Star Trek

Apr

2013

Portrait of a Character – Frank Todd

Frank Todd makes a point.

Origins

I had been reading more than enough homophobic rants about how gay characters would be too effeminate for Starfleet. It annoyed me enough that I wanted to create a pair of gay characters, and one of them would be a MACO. And so, for There’s Something About Hoshi, I created Franklin Thomas Todd.

Portrayal

Frank Todd is played by Luke MacFarlane.

Luke MacFarlane as Frank Todd

I wanted an impressively physically imposing actor. This guy would be no one’s idea of effeminate.

I also wanted a gay actor. I hope that this would be the kind of role that this actor could be proud of. Frank is no pushover and he is no stereotype.

Personality

Loyal, friendly and passionate, but also fiercely dedicated to his job, Frank is just the kind of guy you want defending the Enterprise and her crew. Jay and Julie trust him, and he has more than earned their trust. Eventually, he rises to the rank of Corporal although I can see him with a lot more responsibility.

Relationships

David Constantine

Dave and Frank have began dating by the time of There’s Something About Hoshi. In Entanglements, they get together after Frank rather loudly comes out. However, by the time of Shell Shock, Frank is picked up at a gay bar in Provincetown. Hence maybe things did not work out as well as the men would have preferred.

Mirror Universe

Mirror Universe Frank (Luke MacFarlane)

I do not yet have a Mirror Universe version of Frank, but there’s no reason why there can’t be one.

I like the idea of him, perhaps, being less rough around the edges on the other side of the pond. Maybe I’ll write him some time.

Quote

“My name is Franklin Thomas Todd.

And while it is nobody’s goddamned business, except for the people I care about, and who care about me, I want you all to know that I am a gay man. I don’t hide. I am not ashamed. (and) I am who I am, and being gay is as much a part of me as having a tattoo on my bicep, or brown eyes or being from Europa originally.”

Upshot

I want more occasions to showcase this character who is far more than his sexuality. I’ll be looking for places for Frank. You haven’t seen the last of him.

Apr

2013

Spotlight on an Original Sentient Species – Arisians

Arisians have a funky history.

Background

When I first started writing Star Trek fanfiction, I was big on one-offs and “Alien of the Week” plots. At the same time, I was also learning how to plot, so I used the five senses as inspiration. For touch (and, by extension, feelings), I decided to write a lighthearted romance about Hoshi and a below-decks crewman who couldn’t quite hit his marks.

Further, I wanted to begin to explore sexism as an inspiration. Therefore, I created a society that had scapegoated women so thoroughly that there were no more women anywhere in their species. As a bonus, I had been seeing some rather nasty homophobic rants. People would not so subtly joke about gay characters being too sissified to ever make it to Starfleet. The story that grew out of these ideas was There’s Something About Hoshi.

Characteristics

As standard humanoid aliens, the only physical description of the Arisians is a beautifully detailed pattern on their foreheads. This is somewhat akin to what later evolved into the Calafans.

History

As the aliens themselves explain, women got the blame for all sorts of issues. Also, much like in ancient Rome, they could not leaving their homes without an escort, a fact that also figures in with Daranaean third caste females in Take Back the Night. Arisian scientists took it to an extreme, though, and began to research how to reduce pregnancy terms. Once the term could be reduced down to nothing, they genetically engineered only male children. So while they didn’t out and out kill the remaining women, they didn’t replace them.

Reproduction occurs via cloning and the use of artificial wombs. These are much like an incubator or a bassinet, but with more scientific sophistication. The groups of genetically identical males are referred to as Accordancies. As an Accordant explains, the relationship among the members of an Accordancy is fraternal. This is even though often the age difference can be very great.

Present Day

But things are changing on Aris. Its inhabitants now understand the absence of women did not prevent wars or other disasters or hard feelings. As a result, their ruling council decides to obtain female hormones. And, as Sandra Sloane annoyedly points out (thereby prefiguring her sharp tongue and short temper in Reflections Down a Corridor), they did not ask for help and simply took whatever they wanted, without permission.

Barking up the Muse Tree | jespah | Janet Gershen-Siegel | There's Something About Hoshi | Arisians

There’s Something About Hoshi – the first place we see Arisians

In addition (and in exchange), they inject Hoshi and her MACO escort, Frank Todd, with a certain kind of chemical stimulant. The Arisians think Frank and Hoshi are a couple. But they aren’t. Frank is the toughest guy in the room, and he is gay (as are, presumably, all of the Arisians).

