"Divergent Paths" Discussion

[WarpGirl]

Well I just read the latest Rigil, can I just say this...

The scene changed, so he regained some hit points.

Had me crcking up! I really appreciated how you wrote Trip's physicality here. Yeah it may be "unreal" in certain respects, but you actually had a lot of reality in it from my perspective. For example here...

SPOILER!!!:

It was a trick T'Pol had taught him in the weeks before the bear attack – rather than pushing himself until he felt the strain, he simply paid attention to what his body was telling him, speeding up and slowing down as necessary.

As someone with Cerebral Palsy I have to live every minute of every day of my life like that. Every task (today its housework) I preform is done with those thoughts in mind. Because Trip is injured right now, it makes it even more important, and you got that through. Come to think of it, you write all the physical stuff so well, what's your secret? Because FYI for anyone whose interested, you don't need any training at all to do this...

SPOILER!!!:

His still recovering body should have hurt – no, he corrected himself, it did hurt, but for some reason, the pain was distant, muted, like he had managed to find an off switch that allowed him to function like normal.

I'm really interested in how long this took you to come up with and what you drew on to make it so real.

[Navigator]

Just finished chapter 54. It's great - can't wait to see what he does with the gas cans. Napalm, perhaps? Have to ask a question - why didn't Trip ice the two soldiers when he stole the trike? If they just "disappeared", their CO may think they went UA. Wait, you intend for them to show up at a bad moment!! Sorry.

[Rigil Kent]

I may be completely wrong about this, not being a guy, but I don't think Malcom would have reacted so defensively to Hayes from day one, if he'd had more confidence in himself and his abilities.

No, I totally agree with this. If one looks at it logically, having the MACOs around frees his own people up to focus exclusively on shipboard operations (repel boarders scenarios ... which they frankly kind of needed; use and maintenance of weapon systems, etc.) Having him acting like a whiny twelve year old was just kind of dumb to me.

Instead of trying to take the bullet for everyone but Porthos

Yeah it may be "unreal" in certain respects, but you actually had a lot of reality in it from my perspective. For example here...

SPOILER!!!:

It was a trick T'Pol had taught him in the weeks before the bear attack – rather than pushing himself until he felt the strain, he simply paid attention to what his body was telling him, speeding up and slowing down as necessary.

Come to think of it, you write all the physical stuff so well, what's your secret?

No secret really. That's just how long distance runners are trained these days (back in the day, I used to love to run, before the Army ruined that for me and then I later blew out my knee. Now I'm just lazy. )

Either that, or I'm secretly a super spy.

Have to ask a question - why didn't Trip ice the two soldiers when he stole the trike?

'cause that just doesn't fit his character, IMO. Recall earlier in the fic how badly he reacted to accidentally killing a guy? Intentionally murdering one is just OOC for him, especially since I've intimated that he & T'Pol have been discussing Surakian philosophy during their random talks. "As far as possible, do not kill. Can you return life to what you kill? Then be slow to take life."

Gandalf would be proud.

[WarpGirl]

No secret really. That's just how long distance runners are trained these days (back in the day, I used to love to run, before the Army ruined that for me and then I later blew out my knee. Now I'm just lazy. )

Either that, or I'm secretly a super spy.

'cause that just doesn't fit his character, IMO. Recall earlier in the fic how badly he reacted to accidentally killing a guy? Intentionally murdering one is just OOC for him, especially since I've intimated that he & T'Pol have been discussing Surakian philosophy during their random talks. "As far as possible, do not kill. Can you return life to what you kill? Then be slow to take life."

Gandalf would be proud.

Sorry about your knee I have a displaced hip. Needs operated on and then more "training for me" only I never would get anyone as good as T'Pol for a task-master. Although it wouldn't surprise me if you were a super spy. I actually loved the fact he didn't kill those men. THe fact that you are keeping this "weaponized" Trip in character is astounding, and quite brilliant. And in this AU it feels good to have familiar grounding.

[Asso]

Have to ask a question - why didn't Trip ice the two soldiers when he stole the trike?

'cause that just doesn't fit his character, IMO. Recall earlier in the fic how badly he reacted to accidentally killing a guy? Intentionally murdering one is just OOC for him, especially since I've intimated that he & T'Pol have been discussing Surakian philosophy during their random talks. "As far as possible, do not kill. Can you return life to what you kill? Then be slow to take life."

Gandalf would be proud.

Let sleeping dogs lie.

[Navigator]

Ch. 55 is really good. I like the fact that you captured the fact that you have to have not just the Chiefs but also the LPOs on board or you don't go anywhere. I like the way Malcolm rose to the occasion. The ship side of this story could get as intriguing as the dirt side one.

[WarpGirl]

OK first of all, I think you were absolutely brilliant using Malcolm like this. However, I need to take some time and think this chapter through. I'll more than likely have a ton of questions, but I have to process how to ask them. So give me a few hours please Rigil and congrads, you confounded me. Not with your plot, but with the way you see the situation.

[Rigil Kent]

Ch. 55 is really good.

Meh. I wasn't particularly satisfied with it, but that's actually a fairly common reaction I have toward anything I write.

I like the fact that you captured the fact that you have to have not just the Chiefs but also the LPOs on board or you don't go anywhere.

Officers get the credit, NCOs do the work, right?

The ship side of this story could get as intriguing as the dirt side one.

Oh, I fully expect the next NX-01 based scene to cause some discussion. Trust me: whatever you're thinking? It's probably wrong.

