Payment MU story thread

[blacknblue]

This is the kind of things I wanted to discuss. I don't see MU as a true mirror. I see it as a distorted alternate universe, where choices were made in the past that sent them down a different path. Maybe a universe where the laws of nature are just slightly different enough to make people think a little bit differently.

For example, in MU Cochrane supposedly shot the first Vulcan he met and led a charge to take over their landing craft. Theoretically that *could* have happened in RU. There was nothing to physically stop it from happening (except the presence of TNG crewpeople, but that's a different debate).

So why did the MU peopel make one set of choices, and the RU people make a different set? Is it just that in an infinite multi-verse there is going to be someone, somewhere that makes every possible choice and this is the universe where it happene3d to occur? Or is there something about the MU that causes people there to be a little bit stupider? Or a little bit more emotional? or little bit more competitive, or less generous, or simply more fearful of each other and thus more prone to strike first?

Thoughts please?


Oh, and BTW. I am still working on Purgatory. Progress is advancing slowly. This fic is actually refreshing my mind, because I was vapor locking on Purgatory. Now I am starting to clear my head and feel more like moving along on both of them.

[Rigil Kent]

I blame Archer and the rest of the NX-01 crew for their screwing around with the timeline during World War 2. They're responsible for the formation of the Mirror Universe.

[blacknblue]

That might explain how the cross connection was made. If I understand quantum theory at all (I don't, I am faking it) there are supposed to be an infinite number of potential universes. So why is this particular universe the one that people from RU always get transferred to? Maybe the timeline muckup really is the answer. It seems as likely as any other Trek explanation.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

I don't see the MU as a strict mirror of our universe. Everyone isn't just bad or evil. MU Spock was more good than MU Kirk, and MU T'Pol struck me as more good than MU Archer, who was just evil... and crazy to boot. The DS9 mirror episodes I've seen also has some characters that are more good than others.

Had the mirror stories not had some multi-dimensional characters, then it would be really uninteresting.

So I guess the Trek MU is just on of a multitude of alternate universes out there.

[Zane Gray]

Which presumably this new book anthology is going to explore. It's a fascinating idea, although it runs the edge of fanfiction.

[blacknblue]

I do have one difference of opinion with the commercial anthology writers. I don't necessarily think that MU T'Pol would feel any affection or regard for MU Trip. At least not at first. The way I see it, she used him the same way she used Archer and the other Humans aboard MU ENT, for her own purposes as tools to advance her own interests.

The MU fics I have read so far always seem to assume (the ones I have read anyway) that the MU versions of TnT share the same affection that RU TnT share, albeit in a twisted fashion. I don't see that as being necessarily true. I am trying to explore the ramifications of this in terms of being bonded by biological instinct to someone that you disrespect and despise. In fact, someone that you regard as a mortal enemy.

[Distracted]

Hmmm. That's really twisted, BnB...but I imagine that participants in arranged marriages throughout history occasionally found themselves in similar situations, especially back in medieval times when marriages were often arranged to unify two warring kingdoms.

I always thought that in order for a true mating bond to occur there had to be more than just a physical union. Guess it could be the romantic in me, though.

[blacknblue]

How could there bemore than just a physical union if, for example, Spock had won the kalifee and kept T'Pring? Or if Koss had gone into Pon Farr and T'Pol had followed through on her contract and gone to him? They would have ended up mating during Pon Farr and, if I understand what was presented in canon properly, they would have ended up with some kind of reinforcement of their telepathic connection (since all Vulcans are touch telepaths anyway). But I can't see any affection resulting from such a union, based strictly on satisfying a partner's biological need.

Can you?

[Emberchyld]

I do believe that, for MU versus RU, nurture plays a major role in the difference between people. MU must have had a twist somewhere along the way (I like the WW2 theory. It could have even happened during the Eugenics wars, though) where humanity embraced aggression over peace (we teeter on that knife edge daily, even in our own lives. Most of us have moral codes that keep us from killing, stealing, ho-ing around...). It's easy enough-- put us in a situation where only the strong survive and we might learn to use aggression to get ahead. Parents will teach it to children, children will have aggressors as role models, society will reward this behavior and so forth. So, someone who, in a more peaceful environment, would be a "Good" person, could, essentially, become as "evil" as their basic personality allows when raised in this other environment.

Of course, I don't see a major overhaul of their base personality. For example, Barclay from (TNG), probably would not be high on the MU social ladder because his base personality is nervous and timid.

As for the TnT relationship... I do have the same romantic leanings as Distracted. I think there's something particularly special about their bond because Trip isn't a telepath (That we know of), so something stronger than a typical Vulcan mating bond has to be there. I always wondered if that mating bond was not just touch telepathy but a bit of affection thrown in, too. We do know that (based off of scientific studies) in *ahem* mating *ahem* amongst humans, our brains flood with "happy" chemicals that have us, at least at the beginning, overlook the little flaws of our partners, "bonding" us. We still need to have affection for our partners, though, for it to really work. Since Vulcans suppress their emotions, and Vulcan emotions are so violently strong (And released somewhat during Ponn Farr), perhaps the rush is just so much more, really fusing that bond in the way that we see them. But there must be some couples who only have a superficial bond and others who are REALLY bonded. TnT appear to have an unusually strong mating bond in the RU, and I do think real affection played a role in forming that over a long period of time and not just their one "fling".

[blacknblue]

To me, the bond between MU TnT is not as strong as the one between RU TnT. At least not at first.

Look at the episode. Trip asks T'Pol to help him get out of the engineering area, where he is being slowly killed by radiation exposure. She replies, "Why should I do that?" He points out that he helped her out with her Pon Farr and she reacts with anger that he would dare to bring that up and throw it in her face.

Sound like affection to you?

[hth2k]

BnB I am quite interested in your exploration of the MU characters as you describe them.

I also see them as natural enemies in that universe. Tucker is a member of the Empire and T'Pol one of the conqueres subject races.

You have a wonderful opportunity to explore these individuals as formed by their societies, environments and their reactions and interactions. You may also wish to consider the essential nature of each individual regardless of which environment they are in and what if any effects this may have.

HtH

[blacknblue]

That's what I'm shooting for. Keep me on the straight and narrow.

[Shakabutt]

Well ,we can't really say that there isn't affection between them in the MU ,or that it is ,we really don't know what happened between them before IAMD ,maybe they liked this game of cat and mouse ,especially T'Pol ,personally i definatelly see some sort of twisted affection between them (the scene where Trip walks away and she looks at him so guilty ) .
Its really hard to say if they were in love ,or they were atractted to each other in a twisted way ,but i can't see them as mortal enemies .

And i don't see any resemblance between her interactions with Archer and those with Tucker .
In every scene with Archer she is one step away to being killed ,threatend with a gun to her head .Mu Archer and Mu T'Pol are as mortal enemies as it can get.
But in every scene with Tucker there is at least a sexual felling there ,i think she liked the way he got in her personal space ,the way he treathend her ,but maybe she pushed him to far that time .

[Bookworm]

I have been following this story and just wanted to comment that I like it. I think you have managed well to make the charachters feel really MU.

[CX]

Hey stranger.