World War III

11
Aug
2017

Portrait of a Character – Mestral

Portrait of a Character – Mestral

Mestral ended up as a rather useful plot device in Multiverse II.

Mestral

J. Paul Boemer as Mestral (image is provided for educational purposes only)

Origins

Because Mestral is canon, his origins are well known. However, this character was used to a rather different effect in Multiverse II.

Portrayal

As in canon, Mestral is played by actor J. Paul Boehmer.

Personality

Driven and possessed, the only Vulcan on Earth ends up being rather dangerous indeed. When he finally breaks free of Chilo possession, Mestral becomes a formidable ally to Otra and then Donald Janeway.

Relationships

Mestral’s only known relationship is with Maggie. And that relationship is canon; it factored in his decision to stay on Earth.

Theme Music

Mestral’s song is Nick Lowe’s “I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass”.

Mirror Universe

There are no impediments to Mestral existing in the Mirror Universe. Because Vulcans do not have the Y Chromosome Skew, he would not have such fierce competition for a mate as a human (Terran) male would. Furthermore, this would be before the rise of the Empress Hoshi Sato and even before the mirror Zefram Cochrane kills the first Vulcan he sees. Hence the Vulcan species would be free and technologically advanced.

In addition, if Mestral exists in the mirror, then the potential exists for him to have influenced the Cochrane behavior. Maybe in the Mirror Universe, he could experience self-loathing or want revenge on someone? The idea intrigues.

Quote

“Jobs to do.”

Upshot

Because Multiverse II never ended, we never got a chance to write his endgame. I like to think he would have contributed to the Phoenix project. And I believe others have felt this as well. The character certainly had the knowledge, the motivation, and the proper placement within the overall timeline.

In addition, do you like this page? Tweet it!

Finally, you can find me on .

Posted by jespah in Fan fiction, Portrait, Times of the HG Wells series, 0 comments
01
Aug
2017

Review – Oh My Darling

Review – Oh My Darling

Darling
Oh My Darling ended up being somewhat similar to Smells in plot and tone.

Background

Oh My Darling was a chance to return to Multiverse II and its improbable lovers, Rita Spinelli and Donald Janeway.

Plot

Since Multiverse II didn’t really end properly, I had nowhere to send these two characters. In addition, I really liked the idea of them, that they would almost be the flower growing in the desert or even amidst the radioactive rubble. Because Rita is rough and an ex-addict, and Donald had worked with Colonel Green, their love had an improbable air to it. Furthermore, while Sky (Rita’s daughter) had already made it into the story, the other children were barely hinted at. Hence I needed a place for them and wanted to revisit them and give them a kind of home.

Music

The music is, of course, the old standard, Clementine.

Story Postings

Rating

The story is Rated K.

Upshot

Aside from Detroit Rock City, A Single Step, and Hub of the Universe, I had not written too much in the pre-canon, pre-Enterprise time period. Hence the story helps to set up the future in ways that other stories of mine just can’t. Furthermore, almost like a phoenix (and the reference to the Phoenix, Zefram Cochrane‘s ship, is not accidental), Donnie and Rita rise from the ashes with this story.

The story even predates Lili and her family, although it does come after some interphased sections of some stories, such as Day of the Dead, Crackerjack, and, of course, Concord.

Hence I was happy to showcase a bit of their lives but also hope in the darkness. Because that’s why Sky Spinelli is really named Speranza Memoria, e. g. Hope and Memory.

In addition, do you like this page? Tweet it!

Finally, you can find me on .

Posted by jespah in Fan fiction, Review, Times of the HG Wells series, 0 comments
16
May
2017

Review – Hub of the Universe

Review – Hub of the Universe

Background

Hub of the Universe is a gift to a Star Trek fan fiction writer who goes by the moniker of funngunner.

Barking up the Muse Tree | jespah | Janet Gershen-Siegel | The Hub of the Universe

The Hub of the Universe

Boston is often called that. So I played on the title and the imagery. The character has a description as being from Boston but little else. He did not even really have a look to me. Seth McClusky’s main description was ‘barrel chested’ and nothing more. He was the kind of forgotten third of a love triangle as well. Hence I decided I would shake that up. Seth would get a back story. And he would get a friend and a rough family life. I wanted to give him a personality and a history.

Plot

Just after World War III, Seth McClusky thinks about leaving Southie and hitches a ride with Jennie from the block, AKA Jennie O’Connor. Sharp-eyed readers will pick up on Jennie’s surname. Because she is a consanguineous ancestor of deep future engineer Kevin O’Connor.

And even sharper-eyed readers will notice her widow, Milagros Torres. Because Torres is a consanguineous ancestor of José Torres. Furthermore, in both cases, the characters are linked to future engineers, as is fitting, for Jennie herself is an engineering apprentice when she dies in Brazil in the Xindi attack on Florida and South America. As a result, Jennie’s little story is almost a harbinger of future In Between Days events.

Story Postings

Hub of the Universe on Ad Astra

Rating

The story is Rated K+.

