startrek fan fiction

21
Jun
2013

Recurrent Themes – Religious/Spiritual Leaders

Recurrent Themes – Religious/Spiritual Leaders

Spiritual leaders exist in my fiction.

Background

Religion is Star Trek canon, Barking up the Muse Tree | Janet Gershen-Siegel | jespah | DNA | Spiritual Leaders and of course it is also a very real and very personal human experience.

While much of Star Trek is rather atheist-friendly, I don’t believe that faith will ever, truly, completely leave us. In particular, the Enterprise era should have characters who still practice religion. Hence spiritual leaders would be a nature offshoot of that.

In Between Days Spiritual Leaders

Leah Benson

First showing up in The Light, Rabbi Benson is the official Starfleet Rabbi. She assists Ethan Shapiro in putting together a short service to commemorate the life of his great-aunt, Rachel Orenstein.

In Bread, she is a part of an official Starfleet set of meetings and banquets where all of the Starfleet chaplains have been brought together as a part of welcoming three new worlds to the nascent Federation – the Caitian home world, Denobula and the Xyrillian home world. Leah is cordial with the Imam, a Buddhist monk and others. Religion is very much alive, and she is a big part of it. While reminiscing with Jonathan Archer, she reports that Ethan would often ask her advice about Karin Bernstein, and she is delighted that they wed.

Yimar

In the alternate timeline in Temper, she is the spiritual leader of her people on both sides of the pond. When the timeline is restored, she is only the High Priestess on the Mirror side.

The role of High Priestess is not too well-defined, but Yimar has the power to summon her fellow Calafans, no matter where they are, and can even telepathically communicate with those in the Mirror Universe, a useful talent for a spiritual leader who, in an alternate timeline, leads her government in exile, too.

Yipran

In Reversal, she seems to be dying. But Yipran, the High Priestess of the Calafan people, is not going down without a fight. In Fortune, she reveals that she understands far more of the universe and its origins (and its eventual fate) than pretty much anyone.

Times of the HG Wells

Kaiwev

In Where the Wind Comes Sweepin’ Down the Plain, a Calafan temporal agent, Chellewev, dies in the line of duty. It’s up to Kaiwev, the leader of the Calafan unit, to lead prayers at the dedication of Chellewev’s spot on the Temporal Integrity Commission‘s monument to the fallen. Kaiwev is really just pressed into service. I never meant for him to be a priest.

Milton Walker and Members of the Eligian Order

About half of this order consists of upstanding men who commit charitable deeds and are true believers. The other half is a front for the Perfectionists, including Walker himself. The legitimate monks are unaware of what is going on under their noses.

Interphases

Jonathan Archer

Because there are no religious or spiritual leaders on board, Captain Archer must perform those tasks. This includes everything from officiating at weddings

Recurrent Themes – Religious/Spiritual Leaders

Not just any old wedding

to eventually giving funerary orations.

It’s not much of a stretch to assume that he would also preside over christenings and Bar and Bat Mitzvot.

He presides over Malcolm‘s and Jay‘s funerals in The Three of Us and both of theirs, Tripp‘s and Lili‘s in Everybody Knows This is Nowhere. About the only religious occasion he does not conduct is Nanette Myers’s conversion to Islam. Ramih Azar performs this, in the presence of Azar Hamidi and Maryam Haroun Hamidi as witnesses.

It is unclear who fills in when Jonathan finally dies, but it is not a stretch to assume that the successor captain would do so. In The Three of Us, that’s Charles Tucker IV; in Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, that’s canon character Lorian Cyrus Tucker.

Upshot

Faith abides and, in Bread, for the Mirror Universe and the prime, it’s one of the few things that survives. I believe there is a place for religion in Star Trek, even in the later series, and I am not afraid to show it. Faith of the heart, to me, means all hearts and, by definition, all faiths as well.

Posted by jespah in Hall of Mirrors, In Between Days series, Interphases series, Themes, Times of the HG Wells series, 1 comment
14
Jun
2013

Portrait of a Character – Ruby Brannagh

Portrait of a Character – Ruby Brannagh

Ruby Brannagh is an extension of canon.

