NEW: but for the grace of god... [R] TNG; Data, Lore; Introduction
mlo...@ic.sunysb.edu
Title: but for the grace of god..., Book One of _Brotherhood_
Author: Melinda Loges <mlo...@ic.sunysb.edu>
Series: TNG
Codes: Data, Lore
Rating: R, for adult themes, profanity (Chapter 3: NC-17, for sex and
violence)
Introduction and Author's Notes
I have a feeling that this is going to ramble a bit, so let's get the
serious shtick out of the way first:
RATING:
I agonized a bit over what to rate this. The story as a whole gets an R
for adult themes throughout (frank discussion of sexual matters, the full
range of profanity, and in general "life, death, life beyond death, things
of that nature." Thank you, Dr. McCoy.) Chapter Three, in particular,
gets an NC-17 rating for an explicit sex scene and a rather gruesome bit
of violence. The sex is perfunctory, and not particularly nice (it skirts
on the near edge of rape.) The violence is holo-violence (it's not real,
kids, just ketchup), but it's still pretty bloody.
I haven't written an expurgated version of it, and I'm not really sure
that I could. Plus, there are important plot developments in the midst
(actually the sex and violence as represented are important plot
developments.) If anyone thinks the whole story should be rated NC-17,
let me know, I'll be glad to change it. The only reason I've held back
now, is cause this is *not* smut, and I know some people automatically
translate NC-17 to mean smut. (And that is *not* an attack on smut: I
love smut, have great respect for good smut writers, and wish I could do
as well with it as some of the folks on a.s.c. do. Nuff said.)
So, if you're underage or squeamish, you might wanna skip this. If anyone
wants a quick summary of Chapter Three, e-mail me, I'll be glad to
provide.
For those who missed the above, this story contains SEX and VIOLENCE. Be
warned. (caps for emphasis only)
Onward...
DISCLAIMER and Acknowledgments:
These characters, their ship, and their universe belong lock, stock and
barrel to PARAMOUNT-VIACOM. I am bending them to my will for fun only,
not profit (unless you consider the release of writer's angst to be
profit.)
There have been a number of stories on a.s.c. that tell some variant of
this story, and I think I've read most of them. I am well aware that what
I read affects what I write. And though a good bit of this story was
conceived before I started lurking, at least some bits were a response to
other stuff I read. (Y'know, the prime directive of a.s.c.: write what
you wanna read.) So, I would like to express my sincere admiration to
those folk who tend to write about Data, and hereby acknowledge all that
has come before me.
To the artists who provided the chapter headings: Thanks for the words
and inspiration.
To Myra and Eli, who put me on the straight and narrow as to where the
heros should hide out in Chapter 7 (it's the obvious choice, but sometimes
my mind misses the obvious by a few light-years.)
Permission to archive and print for personal use granted, but please keep
headers intact. If you want to put it on a web-page or in a 'zine or
what-have-you, please lemme know first. <mlo...@ic.sunysb.edu>
-----
O.K. now for the heavy-handed authorial (what an obnoxious word, huh?)
intro and explanation:
Yes, this is another--Lore, risen from the ashes of infamy, (like
that? :-) ) meets post-chip Data, and Cain and Able go at it again--story.
I think it's a slightly different take than most others I've seen, but
regardless, I wanted to write it. So...
The main caveat I want to give is that, while this is heavily based on the
events of _First Contact_ (set right afterwards, had I mentioned that?),
it takes a lot of liberty with Data's character as presented in the movie.
I've essentially extrapolated from the end of _Generations_ to what I
think an emotional Data would be like day-to-day two years later. And he
don't act much like Data in the series. So just be warned: you might be
a little thrown off at first. I just want to establish that this is not
careless characterization (I hope!) I meant to do this to him.
I could go on and on here... but I won't. The only other note of
importance: There's a lot of references to the series in this, I won't
even try to list them, and for the most part I haven't tried to mark them,
so if you're not real familiar with TNG, you might miss a bit. The main
references of importance are from the four episodes featuring Lore, and
"In Theory" featuring Jenna. The very last scene is taken verbatim from
the episode "Datalore" when they first meet in the first season. There
is a substantial addendum to the scene, so if you haven't seen that in a
while, and you're thinking "Wait, I don't remember them saying that!",
you're right, they didn't. On camera, anyway. Of course, I know what
they really said...
So-read, enjoy, comment upon. This is Book 1 in a larger epic that has
been visualized but not actualized, so if you want to see more of it, be
sure to let me know!
Until later...
Melinda
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