For Frank, perhaps, Aris would almost be a kind of paradise. But he’s got a boyfriend, and he’s loyal. There’s no hookup for Frank on the planet.

As for Hoshi, the chemical has a far different effect on her and the straight men on the Enterprise. She’s become irresistible. And that’s kind of scary.

Future

In the sequel, There’s Something Else About Hoshi, the Arisians are finding that women – although, perhaps, exasperating – turn their society around. But maybe later they’ll just go back to treating women like doormats again. I don’t know.

Stay tuned.

Apr

2013

Portrait of a Character – Patti Socorro

Patti Socorro Origins

Patti Socorro is a useful character.

This character is technically Star Trek: Enterprise canon but you never see her on screen. She does not have a first name, or a first initial. Instead, the sole reference to an Ensign Socorro refers to her smell after exercising.

Some introduction, eh?

Portrayal

I wanted an actress who would be decent-looking. But she couldn’t be a breathless knockout.

Carey Mulligan as Patti Socorro (image is for educational purposes only)

Therefore, I chose British actress Carey Mulligan. Mulligan has some sci-fi cred. She was in an episode of Doctor Who. Truth is, she is a lovely woman. But just like with Aidan, notions of attractions are different from now.

Personality

Brittle and withdrawn, Patti is as luckless as Lili O’Day when the Enterprise is thrown back in time the first time, during the E² stories (Reflections Down a Corridor). I write her as a Crewman. In canon, she’s an Ensign. And so, when Lili and Patti are the only two unclaimed women left, Chang and the others refer to them as the Ensign and the Crewman. No one has to be told who the Ensign and the Crewman are.

Because she is more vulnerable than Lili, Patti is the subject of targeting. So Chang, Hodgkins, Brown, Curtis and Kemper attack. This is with Haynem helping but not taking part in the actual attack. This incident colors life on the NX-01. And Sandra Sloane is also implicated as a helper.

In the second kick back in time, Patti stays safe as the situation does not get anywhere near as out of control. For a while, she and Lili room together.

Relationships

William Slocum

Because the herd has thinned quite a bit, Will feels that he can approach her. He makes his move before the attack. But he is there afterwards to try to help her heal a bit. He’s somewhat inept, however. So eventually they divorce during the first kick back in time.

Derek Kelby

In the second kick back in time, Derek (a canon character who does not have a canon first name) and Patti wed. This time, she is not the penultimate woman the men choose.

Mirror Universe

Patti Socorro doesn’t have a Mirror Universe counterpart yet.

I think a Mirror Patti would have to be considerably more assertive. She’d probably also have to be competent – but not necessarily overly so. This would be in order to be on the Defiant. After all, Empress Hoshi doesn’t like a lot of female competition.

Quote

“I don’t, well, no one, has the time for me to hang around and recover from this. Those guys have to be caught.”

Upshot

I have really put this Navigational Crewman through the ringer. Maybe a Mirror version will fare better.

Apr

2013

Recurrent Themes – Chefs

Background

Chefs are canon for earlier in the timeline. By the time you get to Voyager, they’re gone.

I enjoy cooking, and so it was easy for me to center my first big story and big series around a chef. The story is Reversal, the series is In Between Days, and the chef is Lili O’Day.

Furthermore, I needed to have characters who readers could more readily relate to. When you watch Star Trek, or you read about it, some of the characters and their jobs and scenarios are just, well, alien. How many of us are Science Officers? Who pilots, if not a star ship, then at least an airplane? Who is a linguist? These jobs – and jobs like them – do exist, but cooking is close to being universal. Everybody’s got to eat.

Emeril Lagasse

Before Chef was revealed to be Jonathan Frakes, I had thought of what it would be like to have someone like Emeril Lagasse in the role. I still think he would have made a better Chef character. Plus maybe it would finally get the bitter taste of the series finale out of my mouth.

Naah. Nothing will.

Appearances of Chefs

Lili O’Day

Lili is not just a chef.

Naomi Watts as Lili O’Day

She’s a lot of things, too – a wife (twice in the prime timeline and twice in the E² alternate), a mother, an operative for Richard Daniels, an informal good will ambassador to the Calafan people, an officer (in the prime timeline, she retires as an Ensign. In the E² alternate, she has a different outcome) and a friend to people such as Jenny Crossman and, eventually, Pamela Hudson.

