ENTRY #1 by KYLIELEE1000:
NEW CHARACTER: Catherine Tucker
WHO SHE IS: Trip's older sister
CANON SUPPORT OF HER VERY EXISTENCE: She is the mother of the nephew
alluded to in the "poop" episode, when children send pix of big-eared
Vulcans to our pals on the Enterprise. (She has a DIFFERENT LAST NAME
than her husband. She has retained her FAMILY NAME. Because this is
the FUTURE.)
WHAT HER CHARACTER IS LIKE: She is a lot like Trip: they are both
gregarious and fun to be around, and people like them. She fails to
put up with BS, including Trip's BS. She disapproves of Trip's
leaving Earth on this long-term mission, because to her, family is
very important, so in a way he betrayed them all by leaving town for
so long. Fun Fact: she introduced Trip to Natalie, who was a friend
of hers from school.
HER RELATIONSHIP WITH TUCKER: Although at first, she sent a lot of
notes to Trip lambasting him for leaving (e.g., "It's Thanksgiving;
where the hell are you? You were supposed to bring the rolls"), she
let up when Trip complained and now seems resigned to the fact that
he won't be back for a while. As Big Sis, she always came to his
defense when he was younger, and even though he got taller and bigger
than her, she doesn't seem to have noticed. She can say horrible
things about Trip, but no one else can, or they must face her wrath.
WHAT SHE LOOKS LIKE: Tall and blonde, I guess. Make something up. I
don't care.
HER PERSONAL LIFE: She has three kids, a husband, two dogs, a chaotic
household, and a career as a landscape architect. She lives on Earth
in Platte City, Missouri, where tobacco is grown (really). She runs a
small farm there and sells seedlings, plants, gardening implements,
and the like in addition to running her consulting business.
Shell's judgment:
Okay, very good. I give it an initial score of 6 (out of 10).
Here's why: You gave all kinds of things like canon support and personality
even her looks BUT you never told how you think we'd meet her. Remember if
she's such a homebody how would they meet up if he's in deep space? Even if
you had given us a reason to meet her I would still find it hard to believe
because of her supposed "stay close to home mentality"
However, your backstory was good and you made that innovative little twist
with Natalie which was deserving of a bonus point.
All in all you finish up with a total score of 7, not quite ten but not bad.
THECURSOR
has spoken!
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ENTRY #2 BY KYLIELEE1000
BACKSTORY CHARACTER: Robin, a hand puppet from Trip's youth that, for
some inexplicable reason, he has carried with him on board
Enterprise. He keeps it in his quarters, stuck on a pencil to keep it
upright, next to his console. His sister Catherine gave it to him for
Christmas when he was ten as a joke, and it's been by his side ever
since. Even at Starfleet Academy. Especially at Starfleet Academy.
SOURCE IN CANON: Well, let's face it, none, because we've never seen
Trip's quarters. But Robin is the metaphorical equivalent of
devastatingly intelligent children on board Star Trek ships. Robin is
the uber-Wesley, the super-Jake, the mini-Naomi. Need a character to
get stuck in some hideous mess while garnering the sympathy of the
audience? Robin's your boy. Need a deus ex to get your main
characters out of a sticky situation? Robin can fly a shuttlepod!
WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE: Pretty much like a lamb.
THE REASON THIS CHARACTER EXISTS: Robin articulates the things Trip
feels he can't say, both personal and professional. Trip can have
long heart-to-heart talks with himself by using Robin as his sounding
board. Robin is his voice of reason, but a voice that Trip can ignore
if he feels like it, because let's face it, Robin's a puppet. This
will allow Trip to get into some interesting fixes, causing major
interesting interstellar conflicts and imperiling the crew. But if
the conflict is too dang complex, well, Robin will save the day!
Robin is thus the kind of character who can both CAUSE and FIX major
conflict, which is always good for a plot. Or continuity errors. Or a
laugh.
HOW TO EMBED THIS CHARACTER IN A FUTURE STORY: Trip has a hideous
technical problem to wrestle with: the manifold extenders on the flux
regulators have mysteriously caught fire, and all of Engineering is
about to be shut down preparatory to blowing the warp core out of the
ship before it explodes, all to avoid KILLING EVERYBODY. Robin to the
rescue! How? Well, I'm sure TPTB will think of something. I mean,
even in Season 1 of TNG, Wesley could jury-rig a force field and
barricade himself in Engineering, and he doesn't have a tenth of
Robin's charm or smarts.
COMMENTS FROM MYST123:
Kylie, I like your sister Catherine (not Charlotte?) backstory.