OK first of all, I think you were absolutely brilliant using Malcolm like this. However, I need to take some time and think this chapter through. I'll more than likely have a ton of questions, but I have to process how to ask them. So give me a few hours please Rigil and congrads, you confounded me. Not with your plot, but with the way you see the situation.

Um ... okay? I'm not sure what is controversial or confounding about how I see the "situation" so I don't really know how to respond.

[WarpGirl]

OK this is what confuses me... Why would Malcolm not try to integrate Hernandez into the crew? I understand he was upset that he got passed over, for FO. And yes I understand that he thinks Erika isn't qualified, (in some ways she isn't) but everything I've seen about Reed says he respects orders and the chain of Command, even when he personally hates it. I can't see him not trying to help to integrate Erika into the crew.

Everything else was fantastic.

[Rigil Kent]

OK this is what confuses me... Why would Malcolm not try to integrate Hernandez into the crew? I understand he was upset that he got passed over, for FO. And yes I understand that he thinks Erika isn't qualified, (in some ways she isn't) but everything I've seen about Reed says he respects orders and the chain of Command, even when he personally hates it. I can't see him not trying to help to integrate Erika into the crew.

Yeah, he did a fantastic job at integrating Hayes into the command structure during canon season 3, didn't he?

Put simply: he doesn't like her. Yes, I'm sure that he acted professionally around her and obeyed her instructions without grumbling about it, but in my experience, when you don't like or respect someone, it has a tendency to affect how you treat them or interact with them. Compared to other officers or crewmembers, his interactions with Hernandez were likely frosty - I point you to chapter 33 and how he spoke to her - which would be noticed by the other personnel. I've made a point of pointing out a couple of times how Archer deferred to him far more frequently than he does Hernandez (the before-mentioned 33, as well as 29 just to name a couple), and that sort of thing is also going to be noticed by the crewmen. It seemed unrealistic to me that Reed would just accept her without subconsciously resenting per presence because of why its necessary. Hernandez herself isn't going to help as she's defensive about her lack of experience, which leads to more conflicts between the two. She's also an outsider who is being forced into an already tight unit - "Band of Brothers" briefly touched on this sort of thing with how the old timers in the unit looked down at the replacements because they haven't seen or done the kinds of things they have. This is the same sort thing. To be frank, I didn't much care about the Reed of canon because (A) he doesn't really evolve as a character from "Broken Bow" to "Terra Prime" (and even backslides a little bit in the above-mentioned Hayes subplot as well as his whiny actions during the season 4 Klingon arc); and (B) he comes across as little more than a cookie-cutter stereotype (which, unfortunately, most of the Trek archetypes fall into; Trip was almost offensively a steretypical "good ole boy" but they finally let his character evolve during season 3.) Thus, I thought it would be more interesting to actually give Malcolm a little more character and let him act like a more believable human being when put in this position (as opposed to the before-mentioned Hayes nonsense.)

Plus, you've remarked numerous times about having not watched the entire series, so it's entirely possible your perception of the character simply differs from mine. Hell, we already know that's the case based on previous discussions about this very thing.

*shrug*

[WarpGirl]

Well in my defense its not like I've deliberately avoided watching the whole series, (except Unexpected and Twilight) SYFY refuses to run the episodes the episodes in any comprehensible schedule and in order. Not my fault. I meant to clarify my statement because Hernandez is Starfleet, Hayes is not Starfleet, but I was playing with my neice while I was typing.

In any case, I agree with your reasoning. Even though I don't think Malcolm was quite as awful as you seem too. However it is nice to see him with greater depth. You did really well.

[Rigil Kent]

I meant to clarify my statement because Hernandez is Starfleet, Hayes is not Starfleet

How is that relevant, though? T'Pol wasn't Starfleet for three seasons and he didn't treat her like crap. Besides, season 3 made it clear to me that Hayes was in the chain-of-command somehow since they had him sit in the Big Chair for a bit during ... uh ... Hatchery, I think (I suspect the CoC went Archer, T'Pol, Tucker, Reed, Hayes, Mayweather, Sato.)

Even though I don't think Malcolm was quite as awful as you seem too.

I didn't say he was awful, merely that I was indifferent toward him because he was a flat character. I felt the same way about Mayweather and even Sato for the most part, but I certainly don't think that he was "awful."

[WarpGirl]

T'Pol was a different situation... She wasn't stepping on his toes. She was stepping on Trip and to an extent Archer's toes. Besides as much as I loved the idea of the MACO's, (and I did) they wrote them in, in a very haphazard confusing way. I didn't like Hayes in the "big chair" it made no sense.

I apologize your post did not seem to be "indifferent" in your thoughts of Reed. It was my mistake though.

[Rigil Kent]

T'Pol was a different situation... She wasn't stepping on his toes. She was stepping on Trip and to an extent Archer's toes.

Ah, but in this case, Hernandez [i]is[i] stepping on his toes (or at least he perceives her doing so) as she asserts her authority. Toss in a personality clash, the fact he probably still hasn't really grieved for his "dead" friend, and a whole mess of other emotional issues, and you get a mixed up mess. As good old Palpatine pointed out in the otherwise mediocre RotS (what an amazingly apt acronym), "those who have power fear to lose it."

[WarpGirl]

I understand that. I did say I agree with your reasoning once you gave some more background in your creative process.

PS I thought I was the only SW's fan on the planet who thought ROTS was not all it was cracked up to be. My fellow KOTORians would disagree with both of us.