Anthony Parker

19
Jul
2016

Portrait of a Character – Donald Oliver

Portrait of a Character – Donald Oliver

Donald Oliver is a bad guy.

Origins

The Perfectionists needed a henchman, particularly after Anthony Parker was killed by them as being insubordinate. Also, Helen couldn’t possibly sully her hands with blood. That’s a job for not only Donald and Anthony, and Daniel Beauchaine, but also for Marisol Castillo. Donald is their male traveling, murderous agent.

Portrayal

Portrait of a Character – Donald Oliver

Ben Whishaw as Donald Oliver (image is for educational purposes only)

Donald is played by actor Ben Whishaw. He seems to be a rather versatile actor. I don’t know too much about him; he was in a recent James Bond film in the role of Q. I bet he would enjoy playing a science fiction villain if the opportunity arose.

Personality

Whiny and irritating, Donald will do what Milton Walker wants him to, but he often won’t go there without a complaint. He is an utterly disagreeable person at the best of times.

Relationships

Donald has no known relationships. I had originally thought about pairing him up with Helen Walker, but the storyline was already becoming rather large and unwieldy. Rather than sowing more confusion, I decided to put them at least partly at odds. See, Donald bores her.

Mirror Universe

There are no impediments to Donald existing in the Mirror Universe, although the chances of a perfect counterpart existing go down as time marches on.

Portrait of a Character – Donald Oliver

Ben Whishaw as Mirror Donald (image is for educational purposes)

There is always room for a henchman in the Mirror, so the counterpart could end up being rather similar to our universe’s version. However, there’s little to no room for whining in the Mirror Universe, so this version, in order to survive to adulthood, has to have learned to keep his trap shut.

Quote

“Milton said I was gonna be in charge when he left.”

Upshot

At the end of He Stays a Stranger, this character was being arrested. Perhaps I’ll write his trial; it’ll be interesting to see how the Temporal Integrity Commission maintains its high levels of secrecy while trying to present evidence of temporal tampering (and keeping Rick and Carmen‘s actions during First Born a secret).

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Posted by jespah in Fan fiction, Portrait, Times of the HG Wells series, 0 comments
17
Jul
2015

Recurrent Themes – Criminals and Prisoners

Recurrent Themes – Criminals and Prisoners

Background

Criminals and prisoners matter. They creep into all of my series, except for Mixing It Up (and D’Storlin is possibly telling his story from custody, anyway). Their fates have varied rather dramatically.
Barking up the Muse Tree | Janet Gershen-Siegel | jespah | DNA | Criminals and Prisoners

Appearances

Eriecho, Saddik, and H’Shema

In the Eriecho series,  as is explained in Release, she is born on a prison transport as Saddik and her parents (who are both killed on that transport) are framed for crimes they did not commit. In Double Helix, H’Shema’s mother, L’Culturra, reveals that her daughter was a drug addict and likely was in Canamar Prison for good reason.

Daniel Chang, Tristan Curtis, Neil Kemper, Victor Brown, Brooks Haynem, Gary Hodgkins, and Sandra Sloane

During the E2 timeline, all sorts of bad behavior occurs. During The Three of Us, the men are responsible for an attack on Patti Socorro as Sandra takes note of the law of supply and demand and rents herself out for cheap.

Polloria, Baden, and Chawev

In Reversal, the former two conspire to kill High Priestess Yipran. Chawev is the only one who hesitates, and Polloria chides him for being too squeamish.

Jeff Paxton

The real perpetrator is not revealed until just about the end of Shell Shock.

Marisol Castillo, Anthony Parker, Von, Helen Walker, and Milton Walker

Of the villains in The Times of the HG Wells series, only Anthony Parker is at all decent, and that’s only in an alternate timeline, when he has a chance to help Otra get out of Milton Walker’s prison. As for Marisol, she’s a psychopath, eager to kill whoever she can.