She doesn't need much onscreen time to establish her relationship with
Trip and a bit of back story. Look what 5 seconds of Reed's dad gave
us! Trip and Catherine (who I prefer to think of as Charlotte because
perhaps Trip's folks would do that, thinking it cute) can have a short
video ship-to-earth communication about something: Trip was supposed
to do something he didn't; it is her birthday; she needs his advice
on something mechanical and her
useless-at-times-because-his-not-mechanically-inclined husband can't
help and she feels she is being ripped off by the idiot at the garage.
So, for whatever reason, Trip hears from her and in the process get
some insight into his family dynamics.
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ENTRY #1 BY T'DAX
BACKSTORY CHARACTER: Charles Tucker the original, also known
as "Gramps", or "Tuck" to his friends.
CANON EVIDENCE: None so far, but if he didn't exist, Trip wouldn't,
well, be a "Trip". (He might not even be here at all, and wouldn't we
all hate that!)
LOOKS LIKE: Trip + 50 years. Tallish, with a full head of white hair;
he's still in excellent physical shape from a lifetime of hard
farming work. He's also the first owner of the `Tucker nose'.
PERSONALITY/BACKGROUND: Whip-smart and plainspoken, befitting a
graduate-educated man who chose to go into a rural business populated
by wise yet often un-book-educated folk. Having grown up on the
leading edge of the generation which spawned the Boomers, he's always
been fascinated by space travel. His Masters' thesis in Agricultural
Engineering (concentration: Animal Husbandry) even dealt with raising
livestock in alternate-G environments. Over a fateful summer vacation
back at the Tucker ancestral manse in Arkansas, he met the farmer's
daughter next door and decided terra firma was more interesting after
all. Now a widower and mostly retired, he's sold the dairy farm to a
neighbor, but still runs a small catfish farm in the creek off the
back forty, as well as doing some consulting. He even traveled to one
of the Mars colonies about ten years ago to work with an important
client; he now insists he grew about an inch and a half during his
six-month exposure to lesser Martian gravity.
RELATIONSHIP WITH TRIP: Gramps dotes on Trip, his favorite grandson,
who is fond of the old man in turn. Tuck still hasn't quite forgiven
Trip's dad for deciding to relocate the family to Florida during
Trip's early childhood. Trip spent many summers visiting his
grandfather, honing his engineering skills by learning to repair the
automatic milking machine and other farm gadgets. (Trip did, however,
get the whuppin' of his life from Gramps after one of his `system
improvements' put the heifers off their milking schedule for a week.)
Gramps was thrilled when Trip decided he wanted to go into Starfleet;
he'd always had a touch of regret about his decision not to head
spaceward himself. He supported Trip when other family members voiced
their objections. Gramps has met Jonathan Archer on a couple of
occasions, and heartily approves of Trip's friend; he even persuaded
the `dog lady' across the street to part with one of her beagle
puppies for Jon.
POSSIBLE STORYLINES: Well, Gramps is the arbiter of all news in the
Tucker family, so he's always writing letters to his favorite
grandson, or showing up on the viewscreen when Trip calls home. And
of course, the Tucker family reunions are held back on the Arkansas
homestead -- it's the only place big enough to sleep all those aunts,
uncles, cousins and grandchildren. Lucky thing that Enterprise was
due back to dry dock for a refit just in time for Trip to attend the
latest one.
--------------------------------
Shell, do your worst. *ducks in case of rotten-tomato-throwing*
Shell's judgment:
Ladies and gentleman, tonight the part of THECURSOR will be played by that
Limey asshole judge from American Idol-
(( BACKSTORY CHARACTER: Charles Tucker the original, also known
as "Gramps", or "Tuck" to his friends.))
CANON EVIDENCE: None so far, but if he didn't exist, Trip wouldn't,
well, be a "Trip". (He might not even be here at all, and wouldn't we
all hate that!)
This one was little bit of surprise, of all the people to do I didn't think
gramps would be in this. But not bad.
((LOOKS LIKE: Trip + 50 years. Tallish, with a full head of white hair;
he's still in excellent physical shape from a lifetime of hard
farming work. He's also the first owner of the `Tucker nose'.
