Otter's Rock

Title: Truth, Lies, and Prophecy
Author: Beatrice_Otter
Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Pairing: Benjamin Sisko/Kira Nerys
Written for: RussetFiredrake in Just Married 2024
Beted by: Sixbeforelunch

Summary: Kai Winn has found a prophecy that she thinks applies to the Emissary. Sisko disagrees. Then the Cardassians got involved ...

Author's Notes:: I missed the signup deadline so I trawled through the signups looking for something to treat and this prompt ate my brain.

On Dreamwidth. On AO3. On Squidgeworld. On Ad Astra. On Pillowfort. On tumblr.


Kira was tipped off by a friend of a friend of a friend.

"And you've never met this Prylar Tajo?" Ben asked when she laid out what she'd been told.

"No, sir," Kira said. "But Lepak knows her well, and Cecta trusts Lepak … and I trust Cecta."

Ben looked down at the PADD with the prophecy in question. "I'll be honest, Major, this is … very thin. It could refer to me, but it could also refer to half a dozen other figures in Bajoran Religious history that I could name, or to someone who won't be born for another thousand years."

( Read more... )

With the reveal of ficinabox authors, I can now share what I wrote! I had lots of fun with some of my favorite characters, Ro Laren, and it's always fun to explore what things might be like after the Dominion War.


Title: Third Chance
Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space 9
Written for: fly_to_dawn in Fic In A Box 2023
Characters: Ro Laren, Kira Nerys, Jadzia Dax
Length: 13,236 words
Rating: General Audiences

AN: Canon has two possible outcomes for Ro Laren. In Picard, she survived the destruction of the Maquis, spent time in prison, and then was recruited by Starfleet Intelligence. In the books and Star Trek Online, she survived the Maquis and joined the Bajoran Militia, and was stationed to DS9 as security chief.

Ro already got a second chance to start her life over, on the Enterprise; I figure this is her third chance at the life she wanted.

On tumblr. On Pillowfort. On Squidgeworld. On Cohost. On Ad Astra.


"Colonel, you can't seriously be considering allowing this." Lieutenant Belasco's voice was filled with a sort of arrogant disbelief that Kira found grating.

If I were going to argue with either Starfleet or the Militia about personnel, it would be to get rid of Belasco, not Ro, Kira thought to herself. The lieutenant was Deep Space Nine's Starfleet replacement for Chief O'Brien. He was less skilled than O'Brien was (although that was an unfair comparison—there was a reason O'Brien had been tapped to teach at Starfleet Academy, a rare honor for an NCO). He was less experienced, both in engineering matters and in personnel management. And he had in full that Human arrogance about the Federation's superiority, with an unhealthy helping of post-Dominion War suspicion and anger.

"Why not?" Kira asked, instead of saying any of that.

"Because she's a terrorist!" Belasco said.

( Read more... )

I have always thought that TNG and all Trek shows of that era use touchscreens because it was the "futuristic and cool" design aesthetic at the time.

But Mike Okuda says otherwise. He says it was a cost measure. If you are making a control panel with physical switches, that costs a lot to manufacture per square inch of panel. The absolute cheapest way to do a control panel is to have a sheet of plexiglass with a graphic sheet behind it, and a small backlight behind that. So that was what they went with, and the futuristic look was just a bonus.

Which then made the Enterprise show's control panels cost a lot more, because they had to be physical toggles and buttons. Like, at least 3x more expensive. Even with cutting corners! Like, a lot of the "buttons" were not actually buttons, they were just little stick-on rubber doo-dads, like you stick on the bottom of furniture so it doesn't scratch the floor.

worldbuildingex is live! I received a DS9 fic with some lovely Sisko & Dax interaction, and interesting bits of Trill pop culture:


Ministers of Science (1098 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Jadzia Dax, Benjamin Sisko
Additional Tags: Trill Culture (Star Trek), Trill popular culture, Conversations



There were a lot of really great fics posted! Here are my faves:
District Twelve's Year (1443 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Original Hunger Games Fan, Original Fan of Victor
Additional Tags: 74th Hunger Games, Fans' Eye View of the Games, Victor's Fandom / stan culture among Capitol Fans
Summary:

For once, District Twelve was cool...

New Human Student FAQ (4312 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Star Trek: The Vulcan Academy Murders by Jean Lorrah
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Amanda Grayson, Daniel Corrigan, Original Characters
Additional Tags: FAQ, In-Universe Meta, Mild Language, Mention of pregnancy, student life, mention of religion, Chatlogs
Summary:

There are always more questions to be asked.

On the Transmission of the Red Book of Westmarch (1032 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Findegil (Tolkien), Original Hobbit Character(s)
Additional Tags: Manuscripts and Manuscript Transmission, Paleography, In-Universe Meta, Academic Pastiche
Summary:

An excerpt from Fourth-Age Manuscript Production in the Shire by Daisy Bolger, published by the Tuckborough Historical Society in S.R. 1937.

