Milena

21
Jun
2016

Portrait of a Character – Noemy Chelenska

Portrait of a Character – Noemy Chelenska

Noemy Chelenska started off as just a sounding board for Milena.

Origins

As a part of Rick Daniels meeting Milena Chelenska, he is originally hit by a car. Milena, a doctor, thinks she needs to treat him, but that’s unnecessary, given that his blood is spiked with stem cell growth accelerator. As she watches him rapidly heal without any intervention on her part, someone had to take pictures and be the person who she would bounce ideas off. Enter Noemy, who gets her name from a family friend.

Noemy is also seen in Day of the Dead; she’s only fourteen when Tripp Tucker and others liberate Dachau.

Portrayal

Barking up the Muse Tree | jespah | Janet Gershen-Siegel | Klara Issova

Klara Issova as Noemy Chelenska (image is for educational purposes only)

Noemy is played by Czech actress Klara Issova.

I like to try to get actors of the same or a close ethnicity and Issova certainly fits the bill. It’s a bonus that she was in Anne Frank: The Whole Story, and plays a Holocaust survivor.

Personality

Brittle and damaged, Noemy and Pawel are constitutionally incapable of getting together, or so it seems. Even in the late 1960s, after having known each other for over twenty years, she still can’t call him first. They are at a stalemate until Rick arrives and turns their lives upside-down.

Relationships

Pawel Balcescu

Noemy’s only known relationship is with Pawel. They meet after their liberation from Dachau when they are waiting, with Milena and Mrs. Klinghofer, at a transit camp. This puts their meeting after the end of Day of the Dead.

Mirror Universe

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

Portrait of a Character - Noemy Chelenska

Klara Issova as Mirror Noemy (image is for educational purposes)

As an artist (she is a portrait photographer), she would be in an elite class and could be rather wealthy indeed.

Quote

“What do you mean to do? We do not; I will not have you speed her along.”

Upshot

Barking up the Muse Tree | jespah | Janet Gershen-Siegel | Prague Spring | Noemy Chelenska

Prague Spring

For a character who started off as little more than a sounding board, she lives through the Velvet Revolution and even captures it in pictures.

Not bad for the ol’ gal, eh?

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Posted by jespah in Fan fiction, In Between Days series, Interphases series, Portrait, Times of the HG Wells series, 0 comments
01
Mar
2016

Portrait of a Character – Pawel Balcescu

Portrait of a Character – Pawel Balcescu

Origins

Portrait of a Character – Pawel Balcescu

Dragos Bucur as Pawel Balcescu (image is used for educational purposes only)

Milena Chelenska reveals that Pawel met Noemy at a transit camp after they were liberated from Dachau, which would put their meeting as immediately after the end of the events depicted in Day of the Dead. Time traveler Rick Daniels meets him when he (Rick) is tasked with making sure that Prague Spring, like in the original history, ends.

Portrayal

Pawel is played by Romanian actor Dragos Bucur. It was important for me for this character to be played by someone who is actually Romanian.

Personality

Bereft, shy, maybe not too intelligent, but full of heart, Pawel is utterly in love with Milena‘s younger sister, Noemy. But they are at a stalemate, still far too damaged to commit after the horrors of Dachau. Milena reveals that Pawel and his family were not Jews. Rather, they were imprisoned because his parents were Communists.

Relationships

Noemy Chelenska

Pawel’s sole known relationship is with Noemy. After Rick leaves, they marry, and eventually have two children.

Mirror Universe

There is no impediment to Pawel existing in the Mirror.

Portrait of a Character – Pawel Balcescu

Dragos Bucur as the Mirror Universe Pawel Balcescu (image is presented for educational purposes only)

I still haven’t decided whether the Holocaust actually happened in the Mirror Universe. It may seem like a no-brainer, but the truth is, I am unsure. I write Jews in the Mirror (including Leah Benson), and of course the Mirror is a rather rough place. To zig rather than zag, and for there to have not been a Holocaust, is an idea that intrigues.

Quote

“I suppose enough time has passed, and we can bury the dead once and for all.”

Upshot

I like this damaged but ultimately sensible guy who drives a milk truck and is the glue that holds the Chelenska sisters together. Pawel, much like Frank Ramirez in particular, is a man you can count on.

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Posted by jespah in Fan fiction, Portrait, Times of the HG Wells series, 0 comments
22
Aug
2014

Review – Spring Thaw

Spring Thaw

A Spring Thaw is unpredictable and can often feel like one step forward, two steps back.

