Aug 01

Crossing Over … Free-For-All Blog Prompt #3

TemplarSora provided the prompt this time round and gave a very interesting post on it here – Time And Relative Diversity in Infinite Combinations

 
The blog prompt was: Blog Prompt #3 – Crossovers

My blog idea is to try and maybe see just how far out there some of us have gone, are considering going, or wish we could go in the pursuit of IDIC in our fanfics. So, of those who are doing it, what other shows/media (or even star trek eras) are people pulling into their fanfics as crossovers? What crossovers do some people wish we could see, or want to try and write themselves. How do you feel about crossovers in star trek in general?

Now, as I mentioned in response to TS, Crossovers are not my thing. Maybe I’ve just been burned by a few really bad example early on that out me off. I do think many have a lot of potential and merit and I suppose I shouldn’t let past experiences sully the notion of crossovers or lead to any sort of snobbish attitude to them. Cos, well, that ain’t me.

But writing crossovers of other franchises still doesn’t quite float my boat. I did however enjoy seeing Trek crossovers when I began my Trekfic reading – fanfiction or TrekLit.

In fact, my very first story attempt was such a crossover story between DS9 and Voyager. Let me tell you, it was epic! In the Alpha Quadrant the Defiant has pulled off a dastardly attack on a Dominion installation but crippled is making its slow merry way back to safety as it remains behind enemy lines when suddenly an artificially generated wormhole seems to open up before them. Is this the death kneel blow from the Dominion? Meanwhile in the Delta Quadrant, the stranded crew of Voyager come across a strange installation under the control of a nefarious crumbling empire. What is the purpose of this installation? What does it and a large network of such station crisscrossing the empire and all have the effect of distorting the local space do? Why of course, makes wormholes – due a battle to save both quadrants, the Federation, time splitting and lots of other madness.

That story got big. Quick. And got unfinished. Didn’t help that this was written largely by hand at the time so it hasn’t been given the opportunity to have the dust blown off and retooled. My original interest in writing fanfic was the Dominion War era and the possibilities post Dominion War for the future of Starfleet and crews patrolling the borders in an uneasy peace. Accipiter was my original attempt to do such writing with a series of stories detailing an original crew’s exploits in the war and building towards their further adventures in the post war era. In many ways, Accipiter was a failure and while it has not been consigned to the bin it is in the to-be-retooled pile.

Kestrel patch, created by SLWalker

Kestrel patch, created by SLWalker

During the writing of Accipiter, and its many fanboy inbuilt failures, I learned a lot and also decided that I wanted to write something different and that had been appealing to me for a long time – that of writing for a cutter on a rather different not so slick ship of the line.

Kestrel was something very different in feel and tone. And the switch to that from the often rather too serious Accipiter was to awaken me to the possibilities of branching out and trying lots of different things. Having created a second OC crew I also realised how much I enjoyed creating new people, new interactions and new possibilities.

Therefore, I’ve quickly come to find ideas filter across all eras of Trek and dip in and out of them. It even has to be said the recent Rewatch Chats have given me a hankering for some TOS era fanfic and I’ve begun to germinate some ideas on that front. After reading so much of the fantastic TOS fic on the Archive it makes me think that there is huge potential in this area but it is an area bereft of OC ships.

Border Dogs is the setting within the often neglected ENT era and follows stories involving the crew of the Falcon and a few other various offshoots within that setting. This came about from getting at last to watch the ENT series, sadly once the show had come to its shelf life with the networks. The show itself impressed me with the setting and had me inspired to transplant my Kestrel border cutter idea into that era.

With the Watchtower Universe I am trying my hand at a lot of different stories and settings all revolving around the Sixth Cutter Border Patrol Squadron based out of Star Station Hope. The main setting, that of Star Station Hope, is inspired by DS9 and Babylon 5, in the attempt to make a large arc to the universe story telling.

The Rhapsody Rabbit Gavilán as found by Tabatha Chase.

The Rhapsody Rabbit Gavilán as found by Tabatha Chase.

But within the umbrella of that setting I have a bounty hunter (Étoile Cheval) and a civilian cargo freighter (Rhapsody Rabbit Gavilán) which have inspirations from Star Wars and Firefly with the starring vessels therein robbed from these franchises – I mean ship designs with influences from these various franchises. 😉

Looking to the future of the Trek Universe, hmm, well I have tried my hand at a short story set within a rather bleak Starfleet. There was a lot of freedom and wiggle room with that with so many potentials to create. Stories like Redemption have proven the value of such storytelling and it is something I am thinking of in the back of my head. Otherwise, the intention is to lead the Watchtower Universe off to a future where the game suddenly changes. Recent reading of TemplarSora’s ST Online setting stories has gotten me thinking about the potential of writing within that set up. I was wary about doing so because of the technology leaps etc but TS’s writing has shown it remains all about the characters and their story. Similarly, TemplarSora original AOS material and Niobium’s AOS stories have let me begin to wonder about writing within that universe. Such plans are a long way off but we shall see, we shall see.