Origins

This character is Star Trek: Enterprise canon, and is part of the episode, First Flight. Since she did not have a canon surname, I used the actress’s real name.

Portrayal

As in canon, Ruby is played by Brigid Brannagh.

Portrait of a Character – Ruby Brannagh

Ruby Brannagh (Brigid Brannagh)

About all that is really known about her in canon is that she owns the 602 Club, and had romances with both Tripp Tucker and Malcolm Reed (Reed writes her a fairly generic good-bye letter in the canon Shuttlepod One episode, thereby revealing that their relationship wasn’t terribly meaningful for him).

In Intolerance, I reveal that she also had a fling with Travis, which is a plausible supposition.

In Where No Gerbil Has Gone Before, she makes eyes at Jonathan Archer but there’s no evidence that anything happens.

Personality

Portrait of a Character – Ruby Brannagh

My grandmother’s shotgun says I can. (Brigid Brannagh)

Feisty and sexy, Ruby might not necessarily have the greatest judgment.

As I write her, she defends her bar but not her person, and ends up in a heap of trouble in Shell Shock, where she nearly dies.

Relationships

Aside from flings, Ruby doesn’t seem to have anyone. And one of those hookups almost gets her killed.

Mirror Universe

It is unknown whether she has a Mirror Universe counterpart, although there are no impediments to her existing there.

Barking Up The Muse Tree | jespah | Janet Gershen-Siegel | Brigid Brannagh as MU Ruby

Brigid Brannagh as MU Ruby (image is for educational purposes only)

Maybe she does. And she might even be on the Defiant. However, given the large number of lower class Mirror Universe women who are little more than hookers (in my fanfiction), it’s a bit more likely that a woman like her would earn her money and dubious privileges by engaging in more earthy pursuits.

Quote

“We split a tablet of methylqualone, and began drinking from a bottle. At least, I thought he had had a half of the methylqualone, but maybe he didn’t.”

Upshot

So characters aren’t necessarily wise and they don’t always make the right decisions. Ruby is one of those people.

Posted by jespah in Fan fiction, In Between Days series, Portrait, 2 comments
11
Jun
2013

Spotlight on an Original Non-Sentient Species – Procul/Prako

Spotlight on an Original Non-Sentient Species – Procul/Prako

Background

When I wrote the E2 Star Trek fanfiction stories, I decided that the Amity planet would have plenty of wildlife. But none of it would have developed a backbone. Enter the procul (pronounced PRO-kull; the word is Latin for distant).

Characteristics

Huge, lumbering, and dumber than a box of rocks, procul (also called prako, which is pronounced prah-KO) are essentially giant ambulatory amphibious squid.

Spotlight on an Original Non-Sentient Species – Procul/Prako

Mega Squid (Procul/Prako)

When I dreamt them up, I was thinking about the Animal Planet speculative futurism show, The Future is Wild, and the mega squid.

The image is pretty close to what I’m shooting for. But procul have a total of fourteen legs, and their eye spots (much like we found in flatworms – planaria – here on Earth) are on the underside of the animal. This makes them blind on land but surprisingly graceful underwater as they swim in a manner that we would perceive as being backwards.

Appearances

First showing up in the E2 first timeline in Entanglements, no one really knows what to make of them. Characters don’t even know whether they are sentient, and no one attempts communications. When the characters determine that they are no smarter than maybe an herbivorous fish, one is shot by Jay Hayes and brought back to the ship for study. Once the study is complete, he brings some pieces to the galley, and Lili cooks them, although she tries it raw first. When she shoves a piece of uncooked procul into Jay’s unsuspecting mouth, he has a rather visceral reaction to what is, essentially, a come-on.

In the prime timeline, prako are for sale at a large open-air Calafan market in Local Flavor. Lili inquires about their cost. But determines that they are too expensive for her current small budget. The reader learns that Eska hunters brought in the carcasses. In The Three of Us, I revealed that Amity is called Archer’s Planet in the prime timeline.

