Must there be Mysterons?

[Marion]

I am not sure quite where this post ought to go - but I think it fits best in Fan Fiction.
I would like to know what people think:

Should every Captain Scarlet story involve the Mysterons or has the fandom expanded beyond those confines?
I know that some of the later comic stories turned Scarlet & Blue into what has been described as 'inter-galactic policemen' and some of the stories on the website do not involve Mysteron threats. But, as the series is Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons should the Mysterons always be there?

If the answer is 'yes, they should' - does it matter how they are included, by which I mean, should every story follow the format of Mysteron threat and the thwarting of it?

It isn't that important, it is merely that with the Halloween and Christmas challenges ongoing (or soon to be in the case of Christmas) I wondered if stories without the typical Mysteron element were considered to be acceptable and were popular with readers.

[hazel]

I was wavering between all three answers, so took the coward's way out.

My own view on this is that I can rarely think of a decent threat, so I tend to avoid the "threat of the week" kind of story that the original series used. However, the Mysterons are usually there, lurking in the background. There are several excellent stories on the site that have the Mysterons as a minor element - no threats, no killings, just there in the background as a brooding menace.

They are, for better or worse, part of the lives of Spectrum and its agents. Spectrum can't ignore the Mysterons, even when they're inactive. Therefore, we can't ignore them either, but our stories don't have to FEATURE them.

Did that make any sense?

[Marion]

Yes, I think it did, Hazel. It is more or less what I think - I think
For the members of Spectrum, the Mysterons are a fact of life (and death) but in some cases they do limit the imagination. Certainly if you only used the threats of the original series, all they'd do is blow things up. Exciting on screen, but fairly dull on paper.

I also think I shouldn't have put the 3rd option in the poll - basically it is - as you say - a bit of a cop out.

[Kambei]

I voted with teh 'Doesn't matter' option. After all, what do Spectrum agents do between Mysteron threats? Spectrum was created months before Captain Black went on the Mars mission. They were set up as a special security organisation.

[Sage]

I'm working on the same principle as Kambei. So far none of my stories have actually involved a mysteron threat, and nobody's complained.
It's just not a format that plays to my strengths as a writer*. I like to read them though, and am extra impressed when it works well.
I think overall it's better to have a fundementally good story that works with the 'feel' of the fandom, than a mediocre story just for the sake of plotting convention.

*If I'm going to do a threat then it would have to be a catalyst for something else. Because basically I can't write action fics, or at least keep them properly action-fueled for very long. Many a story has been ditched because the ratio of 'Ochre being witty/adorable/consoling' to 'the actual point' got too skewed towards the former.

[Carrie]

Perhaps I'm beng disloyal to the central premise of the Captain Scarlet series, but I confess my choice is number three, ie if the story is well written it doesn't have to contain a Mysteron threat.
From what I've read over the past few years, fan-fic stories by nature like to explore themes and ideas that the films/TV series/books did not, such as relationhips between the characters, so our CS fandom isn't unusual in featurng stories that dont include an 'enemy' in every tale. That said, they are useful when required, and, as Marion and Hazel have said, even the mention of them in the 'background' of a story, even if they are not part of the primary plot, or theme, can be useful in settng a tone and maintaning continuity.

[Skybase Girl]

I decided to vote for the second option, mainly because I write NCS, which as we all know is New Captain Scarlet - no Mysterons involved in the title.

I assume this may be because the producers didn't consider the Mysterons essential to every plot line, so I have happily followed suit. This is mainly because as a writer, I don't think science fiction is really my strong point, so if I can avoid having these mysterious beings cluttering up my kitchen sink dramas, all well and good

The other thing is that I find the whole premise behind the War of Nerves slightly ridiculous, so I suspect I avoid too much Mysteron involvement for fear of being bogged down in scenarios which I cannot successfully explain even to myself. I don't have a scientific mind, unlike some of the excellent writers on this forum !

It does beg the question of why I am so compelled to try to write about this show, but life is perverse and I never make things easy when they can be difficult !

Seriously, I agree with those who have chosen number three - if a story is sufficiently well-written, it doesn't matter. It will stand alone as a good piece of fiction. And there are usually enough stories being produced fairly regularly to ensure that someone will be including the Mysterons !