Jul 31

Recalling, Recriminations and Round Robins

Written in response to Multiversal Thoughts, Part I & Multiversal Thoughts, Part II and also as a companion piece to Of Collaborations and Round Robins

*sigh*

Honestly, *sigh*. I sigh for the missed opportunities. I sigh for not being much of a participant. I sigh for the fact we are doing a dissection of the Round Robin when it isn’t over yet. And *sigh* for the following train-of-thought spiel.
spockwhat

However, there are lessons to be learned and things to take on board looking towards the continuation and finishing of this. One thing that has to be given to this RR is the fact from the outset there seems to be a clear intent on the authors that it has to move forward and it has to have some sort of endgame. That’s a good thing because maybe that means it will have an endgame.

The first RR was massive and epic. But you know what? It didn’t start out that way. It started out with lots of enthusiasm and then the curve balls, which happened with some planning but with a lot more improvisation, began a snowball effect that built the story up into something that started to become epic. However, as epic as it was, the story never got finished. And, let’s not look back on the last RR with too rose tinted lenses because it too had its problems and difficulties.

The last RR had its problems with writers who weren’t GMs or DMs (or whatever the terminology is) but who were dictating in their own fashion what happened in the story or with characters. McGregor for example was late into entering the last RR proper (off on his own little rubberducky jaunt) because the man was seen as offensive by certain players, who if McGregor had been brought in fully to begin with, would have bailed or caused huge problems behind the scenes. Other plot developments were not ok to go with because they didn’t fit with people’s philosophies, viewpoints or egos. One of the things that this RR seems to have, is a lacking of that same issue. Yes, there has maybe been a case of protectiveness to do with characters and a degree of not trusting others with our characters. So while I know I might have felt uncomfortable or unsure about writing other people’s characters, I’ve not had to feel uncomfortable about writing my own characters.

So you know what, more credit needs to be given as well. Last time round, and I have a previous blog post on this, we all got to know our characters and each other a great deal more by virtue of the interaction. Because the set up here (and not the split thread thing alone) with different missions so early on and the constant movement towards lots of varying goals mean there was no need for character interaction and thusly little author interaction. However, the last time out, a lot of us were more familiar with one another’s writing because we were a smaller community and all buzzing with the new site and the continued success of the archive. The Last RR got us buzzing and got the forum buzzing. But have a look see, the place is buzzing again. Yes, a lot of that is to do with the TToT13 but a lot of people are tuning in daily to read what is happening in the RR. Many have also gained a lot of new insight into one another as people or as authors through the process. ALL good stuff.

We had a massive cull rate too of characters – and writers – the last time and so that isn’t so different to this time round with a core left remaining to the end. Real life is real life and of course, no one can be sure what kind of commitment is required going into this for sure. Obviously, as mentioned by others, had we been more sure of one another’s characters and taken the time to bed them in, we might just have felt comfortable writing them when someone had to go AWOL.

I know one approach to taking on writing another person’s characters I took the last time is that I collabed one to one first and character to character. Once certain characters made a connection it was way easier to write their interactions. For example, T’Vel and AU Dukat made a connection by virtue of shared experiences and difficulties and so I was comfortable writing Dukat yet not that author’s other character, Berat. Alas, this time round, we sped right past all of the set up and get to know you stuff, and the oh my God what is this place???!!

Now, fault lies with myself for not getting halted and stalled on too many occasions and not having the time (and I honestly don’t know where that time has gone) to get involved and writing but my dear Tabatha has been left high and dry because by the time she had somewhere to beam down to, everyone else had moved on. So now, now she’s possibly a casualty of ancestor decimation and never existed. Dies without even a whimper offscreen. All because character development has been sacrificed for plot fuckery. Both can happen at the same time – the best bits from the last RR were those such bits – the AI Mind Possession was a sheer highlight for me personally writing T’Vel stuff and for reading others.

The split storyline is actually a genius idea. Truly it is. It also lent a very different flavour to (or Pie Number) this time round. However, it probably happened too soon. Is very tasking for the authors who have characters in both. And the main problem is the splitting within each separate storyline.

One problem with the RR is the thinking it had to be epic. Had to be as massive. And indeed, as delightfully fiendish as the Chilo are, it carries a lot of baggage over for a new RR. Especially so for new authors/players in this RR. But even to those who participated last time out, it meant if they brought their old characters back into it they had lots of baggage to contend with from the last experience. Steff”s Scott was practically suicidal by the end by virtue of the accumulated crap of the multiverse saga. McGregor is a mad contemplating things that are anathema to him and Hank we see is about to be mindfucked all over again. Makes for compelling stuff for sure, but labours some of the story and is hard for other players to play with.

But, let’s also remind ourselves, it isn’t over yet. And quite honestly, to date there has been absolutely stunning stuff. kespah’s pie and the Otraic theory and ancestor annihilation stuff is just plain whack, inspired and chilling. Solkar’s defense of Vulcan was heartbreaking. Scotty’s road to ruin and in particular flags was breathtaking. These are but a few of the moments and I’m sure there can be more to come.

Next time round?

Next time round, I might suggest something completely different. No mega-universe saga. Just to make it different. To start off fresh, to allow everyone to be more comfortable with the settings. Either challenge people to write original characters for a round robin or pare things down and have smaller teams writing separate round robin stories. That way, the scope can be narrowed down – to an era, to a specific challenge or threat. I’d suggested something of the sort for the tweaking of the collab trial but perhaps it could be linked to the RR.

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That’s it for now.

