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The Object of My Desire

Author - Distracted | Genre - Challenge: Sincerest Form of Flattery | Genre - Drama | Genre - Vignette | O | Rating - PG | T
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"Sincerest Form of Flattery" CHALLENGE

The Object of My Desire

By Distracted


Rating: PG
Disclaimer: It all belongs to Paramount; no infringement intended.
Genre: “Sincerest Form of Flattery Challenge”, drama
Summary: It’s only indirectly TnT, but hopefully you’ll all see why I had to do it this way.

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I am sick, or so my physician has informed me while repeatedly forbidding my release from this place. His intransigence has placed a pall upon my spirit which I am eager to dispel. I have been told that my treatment plan includes allowing me the freedom to express my distress through journaling. Distress! Indeed I am distressed. To be thought mad when I am no such thing is a burden upon my soul. My condition is not madness, but the desire to experience the fullness of passion in all its forms. Elation… terror… despair…astonishment… all of these have been denied me by the cruel happenstance of my birth. Had I been the child of a human or a Klingon, they would have been my birthright. Only my Vulcan parentage thus restricts my experience. The injustice of it does distress me.

My intense longing for passionate interaction with another being has placed me here, and I must confirm that it was primarily my forceful attraction to one ethereal creature which was my undoing. From the moment that my eyes were first riveted by her exquisiteness, I found her impossible to resist. She was grace personified and beauty incarnate, with a profound erudition which awed me. Her innocence and lack of self aggrandizement likewise charmed me most successfully. Shortly following our first meeting, I became preoccupied with the idea of possessing her. Her aloof, typically Vulcan character and her obvious distaste for the V’tosh Katur only served to whet my appetite for the challenge.

Through patient discussion and careful tutelage I was able to coax her to risk enkindling the forbidden passions which are the fate of every Vulcan who chooses to forego the strict disciplines of our race. When alone with her following her first night of dreams, I detected a faint emerald flush upon her cheek when her eyes fell upon my body. I was emboldened by her glance, and was thereby convinced that she desired me as well. Although she later proved to be most fickle and cruelly dismissive of my regard for her, at the moment when she agreed to attempt the meld I was the most ecstatic and joyful of beings. Our mental union seemed to me to be concrete evidence of a dramatic sympathy of soul for soul between myself and the object of my obsession. Inexplicably, she thought it a rude invasion, and was fearful of it. No attempt at reassurance was successful, and in my desperation to continue, I succumbed to yet another emotion. Fury overwhelmed me. I meant no harm, and yet in my zeal to possess her I did damage her beyond her ability to forgive. My anger knew no bounds, and I sought at first to destroy her, tormented by her refusal of me. I had no true desire to harm her, however, and retreated to regain control. Meditation does have its uses.

Once serenity had returned, I immediately realized my error, and I transferred my attentions to those forbidding me access to her. My encounter with her captain tested my resolve, for I knew that if I seriously injured him I would be barred from contact with the object of my desire, and yet my fury was such that I narrowly escaped killing him. The final betrayal by my own captain, his cruel incarceration of me without justification or due process, was the event which forced me to make my decision. I began at that moment a mental listing of all those who would keep my beloved from me. I became determined to eliminate them, and thus regain her regard.

This determination has not waned. Indeed, as the months pass I find myself longing with an earnest and consuming desire for the mental touch of the one exquisite being deserving of my unfaltering affection. I have wholeheartedly forgiven her betrayal. I have not, however, been idle. I have succeeded in convincing my physician of my benign intentions, and am allowed access to the transmissions of current events within the common room of this facility. Sitting here amongst the truly mad, I have become even more convinced of my sanity. The transmissions have given me a new focus for my efforts. I feel confident that, given sufficient time, I will be successful in my campaign to overcome my physician’s reluctance to release me from this place. Once I am released, my goal is clear. Only one obstacle remains. The latest newscasts of the conquering heroes returning from war, detailing in voyeuristic detail each crew member’s plans for the future… every choice of recreation… every side voyage to meet family members and friends… have made it clear to me that there remains only one person to be eliminated in order to free the heart of my beloved T’Pol. Commander Charles Tucker the Third must die.

End



If you want to know which author Distracted was imitating, check out the "Sincerest Form of Flattery" Challenge: Author List

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A whole mess of folks have made comments

Poe

LOL! How terribly verbose and descriptive of you, BnB!

Now... what did you think of the story?

Not gory enough for halloween.

HtH

But Poe wasn't gory, HtH. None of the chosen authors were. Besides, classic horror isn't gory. The sensation of fear and horror in the reader is evoked through suspense and the juxtaposition of an ordinary character and an extraordinarily horrible situation or action. Gore is a cheap thrill, but it's easy. Real horror writing is much harder. Believe me. This one was the hardest one yet, and I still feel like I didn't get it quite right. Try reading "The Telltale Heart" if you really want to see how it's done.

BTW... did you REALLY want me to have Tolaris cutting Trip into pieces and hiding him under the floorboards? Ewwww.....

I liked it. It was a little spooky, and I really hate Tolaris. Nicely done, D! (...even if I wasn't sure who it was... But that's just me.)