Background

Here is where, in Star Trek fanfiction, I wanted canon character Richard Daniels to tragically fall in love with a woman he could never have.

Review – Spring Thaw

The story, however, was originally a part of a wholly original time travel series. In both versions, a time traveler is tasked with ending Prague Spring, because true historical figure Drahomír Kolder is being blackmailed. But in the original story, Milena Chelenska was the time traveler, and she married Elijah Kohak before departing, an act that breaks both of their hearts. But the altered story diverged quite a bit.

Plot

Barking up the Muse Tree | jespah | Janet Gershen-Siegel | Prague Spring

Prague Spring

Barking up the Muse Tree | jespah | Janet Gershen-Siegel | Spring Thaw

Spring Thaw

In the story as it was adapted for the Times of the HG Wells series, Rick and Sheilagh are winding down. They agree to not see each other anymore; it’s just too strange.

 

A free man again, Rick must end Prague Spring, as the Temporal Integrity Commission‘s enemies have altered history too much, and communism falls a lot earlier than it should have. The negative consequences of this include no Ronald Reagan-inspired SDI, and so there is no global satellite system in place in the 1980s.

This delays the development of the Internet, which in turn delays the development of all manner of innovations, including Warp Drive.

As Rick flies to 1968, he does not realize that someone has cut his time ship’s fuel line; he’ll need to obtain materials in order to fix it. After beaming down to Prague, his luck seems disastrous, as he is hit by a car and dragged, left for dead by a hit and run driver. Milena is outside walking with her sister, Noemy, as they are going to the farmers’ market.

Rick is at least a little big luckier, as Milena is a doctor. Except she’s a gynecologist. Never mind that – at least she and Noemy get him out of the street. But once he’s on her examining table and she’s ready to start x-raying him,  she sees his wounds starting to close up, and this astounds her. She immediately realizes, due to the presence of his stem cell growth accelerator, that something very strange is going on. She suspects he’s not human. She’s partly right.

Rick’s luck continues improving, until he realizes just how special she really is. And that he can never have her.

Music

The music is of course from 1968, except for Rick and Milena’s theme, which is Jim Croce‘s Time in a Bottle. Further, this is the only one of the HG Wells stories that does not have a title taken from a lyric. Instead, the references are to Prague Spring and to Richard and Milena’s own thaws.

Story Postings

Rating

The story is Rated T.

Upshot

I had originally really loved the Milena character, but had no good place to put her. Once the story got started, though, it flowed smoothly. The HG Wells stories had started off as a bit of a hard slog, as I knew I wanted this story to serve as the centerpiece. So I was itching to get here. By the time I got here, it was all I had hoped for and more, and the transcription of the story became close to taking dictation, which is my favorite way to write.

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Posted by jespah in Fan fiction, Review, Times of the HG Wells series, 7 comments
01
Apr
2014

Portrait of a Character – Milena Chelenska

Portrait of a Character – Milena Chelenska

Milena Chelenska was originally a creation as a part of a wholly original time travel series. However, that series is no more.

Origins

She was always a doctor, and was always a Holocaust survivor, based on Franz Kafka’s real-life lover, Milena Jesenska. As a love interest for Richard Daniels, I feel that she shines even more.

Portrayal

Barking Up the Muse Tree | jespah | Janet Gershen-Siegel | Barking-Up-the-Muse-Tree-jespah-Janet-Gershen-Siegel-

Michaela Dolinova as Milena Chelenska (image is for educational purposes only)

Milena is played by Czech actress Michaela Dolinova.

It was very important for me, for the actress to be Czech in origin. This is because not only the ethnicity is important, but so is the accent.

I love that this actress is older, too, as Milena is meant to be worn down by the world.

Personality

Beaten down by the world and skeptical of the good in it, Milena survives more because she refuses to die than for any other reason. She experiences horrors at Dachau, including being a part of desperately trying to give a pregnant inmate an abortion before the Nazis discover the unnamed woman’s pregnancy. It all goes horribly wrong, and the unnamed woman dies. Milena vows to, if she survives, only help others. This also means illegal euthanasia for her neighbor, Mrs. Klinghofer, when Klinghofer’s inoperable cancer becomes truly intolerable.

Barking Up the Muse Tree | jespah | Janet Gershen-Siegel | Milena Jesenska (image is for educational purposes only)

The Real Milena Jesenska (image is for educational purposes only)

Milena first shows up, in the chronological order of the stories, by Tripp Tucker, during Day of the Dead, when he’s interphased to the liberation of Dachau in 1945. Milena and her sister, Noemy, along with Mrs. Klinghofer make friends with Tucker and other soldiers.