Jul 31

Character Delving

Checking out jespah’s great blog, ‘Barking up the Muse Tree’, I opted to steal one of her ideas – I mean I was inspired – to try to write a character review for one of my characters. Tis an interesting thought process and writing exercise and all that like!

But then I get stuck.

Troubled even.

At a loss.

Truthfully, it’s quite a daunting thing to me. I know it may be sacrilegious to say so but I just don’t do the know your characters inside and out thing. I don’t know if they have siblings, their birthdates, their favourite colours, when or if they broke their leg playing sports in college.

Is there something wrong with me as a writer? (Please feel free to not tell there is!) I try to cover for this lapse in my writerly field by saying to myself that is an organic process and that I am giving myself ‘wiggle room’ for future stories for the characters to take unexpected or new paths. That’s probable a blatant excuse but one I am willing to take.

For me, I get a sense of the characters – of who they are, their outer and their inner voice, and once I get that down I suppose I can transplant myself into their lives at whatever point in it and imagine what is maybe happening/happened. I guess I just don’t do well with the details of their birth dates, their height and weight measurements, etc. I suppose I don’t see those details as being important to the character. Instead it is more the concept of who the character is and maybe the why or how of they were created/designed that is my process.

And yet I can stand over my writing and say I know my characters. I find it hard to describe them perhaps to others. I have my vision of them but trying to sum them up either in a physical description or summarise their characteristics is just too damn hard for me to do. Maybe I leave too much up to the reader to envision. Maybe. Maybe I should be able to list the traits of my characters, number them off on my fingers. Maybe. But I can’t or won’t. It’s not my approach and if I do do that, I always feel as though I am short changing the character and the person I am trying to relate the character to. I mean to me, the character might well be a bastard most of the time but that doesn’t mean the character can’t be a sentimental sod under the right circumstances. I’d sooner just have their story tell you about them.

If I put stuff down on paper about the character, their back-story or details not yet told in story, I find myself getting irked by those details. I find that suddenly the character doesn’t feel vibrant to me, isn’t in the moment or happening. Maybe because, in real life while we can probably all be boiled down to stats, dates and traits I rather think of us being a reveal to one another day by day.

(And having put thatbleh-o thought down on paper makes me feel that it’s terribly bleh!)

Is that wrong? No, not thinking that thought is bleh, but the fact I don’t have folders on my characters with copious notes. Instead, I just the notion of them, all tucked safely inside my head.

However, I am going to try and am going to try and do a character review in the ilk of jespah’s and put it up here for your interest. Lemme know if there’s any particular character you’d like for me to try and present such a thought process on.

Now, time for some MeanderFave Homework

MeanderFaveHWA new little feature I have, where I give you some homework to do. No excuses! As you can see from the picture, I am very thorough about ‘no homework done’ excuses.

So over to you, tell me:

What approaches do you take to writing and conceiving your characters? Do you have their milestones and the path that made them mapped out already? Do you perhaps also have their future map laid out? How do you go about realising and bringing from conception to written reality your characters?

Let me know in comments here, or take a leaf from jespah’s and blog about it.

Homework Assignments handed in:

SLWalker’s Miranda Wants to Know
FalseBill’s MeanderFave Homework on Characters

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Jul 30

What I like to Read

It isn’t called a MirandaFave Meander for no reason so bare with me a small moment.

spockgunpointI always loved reading when I was growing up. Adventure stories. Thrillers. Treasure hunters. Historical fact and historical fiction. And of course, some good ole science fiction.

So when it comes to reading Trek fanfic, I’d say I’m fairly eclectic in the range of what type of story I read and am willing to read. I’ll certainly try out a story and see if it is a goer. To be honest, I’ll try a story even if it isn’t on the surface seemingly my cup of tea. Doing so has revealed a plethora of stories I’d have sorely missed out on.

My own interest was originally TNG, DS9 and VOY and the TOS movies but I always envisioned writing in the Dominion War time and moving towards the post war new politics of the situation. Many of the first fanfic writers I read did indeed write in that time frame, such authors can be actually be found here – CeJay, MDGarcia, Gibraltar, and Mistral – did I hit fanfic gold or what in my first foray into fanfiction?! I mean these guys and their stories plain simply rocked!

panda-rocksHowever, it was through the work of authors here on the Archive that I truly began to appreciate the other eras, the other possibilities and alternate expanded universes of what could form a story and interest me as both a reader and a writer.

Indeed the joy of the Archive has been the breadth of talent, the styles, flavours, eras and story types that they write all under the one umbrella. Housing it all here has made certain eras more open to reading and appealing. Examples on the opposite ends of the spectrum would be from early on in the Archive’s life and more recently with a ‘newer’ author.

When the Archive first opened and there were the various TOS authors about. TOS was something I was aware of but not deeply engrained in. It was through the fantastic fanfic of authors such as SLWalker, Anna Amuse and lil black dog that I truly got to appreciate the full breadth of the TOS characters. These three authors in particular made those characters come alive. They imbue their characterizations of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty and ensemble with such inner emotions with such a deft handling, with much implied and left to the reader as written. Just fantastic stuff that is so good I actually have come to think of their stuff as canon and that canon is merely someone’s fanfiction in relation to their writing.

