This has been a big weekend for reader mail. I wasn’t going to post this…but then the sender posted a comment here.
Hello Mr Goldberg. I’m a fan of yours in a way. I’m actually a fan of
SeaQuest DSV/2032. the show it self maybe cancelled and maybe 10 years old. but to me I’d rather have watched seaQuest over star trek anyday. Now this is just my opinion, but me and many fans firmly beleive the show still has life, and that it still has a future, the shows quote said it the best "For
Beneath The Surface Lies The Future" well today isnt that reality? minus the aliens and pissed off gods and 100 foot crocodiles, seaQuest was actually a good show. oh by the way sorry I shoulda said this sooner, my name is Tristen Tokarchuk. I’m the co-writer of one of the Fan fiction series based
on seaQuest 2032. Except we moved up 8 years to the year 2040, with two new Vessels, the close to 700 Meter UEO Atlantis ASV 8100, and the 500 Meter UEO SeaQuest ASV 4600III. If possible would you like to view Atlantis? If you would heres the link: http://www.geocites.com/atlantisasv. I’m also the head writer of a realitively new fan fic series called "Enterprise DSV" based in the year 2066. i will send you some pics attached to this message
of the Atlantis and SeaQuest. I do have one quesrion though, would it be possible to get a detailed schematic of the SeaQuest DSV 4600I&II.
Here’s what I wrote to Tristen:
You obviously have a lot of energy and talent…and have devoted it to various re-imaginings of SeaQuest and Star Trek. Now it’s time for you to move on to something original, a universe that is entirely your own. If you really want to be a writer, you should move past fan fiction and try creating your own characters, your own worlds. You will be surprised just how exciting it can be…and a bit scary, too, but that’s part of the fun of writing.
But perhaps you don’t want to be a writer. Perhaps your true calling is art and design (you certainly have the talent!). Instead of creating new logos and ships for SeaQuest… how about creating entirely new, original vessels that have nothing to do with the look, feel, and style of the show? Create someting that exists entirely in your own imagination. I know you can do it, because the drawings you sent me certainly prove you have a lot of creativity. Why not give it a try?
Why does Tristen not give original fiction a try as in why does he not create his own universe and characters? Simple. Obviously he likes the SeaQuest universe and characters and likes to play in that arena. And why not if it pleases him?
There will always be people who do just for fun what you professional writers do for a living. And not always is the pro’s work superior must I say as a often sadly disappointed buyer of many shitty books (without making any assumptions to the SeaQuest pro-fic or fanfic, as I’m not familiar with this fandom).
In my hobby cooking course there are a few people who are up to professional standards. That does not mean they want to work as chefs. A friend of mine loves planes and flying and owns his own fleet of restored double-deckers (or what those things are called). He has no intentions of becoming a professional pilot or starting his own airline. And my stockbroker finds a perverse delight in jumping out of airplanes, but I don’t see him joining the para-troopers anytime soon.
I don’t know whether you, Lee, have a hobby (perhaps your busy schedule doesn’t leave you time for one), but what would you say if I told you you should stop doing whatever it is that pleases you to do in your recreational time and start doing it professionally because it’s not worth doing otherwise?
kete
Well someone said it for me. just because something is cancelled doesnt mean we forget about it. how many times has Star Trek been cancelled? how about every other show?. You my freind have a tendency for selfish Arrogance (aimed at goldberg) maybe it’s the big bucks you make hell only knows, what i’m doing maybe non profit, but I have fun, and thats what counts. I’m happy with my profession as a Truck driver thank you very much. All me and the rest of the questies do is keep the universe of SeaQuest alive, hell were making what you would say as nothing, but to us we are making something, it’s not money, it’s called enjoyment and for fun. As I said and many questies will say, the world is headed for life under the ocean. seaQuest maybe a fictional sub, but memories and imagination make it as real as the USS Enterprise CVN-65. to be honest I would like to see a real seaQuest. About the part of the books and the Fan fics, read afew, I assure you there not shitty, there actually good, the last episode of Atlantis me and James Ward wrote was 400 pages long. for Atlantis I also spent my time home from work drawing and sketching the new ASV’s (the Seaquest DSV’s rivals) and bringing alot of sketches I made at school to life in this world. i’m not just a seaquest fan, I’m a fan of the future and the ocean as a whole, in quote from Roy Schieder “for beneath the surface lies the future”
and by the way Goldberg I liked Star Trek once, that was till paramount decided to kill Kirk.
oh and by the way, the Atlantis was in my imagination for ten years, I sculpted it in my art class for a project.