Arnis and Rechal

In Take Back the Night, Arnis blames Mistra for the death of the elder Inta. Rechal, a physician, takes a bribe and helps him frame her in exchange for research funding. In Flight of the Bluebird, because Rechal’s ideas have assisted Trinning and the other researchers find a cure for thylacine paramyxovirus, he is allowed out of jail and is released into Trinning’s observational custody. Arnis (who I wasn’t sure whether I wanted him to be alive or not) complains to his second son, Trinning, and is told that it’s a good thing he’s staying in prison as Daranaea is changing and he won’t fit in anymore.

Mack MacKenzie

Planted with Etrotherium against her will while on Keto-Enol, Mack is framed for the drug problem on that planet.

Upshot

Without villains and criminals, stories have few drivers and little to recommend them. Prisons provide great fodder for storytelling and drama. I know that I will go back to these themes again.

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Posted by jespah in Emergence series, Eriecho series, Fan fiction, Hall of Mirrors, In Between Days series, Interphases series, Themes, Times of the HG Wells series, 1 comment
12
Mar
2013

Portrait of a Character – Anthony Parker

Portrait of a Character – Anthony Parker

Anthony Parker shows morals when others do not.

Origins

For the HG Wells Star Trek fanfiction series, I needed a bad guy who would, ultimately, do the right thing. In addition, I wanted him to have a chance to do this in an alternate timeline. In the prime timeline, he balks at what the bad guys are doing. But he never really gets a chance to prevent the temporal mischief from occurring.

Portrayal

Anthony is played by Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Personality

Originally a musician, the Perfectionists’ ways trouble Anthony, as they cut a swath through history and attempt to change it for their own purposes without much thought of the consequences. Helen Walker is too much of a game player, Marisol Castillo is a psychopath, and Milton Walker is misguided. For Anthony, things are off.

Hence, he protests, and more than once. During Ohio, there is a secret voice-only meeting, and his is one of the voices. But he’s skeptical, questioning everything. And he balks when the leader requests that someone steal the temporal force field technology from the Temporal Integrity Commission.

His end?

Because he refuses to be a party to petty theft, they mark him for death. Helen Walker murders him during that book. The means are an infection with Ebola virus (a prefiguring of the issues in You Mixed-Up Siciliano). And while his body was trying to fight that, he was hit repeatedly by some sort of blunt force trauma, mostly from behind.

Almost as important is the fact that Parker has a tattoo mentioning Saint Eligius. Eligius is the patron saint of lots of things, including all manner of timepieces. Therefore, he is as close as you can come to a true patron saint of time. This ends up being a vital clue to the whereabouts of several Perfectionist operatives.

Alternate Timelines

Anthony is only known during the alternate timeline that is generated through the Perfectionist meddling during Where the Wind Comes Sweepin’ Down the Plain.

Portrait of a Character – Anthony Parker

During that scenario, most of the human race has an addiction to fortified wine. Anthony is a protestor, and he goes to the Saint Eligius ship in order to destroy casks (the Eligian order is the prime winemaking company), when his axe splinters a much larger box, containing one of the members of the Temporal Integrity Commission, the imprisoned Otra. Although Anthony meets his death in that timeline, too, at least he does the moral thing.

Mirror Universe

Anthony is from the mirror and does not appear to have a prime universe counterpart.

Quote

“So this is the wrong timeline. Do you know what happens to me? In your so-called correct timeline, that is. Forgive me, but I’m a bit of a skeptic.”

Upshot

Morally conflicted and troubled, I wish I had been able to showcase Anthony Parker a bit more.

Posted by jespah in Hall of Mirrors, Portrait, Times of the HG Wells series, 8 comments
15
Jan
2013

Recurrent Themes – Members of the Press

Recurrent Themes – Members of the Press

The press should survive.

Background

Barking up the Muse Tree | Janet Gershen-Siegel | jespah | DNA | Members of the Press

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.

Posted by jespah in Fan fiction, Themes, 0 comments