

The weapon has a distinctive thwack sound, as small bursts of greenish light are propelled to their marks.

Aiming is possible either by eye or by using settings on the device. The image above is not an actual phase bow; it’s just a bow image. I imagine a real phase bow would have dials and switches and the like. This would be to change the settings for different-sized game, daylight versus nocturnal and any number of other modifications and options.

When Doug and Melissa use phase bows, they bring down either linfep or perrazin. So far, there are no scenes of anyone bringing down an elekai with a phase bow. However, those very large birds would normally require a lot of work to hunt, whether with a phase bow or any other type of weaponry.

In the E² stories, there are no phase bows, so procul are dispatched with phase rifles.

Upshot

I’m not so sure I’ll have too many other occasions to show hunting. And not every hunter likes going old school. But I love the idea of a phase bow, and that it fairly seamlessly combines very old technology with the very new. Frankly, it surprises me that no one else in Star Trek fan fiction seems to come up with it.

Dec

2012

Trek United Adult Trek Anthology – From Quadrant to Quadrant and Person to Person

It’s been a labor of love as well as a bit of lust. The Trek United Adult Trek Anthology is finally out! Travel with us, From Quadrant to Quadrant and Person to Person, and prepare to be seduced by Star Trek.

Trek United Adult Anthology – From Quadrant to Quadrant and Person to Person

With 315 pages of content, punctuated with beautiful sketches and gorgeous screen captures, not to mention a breathtaking photo manipulated cover, the Anthology is a feast for the eyes and can put you, the reader, right into the action. Let’s look at the individual contributions.

The Alabax 9 Affair

Madison Bruffy‘s newest contribution asks a question about the Prime Directive. Does it cover a, shall we say, delicate diplomatic situation? Or has Captain James T. Kirk really overstepped his bounds this time?

Last Full Measure

For Lil Black Dog, when does duty end? In the face of impossible adversity, what more can a First Officer do, but show the last full measure of his devotion to his captain?

You Make Me Want to Scream

Who’s got a secret powerhouse lover at home? jespah reminds us that sometimes our expectations are unfounded.

One Night on Terok Nor

Rush Limborg follows Garak as he and Ezri Dax work through some difficult memories and, along the way, a state of grace is achieved.

What Lies Within Lies Between

For Jonathan Archer and Trip Tucker, lost memory means that something else bubbles to the surface. How can T’Pol make sense of it all? Pauline Mac explores this fascinating dynamic.

D’Storlin

When a hybrid child is pushed to the limit, a careless mistake, made in a fit of rage, changes his and his tormentor’s lives forever. jespah brings the ugliness of bullying to the Trek universe.

A Drone’s New Life

When 7 of 9 and the rest of the crew of Voyager make it to Earth, life changes. And, for her, as writer Laura McBride shows, those changes are for the better.

Ripples

What if the events of Amok Time didn’t go the way we all know they did? Lil Black Dog returns with an exploration of how things would unfold if Dr. McCoy had not been there.

Milk

Scotty’s got a date. And, according to jespah, it’s going really, really well.

Anvil of the Gods

Jean-Luc Picard makes the Dominion War come alive as a Vorta learns what some true believers do – that sometimes heroes have feet of clay.

Sorrow, Shared

In the E² universe, a widowed T’Pol finds herself with a visitor who shares her grief. Honeybee gives readers something to think about.

Artwork

Fantastic artwork graces the Anthology. Bluetiger has captured the true essence of characters, from T’Pol to Scotty. Madison has added a number of promotional materials which have helped to round out this issue and create even more visual appeal. And then there’s the cover. ENTAllat‘s lovely photo manipulated cover brings together disparate elements and conveys the overall theme of the Anthology.

Feedback

We are writers and we are artists and we do it all for your feedback. Did we succeed in our mission? Is there something we missed? We would love to hear from you! Feel free to comment here, or on Issuu itself.

Looking to the Future

Will we do the Trek United Adult Anthology again? I don’t know. A lot of that will depend upon the reception that this, the first edition, garners. But if we do, would you like to write for us? Take a look at our selection criteria. If you’d like to try for a spot – and inclusion is not guaranteed – follow our submission guide. Plus I can be reached here if you have any questions. Onward, to the stars, and the stars in your eyes, from quadrant to quadrant, and person to person!

Dec

2012

Portrait of a Character – Michelle (Shelby) Pike

Origins

Keiko Ishikawa O’Brien of TNG and DS9 is a Botanist. Because the NX-01 has real food cooked by a real chef, and it is out there far earlier in time, I figured they had to have someone growing food plants. And, perhaps, studying alien vegetation. Hence I decided there would be a Botanist on board. In my older story, If You Can’t Stand the Heat, the Botanist is named Naomi Curtis. But that is intended to be a different person, and that story has been reworked in order to fit into my regular universe. It now takes place not too long after the initial launch of the Enterprise, and Naomi is meant to be a character replaced at the start of the Xindi war, much like Lili is brought in, to replace Chef’s three helpers. You need room for MACOs on the NX-01, and more skilled people need to be brought on so that there can be fewer of them. Hence Naomi leaves.