Milena is not seen again until Spring Thaw, when Rick is sent to 1969 in order to make sure that Prague Spring ends. By the time of He Stays a Stranger, Rick realizes that he’s in love with her.

Relationships

Elijah Kohak

Elijah, a neighbor’s son, is Milena’s boy next door type. But he’s Orthodox, and Milena and her family aren’t, so his parents don’t agree to a marriage. Instead, Elijah is promised to another. When they are shipping to Dachau, only his father and her sister remain. This is because her parents have committed suicide. Also, Elijah’s mother has died as the result of a rape  and beating. At the time of selection, because his father is going to be killed, even though Elijah could have lived, he sacrifices himself. Hence he goes to the death side, and is gassed.

Milena admits that she has taken lovers since his death. However, she’s never really gotten over him until she meets Rick.

Richard Daniels

With Rick, she finds an intellectual equal and is able to unburden herself. He, in turn, unburdens himself about Jun. They work together to heal each other. By the time of He Stays a Stranger, he realizes that he cannot just leave her in the past. In Mirror Masquerade, they are together, and she is practicing a form of medicine in the deep future.

Theme Music

Rick and Milena’s theme is Jim Croce‘s Time in a Bottle.

Mirror Universe

Portrait of a Character – Milena Chelenska

Mirror Milena (Michaela Dolinova)

There are no real impediments to her existence in the Mirror Universe. I feel she’d be carefree, maybe even wealthy.

She could even be one of the very few Mirror Universe women who didn’t have a lousy life.

Quote

“I have conclusive evidence that we are not alone in the universe. And I am well aware of exactly how insane that sounds, so I shall endeavor to explain.”

Upshot

I love this character and she will definitely show up again.

Posted by jespah in In Between Days series, Interphases series, Portrait, Times of the HG Wells series, 15 comments
28
Sep
2012

Progress Report – September 2012

Progress Report – September 2012

September 2012 was busy.

Posted Works

Barking up the Muse Tree | Janet Gershen-Siegel | jespah | Quill | September 2012

The month was extremely productive.

On Ad Astra, I added the following In Between Days stories to context – Ceremonial; Shell Shock; The Best Things Come in Pairs; To Wish, To Want, To Desire and Tumult.

For the HG Wells collection, I added the following stories to context – A Long, Long Time Ago; Ohio, Fortune and Temper. I also added The Point is Probably Moot. For the Transitions challenge, I wrote the Mirror Universe story, Throwing Rocks at Looking Glass Houses. In order to add context to the many Mirror Universe stories, I also created a cover and a series for them, called Hall of Mirrors. I added Paving Stones Made From Good Intentions, First Born, Reversal, Coveted Commodity, Temper, Fortune and The Point is Probably Moot to that particular context. I also created an actual contextual piece, called Hall of Mirrors and added Throwing Rocks at Looking Glass Houses.

On Fanfiction.net, I added Voracious and its direct sequel, Harvest. I also added Protocols, which is another Lili-centric prequel and The Mess, which also features Jay. I also added the extreme prequel story, A Single Step.

On Star Trek Logs, because they were celebrating the Mirror Universe there, I added A Lesson, which is an HG Wells story featuring Eleanor Daniels, and The High Cost of Dissidence.

WIP Corner

The E2 stories continued to challenge and perplex. So I am working on the fourth book and sometimes it’s not so easy.

Plus I also began working on a new Interphases story starring Commander Tucker. I don’t write him too much so I am learning how to get into that character’s head. This story also briefly brings back HG Wells characters Milena and Noemy Chelenka and their neighbor, Mrs. Klinghofer.

Prep Work

I am beginning to get more than just an inkling of how I want to work on more Interphases stories, as I have been brainstorming quite a bit regarding ways that interphases can actually happen. This has been helpful in terms of getting ideas for more stories in that genre as I am looking to cover not only the entire main canon crew of Enterprise but to potentially branch out into other series (as in Crackerjack).

I also created an HTML version of Shake Your Body, in anticipation of spinning it out in October.

This Month’s Productivity Killers

I started off the month by turning 50! All of my celebratory stuff was early, so I was past that and well into production afterwards. The Adult Trek Anthology continues to be a lot of work, but very rewarding. A lot of it is finished or close to being finished, but cover art will likely prove to be a lot more time-consuming. Plus I am still looking for work, and am doing SEO work for a friend.

Posted by jespah in Fan fiction, Progress, 0 comments