More recently, is the work of TemplarSora, whose universe is based on the Star Trek Online game. I was close to dismissing it because I didn’t feel versed in that universe. Reading it though showed despite not being grounded in a universe, it all boils down to getting engaged with the characters. Characters who make you want to cheer for them and invest in their story even if the universe around them seems so alien and unknown.

And that’s the joy of fanfic reading. You get to gain new insights and deeper appreciation of characters loved onscreen. The above TOS examples aside, we have plenty here who have taken canon and developed on to greater levels. Take jespah’s rendering of the ENT characters – people like Reed who got shafted in its short run by not being developed get brought into their own and yet remain true to the canon presentation.

Numerous authors have tackled the DS9 characters but expanded upon the canon and twisted the TrekLit to create their own versions and expanded characters thereof. LnX has gone on to show Kira and Odo having a family and yet they continue to have to save the universe in their own backyard of space. Enterprise1981 writes hard hitting Dominion War stories and explores what it is to have Maquis and Starfleet trying to work together in a way we all wished Voyager had only tried to capitalise on.

I think it is clear that it is characters that make me read a story more than anything. Give me fantastic characters doing hum drum things and I’m more likely to read it than a mad battle for the universe that is truly epic but lacks the characters. Thus, when I read a story such as kes7’s Tesseract, it’s the fact she took a small bit part (Icheb), saw the potential of said character, aborg-ermagherd-the-berg-picsnd wove them  into a huge universe tale that has at its core the characters (as well as a little love triangle thing just for good measure – as if a Borg civil war weren’t enough to contend with and keep your interest level going).

Given the various different types of reading I enjoy, I love a story that will throw all of that at me. So there’s CaptainSarine’s Restoration with this alternate future timeline, with a massive cast and a massive imagination that ticks all those boxes and yet Kalara, Sarine and Dax are what grip you throughout and keep you reading. Similarly, trekfan’s story of the Pearl has this huge sweeping story but again makes the hopes, dreams, fears and fate of the characters central to the story (and the will they won’t they of Bethany/Hank).

WorfLOLAnd for all the danger and angst, I also want to find a moment of joy and am positively giddy when you make me laugh.

So give me a story with adventure, drama, angst, action, suspense, love, laughs and above all, a story that makes me care about the characters. And then dear reader, you’ll have yourself a fan.

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Jun 24

A Theme of Hope

A Theme of Hope

Music is a naturally creative and imaginative outlet in the composing, creation and yes in the listening of it. As writers we often comment on the music choices that currently inspire our writing. For so many of us, music can play an important part of the writing process. Often times it is inspiring or helps to set the tone of a piece, a scene or even a story. Music has that ability to evoke reactions, emotions and imaginations.

Music also has a power as it harkens back to a memory, a moment, a connection. When we hear the chimes and the stirring vocals of TOS, the brass of TNG, the strings of DS9 and VOY and the guitar strums of ENT we find ourselves transported back some of our favourite telly and characters. And of course, flights of fantasy when we listen to some of the musical scores of the films. Are we not re-imaging the appearance of Enterprise to Kirk when we listen to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rev8mhy7xOE or remember preparing for battle against Khan in the Mutura Nebula https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KilBvojsMdw ?

I am sure as much as we share in common in terms of music being an inspiration we also differ vastly in terms of the music that we listen to and the manner in which we write and if we listen to music as we write. I know for example that many authors cannot fathom playing music if they were to sit and write, finding it too distracting while others possibly need music playing to assist the creative process.

Speaking for myself, I often will have music playing as I write. It can be distracting or when the playlist plays out I find myself so caught up now in the writing that I do not notice the silence that sneaks in. For me the important part of listening to music is pre-writing when I am looking to find the tone for a scene or if I am looking to set a score to a scene listening to certain pieces of music can help with the ebb and flow and the pace of the action therein. This is probably based on the choices of music I tend to listen to being largely soundtrack based.

Of all the people on the site, I am probably the least qualified in terms of having an ear for music than most. I cannot pretend that I am a music aficionado for I am not. My musical knowledge, range and experience is startlingly limited. When I go casting about for music inspirations I do start with a few stock favourites but many a current song or youtube fanvideo provides a rabbit hole experience of chasing down music that helps me get the vibe for the character or scene I am looking to write.

At this stage, I might listen to a fanmade video for an emotional context if it were. Or if I am writing or building towards an arc of action scenes I go to trailer music. Two Steps from Hell, X-Ray Dog and Immediate Music are old staples of this tactic with Freedom Fighters being an old fave despite the association to Trek’09. It is in fact the trailer in my head for faith in McGregor narrated by Dr. Judith Monroe.

However, the truth of the matter is that the music I do choose to match to scenes is limited. In fact, badly restrictive I imagine being mostly confined to soundtrack scores from film or television. Largely the pieces of music that I choose are often instrumental music scores or even trailer music where appropriate, these are the larger influences on me when it comes to writing, or especially to getting a tone for a piece.

This is not to say that I don’t listen to songs proper. However, I am ashamedly, useless at actually hearing the words comprehending any deeper meaning to songs more often than not. I like a song for the sound of the voice, for the music and tone of it. I am always amazed at how other authors, here especially on Ad Astra, are so attuned to matching lyrics to characters and moments. Really, I think that is a skill, one that bypasses me I am afraid.