Good point about the Para Troopers, you wouldnt see me joining them, I like subs and aircraft carriers better.
Ladies and gentlemen I have recently been shown this link by a friend of mine and as such am here to put the record straight about a few things.
1. Tristen has nothing at all to do with the Atlantis universe, his attempt to latch onto the extremely sucessful fanfiction series in insulting.
He had said that he is responsible for writing some of the fanfiction and designing the ships for the ASV series.
The man is lying, Atlantis was created by James Ward with help from others to expand the universe, Atlantis has nothing to do with tristen in the slightest and his ‘Enterprise spin off’ is little more than an attempt to cash in as it were on the popularity of the series.
Tristen has nothing to do with Atlantis and as such the writers of that universe have nothing to do with ‘Enterprise.
I love this…people squabbling over who “created” some fanfic. Um, guys, all of you are ripping of SeaQuest, so who gives a shit who “created” your fanfic drivel? Isn’t the basic rule of fanfic that nobody owns anything? Hypocrites.
Actually, on the contrary, there is quite a bit of importance in the matter of who “creates” certain parts of fan fiction. I myself am not directly involved in the creation of spin-off fan fiction but I am aware of the large amounts of effort that does go into making it, whether for fun or whatever reason. Regardless of what series a piece of fan fiction is based on there is still a very large element of the authors own interpretation and creation that goes into it – this is nowhere more apparent than in the case of Atlantis ASV, whch incorporates many original creations into its stories. So lets ease up on the criticism and opinionated comments.
I love it…now the fanficcers are whining about not being recognized as the creators of their work…which has been stolen from someone else in the first place. Unfuckingbelievable. Twelve year olds with modems unite! Shouldn’t you be in bed? You have school tomorrow.
Frakman, how old are you?
I don’t believe that ‘fanfiction’ or ‘fanfic’ as it is called, is theft. By the very nature of the name ‘fan…’ it is simply implying that whoever wrote it, is writing it out of admiring or respect of the original concept. Fans of a TV series or whatever hold repect for such a topic and may even go so far as to expand upon it or shape in a way that they believe it should be.
I really don’t see why there is such a big quarrel over this matter.
The only quarrel that I see is that people taking credit for other’s work. Whilst fanfiction in itself is using other people’s work and expanding upon it, most of the time, it is simply using the established themes as a base on which to build.
I know for a fact that for certain people, very high amounts of work go into fanfiction pieces of work. It is this work, that has been added to the original themes, that the above writers are claiming ownership of.
I believe that they are far within their rights to claim ownership of their own original ideas and creation, even though it has been based of another person’s work.
“I believe that they are far within their rights to claim ownership of their own original ideas and creation, even though it has been based of another person’s work.”
Yeah, what about the original authors? Can’t they claim ownership of their original ideas and creation or is that just a right claimed by fanficcers? apparently it is. The hypocrisy of the fanficcer geeks is sickening.
Listen, Frakman, your entitled to your opinion and I can appreciate your point of view even though I dont necessarily agree with it. I am curious about a few things that you say though.
Firstly: you keep mentioning hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is doing something that they do not publicly condone. For example if James Ward, administrator of the Atlantis ASV website was to be angry about not being credited for his work when he himself did not credit the makers of the original Seaquest venture, then that would be hypocritical. This is not the case however as Ward, as well as most other fan fiction writers, go to great pains to acknowledge and credit the original series creators.
If this isnt the hypocrisy your talking about please let the rest of us know.
Secondly, after my first post you wrote “I love it…now the fanficcers are whining about not being recognized as the creators of their work…”. Was this directed at me in some way? I wasnt aware that my seemingly objective statement was some form of whinge about not being credited for something that I said myself I have not done. I have no idea what you read into that, or if you did at all, and I’m sorry if you saw it that way for some reason or another.