Natural Enemies

Procul only have one known predator (other than sentient hunters) – malostrea, which the Eska call hard devils.

Behaviors

So I don’t even know about their behavior in water. However, on land, they herd together, much like cattle. In Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, dogs herd them.

Since they are all hermaphrodites, the natural leader is the largest animal. This is as opposed to, perhaps, a male which would have been analogous to a bull or a stallion. The leader, at times, rears up on its back legs and rubs two forelimbs together. This produces a high-pitched sound, not unlike that of a penny whistle.

They also have chromatophores, and characters observe them changing colors, from rust to celadon to milky white. They have open circulatory systems, much like we see in mollusks here on Earth.

Upshot

Chameleon-like in coloration, circulation like in a clam, legs like an elephant, call like a cheap wind instrument and dumber than a box of rocks, procul are a bit of a mess, but I like them.

Posted by jespah in In Between Days series, Interphases series, Spotlight, 6 comments
04
Jun
2013

Portrait of a Character – Josh Rosen

Portrait of a Character – Josh Rosen

Josh Rosen was originally an afterthought – sorry!

Origins

First seen in The Light, Josh starts off as something of a background character in my Star Trek fanfiction. Friends with Ethan Shapiro, Karin Bernstein, and Andrew Miller, Josh was originally just meant to be more expositive filler material and not much more than that. Along the way, I found other ways to make him shine.

Portrayal

Josh is played by Seth Green.

Portrait of a Character – Josh Rosen

Seth Green as Josh Rosen

I like how this actor can be rather affable in some portrayals whereas, in others, he can be utterly menacing and evil.

I also like that he plays nerdy rather well. Josh in the prime universe is an engineer, and that is often my experience of engineers. Since he is a security guy in the Mirror Universe, that also works with the actor.

Personality

Dutiful and loyal to a fault, Josh is almost like Malcolm in that he will do nearly anything for the people he works for.

In the prime universe and prime timeline, he is pleasant and funny. In the E2 stories, he is a romantic guy but also is truly perplexed as to how to fix the problems that his marriage has created, and the wedge it has forced between him and his friend, Ethan. And in the Mirror Universe, in both the Temper first alternate timeline and in the prime timeline, he shows a loyalty and devotion to his mother that no other Mirror Universe denizen shows except, perhaps, for Doug Beckett.

Relationships

Karin Bernstein

Josh’s relationship with Karin only happens in the E2 stories, although they marry in both iterations. He is playful with her, calling her angel and generally surprised that she would go out with him, let alone marry him. In the second kick back in time, Karin herself wonders a bit about why she didn’t pursue Andrew herself. But the answer is the same for both iterations – Josh gets there first.

Yimar

In the Mirror Universe, the start of this relationship shows up in He Stays a Stranger. Josh has fairly recently struck out with Leah Benson (although he did help her to escape the Empress), and he is alone. When Daniels and Tom Grant  get the Flux Capacitor back, Josh ends up on Lafa II. Telling her that he doesn’t know anyone, she tells him, “You know me.” When Branch Borodin, a millennium later, explains that time period’s events to a tour group at the Temporal Museum on Lafa II, he mentions that Josh became High Priestess Yimar’s consort.

Mirror Universe

In the mirror, Josh Rosen is a security crewman, and often guards the Agony Booth.

Barking Up The Muse Tree | jespah | Janet Gershen-Siegel | Seth Green as MU Josh Rosen (image is for educational purposes only)

Seth Green as MU Josh Rosen (image is for educational purposes only)

But he wants to get out. He also well aware – more than most Mirror Universe denizens – that he needs to help others so that they will help him.

Hence in Temper and The Conspiracy, he is a part of the plot to get Chip, Lucy, and Chip’s two children off the Defiant.

Once they are gone, he still wants to get away, but he’s realistic about his chances. In Bread, he helps Leah Benson leave, as a fulfillment of his mother’s dying wish.