Lili also works out well as an expository character. She doesn’t always know what’s going on (after all, she spends most of her time below decks), so she asks the questions that the audience needs to ask.

William Slocum

Because Frakes is Star Trek: Enterprise canon as Chef, I don’t mess with that.

Chef Slocum and Hoshi Sato

However, the man had neither a first nor a last name so I have provided him with both. I just liked how the name William Slocum sounded, plus it pays homage to the actor’s much better canon character, Will Riker.

Further to that, he needed a bit of a backstory, so he got an Italian mother and, as a result, an affinity for Italian cooking (his chicken marsala is canon). He also engages in a lot of bluster and his relationships do not work out well at all.

Brian Delacroix

Brian starts out in Security, but moves into Food Service by the end of Reversal.

David Faustino as Brian Delacroix

By the time of Together, he’s working full-time as a sous-chef. And by the time of Fortune, he has become the chef for Malcolm Reed‘s ship, the USS Bluebird. He’s even seen in Equinox; Malcolm confides in him a bit. After all, Malcolm likes chefs.

Brian and Lili also help to prepare a special meal for the Federation’s founding species. The Vulcans prepare the soup course (plomeek broth), the Tellarites prepare a main dish and the Andorians provide the dessert. Brian and Lili prepare her Harvest Salad, which she made for Will during the events of Voracious and for Jonathan, Hoshi, T’Pol, Travis, Malcolm, Tripp, Jay, and Dr. Phlox in Harvest.

Kathalia

While this Daranaean is an amateur, she is known as a good cook. In Temptation, she’s the one who suggests making cookies (the Daranaeans refer to them as “little cakes”), and in Flight of the Bluebird, her husband, Trinning, singles her out and compliments her as being “the best cook”.

Harvest Salad Recipe

The Harvest Salad doesn’t really have a set list of ingredients. It’s more like a refrigerator salad, e. g. you make it with whatever you’ve got on hand. But the main ideas are as follows:

It should be colorful. In Fortune, the lettuces are several different colors, and the entire spectrum of the rainbow is evoked.
It should contain fruits and nuts. These can be anything that goes together. Because, in canon, Malcolm loves pineapple, that fruit is always included.
It should be vegan. For Malcolm, who has lactose intolerance, and T’Pol, who is a vegan, this is a must. However, the dressings need not be vegan although a vegan option should be provided.
It can contain a cooked item. In Fortune, the salad contains beets.

Upshot

For hungry travelers, chefs do more than nourish the body. They are important when it comes to crew morale. In Reflections Down a Corridor, in particular, because morale is slipping, having good food is a must. But chefs are more than purveyors of food. They nourish the spirit.

Mar

2013

Progress Report – March 2013

March 2013 Posted Works

March 2013 had a lot of diverse work in it.

In response to both the Ad Astra paths not taken challenge and the Trek BBS independence challenge, I posted Bread, a story about the prime universe and mirror universe Leah Benson. Bread covers a lot of details and even includes a shout-out to the Daranaeans.

In reaction to the death of a friend, I posted On the Radio. I began to spin out The Three of Us.

Also, I added On the Radio and Bread to In Between Days context. I added The Play at the Plate and Bread to Hall of Mirrors context.

On Fanfiction.net, I posted Movie Night, Coveted Commodity and began to spin out Fortune.

Milestones

Temper hit 10,000 overall reads on March 18th. The next story that will get there is most likely going to be Fortune.

WIP Corner

I continued working on The All-Stars. I also spent time on the Anthology.

Prep Work

I continued refining the timeline. I prepared works for the Anthology.

English: Six Braided Jewish Challah with sesame. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I also decided to overhaul my website, as I know that the jespah section is mainly a bunch of links, and that is harming my SEO efforts. Not to mention, it’s pretty dull. Hence I have begun the process of changing how links are presented, both there and on this blog. This will change not only the website side of things, it will also involve updating many of my preexisting posts. It will likely take months before I really make any significant headway.

This is probably, in some ways, avoidance behavior – I won’t have much time to work on the Barnstorming series for a while. But I think I am all right with that. I further feel that delaying that series will give me an opportunity to give it more details and interest. Plus I have been going nonstop for almost two and a half years now. I am not stopping, plus I’ll probably continue answering challenges. But things are changing a bit. It’s all good.

