Arc of the Wolf: Distant Horizons

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction' started by SLWalker, Nov 1, 2008.

  1. Gibraltar

    Gibraltar Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Now was very gritty, and very disturbing in that as a reader I had no idea what the backstory was, only that Scotty was obviously injured and trying desperately to fix something. It reminded me of the crash scene from Jeri Taylor's Mosaic where Janeway crashed with her father on that ice planet and was trying to survive despite being only moderately aware of where she was and what was happening to her due to her serious injuries.

    Nicely done. Strange and unsettling, but effective. :bolian:
     
  2. SLWalker

    SLWalker The OG Scotty Fangirl Premium Member

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    It is very gritty, yeah. And you're the second person to say that it reminded you of a crash scene! I've never had the pleasure of reading Mosaic (oddly, I can't seem to find a copy locally to save my life!), but I imagine that it's a pretty primal response -- survive, by the instant if possible.

    Thank you again for commenting!
     
  3. Gibraltar

    Gibraltar Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I’m up through Junkyard Dogs, Part II. Wow, talk about backstory and angst! :eek: Young Scotty’s a practical pariah in his family, though he’s probably never noticed, and the man largely responsible can hardly stop hating himself over the boy’s plight long enough to forge a relationship with the introverted youngster.

    This is damn fine writing, and a fantastically engrossing take on a character that I had previously thought had been explored to excess. Just great stuff!
     
  4. SLWalker

    SLWalker The OG Scotty Fangirl Premium Member

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    Explored to excess?! My God, poor Scott's never given the spotlight unless it's to highlight his drinking, his brawling or his genius. Or to play plot convenience, or Kirk-lapdog, or some other awful role. :lol: Sorry. ;-) Seriously, though, when I started working on the first story for this seven years ago now, it was because here was this character who said a whole lot when he rarely said anything, and no one else seemed to even notice him past the cliches. He was my hero my whole life, no joke. Finally, since no one else would give him an honest tale, I tried my hand at it.

    Junkyard Dogs was a story I half knew, but never planned on writing. But I'm glad I did -- glad I got to know Jay, who's a good man despite his flaws, and glad I got to tell this tale here.

    If it's a compelling story, it's because it has a compelling star. I just do the storytelling, but he's the real drive.

    And, I'm rambling again.

    So, thank you again for the comments! They really make me smile. And if I go off on tangents, please forgive me.
     
  5. Gibraltar

    Gibraltar Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Not at all! I guess Scotty never really piqued my interest as a character until I began writing about an engineer myself. ;) He always seemed to be something of a caricature, especially in the later movie era. Though I had to remind myself that whenever Kirk left Scott in charge of the ship, he always proved a cagy and effective commanding officer.

    Anyhow, I’m really enjoying coming along on your exploration of his backstory. Your work serves to give much greater depth to an underused and (as I stand corrected :lol: ) insufficiently explored TOS character.
     
  6. SLWalker

    SLWalker The OG Scotty Fangirl Premium Member

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    He really did, in the movie era, seem to be missing the second through fiftieth layers that made him a trip to watch in TOS. When I was young, I didn't notice as much, but as I got older I began to wonder where his grit and restlessness went. In TOS, he was layered and nuanced -- there's a lot to chew on. Another question to ask, for when I get to writing it: What happened to you?

    Thanks again for the comment! And for putting up with me going on and on -- he's just such a great character, and I kinda get going on explaining how I came to the conclusions I did, and why, and all that stuff. I hope you continue to like this series; it's definitely been a heck of a road.
     
  7. Gibraltar

    Gibraltar Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Wow, the ending to Junkyard Dogs was heart wrenching. :( Jay’s not a bad sort, all things considered. Scotty could have done far worse. And ultimately, Jay’s involvement in Monty’s life, however brief, sent him down the road that would help him find his life’s work.

    On a completely unrelated note, I’ve got to ask, what did you think of Scott’s portrayal in TNG’s Relics?
     
