Malcolm as a Warrior Hero

For all those girls that can't get enough of the British bomber.

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Asso
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Re: Malcolm as a Warrior Hero

Postby Asso » Mon Mar 23, 2009 9:58 pm

Alelou wrote:...given his role as their commanding officer. That has an inescapable distancing impact on their relationship.

It's strange this thought. I have heard it many times. For me, this sounds like a justification. Excusatio non petita, accusatio manifesta. Excuse not demanded, blame evident.
Well yes. I continue to write. And on Fanfiction.Net, for those who want, it is possible to cast a glance at my latest efforts. We arrived to
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Re: Malcolm as a Warrior Hero

Postby panyasan » Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:35 pm

The difference in rank may have some effect on the friendship between Trip and Archer, but Malcolm and Trip have different ranks too. Granted, both of them are not the captain, but I can help but feel that especially Archers attitude had a great impact of the loss of friendship.
There are some evidence of friendship between Trip and Archer, like the talk about Natalie and some flash back as shown at First Flight. And there is this nice scene at the beginning of season 4 when the two friends meet again. You can even see some kind of friendship at the diners between Trip, Archer and T'Pol.
But the friendship is more told then seen. Trip goes to Archer to comfort him and watch waterpolo with him, but did Archer ever asked him how is was dealing with his sister's death? Malcolm tried to reach out to him, T'Pol did. The more Archer becomes this BIG HERO CAPTAIN, the less the friendship becomes.

Daedalus is the low point in their friendship. Trip gives Archer a warning, that given the circumstances is only right, but Archer pulls ranks and basically tells Trip his opinion has not value for him. He is the captain and he is always right. Yes, difference in ranks, Archer has to act like a captain, but he totally forgets to be a friend - he isn't, not even a little.

I came to like Archer more recently - with his obvious flows - and I think the friendship between Trip and him can be restored - but they have a long way to go. I always get a little edgy about people writing about the HERO and GREAT Archer that everbody respects and the long and strong friendship between Trip and him, because it ignores the facts of the damaged relationship.

In contrast to the friendship between Archer and Trip, the friendship between Malcolm and Trip comes across more naturally.
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Re: Malcolm as a Warrior Hero

Postby Asso » Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:40 pm

I couldn't say this better.
Well yes. I continue to write. And on Fanfiction.Net, for those who want, it is possible to cast a glance at my latest efforts. We arrived to
The Ears of the Elves, chapter Forty-four


And here is the beginning of the whole story.
Image

But, I must say, you could also find something else on Fanfiction.net written by me. If you want.

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Re: Malcolm as a Warrior Hero

Postby Dinah » Wed Mar 25, 2009 10:58 pm

The Malcolm of fanfic, on the whole, is an incredible bore. Since the show ended, he's been adopted by a number of writers -- mostly women I suspect -- who's turned him into something akin to a toddler's stuffed bunny: part of the time they're beating the crap out of him while the rest of the time is spent dressing him up in cute little outfits and treating him like a fuzzy little friend. The man -- the trained, professional security and armory officer -- is generally MIA.

The settings of the stories may change, but the same plot points always seem to surface (pardon the pun). 1) Malcolm is afraid of water, followed by it's ever popular companion piece Malcolm almost drowns. 2) Malcolm has problems with his family -- they weren't close and Dad didn't buy him a pony when he was a little boy. 3) if he isn't preparing to throw his life away in some incredibly stupid attempt to save someone or something, it isn't a real Malcolm story. 4) Only when Malcolm clings to life after sacrificing himself yet again...and again...and again, does he find out that his friends, i.e. Trip, Hoshi, and maybe Travis or Archer on a good day, really think he has value as a person. 5) Trip and Malcolm are friends although it's hard to see why; Malcolm seems to ignore any orders Trip gives and never listens to any of his advice. And 6) after Phlox once again saves his sorry ass, Malcolm, now bubbling with new-found self-esteem, joins Trip, Hoshi and his other friends of the moment in a heart-felt group hug.

I'm sorry but I don't see Malcolm's constant attempts to sacrifice himself as indicative of the actions of a warrior hero. To quote George Patton: "No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country."

