Announcing: Deep Space Nine Season 10!

[Wally]

lvsxy808 wrote:

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Which frankly I could have been doing over here all along too. Would you prefer me to do that? .

I think you'll get more readers that way. Casual readers probably aren't too keen on navigating away from the BBS and downloading a file.

[Wally]

Another great. I'm always a sucker for any story with Miles having something to do. Even if he isn't suffering . I can realize empathize what's going on with Nog, since basically the same thing is going on with me at my own job. How strangely coincidental.

I'm very curious what is going on with Kira. It's looking more and more like being Captain is not where her heart it, and I'm glad it's being setup this way. It was so jaring learning what happened to her in the post-Destiny novels when no arc had been previously established that showed her on that path. Luckily, that seems to be happening here.

I'm on the fence with what is happening with Taran'atar, though. Villain or no, he's starting to turn into Superman in the sense that he seems to be getting manipulated and mind controlled an awful lot. Too soon to tell though.

[lvsxy808]

I'm glad you liked the Nog story - it was one that seemed to take up the least amount of space in the episode, but it doesn't have to be big to resonate with someone. I'm always wary that Nog seems to get ignored as a character among the other larger than life people in the DS9 crew - the only "episodes" that were his to carry in seasons 8 and 9 were the crossovers with SCE. So I'm trying to give him a definite arc in this season, about growing up and gaining the respect of others.

The Taran'atar storyline seemed to be something that would keep pushing itself forwards at me. It kept trying to overwhelm the other stories, especially the Kira stuff which I had intended as the A-plot. The same thing happened in episode 5, "Deep Down," which was supposed to be a Bashir episode. I seem to like writing for Taran'atar and Ro more than other people. I also had a hell of a time writing the conference scene - I actually gave up at one point and wrote the entire next episode before coming back to it.

You're also kind of right about both the Kira and Taran'atar stories - I guess we'll see where that goes...

The first two episodes of the season are now up on Ad Astra as on-screen text insitead of just a link, so anyone who's been avoiding because of the PDFs can go there. I'll upload a new one each week until the two schedules syncronise. The link is at http://www.adastrafanfic.com/viewseries.php?seriesid=83

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[Gul Re'jal]

So, it got to Kira how much she misses Yoshi, now that he is on the station. I'm not surprised at all. He might not be genetically hers, but there's no doubt that her connection to him is strong. And Yoshi playing the the shuttle all the time is just cute!

Nog. I think he showed a lot of patience; I would have lost mine much earlier. O'Brien has good intentions, but criticising everything was not a good approach to offer his help. I'm glad that they clarified it in the end and no hard feelings hang over them.

As to Cardassia. The reason for their isolation is completely different, but I find it an interesting coincidence that we both decided to lock their borders and made them reject all help. I always felt they were proud people and endlessly taking stuff from others made them uncomfortable. The virus might be one of reasons why they want to be left alone and lick their wounds undisturbed.
I am concerned, though, that a former Obsidian Order agent is having such an important function. She should be held responsible for her past, just like Garak, not made a part of ruling people. That is the first step to turning back to an oppressive regime the Cardassians had before the Dominion War.

I wonder if Taran'atar is losing his mind. Dreams are one thing, hallucinations and talking to non-existing people another. I wonder where this is going (not fishing for spoilers, just thinking aloud ).

[lvsxy808]

I think one of the saddest things about Kira is that she has, literally, no family left. Her mother, father and both her brothers are dead. Her fake father and fake little sister are dead. All her resistance cell-mates are dead. Two of her ex lovers are dead, the other living on the other side of the galaxy. Even her fake child got taken back to the other side of the Federation. So when Yoshi shows up again, even briefly, I think it's understandable that she would fixate on him a little.

I was looking for a Kira story, because I didn't think I had focused enough on her yet considering she's supposed to be the lead character of the show. So I had to look for something that hadn't already been done with her as a character - which turned out to be the mother thing. As I had her say in episode 2, she may have given birth, but she never really got the chance to be a mother. So I took a little look at that here.

