Meta: Blue eyes, height, and Tarsus IV
I recently saw a video of Bill Shatner and Chris Pine together and was most struck by the big difference in their heights. This should not cause a problem in real life because I seriously doubt we'll ever see Shatner in any of the new series of films (nor will we likely see Nimoy again.) Still, I love the presence of the "Primes" in reboot fanfic. Spock Prime is quite popular of course; and I actively seek out any story that manages to resurrect Kirk Prime into the reboot universe. (Come on guys! Just pluck him out of the Nexus before Picard gets to him. It's not that hard. ;) ) Still I'm somewhat surprised that I don't recall one fic that addresses the height difference and relatively few that address the eye color difference. The eye color issue is particularly surprising since eye color tends to be a bit of a general fanfic obsession. This fandom is really no exception in being slightly obsessed with characters' eye colors. It's just that the *difference* in the "Primes" vs the "Reboots" is relatively rarely noted.
On one hand, this makes sense. We are *supposed* to ignore the physical differences between the actors who play the different versions of the characters. It's part of the suspension of disbelief and I'm pretty sure the movies will never address the differences which is fine because we'll never see two actors who play the same character in the same scene again (and Quinto and Nimoy look enough alike that it actually worked.)
But in *fanfic,* I think it's fun to fanwank this stuff. Most fanfics I've seen that mention the eye color difference do so without explanation usually as a kinda joking "breaking the fourth wall" sort of thing. We do have a joking quasi-official explanation from screenwriter Robert Orci that radiation from Kirk's premature birth in space caused his eyes to go blue. One fanfic I read offered that Winona had reboot baby Jim's eyes genetically altered to match George's which I think was a pretty inventive if somewhat creepy explanation. Actually, it's easier to fanwank the eye color difference than I think most people realize. There is actually at least one real life medication that can occasionally darken blue eyes to hazel or brown. It's Lumigan and it's used for occluar hypertension. (There's currently a version approved for eyelash growth.) So, to me anyway, the obvious answer is it's *Kirk Prime's* eyes that were changed at some point because it's a matter of adding pigment for some reason which just seems more likely than draining pigment. I see why it's natural to assume a change happened to reboot Kirk because our thinking is all the changes happen in the reboot universe; but a "change" could also be something that *didn't* happen. So my fanwank is Kirk Prime experienced some injury to his eyes at some point which required treatment that saved his eyesight but added pigment to his irises. Anyway, in my mind, one of the first things Kirk Prime says to Reboot Kirk upon meeting him is "My eyes weren't still blue when I was your age." :D
Now my answer to the height difference is Tarsus IV. Kirk Prime was malnourished for a year when he was thirteen; and it stunted his growth. (Maybe the eye damage happened on Tarsus IV as well.) Reboot Kirk never was on Tarsus IV; he never left Earth until Pike found him at that bar. I realize it's hard to give up Tarsus IV. Fanfic writers love the trauma of Tarsus IV and how it effects Jim; but reboot Jim had his own traumas. In fact, I think it might serve as a moment of realization for reboot Kirk. I suspect he probably feels Kirk Prime had a better childhood than he did because George didn't die at his birth; but if KIrk Prime had Tarsus IV and he didn't ...?
Anyway, anyone else have any fanwanks in this vein?
On one hand, this makes sense. We are *supposed* to ignore the physical differences between the actors who play the different versions of the characters. It's part of the suspension of disbelief and I'm pretty sure the movies will never address the differences which is fine because we'll never see two actors who play the same character in the same scene again (and Quinto and Nimoy look enough alike that it actually worked.)
But in *fanfic,* I think it's fun to fanwank this stuff. Most fanfics I've seen that mention the eye color difference do so without explanation usually as a kinda joking "breaking the fourth wall" sort of thing. We do have a joking quasi-official explanation from screenwriter Robert Orci that radiation from Kirk's premature birth in space caused his eyes to go blue. One fanfic I read offered that Winona had reboot baby Jim's eyes genetically altered to match George's which I think was a pretty inventive if somewhat creepy explanation. Actually, it's easier to fanwank the eye color difference than I think most people realize. There is actually at least one real life medication that can occasionally darken blue eyes to hazel or brown. It's Lumigan and it's used for occluar hypertension. (There's currently a version approved for eyelash growth.) So, to me anyway, the obvious answer is it's *Kirk Prime's* eyes that were changed at some point because it's a matter of adding pigment for some reason which just seems more likely than draining pigment. I see why it's natural to assume a change happened to reboot Kirk because our thinking is all the changes happen in the reboot universe; but a "change" could also be something that *didn't* happen. So my fanwank is Kirk Prime experienced some injury to his eyes at some point which required treatment that saved his eyesight but added pigment to his irises. Anyway, in my mind, one of the first things Kirk Prime says to Reboot Kirk upon meeting him is "My eyes weren't still blue when I was your age." :D
Now my answer to the height difference is Tarsus IV. Kirk Prime was malnourished for a year when he was thirteen; and it stunted his growth. (Maybe the eye damage happened on Tarsus IV as well.) Reboot Kirk never was on Tarsus IV; he never left Earth until Pike found him at that bar. I realize it's hard to give up Tarsus IV. Fanfic writers love the trauma of Tarsus IV and how it effects Jim; but reboot Jim had his own traumas. In fact, I think it might serve as a moment of realization for reboot Kirk. I suspect he probably feels Kirk Prime had a better childhood than he did because George didn't die at his birth; but if KIrk Prime had Tarsus IV and he didn't ...?
Anyway, anyone else have any fanwanks in this vein?