Distracted, you are simply too nice to write convincingly horrible people. When it gets down to the brink, even your worst villains have a soft streak. Like making sure that we really, really, really, really, REALLY, get it that Tolaris is sick. He is SICK you see, get it? Sick. Ill. Not totally responsible for his actions. Can't be judged by the same standards as a completely responsible sane person who is just possessed of a demon and likes to hurt people because he is a feral barbarian and enjoys the taste of blood. Tolaris is sick. Even if you fear and hate him, you have to retain at least a trace of understanding. Dis, you don't seem able to exhibit that foul streak of absolute nastiness which is necessary to make a character truly vile.

But this story has a redeeming quality of perverted pathos about it. Kind of like a soft hearted Hannibal Lector.

I understand the difference and you did fine with Poe. Just commenting about the season.

Now if Tolaris had managed to escape. I think the scare, gore factor could easily have been upped. There are so many ways one could use such a perverted piece of genetic trash.

Never once did I suggest Tolaris should be successful in his quest, Nor do I have nearly as much a sympathetic view as some. I am picturing use of Hoshi's katana, wakizashi, and tanto. Oh that reminds me, I haven't been to Benni Hanna in quite a long while.

:-)

HtH


At first, because it was a second person type of narrative, I thought it was Doyle, but it became clear that this was no mystery. I think this captures well the kind of weird despair of Poe, and the whole obsession factor as well. (I've read little Poe and didn't really like what I did read, but this is chilling. Very effective writing!)
You've done a good job making him a terrible guy, but at the same time (as BnB noted) pitiable because he clearly is mentally ill. It's like they say, insane people never question their sanity.
Of course, I'm looking forward to reading more about Tolaris and his capture in the next installment of Season Six. ;)

Ahem. Speaking of the next installment of Season Six.....

Heh. It's coming along BnB. I'm on page 27. : )

Ah, I understand now, HtH. You wanted GREEN gore. Hmmm. Kinda hard to do in first person unless we assume an opponent even more twisted than Tolaris who's into vivisection. How about Mirror Universe Phlox, hmmm? That could be interesting....

And... is anybody besides me and JadziaKathryn gonna try one of these things?

She's working on it, Bn'B.

I actually got this one without too much difficulty. Poe's style seemed more distinctive than some of the others I've researched. I agree with D about horror. It's much scarier when the evil person seems as if they could exist...when they seem real. I don't watch much horror, but as a teen I saw Hitchcock's Psycho and I still get paranoid in the shower from time to time.

Anyway, I find Tolaris kind of creepy here. He's one disturbed dude, no doubt about that. You did a good job, D.

Anyone notice that Distracted is practically writing all of these challenge stories? I can't even begin to try writing one myself, so I suppose I can't really complain. It's fun trying to guess them, though.

Boy, am I stupid. Yep. That's me up there. I will learn how to type my name in eventually.

Unfortunately, people a lot scarier than the ones Dis writes about nto only cold, but in fact do exist. Jeffrey Dahmer. Need I say more?

Wow. It's really, really hard for me to comment on this. First of all, I can't stand Poe for the most part - it's just a personal gripe of mine with his style - and you did a pretty good job at emulating his style ... so it was hard for me to get through it. Second, I loath Tolaris and agree with BnB here (or at least how I interpret what he's saying): Tolaris is a vile piece of excrement, a sociopath who is perfectly aware of what he's doing so I have difficulty buying your versions where it comes across that he's not entirely responsible for his actions.

"And... is anybody besides me and JadziaKathryn gonna try one of these things?"

I can barely write in my own style, can hardly get the Muse(s) to cooperate to finish my own stories, and given that my computer is acting up, I'm not likely to even try.

"First of all, I can't stand Poe for the most part - it's just a personal gripe of mine with his style - and you did a pretty good job at emulating his style."

Thank you, Rigil. It's really hard to comment favorably on something that you hate. I appreciate the effort. (BnB... you done good, too.) ; D

I finally figured one out! I'm so proud.

"My intense longing for passionate interaction with another being has placed me here, and I must confirm that it was primarily my forceful attraction to one ethereal creature which was my undoing." I read that sentence and thought, Poe. Etheral creature -- undoing -- couldn't be anyone else. Edgar Allen's probably breaking out the amontillado right now.

Tolaris is just the type of character Poe would love. I gotta tell ya, though, this story is just begging for Part II. Tolaris is sick enough to be a formidable opponent.

I just love these! You're so good.

Thank you, Dinah. I'm having fun with them... although this one was the most difficult to do so far. Poe's language is so ornate and different from my usual writing style. I had to read several of his stories and pull vocabulary from them to make my sentences sound more "Poe-ish". I'm afraid I'm Poe'd out, though. There won't be a part two... unless you consider this a sort of prequel to Paradox. I'm writing about the fate of Tolaris in Episode 4.

I thought your Tolaris of Episode 3 was pretty scary. You tempt the reader to feel sorry for him or understand him and the reader (me) is going "no, no, I don't WANT to understand him; we have no common ground,. . . right?" That's kind of scary.

Funny story: One of my sons did a report on the Telltale Heart in middle school. It was supposed to be a review, but he only retold the story (very enthusiastically!). The teacher gave him a second chance to discuss the theme of the story. So he reworte the report adding "And I guess the lesson of the story is you can't tell a book by it's cover." So that beating heart is too subtle!

And Rigil, keep writing. I'll get over and read your story right now. Blame Enterprikayak and Black 'n Blue for delaying me! Now they'll just have to wait in line!