Weeds (Star Trek: TOS story)

Star Trek TOS Fanfiction
Title:	Weeds
Author(s):	Rabble Rouser
Date(s):	2002
Length:
Genre:
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
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Weeds is a Star Trek: TOS story by Rabble Rouser.

It was nominated for a 2002 ASC Award.

Reactions and Reviews

This is one of the most powerful stories I've read this year. Once again Rabble Rouser has taken a most unsympathetic character and made me not only understand where she was coming from, but also what were her motivations. And succeeded in getting me to feel for her, to boot. This portrayal of Marla McGivers is very convincing, down to the detail of a student of history stubbornly refusing to see clearly, and learning all the wrong lessons. We got to see how she grew and changed, how she caught herself relying on her Starfleet training to survive in her post-Enterprise existence, how she emulated the examples of true leadership--Kirk, even Uhura--which she had had before her and previously taken for granted. The exile on Ceti Alpha 5 is brought to stunning life, and some gaps, such as the flimsy explanation given at the beginning of TWOK re: the 5th and 6th planets and their orbits, are nicely filled in. I liked the idea that Khan's own ambition--and McGivers' skillful manipulation--caused the destruction of their adopted home.

My, this one was quite the inspirational story, wasn't it? Hard to believe that a tale about Marla McGivers getting a spine and doing the right thing on Alpha Ceti 3 would do that, but it did. Very, very good rehabilitation of a minor guest villain. Makes one wish she'd lived to be in Wrath of Khan.

This story is an amazing portrait of Marla and her relationship with Khan and of course, with those she left behind on Enterprise. The journey Marla takes from the very first paragraph to the last is beautifully told here and is especially more poignant because it's in Marla's own voice, so we get to hear exactly what she's thinking and feeling at the same time she does. Chilling and haunting right down to the very last word, this is a marvelous story and is highly recommended.

Rabble Rouser has already proven she can take an unlikable character and redeem them, twisting and pulling (but always in a believable way) until you start wondering if you really knew them at all. She's done it for T'Pring in "Sympathy for the Devil" and for mirror universe Kirk in "A Good Look in the Mirror." And she does it again here for Marla McGivers in Weeds, giving us a glimpse into Marla's rather chilling psyche and providing some answers for her hero worship of Khan and her willingness to betray her colleagues and then try to take it all back. Best of all, Rabble Rouser fills in some of the blanks between Space Seed and Wrath of Khan, showing us what life must have been like on that planet and how it ended up the way it did. Told in journal format, this story is alive with details, references to other TOS episodes, and able characterizations of the crew and Khan's people. Marla isn't likeable but like the others, Rabble Rouser finds a way to make her understandable. And the ending is great. Weeds is a truly wonderful story!

I love stories that take minor characters and give them three dimensions. Rabble Rouser takes Marla McGivers and makes her more than a spineless chick who follows Khan into hell; she becomes a rounded, believable person who's prone to misjudging her situation and the people around her. The ending packs a punch for anyone who's completely misjudged a circumstance and paid for it.

I very much enjoyed this story, especially the characterization of Marla and her perspective on events aboard the Enterprise. The plot on Ceti Alpha VI was a nice twist, though I thought the portrayal of Khan and company as a "pack of wolves" made the story more black-and-white than it needed to be. Thanks for a great read!

This was the best exploration of Marla McIvers I've seen, showing how frustration and wounded pride contributed to her actions - and then letting her self-understanding unfold slowly. Marla's connection to John Gill was inspired. Completely credible and oddly moving. It's also amazing that this was written after Djinn's "Not All At Once," because the two flow together seamlessly. Very well done.

I love stories in which minor, or one shot characters are further developed. Rabble Rouser surely didn't let me down with this extensive character study of Lieutenant Marla McIvers, Ship's Historian. The fascinating backstory that Rabble Rouser gave her, complete with a prior association to Professor John Gill, makes the reader understand, although not condone her actions in "Space Seed". What Rabble Rouser gives us is a complex, maladjusted officer who is stuck on a ship and a career path which are in direct conflict with her conscience and inner desires. She's a recipe for disaster on a good day, and adding Khan Noonian Singh to the mix merely expands the ripple effect when everything hits the fan. As much as I disliked this character's actions, her strenght of character and firm belief that her way is the correct way, won me over.

Rabble Rouser has done it again, taking a TOS character that everyone despises and successfully turning her into a real person with understandable motives. Marla McGivers isn't just a mindless lovestruck idiot in this story; she's a fully developed character who comprehends where she has gone wrong and eventually seeks to redeem herself. I think we have all known people like the Marla we see in this story -- academics who have spent so much time with their books that they lack a reasonable perspective on the real world. Rabble Rouser renders the character in excellent detail and gives a realistic (and quite nasty) view of the "weeds" that grew from Khan's colony.