New story by BnB and Distracted

[CX]

Actually, yeah, T'Pol did hesitate to shoot, even on stun for some pathetic reason. But that's not really what I'm getting at. Most of it is a discontent with the way Vulcans were portrayed on ENT, but as far as your story goes, by main problem with that is that all the Vulcans are thinking and reacting the same. There is no disagreement with how the situation is being handled, their attack on the Andorian trading ship that was in no way ever a match for them, their treatment of the prisoners, their lack of taking in prisoners from the station and the resulting lack of intel, stuff like that.

[JadziaKathryn]

For example, the recidivist rate for dead criminals is right at 0%. Is this not logical?

This also fits my theory that logic can be used to explain a great many things. It's not nearly as neat as Vulcans would have the universe think. Two people could look at the same problem and come up with two different logical conclusions.

As for CX's last comments, maybe in the middle of a battle isn't the best time to express reservations. We don't know much about Vulcan military culture. Hmmm...

[blacknblue]

One thing I can say in response to that objection - Vulcans are consistently portrayed in canon and books as being very close minded culturally. In other words, they are not prone to accepting dissent. Witness the reaction to Pa'anaar syndrome. It is a contradiction of sorts, that a people who give lip service to the principle of IDIC are so prone to being narrow minded. But then, maybe Surak made such a big deal of emphasizing IDIC BECAUSE the Vulcan people tended to be close minded, and he wanted to hammer the concept into the rock hard skulls. People who were natuarally open minded would not have needed to have a philosophical concept advocating the principle presented to them.

[Distracted]

Wow! I go on vacation for a few days and come back to a full-fledged debate.

As far as the "revenge" thing goes, as far as I recall, I wrote Selim struggling with that very thing. He's very young and naive, a member of the "new school" generation taught from the cradle that violence is supremely illogical... violence for the sake of revenge even more so. He's more representative of Vulcan's younger generation in my view. As far as Senek's reaction is concerned, as BnB has pointed out, Senek is career military intelligence. His attitude would hardly be expected to coincide with the average Vulcan on the street. That's like asking a Navy Seal his opinion on war and violence in general. I doubt he'd give you the same response as Joe Blow on the street. I see Senek's and the other military officers' rather easy justification of violent behavior as the logical consequence of their positions in society, indicative of a diversity of ideas rather than the white-bread non-violence portrayed by other sources. I'm sure that if you asked Selim's parents what they thought of violence you'd get the party line. There just don't happen to be any truly pacifist Vulcans in this story so far. They all died.

[pookha]

spock also was willing to shoot and if needed kill if the situation required it.

there just had to be a logical reason for it.

[blacknblue]

There is something else too. I have spent my time since I started writing fan fiction trying to de-mystify Vulcans and other aliens. I want to turn them into 3D, flesh and blood creatures. Whether I render them as believable aliens is a different matter. But I want to change them from the paper cutouts they are so generally presented as.

Remember that bio-toxin smuggler? The partner to the one that T'Pol killed? Ignoring for now the bull about Archer needing to prop T'Pol up at the moment of truth. My point is that any race, including Vulcans, are not going to be generic saints. There are going to be honorable members of the race, there are going to be dishonorable members, there are going to be thieves, brave people, cowards, smart people, fools, liar and folks who would rather spit teeth than lie. And there are going to be some people who are totally dedicated to the principles of Surak, like missionaries. There are going to be some people who follow them as best they can but don't obsess about it, like the average churchgoing middle class American. And there are going to be hypocrites, like televangelists and their ilk, such as V'Las and his cronies.

In other words, I want my Vulcans to be *people*. With real flaws as well as real good points.

[Asso]

I totally agree with your ideas and want to know how you will go on along this path.

[blacknblue]

Ain't got no idea yet. The characters have grabbed the bit between their teeth and ran off the road with me again. They do that a lot you know.

Now that Distracted is back, maybe after the holiday she might be able to settle them down again. She has a better touch on the reins, and she can usually calm them down. Me? When I take hold of them they often start kicking and bucking. I don't know why. When it happens, all I can do is grab hold of the horn and hang on tight, hoping against hope that they don't head for any low hanging branches.

[Distracted]

Episode 2 is up. Let us know what you think.

The Lerteiran Chronicles : Episode Two

[evcake]

Nice work guys.

[blacknblue]

Thanks.

Did we go overboard this time? Was it too long?

[rogue]

Not long enough as I am an impatient reader and want everything at one time.
Great job with this chapter!

[evcake]

Thanks.

Did we go overboard this time? Was it too long?

No, no, not too long. Just right.

[Asso]

Exactly that Evcake and Rogue said!

[evcake]

Is it stated in canon how long V'Las was in power?