"Divergent Paths" Discussion

[panyasan]

To be honest, at first I was sort of disappointed about Trip not remembering what had happened because it meant that all his misconceptions about Archer and T'Pol were still in place. I am really looking forward to this conversation though

I found that disappointing too. Then I remembered T'Pol had been looking in Trips brain, not the other way around. Of course their minds have become one, but we don't what Trips mind has picked up/seen. I do wish this misconception about Archer/T'Pol will be soon be over. To be honest, I hope this will be cleared long before they return to Enterprise. I almost not looking forward of them returning, because I like their interaction so much and I am afraid I am going miss them when they return (with everybody - Archer for example - taking up their time). Selfish, huh?

[Rigil Kent]

So tell me how did you come up with this particular bond?

I thought of it as similar to a Warder's Bond from Robert Jordan's (RIP) Wheel of Time series. Since, at this point, T'Pol has about as much of a clue regarding the bond (she's just operating on supposition and myth - I envision the Bond being seen as the equivalent of human 'love at first sight' or 'soulmates,' where kids might believe in it, but adults have become hardened by the realities of life and no longer have "faith," so to speak), she can't really come out and tell him what she thinks. Hell, she isn't even sure that it is a bond - for all she knows, it could just be the aftermath of the meld that she might have screwed up. They're both floundering in the dark here.

Plus, I sort of envision it as not being a "complete" bond at this point since they haven't taken the final step and consummated it. But if you're expecting the telepathic telephone of most ficdom, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. I've always preferred approaching differently from that since the only time in canon we see them communicating thus is when she's meditating in the white room and he's zoning out at the same time.

Is Pater your "Tolaris" revenge character? What I mean is, did you write this jackass because they let the other jackass go, and Trip or T'Pol get to kill this jackass?

No. He's not as important as he (or you) might think. But, as Evelyn told Beni in "The Mummy" You know, nasty little fellows such as yourself always get their comeuppance. So he'll probably get his.

How did you get the methods she has been using to train Trip? Were they apart of your military experience?

Hardly. Just making it up as I go. I have absolutely no idea what sort of training techniques would be utilized by Taskmaster T'Pol to turn Trip into a "Weaponised" version of himself, so I generally try to avoid going into too much detail to avoid sounding like an idiot. Better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt, they say, and it appears to have worked.

To be honest, at first I was sort of disappointed about Trip not remembering what had happened because it meant that all his misconceptions about Archer and T'Pol were still in place.

That's not entirely accurate. He knows that something is different between them, is able to see the open affection T'Pol is sending his way, and has all of the appropriate memories, just without their proper context. So he's simply confused as all get-out. I used my own life here - when I was stationed in Germany back in '91, I had a bicycling accident (wasn't my fault - according to an eyewitness, I swerved to avoid hitting some people who shouldn't have been where they were and since I was on a very high hill, I went over the edge and was lucky to have survived at all) and my memory of the event in question remains a jumbled up mess to this day. It's mostly faded at this point, but at the time, I was able to remember bits and pieces, just not in order or in context. So like Trip in this case, I have a hole in my mind - I remember leaving the kaserne and I remember waking up in the krankenhaus, but everything in between is a mess.

I am really looking forward to this conversation though, so...

Which will happen ... just not like you expected.

Is T'Pol ok? Was she captured? Is she hiding in the woods?

Is she? I'd say "I dunno" but since I'm a page into chapter 66, that would be a lie, wouldn't it?

Then I remembered T'Pol had been looking in Trips brain, not the other way around. Of course their minds have become one, but we don't what Trips mind has picked up/seen.

Plus, she wasn't mostly insensate with agonizing pain from a bear attack, so it stands to reason that her recollection of what took place is more coherent than his.

To be honest, I hope this will be cleared long before they return to Enterprise.

It will be. Of course, I have other ideas for that time period (whenever it is) which will lead to some interesting story-telling opportunities.

I almost not looking forward of them returning, because I like their interaction so much and I am afraid I am going miss them when they return (with everybody - Archer for example - taking up their time). Selfish, huh?

Let not your heart be troubled. I'd say more to appease your concerns, but A) that would be telling and B) I only have the vaguest idea what will be happening during that point in the story.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

Interesting, it seems like the Bond doesn't only allow T'Pol to help heal Trip, but it also helps T'Pol with her Pa'nar syndrome. Maybe the Bond acts to straighten her damaged neural pathways or something?

The "I'm not pregnant am I?" line and "the bowl of pebbles" was pretty funny. She does have a certain dry wit, doesn't she. Very Vulcan, like Spock.

[panyasan]

- about the bond in Div. Paths: what I like about it, is that I comes across naturally. A lot has to do that as a reader you see the bond develop before your eyes, slowly, like any bond will do. I also like Trip noticed T'Pol speaking to him when he is meditating, like we saw on the show when the first meeting in white space took place.

Let not your heart be troubled. I'd say more to appease your concerns, but A) that would be telling and B) I only have the vaguest idea what will be happening during that point in the story.

One more reason to stay tuned!

[WarpGirl]

But if you're expecting the telepathic telephone of most ficdom, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. I've always preferred approaching differently from that since the only time in canon we see them communicating thus is when she's meditating in the white room and he's zoning out at the same time.

Rigil if I have learned anything reading your stories, (I did read the Endevour saga in a couple of days) it's don't "expect" anything! Just enjoy the ride. Thank you for sharing a bit of your process its great for other aspiring writers like 'little ol me.'

Sorry to hear you went through such a rough patch. During mine I had halucinations that involved, Tuvok and a Warp Core breach! Not kidding. I have absolutely no memory of it, but my sister loves to recount the entire thing in detail.