[RhapsodyAngel8]

I was torn between the second and third options *decisions, decisions... * – they are very similar – but finally plumped for the latter. Yes, I’m afraid I copped out as well.

As Hazel states, the Mysterons are always there in the background, their influence an insidious undercurrent, and characters and their actions will be influenced by this to varying degrees; this can make for a very compelling story without reference to any specific threat. Whilst I thoroughly enjoy the action and excitement of our lads thwarting yet another dastardly Mysteron threat, I also like finding out more about the characters themselves: their personal lives, what makes them tick, how they interact with others etc. I don’t feel that we always need the inclusion of a specific Mysteron threat for that to be revealed.

Besides, if a Captain Scarlet story – be it OCS or NCS – always had to feature a Mysteron threat, it may well make it hard to write and possibly make it appear somewhat contrived, especially in the case of less-experienced writers (such as myself); certainly in my case, trying to write a coherent and readable story is tricky enough at the best of times, let alone having to come up with a plausible threat around which to base the story in the first place!

So, I think there is definitely a place for both – stories with, or without, Mysteron threats – as long as they are well-written and enjoyable to read. There is such a wonderful collection of both types of story in the SHQ fanfiction library that we are quite spoiled for choice.

[Intensity Angel]

I actually voted for no, you can have a story without the mysterons, and the main reason why I chose this is because the first Captain Scarlet story I ever wrote was about NCS Scarlet as a little boy (Like Father, Like Son) and the Mysterons didn't get one little mention.

In my mind a Captain Scarlet story's basic requirement is the use one or more of the main Spectrum characters (Colonel White, The Angels etc), regardless if the Mysterons are present or not. A Captain Scarlet character is used so it is a Captain Scarlet fan fiction. (Why do I get the feeling I've said too much and started a fire?)

There are plenty of fan fics which are based around one or more characters with no reference to the Mysterons.

I'm writing a OS fic, for a challenge, based around one of the Angels doing an activity that has NOTHING what so ever to do with the Mysterons. Personally I don't see the Mysterons as a requirement. In the OS series things happen that don't have anything to do with the Mysterons like Captain Blue's talk on monkeys, so why should fan fiction?

[Shades]

I agree with the mostly-general consensus that it's possible to have a Captain Scarlet story, either OS or NCS, without the Mysterons. Like others have said before they weren't exactly sitting on their hands before the Mars mission and those earth-based threats wouldn't stop just because of a booming voice over the radio and strange 'accidents'.

[Parker Gabriel]

If the Mysterons are ALWAYS needed, then the stories DO sound rather contrived. I'm attempting to deal with that by having Captain Scarlet join International Rescue--the ThunderBirds--on an irregular, as-needed basis and taking the code name of ThunderBird Scarlet when on such assignments. The first story I'm writing along those lines, which (no thanks to those bloody Mysterons) repeatedly continues to defy my efforts to complete it, is intended to be titled "The Scarlet ThunderBird." It will deal with the Mysterons threatening that "the hand that helps the world," meaning The ThunderBirds Of International Rescue, which is, after all, a CIVILIAN rescue team, "will be broken," and Captain Scarlet joining IR to deal against that threat.

[Marion]

I always thought International Rescue was the name of the organisation and 'Thunderbird' the name of the craft. If that's the case then 'Thunderbird Scarlet' could be a code name for Thunderbird 3

There's also been some debate - as far as I'm aware - about if the two series share a timeline. Wasn't Thunderbirds set much earlier in the Anderverse than Captain Scarlet? I have seen dates for Jeff Tracy's birthday as early as 1970 and as late as 2009.

[hazel]

Marion has it right - the Thunderbirds (note the small "b", please, Parker Gabriel) are the vehicles. The people are members of International Rescue. The mistake of referring to the people as "Thunderbirds" came from the 2004 Thunderbirds film.