Upshot

I love this title so much, I am more or less reusing it. But this time, for the 2016 NaNoWriMo novel, the circumstances are rather different. Hence that novel is called The Real Hub of the Universe.

However, the accents are admittedly a little difficult and may be hard for some readers to get used to. But I wanted Seth and Jennie to be real Southie people, and that meant more than just the occasionally dropped R.

As for the story, Seth’s original creator loved it.

Like this page? Tweet it!

You can find me on .

Posted by jespah in Fan fiction, 0 comments
07
Mar
2017

Portrait of a Character – Rita Spinelli

Portrait of a Character – Rita Spinelli

Rita Spinelli was originally a complete throwaway character and did not have a name. Once she had one, though, I decided I liked her, and I wanted to keep her.

Origins

Rita Spinelli

Christina Ricci as Rita Spinelli (image is provided for educational purposes only)

I needed a character who would be an odd symbol of hope.

In the midst of the violent aftermath of the Third World War, during Colonel Phillip Green‘s reign,  the multiverse is smashed together by an enemy called the Chilo. Heroes from several universes were summoned, in this epic crossover, to defeat the enemy. Some would be on ships (including Levi Cavendish and Branch Borodin), and some would be on the ground. That included Otra D’Angelo.  But there also needed to be natives. Beyond Donald Janeway, Jared Riley, Liesl Green, and Cameron Petraeus, there would be one symbol.

Enter Rita.

Portrayal

Rita is ‘played’ by actress Christina Ricci. I love how she can speak in a monotone and almost be like a trauma victim, and then turn on a dime and be cutting. Rita keeps her feelings close to the vest.

Personality

Angry, damaged, and nine months pregnant, Rita leads a small resistance division against Green. But the Chilo are unlike anything she has ever seen before. When screwup Seymour Sonia practically falls into her lap, she treats him poorly, but still takes care of him, as she watches him becoming a coulamine (candy) addict. After he delivers her daughter, Speranza Memoria (Sky), Rita takes pity on Sonia and helps get him clean.

Relationships

Donald Janeway

Sky’s unnamed father is dead. Donald, who had done computers work for Green, also falls in Rita’s lap. Like her, he has demons in his past. But in her he sees an opportunity to try to rise above it all, or at least to have a future. Nerdy and overly formal, he is the stability she needs. He is the only father Sky will ever know, and they are ancestors of Kathryn Janeway.

Mirror Universe

I write Mirror Universe women as being beholden to men for their happiness and safety.

Rita Spinelli

Christina Ricci as MU Rita Spinelli (image is provided for educational purposes only)

She could potentially be much more delicate. She is a smart character, and so that could be a rather calculating move on her part, to play to helpless coquette in order to snag a higher class of man.

Quote

“Listen, we’re not selling fuckin’ Girl Scout cookies here! Now there are these big rainbow-y, uh, things out there, and they are taking over people. Sonia called ‘em Chilo. But the candy keeps ‘em away.”

Upshot

For a character without much of a future, Rita becomes a rallying point for a damaged world. I just wish we had finished that story!

Like this page? Tweet it!

You can find me on .

Posted by jespah in Fan fiction, Portrait, 0 comments
10
Dec
2013

Inspiration – Employment

Inspiration – Employment

Employment doesn’t always come easy.

Background

Like most adults of my generation, I have gone out to work.

Cover of "Office Space (Special Edition w...

I’ve had good jobs and bad ones, interesting ones and dull ones. So I’ve had challenges. And I’ve been browbeaten, and I’ve gotten inspiration. Hence I’ve come home exhilarated, weepy, frustrated and exhausted. I’ve had situations that I wished would never end. And I’ve had jobs where I was climbing the walls, impatient to leave already.

These experiences can and do inform my Star Trek fanfiction at times.

Connections to Trek

Kirk and Pike

Kirk and Pike

The best and closest connection is in the HG Wells series. Those stories, in addition to being about Richard Daniels and his enlightenment, and about various romances and of course about time, they are also, very much, about the world of work.

Interviews

A Long, Long Time Ago contains within it a group interview and then a series of small one on one meetings. Otra conducts at least one of these meeting. She is okay with the candidate. That is, until someone else hears her being referred to, by that candidate, as a salad head. That’s a slur, so that candidate is out, and there is no question.

Orientation

Ohio centers around three separate training missions. Carmen takes Marisol to the Mirror universe. Kevin takes Tom to the start of World War III. And Rick takes Sheilagh to 1970 Kent State. Tom and Sheilagh also get various surgeries in order to assist them in performing their jobs, so Boris gets something to do, too.

Vacation Time

You Mixed-Up Siciliano, meant to be a vacation in time (it’s 1960 Rome) turns into a disaster when Rick and Sheilagh are targeted by an assassin.

Upshot

So we like to think that Starfleet personnel just magically appear. And we think that the best people are always in those jobs. Or there is very little effort behind that. To my mind, that never rang true. I think there was effort behind it. And I also think that, sometimes, it’s not the best person who gets the job. Just like real life.

Posted by jespah in Inspiration-Mechanics, 6 comments