And it all tied in perfectly with bringing the O'Briens back from Cardassia. It deepened the sense of the crisis there if it was so bad that one of our Starfleet heroes had to literally run away to save his and his family's lives. It gave me the chance to do the Kira story with Yoshi, and the Nog story with Miles, as I noted above. It also gave me the chance to give Kasidy something to do that didn't revolve purely around being Sisko's wife, which I think is something she's been saddled with ever since the Maquis business.

And yes, the Taran'atar thing is definitely going somewhere.

I've also uploaded episode 3 to Ad Astra now in on-screen text, if anyone wants to read it that way - it's at http://www.adastrafanfic.com/viewuser.php?uid=285.

And thanks for still reading, everyone. I think for the next episode, number 8, I'll create a new thread and post it as text right into the board, like I've been doing at As Astra. Would that be alright with everyone? Don't know why I didn't do that in the first place really. Ah well, live and learn.

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[Gul Re'jal]

I think it would be a good idea to post the text here. It would require a lot of work (formatting), but you might get more readers, who weren't willing to download unknown files from unknown sources

You might leave the option of downloading, though. For those who got used to it

That's so true about Kira. That--having no family--could explain a bit better why she ended up in Typhon Pact books where she did (although personally I think it was out-of-character for her).

[JWolf]

lvsxy808 wrote:

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Hi all

This is my first Fan Fic project, and it's a pretty massive one, so I hope you'll indulge me, and I hope you enjoy!

I will give you some advice. You don't want to offer a downloadable PDF. You want to offer ePub and Mobipocket. Otherwise, you won't get many people downloading your PDF. You want us to be able to read your stories on our readers and PDF is a very poor choice of format.

[lvsxy808]

JWolf wrote:

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I will give you some advice. You don't want to offer a downloadable PDF. You want to offer ePub and Mobipocket. Otherwise, you won't get many people downloading your PDF. You want us to be able to read your stories on our readers and PDF is a very poor choice of format.

Well, since I don't have that kind of reader device myself, I never really put any thought into providing for that format. I'm not sure I'd know how.

And is PDF really that difficult to handle? I can read it easily enough on my iPhone. When did it become an unwieldy format? I'm not being facetious, I'm genuinely asking. I mean, if I can do something to get more people to read it, all the better. But not if it involves purchasing new technology or programmes just to do it.

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[Kirok_of_LStok]

lvsxy808 wrote:

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Well, since I don't have that kind of reader device myself, I never really put any thought into providing for that format. I'm not sure I'd know how.

And is PDF really that difficult to handle? I can read it easily enough on my iPhone. When did it become an unwieldy format? I'm not being facetious, I'm genuinely asking. I mean, if I can do something to get more people to read it, all the better. But not if it involves purchasing new technology or programmes just to do it.

.

It's horses for courses. If you have something that has graphics or complex formatting then go for PDF but straight text - and if you want it to *look* like a script, you could make everything a single font like Courier - is a breeze. Adding a title page, graphics, table of contents , styles... it adds complexity to the job. Not impossible, just more complex.

...and, yes, the basic software is free.

I read on a tablet, so pdf isn't a problem here but I acknowledge that anything smaller would be better off with an eBook format. I have my hands full publishing pdf's for download and browsing on Issuu, otherwise I'd offer our books on ePub & Mobi. Merk has done some great work on his Star Trek Fan Fiction Archive

K

[Ln X]

lvsxy808 wrote:

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I think one of the saddest things about Kira is that she has, literally, no family left. Her mother, father and both her brothers are dead. Her fake father and fake little sister are dead. All her resistance cell-mates are dead. Two of her ex lovers are dead, the other living on the other side of the galaxy. Even her fake child got taken back to the other side of the Federation. So when Yoshi shows up again, even briefly, I think it's understandable that she would fixate on him a little.

Man that's depressing!

[Danlav05]

It's a great idea to build on the books and keep DS9 going - out of interest did you include any of the crossovers lke SCE or Divided We Fall in the first 2 seasons?

Also, have you got an episode list, i.e. which stories were used and how you formatted them for a season of episodes?

[lvsxy808]

In fact I did, and I do!