[Parker Gabriel]

This roster of International Rescue to which I'm referring, though it's still dominated by members of the Tracy family who are all related to Jeff Tracy, is not the original 2020s generation that prevented sabotage of the first Zero-X Mission to the planet Mars and later, after it ran into trouble, had to rescue its crew; all they really know about the adventure described in Thunderbirds Are Go! is what they had read in the archives and the history books. Instead, this is almost an entirely new roster, the 2070s generation. Almost all the original IR members are dead; one who is not is her Grace the Duchess Penelope Creighton-Ward. The members of IR now belong to a generation that's too young to remember any of the middle-2020s adventures first-hand. The last of Jeff Tracy's sons to die was his youngest, John Glenn Tracy, who had made his way through the ranks of the World Navy's United States phalanx to become a full bird captain before his death.

No, the Mysterons are threatening an almost entirely new generation; and unlike their predecessors, these IR members call themselves, as well as their vehicles, Thunderbirds; they even have code names, all preceded by "Thunderbird," to conceal their identities--like Thunderbird Blue Whale, Thunderbird Wizard, Thunderbird Shadow, or even Thunderbird Leader--what have you. But the IR uniform has not been re-designed. Calling Captain Scarlet Thunderbird Scarlet makes sense in that context. Also, these Thunderbirds have stopped using "F.A.B.," as it never actually stood for anything anyway. Instead, they use "T.A.G.," whose meaning is obvious. Its opposite is "T.A.N.," which stands for "Thunderbirds Are NO Go" and is used to indicate trouble or to countermand an order.

This is part of the environment that Captain Scarlet will be stepping into in "The Scarlet Thunderbird," a four-part Captain Scarlet/Thunderbirds crossover that I've neglected for too long. Even now I'm attempting to relocate the computer materiel on which I originally wrote it (but which I lost before I could finish it) so that I can reconstruct it, finish it, and submit it for beta-reading.

[Marion]

As I said before:

Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 7:35 am Post subject:
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Parker Gabriel said: Quote:
Her Ladyship the Duchess Penelope "Penny" Creighton-Ward

I am not sure what the 'Birds' referred to is - is it an adventure in a comic? I wasn't aware that Lady P crops up in any CS stories, although she does feature in some biographies of Rhapsody Angel.
However, I have also only seen a reference to Penny's ancestor ' the Duchess of Creighton-Ward' but never to Penny herself being a Duchess. If she was, the correct title would be 'Her Grace, the Duchess of Creighton-Ward'. She is only ever referred to as 'Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward' - as far as I am aware - so she might well be the daughter of a Duke; but titles - even Dukedoms - are not necessarily inherited by daughters of Dukes. If the title is entailed it goes to the nearest male relative. Penny might well get the non-entailed land and money, if there is any - which it seems there is - but not the title Duchess - unless she married a Duke.

However, in fairness:

Also, it is necessary for English patents to include limitation "of the body" as in "heirs-male of the body." The limitation indicates that only lineal descendants of the original peer may succeed to the peerage. In some very rare instances, the limitation was left out. In the Devon Peerage Case (1831) 2 Dow & Cl 200, the House of Lords permitted an heir who was a collateral descendant of the original peer to take his seat. The precedent, however, was reversed in 1859, when the House of Lords decided in the Wiltes Peerage Case (1869) LR 4 HL 26 that a patent that did not include the words "of the body" would be held void.

Letters patent are not absolute; they may be amended or revoked by Act of Parliament. For example, Parliament amended the letters patent creating the Dukedom of Marlborough in 1706. The patent originally provided that the dukedom could be inherited by the heirs-male of the body of the first duke, Captain-General Sir John Churchill. One son had died in infancy and the other died in 1703 from smallpox. Under Parliament's amendment to the patent, designed to allow the famous general's honour to survive after his death, the dukedom was allowed to pass to the Duke's daughters, the Lady Henrietta, the Countess of Sunderland, the Countess of Bridgewater and the Lady Mary, and their heirs-male, and thereafter "to all and every other the issue male and female, lineally descending of or from the said Duke of Marlborough, in such manner and for such estate as the same are before limited to the before-mentioned issue of the said Duke, it being intended that the said honours shall continue, remain, and be invested in all the issue of the said Duke, so long as any such issue male or female shall continue, and be held by them severally and successively in manner and form aforesaid, the elder and the descendants of every elder issue to be preferred before the younger of such issue."

Most Dukedoms are OF somewhere - as far as I know - and the only Earldom I know of that is also a family name is Earl Spencer. But the aristocracy is a strange beast, so who knows what might happen twixt now and then?