That said I know what I like and I know what inspires me in my writing. To help me get into a writing mood or mode I will toggle through playlists from youtube or downloaded to RealPlayer and set them to play. My poor neighbours must wonder at times what the heck I am doing. ‘Can he really be watching The Dark Knight Rises again?’ No but I can actually be listening to the music from it from it again!

Yes, as the comment above suggests, The Dark Knight is an especial favourite because the music in it and from Batman Begins are the music scores I’ve set too often for my Kestrel story’s action and culmination scenes.

Indeed, Hans Zimmer is a regular on my playlist of composers with music from the Dark Knight Trilogy, Angels and Demons, Da Vinci Code,  Tears of the Sun, Inception, Pirates of the Caribbean,  Gladiator, The Last Samurai  and most recently Man of Steel.

Hans Zimmer’s Science and Religion is for example one character theme for T’Vel and her mastering of her emotions yet doing so through logic almost as a faith, her IDIC symbol as a talisman beckoning her home back to her centre (another I have used is Zimmer’s Injection track from Mission Impossible II).

Zimmer also provided the musical cues in my head for the chapter The Devil’s in the Details in Kestrel when the boarding team do their Border Dogs thang. Listening to Mombassa from Inception and to Dark Knight’s opening music track helped me write the out and out action of the scene.

I also find myself (probably because I have these things on repeat so often) searching about for remixes and restructures of the pieces of music I like. Especially if they are a ‘character theme’. For example, I use Murray Gold’s Doctor Who music is a favourite for some McGregor and for some Tabatha antics. I love looking through for re-edits and remixes of the ‘I am the Doctor’ from heavy metal, electric guitars, quartet vocals and cello versions. All the variations on a theme I can use for different Tabatha Chase and McGregor scenarios. Additionally, McGregor fits for the ‘He’s a Pirate’ theme and again there are many a version out of there on youtube of it.

I have quite a few other choices of composers that I go to for themes and tones that fit certain stories/series I have in development. Assigning composers to them and pieces of music helps me to pick up and plan them when I hit a block. The music or the composer’s collection acts as a key back into the vibe and feel of the particular stories. These include the amazing Zack Hempsey. His Vengeance is a theme for the developing story of Legacy/New Ground. Along with Clint Mansell’s Mass Effect Earth theme is a shoe in for an invasion calamity story part of the Watchtower universe. Cardassians and Starfleeters alike face up to the challenge of working together post the Dominion War to build a new home.

Bear McCreary with the often achingly beautiful music from Battlestar Galactica and new theme for Defiance are big inspirations. With Bear’s BSG music currently inspiring a WIP called Homestead that forms part of the Watchtower Universe and Dues Ex Machina soundtrack forming the trailer in my head.

The reason for the attention to music is because I recently saw Man of Steel and again Zimmer came up with the goods. His theme, An Ideal of Hope used in a trailer struck me and in turning once again to the process of writing my story Hope Station set within what I now call The Watchtower Universe the piece of music was perfect.

It fittingly in name and in theme matches the name of the show here. Given that the story is going to be on a vast scale, including a number of ships and a plethora of characters amid a changing and hopefully dynamic political situation, fraught with danger and intrigues. However, dark clouds beckon for the premise and of course a danger lurks in the shadows. The war has been won but the peace has yet to be. Dangers, plots and threats await for the crew and civilians of Hope Station and the crews of the ships that patrol its sector.

Despite the dangers and threats the theme will be crews, people and politicians trying to make peace work. The story will be about hope. Hope for peace, Hope for a new home, a new beginning, a new legacy. The hope to keep and win the peace after the war and the hope to avert any new war even when enemies remain and hatreds fester. With that in mind, I wanted not an explosive and doom, doom theme for the overriding story. Therefore, I go with this piece.

MeanderFaveHWA MeanderFave Homework Assignment. To get you prompted to blog or respond:

So tell me, do you have particular themes for your story/stories? Does a certain piece of music fit a certain scene? Do you think of a particular character when you hear a particular piece of music? Share with us your themes. I hope you enjoyed hearing about a fraction of mine.

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Apr 14

Where there is Hope …

Star Station Hope

Star Station: Hope – ‘Watchtower’
Shared Federation borders: Tzenkethi, Cardassian, Breen, Klingon
Border Patrol Squadron: 6th Cutter Squadron,
Commanding officer: Commodore Tekesha Tanner
2376

So here it is, Star Station Hope otherwise known as Watchtower. Whilst is was not the deciding factor, I have to say I loved the brief appearance of this station in TWoK as Regula Station. The station was of course a redress from the Motion Picture’s orbital office, where it also looked cool. Then it was realised on screen again in TNG episodes, scaled upwards and downwards again in a few versions of TNG and DS9. It was the scaled upwards version though that struck me as an ideal station setting for my Star Station.

While there was a temptation to go for something novel and different, I figured the fact the station is a part of the utilitarian and functional Border Patrol Service where the feasibility of its being a part of the Border Patrol’s ring of defence and outlook stations relied on economics, durability and availibility. It seemed that this design lent itself to the Starfleet mode of functionality that we saw onscreen (i.e. all those set and prop redresses).