His continued caring for what his mother would have thought of him marks him as one of the few righteous persons in the Mirror Universe. This puts him on a par with Doug Beckett.

Quote

“We’re members of the same tribe. There aren’t a lot of us left. My, heh, my mother sent me a last message last week, before she died. She said I should look out for anybody in the tribe.”

Upshot

This below decks character shows up a lot. And he has been a bit of a utility infielder character, ending up in nearly every series but Hold Your Dominion and Mixing it Up. Not bad for the guy who, at the end of The Light, is neither the star (Ethan) nor the romantic lead (Andrew).

Posted by jespah in Hall of Mirrors, In Between Days series, Interphases series, Portrait, Times of the HG Wells series, 18 comments
24
May
2013

Portrait of a Character – Josie O’Connor (Jhasi Tantharis)

Portrait of a Character – Josie O’Connor (Jhasi Tantharis)

Jhasi Tantharis becomes Josie O’Connor and the result is glorious.

Origins

I wanted a pair of tragic figures for the HG Wells stories. Kevin O’Connor would be a widower, and Richard Daniels would be a womanizer who needed more out of life. Originally, the reader would never see Kevin’s dead wife, Josie. She didn’t even have a species to start out. But the more I thought about the delicacy and weirdness of the Aenar, the more I wanted Josie to be one of them.

Portrayal

Josie is played by former child star Ashley Olsen.

Portrait of a Character – Josie O'Connor (Jhasi Tantharis)

Between the Olsen twins, she’s tended to be the quieter one, and seems to stay out of the public eye more than her sister, Mary-Kate, does.

I wanted someone who would look like a waif but not anorexic, at least not at the beginning. Josie would start off as youthful and beautiful, the picture of health. But it all goes horribly wrong.

Personality

Friendly, personable and kind, Josie is a kindergarten teacher when she meets Kevin. She’s also a bit of a fashion plate – a strange thing for someone who is blind. But the Aenar reportedly have something of a sixth sense, so Josie is able to coordinate her rather flashy outfits.

Relationships

Kevin O’Connor

Josie’s sole relationship is with Kevin. According to The Point is Probably Moot, Candy, and The Honky-Tonk Angel, they meet at a party at his engineering firm, when Kevin, a new-quarter-teragram-sized part-Gorn, is dragged along to play wingman for his coworker, Archie Leach. Leach strikes out with a Trill, but Kevin connects with Jhasi. Mishearing her name, he calls her Josie. He thinks he has blown it. But she finds him charming.

He takes her to a ballgame for their first date. They get serious very quickly, and marry. But things go awry when she gets a diagnosis of a fatal disease, Piaris Syndrome. The illness is a degenerative one. But the worst part of it is at the very end, when she stops knowing him.

In The Point is Probably Moot, the Perfectionists’ temporal changes result in her getting a brief restoration to life. So she finally speaks in a story that isn’t a prequel.

Mirror Universe

I have never written a Mirror Jhasi/Josie.

Jhasi Tantharis

But there is no reason why she can’t exist.

She would likely have never wed Kevin. And she might never have had an illness. An intriguing idea that I might explore one of these days.

Quote

“Listen,”I don’t want to be dead and I don’t want you to be gone from our marriage. Kindly do not misunderstand me. But I think, well, it’s an odd gift that you and I have been given here. I feel that we have a chance here. I suppose I have a chance to tell you what I would have always wanted to tell you, under such circumstances.”

Upshot

Much like Kevin Madden-Beckett in Fortune, Josie is a tragic figure. But she had a life before her illness. And she of course had a life even before her marriage. Neither should define her as much as I’ve let them. In order to know Jhasi Tantharis better, maybe I should write another prequel about her.

Posted by jespah in Portrait, Times of the HG Wells series, 8 comments
14
May
2013

Portrait of a Character – Izo Sato

Portrait of a Character – Izo Sato

Izo Sato brings up the rear of the Empress’s family.