Sorry for venting, but it just really bothers me than any semblance of Malcolm as a competent, trained, professional Starfleet officer constantly gets buried under layers and layers of this angsty goo. A officer who is constantly in sickbay or in his quarters recovering from some dread illness, severe emotional trauma, or physical injuries that would send a seasoned emergency room nurse running for cover, is of little use to anyone because he would never be available for duty. I've been so put off by these cookie-cutter stories that it's gotten to the point that I generally don't even look at a Malcolm story anymore. It's too bad. I think Malcolm could be an interesting character.

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Re: Malcolm as a Warrior Hero

Postby Alelou » Wed Mar 25, 2009 11:35 pm

Oh my God, I didn't think you were capable of ever saying anything mean about fanfic! :shock:

But you're right! Especially about a certain cadre of Malcolm stories. I'll sometimes read them just because they tend to feature Trip too and I'm desperate, even if I know there will be pain, lots and lots of pain. Once in awhile some of those ladies actually go for humor instead and then it can be quite fun. Still others slide right over into slashiness and lose me.

Speaking of anyone suffering from desperation for decent Malcolm fanfic they can read with IE, Renaisterre just finished over at fanfic.net (with T'pol going into pon farr, which gives me great hope of more TnTness in the next story, although the last one definitely had some angsty-sweet moments in it). I think the author could stand to trim her stories, which are very long, but she really did carry off an interesting SciFi plot in this last one. And her Malcolm is a capable officer.
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Re: Malcolm as a Warrior Hero

Postby panyasan » Thu Mar 26, 2009 4:00 am

I hardly read any Malcolm-only stories (I am a pure TnT-er, I guess). (One time I stumbled upon a fic that turned out to be slash and the first line already made me want to leave that fic at once, never read the rest.)And now I read Dinah's reviews of Malcolm stories, I don't think I missed much.
Malcolm is a very capable officer and I would hate when that aspect in lost in a story. There are also other ENT characters that had problems with their parents: Hoshi, Travis, maybe Trip (Home), T'Pol and maybe Archer (his Dad being a hard working, frustrated, living legend), so why is Malcolm's relationship with his parents suddenly the cause for him being a crippled person? I don't see any evidence of him being crippled or really suffering from his relationship with his family in the show. Is it because he keeps his distance and only let a few people in? Well, he supposed to be a Britisch military men. I am curious to see how Britisch fan fic-writers would write Malcolm as fellow-Brit.
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Chapter 17 of Word of Ice is up!

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The Naked Truth and other necessities of life

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12056258/1 ... es-of-life

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Re: Malcolm as a Warrior Hero

Postby JadziaKathryn » Thu Mar 26, 2009 5:59 am

Oh, this is good stuff.

(And if I may indulge myself, *ahem* my Malcolm story Faraway Stars is angsty but with meaning... and nothing about drowning or daddy issues.)

Very interesting points, Dinah. Does anyone else feel sort of challenged by her post? 8)
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Re: Malcolm as a Warrior Hero

Postby Alelou » Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:40 am

Malcolm just never caught my imagination. It's TnT I feel compelled beyond all reason to explore further. The rest ... well, I'd happily dive into their characters if somebody wanted to pay me for it, but I'm just not going to bother doing it for free -- not unless he can be used to illuminate something about the characters I'm really addicted to. :)
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Re: Malcolm as a Warrior Hero

Postby Aquarius » Thu Mar 26, 2009 1:16 pm

Alelou wrote:Malcolm just never caught my imagination. It's TnT I feel compelled beyond all reason to explore further. The rest ... well, I'd happily dive into their characters if somebody wanted to pay me for it, but I'm just not going to bother doing it for free -- not unless he can be used to illuminate something about the characters I'm really addicted to. :)


I agree here. But as my stories become bigger and longer and depend more on other characters to support them, I love threads like this so I can help those characters be vibrant and believable, too. Trip and T'Pol will always be front and center (except if I do my spoof that features Travis in "Snakes on a Shuttlepod"), but they're all important to me, to a point. All the characters have the potential to do and be something wonderful, even if I do mostly use them as tools to make Trip and T'Pol shine. :wink:
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Re: Malcolm as a Warrior Hero

