Topic: Interludes

[Governor Ronjar]

Yeah...didn't even think about the contraception point of that. HAH!

Guess his swimmers are some mean mothas.

--thu guv!

[Scottish Andy]

Here's what I told Kieran when he asked me to Beta this for him:

Well, that is reminiscent of my Chronicles, but wow... I don't know what the future is actually like, but shouldn't you have been more careful? It kinda blew me away. I kinda thought we (men and women) would be past all that by then. I can certainly empathise with Kieran, though. I'd have that said something like that myself, if I'd managed to say anything at all. I'm just not sure as to the situation itself.

Shouldn't we have learned better about "surprise" pregnancies in a couple of hundred years? I'm a little hung up on the situation. As Larry can tell you, I am really anal about the things I'm anal about. It can always happen, I just cling to the hope that while we may not be as perfect as Gene's TNG, we do improve, learn, get better. Other authors like to just throw current problems into the Star Trek era without any thought given to how the attitudes, technology, and education of the future would deal with those problems. I like to say, okay, well, THIS thing we've solved. THIS thing doesn't happen any more, due to increased awareness, a proper solution, better education, whatever. Exposure to all sorts of alien sexualities would hopefully teach us to be more responsible with our own.

Just so as you know: My response is not typical. This is a well written piece, and you've executed the situation and characters very well. I like it. I like everyone there - except Kat. Or rather, getting past my latent male chauvinism, I'm angry at whose fault it is. Unwanted pregnancies are stupid mistakes that can ruin a lot of lives, and certainly derail plenty of others, so I'm annoyed at both of them.

Oh, another thing I liked about your story was the German & Scandinavian names. I do the same in my stories. Make it look like the whole world is out there with us.

[Commander La'ra]

*shakes his head and chuckles*

Will contraception still exist hundreds of years from now?  Sure.

Will it be more effective?  I'm certain.

Would an organization like Starfleet probably require it?  While the Federation is supposedly a free society, I'd say yes:  After all, they volunteered.

Will young people away from school still leap upon each other in order to sate their lust for luvin'?  Hell yes.

Will they sometimes do it heedless of things like 'I haven't taken my pill?'  Yes.

Really, Andy, Lara...does this scenario REALLY seem that far-fetched to you?

[Andromeda]

I just read both interludes and have my comments.

Racial hatred gone by then: not gonna happen.  Hating what's different is too human.  Fearing the unknown quickly can lead to that hate.  Even the great Kirk expressed hatred of and a wish to kill the Klingons.  It's interesting how the net is colorblind as well as nationality blind.  Not entirely true, but moreso than the face-to-face world.    Lara: given my Irish birth, I grew up with the Catholic/Protestant thing all around me.  It was so normal that it was hard to separate from anything else: the mines, school, anything.   

Pregnancy: I'm sure they have a setup for preventing it.  Could it happen anyway?  In Kirk's Federation, I'm sure.  By the time of Picard's Federation, I'd expect you get an injection, men too, as part of your academy medical processing as soon as you arrive.  At that point it would probably take some active effort on the part of both parties to get around it. 

About the stories: obviously well done.  Nice provocative moments in the life of your character.  The second one was better than the first.  The emotions didn't seem as strong in the first as in the second. 

[KOTH-KieranXC, Ret.]

I was going to post my own thoughts on the whole contraception matter, but La'ra and Andromeda pretty much nailed it on the head.

Thanks, guys, for the feedback. Although, Andromeda, I'm kinda surprised you like the second one better. I'm proud of both of them, of course, but I really struggled with writer's block on the second one, which gave me some trouble finishing it. That coupled with the reaction I got from my beta reader... I didn't think it would be as well recieved as the first. Glad you like it, though.

[Lara]

Ronnie: Catholic/Protesteant I undrstood. Catholic/Catholic baffled the bejeezus out of me, then I became an ancient religions major and much became clear. Didn't make any sense, but clear? Yes.

Contraception: Ok, here we go, at the time when it would have been disastrous in my life, this is what I knew. I could spell contraception, oh and since I wasn't married it wouldn't happen to me.  However, I did have a basic grasp of cause and effect, shake the baby umbrella, yu were asking for a baby to roll down and smack you. That last bit meant I really have never had any sympathy for anyone who knew how and what made a baby getting surprised by one.

Didi it happen? Yes. My response to both male and female was usually: Yeah, you were stupid. And?

[Governor Ronjar]

Gotta go with Lara wholeheartedly on the contraception angle. Haven't ever had the problem in my own life. The one time we found out 'we' were pregnant was a planned attempt. Sadly, this did not end well.

TODAY, a 'morning after' pill exists, though it isn't easy to get and is controversial. By the time of TOS, it's likely to be right next to the asprin in the medicine cabinet.

But this whole conversation takes away from the aspect of the story. It was well exicuted and well writen. I like his dumb-founded response. I like everyone's dumb-founded responses, espescially in real life. But this is just the way I am...

Again I say: Keep 'er comin'!
And Lara can take this any way she pleases... (Larry has a gift for you, from me to you...)

--thu guv!