Translated into English and made available digitally as part of the Tuckborough Archives Digitization Project.

Haudh-en-Arwen (2418 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien, TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Caranthir | Morifinwë/Haleth of the Haladin
Characters: Caranthir | Morifinwë, Druadan Woman
Additional Tags: Druedain - Freeform, Canonical Character Death, Wakes & Funerals, Elf Culture & Customs, Barrows
Summary:

"It is the night before Haleth is to be buried, and Caranthir alone sits by the fire. Haudh-en-Arwen, they call it. The Lady-barrow. He turns the words over in his thoughts, in his mouth, and the sounds feel foreign on his tongue."

Love and death according to a Noldo and a Drúadan.

A Shining Mathom by the Sea (4023 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Basso Boffin & Isengar Took, Basso Boffin & Fëanor | Curufinwë, Fëanor | Curufinwë & Isengar Took, Gandalf | Mithrandir & Isengar Took, Gerontius Took & Isengar Took
Characters: Isengar Took, Basso Boffin, Fëanor | Curufinwë, Gandalf | Mithrandir, Gerontius Took
Additional Tags: Adventure, Pre-The Hobbit, the sea, Silmarils, Middle-earth: Flat or Round?, Unlikely Friendships, Adventurous Hobbits, Worldbuilding Exchange 2022
Summary:

Isengar Took goes on an adventure and makes some remarkable friends.

A Chamber of Records (6197 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Fingon | Findekáno/Maedhros | Maitimo
Characters: Caranthir | Morifinwë, Maedhros | Maitimo, Original Dwarf Characters, Maeglin | Lómion
Additional Tags: Belegost, First Age, Epistolary, maglor's gap, Himring, Dor Caranthir, Beleriand, Doriath, Post-Canon
Summary:

In the war-wrecked ruins of a mighty city of the Dwarves, letters, notes and torn-out pages blow on the wind. If you were the wind, you could read them through, and learn a little of the people who lived or visited here, those who set out from here to new places, and their hopes and plans.

Majority (4877 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The Goblin Emperor Series - Katherine Addison
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Vedero Drazhin & Sheveän Drazharin, Vedero Drazhin & Nemriän Imaran
Characters: Nemriän Imaran, Vedero Drazhin, Sheveän Drazharan
Additional Tags: Women's Spaces, Bechdel Test Pass, POV Female Character, Family Drama, Dysfunctional Family
Summary:

Vedero turns sixteen. She knows what she wants, and what is possible.

Title: The Comet
Author: beatrice_otter 
Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Various Authors, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series
Written for: shopfront in Star Trek Holidays 2020
Betaed by: TexasDreamer01
Word Count:
Rating: General Audiences
Summary: Starfleet has found a comet, just outside the Trill system, that promises interesting knowledge. But less than two years after Vulcan's destruction, everyone is thinking in terms of worst-case-scenarios.

AN: I am ignoring the Worlds of Deep Space Nine novel Trill: Unjoined, in which the ancient Trill had a colony on the planet Kurl. This story draws heavily on the anthology Lives of Dax, especially the stories about Audrid and Lela, though the story about Audrid is drastically different because of changes in the timeline. You shouldn't need to know anything about that anthology to enjoy this story.

On AO3. Pillowfort. Tumblr.



"I wish I could have been there to see her off," Audrid said. It was the first time Neema, their oldest, would be away from home overnight. Meanwhile, Audrid was stuck here in her office at the Symbiosis Commission waiting for a Starfleet call, and had taken a break from the mountain of paperwork and crucial decisions and planning she was buried under to call home.

Her husband, Jayvin Vod, shrugged. "Neema'll be fine, and if she's not, they'll call us right away. And I took enough pictures for you. I don't know that Gran's even noticed his big sister is gone. I just wish you didn't have to spend most of the night in the office."

"I could lean on my position and demand they install a priority, secured subspace communications link for their house so I could work from home when planetary time differences required meetings outside of normal business hours," Audrid said wistfully.

( Read more... )

Reveals are finally here!  I had a lot of fun with this especially brainstorming with TexasDreamer01 and figuring out how Trill-and-its-secrets would be different in the AOS universe than it was in the Prime universe.  Texas was awesome and so much help, you guys.

Title: Anatomy of a Secret
Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series
Author: beatrice_otter 
Written For: shopfront  in Worldbuilding Exchange 2020
Brainstorming help and betaing: TexasDreamer01 
Word Count: 11000 words
Rating: Teen
Summary: Old memories are stirred up when a group Trill scientists come the station, led by one Jadzia Dax. Though she claims to be the daughter of Benjamin's old friend, Curzon Dax, she is more than what she seems, and some secrets can't be kept forever.

On AO3. On tumblr. On Pillowfort.