Here's how season 8 rolls out:

( * indicates look below for an explanation )

• 8x01 Avatar 1 - As the station undergoes repairs, rogue Jem'Hadar ships attack.
• 8x02 Avatar 2 - Kira discovers a worrying ancient prophecy on board the station.
• 8x03 Avatar 3 - A Jem'Hadar tries to destroy the station; Kira solves the prophecy.
• 8x04 Cold Fusion - Nog meets the Starfleet Corps of Engineers at Empok Nor. *
• 8x05 Reflections - Ezri recalls the true story of how she was joined to Dax. *
• 8x06 Fallout - As Kasidy learns Jake has gone missing, Kira deals with consequences. *
• 8x07 Rogue - Section 31 recruit Bashir to go after one of their own agents. *
• 8x08 Abyss - Bashir and Dax fight an insane superman in the Badlands.
• 8x09 A Stitch in Time - From the devastated Cardassia, Garak reveals his formative years.
• 8x10 Divided We Fall - Dax's ex-wife is taken hostage, and Dax herself is the price. *
• 8x11 Gateways - All of Starfleet reacts to a new galaxy-wide threat.
• 8x12 Demons of Air and Darkness - Kira is lost on a deadly planet while Taran'atar battles for his life.
• 8x13 Horn and Ivory - Kira finds herself reliving her life in Bajor's distant past.
• 8x14 Twilight - Vaughn prepares for the Defiant's new mission to the Gamma Quadrant. *
• 8x15 Haunted - Vaughn and Prynn crash-land on a mysteriously dead planet.
• 8x16 Baby Steps - Quark deals with some unexpected news while trying to woo Ro.
• 8x17 Empathy - Shar and Dax clash over how to deal with an alien planet's problems.
• 8x18 This Grey Spirit - Bajor begins difficult peace negotiations with the Cardassians.
• 8x19 Cathedral - Bashir, Dax and Nog are affected by a bizarre space-borne artefact.
• 8x20 Twist of Faith - Surprises keep coming as Bajor prepares to join the Federation.
• 8x21 Lesser Evil - Kira hunts down a new enemy responsible for the attack on the station.
• 8x22 Greater Good - Vaughn and Prynn clash when a Starfleet signal is detected in space.
• 8x23 Rising Son - Jake's incredible adventures on a pirate ship in the Gamma Quadrant.
• 8x24 Unity 1 - Defiant returns to find Deep Space Nine under seige from Cardassians.
• 8x25 Unity 2 - The crew try to contain the parasite threat; Vaughn receives a vision.
• 8x26 Unity 3 - Kira goes to Bajor for a final battle against the parasites.

* Nog's story with the Da Vinci crew is the A-plot; the B-plot is the getting-to-know-you party from Avatar that I didn't have room for in those episodes.
* The Ezri story from The Lives of Dax, even though the title is from the Jadzia story.
* "Fallout" is actually a "new" episode that I created out of four subplots from Abyss, Twilight and Lesser Evil that I lifted out and wove together here.
* I always thought the titles of the DS9 and TNG S31 books worked better the other way around anyway, so I used the TNG title for the first half.
* I rewrote Divided We Fall to completely remove the TNG characters and focus just on the DS9 characters, and I also found a way to tie it into the developing parasites plot in a pretty nifty way.
* For the MG books, I started with a one-off introductory. Then I split the AQ and GQ stories off into their own individual eps, focusing on just one at a time and swapping back and forth between the two crews.


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[lvsxy808]

And here's season 9:

