ST: Gibraltar - An Alternate Universe Tale

[CamSPD]

Hello all. My name is Christina Moore---I am the person co-writing this amazing adventure with Sam.

First, thank you all for the praise you have given the story. Thank you for the praise of my part in it, however small it actually is. Truthfully, I had proposed merely having Columbia make a cameo appearance---I never thought it would turn into a collaboration, and given how very much I enjoy Sam's work, to be asked to continue beyond one scene was an honor.

Oh, and thanks also for the praise of my manip of Liana. Finding more "mature" looking pictures of the actress Sam selected wasn't easy since Natalie Martinez is still in her 20's and thus still bears a very youthful face. But wait until you see what Pava Lar'ragos looks like! Er, that is if Sam ever chooses to share it with you. He might, as he was quite enthusiastic about the work I'd done...

Addressing the issue of Star Wars-inspired characters in Star Trek... My fellow writers in the TOT11F and I included them as a means of enriching the universe we were building, a way of making it bigger and more full of diversity. We by no means intended to copycat SW or the characters/species that inspired ours, but in a couple of cases I admit that it did happen---some of the SW traits were carried over. Ahjar Steb came about because I did a photomanipulation a while back of Jar Jar in a Starfleet uniform, and it turned out so well it just inspired me to create a place for him in my fanfics. Yes, Lt. Steb does have a speech pattern similar to Jar Jar's, but I've purposely avoided making it too heavily Gungan-esque because I was hoping to avoid just the kind of comments that I've read here.

Guess I shoulda just given him a regular, "Stantard" voice. Unless you saw a picture, you'd never have known he was inspired by Jar Jar.

Look, I get that some people don't get/like/understand others wanting to use species from other mythologies in Star Trek fan fiction. Some think it's an insult to Trek, some think it isn't "pure" Trek if the characters aren't a species we know is in Trek. I strongly disagree with both of those opinions---and at risk of offending, isn't it a bit narrow-minded to think that way? Just because a character's species comes from some other mythology doesn't mean it won't fit in a Trek setting. Admittedly, some fit better than others---the Yoda-based character is an example of one that didn't work---but my Twi'lek-inspired captain has been very well received by everyone who has read my work featuring her. And truthfully, most of the SW-inspired characters are secondary background people, the kind you drop into a scene here and there but rarely feature on the frontline.

It's hardly fair not to give the TOT11F universe a chance because of a few deviations from the Trek norm. We should be judged on the quality of our storytelling, not the presence of a few Star Wars-inspired characters. Try reading some of it before you judge it not worth reading.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I agree with the general point you're trying to make (and goodness knows as a big fan of Diane Duane, I like very bold, species-diverse versions of Starfleet), and I had been enjoying the story, but I think that post derailed a bit with the tone in the last paragraph. People don't usually become more receptive to things after having a label stuck on them.

 

[CeJay]

CamSPD, thank you for your insightful explanation for using Star Wars characters in your fanfics. Rest assured that I'm neither offended nor do I judge your works and those of your fellow writers solely because of your use of characters.

In fact I believe you are all quite talented and imaginative writers and I have quite enjoyed the stories I've read.

But I'm afraid the Star Wars characters are just not working out for me. It may have been different if they were just based on physical characteristics but the fact that they speak like their counterparts as well is simply too much of a distraction for me, making me think of Yoda or Jar Jar Binks first instead of the characters you have created.

I applaud your creativity but I think sometimes you have to accept that some readers will disagree with your artistic vision, as it were. In fact, I have managed to turn of readers myself because they disagreed with some of my characters and how I have chosen to portray them. And that's OK, not everything is suppose to work for everyone or otherwise we'd all be writing yet another CSI or NCIS knockoff simply to please the masses.

 

[CamSPD]

I don't quite understand what you mean by "I think that post derailed a bit with the tone in the last paragraph." To what tone do you refer? I believe I was very polite in regard to my opinion, wherein I could have taken great offense and been downright rude. But that's not my style with people I don't know.

