In April, science-fiction author and blogger John Scalzi (who just won the 2008 Hugo Award for “Best Fan Writer” — rawk! we love you, John!) made a rather cryptic blog post titled, “It Has Begun.” This was the first warning to a certain unidentified victim that something was coming:

Arrangements have been made. Wheels set into motion. At this point, it is inevitable. Unavoidable. Implacable would not be too strong a word….

This “something” was evil … and yet awesome, Scalzi wrote, and he didn’t speak of it again until late July, when he announced that his mysterious scheme had seen completion. The item was being shipped to its final destination … and to the poor victim of Scalzi’s wicked machinations.

Finally. It is done, he said in the post. And it will be visited upon one of you. Soon. … It can be held back no longer. And when it arrives, you will know. And you will tremble before it.

Devoted readers of the author’s blog didn’t know Scalzi’s target — until Scalzi’s friend, actor-writer Wil Wheaton, received an unexpected package at his home earlier this week. Wheaton, a self-proclaimed geek, is probably best known for his portrayal of Wesley Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Sadly, the actor has received grief from sci-fi fans throughout the years for playing the much-maligned ensign. Wheaton has blogged extensively about this, and how over the years, he’s learned to embrace and celebrate his involvement with Star Trek. His writings about this are honest and moving.

(For the record, we always liked the character, and we’re ultra-fans of Wheaton. In fact, one of us has an autographed photo of Wheaton hanging in our bathroom. It accompanies our autographed pic of George Takei. Don’t ask.)

So what was inside the package Scalzi sent?  Could it truly live up to all the evil/awesome hype?

Yes, yes it could. Inside, Wheaton found an authentic Tijuana Black Velvet Wesley Crusher portrait, courtesy of VelvetPaintings.com.  As promised, both evil and awesome.

Interestingly, Scalzi’s prank delighted Wheaton in several ways, the most significant being that it came at a time in his life when — due to circumstances beyond his control, and the resurrection of a once-popular Wesley Crusher Usenet group called “alt.wesley.die.die.die” — Wheaton was feeling down about his Trek experience. “I feel like all the stuff I didn’t like about Trek has started to overwhelm the things I love about it,” he wrote at his blog.

But Scalzi’s “Velvet Crusher” helped Wheaton make a realization:

“Without knowing that I needed a reminder not to take this stuff so seriously, without knowing — in April, when the wheels were set into motion — that around the beginning of August I’d be feeling pretty lousy … John did what good friends do: pick you up when you’re down, and provide reality checks when you need them the most,” he wrote.

“Star Trek is something that I shouldn’t take as seriously as I’ve taken it lately,” Wheaton continued. “I’d given idiots way too much control over how I felt about it, and how I felt about that part of my life where Star Trek and me intersect. I’d lost perspective, and it took a velvet Wesley Crusher to bring it back.”

And that, dear readers, is why Scalzi’s gift was evil … and most certainly awesome.

Mined by: Jason “I can’t. I can’t do it” Penney via WWdN