This is the comments thread for Literary Challenge #35 : New Year's Resolutions.
We also have an Index of previous challenges HERE.

Feel free to link directly to the entry you are commenting on. And please remember: we're not here to tear each other up. Do not troll your fellow Captains, give feedback! Let the others know what you liked and disliked. Maybe they can even go back then and tweak their entries!

Let's get those creative juices flowing!

Done. For ease of reference/visualization, here're the actors I would cast if I was filming this tomorrow...

Meliden Bowen - Eve Myles
S'rR's Kane - Amy Smart
Caral Bowen - Alison Steadman

@ ironphoenix113: Short and sweet, a really nice entry

Made my very first entry.

Some background: It's the Terran Empire, in a MU. A different one than depicted in Enterprise or DS9, as the Terrans weren't Evil Stupid, and so Spock's reforms - the main one being the ending of promotion-by-backstabbery - didn't cause the Emprie's complete decline and enslavement. There's more to it, but that will be enough to understand this story.

I got MU from the use of Terra, but it wasn't overdone at all, nice and subtle And I could definitely picture the scene and the Ferengi trying to keep things under control, an awesome entry

@marcus

Thanks for the compliment! I read yours too, and I've got to say, you've got a real talent yourself.

@theroyalfamily

Really clever! I was rather confused by your story until I read your explanation. I can't wait to read more!

A couple things I feel I should explain about mine:
First, yes Bryan is actually the XO (well, one of two XOs actually) in the fleet that I'm in.
Second, the AI (Athena, which shares the name of the ship) is actually a full AI, completely self-aware and capable of independent thought and emotion. She controls the ships point defense turrets, makes adjustments to the ship's power systems as needed among other things that no crewman could handle quickly enough.
Th rest of the story should be fairly self-explanatory (especially the part at the end with the ring )

You're very welcome, and likewise, thankyou, it was fun to write, any particular favorite parts?

Like the AI of Highguard ships, like Andromeda? I really like the idea Indeed, it got the message across nicely, and was just the right length to have the right impact

It's kind of hard to pick just one or two moments, but I must say, the beginning of Meliden's conversation with her mother was hilarious.

That's actually exactly where I got the idea from. Gives me a reason to use an "NX" designation for the Athena.

EDIT: Oh, and I think Eve Myles would be perfect to portray her

Thanks, I wanted to put her across as really Old School, yet out of touch enough to just 'not get' that Meliden actually has a life beyond a Welsh village

Ahh, it works well, I like to think that the events of Andromeda, are simply the distant future of the Trekverse...

I couldn't think of a 'more Welsh' actress, so she struck me as ideal, as although everyone sees Meliden as a Cardassian, she just thinks of herself as a Welsh girl

@ cmdrscarlet;
This is not fair! This is clearly a mission where people're going to get their asses kicked... We need MORE