Furthermore, I don't believe I stuck a label on anyone. I merely called it as I saw it---one poster in this thread clearly stated he wasn't interested in the TOT11F universe because of the presence of SW-inspired characters, one came down on the use of Jar Jar's speech mannerism, and another the presence of a character inspired by Yoda---I think that's unfair, and yes, a bit narrow-minded. I don't consider that labeling given it describes the sole reason people are avoiding reading our work. What's so wrong about stating my opinion on that? I think it's unfair to judge the project as a whole when you've not read any of it beyond this one story just because there are SW-based species in it.

I daresay a person not receptive to the idea of SW-based species in Trek before is unlikely to change his or her mind no matter what I say or how I say it. It was not my intent to offend, only to explain and offer my opinion.

Sam and I have had a brief chance to talk about the story and getting some more work done on it, possibly in the next week. I do hope everyone continues to enjoy this story.

 

[CamSPD]

CamSPD, thank you for your insightful explanation for using Star Wars characters in your fanfics. Rest assured that I'm neither offended nor do I judge your works and those of your fellow writers solely because of your use of characters.

In fact I believe you are all quite talented and imaginative writers and I have quite enjoyed the stories I've read.

Thank you, CeJay.

But I'm afraid the Star Wars characters are just not working out for me. It may have been different if they were just based on physical characteristics but the fact that they speak like their counterparts as well is simply too much of a distraction for me, making me think of Yoda or Jar Jar Binks first instead of the characters you have created.

To be honest with you, I was never very fond of the inclusion of Yoda's speech mannerism. Was never really fond of the inclusion of Yoda, for that matter. But he's not my character (and he was recently written out due to his not fitting in). As for the Jar Jar thing...you're right. Goodness only knows why I had Steb speak like Jar Jar. Heck, when we were first discussing including SW-based species, I was the one who said we should only make them look like the SW species, but not act like them. Unfortunately no one is infallible, and even I fell prone to making the same mistake. Yet even if I went back and changed Steb's speech pattern, I don't think it would help because the damage has been done. Might do it for future stories anyway...

I applaud your creativity but I think sometimes you have to accept that some readers will disagree with your artistic vision, as it were. In fact, I have managed to turn of readers myself because they disagreed with some of my characters and how I have chosen to portray them. And that's OK, not everything is suppose to work for everyone or otherwise we'd all be writing yet another CSI or NCIS knockoff simply to please the masses.

I know not everyone's going to be keen on an idea, and I accept that. It just was a bit of a shock to see that our project was being dismissed out of hand because of the presence of the SW-based species.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I just didn't think that calling people "narrow-minded" or ending the post in a tone that makes people feel like they're being lectured was a way to win people over. That was my only point. I felt like your point could've stood just fine without that, but instead ends up looking defensive in a way that could make people wary of reading and commenting.

 

[CamSPD]

I wasn't calling anyone narrow-minded, I was calling the two general opinions I cited narrow-minded---I think there's a big difference there. Also, I don't really see how my last paragraph comes off as lecturing when I was making a simple statement about how it was unfair to judge our whole universe based on a few characters, and that I believed it should be given a real chance before being dismissed.

Truthfully, I don't think I was being defensive at all---anyone who knows me would probably tell you I was actually very restrained---though I know I could have been defensive and daresay I'd have had every right to be. Instead of suggesting ways we could help our SW-inspired characters fit in more, the statements I read struck me as nothing but negativity for our including them in the first place. In fact, I found your own statement about "crossbreeding with Star Wars" to be offensive. And if by some remote chance I am misjudging my own reaction, I can only say that I'm fairly certain if someone was to demean your work, dismissing it out of hand based on just a small number of characters, you'd be defensive too.

It was not my intention to give the wrong impression to any of you, but I stand by my opinion that our universe as a whole should not be judged based off of this one story. If a person reads more than one story and decides our version of Trek is not their cup of tea, that's fine. CeJay is right in that you can't please everyone, but at least then they gave it a real chance.