Ummm...is this that Sean Connery fetish I always hear about from Sex in The
City? Geez, Dyan Cannon and now this? C'mon people, be careful with the hot
old people. I'm from the Britney Spears generation so this is so the pinnacle
of gross. If he's old then make the man old. No points awarded for bad casting
((PERSONALITY/BACKGROUND: Whip-smart and plainspoken, befitting a
graduate-educated man who chose to go into a rural business populated
by wise yet often un-book-educated folk. Having grown up on the
leading edge of the generation which spawned the Boomers, he's always
been fascinated by space travel. His Masters' thesis in Agricultural
Engineering (concentration: Animal Husbandry) even dealt with raising
livestock in alternate-G environments. Over a fateful summer vacation
back at the Tucker ancestral manse in Arkansas, he met the farmer's
daughter next door and decided terra firma was more interesting after
all. Now a widower and mostly retired, he's sold the dairy farm to a
neighbor, but still runs a small catfish farm in the creek off the
back forty, as well as doing some consulting. He even traveled to one
of the Mars colonies about ten years ago to work with an important
client; he now insists he grew about an inch and a half during his
six-month exposure to lesser Martian gravity.))
Grandpa's a smarty pants, not a cliché at all! couple of points awarded.
((RELATIONSHIP WITH TRIP: Gramps dotes on Trip, his favorite grandson,
who is fond of the old man in turn. Tuck still hasn't quite forgiven
Trip's dad for deciding to relocate the family to Florida during
Trip's early childhood. Trip spent many summers visiting his
grandfather, honing his engineering skills by learning to repair the
automatic milking machine and other farm gadgets. (Trip did, however,
get the whuppin' of his life from Gramps after one of his `system
improvements' put the heifers off their milking schedule for a week.)
Gramps was thrilled when Trip decided he wanted to go into Starfleet;
he'd always had a touch of regret about his decision not to head
spaceward himself. He supported Trip when other family members voiced
their objections. Gramps has met Jonathan Archer on a couple of
occasions, and heartily approves of Trip's friend; he even persuaded
the `dog lady' across the street to part with one of her beagle
puppies for Jon. ))
The secret origins of Porthos. Another couple of creativity points awarded.
*Pause*
Ummm, question. "Spooked the heifers" ? What are you smokin'?
((POSSIBLE STORYLINES: Well, Gramps is the arbiter of all news in the
Tucker family, so he's always writing letters to his favorite
grandson, or showing up on the viewscreen when Trip calls home. And
of course, the Tucker family reunions are held back on the Arkansas
homestead’ --it's the only place big enough to sleep all those aunts,
uncles, cousins and grandchildren. Lucky thing that Enterprise was
due back to dry dock for a refit just in time for Trip to attend the
latest one. ))
It could've been an emergency, or a death in the family, or maybe even a
wedding. But your reason for getting the Tucker clan in one room? A rootin,
tootin, hoo ha with his kinfolk. *Sigh* its like they never canceled the
Beverly Hillbillies. If any of them have webbed feet and different color eyes
I'll throw myself off a roof. And furthermore...Wait sorry all out of
insults, No points awarded.
Okay, here it is: A six. You heard me a six. (I know, I know scores six,
seven, eight in a row but that's the way it is.) Great character, crappy way
to introduce him. Make it sad, make it funny but don't make it a family
reunion because its just SO easy! and personally I believe Porthos was
birthed in the depths of hell an was sent by the "Paw" wraiths to destroy the
universe. (Whew, long way to go for that one.) But it was a nice touch.
Six. That's all and...."That was a karaoke performance." or what ever the hell
his catch phrase is.
THECURSOR has spoken! "Y'all come back now, yah hear?"
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ENTRY#2 BY T'DAX:
Without further ado, and with many apologies to Kim Stanley
Robinson's _Mars_ trilogy (a great series of books, IMO), I give you
the convoluted tale of:
BACKSTORY CHARACTER: Trip's cousin, Reese Tucker. (He only answers to
his nickname, `Spike'.)
*Bobbing head in tune with music* Huh? What oh sorry, kept hearing
the BUFFY THEME in my head! Still I bet UPN network executives would
smile a mile wide.
LOOKS LIKE: A lot like Nicholas Lea (who played Krycek on _The X-
Files_). Shorter than Trip, a little darker in complexion, definitely
edgier. He has a short iron spike piercing his ear (thus the
nickname), and probably a couple of questionably tasteful tattoos in,
well, questionably tasteful places. His shortish hair is dyed a dusty
orange-red, a symbol of his political leanings.
*Still bobbing now humming and air guitaring* Der der ner nerrrr
Huh? God I'm so sorry, that damn theme song again. Good description,
very well written. Nicolas Lea looks pretty young for what ever age he is so
maybe this bad boy thing might fit.
PERSONALITY/BACKGROUND: Spike is definitely the bad boy of Trip's
generation of Tuckers.
