Episode follow up stories

[Christopher]

Hmm. And yet, there have been more than a few "what-if" stories regarding Edith Keeler.

Of course, the best tragedies aren't entirely bleak and hopeless (Edith Keeler's demise prevented Hitler from conquering the world; Pike's not acting to prevent the event that would leave him disfigured, disabled, and entirely dependent on the Talosians prevented a disastrous war).

Many would say the best tragedy ever written is Hamlet. Where's the optimism in Hamlet's ending? Umm, Horatio's cool and he survives?

Like Kirk, I don't believe in the no-win scenario.

That doesn't really apply to tragedies, though. A lot of the time, what makes a story tragic is that there was a way to win, but the protagonists' hubris, fatal flaws, or misfortune prevented them from achieving it.

 

[STMSTS]

When it was in production, I’d given some thought to pitching a Voyager time travel story where Tom Paris has to drive the truck that strikes down Edith Keeler.

 

[DonIago]

That could have been more compelling than "Flashback".

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

A lot of the time, what makes a story tragic is that there was a way to win, but the protagonists' hubris, fatal flaws, or misfortune prevented them from achieving it.

Which is why I find Last Best Hope such an unmitigated downer (as Edwards and Stone's version of Thomas McKean put it in 1776, in reference to Washington's dispatches, that book "would deprrress a hyena"). Picard's relief efforts were doomed from day one, by forces working to guarantee his failure.

 

[Enterprise1701]

I'm a little amazed no story, not even in licensed non-canon, has ever explored what happened to Alicia Travers (from ENT - "Storm Front") and Tessa Omond (from VOY - "Timeless") after history was revised upon the conclusion of the episode.

For his part, Korath, son of Monak (from VOY - "Endgame") has been differently explored in DTI - Watching the Clock and the 2023 Star Trek: Defiant ongoing comic. And Ja'rod, son of Lursa (mentioned in TNG - "Firstborn") has been explored in Star Trek Online.

 

[bdub76]

Which is why I find Last Best Hope such an unmitigated downer (as Edwards and Stone's version of Thomas McKean put it in 1776, in reference to Washington's dispatches, that book "would deprrress a hyena"). Picard's relief efforts were doomed from day one, by forces working to guarantee his failure.

So was her book Never Ending Sacrifice.

If writers presented humans realistically, it would be mostly unhappy endings. Writers need to find a balance between being realistic and being entertaining.

The books I’ve read for book club this year have been more depressing than usual. I always think this is the function of the economy. When it’s good, more depressing media comes out. When it’s bad, more happy media comes out.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Maybe also a function of the political climate as well. Especially given that (especially these days) one reader's dystopia is another's utopia. Case in point, I suspect that there are people out there who don't realize that Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale was intended to be dystopian (and very darkly satirical).

I have only the vaguest recollection of The Never-Ending Sacrifice. But I don't remember it as being nearly the "depress a hyena" downer that Last Best Hope was (although that might be because I wasn't already deeply invested in the characters before the book was written).

 

[bdub76]

Maybe also a function of the political climate as well. Especially given that (especially these days) one reader's dystopia is another's utopia. Case in point, I suspect that there are people out there who don't realize that Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale was intended to be dystopian (and very darkly satirical).

The spin doctors are going to spin. The news and social media make it worse. I’m more fearful of misinformation campaigns than AI.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

When it was in production, I’d given some thought to pitching a Voyager time travel story where Tom Paris has to drive the truck that strikes down Edith Keeler.

That's a little thin for a plot. What else would have happened?

 

[Avro Arrow]

That's a little thin for a plot. What else would have happened?

Let's not get into details, please. There's been a little bit of boundary-pushing on the story idea moratorium recently. The rules are there to protect the authors, as well as the books that we all presumably enjoy. There are other forums on the board where story ideas can be discussed if desired.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I was just curious if the poster had any more details about their proposed pitch (which they could spoiler tag).

