Star Trek Universe, a Brief(ish) User Guide

[templemarker]

This is a brief introduction to Star Trek, primarily as a relevant guide for writers new to the vast breadth of and wealth of canon, fanon, books, comics, movies, cartoons, and stuff out there in the universe of Star Trek. It is also what devoured my Tuesday evening like a three year old with a cookie. Three things before we get into it

Comments

[simons_flower]

Love this.

I watched TNG obsessively in high school, but TOS only sporadically (to my mother's dismay, no matter how much she tried to get me to watch all TOS episodes). I fell off watching DS9, Voyager and Enterprise, so this is very helpful information about the Cardassians.

About AOS Kirk and AOS Spock's characterizations... there were a few people who argued with me about how off their characters seemed and I immediately protested. I thought their characterizations were perfect for the differences in their histories. I brought them around :)

*bookmarks*

[templemarker]

I thought their characterizations were perfect for the differences in their histories

I concur! Most emphatically regarding Jim Kirk--the argument that angsty rebellious teenage Kirk was out of character is just laughable, because he was *exactly* that way in the TOS universe until he watched his father nearly die for him and nearly died himself! The destruction of Vulcan and over half of his fellow students at the Academy is the same kind of kick in the pants, I think. I thought Kirk's characterization was note-perfect given the circumstances of AOS.

[simons_flower]

One of the other differences, which you haven't touched on here because this isn't about Spock but might want to take into consideration if you do write about him, is that the Romulans were brought to the attention of the Federation at a much earlier point in the AOS.

I honestly wish I could remember who pointed it out to me -- so I could give them credit -- but she made an excellent point. The Romulans (and you point it out here) were a nebulous "we'll avoid you and you avoid us" enemy in TOS. By Nero's incursion into the timeline of the AOS and the destruction of the Kelvin, along with the resulting cascade of changes, the Romulans are a major player in the AOS. What was pointed out is that that has to have played some role in the way Spock was treated, it had to have some influence in the Vulcans already-existing cultural xenophobia. Spock is an anomaly, not only for being half-human, but for being in Starfleet and rejecting traditional Vulcan ways -- in retrospect, it saved his life

[taraljc]

The Earth-Romulan war is still canon since it takes place just after ST:ENT--it's just that Nero and the Narada brought them back into the picture well before "Balance of Terror", and are now the AOS canonical first glimpse by Starfleet of the Romulans. Which led to the Vulcans copping to theri link with the Romulans much earlier, hence uhura speaking 3 diff. dialects of Romulan, and Spock being open about the genetic link.

[simons_flower]

I had forgotten about that. As I said originally, I fell away a bit after TNG, so am having to bring myself back up to speed, so to speak, on the later series.

After the Earth-Romulan war, though, IIRC, it was still very much a cold war and a matter of avoidance if at all possible. The entire purpose of the Neutral Zone just reinforced that, as well as AOS Pike stating he would set up negotiations between the Empire and Starfleet for a cease fire and Nero emphatically stating he did not speak for the Romulan Empire.

[templemarker]

I was actually thinking about exactly this point for a little rehash of Romulans-wrt-AOS; the incursion of Nero into this alternate timeline by necessity has to change the Federation's relationship with the Star Empire. Even if you buy the line that the Narada didn't have any further impact on the course of things for the 25 years they were imprisoned amongst the Klingons, it seems logical to believe that the Federation got really effing displeased that a Romulan ship--whom they would have no confirming evidence was from the future--destroyed one of their deep space exploration vessels.

So taking into account the Terran-Romulan War, and the detente that resulted, there would absolutely have been some contact between the two cultures further than what we see later in the Trek universe. That's an obvious point of divergence in AOS, as taraljc points out, and must lead to a different subsequent relationship between the Feds and Romulans

[templemarker]

There's a whole thing I have up in my head about how the Kirk family was different as a result of George dying. No Tarsus IV, for example. We can assume that Winona is still a scientist, but does that mean George Jr. will become one as well? Both George and Jim are running away in those opening scenes--how does that impact their brotherly relationship? Etc, etc.

I mean, in TOS, Jim is rebellious against his family, and the same is true for AOS. Pike fills the role Captain April and George Kirk did, just a little bit later. It fits really, really well, and this is why I love Bob Orci!

[simons_flower]

A big point about how the Kirk family was different was the introduction of an abusive stepfather. Sam/George was running away and Jim was near-suicidal -- all while dear mom was off-planet. I think we can safely say things were not well at home. How much of everything that was happening on Earth Winona knew about, I don't know and I'm not comfortable speculating about -- I don't want to believe she'd knowingly leave her sons in the hands of an abuser -- but it had an impact on them. I wonder if Sam/George will make a film appearance or if he'll be relegated to the novelizations.

I love Bob Orci!
Just for the sheer fact I can spend hours thinking about this and comparing it, I fangirl the writers of the movie as much as the actors.

[templemarker]

Was he explicitly abusive? Because I can see the implication, but not that abuse necessarily followed from a punk-ass kid that stole his stepfather's car.

I'm not sure it follows necessarily that, because Winona was off-world, she was off-world all the time; she was a scientist, and it may simply have been that she was doing research or collaborating elsewhere, but was still based out of Iowa for her work and to parent otherwise. It seems as though you could frame George running away as taking the rare opportunity of his mother being off-world to escape, and Jim acting out for the same reason. Especially since, in the original timeline, Jim was also a pain in the ass to his father; I don't see the steps that take you to an abusive relationship without additional information. Dysfunctional, probably. Difficult, certainly. But not necessarily abusive.

Just for the sheer fact I can spend hours thinking about this and comparing it, I fangirl the writers of the movie as much as the actors.

Word.

[simons_flower]

Was he explicitly abusive?
Though I haven't read the novelization (it's only in trade paperback right now and I haven't brought myself to spend $15 on it -- though I've seen the movie five times, go figure), Frank is apparently either explicitly abusive or it is strongly implied. It's explained that the reason Jim drove the car off the cliff was because it was George's car and Frank was going to sell it to make some quick cash while Winona was off-world. Sam/George had just run away after fighting with Frank about it and Jim stole the car and destroyed it to keep it out of Frank's hands. This is also mentioned on Memory Alpha:In a deleted scene, Jim Kirk was also living with his older brother, George Samuel Kirk, who was running away from home and their abusive stepfather, Frank. The car actually belonged to their biological father, and Frank was planning on selling the car while Winona was off-planet. This is what instigates Jim to steal the car.
The boy walking by the roadside as young Jim blasts by was originally supposed to be Sam/

[templemarker]

I was listening to a podcast Orci and Kurtzman, and they too articulate that Stepfather Frank is abusive, so I have to reluctantly concede it as canon(ish). I guess my problem with it is that it's pretty unnecessary; the trauma of his father's death, coupled with Winona's grief and that of his older brother's, seems sufficient to effect a destabilizing situation for him to grow up in. Adding an abusive stepfather seems almost like a cheap shot on an already difficult scene.

But I do agree that if you take that piece of canon into account, Jim's life growing up must have been that much harder. And that moment, on Delta Vega, dovetails so nicely for me with "Best Destiny" and the relationship that develops between Jim and George Sr following that experience.