You could say he's a "bad evil man! *Snicker*
From an early age, he showed a predilection
for fast cars, fast women, and extreme sports, and had a less-than-
civil relationship with his parents. It was thus no surprise when,
rather than channeling his mechanical smarts into a Starfleet
commission like Trip, he chose to emigrate to Mars, taking a position
with one of the companies involved in establishing the surface-to-
orbit space elevator on the red planet. Charismatic, gregarious, and
self-sufficient in the extreme, he fit well into the ragtag, rough-
and-tumble Martian society. He met and quickly married an equally
charismatic woman, one of the first generation of Martian `natives'
born on-planet and a fellow elevator tech worker. Less than a year
later, she was killed in a construction accident along the length of
the elevator. Spike quit his job, unable to face going back to work
on the cable even though it was close to completion. He went a bit
off the deep end, and drifted from city to city for a while,
eventually befriending members of the covert Free Mars movement, a
faction working to sabotage terraforming efforts and destroy the
elevator. Their ultimate goal is complete sovereignty from Earth,
allowing Mars to become an independent, self-governing galactic
entity. (Because they support restoring the planet to its original,
pre-terraforming state, Free Mars members are commonly known
as `Reds'.) Spike joined the underground resistance movement,
agreeing to share his knowledge about the elevator's construction to
help stop its completion. He disappeared into Free Mars' shadow
society, and has only been in rare, fleeting contact with his family
since.
Oooo, *conflicty goodness!* (Snicker) No, no, seriously, good touch.
Very well done I like how this conforms to the grand Star Trek tradition of truly
screwed up siblings and family members nobody wants to talk about. Take for
instance Worf's foster brother. Shit, take his real brother! Take my brother,
PLEASE! *Badump bump*
RELATIONSHIP WITH TRIP: Spike is only a couple of years older than
Trip, and they used to spend summers together at the Tucker ancestral
manse. They've always gotten along well, though Trip doesn't quite
know what to think of his cousin's wild behavior, and probably is a
bit in awe of him. They share a certain mechanical aptitude, and came
up with some interesting engineering projects to collaborate on as
kids, as well as some elaborate practical jokes on other family
members. They were both space-mad from early on, so it was inevitable
they'd both end up `out there' eventually, though they chose
different paths. In his infrequent contacts with Trip, Spike
addresses him teasingly as `Starfleet' rather than his traditional
family nickname.
Daaaaa na na naaaa Oh shoot, I swear I won't do that again! But seriously,
manse? You can't just call it big friggin' house? I like the brother's sharing of
interests -- very cool. But aah...Starfleet?
*COUGH* Foreshadowing!
POSSIBLE STORYLINE: While Enterprise is in spacedock at Jupiter
Station for resupplying and equipment upgrades,
Unlikely, they're pretty far out. It's called deep space for a reason.
a tense situation begins to develop on Mars. The Reds have captured
the building housing the completed elevator's on-planet 'socket', and
are planning to bring down the cable, which will crash onto the planet,
wrapping
completely around its circumference, and potentially kill millions.
A killer cable? Questionable science I think but very interesting.
I like how you connected character aspects to the plot.
Spike Tucker, "A bad evil man"
inside the besieged building, is acting as the
operation's spokesperson. As Captain Archer has developed into quite
a skilled diplomat
LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
(no, really!),
Yeah. Sure. Okay.
*Snicker, chortle, attempt to stay straight faced*
Starfleet asks him to travel to
their base on Phobos, one of the Martian moons, to attempt
negotiation with the Reds. Concerned for his cousin, Trip volunteers
to accompany Jon. The talks begin promisingly, but soon deteriorate,
as the rebels begin to argue amongst themselves. Meanwhile, stealth
troops have succeeded in penetrating the Reds' defenses, and sneak
into the building; they locate the group, and a firefight breaks out,
igniting explosives meant for the elevator's destruction. The
building is consumed by fire. Later investigations are unable to
positively identify bodily remains found in the wreckage. Shaken and
confused, Trip is left to hope that the underground members somehow
escaped, and that Spike will eventually contact him. He also knows
that as a Starfleet officer, he must decide whether to turn his
cousin over to the authorities if he learns that he's still alive,
and out there somewhere.
Very good. I envision a deep personal episode with twists and turns
and intrigue that everyone will want to be a watcher of.
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ENTRY #1 BY ARCHER4TRIP
Name: Olen Tucker
Age: 39
Job: Agro-business/Farmer
Looks: a bit like William Holden (a la "Sunset Boulevard")
Relation: Trip's older brother
How He Is Introduced:
Return visit to Earth involves family visits for many of the main
characters.