Origins

In canon, at the end of the second Mirror Universe episode in Star Trek: Enterprise, the newly-proclaimed Empress Hoshi Sato has taken a new lover, Travis Mayweather. However, I realized that, in a Machiavellian sense, this would not necessarily be the best move for her, to only be with him, and stay with him. After all, people would be constantly gunning for her – and that’s canon, anyway. Superior officers are always in danger of being knifed or phasered by ambitious underlings.

Hence I decided that a hot, young and round-heeled Empress (also canon) would likely cement her partnerships with her senior staff via the bedroom. If most/all of them are male, all she’s got to do is sleep with them. And with the Y Chromosome Skew, if she gets pregnant by them, they will keep her alive, at least for a while. This is in order to ensure the continuing survival of their children. Therefore, she’d plan to have several children by the various male members of her senior staff. She selects Travis as a sire last, because she is most confident in his compliance and loyalty. Their son together is Izo Sato.

Izo’s very existence almost does not happen. This is because, during pregnancy, it’s discovered that there is a hole in his heart. The choice is given to Travis – fix the hole and the Empress goes on, or let the Empress die on the table and, presumably, become the next Emperor. Travis doesn’t want to rule and be constantly watching his back and so, in Coveted Commodity, he decides to allow Izo to live, even as Hoshi names the child and Travis has no say in the matter whatsoever.

Portrayal

It’s incredibly difficult to find a part-Asian, part-African actor.

Matsu as Izo Sato

Matsu as Izo Sato

I selected Matsu from the Japanese singing group, Exile. His real, full name is Toshio Matsumoto.

Matsu is an actor, too, and reportedly has a starring role in a futuristic drama (it’s difficult to get information as a lot of it’s in Japanese, and I have to rely on Google translations). In this video, he’s the guy with the multicolored headband and the dreadlocks: Carry On by Exile.

Personality

Portrait of a Character – Izo Sato

Matsu as Izo Sato

Nasty and bratty, like all six of the Empress’s children, Izo is also dangerous, and grows up to run the Empress’s secret police. In Temper, in the first alternate timeline, he stays out of the fight for Marie Patrice Beckett but he does tangle with someone else.

The name Izo means “iron“, but Izo is far from being honorable or morally strong.

Relationships

According to Richard Daniels, Izo eventually marries in the correct timeline, but he dies childless. I don’t have a name for his wife yet.

Leah Benson

In Bread, it’s 2192, and she’s in her mid-seventies and is a lesbian, but it doesn’t matter, as Izo is interested anyway. Given the lack of women aboard, it would appear that this is either before Izo’s marriage or he is cheating. He’s thirty – she is over twice his age – but he still, at the very least, wants her to service him. Furthermore, he has had several failures and so is looking for what he believes will be a compliant, easy score.

Pamela Hudson

In the first alternate timeline in Temper, once José Torres is killed, Pamela, Blair and Karin are freed and take up with other partners.

Portrait of a Character – Izo Sato

Matsumoto Toshio as Izo Sato

Karin goes with Josh, Blair goes with Dr. Morgan, and Pamela ends up with Izo. Again, she is a lot older than he is – she is over fifty, whereas he is still a teenager. But it does not matter to him. During this alternate, during a Calafan-style dream, Pamela gets a chance to do to Izo what, presumably, most people, both male and female, would want to do.

Prime Universe

Izo does not have a prime universe counterpart although, like the other Sato offspring, he does have an analogue in the Beckett–O’Day–Madden–Digiorno–Reed family. That person is Tommy Digiorno-Madden, as they are both impulsive warrior types.

Quote

“Am I gonna feel good?”

Upshot

I write the Mirror Mayweather as being mainly a loose cannon. Although when he learns that Izo has issues in utero, he does go to bat for the child. Izo carries that to the next generation and continues as a difficult thorn in many people’s sides. While Kira and Jun are almost heroes (at least, for people in the Mirror Universe), and Takara and Takeo have a chance to become almost moral, it’s Arashi and Izo who remain villains no matter what.