[Rigil Kent]

Gah. I'm glad I've got such a buffer of unpublished chapters - I just discovered a major timeline error (because I'm an utter moron, that's why, and apparently simple arithmetic is too hard for me to comprehend) and now I've got to rewrite some stuff. Blech.

So yeah. Feeling pretty dumb. Just spent two hours redoing my timeline and trying to fix an especially dumb mistake. Huzzah.

[WarpGirl]

Oh please don't feel bad. You cannot possibly be as bad at math as I am. I use a calculator for everything. I even found a website with a metric conversion calculator, so I can do measurements for fic in metric. I don't even bother to attempt to learn, I am that bad with numbers. BTW here's the link for anyone who has problems with metric...http://www.worldwidemetric.com/measurements.html

[Alelou]

So here's a challenge for the readers: list the top five things you'd like to see as DivPath progresses. It can be major moments, minor moments, or just little jokey things that you think might be funny.

1) I want Trip to get lucky and to ENJOY getting lucky and to STAY more or less lucky. (Yeah, that's not much...)
2) I'd like to see some sexual tension between Archer and Erika.
3) Perhaps related, I'd like Archer to get his groove back.
4) I want to see Pater Undil suffer an appropriately gruesome fate.
5) I'd like to find out what the deal is with the Zeons on Ekos (though that may be unrealistic and noncanonical).

Barring all that, I just want to be surprised and entertained and maybe even moved by a cool, well-written story. I'm pretty sure I can count on you for that.

[hth2k]

ell now, Trip in close proximity to 2 full squads of trained grunts. Local turncoat to guide them and now they have incentive to actively want him dead. The infantry will have to walk home.

Guess we'll see how well T'Pol has trained him. Considering his weakened condition and loaded down with two packs it does not look good. I'd stash the load. get out of the immediate area and try to hook up with T'Pol if I were him.

Figure she was foraging and heard them coming. Up in the mountains it is real quiet and you can hear trucks pulling grades from miles off. Likely she was watching them for a while. They sure didn't seem worried about a stealth attack.

Wonder if they are going to rabbit or just kill them all. If you think about it, having an army interested in finding you isn't good. If the squad calls for reinforcements their chance of survival drops. How do you evade when injured? Ok, I know. shut up. It's Trek. Just read and enjoy the ride.
Ok.

At least he is cognizant of having a new internal T'Pol locating compass as well as a personal early warning system. Confused? Absolutely! Freaked or PO'd,? Don't see it. How many times has she saved his carcass? Liked the line about "Time to return the favor." ABout sums it up for me. If he had been stranded with anyone but Archer or perhaps Malcolm he would be dead or captured long ago. Archer? well it is Trek and they would not just bug out and leave the Captain. Everything would be resolved before the hours end credits. Malcolm is an unknown as much of his training is so much hand waving. If he went through anything like Green Berets or seals plus the spy stuff, no problem.

Perhaps that is one reason I like this story. T'Pol is the perfect partner for Trip here. I see her background more like Kkglinka's "Leamatya Sleeps" version and the only non classified part of her past is what came
out in canon. Not a Mary Sue, just a very intelligent, well trained, competent, motivated Vulcan. One may suspect large parallels for Vulcan "mojo" and Asian Martial arts. Great power, skill, training and discipline. The mental discipline being perhaps more important than the physical techniques and skills.

What do I like? A rational well written story. So far so good.

Just don't go stupid or get lazy and jam out a half arsed ending.

HtH

[Rigil Kent]

Just don't go stupid or get lazy and jam out a half arsed ending.

Well, I already got stupid when I screwed up the timeline, but fortunately, I was able to fix that. As to the "half arsed ending" ... hell, dude. I don't have the first clue how this story is gonna end. Which is freaking me the crap out.

[Alelou]

When all else fails, remember your title. If your ending fits it, we'll think you're a genius who knew exactly where you were going right from the beginning. (Unless we read this thread, anyway...)

[Rigil Kent]

When all else fails, remember your title. If your ending fits it, we'll think you're a genius who knew exactly where you were going right from the beginning.

So I should have Jon blow himself up in a ridiculous contrived manner at the end?

[hth2k]

ROTFLMFAO at Rigil's comment, maybe if it is a really good explosion?

Hey it is your story, have fun. I'm confidant you will find something that makes sense when the time comes.

So the local resistance has T'Pol, Hmmmm.

I think you may not realize what a wonderful position you are in. The creative process at its best. The juices are obciously flowing and you are just documenting what happens as you see the charactors live it. All you really need to do is provide a general direction. Some parts work better than others, some are inspired, some almost insipid. It is wonderfully intimidating, frustrating, joyous, and thriling. Literally heaven and hell in one bundle.

HtH

HtH

[WarpGirl]

Don't blow Enterprise up please! Soval is there, and Malcolm, and Hoshi, and, Erika, and Rostov... No its too cruel even for a guy who loves to blow crap up. I'm not even in favor of Archer blowing himself up at this point. I want to see how you handle him I'm intrigued...

[Alelou]

When all else fails, remember your title. If your ending fits it, we'll think you're a genius who knew exactly where you were going right from the beginning.

So I should have Jon blow himself up in a ridiculous contrived manner at the end?

Then Trip just went on the ultimate divergent path in *the_abomination*?

LOL.

The happy ending: Trip and T'Pol try to reintegrate into Enterprise but really can't, and diverge off into their own lives -- this time voluntarily, or to the save the universe, or whatever.

The unhappy ending: Trip and T'Pol's mutual paths diverge. (Wah!)