Trip's involves a return to the Tucker farms, in Arkansas.
This also involves a "talk" which takes place after the big dinner,
during which Trip regales the family with carefully edited
versions of his adventures, quite *unlike* the BS on Risa, but still
"elaborated" for their enjoyment. He also states his desire to get
back on the ship, back in space and back "out there".
The talk is initiated by Olen , his brother (the canon one who
taught him his dance moves). Since those halcyon days, they
haven't been so close (aka "regret is a powerful emotion")
Dad (Tucker, Jr.) is not well. While Trip is not unaware of this, he
is surprised at the seriousness of it. Things get a bit tense
when he asks Olen "What are you going to do about it?"
Olen has been nursing a few grudges, among them
a) Trip's absence (he *did* use to be close to his little brother)
b) Trip's choice of career (i.e., not the family business, which
also needs tending as Dad declines)
c) Trip's "neglect" of family, esp. their Dad, by choosing a career
that would take him as far away as possible and by not returning
home earlier, and by itchin to get away again.
Trip is absolutely taken aback at Olen's level of frustration and
at the thought of conflict in the family. The Tuckers are not a
family with grudges.
He also knows that he can't and wouldn't leave his career, and
gets a little, well, frightened, that he might have to.
He proposes a short-term solution that defuses Olen for the
time being, but which leaves Trip troubled and guilty once he's
back on Enterprise.
Trip's goodbye to his father (who has 'put on a good face')
involves a few small, manly tears.
I bow and place the offering on the altar of Gabri-Shell.
Shell's judgment:
<< Name: Olen Tucker
Age: 39
Job: Agro-business/Farmer>>
Like the age thing, it¹s rare to see older men in Scifi these days. Seriously,
all the characters seem to be those "Wesley snot nosed geniuses" so whenever
I see someone aged realistically I give a cheer. But on the other hand,
"Olen"? *Sigh* okay I'll smoke that crack.
<< Looks: a bit like William Holden (a la "Sunset Boulevard")
Relation: Trip's older brother>>
*Blink*
uhhhh...What the hell is Sunset Boulevard and who the f*ck is William Holden?
Okay, while I go look this up on IMDB, please keep in mind that I am but a
child!
< involves family visits for many of the main characters. >>
Ummm...hard to do but still plausible, At this point in the show the
enterprise would be about several months travel from Earth but I would be
really surprised if they didn't go back at some point. However,
Soval/Forrest/Starfleet would just have Archer CALL them on subspace. Some
other reason would be needed.
<< Trip's involves a return to the Tucker farms, in Arkansas.
This also involves a "talk" which takes place after the big dinner,
during which Trip regales the family with carefully edited
versions of his adventures, quite *unlike* the BS on Risa, but still
"elaborated" for their enjoyment. He also states his desire to get
back on the ship, back in space and back "out there".
The talk is initiated by Olen , his brother (the canon one who
taught him his dance moves). Since those halcyon days, they
haven't been so close (aka "regret is a powerful emotion")
Dad (Tucker, Jr.) is not well. While Trip is not unaware of this, he
is surprised at the seriousness of it. Things get a bit tense
when he asks Olen "What are you going to do about it?"
Olen has been nursing a few grudges, among them
a) Trip's absence (he *did* use to be close to his little brother)
b) Trip's choice of career (i.e., not the family business, which
also needs tending as Dad declines)
c) Trip's "neglect" of family, esp. their Dad, by choosing a career
that would take him as far away as possible and by not returning
home earlier, and by itchin to get away again.
Trip is absolutely taken aback at Olen's level of frustration and
at the thought of conflict in the family. The Tuckers are not a
family with grudges. He also knows that he can't and wouldn't leave
his career, and gets a little, well, frightened, that he might have to.
He proposes a short-term solution that defuses Olen for the time
being, but which leaves Trip troubled and guilty once he's back on
Enterprise. Trip's goodbye to his father (who has 'put on a good face')
involves a few small, manly tears.
Notice, I didn't interrupt it that many times. That means I liked it. Aside
from a few minor stumbling blocks you have a really good family drama.
Anyway...
Good showing from A4T, nicely done man. I give it an 8 1/2 (That
name...Even in the south, parents are conscious of what names will and will
not get the crap beaten out of their kids. Half a point off.)
On a side note, if you can write at all I suggest it because if your
writing skills are anything like your plotting skills I just might start
reading A/T stories. (No guarantee.)
THECURSOR
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