• 9x01 Unjoined 1 - Dax returns to Trill to deal with fallout from the parasite crisis. *
• 9x02 Unjoined 2 - Dax discovers secrets from Trill's ancient past; terrorists attack.
• 9x03 Waiting for the Mist to Clear - Jake goes walkabout on Bajor and meets a troubled young woman.
• 9x04 The Officers' Club - Celebrating with Sisko, Kira relates a harrowing tale from the Occupation. *
• 9x05 The Lotus Flower - Vedek Yevir visits Keiko O'Brien's reclamation project on Cardassia.
• 9x06 Miracles - Yevir, O'Brien, Garak and Macet work together to solve a hostage crisis.
• 9x07 Saturn's Children - In the Mirror Universe, Intendant Kira plots her return to power. *
• 9x08 No Place Like Home - Shar returns home to attend Thriss's funeral with his bondmates.
• 9x09 Paradigm - Shar must rescue his kidnapped mother in a dangerous Andorian jungle.
• 9x10 Fragments and Omens - An attack on a small Bajoran village brings up disturbing questions.
• 9x11 Sale of the Century - Quark is contacted by Ferengi who want to remove his brother Rom.
• 9x12 Satisfaction Is Not Guaranteed - Quark, Nog and Ro investigate the accusations against Rom.
• 9x13 Malefictorum - A mysterious closed-door murder frustrates Ro's attempts to solve it. *
• 9x14 Lost Time - Nog investigates strange signals from the abandoned Empok Nor. *
• 9x15 Wounds - Bashir is trapped on an alien planet with his Academy nemesis.
• 9x16 Olympus Descending 1 - Odo looks into the real reason the Hundred were sent out by the Link.
• 9x17 Olympus Descending 2 - A distressed Taran'atar visits the imprisoned Female Founder.
• 9x18 Renegade - Vaughn pursues Taran'atar, who has kidnapped his daughter Prynn. *
• 9x19 Warpath - Comatose in sickbay, Kira receives a worrying vision from the Prophets.
• 9x20 Slave - The true mastermind behind Taran'atar's attack and escape is revealed.
• 9x21 Fearful Symmetry - Flashbacks reveal the terrible life-story of Iliana Ghemor. *
• 9x22 Back to Life - A distrustful Kira begins to plan her counter-attack against Iliana.
• 9x23 The Soul Key - Kira arrives in the Mirror Universe, where there are more surprises in store. *
• 9x24 Ha'mara - Iliana moves towards her final plan, with results no-one will expect.

* Yes, The Lotus Key was published first, but Unjoined is first chronologically and makes for a much bigger and more interesting season opener.
* This is the Kira story from Tales From the Captain's Table, which turns out to have some amazing thematic connections to the seasn 9 arc, and I detailed in a thread here.
* This is the DS9 story from Obsidian Alliances, which I adapted almost exactly as is, making it the only MU episode to take place completely in the MU with no crossover to the RU (well, until ENT's "IaMD" came along anyway). I did however replace the Sloan character with Vaughn, just 'cause, and like "The Officers' Club" found some interesting thematic connections.
* I changed all three SCE crossover episodes pretty heavily. I rewrote Malefictorum to completely remove the SCE characters and just focus on the DS9 characters, and in doing so created what I think could have been one of the best Ro episodes ever (and again with the thematic connections). Lost Time keeps the SCE characters but I substantially changed the story, bringing it down to a much quieter character piece and adding extra subplots. And Wounds went down to one ep instead of two, and added a station-bound subplot with Dax and Kira.
* Warpath adapts into three separate episodes, and FS and TSK into two each, which makes a nine-part continuous arc to finish off the season.
* Unlike with Mission Gamma, I wove the Kira and Iliana stories together in these two eps, because I liked the way they reflected and bounced off each other.
* This one ends up with a pretty fascinating structure, if I do so say so myself, all based around the three-way conversation between Kira on DS9, Smiley on Terok Nor, and Iliana on the Negh'Var. The previous ep ends with it from Kira's POV. This ep starts with it from Smiley's POV and follows the plot after the attack, while more of Iliana's flashbacks build up as the B-plot to the point where the ep finishes on the same conversation from her POV. I find that kind of non-linear storytelling fascinating and wanted to try my hand at it.


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[Ln X]

I'll get reading your stories on Ad Astra, because after looking over your plot summaries of DS9 seasons 8 and 9. The plots don't seem so extreme, for the most part...

[Ln X]

I've began reading your first story Emancipation, and here are a few thoughts:

I liked the script format, as it conveys scenes, rooms and events quickly, precisely and smoothly. It also appears that your chapters (or episode length) is about the same size of an actual Star Trek script, so it's a quick read which I also like.

Despite being completely unfamiliar with the characters (I have never read the DS9R books!) I am hopeful your story will help me become familiar with these characters without feeling I'm missing out on too much previous information/stories.