But I liked the design too for it simple functional lines and yet it also held a certain simple majestic beauty to it too. Ok maybe that’s just me but I could easily envision it in my imagination as this busy hub of trade, commerce, transport and the centre of diplomacy and border security. Thus I was decided on it as the design for Star Station Hope.

What is a star station you say? Well it is parlance put forth by TheLoneRedShirt. Those of us who write Border Patrol stories/crews call him the Granddaddy of the Border Dogs as he was writing Border Patrol stories before many of us. In his vision, shared by me but also permitted with his kind authority, was that the Border Patrol Service operated its own stations from where it operated its fleet of vessels. Its stations would serve defence purposes primarily, tracking traffic on the space lanes, monitoring emergency calls, maintaining a careful and wary eye on the interstellar neighbours and orchestrating the cutter squadrons that patrolled the border land zones.

“Welcome to Star Station Hope. We wish you a pleasant stay. Information kiosks are situated across the Promenade. Visitors are asked to keep their security clearances on them at all times. Luggage and personal belongings should not be left unattended. Temporary accommodation can be found on the Promenade levels.”

Neighbours was the other going concern at this stage for the conception of the station. Along what border would  the star station be tasked for that would colour greatly the setting and story telling. Given that the station would have a diplomatic presence there was the opportunity to present all the usual faces from Trek as onboard the station but the actual space it occupied would determine some of the political situations that would face the staff of Hope and the attached cutter squadron.

Thus, I set it on a crisscross of borders and open space. The virtue of space being three dimensional meant I did not have to limit it to just one border and so add to the frictions and complications that would arise. Also the vision of the Star Station was that it would operate within a sphere of influence – a lighthouse if you will shining out and acting like a coast guard protection base – helping those in distress, providing navigational assistance, offering intelligence gathering and of course protecting the borders.

Given the post Dominion War setting it seemed too good too rich a backdrop to not have some sort of Cardassian shared border. And I was fascinated too with the notion of the closer ties between Klingons and Federation during the war but how that would pan post war. Surely, a victorious Klingon Empire would be posturing for more influence and prestige on the interstellar stage. It seemed too rich a vein to not exploit, especially with the canon established tensions between the Cardassians and the Klingons to spoil the party further.

So yes, expect some Klingons gate crashers and peace spoilers along the way. This guy in particular, below, will be a nasty piece of work determined to unravel the peace in order to achieve glory.

General Broki, KDF

However, there will be others who will hopefully run counter to the usual Klingon fare as I’ve always enjoyed the political and thoughtful klingons as much as the nasty always wanting a fight klingons.

And in addition, I opted to put the Tzenkthi (yes the cat Kzinti from TAS) and the Breen on nearby borders, cause well if you’re going to do a border story you might as well make things messy, complicated and dangerous. That and the fact, I enjoyed too much my Kzinti character from Kestrel too much to not try and tackle these guys. They’ve been quiet for too long and after the Dominion War might they not decide to bestir themselves in a time of tumult and unrest?

Choosing the Breen as another adversary was deliberate too on account of the fact they had such a delicious little mystery to them that was built up onscreen for a time as though it were going to lead to a big reveal. Alas, no such big reveal came and they essentially petered out but I dare say that they were fairly disgruntled at the conclusion of the war and of course more or less universally reviled for entering int the war on the side of the Dominion. I decided then to include the Breen to hopefully begin to play into the mystery of their origin and species and strange motivations and just how they would play nice in the new political situation post Dominion War.

The inclusion of the Breen also allowed me to develop a little slice of backstory for the station and the crew too. In a personal way the Breen will play as a spectre for the crew of Watchtower as we learn early on that the station was almost destroyed by a Breen attack on the eve of their entry into the war when they attacked Earth. Not only does this give a personal pained backstory for many of the characters to be introduced it is also a defining moment of failure for those charged with defending the borders.

That’s a brief glimpse into something of the political situation and setting Star Station Hope finds itself in. More soon on realising the station and the personnel, Starfleet, diplomatic and civilian who populate it.

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Apr 03

Writing Hope – Hoping to Write.

Hey all,

Yes, it has been a long, long while. I’ve been purposefully absent it has to be said. Down on the low or whatever it is the cool kids might say. While I have lots of ideas and even lots written for various little projects I have for the longest time just not had the coherency in one project or the other to complete satisfactorily the next chronological task in any of them.

In the past, I have found that new projects or ideas help to spur on other ideas and serve to act as a break and respite from other writings/stories. However, I did not want to add another horse to the stable when I had so many already to choose from. However, some of those stories such as Étoile Cheval, Aegolius Harrier, Cheiron, and The Adventures of the Rhapsody Rabbit Gavilán were all linked to each other with the growing story idea of Hope Station and its universe setting. I’ve some decisions to make on all of these and as I’ve said, I’ve some materials written on quite a few of these various projects.

I have for example, two chapters at least more of Kestrel sitting waiting that could easily be published but then what? The next bits are stalling me and rather than drip drop out eeking out any kind of storyline and pace to the story I’ve been holding off until the inspiration, motivation and the time have all come together to allow me to give it a proper go. Hopefully, the final thrust in many ways in the closing quarter of that particular story. Admittedly, part of the delay with Kestrel lies in deciding some of the end game matters. I’ve hummed and hawed for the longest time over certain details and aspects trusting that I can come down on one side or the other for possible outcomes.