As for her name, Shelby’s name is a perfect blending of two canon characters (Commander Elizabeth Shelby from TNG and Captain Christopher Pike from TOS). However, I didn’t name her because of that. It’s just a happy coincidence.

Actually, Shelby was a part of a small universe of original stories I worked on over twenty years ago, which were murder mysteries set in and around Boston. Shelby was supposed to be our heroine’s boyfriend’s impossibly beautiful ex. She was also supposed to be darker-skinned, but was still African-American. And she was a ballet student. Hence the Shelby Pike of my Star Trek: fan fiction is a former ballerina in the Prime Universe.

Portrayal

Portrait of a Character – Michelle (Shelby) Pike

Young Shelby (Erica Gimpel)

Unlike most characters, Shelby is portrayed by two separate people. As a young girl, I see Erica Gimpel from Fame. I well recall seeing this actress – this was the first time I had ever seen a ballerina who was not Caucasian, and she stuck with me.

I had a vision of a stick thin young girl dedicated to her craft.

Adult Shelby (Aesha Ash)

But then personal disaster strikes, and she blows out her knee, and has to quit dancing. What to do? Shelby goes back to college, and gets hooked on plants. She becomes a Botanist, never dreaming that that would get her into space. For an adult Shelby, I chose ballerina Aesha Ash.

Either way, Shelby is delicate and beautiful.

Personality

Friendly and smart, Shelby keeps to herself quite a bit of the time. It’s a necessity when your closest companions, most of the time, are living things that cannot speak. She is unused to formal meetings, so she ends up embarrassingly raising her hand during the meeting shown in Shell Shock. She is more than competent, and Malcolm brings her on board the USS Bluebird where she continues to work as a Botanist.

Relationships

José Torres

During Temper, it’s revealed that they dated. Due to the height difference, Malcolm and Lili joke that the mechanics are somewhat confusing. At the end of the E² stories, José reveals that he’s considering asking her out.

Travis Mayweather

In Fortune (and earlier, in Apple, which takes place during Reversal), Shelby makes the first moves with Travis. However, by the time of the events of Equinox, he has instead married a woman named Ellen Warren (also referenced in Day of the Dead).

Andrew Miller

In the E² stories, because the kick backs in time occur before Lucy Stone joins the crew, Andrew and Shelby get together in both iterations. As two mid-level Science people, they have a lot in common and are thrown together quite a bit whenever the full senior staff meets.

Doug Hayes

In the Mirror Universe, Doug reveals Shelby’s background to Lili, and notes that, while he often had girlfriends during the time he knew her (including the Redheaded Bombshell, Jennifer Crossman), he would inevitably cheat on all of them with Shelby, and that there was just something about her that appealed to him, and he was incapable of staying away.

Francisco (Frank) Ramirez

By the time of The Point is Probably Moot, they are together and are trying to figure out how to get away from the Empress Hoshi Sato. For that couple, they cannot be open about their relationship, so life is filled with stolen moments. In Bread, they’re almost caught.

Mirror Universe

Mirror Shelby (Erica Gimpel)

For the Mirror, I’m back to Erica Gimpel portraying Shelby. Because no one cares about Botany, she works as a pilot. And because no one cares about ballet there, her earlier profession was far different.

Doug confirms that she worked as a prostitute, and more or less still did, when he knew her.

Doug notes that there were ways to see her without really being with her, and is essentially describing the future Mirror Universe take on phone sex.

Quote

“I have pumpkins ripening in the Botany Lab. They’re so pretty. Would you, uh, want to see them some time?”

Upshot

I was thrilled to be able to reuse this character and change her up. I like that she brings a little art and culture to the NX-01 (much like Chip Masterson does) and the USS Bluebird (like Declan Reed‘s drawings do, too). I’m also enjoying getting to know her as a person, and giving her more dimensions than she had in my failed fiction from two decades ago. I’m sure I’ll continue to learn more about Shelby.

Review – Detroit Rock City

Background

Plot

Story Postings

Rating

Upshot

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Portrait of a Character – Arashi Sato

Origins

Portrayal

Personality

Parentage?

Relationships

Theme Music

Prime Universe

Quote

Upshot

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Review – A Single Step

Background

Plot

Story Postings

Rating

Upshot

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January 2013 Posted Works

Milestones

WIP Corner

Prep Work

This Month’s Productivity Killers

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Portrait of a Character – Gary Hodgkins

Origins

Portrayal

Personality

Relationships

Sophie Creighton

Mirror Universe

Quote

Upshot

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Recurrent Themes – Members of the Press

Background

Press Appearances

Rona Moran

Craethe

Troy Scott

Martha Fernandes

Upshot

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Recurrent Themes – Performing Artists

Background

Singing

Dancing

Acting

Playing a Musical Instrument

Stand Up Comedy

Upshot

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Spotlight on an Original Weapon – Phase Bow

Background

Mechanics

Upshot

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Trek United Adult Trek Anthology – From Quadrant to Quadrant and Person to Person

The Alabax 9 Affair

Last Full Measure

You Make Me Want to Scream

One Night on Terok Nor

What Lies Within Lies Between

D’Storlin

A Drone’s New Life