( You seem a bit more interested in this batch of scientists than you normally are, Nerys observed as she and Commander Sisko walked to the airlock where the Trill team's ship would be docking. )

Lovely author, here is my theory about letters: how much detail people want in a letter is HIGHLY variable. Some people (such as myself) prefer if their recip gives LOTS of guidance on their wishes. Some prefer as little as possible so they can be free as a bird. Most are somewhere in between. So! Here's everything including the kitchen sink if you find it helpful, but feel free to ignore it if it is not helpful. I would rather get a story you were happy with than "well, she said she liked x, so I guess I have to do x even though I don't like x and/or am just not inspired that way."

I'm fairly easy to please; I've been doing ficathons for over a decade and am very rarely disappointed with my gifts. I write long and detailed Dear Author letters because I find such things helpful when I'm writing for other people; if you are like me, here you go! If your style is different and a detailed letter makes you feel hemmed-in, feel free to do what works for you.

The most important thing for me in a fic is that the characters are well-written and recognizably themselves. Even when I don't like a character, I don't go in for character-bashing. If nothing else, if the rest of this letter is too much or my kinks just don't fit yours, just concentrate on writing a story with everyone in character and good spelling and grammar and I will almost certainly love what you come up with.

One thing: I do have an embarrassment squick, which makes humor kind of hit-or-miss sometimes. The kind of humor where someone does something embarrassing and the audience is laughing at them makes me uncomfortable. On the other hand, the kind of humor where the audience is laughing with the characters I really enjoy.

Please no incest.

( General likes/dislikes )

( Babylon 5 )

( BSG )

( Star Trek TNG )

( DS9 )

( Stargate: SG-1 )
( Sarah Connor Chronicles )

( Enterprise )

( Guess Who's Coming To Dinner )

( BSG/Voyager )

( Voyager )

DON'T PANIC.

This is a very long letter with lots of stuff, but DO NOT PANIC. I'm actually fairly easy to please; I am very rarely disappointed with a ficathon story. I write long and detailed Dear Author letters because I find such things helpful when I'm writing for other people; if you are like me, here you go! If your style is different and a detailed letter makes you feel hemmed-in, feel free to do what works for you.

The most important thing for me in a fic is that the characters are well-written and recognizably themselves. Even when I don't like a character, I don't go in for character-bashing. If nothing else, if the rest of this letter is too much or my kinks just don't fit yours, just concentrate on writing a good story with everyone in character and good spelling and grammar and I will almost certainly love what you come up with.

One thing: I do have an embarrassment squick, which makes humor kind of hit-or-miss sometimes. The kind of humor where someone does something embarrassing and the audience is laughing at them makes me uncomfortable because I identify too much with the person getting laughed at, so instead of being funny it is squicky. On the other hand, the kind of humor where the audience is laughing with the characters I really enjoy.

( General Preferences )

( Pride and Prejudice, DS9, RCN series, Vorkosiverse )

endeni wanted to know about my favorite Star Trek series/movie/character/plot arc

Which, er, is quite a problem because there is SO MUCH GOOD STUFF.  I mean, Star Trek will never be my favorite show (B5 beats it hands down), but I still love Star Trek--all of it, even the parts I don't like.

( Something about everything Star Trek )

I still have fourteen days left on the meme!  Ask away.

The main Remix just went live, and here are some recs.

First off, the story written for me is awesome, you should all read it.  What You Know (The Devil in the Details Remix) is a Deep Space 9 story about the whole Sisko family dealing with the knowledge of what the Prophets did to ensure that Benjamin Sisko was born.  A very haunting look at the things the show didn't consider which takes my story and amps it to the next level.

Buffy
One Who Lights the Darkness (The Bedtime Story Remix) When you're the slayer, what do you do when there's a monster under your bed?  Remix of 5 Scoobies Who Didn't Curse The Darkness And On Who Lit A Candle.  I love the different reactions to monsters and beds. On its own, it is a great remix. It's also a great remix concept, taking the whole Scoobies-at-night idea and giving it a twist.

Avengers
The Captain and the Man of Iron, a Saga by Thor Odinsson, beta by Loki Laufeyjarson (Steve Rogers Must Die: the In Tony Stark’s Arms Mix) The title says it all.

Buffy/Doctor Who
Watching the Watchers (the Oncoming Storm Remix) Ethan Rayne and the 9th Doctor.  A storm, a Doctor, and a judicious application of chaos.

Harry Potter
About Her (Candlelight Mix) .  Luna had always taken a shine to fantastic things, and Cho definitely counts as one of the most fantastic.  I love the way the author writes an adult Luna, it's just pitch-perfect.

Stargate SG-1
The First Rule of Anthropology (The Missed Chances Remix).  Nine years after Daniel leaves the SGC, the Stargate goes public.

Star Trek
Second Star to the Right (The Chartered Remix) Spock was drowning and Nyota didn't know how to save him.

X-Men movieverse
Homeschooling for Mutants (a Midnight's Child Remix).  Magneto sets Pyro a reading assignment. Unlike past literature assignments, it turns out to be relevant to his interests.  I love the way the author shows us the power of literature, and why all these people are doing what they do.