As to Hope Station, well I’ve a good deal written on it – up until the first major plot point as well as introducing the host of various characters but again, I do not want to publish what I have without having more behind me to go with. At present, Hope presents the best option for moving forward with my current lack of writing. And I think, I have to just decide on it in order to get some traction going.

So that’s where I go from here. Writing Hope and so hopefully writing. And reading too, as I have also been very remiss in reading of stories on the Archive and especially my reviews. I guess I’ve just needed a little time away and hopefully I can come back with more than just ideas unrealised but something actually written.

Here’s to Hope.

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Aug 13

Writing Hope – Origins

Writing Hope – Origins

In the beginning …

I guess I had best start with the beginning. It has something of a circuitous route before I’ve gotten to the point of writing Star Station Hope: Watchtower. Yet not so much in many ways.

For a while now I have had the inkling to write a story or a series of stories based on/about a space station. I guess the obvious appeal was to write something with a grand setting that would also allow for a lot of revisiting of deeper tales and character exploration. Rather grandly I suppose I was thinking of something like DS9 meets Babylon 5.

>insert< PIC OF DS9/B5 meet/CLASH

But don’t worry, I know my limitations – I’m not about to reproduce anything like them!

The two already share a lot of similarities yet I wanted to explore some of the common ground and bridge some of where they didn’t quite match up. What I envisioned was the sometimes diplomatic/ambassadorial aspect that featured in B5 to apply in a Trek setting which we never quite saw in DS9. This naturally was because it originally was a backwater place the role that the ambassadors of B5 never quite cropped up. My scheme was to write about a place where diplomacy, negotiations and spats were going to be an everyday part of life.

The story of DS9 originally was that of a Bajor trying to recover from the Cardassian Occupation. There were lots of everyday conflicts and trust building problems between the Bajorans and Starfleet and then with the Cardassians. In Babylon 5 the tensions and disputes were from the very outset much more galactic and of course it soon would come to the case in DS9 too. My idea was to explore a post DS9 even post Nemesis Trek, fixating on a locale that would play a pivotal role in developing galactic problems, mirroring the arcs of both Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5.

I wanted a large cast like both series had, with main characters and lots of minor/recurring characters. I also wanted to be able to explore some of the lesser seen sides of Trek and so basing the setting on a station would allow me to explore various civilians and characters from enemy/ally parties.

The setting to fit within the Trek universe had to be a station that was going to large but not as ridiculously large as the Spacedock Shroom. And so, I opted for the Regula Research Station – as seen here: Tobias Richter’s Regula Research Station video. We saw this type of station scaled upwards in TNG and DS9 and it clicked with me as the setting for my story. The fact it had appeared alongside my beloved Miranda class in TWoK of course was an added bonus. 🙂

The Universe of the Eleventh Fleet – A Little Background

Those of you who follow some of my writing will know that I’m involved in a shared universe writing project – Tales of the Eleventh Fleet.

The setting for this universe is post DS9. In the wake of the Dominion War, the Alpha Quadrant is a place of uneasy peace, mistrustful allies, bitter resentments, recriminations, devastated worlds, displaced thousands and dangerous situations. The Federation of course, is trying to act for the best interests of all as it sees it, extending a helping hand to the Cardassians and keeping a wary eye on the Breen and their own allies – the Klingons and the Romulans. Pretty much an explosive cocktail with a lot of story potential and as I would come to realise quite a fertile setting in which to build my story of Hope Station: Watchtower.

Original plans

When I began writing in this universe my sole intention had been to write for a civilian cargo freighter crew – a sort of Star Wars / Firefly meets Trek vibe I suppose (with the caveat that that I had hardly seen any of the Star Wars movies and none of Firefly).  The result was ‘The Adventures of the Rhapsody Rabbit Gavilán’.

 Painting created by Art deWhill [Stefan Böttcher]

Then another bubbling idea at the back of my head seemed to fit with the universe in which the RRG was set. It too was to be a civilian ship of sorts, a bounty hunter of sorts with her rabble of a crew, almost A-Team like.

It seemed fitting to match the law holder bounty hunter against the loose lip service rule breaker of Tabatha Chase. And so was born the Étoile Cheval. This time, I stepped outside of the franchise again in search of a suitable civilian ship and this time headed into Firefly  territory and selected the Serenity for the basis of the ship.

But the political dynamics and timeframe of the setting had me itching to explore the universe through a more norm referenced criteria – i.e.: with a Federation ship. And so I created the ‘Aegolius Harrier’. Now the Harrier is a down on its luck ship, an ageing Excelsior class ship with a troubled crew and a new captain with a rather disturbing past.

At this stage, you noticed I started with a theme of rather long and ridiculous names. In some universes, everything is the mirror reverse of the prime, in this AU ships get christened with rather outlandish names.

You would think then, with two civvie crews and a Federation ship caught up in the very troubled schemes of the 11th Fleet you’d think I’d be content. That should have been enough to content me … but no … I had the itch to write a ship in the Border Patrol Service within this setting.

Cue the beginnings of the ideas for a ship that would come to be called ‘Cheiron’. (This time, I was a bit more restrained in the name calling.) That ship of course had to be able to get mixed up in the politics and shenanigans.

