New frontiers
Jun. 17th, 2003 02:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wiseheartAll right. I've written the standard introduction to my alternate Voyager series. I think a different fandom is exactly what I need right now.
Voyager. For me, the show of missed opportunities. And it had so much promise when it first hit the air. Two antagonized factions, forced to work together for an almost impossible goal to reach. Conflicts between main characters (Chakotay and Paris, for starters). A female main hero (yes, I’m a feminist at heart, so shoot me). A whole quadrant full of unknown species, cultures and alliances. And, of course, the Borg.
Very few of these promises have been fulfilled during Voyager’s seven-year-old odyssey. The most interesting characters either spiraled down to two-dimensional clichés (to mention Chakotay and Paris again, or B’Elanna’s increasingly annoying forays into her Klingon half) or got written out of the series (Kes – I’ll never cease mourning about her departure). Others (cough*Kim*cough) never got any true character traits. The most threatening aliens (like the Hirogen, Species 8472, and above all the Borg) were neutralized by completely ridiculous means. One wonders how they had managed to terrorize a whole quadrant before Voyager arrived to put them on their places. The Kazon, the main adversaries of the first two seasons, well – nobody could take them seriously. Without Seska they’d never stand a chance against Voyager. Other interesting groups (like the advanced Ocampa around the female Caretaker) got forgotten after one single episode.
There was never any true conflict between the Starfleet and the Maquis crew. Now, just how believable is that? We never truly saw any crewmembers in-depth, save Ensign Wildman. Chakotay rapidly degenerated into Janeway’s lapdog, and Paris never experienced any harassment for his past (from either side), nor did he have any inner conflicts to deal with, despite having caused the death of his best friends, been disowned by his own father and spent years in prison. Very convincing indeed.
So I decided to rewrite the show for my own pleasure, in the hope that there might be some people who’d be interested in a different version. I adopted a few characters from other Star Trek series but created practically no original ones. I also adopted a number of canon episodes into my AU-fanon, with slight alterations only.
Yes, this is an AU. The main structure and a lot of dialogue is taken from the episodes, but the personal interaction between the characters is very different. And they won’t end up with he mates given them in canon, because I found most of the pairings completely unbelievable.
Some episodes – no, actually a few complete story arcs – I completely edited from my AU. These are respectively:
1) Every story concerning Q. I hated the guy in the first moment he appeared in “Encounter at Farpoint”, and I’ve kept hating him every time he appeared in one of the series. No need for god-like beings who always win and behave like irresponsible teenagers, thank you very much.
2) Every idiotic holodeck adventure. People falling for holograms. Photonic beings in general. I’m interested in real people. And when the most popular character of a show is a hologram, it means that the show sucks at characterization, big time.
3) The Doctor’s ego trips, whether in reality or in malfunction-induced haze. I like the character, but – see above.
4) Seven’s forays into humanity, with the usual dire consequences. Who cares for Space Babe’s hobbies? I don’t. So shoot me.
5) Stories where the Borg come over as incompetent idiots, just to be beaten by Janeway single-handedly. Also, stories with the Borg children would be strongly reduced in importance. Robots and children in sci-fi are the worst cliché possible.
6)Head trips, possession stories, events happening in imagination only. Especially Borg head trips like Unimatrix Zero.
Instead, there will be serious conflicts between Starfleet and Maquis crews, some harsh but necessary decisions, and Kathryn Janeway won’t always win. Quite the contrary.
I'm going to hide from the rotten tomatoes now.
Voyager. For me, the show of missed opportunities. And it had so much promise when it first hit the air. Two antagonized factions, forced to work together for an almost impossible goal to reach. Conflicts between main characters (Chakotay and Paris, for starters). A female main hero (yes, I’m a feminist at heart, so shoot me). A whole quadrant full of unknown species, cultures and alliances. And, of course, the Borg.
Very few of these promises have been fulfilled during Voyager’s seven-year-old odyssey. The most interesting characters either spiraled down to two-dimensional clichés (to mention Chakotay and Paris again, or B’Elanna’s increasingly annoying forays into her Klingon half) or got written out of the series (Kes – I’ll never cease mourning about her departure). Others (cough*Kim*cough) never got any true character traits. The most threatening aliens (like the Hirogen, Species 8472, and above all the Borg) were neutralized by completely ridiculous means. One wonders how they had managed to terrorize a whole quadrant before Voyager arrived to put them on their places. The Kazon, the main adversaries of the first two seasons, well – nobody could take them seriously. Without Seska they’d never stand a chance against Voyager. Other interesting groups (like the advanced Ocampa around the female Caretaker) got forgotten after one single episode.
There was never any true conflict between the Starfleet and the Maquis crew. Now, just how believable is that? We never truly saw any crewmembers in-depth, save Ensign Wildman. Chakotay rapidly degenerated into Janeway’s lapdog, and Paris never experienced any harassment for his past (from either side), nor did he have any inner conflicts to deal with, despite having caused the death of his best friends, been disowned by his own father and spent years in prison. Very convincing indeed.
So I decided to rewrite the show for my own pleasure, in the hope that there might be some people who’d be interested in a different version. I adopted a few characters from other Star Trek series but created practically no original ones. I also adopted a number of canon episodes into my AU-fanon, with slight alterations only.
Yes, this is an AU. The main structure and a lot of dialogue is taken from the episodes, but the personal interaction between the characters is very different. And they won’t end up with he mates given them in canon, because I found most of the pairings completely unbelievable.
Some episodes – no, actually a few complete story arcs – I completely edited from my AU. These are respectively:
1) Every story concerning Q. I hated the guy in the first moment he appeared in “Encounter at Farpoint”, and I’ve kept hating him every time he appeared in one of the series. No need for god-like beings who always win and behave like irresponsible teenagers, thank you very much.
2) Every idiotic holodeck adventure. People falling for holograms. Photonic beings in general. I’m interested in real people. And when the most popular character of a show is a hologram, it means that the show sucks at characterization, big time.
3) The Doctor’s ego trips, whether in reality or in malfunction-induced haze. I like the character, but – see above.
4) Seven’s forays into humanity, with the usual dire consequences. Who cares for Space Babe’s hobbies? I don’t. So shoot me.
5) Stories where the Borg come over as incompetent idiots, just to be beaten by Janeway single-handedly. Also, stories with the Borg children would be strongly reduced in importance. Robots and children in sci-fi are the worst cliché possible.
6)Head trips, possession stories, events happening in imagination only. Especially Borg head trips like Unimatrix Zero.
Instead, there will be serious conflicts between Starfleet and Maquis crews, some harsh but necessary decisions, and Kathryn Janeway won’t always win. Quite the contrary.
I'm going to hide from the rotten tomatoes now.
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(no subject)
Date: 2003-06-17 04:26 pm (UTC)There was one episode where it looked like that was happening - but then it turned out to have been some sort of mind control. Sigh. But, at least it was a nod in that direction.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-06-18 02:10 am (UTC)