 

[Avro Arrow]

I was just curious if the poster had any more details about their proposed pitch (which they could spoiler tag).

To be totally honest with you, I don't actually know if spoiler tagging really gets around the legal issue or not. How does one prove they didn't click on a button?

If we look at the rule as posted by trampledamage...

DON'T POST STORY IDEAS IN THIS FORUM
We've had a couple of instances recently of people not realising that they shouldn't post story ideas in this forum, so here's a reminder


Because we have professional Trek authors reading and posting in this forum (and because we'd like them to stay), we cannot have story ideas/speculation posted in this forum. Unsolicited story ideas are a legal minefield for authors because of the risk of someone suing them saying "you stole my idea". It doesn't matter if you say 'steal away', we can't have any story ideas here.


There is a fan fiction forum down in the Star Trek Fandom section of the BBS which is the perfect place for posting and discussing story ideas that you have. You could even try writing them yourself

... it doesn't say "make sure story ideas are spoiler-coded", it says don't post them at all. So no offence to @STMSTS , but I don't really want them to post any details, spoiler-coded or not.

If we want to talk about what we'd like to see in future books, it has to be in vague terms, sorry.

 

[Falconer]

Yesterday’s Son is a sequel to “All Our Yesterdays” (incorporating also elements from “City on the Edge of Forever” and “The Enterprise Incident”). It in turn has a sequel, Time for Yesterday.

Slightly off-topic, but worth a post amid a long thread: lots of RPG adventures are sequels to episodes.

“The Galileo Seven” —> “The Shuttlecraft Crash”
“The Slaver Weapon” —> “The Slaver Ruins”
“The Tholian Web” —> “Ghosts of Conscience”
“The Trouble with Tribbles” —> “Again, Troublesome Tribbles”
“The Devil in the Dark” —> Witness for the Defense
“Arena” —> Demand of Honor
“Journey to Babel” —> Margin of Profit
“Operation—Annihilate!” —> “Lost and Presumed Dead”
“The Doomsday Machine” —> A Doomsday Like Any Other
“Whom Gods Destroy” —> Decision at Midnight
“Errand of Mercy” —> Conflict of Interests
“The Lights of Zetar” —> Old Soldiers Never Die
“Whom Gods Destroy” —> Return to Axanar
The Voyage Home —> “The Hottest Blood of All”
“A Piece of the Action” —> “Another Piece of the Action”
“Mudd’s Passion” —> “Hard Rock Catastrophe”

And more, possibly much more. Those are just the ones that I have run (or am close to running.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Can someone add this to the index of reference threads? @Avro Arrow ?

 

[JD]

I saw some references to Strange New Worlds: The High Country connecting to an episode of one of the other series. Whis episode is it?

 

[James Swallow]

I saw some references to Strange New Worlds: The High Country connecting to an episode of one of the other series. Whis episode is it?

"North Star" from Enterprise season 3.

 

[DonIago]

"North Star" from Enterprise season 3.

I've been impressed with SNW, and I'll reserve judgment until I've seen it, but that sounds like potentially the follow-up nobody was asking for, heh.

 

[JD]

"North Star" from Enterprise season 3.

OK, thanks. I'll give that one a watch before I start the book.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Can someone add this to the index of reference threads? @Avro Arrow ?

I'd do it if the thread weren't locked.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Can someone add this to the index of reference threads? @Avro Arrow ?

So here's a tip: the board software won't actually notify the person if you add a tag in by editing the post. I don't know why this is. So if you want to have the person be notified, the tag has to be there when the post is first, um, posted. In this case, you probably would have been better off to quote the original post, then put the tag in the new one. Just for future reference.

At any rate, I have added this into the reference thread for you. My apologies, I did originally see the initial request (before the edit to add the tag), but I was on mobile at the time, and I don't like messing around with those things on mobile. I planned to do it next time I was on a computer, but then I... forgot. Sorry.