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The SID 20-Year Anniversary by Travis Anderson
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| The Spy, the Rebel, the Daredevil, the Fighter, the Lightbulb, the Muscle, the Fixer, the Rock, the Brain, and one ship shared by all. The tale continues... |
Hello,
June 2019 marks the 20th Anniversary of the beginning of the Special Investigations Division here on ex-astris-scientia.org. EAS has hosted the series since its very beginning. A partnership for which I am grateful for.
The SID began accidentally after my writing my first entry for Pocket Books' Star Trek Strange New Worlds writing contest. The rules stipulated focusing on a primary or recurring character or be disqualified. I chose Ro Laren and set out to explore her time with the Maquis. And we can see all kinds of mischief was born with that intention.
But Ro's world was filled with previously unknown characters, giving me room to expand that pocket of Star Trek lore. In doing so I created several characters that would loom large in my mind. Brin Macen being chief amongst them. And T'Kir, Lisea Danan, Aric Tulley, and Emjin Thool also became larger pieces in Ro's expanding world.
During my writing these submissions, I began to wonder what happened to some of the characters after the Dominion's purge of the Maquis and the subsequent Dominion War. So I wrote Special Investigations Division: Odyssey to answer it. Over the course of the next few years I was heavily influenced by Farscape, Firefly, and my expanding exploration of the 007 film series, of which "License to Kill" had been the first I'd seen and I'd gotten hooked with "Goldeneye".
The United Federation of Planets has always been an experimental idealistic dream of humanity for before and after it makes contact with other races. But every noble and benevolent civilization in Earth's history, and as written into Star Trek, and including every alien civilization an underbelly of criminality and corruption persists. Section 31 being as much a symptom as a cure as seen throughout DS9's last two years. I won't be acknowledging the Kelvinverse here since it's hardly applicable. The SID is set in the Prime Universe as closely adhering to canon as I can, my collaborative partner's assertions notwithstanding.
Milo Pinter gave me characters to work (USS Intrepid and crew) as well a synopsis of his proposed fan film (which has been legally quashed) and characters from the SID series would've appeared in it as well. In the initial casting process the actress who would play T'Kir had been selected. And since it would have been an English subtitled German speaking film it would've broadened fandom. But I'm left to keep the dream alive.
J. Grey at least approached me to ask to use Macen in one of Christmas specials. Others rudely used the character without seeking permission. Which, Brin Macen may cohabitate the Star Trek universe owned by CBS and Paramount but Macen the character is my intellectual property and it's not only impolite but illegal to steal characters from the SID without written or verbal consent. That was the major factor in the "Axanar" fiasco. CBS and Paramount wanted money and crowd funding proved there was money in fan films. Why do you think "Of Gods and Men" spawned off Star Trek Renegades? Every one of their regulations is aimed at generating revenue.
The literary realm is harder to get under control since it has been tacitly consented to since 1969 but eventually Pocket Books and CBS will get an itch and force everyone to pay licensing fees or have the stories taken down. Just fair warning.
Anyway, the Special Investigation Division series concluded so that the broader Tales of the Special Investigation Division could be born. And the prequel series The Cause could also happen. And so twenty years in my own internal commitment is one story per series (Tales & Cause) per year. And I will continue to endeavor to do so until I have to license my work.
Thank you all who've read the various series. You wouldn't believe the opportunities that have arisen since I started this project and I have no idea how much further they can go. And none of it would have occurred without you people.
Best wishes,
Travis
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 | Last modified: 12 Jun 2022 http://fiction.ex-astris-scientia.org/sid_anniversary_20.htm |