Macedon

Fan
Name:	Macedon, Little Otter, Joseph Little Otter
Alias(es):
Type:	Archivist, Fan Writer, Meta, Moderator
Fandoms:	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek:Voyager
Communities:
Other:
URL:	Macedon on AO3 Macedon's Taberna, Redux (old website)
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Macedon, also known as Little Otter, is one of the most influential Star Trek/Voyager fans and writers and a founder of ASC list culture.

He began writing for Star Trek fandom in 1995, and left fandom in 1997.

As a member of ASC, he helped form both the culture of the newsgroup and the early rules of the community that would later be passed down to Stephen Ratliff.

A number of his fanfiction stories centered on Vulcans and Vulcan culture.

He also is coauthor with Peg Robinson of the influential Star Trek: Voyager fanfic series (along with Peg Robinson), Talking Stick.

His website was maintained for 10 years by Diavolessa, but it disappeared in 2007.

His stories are now available again, by permission, on the Archive of Our Own; his website Macedon's Taberna has been reconstituted as an AO3 collection.

Fan Comments

1996

Macedon and Laura both know how to tell a story, and have it be about people. I have no objection to "action and adventure" in which the primary characters mainly "do cool stuff" in an interesting environment...sometimes I get a real wild kick out of it. But at heart I'm a character watcher, a character actress, and a character writer. If I'm gonna have an adventure, I want to care about the folks in the adventure, and for that I personally need them to be more than just action figures with familiar names. And I'm *just* as happy with "intimate character play" as I am with adventure; in fact I suppose ultimately I'm happier. Macedon and Laura give me that, and still give me enough plot and happening to keep the ball rolling.

Macedon gives me expansion on the characters as they *should* be. The kind of little, sidewise insights that I should be seeing after over a season of Voyager material, and seldom do see. Reading Macedon's stuff is like finally getting an itch scratched that has been driving me crazy for days. The "Ahhhhh!" of relief. I sit there muttering "Yes, now that *works*." And he has a talent for wrapping his character work into convincing plots and vignettes that have a solid structure and cohesion of their own. His writing is clear, his understanding of how individuals function is solid, and his dialogue and interactions seldom fail to be believable, and are often so *right* that I just sit and grin and growl nasty comments about "why couldn't *I* have written that?". I'll *never* stop loving the little bit in "Talking Stick" were Chakotay is remembering his encounter with Vulcan women on a monorail... "when he thought his looks were excuse enough" to justify trying to chat the women up. I laughed, and nodded, and felt like he'd told me something my heart knew about the character all along... that he'd been fully aware of his looks as a smart young punk, and that he'd grown up enough to know that the looks weren't worth as much as he'd thought as a boy, but that he was able to be amused by his past behavior, not hate himself for it. A golden detail in a story that needed no embellishments, but that was certainly richer for their presence.

Add in the fact that Macedon never writes a piece that isn't basically sound in terms of structure and dynamic line, or that fails to be in some way meaningful in terms of the value and needs of the characters he portrays, or insightful and revealing of the complexities and confusions of "sentient beings" (for lack of a better phrase given the Star Trek reality), and you can see some of why I'm so enjoying writing with him. I'm working with talent.

1999

Macedon was for several years a voice of reason, a sort of village elder for the alt.startrek.creative community. And from the time I first corresponded with him--IIRC, to berate him for his French :) --he has been variously my lecturer, my example, my co-conspiritor and my friend. He is now retired from fan fiction but has given me permission to post his stories and essays here. --Diavolessa, February 1999

2008

Macedon was, for years, one of the greats in the Star Trek fanfic world, especially in alt.startrek.creative. It was a great loss for the fandom when he retired from writing fanfiction. Fortunately for us, his website is still available.

beatrice_otter, 2008 rec at Crack Van 

When I first started reading Star Trek years ago, he was, like, the schitz when it came to Vulcans. LOL!

Emma, comment at Crack Van 

Notable Works

Non-Fiction

• ASC FAQ
• The Mannerly Art of Disagreement (1999?)
• The Craft of Writing, or Yes, Virginia, It's a Learned Skill (1996, revised 1998)
• How Do I Get My Star Trek Novel Published? (1998)

Fiction

• Jeu-Parti (a trio of stories featuring Jake Sisko and the Vulcan singer Salene.)
  • Orfeo ("When Bajor hosts an interstellar music festival, to which a very unusual star singer is invited, Jake must face questions about friendship, manhood and culture, as well as freedoms of belief.")
  • Eye of the Storm ("This story is a sequel to the DS9 episode, "Nor the Battle to the Strong," as well as to "Orfeo." It is rated [R] for some sexual material. Persons under 18, or those who have trouble with gay fiction, should read no further. {Diavolessa's note: While "Eye of the Storm" features an emotional and physical relationship between two people who both happen to be male, I wouldn't necessarily categorize it as "gay" fiction. Semantics, semantics, semantics...")
  • Anslem ("The final story in the DS9 novel, JEU-PARTI, sequel to "Orfeo" and "Eye of the Storm." Eleven years after his abrupt, late-night departure, Salene reappears in Jake's life. He finds a twenty-nine-year-old Jake whose writing career is beginning to blossom even while his private life is falling apart.")
• Out of the Past ("Voyager rescues a shuttle from an unstable wormhole, only to discover it carries a surprising guest--an old flame of Janeway's.")
• Talking Stick Series (an extensive braided series of novels written in the early days of Voyager fanfiction in alternating voices between Chakotay and Janeway. Unique for dealing extensively (and accurately) with Chakotay's native heritage.)
• T'Kuht Rising ("A sequel of sorts to "Out of the Past." As his daughter celebrates her second birthday, Sokar is haunted by doubts and demons from his own childhood. Does he begin instructing her in Vulcan emotional control, or does he grant her the freedom he so coveted as a child himself?")
• Wisdom & Beauty (a Vulcan-Human love story with a twist. They were betrothed "normally" at age 7.)

References

Related Links
People	Peg Robinson, Stephen Ratliff
Places	ASC, ASC Awards
Things	The Mannerly Art of Critique