For the record, I am 19, I did not have school the next day and I should not have been in bed for that reason or any other.
“For the record, I am 19, I did not have school the next day and I should not have been in bed for that reason or any other.”
Oh, 19. Forgive me, Daniel. I shouldn’t have said “twelve year olds with modems.” I should have said “teenagers with modems.” I knew I wasn’t talking to an adult. It was clear from your writing and your reasoning that you were a teenager. Your age explains everything, especially your devotion to you SeaQuest fanfic and the importance you attach to it. Now that you’ve confirmed what I suspected, I won’t engage in debate with you. I’m twice as old as you and I don’t argue with children.
“Unfuckingbelievable”. Yes, there is the language of someone whose arguments and opinions should be taken seriously.
If you have nothing better to do than rebut the obviously irrelevant footnotes to the messages that I post, then there is something terribly wrong with your mentality. But since you have I would like to ask what elements of my writing and reasoning is it that troubles you the most? Is it my syntax? Perhaps my punctuation or emphasis? Or is it the fact that someone has an opinion different to yours and is able to support it without launching into a gratuitous personal attack?
Ah, but I forget, I am but 19 and therefore have no such valid opinion. As someone who is twice my age, I would expect you to have at least the courtesy and maturity to respect the opinions that others have put forward. I have tried to remain objective in what I have said previously, even acknowledging and appreciating your arguments, but it is clear to me that you have no such intention of being removed of bias and prejudice and for that I pity you. I have no specific devotion to SeaQuest fan fiction and hence place no importance on it. My comments about fan fiction were general, using Atlantis ASV as an example. Even if I were to have some sort of personal affiliation with fan fiction what difference would it make to what I have said? Nothing I have said so far has gone without justification unlike some of your presumptuous and judgemental statements. I find it extremely remarkable that someone such as yourself, with such profound lack of respect or ability to communicate humanely, sees it fit to discredit both my writings content and style on the basis of age. Nothing you have written makes me think that you are any more intelligent, mature or correct than I am – I openly invite others to comment on this.
You may be interested to know that in Australia, where I reside, citizens are legally adults at the age of 18.
Furthermore Frakman – by the way, why does such a respected and upstanding 38 year old citizen such as yourself hide behind such a name? – you never answered my questions regarding hypocrisy. I am yet to be told by anyone that my example was incorrect in any way, shape or form. I thought that you, being someone who has vehemently denied the accuracy of my statements thus far would be able to realign my perception of what hypocrisy is and how it relates to this particular situation.
Despite the fact that you have made it clear you do not wish to engage in debate with me, I invite you to respond – the more you write, the more I laugh and the more contempt I develop for you.
In regards to my earlier post and the resulting reply, I made no mention of the fan-fiction writer’s ownership of the original theme on which the fanfiction may be based on. I simply made the point that it is the expansion and addition of ideas and material that they have a right to claim ownership of.
The original creaters are well within their rights to claim ownership of their ideas and material. I have yet to see a fanfiction that makes claim to the original material. Most fanfiction works that I have seen have had an attatched discliamer that makes no claim, whatsoever, of the original theme.
Disclaimer: Although I have stolen the original concept, characters, settings, themes and other related elements of this story, this particular expression of it is mine and mine alone and you’d better not take it. If you do, I will go on Lee Goldberg’s blog and say nasty things about you!
I love it when older people try to get stuck into my younger computer nerd friends. Your writings obviously portray your inferior (perhaps even insignificant) intellect and arguing with Daniel is only gonna embarrass you.
I know arguing in writing means you have more time to think of something ‘clever’ to write as a response so i’m sure there’ll be some insults hurled my way, but do yourself a favour and give up now.
BTW: until just now i didnt even know what fanfic was and I have no interest in reading it or who owns the credit.
For the record, I never try to get stuck into young computer nerds. Only buxom Midwestern cheerleaders.
Older people? You can have Atlantis since it never existed in the first place. Call it a real estate gift.
Sorry, I was referring to Frakman. The rest of you seem perfectly reasonable
It’s funny, this Tristen guy has no relation to James Ward and in fact has never spoken to the guy in his life! I happen to be friends with Jim and can say with 100% certainty that Tristen is full of crap.