Posted by jespah in Fan fiction, Hall of Mirrors, In Between Days series, Portrait, Times of the HG Wells series, 10 comments
10
May
2013

Recurrent Themes – Scientists

Recurrent Themes – Scientists

Scientists are canon and they are important.

Background

Barking up the Muse Tree | Janet Gershen-Siegel | jespah | DNA | Scientists

Star Trek does not exist without science, and it is of course canon and is terribly important. In addition to canon scientists such as T’Pol, Keiko Ishikawa O’Brien and Spock, my fanfiction also celebrates scientists.

Note – this post will not cover physicians or engineers.

Appearances

In Between Days

Pamela Hudson

During the first temporal dislocation in Temper, she works as the night shift Science Officer on the ISS Defiant, but Pamela‘s main function is to be one of the three playthings for José Torres.

Diana Jones

Diana doesn’t really have much of a defined role in science until the E2 kickbacks. She seems to have a bit of a geology background, as she is the one to comment that, at Amity’s North Pole, there are iron pyrite deposits.

Lemnestra

She is the Ikaaran Science Officer on Verinold and Esilia‘s ship.

Andrew Miller

Andy begins the journey running the Biology Lab, and is responsible, mainly, for alien animal experimentation. When the malostrea are captured, he is one of the people who studies them.

Michelle (Shelby) Pike

Shelby runs the Botany Lab. During  the E2 kickbacks, her work becomes extremely important as she is needed for helping to grow fruits, vegetables and grains.

Preece Ti

This Ikaaran woman is the Science Officer on Ebrona’s ship.

Francisco (Frank) Ramirez

Frank isn’t seen working, but Jenny Crossman notes that he is a planetary geologist studying Saturn’s moon, Enceladus.

Hamilton Roget

He is the Science Officer on the Columbia.

T’Mir Ryan

During the first kickback, she eventually becomes the Science Officer on the Enterprise.

Kira MacKenzie Sato

He’s really the only denizen of the Mirror Universe whose primary function is science (Andy Miller’s counterpart is eventually promoted to the rank of Science Officer, but the reality is that his function is mainly as the Empress‘s bedroom playmate). Kira, who is the second-born son of Empress Hoshi, and the only child of Aidan MacKenzie, is not exactly gifted, and he’s slated for rule anyway, but he does at least perform this underserved function on the other side of the pond.

Lucy Stone

When T’Pol leaves Starfleet (after These Are the Voyages, my assumption is that T’Pol is leaving as it’s too painful for her to stay), Lucy steps in although, according to Day of the Dead, she is already aboard. During the events of Take Back the Night, Lucy studies the Daranaeans.

Nyota Warren

This Science crewman is not as high-ranking as Diana and, as a result, is not placed on the Bridge as often as Diana is.

Times of the HG Wells

Elston McCoy

Never seen, he is a job candidate with a specialty in ancient sciences.

Mixing it Up

Fetlaff

Never seen, he is Rayna Montgomery’s Science teacher.

Upshot

Necessary for any successful mission, scientists are one of the cornerstones of my fan fiction. There will always be more.

Posted by jespah in Emergence series, Hall of Mirrors, In Between Days series, Interphases series, Mixing It Up Collection, Themes, Times of the HG Wells series, 0 comments
03
May
2013

Portrait of a Character – Diana Jones

Portrait of a Character – Diana Jones

Diana Jones works for a lot of purposes.

Origins

This original Star Trek fan fiction character fulfills a few purposes rather neatly. First off, in Reflections Down a Corridor, Entanglements, The Three of Us and Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, there need to be additional people who assist Doctor Phlox with medical matters. Andrew Miller becomes a medic and, eventually, can be called “doctor”. Diana, who also comes from the Science Department, essentially becomes a nurse.

Additionally, I wanted the skewed gender ratio to have even more of a radical skew. So there needed to be at least one lesbian. And because life isn’t necessarily fair, Diana would be the only gay woman aboard.