This Month’s Productivity Killers

This month got busy as it’s 5K racing season again. I am also looking for more work, and that has heated up again recently. Plus, as I’ve already mentioned, I am changing things up on the website end of things.

Mar

2013

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.

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.

Mar

2013

Portrait of a Character – Travis Mayweather

Travis Mayweather got a bum rap in canon!

Origins

This character is, of course Star Trek: Enterprise canon, and is present on the ship throughout its entire time in outer space, e. g. 2151 – 2161. The series, did not explore him too well. By the third and fourth seasons, the actor and the character often had little to do.

Portrayal

As in canon, he is portrayed by actor Anthony Montgomery.

Personality

Affable and curious, Travis is more of an adventurer and an explorer than the others. A part of this is due to his age. But it’s also because he has spent nearly his entire life in space. He has already had his “firsts”.

The way I write him, he can have some melancholy, particularly in the context of Together. But things start out differently. In Party on Risa (a missing scene from the canon episode, Two Days, Two Nights), he dances with a mysterious alien woman. Savvy readers should recognize that this is a full-blood Witannen. In The Puzzle, he’s kidnapped for an odd alien experiment that makes him question existence and think philosophically, beyond his normal understanding. Ultimately, he enjoys the experience, and even makes a few new friends.

Happy?

In Reversal, he’s sympathetic and is willing to give Doug a chance. He also has his fun, particularly in Intolerance, as it is initially his idea to compete with Tripp and Malcolm for the female medical students. Originally, there are assignments. They change the game later, when they determined there are two, rather than three women, as they had originally thought. But before, he was “assigned” to Blair Claymore.

But melancholy isn’t far behind. Together turns out rather badly for him, as he and Jennifer do not get along and he eventually fears a bit for his job. In Temper, in the alternate timeline, Malcolm reveals that Travis died at impact when a shuttle crashed (and Malcolm himself became permanently injured as Tripp and Hoshi died fighting).

Hijinks return briefly in Broken Seal, when he is an accomplice when the movie is altered.

And then sadness returns, not only with Fortune, but also with We Meet Again and, eventually, Equinox.

Relationships

Julie McKenzie

This canon relationship takes place during E² and I do not tamper with it. With Julie, Travis Mayweather is free and easy. They have a good relationship. For both kick backs in time, they have a son, who they name after Travis’s brother, Paul.

Jennifer Crossman

This isn’t much of a relationship as the events of Together throw them together. It isn’t until Fortune that the reader learns that Jennifer emerged from that experience pregnant. Whether she lost the baby via miscarriage or abortion remains unknown. Travis concedes the point and will not ask.

Shelby Pike

During the events of Reversal, Shelby gives Travis Mayweather an apple (as is depicted in Apple, a missing scene story). He realizes she wants a serious relationship, but he knows he isn’t in the right place to commit to her, and it would be unfair. But rather than tell her, he rather immaturely runs off. Lili ends up chasing after him, demanding that he apologize. As for Shelby, at some point after this, she ends up with José for a while, but she and Travis have the potential to start up during Fortune. Given the events of Day of the Dead, it appears that this relationship doesn’t go anywhere.

Ellen Warren

When Travis finally does marry, it’s to Ellen Warren. I mention Ellen in Day of the Dead – she and Travis have just met. But Travis is always on the road. So Ellen is stuck with the house and the dog. They do not have children. It all comes to a head in Equinox, when Travis realizes he’d better retire as Ellen is giving him an ultimatum – space or me. Because the Bluebird is late, it’s highly likely that Travis and Ellen divorce as she has had it with him, and with Starfleet.

Theme Music

In Together, Travis’s own song is Marvin Gaye’s Stubborn Kinda Fellow. With Jennifer, the song is Duran Duran’s Rio.

Mirror Universe Travis Mayweather

I have so much on him that this will be a separate post.

Quote

“Maybe a kiss will be a thrill for her. It’s just one kiss. Hey, you never know.”

Upshot

This character was grossly underutilized during the series run. I admit I don’t use him enough, either. It often seems that some characters just don’t get a lot of air time, and Travis is one of those characters. In my fiction, he gets a lot more airtime in the Mirror Universe. It’s tough for me to give him more justice, as she doesn’t really fit into my main family (O’Day-Beckett–Hayes-Reed-MacKenzie–Ramirez-Crossman-Sato etc.), but Ellen certainly fits into the Warren-Parker family. Travis Mayweather may yet get more ink.