  8. SLWalker

    SLWalker The OG Scotty Fangirl Premium Member

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    Yes, he put ideas in that kid's head, and those are definitely an important part of the story. And Jay surprised me; I was amazed how much I came to really like him as time wore on.

    ...do you really want my opinion? LOL! No, seriously, because it's not exactly complimentary to the TNG crew, who I actually like most of the time. Or the writers. I'll be glad to give it to you, but wanna make sure you actually want it.
     
  9. Gibraltar

    Gibraltar Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    ^I rather figured that might be the case. I wouldn't have asked otherwise. :D
     
  10. SLWalker

    SLWalker The OG Scotty Fangirl Premium Member

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    http://slwatson.livejournal.com/151584.html

    Here's part of it. ::smirks:: Can you tell I've been down this road?

    ...

    :alienblush: (Believe it or not, I do have a life.)

    But I'll add more to it if you want. I wanted to pimp-slap most of the NG crew in that episode.
     
  11. Gibraltar

    Gibraltar Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    :guffaw: Amen, sister! Don't mince words... how do you really feel?!

    Ashok gives that two thumbs up! :bolian: :bolian:
     
  12. SLWalker

    SLWalker The OG Scotty Fangirl Premium Member

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    ::coughs:: No, I don't mince words. I'm mostly politely midwestern, but am not really afraid to go all exorcist sometimes. But usually, I wait until I'm around a forum for awhile before I show that side -- don't wanna scare people. ;)
     
  13. Nerys Ghemor

    Nerys Ghemor Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah, I particularly enjoyed the one with McCoy, Spock, and Scotty all meeting. I especially loved the way you worked with McCoy--that definitely seemed like the kind of kid he would've been!

    One of the most interesting things about the Junkyard Dog story was that you could hear the local speech coming through in the narration as well as the dialogue, but without being obnoxious. I'm curious, have you spent a lot of time in Scotland or something?
     
  14. Nerys Ghemor

    Nerys Ghemor Vice Admiral Admiral

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    You mention that Scotty would probably relate only to Spock. But it also occurs to me he'd have something in common with the crew of the Bozeman as well.
     
  15. SLWalker

    SLWalker The OG Scotty Fangirl Premium Member

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    Thank you! McCoy's not my "main" character, but I really am continually intrigued by his backstory -- it's really compelling for a lot of reasons.

    No, I've never been to Scotland. ::chuckles:: Actually, I've only even been out of the US once, and that was just over the Canadian border when I was a child. But I much appreciate the comment -- one of the peeves I have is when authors (Vonda McIntyre, I'm looking at you) go and write this massively overblown accent for Scotty. Heck, his is really fricken tame, though that seems to prompt yet more people to complain about it. As to how I wrote it, I tried to stay pretty true to the regional accent of Aberdeen, and hear it in my head, and not go to any particular extremes with it. Thank you!

    I did? ::blinks:: I might have somewhere... Actually, I dunno even how well he would relate to Spock and McCoy (and they're both people he holds some extra-measure loyalty to, though for different reasons), after they lived seventy-five years he didn't; that would take some mental acrobatics to come to grips with. Still, out of anyone in the 24th century, he'd relate most quickly to them for obvious reasons -- shared experiences, events, being a part of the same crew for many many years, and sometimes even through life and death.

    It's true that the Bozeman is another temporal anomaly from a common era, but aside commisseration about the circumstances, not likely enough to overcome this entirely massive (fan ploy) sea-change. There's a lot to the answer, but it still comes back to the same questions: How do you define yourself? What's your purpose, your reason to keep breathing? What do you do, when you've lost everything you love? Most TNG-era authors who use him forget to ask -- they skip any of the rather intense questions that humans ask the universe or God or fate or whatever higher power when things go wrong, and automatically assume that he'd be fine fairly quickly. They don't think to ask what the real effect was of losing the Enterprise (no A), even though it was a willing sacrifice for Spock's sake and a better death for her than a boneyard in his mind, or losing his nephew, and then having the Enterprise-A be decommissioned, or having to break the bad news about Kirk (which either he or Chekov would have) to those who were far closer to the Captain. Nevermind just how different the universe was, from the time of the five-year mission and exploration and innovation, to the time of politics and more politics.

