Ignoring Canon/Continuity

[McCovey Cove]

I'm sure this happens a lot in writing, but I was curious... are there episodes or perhaps whole series/movies that you ignore when writing?

Personally, I ignore "Star Trek: Enterprise" when writing any pre-TOS series. With the exception of the last half of the fourth season, I found the whole series to be abominable.

-- ZC

 

[TheLoneRedshirt]

A good question.

Personally, I tend to ignore most of the TOS movies - Final Frontier especially. I also ignore the events of the animated series (although I do use some of the alien species like the Caitians). Of course, I don't think TAS is considered canon, anyway.

 

[RobertScorpio]

Not me. I actually like TREK V and just referred to it recently.

 

[McCovey Cove]

Well, I can't ignore TMP. I use the refit Consitution-class. And I can't ignore TWOK, because I use the Miranda-class, too. But I do ignore the NX-class and the events surrounding Captain Archer.

-- ZC

 

[McCovey Cove]

Not me. I actually like TREK V and just referred to it recently.

TFF is the worst of the movies, imho. Sybok is an abomination and I ignore his existence entirely.

-- ZC

 

[Captain X]

I ignore Enterprise, ST5, Insurrection, and Nemesis, as well as several episodes of Voyager.

 

[Mysterion]

I tend to ignore most of Voyager. USS Voyager still disappeared and eventually came back, but that's about all I count in my verison of the ST universe.

 

[McCovey Cove]

I ignore Enterprise, ST5, Insurrection, and Nemesis, as well as several episodes of Voyager.

Which episodes, out of curiosity? I could think of one, "Threshold."

-- ZC

 

[captcalhoun]

Sybok's existance is logical, as Spock's half-brother, but his god-quest is rather daft...

i routinely contradict TATV*, i hand-wavingly ignore Threshold, Spock's Brain and The Way to Eden by not taking any notice of them and never referencing them.

I use Caitians, Nasats (M3 Green's species) and Triexians (Arex's race), but generally ignore TAS.

*i even wrote a short story called Those Were NOT the Voyages which explained Riker's holo-prog to be based on a maliciously hacked database.

 

[Michael]

Triexians (Arex's race)

I thought they were (non-canonically) called Edosians.

 

[Mistral]

I try to adhere to info based at Memory Alpha-because underneath it all I'm lazy and don't want to keep my own notes. However-if a story calls for stepping away from canon I will do it as long as its not involving a major Event-Like Kirk being dead, Picard having met Sarek, etc. Usually, though, my deviations are due to a faulty memory of what was portrayed. I do ignore TAS pretty much because I can only remember bits and pieces from my childhood. Oh, and terrible as it is to admit around here-i kinda like Enterprise. So the NX stays in my canon.

 

[Mysterion]

Triexians (Arex's race)

I thought they were (non-canonically) called Edosians.

I've a personal preference for the term "edoan", myself.

"Triexian" is Peter David's term, and just too cutsey for my tastes (they got three legs and arms so they're TRIexians! get it?).

 

[Lilith]

It depends on the story really.

I write solely TNG on account of only watching TNG routinely. I did see a few DS9 and VOY eps, but that's it. Evenso, if it's a story that is intended to stick to canon, I do some research so that my story won't contradict important canonical facts. This is also why I don't write stories set after Nemesis, simply because Nem tied up a lot of loose ends and leaves little to work with (I almost always center my stories around Troi and don't like her hooking up with Riker).

If I conceive a storyline which I know will contradict canon, I'll put it under the AU-disclaimer. Or, with my current story, I stick to canon as long as I can until there's no choice left but to go against it and even then still incorporate canon happenings as much as possible. (Parallel universe like).

That said, I don't think canon is the be all and end all of a good fic, I do however enjoy fics that use canonsituations (like missions or personalrelationships) and twist them just a little bit. For me that's the reason to write fanfic. "I enjoyed episode x, but I think it would've been even better if the writers had added a little y".

Also, sometimes it's just fun to put characters in situations they'd never encounter in canon

 

[Gibraltar]

Triexians (Arex's race)

I thought they were (non-canonically) called Edosians.

I've a personal preference for the term "edoan", myself.

Ah, someone else who remembers FASA!

 

[hellsgate]

I tend to ignore TAS as I don't know anything about it & I don't know anyone who's uploaded entire episodes to the file-sharing sites (in example: MegaUpload.Com, etc.) I reference the occasional website pertaining to the T'zen-Kethi, the Gorn and maybe Lt. Arex & the rest of the Edosian (Edoan / Triexian) species.

I just wish there were more information, as there are a lot of threads suggesting a possible resurrection of TOS / TAS / TMP era races and/or specific characters for episodes within series containing flashbacks & possibly "Excelsior" & "Relativity"-based Temporal Cold War stories in pro-lit & fan fiction. I don't rule out anyone or anything completely, as alt-universe and mirror universe stories can go virtually anywhere.

 

[Gibraltar]

I don't mind cherry-picking favorites from all the various Trek series, though I do try and stay as close to canon as possible. Though I wasn't crazy about Enterprise as a series, I've named a few 24th century starships after characters introduced in that series. Seeing as the events in that show took place 200 years prior to the era I'm writing in, those events really don't come up much.

I was disappointed with Voyager as a series, but have found myself referencing the series rather heavily in my fanfic work, mainly because one of my primary characters is from the Delta Quadrant. I also had 'The Q and the Gray' figure pretty substantially in one of my stories, though mainly as a background referent.

When in doubt as to something's 'canon' title, I usually defer to Memory Alpha's judgment.

 

[Admiral2]

I ignore all of it when I'm writing Star Trek: MY way!

Otherwise, no, because if I'm writing canon trek fic, there are some useful things in all of it.

 

[DavidFalkayn]

I try to keep to the spirit of canon/continuity as much as possible, although I will, from time to time, deviate from the letter if the situation calls for it. As regards series, I do count Enterprise as continuity, although, as Gibraltar points out, it really doesn't figure that much into United Trek--yet. I also tend to defer to Memory Alpha as regards canon, but again, don't feel strictly bound by it.

 

[Dnoth]

I've gotta say, I really hate time-travel; particularly the Temporal Cold War. I liked Enterprise, minus that (so there's seasons 1, 2, & 3)

So I tend to steer clear of that aspect of Trek canon.

 

[McCovey Cove]

Full Speed Ahead has to strictly obey the canon of The Next Generation. Since it takes place within the continuity of a canon series, the adventures of the Farragut cannot override the adventures of the Enterprise. Maybe that's why a lot of people like to write outside of a series end to have that kind of freedom, but I feel that the challenge of walking the line for FSA and TNG is pretty cool.

-- ZC