Feb

2013

Progress Report – February 2013

February 2013 Posted Works

February 2013 kept me going.

It was a busy month (as they always seem to be these days).

I started off adding several stories to the Times of the HG Wells context. These were: A Lesson, Candy, Souvenirs, Spring Thaw, Where the Wind Comes Sweepin’ Down the Plain and The Point is Probably Moot.

Voice of the Common Man was added to the In Between Days context.

I continued the E² Interphases stories with Entanglements. In response to a prompt about second chances, I tapped a very different cast of characters and entered the Voyager universe with Siberians.

On Archer’s Angels, for Valentine’s’ Day, I added A Kind of Blue.

Also, on Fanfiction.net, I added The Conspiracy, Voice of the Common Man, and Temper.

In order to respond to both the Ad Astra paths not taken challenge and the Trek BBS independence challenge, I began writing a prime universe/mirror universe story about Leah Benson, called Bread. Also, in response to the death of a friend, I began writing On the Radio, which is a post-Fortune story.

Milestones

Temper continues its climb toward 9,000 overall reads, while Reversal is closing in on 20,000. In Between Days exceeded 100,000 overall reads on the 18th.

WIP Corner

I continued working on the second Adult Trek Anthology as I was able to. I made some progress on The All Stars and continued to edit the earlier E² works. This was to better polish the prose. On the Radio is a bit of an emotional story for me. Hence it may take a while before I finish.

Prep Work

I gathered images for the Anthology’s cover, and worked on getting Together ready for publishing by Trek United on its Issuu page. I also spent time on the Anthology and prepared more works for it. TU Publishing now has a Facebook page, and I am working on content for it. I added a Timeline page in order to provide better context. Right now, I’m only adding works that have reviews on the blog.

This Month’s Productivity Killers

Life has gotten incredibly busy, as work has added more tasks. I enjoy these tasks, but they do take up time. However, it’s blogging that requires a great deal of research and I cannot rush it.

Feb

2013

Recurrent Themes – Visual Artists

Background

Visual artists are not exactly canon.
Star Trek isn’t known . While there might be artwork on people’s walls, or on shelves, it’s more likely to be something almost functional – or at least unbreakable. After all, ships get tossed around an awful lot.

But I wanted readers to have people they could relate to. And I think visual artists are rather relatable, as their work is similar to what artists do now. Painting, as a technique, has in some ways not changed significantly since we were living in caves. It’s still pigments on some form of canvas. And pottery is even closer to what our remote ancestors were doing.

Appearances of Visual Artists

In Between Days

Marie Helêne Ducasse O’Day

Lili‘s mother, as she recounts in Fortune, is a potter. This is also true in the Mirror Universe, as is seen in The High Cost of Dissidence, where Marie Helêne is a fallen elite.

L’Kor

In Intolerance, Dr. Keleth dreams of home. This includes the paintings, wall hangings and sculptures created by his wife, L’Kor. Even though she is paralyzed from the waist down, she can still be a productive and highly creative artist.

Declan Reed

Lili and Malcolm‘s son is a gifted artist from a young age. In Temptation, Cria and Mistra look over a letter from Malcolm which includes one of Declan’s drawings. Dec is only a young child, but he is still pronounced “very good” by the two Daranaeans. Later, he attends school at Oxford, and is seen there during Flight of the Bluebird. And in Fortune, after Lili and Malcolm have passed on, Declan goes to Europe and, in part, it is to study Monet’s Water Lilies at Giverny.

Monet’s Water Lilies at Giverny

Times of the HG Wells

With little reason to have a visual artist on hand, it’s no surprise that there are no visual artist characters in this series yet, not even in the background.

Interphases

Colleen Romanov

For Azar and Maryam‘s wedding, the Muslim bride’s hands are painted with food coloring, as there is no henna. These include images of procul and malostrea. The artist is an amateur. She is a Navigational crewman who is otherwise not really seen much.

Daranaean Emergence

Inta II

It’s not until Hearts in Time that Inta reveals she is an artist, to Hank Harrison. He takes a look and tells her he thinks her work is very good. She wonders a bit if she could go to a big art school, perhaps with Declan, in order to not only further her education but also maybe meet a man (of pretty much any species) who would truly appreciate her. Later, in Confidence, she starts school, and a gift to Malcolm is her drawing of Declan.