New ideas … bigger picture

However, with the concept of a Border Patrol vessel, and given that this was set in a shared universe, I had to mindful that I couldn’t step on the writing toes of others. Therefore, I had to figure out a means by which I could set Border Patrol based stories in this setting and where the crew would fit into the ensemble of character ships, particularly those of the Eleventh Fleet charged with spearheading the efforts in and around Cardassia.

The ‘get-me-off-the-hook’ measure was to create a separate entity, a separate command structure within which the ship would operate, that would allow me to tell stories in and around the Cardassian and other borders. To wit end, the ship would need a base of operations to report to, an immediate superior issuing them orders and so came to life the purpose and the reason d’être for Hope Station to be in the Eleventh Fleetverse.

Cheiron would form part of the Sixth Cutter Squadron (or the Sassy Sixth) operating out of Hope Station, known as Watchtower. Watchtower would be the hub of border patrol services in a sector close to Cardassian space and with the scope for even more borders given the three dimensional nature of space, it would allow me to throw Klingons, Tzenkthi and the Breen into the post war mix.

But more of that to come. Anyway, that’s the rough of the how abouts of how the conception of Hope Station came to be. Coming next: Writing Hope – shaping and choosing the characters.

Jul 18

Writing Hope: Coming Soon

Taking a leaf from MDg’s latest great post, I thought I might try and offer a commentary of sorts on my writing. Instead of looking back, I’m going to write about a story series I am currently developing and writing – which may spoil a little of some of what is to come but not so much.

I’ve opted to offer commentary on Star Station Hope: Watchtower. Based in a shared writing universe (Tales of the Eleventh Fleet) the series is based on and about a Border Patrol station, known as a Star Station, protecting and policing the borders between Free, Breen, Cardassian, Federation and Tzenkthi space.

Cue lots of diplomatic and border spat troubles with a truckload of gunboat diplomacy and I have the beginnings of my story. Or so is my hope and intention.

Populated by a myriad host of characters and peoples, it hopes to be a centre of intrigue, politics and action as personalities and powers clash in the Post-Dominion War period, striving for peace or for an advantage over others.

So join me in my series of posts under the ‘Writing Hope’ banner where I’ll explore and discuss the origins, settings, details, characters, politics, scenarios and writing plans for Star Station Hope: Watchtower.

And just to give a flavour, here was my original ‘teaser blurb’ for the series:

Star Station Hope: Watchtower
* * *

The creed of the Border Patrol Service is a simple one:
To save lives. To protect borders. To hold the line.

* * *

On the frontier, on the edge of Federation space, standing guard, keeping a watchful vigil, sentry to the stars, a gateway to trade and diplomacy and a bulwark of safety and protection stood a station called ‘Watchtower’. Star Station Hope stood on a crossroad of borders – Breen, Tzenkthi and Cardassian – a citadel to guard and defend the Federation.

It was a bastion, a guardian, a sentry, keeping a watchful vigil on the borders to protect the Federation. It was a seat of law and order, a sheriff in the border lands, policing the space lanes, charged to protect the innocent. It was a lifeline, a lighthouse, keeping travellers safe, rescuing the distressed, lost and adrift.

To some it was called home, to others a home away from home, where enemy and ally live side by side. A place of business and diplomacy where trust was the most precious commodity, Star Station Hope was a home, a seat of Federation law and order, a beacon for peace and hope.

In the end, in its last days, it was a harbinger of the annihilation to come.

     It was the line.

               The line that had to be held.

                                                 The last line.

* * *

Apr 16

Agggh!!! How do we cope when technology fails?

Agggh! What do we do? What do we do?

The advice would be don’t panic. Which really I think is ridiculous. A good ole panic helps to make many a dire situation feel at least a little bit dramatic. Hmmm… maybe not helpful, certainly not productive. Perhaps I should in the words of Fagin from the ‘Oliver’ musical review the situation again. Maybe I should just calm down and breathe. Let me be calm and make the most of the situation.

Ok, so the title of ‘How do we cope when technology fails?’ was actually going to be a suggestion to kes7 for one of the prompts. Our heroes would have to tackle Star Trek life without the magic of their technology say no transporters, no replicators, no grav-plates, no warp power, etc.

However, life has gone and played a cruel trick on us and robbed us of our forum site. I’m no techie so I haven’t a barny what has happened. Suffice to say, I didn’t do it. It was like that when I got here. Or not got there as the case might be.

So my dear fellow Ad Astras – hey what is our collective groupie name? Are we Ad Astras/ Ad Astries / Astrals ? – ok derailing my thought process here but lets come up with some suggestions and then we can do a poll.

Back to the point … which was (?) …My fellow Ad Astraras (?) what are we to do without a little conversation and discussion? Well lets take the blogs and converse here. Lets bring it on. We won’t let technology get us down – unless it is an elevator and that is precisely what we want.

Share with me you woe at the present loss of the forum. Share with me your idea for our collective name – candy-floss to the best suggestion. Share with me your ficlet on what your heroes would do mean faced without technology or problem therewith.

P.S. There is no particular reason for the different colours other than I saw that I could change them and so I did. Which colour was your favourite?

P.P.S. I throw down a challenge for fellow bloggers to enthral those of us missing our usual dose of Ad Astra discussion with some entertaining new blogs. Go on … you have to … not cos I tell you … cos mine was lame!