Subject: New Interlude!
Author:
Posted on: 2019-08-13 17:39:00 UTC
Several years in the writing and editing, but it's finally here: a new interlude featuring the Vulcan DOGA agent T'Zar and her partner Abaddon!
And now, let me introduce to you...
"Do-Si-Do"
Summary: Abaddon has been caught in the power of a Stu; T’Zar must save him, with the help of a well-known Vulcan ability. Set late April 2017.
Enjoy! As always, comments and concrit are much appreciated :)
~Z
Hey, sorry I took so long to get to this. It's been a busy month.
This is my very time ever "experiencing" a Vulcan mind meld in fiction. It was interesting reading it as a blend of physical imagery (the knotted mental pathways and the blade, the visual displays of memory) and more abstract sensations (the non-verbal communication, the color quality of Abaddon's mind). I also found it interesting that T'Zar could direct portions of her attention at different parts of Abaddon's mind, since the mechanics of her sensations weren't limited to body organs. Very cool descriptions and actions, overall.
I also liked the "flashbacks" you presented through Abaddon's memories. I love getting bits of characters' pasts, as it makes them feel more like a full person. But I especially liked getting the expanded information from "What'll I Do," including the fact that Abaddon saw more of it than we realized before. I can't quite tell whether Abaddon is having feelings for T'Zar . . . that's the vibe I get from his dialogue at the end, but I feel like T'Zar would have noticed while inside his mind. Maybe I'm just misreading the scenario . . .
Also, I don't quite understand the title "Do-Si-Do." Is that referring to the mental "dance" between T'Zar and Abaddon, or something else?
—doctorlit, trying to catch up
I'm glad your introduction to written mind melds went over well! I had a lot of fun working out how the Stu's power would manifest and how T'Zar could reverse the effects. The bits you've categorized as more abstract are the bits most directly inspired by Star Trek fanfiction (at least, Star Trek fanfiction that was available close to ten years ago. I haven't been reading as much of it lately).
I adore flashbacks, which is...actually, this interlude exists because I wanted to explore their history via sharing memories, from what I remember. It seemed like a fun, effective way to touch on different times and scenarios.
However (and you're the second person I've tripped up with this!) the scene in question isn't actually from "What'll I Do"! "What'll I Do" takes place in 2017; this scene is in 2014, before Dawn and Des even met. I will eventually be expanding on that scene from 2014, but until then...spoilers :)
Abaddon isn't so much crushing on T'Zar as going 'eek, unexpectedly romantic positioning, whyyy! Run away!' Conversely, I highly doubt T'Zar would ever return such feelings for him even if they existed on his part to begin with. I'll go see at some point if there's a way to make that a touch clearer, but that's the intention, anyway.
Re: the title...unfortunately, I chose it a year or more ago, so I've lost track of some of my reasoning, but yes, I think I chose it for both the mental dance and just the general intertwining of T'Zar and Abaddon's lives by this point. It's a mental dance and a physical dance, and they've learned to work together as partners and friends quite neatly despite not being hugely similar people or taking identical steps. They've learned how to move easily and effectively together like dance partners.
Something like that :)
Thanks for reading, and thanks for the thorough review! :)
~Z
. . . if I failed to place a flashback in a timeline correctly!
But I would love to see more such flashbacks in the future!
—doctorlit, terrible Lost fanboy
Odds are you will! Or something similar, anyway. I definitely like delving into my characters' backstories.
~Z
No criticisms here.
I particularly liked the detail about Abbadon's mental color being a sunny bright blue. ^^
Seriously, I owe more than a little of my headcanons on certain types of telepathy to the Star Trek fandom. I remember a whole lot of fics where Kirk's mind was gold (which sounds rather on the nose, but was played as relating to his personal character rather than 'haha, Command shirt'). I think some of it even made its way into my headcanons for the Reader, but hey, this time I was writing an actual Vulcan, so the idea of mental colors definitely had to go in. I'm glad you liked it! :)
~Z