Barnstorming

Crita

For this new series, I want another Daranaean artist. This time, the female is from the third caste (Inta II is from the second caste). Crita is also ambidextrous, and is a bit of a novelty, as she can draw two different images with both hands, simultaneously. This is not an impossibility (at least not for humans, as President James Garfield apparently could write Greek with one hand, and Latin with the other, at the same time). Much like Inta II, she is also a bit lacking in confidence, but at least Crita is trying to make a living at art.

Upshot

I want my Star Trek fanfiction to have an artistic angle that it just doesn’t have in the series or the films. While characters (Data in particular) might paint, no one is really good at it. And rightly so, as they are, instead, engineers or doctors or the like. But in a sophisticated society, there will always be visual artists. I know I will add more as I can.

Feb

2013

Review – Local Flavor

Background

Local Flavor solves a few problems for me.

First of all, the Trek BBS held a Star Trek fanfiction challenge called “Out of Uniform“. So the idea was to show people not in typical starship settings. I seized upon the opportunity to show Lili and Doug first moving to Lafa II. Hence this is the morning after the end of Reversal; Local Flavor is the very beginning of “happily ever after”.

Plot

Happily Ever After – Kinsale (Photo credit: Sonia Luna)

Travis flies Doug and Lili to the surface. Also, he makes a point of telling Lili that Captain Archer and Malcolm both expressed regrets at not being able to personally see her off. For the captain, it’s because he was busy with other duties. However for Malcolm, it’s because he’s beginning to realize that he cares for her. But he can’t say anything; she’s off to marry someone else. As he confides to her in Together, her life is just zooming along and away from him, and he can’t do anything to stop it.

Upon landing, they are picked up by Treve, who drives them to their new apartment, which is later seen in A Kind of Blue and The Gift. On the way, Doug asks about changing his surname. Treve reiterates that Calafans don’t have last names, so the only people on Lafa II who would care are him and Lili. Doug ends up simply declaring his new surname to be Beckett.

Local Flavor

They see the apartment and then the action moves to an open-air market, where a number of Calafan delicacies are to be had, including linfep, tofflin and elekai. Even prako (procul) show up, but they are too expensive, as they have been brought to the market by Eska hunters, from Archer’s Planet (in my fan fiction, during the E² stories, that world is called Amity). Plus the idea of the Calafans always being on the make comes out, as does Doug’s temper. Even some of the alien gesturing is explained, and the cake made at the end has a blueberry filling. Because that is a shoutout to my portrayal of Jay Hayes as loving blueberries.

Story Postings

Local Flavor – original posting
also, Local Flavor on Ad Astra (contains reviews)
Local Flavor on Fanfiction.net
in addition, Local Flavor on Fictionpad
Local Flavor on Wattpad
Old posting of Local Flavor on the G & T Show forums
Local Flavor in context

Rating

The story is rated K.

Upshot

A lot happens in a short amount of time. Doug and Lili are exposed to Calafan society through a fire hose. And the reader, in some ways, gets that same sort of treatment. In some ways, this story is like another “elevator pitch” tale (like The Light). This is because it serves as an introduction to a lot of disparate aspects of my universe.

You can find me on Google+.

Portrait of a Character – Frank Todd

Origins

Portrayal

Personality

Relationships

David Constantine

Mirror Universe

Quote

Upshot

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Spotlight on an Original Sentient Species – Arisians

Background

Characteristics

History

Present Day

Future

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Patti Socorro Origins

Portrayal

Personality

Relationships

William Slocum

Derek Kelby

Mirror Universe

Quote

Upshot

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Background

Appearances of Chefs

Lili O’Day

William Slocum

Brian Delacroix

Kathalia

Harvest Salad Recipe

Upshot

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March 2013 Posted Works

Milestones

WIP Corner

Prep Work

This Month’s Productivity Killers

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Portrait of a Character – Anthony Parker

Origins

Portrayal

Personality

His end?

Alternate Timelines

Mirror Universe

Quote

Upshot

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Portrait of a Character – Travis Mayweather

Origins

Portrayal

Personality

Happy?

Relationships

Julie McKenzie

Jennifer Crossman

Shelby Pike

Ellen Warren

Theme Music

Mirror Universe Travis Mayweather

Quote

Upshot

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February 2013 Posted Works

Milestones

WIP Corner

Prep Work

This Month’s Productivity Killers

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