    There's a whole lot to the answer, but mostly it lies in asking questions and not trying to skip over them and assume that all will be peachy keen. I know how I see things happening, and eventually I'll write to that point, but I'd probably be thrilled if anyone even really put forth a genuine, thoughtful and compassionate effort that turned out totally different. At least that would be an effort to look at a man, and not the cliches or the cameo potential or the stereotypes, and you can never go wrong with that.

    I mean, look at how you got me to see the Cardassians in a completely different light! :hugegrin:
     
  16. Nerys Ghemor

    Nerys Ghemor Vice Admiral Admiral

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    About the accent, to me it seems Craig Ferguson has a stronger accent than Scotty does.

    Oh, I do agree about the questions something like that would entail. I just pointed out the Bozeman because frankly...I think it DOES help not to be alone in one's circumstances.

    And thanks for your kind words as well! (Do remember, though, that's just MY take on the Cardassians. A lot about them was left unexplored in official canon. ;) )
     
  17. SLWalker

    SLWalker The OG Scotty Fangirl Premium Member

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    He does, and a different regional variety. Scott's accent gets lampooned by people, but mostly because they assume that just because he's from Scotland, it has to remain utterly 'pure'. In fact, when casting for the new movie, they wanted a 'flawless' accent.

    Are you (general to them) kidding me? I went on about this at one point too -- voices are fluid. People do pick up bits and pieces of other accents and dialects over the course of their lives, and constant exposure to a standard 'midland' accent woulda rubbed off on him. Doohan always had some Irish in his voice, too; he was conceived in Ireland, and I chalk it up to Scotty spending a few years based in Belfast (where Doohan's family came from and likely sounded like while raising him).

    So, I kinda wish people would lay off his accent. I, personally, love it. It has a bit of Irish clip, on top of a base Aberdonian, and a definite cadence that's unique to him that, if you want an in canon explanation, evolved over years and was influenced by a lot of things.

    I agree! Depending on personality, anyway -- Scott's such an odd case of being rather solitary in a bridge crew that has two definite little groups. The trinity of Kirk, Spock and McCoy, and the mostly written grouping of Sulu, Uhura and Chekov, the 'younger' crowd. He's the oldest of the lot, too; McCoy is the closest to his age at five years difference. So, while you do have the potential of not being alone in one's circumstances, you've gotta ask yet another question: Would that make all that big of a difference to a man who was already a bit solitary, even among the crew he spent most of the time with?

    See, I always view canon as being definite on-screen presense, and everything else as being pick-and-choose. When someone writes something that makes sense to me, I have no trouble incorporating it into my own 'personal canon' and considering the author, often a fan-author, as having the definitve vision.

    Know what I mean?
     
  18. Gibraltar

    Gibraltar Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Torn was well written and you easily conveyed Scotty’s sense of emotional freefall and dislocation from his family. Both were as disorienting as they were palpable. This poor kid isn’t comfortable in his own skin, let alone in his family, his country, or likely anywhere on Earth. I’m hoping Starfleet Academy will keep him so busy he won’t have time to fret about the many things tearing at him and demanding his attention.

    Your portrayal of young Scotty reminds me of a more focused, more brilliant, and infinitely less doofey version of Reginald Barclay.
     
  19. SLWalker

    SLWalker The OG Scotty Fangirl Premium Member

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    Excellent catch, Gibralter! I have two (maybe three, if I can write soon) more stories in this set from his Basic Training, where he starts to actually shake off all of these influences that are yanking him in all kinds of directions. I should have posted the two that are done before now, but got caught up in watching the news and dealing with a cold me and my kids have.

    ::bows:: Thank you! I'm not a huge fan of Barclay (how does a psychological nightmare like him make it into Starfleet?!) -- Scott's a lot more compelling a character, methinks. At least, far more competent.
     
  20. SLWalker

    SLWalker The OG Scotty Fangirl Premium Member

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    Arc of the Wolf: Distant Horizons - Processing
    Pulled for story control.
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2023