In Bread, I wanted someone for whom Leah Benson – on either side of the pond – might be doing everything for. Furthermore, it would work better for that story if that person was declining. The contrast proved irresistible.

Portrayal

Diana is played by Mira Sorvino.

Portrait of a Character – Diana Jones

Mira Sorvino as Diana Jones

I wanted an older actress who is still very lovely. And I feel that this Oscar-winning actress can get across Diana’s shyness about coming out, her desire for a mate and her eventual sad decline.

I also wanted Diana to be someone who the men might take an interest in. But they would be a bit disappointed when they learn that she is not reciprocating the attraction. She would also be someone who gay crew member Preston Jennings would select as a friend and confidante and, truly, as a convincing beard at times.

Personality

Warm and friendly, Diana is a natural for helping out in Sick Bay. In a way, she’s a gay version of Crewman Liz Cutler. The actress who played Cutler (Kellie Waymire) is deceased. So it’s a bit unclear whether Cutler made it to the kick back in time in E2. I prefer to think that, in the Azati Prime episode, that Cutler was one of the crewmen who perished, as this ties in with reality and brings the loss home even more. Hence there is room for Diana.

The other side of Diana is that she just plain doesn’t want to make a big deal out of her sexuality. To my mind, that works, as this would likely be a society where being gay is far less of a news story than it is now. However, that’s a double-edged sword. Without the drama of coming out, a person with non-majority preferences is apt to have to deal with some confusion unless they’re very demonstrative about what they’re like. Diana isn’t – and she and Malcolm find they have that in common – so she ends up sometimes having to fend off unwelcome male advances.

Relationships

Preece Ti

In The Three of Us, after the rescue of the first batch of Ikaaran women, this Science Officer approaches Diana when she realizes that there are two women aboard who do not live with men. The other is Lili, but by that time she’s committed to both Malcolm and Jay. Preece Ti thereby deduces that Diana is a lesbian. They take up together and have a loving, committed relationship until Preece Ti’s eventual death from the decline, This somewhat neatly parallels Diana’s own later years in the prime timeline.

Leah Benson

In both universes, Diana and Leah are, at some point or another, a couple. And in our universe, they stay together, even as Diana begins to exhibit symptoms of some form of senility. In the Mirror Universe, Diana leaves when she learns that Leah killed her previous lover, Leonora Digiorno. Moreover, Diana performs a major service for the Mirror Leah. She helps her to stop drinking.

Mirror Universe

Mirror Diana Jones

Mirror Diana Jones

Diana exists in the mirror universe, but is in a far more limited Science capacity. This is not due to a lack of talent; rather, it’s due to the Empress not wanting or needing detailed scientific work.

After Diana breaks up with Leah, she is unceremoniously dumped on Andoria. This happens when the Empress becomes displeased with her job performance. She lives there with the same caregiver, the Andorian Tallinaria, who also cares for her in the prime universe.

Quote

“Sorry, Thing Two. I bet you’re still really peeved. We just want to get to know ya.”

Upshot

I liked putting together this friendly if a bit misunderstood character.

Portrait of a Character – Diana Jones

And it was genuinely upsetting to turn Diana Jones, eventually, into a person who suffers tremendously toward the end of her life. But this is what happens to some people. It would take the punch out of the decline if she didn’t start out so sympathetically. I do like Diana Jones. I suppose I’d like her to have a happy ending, but not everyone does, unfortunately.

Posted by jespah in Fan fiction, Hall of Mirrors, In Between Days series, Interphases series, Portrait, 11 comments
23
Apr
2013

Portrait of a Character – Frank Todd

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.

Portrait of a Character – Frank Todd

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

Portrait of a Character – Frank Todd

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.

Portrait of a Character – Frank 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.

Posted by jespah in Fan fiction, In Between Days series, Interphases series, Portrait, 12 comments
19
Apr
2013

Spotlight on an Original Sentient Species – Arisians

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.

Posted by jespah in Fan fiction, In Between Days series, Spotlight, 1 comment