Postby Linda » Thu Mar 26, 2009 6:43 pm

Your stories become fuller, richer, using the interplay of more than just your favorite characters. And it is fun to give some real personality to a character which canon only gave us a brief sketch of. :thumbsup:
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Re: Malcolm as a Warrior Hero

Postby Lady Rainbow » Sun Mar 29, 2009 7:55 pm

I see Malcolm as a highly trained professional, good at what he does. He's got a dry, sarcastic sense of humor and I always thought he and Trip balanced each other out as friends. They complement each other. His interactions with other crew show a softer side of him (like Travis).

It's his job to protect others, esp. people he DOES care about. And yes, he does get whumped in the process sometimes. Most times, he's the one who gets put through the wringer in a major way...which can be good drama. But not when he's always portrayed at Martyr!Malcolm. That really irks me after a while. Granted, the nature of his work puts him in a lot of dangerous situations, but I don't think he hates life so much that he's purposely trying to kill himself. He's can't protect anyone if he's dead. He's got a rigid code of honor that he goes by.

As far as the relationship with his family goes, I kinda got the impression that Stuart Reed really wanted the best for his son the way he knows how, but was at a loss when Malcolm decided to join Starfleet. But I don't see the relationship as physically abusive. They don't see eye to eye, and both aren't good at expressing emotions, but it wouldn't surprise me if Stuart was secretly proud of his son, even if his pride won't admit it. Let's face it...the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and I bet Malcolm's tenaciousness and courage comes partly from having to deal with his father. (I address this in my story "Code of Honor" on ff.net)

(And being a native Brit myself, yeah, Malcolm sometimes comes off as your "stiff upper-lip type" Brit, but I agree that it probably is as much to do with his upbringing than him just "being British".)
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Re: Malcolm as a Warrior Hero

Postby Linda » Mon Mar 30, 2009 6:12 pm

The one canon scene that stands out for me with Malcolm which shows his underlying caring nature was the one with Trip when Malcolm asks if there is to be a memoral service for Trip's sister. Trip just about bites Malcolm's head off for that saying Lizzie was not big on memorials and besides she was only just one of the seven million. I could have slapped Trip silly for that, even though I know he was trying desperately to repress his own very deep grief. I felt like Malcolm had been verbally abused, yet he took this in stride and did not bite back at Trip with any angsty comments. Over the series, there were lots of great momments between these two characters that brought out Malcolm's personality. Very good writing and very good acting. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Re: Malcolm as a Warrior Hero

Postby Aquarius » Mon Mar 30, 2009 10:37 pm

^ I think this was my favorite Malcolm moment.
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Re: Malcolm as a Warrior Hero

Postby JadziaKathryn » Mon Mar 30, 2009 10:59 pm

"Shuttlepod One" was a great friendship episodes. Not so much as a whiff of TnT, but still one of my favorites because of the character development and the growing friendship between two of my favorite characters on the show. (Could have done without Malcolm's T'Pol dream, though. *cringe*

Malcolm: "Be my guest. I could use a little less responsibility!"
Lady Rainbow wrote:It's his job to protect others, esp. people he DOES care about. And yes, he does get whumped in the process sometimes. Most times, he's the one who gets put through the wringer in a major way...which can be good drama. But not when he's always portrayed at Martyr!Malcolm. That really irks me after a while. Granted, the nature of his work puts him in a lot of dangerous situations, but I don't think he hates life so much that he's purposely trying to kill himself. He's can't protect anyone if he's dead. He's got a rigid code of honor that he goes by.
Good points indeed. I don't think he has a death wish, but I do think he accepts that his job is dangerous and he could die.
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Re: Malcolm as a Warrior Hero

Postby Linda » Thu Apr 02, 2009 3:44 pm

I think they all accept the danger, it's part of the Starfleet culture. But yeah, it seems a bit more so with Malcolm. Not sure if it is his personal code of honor or that his particular job is in weapons. Maybe a bit of both.
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